//------------------------------//
// Equus: Fierce Confrontation 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Sombra had to admit that he never thought that he'd be traveling through space, staring out at the stars and the various planets that rested in the vastness near his home planet, but that was exactly what they were doing at the moment as they rode in the spherical barrier that Celestia had created. He wasn't the only one that was amazed by what they were seeing, as Ichigo and the others were staring at the various planets and moons that they were going by, showing that all of them were excited about what they were seeing, and maybe making Ichigo wish that he had brought the rest of his friends along for the ride. Sunset, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna weren't as amazed by the sights, showing Sombra that they must have done this sort of thing in the past and were used to seeing all the stars that were around their planet, even though it appeared that they were heading to someplace that was a good distance away from where Equus rested. Of course it wasn't long before he decided to ask them why they were going so far away from their home world, just to have a short battle, and Celestia told them that Sunset didn't want ruin to come to Equus by some of the more powerful beings battling each other, which was why they had found a dead planet, one with no life at all on it, and were using it as their battleground, even though the world in question was on it's last legs.

Sombra had a feeling that the planet they were heading to was in the process of breaking apart, slowly by the sounds of what he and the others were told, but before thinking about that he turned his attention to the terms that he and the others had been told when he greeted the group. Twilight, from what he learned, held a position that basically meant that she had to create new worlds, and sometimes even an entire galaxy, to balance the damage that her counterpart god, who just so happened to be Sunset, did to the rest of their universe, depending on what was happening at any given moment. Celestia, as she was introduced earlier, was the Angel that watched over Sunset, training her in all aspects of magic and even hand to hand combat, though that didn't meant that they didn't train with swords and other weapons, as Sunset's training with a sword had been the reason that Celestia had gotten her old weapon out and started using it again. Then there was Sunset herself, the God of Destruction, a being that was capable of obliterating an entire planet in an instant, who was capable of erasing threats to the safety of her universe with a single word and some of her power, and could even blow an entire galaxy to pieces, since she had done that to stop the spread of something most foul some time ago, which they had been alerted to thanks to one of the displaced ponies landing in the area in question.

All of this would lead one to believe that Luna was the weakest of the four, since she was just a Princess, one that could move the moon of their planet and summon the stars when night was happening, but Sombra knew that she was just as powerful as her sister, though while many would consider her a mortal still he believed that she was a god as well, meaning that things were going to get interesting.

It wasn't long before they reached the planet that they would be battling on, one that would have looked a lot like Earth if it wasn't for the volcanic activity that was happening at the moment, the ash cloud that covered a good portion of the lower part of the planet, and what looked to be a violent storm raging in part of the upper half of the planet. What interested Sombra was the fact that there was some sort of large ship of some kind, one that was definitely made for traveling through space, resting near the moon, making him wonder if someone had come to this world to investigate it, though Sunset didn't seem surprised to see the ship at all. For a moment he thought that they would be heading to part of the planet that wasn't under a lot of stress, but that turned out to be wrong as Celestia guided them down towards the storm that was brewing, to which the group readied themselves for whatever they were going to discover when they breached the atmosphere. When they actually did that, however, Sombra found two young ladies floating in the air, both possessing the same body that he and the other transformed Equestrians had, though it was easy to recognize the rainbow haired girl as Rainbow Dash, while the second girl wore a stetson hat that she carried with her at all times, like she wasn't afraid to lose it or damage it, though if his memory served she was called Applejack.

He wasn't too surprised to find that it took him a few more moments to determine who they were, since he hadn't interacted with them at all and only knew them thanks to the tales he heard while he was in his soul state, but as they got closer to the ground one thing became certain, and that was the fact that the storm seemed to be because of what Rainbow was doing. Upon further inspection of the area they were heading towards he found another interesting sight, as there were more transformed Equestrians on this planet than he originally thought, because he instantly spotted who he assumed was Rarity, who was dressed in martial arts clothing that mimicked what the other two girls were wearing, Pinkie Pie, who was wearing some ancient armor for some reason, and Fluttershy, who was dressed as a medic, indicating she was concerned that someone might get hurt. In addition to them were a gray coated transformed pegasus and a griffin who were standing side by side, wearing the same odd attire that made them look like thieves, and near them rested a trio of young ladies who were dressed in casual clothing, though the pendants around their necks identified them as the trio of Sirens that Star Swirl had banished, meaning they must have redeemed themselves to get this far. He then noticed two more young ladies, though while one of them was wearing some slightly revealing robes he noticed that she had a trio of horns, two of which curved back towards her, while the other seemed to be a mix of a transformed Equestrian and a dragon, one that had a curved horn like his, only hers was crystalline and was blue colored.

Sitting close to the group of transformed Equestrians was what appeared to be a changeling that had gone through the process as well, though while she was wearing the same attire as Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity, an odd decision in his mind, he was certain that he knew who she was... but he shelved that thought for a moment as Celestia brought them down near the group and dispelled the barrier, allowing them to stretch their legs once more, just in time for the battle to be brought to a halt.

"It seems like you two were having fun." Celestia commented, though at the same time the storm that had been up in the air disappeared, showing that Rainbow must have created it since there was some lightning dancing around her hand for a few seconds, "It would appear that my suggestion to bring you all here, for some training, worked to some degree, even though it seems most of you just sat around and watched the battle take place."

"Well, you did say that you had something special planned for us today," Rarity spoke up, though as she did that she and the rest of the ponies gathered around the group that had come with Celestia and the others, where her eyes zeroed in on the clothing that the Arrancar were wearing, "That's not the type of clothing that I would usually make, but given the fact that a good number of ponies had ascended to their new forms, and desire more than just dresses, maybe I can take some notes before we get started."

