//------------------------------// // Episode 115: The Bigger Picture // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 115: The Bigger Picture Discord wet his parched throat with tea that Screwloose had just finished serving. No one else except for Soft Spoken had taken the tea, and Fluttershy’s mother’s hands shook as she held the cup to her lips and sipped without taking her eyes off of Discord. Everyone was silent. Screwball, sitting cross legged at one side of the overcrowded lounge, coughed. “So...” Discord said to the gathered families of the girl’s whose lives he’d assisted in irrevocably changing, and the mothers whom he’d done the same with, “Any questions?” He’d just finished a rather laborious explanation of the events of the past two months, sparing only a few details here and there for expediency’s sake. By the expressions he was getting, the reception to the truth was... mixed. “I wouldn’t have believed any of this if I hadn’t watched Cloudy’s daughter literally punch a monster with a set of stone knuckles she conjured out of a rock,” Rarity’s father, Magnum, said while rubbing his head with one hand. The burly, beige fellow with shoulder length brown hair an exceedingly well groomed mustache, sporting one of the most tacky Hawaiian shirts Discord had ever seen, had spent the entire time listening to Discord’s explanation of events with eyes that bespoke of a mind trying very hard to digest what it was hearing. “But you have to know how hard it is to swallow all of this, right?” “I would have had difficulty as well had my family not already been attacked,” Igneous Pie said, a dark, wide brimmed hand wringing in his hands as he looked at his three present daughters. Limestone rubbed her arms and looked at the floor, face the definition of sour, while next to her Marble touched her sister’s shoulder comfortingly. Maud had transformed her pet rock, Boulder, from it’s spiked knuckle form back into that of a rock, and was stroking it affectionately. “Who cares who believes what?” said Cookie Crumbles, Rarity’s mother having nervously drawn a cigarette from a breast pocket of her bright red blouse, her fourth since Discord had begun explaining what her daughter had been up to with her friends, “What I want to know is what gave you the right to keep the truth from us? The moment our children got involved, you should have told us!” “I didn’t want to endanger you,” Discord replied, although he knew it was a weak response, even as he said it, “Your memories had been sealed, along with your powers. Telling you would have only increased the dangers.” “Well what’s changed, then?” Cookie Crumbles demanded, “Why tell us now instead of then? Looks to me from what we saw happening in the city that things are even more dangerous than before. If I’d known something like this could happen I could have taken my family somewhere safer! Moved upstate to my parents for a while until this insanity blew over!” “Get your head screwed on straight, piglet,” Screwloose said sharply, “That’s why he’s telling you all now! Before all this the danger was low enough we figured you could keep living your lives normally. We didn’t know just how bad things were going to get. Now that things have gotten real, yeah, we’re spilling the beans, because there’s zero chance of any of you living normally from now on. Get it? There’s no going back to your quiet suburban lives. Even if you’d moved somewhere else, this would’ve come crashing down on your heads sooner or later.” “Screwloose...” Discord said, and the woman quieted down, but her face was still tinged red with anger. “What does she mean by that?” asked Cloudy Quartz in a quiet yet firm tone. She’d maintained a steady, calm attitude so far, and this remained the case now. She sat next to her husband like a rooted tree of stability amid the uncertain atmosphere of the rest of the room.  “Well, the problem is that now with your other children developing Fullbring powers, it’s impossible to keep this matter contained,” Disord replied, “As long as it was just your daughters and Sunset Shimmer, there was a chance of keeping things from spilling over into their regular lives. That’s no longer possible. Too many eyes watching this city, and I don’t have the power to keep a lid on this enchilada of chaos any longer, especially with the factions engaging in more open battles around here. Keeping you all from being targeted would be next to impossible, even for a man of my talents. So, the only solution was to not even try. To tell you the full truth, offer to restore your memories and powers, and circle the wagons.” Suddenly Scootaloo’s aunt Lofty blew out a laugh. She’d forgone the tea and instead had asked Ditzy if the shop had any beer, which Ditzy happily provided to any of the adults wanting some, which turned out to be herself, Lofty, and strangely Fluttershy’s father, Gentle Breeze.  “That’s why we’re here too, isn’t it?” Lofty said, “Scootaloo wouldn’t stand to be separated from her friends, so you want us Bount in on this... circling of the wagons, was it?” Discord held up his hands in mock surrender, “Got it in one. I didn’t see any point in trying to keep Scootaloo away from the friends she’d made, so it was inevitable our two groups would need to join hands. I know you all prefer to stay out of things, and I understand why, but much like with everyone else here, that isn’t really possible anymore.” “That’s fine by me,” said Holiday, leaning against Lofty, seemingly among the more relaxed individuals in the room at that moment, “I was getting a tad tired hiding out anyway, and I get the feeling my brother and his wife will feel the same way.” “How soon can they be here?” Discord asked, and Holiday tapped a finger to her lips in thought. “A week, tops, but if they know their little girl is in danger, I can lay a safe bet they’ll show up a lot sooner.” “Sorry ta butt in here, but just who’re ya’ll suppose ta be again anyhows?” asked Granny Smith, licking her lips like she was about to spit, “I already got a solid reckonin’ on our stakes n’ this hootenanny, but what’s my grand daughter’s friend got ta do with any o’ this?” Discord had avoided discussing the Bounts, as it wasn’t his business to divulge, but now Lofty leaned forward and fixed Granny with a frank stare. “We’re not strictly human, and that's about all you need to know for now. Soul Society hunts us, so we’ve stayed hidden,” she eyed Discord then, “I assume you’ve got a plan for dealing with that if we join forces with you? What’s going to stop any Soul Reaper from coming here to take us out?” “Let’s just say we’ve got info that’ll shake up the Gotei 13 enough that the Bounts won’t even be a blip on their radar by comparison,” said Ditzy Doo, who’d taken to standing by the lounge’s doorway, pacing around like a stalking jungle cat with nervous energy,  “And even if someone did try to come after you, if you’re under our protection then you’d have me, Discord, and those girls on your side to protect you.” Holiday gave Ditzy a questioning look, “I have a fair idea of how strong you and Discord are, but are those girls really strong enough to be a deterrent against Soul Society trying to hurt my family?” A cracked smile, sporting his characteristic snaggle-tooth, hit Discord’s face as he leaned forward, “They’re that strong and more. Their potential still has yet to truly reveal itself, and when it does I don’t think anyone with two active brain cells will take them lightly.” “Our kids?” Soft Spoken said, Fluttershy’s mother holding her husband’s hand tightly, “Just because they inherited some strange power from us after you... um... made us into those Fullbring things? I’m, um, sorry Mr. Discord, but I don’t know if I like where all of this seems to be going. It’s like you’re saying we don’t have any choice but to accept our children fighting in a war we have no say in. K-kinda like before when we were that Xcution group. Didn’t we all get out of it because we didn’t want to fight anymore...?” “Y-yeah!” piped in Zephyr Breeze, who’s eyes had a haggard, trapped animal look about them as he ran a hand through his straw colored hair, “Like, dude, why’s my sis got to fight anyone? I know Flutters, and my little sis wouldn’t hurt a mosquito if it was literally biting her while infected with malaria. This is all so totally messed up!” “Oh, you won’t hear an argument from me that this situation is ‘messed up’, my boy,” Discord said, and he then turned to gaze at each set of parents in turn, “I want all of you to understand I didn’t want things to get to this point, but now that they are, your options are limited. I won’t tell you what you can or can’t do, but you need to understand the situation in full before deciding. The attack on the city today might only be one of many. Those that have an interest in your daughters, and by extension you and the rest of your families, have the power to find you wherever you might seek to hide in this world. Even so, I’d do all in my power to find safe places for you to hide and start over, if that’s what you choose, but you’d never be able to stop hiding.” He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, taking off his green and white striped hat and