"I'm sure that one of my Arrancar might be willing to let you take a few measurements," Sombra said, causing the group to turn towards him for a moment and let shock appear on their faces, though he wasn't surprised by that at all, since most of them knew that he should be dead and weren't expecting him to be alive again, even if he was technically a soul that had evolved to a new state, "though allow me to introduce myself. I am Sombra, King of Hueco Mundo, though I am also the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

He and the others learned that the pegasus, who was the only one that had retained her wings, was Derpy Cooper, formally Derpy Hooves, and that the griffin was her sister, Gilda Cooper, while the three girls that had the pendants were indeed the Sirens he had heard about, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze. The demon-like girl was called Lyra Heartstrings, who apparently slew demons and fought some large enemies, while the dragon-like girl was revealed to be Trixie Lulamoon, who had the titles of Archmage and the Spell-Weaver, though Sombra could tell that they were both proud of their achievements. The last of the transformed Equestrians, the changeling that preferred to sit by herself while Rainbow and Applejack were fighting, was also the last one to get up and approach them, though Sombra knew that she was actually staring at him and none of the others, making him wonder if she was who he thought she was.

"Sombra, as in the terrifying unicorn that fought my mother and made it possible for her generals to finally overpower her when she was weakened from her fight with you?" the changeling asked, though her tone suggested that there was more to this than what everyone knew, while at the same time Sombra knew exactly who was standing in front of him, as there was only one changeling that fit the statement that she had given him.

"I would assume that by 'mother' you're referring to Queen Crudelis?" Sombra inquired in response, where he noticed that the mere mention of the former queen's name caused her to cringe for a second, confirming his suspicions as to who she might be, "Then yes, I am the same Sombra that knocked the former changeling queen down, allowing her generals to take their rage out on her when they finally got their hooves on her... though that means that you're Chrysalis, the sister of my beloved Amaryllis, who was killed for falling in love with a unicorn, and not another changeling."

"Yeah, that was my mother's reasoning, but I've finally put her and my horrible past behind me." Chrysalis said, but even as she said that Sombra noticed that the memory of losing her sister was one thing that she couldn't put behind her, and that might also include the pony she fell in love with, before she shook her head, "Look, I just wanted to say thanks for taking her down, for me and the Hive that I inherited after she was taken out... I won't do into details, but she was a massive pain in my rear and I'm glad she's gone."

"We brought Sombra here so I can test his power for myself," Celestia said, causing the groups to turn back towards him for a moment, though at the same time Chrysalis nodded her head, showing Sombra that she must have done the same thing and that she didn't want to think about the past anymore, before she turned towards Sombra, "I take it you are ready to begin our little bout?"

"Indeed I am," Sombra replied, though as he stepped forward, towards the edge of the cliff that they just happened to be standing on, something came to mind as he turned back towards the group, as he had noticed that most of the group weren't carrying weapons, save for the odd canes that Derpy and Gilda were carrying, "You don't have a problem with me using either of my Zanpakuto in our fight, do you?"

"I take it you mean the blades that you are wearing at your waist?" Celestia inquired, as she and the others had been looking at the pair of katanas that Sombra was carrying and knew that there had to be something special about them, otherwise he wouldn't be carrying them, though that was when Sombra nodded his head, "Not at all. Feel free to use them against me, or not if that's your preference, because I will use the same weapon I used against you a thousand years ago, before you sealed the Crystal Empire away."

A ray of light pierced the sky that rested above them, one that Sombra stared at as Celestia let her scepter float off to the side and flashed over to the area in question, where a lance struck the ground near where she was standing, though Sombra had to correct himself a moment later, as the large axe-like head made him realize that it was a halberd, one that had a lance's tip as well. He remembered the weapon well, because it was just like Celestia had said, this was the very weapon that she had used against him when he realized that Queen Crudelis had formed an alliance of sorts with her and Luna, to weaken him to the point where he could be brought down. It had been a cunning strategy, one that he never expected to go up against, especially since Crudelis hated the Royal Sisters with a passion that was rivaled by what he felt towards the former queen, and in the end he had been defeated, resulting in him acting like a sore loser and taking the Crystal Empire into banishment with him. Right now, however, the fact that Celestia was summoning it already meant that she was under the assumption that he'd start using his Zanpakuto against her, instead of swinging his fists at her, which told him that it was time to show her that he had changed since the last time they had fought each other and reveal the fruits of the training he had gone through.

As Celestia pulled her weapon from the ground, and spun it around to show that she was ready for their battle to begin, Sombra flashed through the air and appeared behind his opponent, where he raised his left leg into the air and got ready to bring it down on Celestia. Before he could even make contact he noticed that Celestia's body was already moving, as the head of her weapon had been swung back towards him, so he flashed out of the way and appeared near her right side, letting the weapon finish moving through the path it was going through before attacking again. The moment he saw what he was looking for he rushed forward and spun around, intending to bring the front side of his leg against Celestia's body and knock her through the air, but what his leg hit was the metal handle of the halberd, showing him that his foe hadn't lost the speed that she had once possessed, meaning that he needed to use all of his base power before she decided to turn the tide of battle against him. Before he committed to that, however, he gathered his reiatsu and made sure it was ready in his right fist, to which he charged towards his target and flashed above the head of the halberd when Celestia swung at him, where he raised his fist and swung downward at her, intending on using the Ikkotsu, the Single Bone, technique that he used on Aizen against her.

What actually happened was that Celestia raised her left arm and caught his attack before it could hit her chest, but where one would assume that his attack would have broken her arm or fractured her bones, since it was a powerful attack on it's own, Celestia barely moved an inch... before she let go of his fist and kicked him in the chest, sending him a few steps backwards with not a look of surprise on his face, like Ichigo might have expected, but one of happiness.

"That was a good attack, Sombra, but I can tell that you're holding back against me." Celestia said, though unlike the last time she and Luna had fought against Sombra there was something different about his smile, as a thousand years ago it would have been because he hurt one of them, but now it was like he had finally found someone that could push him to test his full power, which actually worried her given what she knew about him.

"That attack was Ikkotsu, or Single Bone, a hand-to-hand technique I picked up while I was training with Yoruichi, in an effort to jog some of my missing memories," Sombra replied, though at the same time he guessed that it was time for him to show off the true power of his base state, since it was too early for him to consider using either his Bankai or his Resurreccion against Celestia, "Speaking of which, my beloved Yoruichi is known as the Flash Goddess, as in she's the fastest Shinigami in all of Soul Society and give some of my Arrancar quite the challenge... so tell me, do you think I spent enough time with her to pick up some of her tricks?"

Celestia realized what was going on and swung her halberd accordingly, as she attacked the area to her right as her foe tried to surprise attack her, but as her weapon made contact she discovered that she had been played, as she had cut down the afterimage of Sombra, showing that he could be anywhere... and that was before two fists, both with an empowered version of the technique Sombra had just used, rested against her back for a few seconds, before she went flying through the air and had to correct herself as she huffed.

"And that, Celestia, was Sokotsu, or Double Bone." Sombra stated, to which he stood straight for a moment and looked at his hands for a moment, as while he could tell that he had hurt Celestia he also knew his attack hadn't done that much damage, meaning that her power as a god was much stronger than his 'mortal' power, since he wasn't channeling the power of the Dios Hueco at the moment, which only made him interested in this fight even more, "It's basically the same as Ikkotsu, only the user has to use two fists instead of one, as you no doubt figured out by experiencing it yourself, and there's the fact that I'm now channeling all of my base power into my attacks."

"Really? That's good to know." Celestia replied, where she stood straight up and stared at her opponent, because she realized that Sombra must have been going at fifty percent of his base strength, though if this was all of his base power that she was fighting against she had to wonder what sort of transformation he had up his sleeves, "But, as you no doubt know, I won't let the fact that you're using all of your base power against me intimidate..."

She didn't have time to finish her statement as Sombra flashed through the air once more, though this time around she found something interesting, as when she swung her halberd at her foe Sombra stopped the head of her weapon with his left arm, somehow not drawing blood in the process and didn't leave a gash or cut at all. In the following instant, and taking advantage of her confusion, Sombra forced the halberd backwards and went on the offensive, where he unleashed a powerful series of ultra-high-speed punches with both of his fists, the force of which knocked her into the ground and formed a small crater around her in the process, before Sombra jumped backwards and readied himself for the next stage of their battle. The Raioken, Thunder King Fist, technique was a powerful attack and generally caught his foes off guard, especially when he used his speed to surprise his opponents, but at the same time he knew that it wasn't enough to take someone like Celestia down, rather he expected her to get back up and shake off the effects of his attack, which was why he was readying himself for what was coming next. Sure enough Celestia pulled herself out of the crater and showed that his attack hadn't really done much, as all she did was brush off the dust that had gotten on her attire, though at the same time he felt the air heat up a little, an indication that his foe was getting more serious.

Sure enough when Celestia attacked him again she called her magic into the area around them, though the reason that he knew that was because she started sending fireballs at him, in an attempt to distract him while she searched for an opening to use against him, so thanks to his new speed he was able to avoid the attacks. Of course he was proven right a few moments later, as Celestia got into the air above him and charged the solar energy into the tip of her halberd, allowing her to loose a powerful ball that could have been called a miniature sun at him, one that he destroyed by swinging his arm at it and let his power blow it apart. As that happened Celestia launched a series of attacks at him from a different number of directions, causing him to either avoid the attacks that were coming at him or parry them, since this time she was using her weapon against him while sometimes adding in a fireball to confuse him. What he wasn't expecting her to do was pull in the various bits of power that she had scattered around the area around them, which he assisted with thanks to the fact that he had either broken or avoided her attacks, allowing her to loose a crescent wave of energy into his back, sending him into the ground and forming a small hole around him.

A few moments later Sombra pulled himself back up and stood straight, though at the same time he raised his right hand and drew Shokyo from her scabbard, where he silently released her Shikai form, since unlocking the Bankai form allowed the wielder to release the Shikai without uttering the Release Call, before he stared at Celestia.

"I've never seen a weapon do that before." Celestia commented, as with everything she had seen, from all of the various adventures that the displaced ponies had been through, this was something that was entirely new, which made her cautious since it could surprise her, "What is it?"

"She's not an 'it'. She's my Shinigami Zanpakuto, Shokyo, a name that means 'Crystal Heart', and she definitely has her own soul and personality," Sombra replied, though he couldn't fault Celestia for saying that, since this had to be the first time she had seen something like this, where he took a moment to move the blade for a moment, to demonstrate that he knew how to use the broadsword, "All Zanpakuto, with the exception of Ichigo's blade, have a sealed form, a Shikai form, and a Bankai form, though what you are seeing right now is Shokyo's Shikai form, something that I can release when I call out the Release Call, but since she has entrusted me with the information of her Bankai I can skip that step, which is why you could see her transform from a katana and become a broadsword, without hearing me say anything. Here's the more interesting part, releasing her Shikai form allows me to access part of Shokyo's power and use it against whoever I'm fighting at any given moment, so it's time I showed you what we're able to do together."

Celestia watched as Sombra charged at her and swung his blade at her, where she raised her halberd and blocked the attack, but this time around she was surprised, as the sheer act of releasing the blade's second state had actually boosted Sombra's considerable power once more, showing that his power was connected to the blades he carried. That actually made her worry for a moment, because while she could still guard against this power, and could boost her own power by unsealing more of it, she knew that this blade wasn't at it's full power, if what Sombra said was anything to go by, and that wasn't even considering the fact that he had a second blade he had said nothing about. She had to assume that the other blade was like the first one, that it had multiple forms that boosted Sombra's considerable strength to new levels, but even then Sombra's words told her that there had to be some sort of power that each blade commanded, which could only be accessed by releasing parts of their power, meaning that she had to be careful when fighting him. Not even a few seconds later she was forced backwards and steadied herself, confirming that releasing the Shikai had boosted Sombra's power, but that was followed by Sombra's power flaring for a moment as he held his left hand out, where a number of blue crystalline spears formed in the air around him.

She used her speed to move through the air, avoiding the spears when Sombra hurled them at her, but at the same time she knew that this power had to represent one of the types of magic that he was known for, even if it was the lesser of the two, making her worry when he was going to summon his darkness and turn it against her. As that happened, and she touched the ground at last, Sombra raised his sword and hurled a blue energy wave, his Seiga, Energy Fang, at his foe, who swung her halberd at the attack and loosed a wave attack in return, causing the two attacks to cancel each other out and allowed her to focus on something else. Celestia then followed that up by loosing a miniature sun at Sombra, who, oddly enough, stood in the same place that he was standing in when he sent the energy wave at her, though as the attack neared him Sombra raised his hand and a crystalline barrier, his Shukan, Guard's Barrier, snapped into existence to stop the attack from hitting him. As the smoke formed around him, shielding him from Celestia's sight for a moment, which was when he raised his reiatsu further and unleashed his Bankai, causing a surge of energy to be pushed out from where he was standing for a moment... though when the smoke cleared Celestia's eyes widened for a moment as she took in the silver crystalline armor, which belonged to a knight and not a king, that Sombra was now wearing.

"Bankai, Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku." Sombra said, to which he raised his head for a moment and stared down at his opponent for a moment, who was clearly shocked by what he had just done, and he was sure that some of the watchers were also surprised, "The translated name of this form is Valiant Guardian of the Crystal Empire. I know, it's sort of ironic considering that I used my dark powers to take control of the Crystal Empire, but at the same time I feel that the name is appropriate, as it shows that I'm truly no longer the evil unicorn that you and Luna defeated, and this form allows me to use the full power of my crystalline powers."

Celestia had time to raise her halberd as Sombra attacked her again, showing that her thoughts were once more confirmed, that releasing the power of one of his blades had boosted his already considerable power to a new level and made it tougher for one to fight against him. In response to that Celestia raised her own power as well, to equal Sombra's level as she pushed him backwards, but that seemed to be what he wanted as Sombra flashed around the space that rested around her, making her keep track of where he was at any given moment and kept her weapon at the ready, since she had no idea what sort of power this state actually gave him. Of course that didn't prepare her for the fact that her foe flashed into the space behind her and swung his weapon at her, though as she raised her halberd to defend herself she noticed that the ground was shaking as a large number of blue crystalline spikes burst out of the ground and started reaching for her, causing her to jump backwards so she could avoid the attack. She knew that it was dangerous to let any of Sombra's attacks hit her, because his power wasn't to be messed with and there was no telling how dangerous these attacks actually were, but for now she was sure that if she kept avoiding his attacks he'd eventually change his mind and draw out the rest of his power, which was what she was waiting for.

Of course that changed when she found herself up against a large crystalline wall, one that hadn't been there a few seconds ago, showing her that Sombra was more skilled at creating things that his foes didn't see while they were slightly distracted by another attack, before she stared at the crystals that were coming towards her, which were far larger than what they were a few moments ago... and, before they could even hit her, she smiled as she readied herself for what was going to happen next, since this would catch Sombra off guard.

"Lunar Divide." a voice said, where Sombra watched as his Hatakesho, his Field of Crystal, technique was horizontally cleaved in half by a light silver energy wave, one that had been quicker than most of the attacks that Celestia had been using so far, before Sombra stared at Luna, who was standing in front of her sister, though she was carrying a longsword that had a pair of wings that resembled her old pair near the guard, which was a crescent moon, "Come now Sombra, you honestly didn't think that Celestia would be the only one fighting against you, did you?"

"Truth be told, I knew it was only a matter of time until you showed up." Sombra admitted, because it had taken both of the Royal Sisters to take him down a thousand years ago, even when he was exhausted from his fight with Crudelis, and they definitely needed to stand together if they wanted to best him again, though even as he did that he drew Rey as well, preparing himself for the next attack that would be coming his way.

Together both Celestia and Luna charged at him, swinging their weapons at him as they formed him back into the air, though this time around Sombra parried the attacks that were coming his way while accessing the hidden powers that both of them were waiting for him to use. As the three of them exchanged blows with each other Sombra gathered bits of his reiatsu and loosed a few waves of energy at his foes, blue coming from Shokyo and black coming from Rey, though that brought something interesting as both sisters either dodged the attacks or cancelled them out with one of their own. Of course that wasn't all he could do at the moment, since he had access to all the crystalline powers that Shokyo possessed and even used a really thick crystal pillar to stop one of Luna's attacks, while at the same time swinging Rey around and using the shadowy powers to knock one of them out of the air, though his Bala Oscura, his Dark Bullet, technique was ultimately dodged when he loosed a storm of small ebony blasts at them. He even tried a new tactic, as in forming small circular areas on the ground that would give way towards his Pilar Abisal, his Abyssal Pillar technique that had massively damaged Grimmjow during their fight, but, as he expected, both Celestia and Luna dodged the areas that the pillars would form in and prevented being hurt in the process... and when he tried to use his Prensa Oscura, his Dark Press, technique, Luna swung her blade and cleaved the sphere in half, destroying the attack before it could hurt them.

He could tell that his foes were using at least fifty percent of their power, or close to it anyway, but right now they were working in perfect unison and it was clear that to get anywhere he'd have to either seal his Bankai and then release his Resurreccion, or unleash both of his blades and take on his full power once more.

Before Sombra could make a decision on what to do, since it wasn't a decision he could make lightly since his foes were incredibly powerful in their own right, he had to parry several silver streaks that were coming his way, showing that Luna intended to keep him busy, which was when Celestia came down at him from above and swung her weapon down at him, loosing a wave of power that knocked him down into the ground. As he fell both of the sisters continued firing a series of magical attacks at him, being either waves of energy or elemental attacks that were stronger than they had been a thousand years ago, and while he dodged some of the attacks he found that the ground below him was burning. It made sense, considering the fact that Celestia was the Sun Goddess and one of her affinities was for solar based powers, as well as fire based powers, which resulted in burning the area around wherever the attacks hit, though what he was more interested in was the fact that those attacks would severely burn someone if they got hit, while he, on the other hand, could use his shadows to avoid the spells if he really wanted to. Of course as he dodged the next attack Luna appeared above him and swung down at him, where the energy of her attack carved a slight gash into the chest of his armor and knocked him to the ground, where he landed near the crater they had formed earlier and remained still, where both of his foes flashed down to the other side of the crater and stared at him.

He had to correct his earlier thoughts, as neither of the sisters were using half of their full power against him, rather they seemed to be using between fifty to seventy-five percent of their individual power, meaning that he was only going to have a rough time if he kept trying to fight them with only half of his power, because if they picked up the pace and used all their power they could really hurt him.

"I must admit, based on what I've heard, I had to assume that neither of you went on an adventure of your own and gained any special powers of your own," Sombra commented, though as he said that he focused his reiatsu and released his hold on his Bankai, reverting back to his base state once more, and then made sure that Shokyo returned to her sealed state, as this would confuse his opponents and open their defenses for when he showed his hand, "and while that may be true you still went through a similar process that the others and I went through, boosting your already considerable powers to an even greater height. I can tell that you're trying to get me to use all my might against you, while keeping this world intact since the flames aren't charring the entire area around us, though I think you'll be surprised by what you see when the full power of the Dios Hueco is used against you."

"Yet you sealed your blade and lowered your power," Luna remarked, as that worried her, because based on what she and Celestia knew there was always a reason behind what Sombra did, so the act of sealing one of his weapons and cutting off it's power made her wonder if he had a trick up his sleeve, hence why she and her sister had their own skills at the ready, "Surely you aren't thinking of admitting defeat already?"

"No, it's just that awakening the power of the Dios Hueco is much easier when both of my Zanpakuto are in their sealed states," Sombra replied, to which he held his blades out, in a style that looked like he was getting ready to attack one of them, before both of them started to glow, the sign that he was getting ready to show off his real power to those that were watching them, "Awaken, Blades of the King."

Celestia and Luna watched as Sombra was engulfed in a silver colored sphere of energy, different from the same silver colored energy that had been used against him so far, though before they could do anything that sphere burst apart and morphed into a pillar of raw power, one that shook the entire area that was around them. A few moments ticked by before the energy started to disappear, though as that happened the two sisters looked at Sombra as he emerged from the pillar, where they found that he was clad in a suit of armor that resembled what he had worn when he was the King of Darkness, though instead of it possessing the colors they were used it they found that their opponent was wearing a silver suit of armor that made him look more regal. Even his crown had transformed, leaving behind the bone like form it had been in previously and took on the appearance of metal, silver to be exact, though that was before they noticed that while his sclera retained the color that came from using Dark Magic, while his actual eyes turned silver, one eye had the purple strands coming from it while the other had blue strands, showing that he had changed since the last time they had fought each other, worrying the two of them for a moment. The only thing that seemed to be missing this time around was both of the blades that Sombra had carried with him, showing that awakening their true power must have merged his body with those same powers, but even then they had to be ready for anything and everything.

Of course they discovered that doing that was much harder than they originally thought, as Sombra disappeared from their sight for a moment, like he had vanished or something, and before either of them could do anything Celestia went flying backwards through the air, with some pain in her chest like she had been punched, while at the same time Luna was sent moving in the opposite direction by a similar attack, where they found Sombra standing right where they had been standing moments ago.

Luna knew that it was possible that his speed had increased to the point where he was quicker than they were, since they weren't using all of their power at the moment, but it was still shocking to see her sister, who was using the same amount of power that she had used to best Chrysalis in their earlier battle, being knocked backwards. Despite that fact she stopped herself from going too far backwards and finally stopped herself from moving, where she focused on where her target was standing and burst back though the distance that was between them, only this time it seemed that Sombra wasn't going to dodge her attack. In fact when she lashed out against him, after closing the gap between them, she swung her weapon at him and found that he didn't do anything at all, rather all she did was hit the armor he was wearing and found that not a single scratch or dent had been made, like her power was useless, but that didn't stop her from repeating her attack a few times to see if she got the same result. What annoyed her a little was the fact that Sombra eventually raised a hand and removed the gauntlet that he had been wearing, allowing her to actually target his hand and turn the tide of battle back to their side, but as Sombra parried her attacks with his hand she found that she wasn't even cutting him, making her wonder what was going on as she eventually pulled back and stared at him, allowing him to replace his gauntlet while she stood down.

Of course Celestia chose that moment to drop a massive flaming sphere down on where Sombra was standing, one that she recognized as one of the more powerful fire type spells, the Flame Emperor, one of Sunset's favorite fire type attacks that she used in some of her battles... a fireball that Sombra stopped by simply turning towards it and raised his hand to the sky, where he loosed a small silver beam of energy into the sphere and blew the entire thing apart.

"Luna, what you just experienced was the strength of my Hierro, where I use my reiryoku to make my skin incredibly hard, like steel for instance, and stop your blade from cutting me." Sombra explained, because unlike what happened in Hueco Mundo, where Ichigo, Nel, Grimmjow, and Zaraki adapted to the strength of Nnoitra's Hierro and eventually cut through it, neither of the Princesses knew much about this technique and wouldn't be able to find a good way to cut him in their current state, "And that attack that I used to cancel your massive fireball, Celestia, is something that Hollows call a Cero, sometimes called a 'Zero' or a 'Doom Blast' depending on who you ask, and it's power it influenced by how long the user decides to charge it. There are two more types of Cero that an Arrancar, like myself, can use in battle, those being the Gran Rey Cero and the Cero Oscuras, though I'm unique, as while the Cero Oscuras is only used by Arrancar in their Resurreccion, their true forms, I can perform the same technique in my base state."

"Just how many techniques did you learn while you were gone?" Luna asked, because the way things were sounding it appeared that Sombra had picked up more tricks than they originally thought, and based on his tone the Gran Rey Cero had to be the strongest of the three types he could use, but she had the feeling that he was trying to trick them into thinking that one of the two Cero attacks was the strongest, when they could be about equal.

"Oh, I learned plenty of techniques while I was picking up the pieces of my past," Sombra replied, though at the same time his horn glowed as he worked his reiatsu into the area around him, where Celestia and Luna watched as the sky grew dark as an aura, which also happened to be dark, formed around Sombra, "Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Luna watched as multiple boxes of black energy appeared in the area all around them, focused on the area that she was standing in at the moment, and discovered that each of the boxes was topped off with some strange cross-shaped spears, before they seemed to pull themselves together and form a massive box with her trapped inside it. Before she could even do anything the box was sealed, trapping her in what appeared to be an alternate dimension of sorts, though that changed when a series of cuts appeared on her chest, her arms, and her legs, breaking her out of the dimension as quickly as she had been put in it, to which she staggered and fell to one knee for a moment. She was surprised by the sheer amount of damage the attack had done, especially since she didn't see an attack coming her way at all, and she knew that Celestia was worried about her, but this just confirmed the fact that if they wanted to beat Sombra they had to be ready for anything and everything, because if he had more techniques like that then they could be finished before they got serious and used more of their power.

"That was Kurohitsugi, or Black Coffin, a powerful Kido spell that's in the Nineties, though the Hado classification are more for actual battle, since Bakudo is for creating barriers and Kaido is for healing." Sombra commented, knowing that the sudden appearance of all the darkness and the boxes had caught the Royal Sisters off guard, since this wasn't an attack that they were familiar with, so it might not work on them again, but he still had ninety-eight more spells he could surprise them with, and that wasn't counting the other two classifications, "It's just one of the many techniques that I was taught by some of my dear friends, though the damage varies from user to user, whether they use the incantation or not, and the user's overall reiatsu, so you could have easily taken less damage from that attack, but you did take it like a champ, despite the surprise that was written on your face when it activated. Here's another technique for the both of you to witness... Bakudo Number 81: Danku."

Celestia watched as the solar wave of energy she had been spending at Sombra's back, while he was distracted by talking with Luna, was stopped in it's tracks as a transparent wall of sorts appeared behind her target, where the attack detonated, but when the smoke cleared the destruction was on her side of the barrier and none of it had gotten around to even touch Sombra.

"Or Splitting Void, a defensive Bakudo that stops attacks in their tracks," Sombra continued, where he turned back and glanced at Celestia, who was a little surprised to see that he had stopped her attack so quickly and rather suddenly, but at the same time he smiled, "Don't worry, I won't use this against you all the time, otherwise the battle would be unfair and we'd have to bring an end to it at some point, since neither of you would be able to touch me if I did that..."

Before Sombra could finish his statement he felt a surge of power coming from Luna's direction, where he turned back towards her and watched as her attire transformed into an ancient suit of armor that was silver colored, darkened by her own power, while at the same time her skin darkened to a very dark blue color. His eyes widened for a moment, as he remembered seeing this once in the past, as ponies used to refer to this as Luna's 'Nightmare' form, later becoming the being known as Nightmare Moon if the stories were true, and he knew that she used the majority of her power when she was in this state. It didn't take her long to go through the transformation, showing that she was in control of herself when she stared up at him again, but that was followed by her bursting through the air and reached where he was standing in a few seconds, where he raised his arm and blocked her incoming punch, where he discovered that she had left her weapon behind and was going to fight with her fists now. At the same time, however, he also realized that her power was nothing to laugh at, because the sheer force behind her attack caused the air around them to shudder for a moment and his arm actually moved back a little bit, showing that all of his new power might not have put him above the sisters. Not even a few seconds later Luna raised her other fist and punched him into the air, which actually pleased him since this was the first time since he became the Dios Hueco that he was being pushed back, and it was good to see that the event happened against the sisters that were responsible for his first defeat.

"Oh, we're not worried about your techniques," Celestia said, though at the same time the area around her heated up some more as Sombra turned and glanced down at her, as he could tell that something was going to happen, "Shortly after both of us took on our new forms, some time after Sunset returned to Equus with her new friends and family, Luna and I trained with her for some time, allowing Luna to finally master her full power, without the fear of being devoured by it being present anymore. Now, if Luna was able to master the Nightmare, and turn it's power and form into something she can use whenever she wants to access her full power, whose to say that I wasn't able to do the same thing and tame a greater power that I had been hesitant to use in the past?"

Sombra watched as Celestia's hair heated up and became pure fire, in looks since he couldn't feel any heat coming from it at all, though at the same time her attire didn't change all that much, meaning that the attire of an Angel must be more special that what Luna was wearing, even though the golden yellow color turned bright red to mimic the flames that were now Celestia's hair... and a moment later, as she touched the ground, the ground immediately around her hooves just happened to be burned, like they got close to the sun or an intense fire at the very least.

"This, Sombra, is what Luna and I refer to as my 'Daybreaker' form," Celestia continued, though as she said that she moved her body, shifting her arms and legs to make it look like she was getting ready to defend herself against an attack that might come her way, even if Sombra felt that it was more like she was getting ready for her own attack, "it's just like my sister's form, where it allows me to use an even greater percent of my power without the fear of becoming a monster or something, though if you want to get technical we're both at seventy-five percent for sure. The only one that's been able to stand up to us when we're in these forms, and outright best us in a battle, is Sunset, though you'll find that our strength is not to be underestimated."

Sombra immediately found himself going on the defensive as both Celestia and Luna charged at him, attacking him at the same time and in perfect unison, showing that they had reforged their old teamwork after a thousand years of being apart from each other, forcing him to use his arms and hands to defend himself. One thing he immediately discovered was that the fiery aura that Celestia had, which had burned the ground around her a few moments ago, didn't seem to affect Luna at all, though at the same time he had to wonder if Luna's own aura was preventing her from getting hurt, but he couldn't think about it for too long since he was in the middle of parrying their attacks and avoiding their fists. It was clear that they weren't playing around, because even though Luna backed away a few moments later, to wander off to another area of their battlefield, Celestia kept him busy, though this time around when he fired a Cero at her she simply swung her fist and bashed it to the side, sending it off into the distance, where it hit a small hit and tore the area apart. Luna, on the other hand, took that opportunity and started firing off silver energy blasts at him, as well as shards of ice and even bits of lightning, which he either avoided or stopped with a Danku, since he wasn't about to let the attacks hit him, but even then he had to keep his focus since Celestia continued to advance towards him.

He had known ahead of time that it was going to be interesting to fight the two of them again, even if it originally was just going to be him verses Celestia, but after a minute or five of letting them have control over the battle he let his inner darkness return in full force and caused them to stop attacking for a moment, as they both knew that his power over the shadows wasn't to be underestimated.

"We may have him on the defensive for now, but he's still the King of Darkness," Luna remarked, as she flashed over to where her sister was floating and stared at Sombra, because they both knew that he had to have some sort of trick or attack that could turn the tide against them, hence why they were being cautious about this entire fight, "He could change the flow of this battle in an instant if we're not careful."

"Indeed." Celestia said, as she was waiting to see what Sombra did with the shadows, because that was what had made him a terrifying opponent in the past, hence why they needed some assistance in wearing him down, otherwise the fight a thousand years ago would have had a different outcome.

She would have said more, but is was in that moment that Sombra charged at them and waved his hand at them, as if he was going to send the shadows after them, which encouraged both of the sisters to get themselves higher in the air so they could avoid the attack before they were even hit. What actually happened was that they were fooled, as no shadows came flying at them, rather Sombra flashed directly below them and truly swung the shadows at them, hitting Celestia's left arm and Luna's right arm in the process and caused a few black crystals to sprout on their arms, meaning that the first attack had been a diversion. He had fooled them both into thinking that he was attacking them with the one thing that would cut off their powers and make the fight easier for them, opening their defenses for a brief moment, an opening that he used without missing a beat, and while one of their arms had crystals on them their power wasn't the same as it had been before, as the type he used meant he needed both of their arms to sever their connection to their magic. Instead of giving them a chance to do anything Sombra made sure to close the gap between them as they separated from each other, allowing him to pick who he wanted to go after in the hopes that the other would be able to attack whatever opening he would present to them in the next few moments.

Of course since this had originally been a battle between him and Celestia, despite knowing that Luna would have come in at some point, Sombra targeted Celestia and swung his fist at her, though while she blocked it the sheer force of his attack knocked her higher into the air. That was followed by him flashing above where Celestia was heading and swung his leg down at her, knocking Celestia out of the air and sent her flying towards the ground, forcing her to regain control of herself before she touched the ground, despite the fact that it was a surprise that they were back down here again. When Sombra reached the ground he went on the offensive immediately, making sure that Celestia's attention was on him as he threw a few punches her way, forcing her to defend herself once more, though he made sure to keep an eye on what Luna was doing at any given moment, since she seemed to be staying away for now. Sombra knew that he could have just taken away both their magic and left them with whatever power they were using to fly, and their strength, but if he did that it wouldn't be that interesting and the excitement he had felt earlier would be gone, though he also knew that, given the fact that both were much stronger in this form, and the fact that he had never used his nullification powers against a god before, he had the feeling that they'd break the crystals sooner or later.

His thoughts were proven right a few moments later, as when he punched Celestia backwards she actually fell to a knee for a moment, showing that she had to be stressed with the lack of magic to aid her, but even as that happened he glanced to the right for a moment and waved his hand at the silver colored sphere that was coming his way, destroying it instantly... which in turn allowed Celestia to throw a punch and knock him backwards, one that actually staggered him and told him that they were still being serious about trying to defeat him.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was for both Celestia and Luna to be standing side by side a few seconds later, confirming that the sphere had been a diversion and not a serious attack, before the two of them raised their crystal covered arms and gathered their power. The sphere they formed a few seconds later was much quicker and was also more powerful than what he expected it to be, since it struck him in the chest and knocked him backwards through the air, but even as he regained control of himself he found that both of the sisters were up in the air above him, where it seemed like they were gathering their power for another attack. Of course that was his initial assumption, as the moment he locked onto where they were floating he noticed that it was an illusion, a trick to repay the one he had used on them a few moments ago, rather they flashed in front of him and kicked him at the same time, allowing the force of their blows to send him flying towards the ground, in an area that was near where the crater was located. A few moments later he landed on the ground and had to cough, because while this was a battle he could get behind, since he was actually being pressured by his foes for once, he knew that it would all be over soon, especially since both of the sisters were gathering their power into a massive sphere that was made of red and silver energy, almost looking like an eclipse from where he was standing at the moment.

A few seconds later the sphere was sent down towards his position, where Sombra raised his hand towards his mouth for a second, cutting a light gash that allowed him to form a light circle of blood in the air in front of him, before he started to pull his own power into the area as he charged up his silver Gran Rey Cero with his right hand, while at the same time he held his left hand out and gathered some more power to form a Cero Oscuras, as he was going to combine the two strong Cero attacks and take his foes' attack out in an instant. Once he was sure that the attack was ready he fired the two Cero into the air and watched as they spiraled around each other, apparently knowing what he intended to do and merged together to form a single silver colored Cero, with a dark outline, that slammed into the face of the sphere and halted it's descent. Not even an instant later the ground around him cracked, showing that he was fighting some serious power from two opponents who were currently restricted on how much magical power they could use at the moment, but even as he thought about that he felt the crystals that were on both Celestia and Luna's arms slowly break from where he was standing, indicating that they were coming undone and that the sisters were getting their full power back. As such his own attack was getting push back, for the first time since he found himself in Hueco Mundo, and as he poured his full power into stalling the attack, and even attempting to push it back, the best he could do was stop the sphere for a few more seconds, which was when the crystals shattered and the sphere came down towards him, beating his attack like it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

When the sphere got really close to where he was standing, however, Sombra did the smart thing and broke himself away from the attack, shifting into his Shadow Form before the sphere could actually hit him and moved out of the area as the large attack struck where he had been standing and blew a decent sized crater into the ground... but as he appeared some distance away, and solidified his body, Celestia appeared to his left and punched him in the side of the face, sending him over towards Luna, who knocked him into the ground with a kick.

"You know, despite what we said a few minutes ago, you're the third strongest member of those that were displaced by Discord's tampering with the mirror," Celestia said, though her tone revealed that she believed that the fight was over, that she and Luna had beaten Sombra and that it was time for him to admit his defeat.

"Third? I'm the third strongest out of everyone?" Sombra asked, to which he straightened himself for a moment and made sure he wasn't terribly injured, but while the last attacks had left bruises, which would heal in no time, the result of his struggle against the sphere proved that he couldn't beat them, before he glanced at the others, "Who among them is stronger than me? I'm curious to hear whose power is stronger than what I just showed you."

"Rainbow Dash and Applejack," Luna replied, where she noticed that Sombra turned to her with a look that was most definitely disbelief, something that she had once assumed the dark unicorn was incapable of making, but this just proved that he had changed, "Please, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this... it's just that both of them have special circumstances as to why they're both stronger than you."

"You know it, Princess Luna." a voice said, where Sombra turned and watched as Rainbow dropped down into the area that they had been fighting in, another sign that they knew that the fight was over, before she smiled at them, "Still, you guys put on one awesome fight, one that's got me really excited for the reason as to why you decided to bring all of the displaced ponies back to this planet."

"Right, I never actually told any of you what would happen after Sombra's test." Celestia replied, where the ways she said the word 'test' told Sombra that it was all about judging how much stronger he had gotten, though while he was one of the strongest beings in his new world it appeared that it would be some time before he could beat either Celestia or Luna in a fight, but when she spoke again her voice reached the others as well, "Sunset has seen a few of you fight since your various returns to Equus, and even fought against some of you in the process, but now that you're all back, she's curious to see how well all of you work as a team, and both Luna and I are in agreement with her. That is why, before we head back home, all of you will come down here and engage in a battle against Sunset, where she has agreed to let you use all of the powers that you have gained during your adventures."

Sombra had no idea that a second battle had been planned ahead of time, revealing the reason that all of the other displaced ponies had been brought to this planet as well, and he could tell that he wasn't the only one that was shocked by the news, but then he found himself smiling. Sunset, according to what Celestia and the others had said, was supposed to be the strongest of them all, in regards to her, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, but if it was a battle with him and the others against her, with both Rainbow and Applejack by his side, he was sure that they could do something to Sunset. Celestia seemed to understand what he was thinking and issued an hour notice, allowing him and the others to prepare themselves accordingly for the fight, giving him some time to rest and recover his strength, though he sealed his true power for now and focused on recovering his power... as something told him that he was going to need everything in his arsenal if he and the others wanted to succeed in beating Sunset, and even then he had no idea what to expect, which only made him more excited for what the incoming battle held for them.