setting it aside before opening his eyes again. It wasn’t often he felt old, but looking at the uneasy and frightened faces of the people in the room definitely tugged that sensation in his bones that said he’d been at this for far too long. It was especially draining to look upon Soft Spoken, Cookie Crumbles, and Cloudy Quartz. While he’d failed to protect Sweet Cider, and Firefly had slipped away from him, he’d at least hoped to spare these three any more heartache or burdens. He’d owed them a normal life, after the things he’d put them through. And knowing now that he had to take that normal life away, that their only real chance at survival, at their family’s survival, was to jump back into the fire... Discord felt a twisted sensation of self-loathing at knowing that was the only real course ahead of them.  Some master planner he was. What good was having plans for every contingency when things always seemed to end up in the same place? But that was the cynical side of him talking. If watching Sunset Shimmer and her friend’s growth over the past couple of months proved anything to him it was that cynical predictions still didn’t hold a candle to the chaotic element that was the human spirit. Just as those girls kept managing to surprise him, he didn’t doubt the family’s they came from had that same spark.  “On the other hand,” he said, “You could choose to protect your families and the lives you’ve made for yourselves here with your own power. Soft Spoken, Cloudy Quartz, Cookie Crumbles, I’m not telling you to fight. I’m asking if you want to fight. I can restore the powers that were sealed, and the memories of how to use them. I can also make sure your children who manifest Fullbring have the training they need to protect themselves. Together, all of us can form a united front against future dangers. No hiding. No running.” A heavy silence filled the room after his words, and he could see the looks of uncertainty and questioning doubt passing over many of the faces before him.  It was a rather unexpected voice that broke that silence. “Mmm.. I... want to help Pinkie...” All eyes turned to Marble Pie, who looked like a rabbit ready to flee from an army of hungry foxes at those stares, but the girl gulped and managed to force more words out, “She’s... been fighting for us all this time. B-both her and Pinkamena. I... want to help them. Please, mom, dad... if we have the strength we should help.” She was trembling with the effort of speaking so many words, but suddenly a big red hand patted her shoulder and she nearly jumped to look up at Big Mac, who’d come to stand next to her. “Yer right,” he told her, and Marble Pie’s face turned beet red as the farm boy looked at Granny Smith, “We’d ain’t been able ta do nothin’ while Applejack an’ her friends keep riskin’ their lives fer us an’ everyone else in the city. So I say enough's enough! I ain’t runnin’. I want ta help fight fer my home. So if I got some hidden power n’ me like Applejack, I want ta use it!” “...Bic Mac,” Granny Smith said, hanging her head, “Shoulda figured yer parents fightin’ spirit weren’t just in yer sis. Welp... ain’t like i ever balked at a’ fight, especially fer the sake o’ family an’ our land.” Quietly, Igneous Pie and Cloudy Quartz exchanged looks, and a fire lit up in Cloudy Quartz eyes as her husband gave her a solemn nod.  “I think we’re in agreement with the Apple family,” Cloudy said, “I don’t want to flee with my family alone. I think we are all in this together.” “Much like a formation of rock strata the pressures of our environment are capable of pressing us together into a uniform pattern,” Maud Pie said, “To which the capacity to resist outside forces increases proportionally to the density of the formation. Ergo, Boulder and I wish to contribute to the fight.” “Ugh! I guess I do too!” Limestone said, smacking a fist into her palm, “But I better get a really useful power out of this! I am not letting myself get kidnapped again!” “Are you sure about this Cloudy?” asked Cookie Crumbles, “Can we really do this? What if someone gets hurt?” “I think that might happen anyway,” Soft Spoken answered before Cloudy Quartz could, wringing her hands together, but taking deep breaths as her husband hugged her, “I’m terrified what might be happening to my daughter, or any of yours, right now. But I don’t think we can afford to do nothing, and I don’t think running away will work. I wish it would, but...” Soft Spoken looked at Discord, and he could see her dredging up her courage to ask, “How... how fast can you give us our powers back?” His answer was short and simple, “Fast.” ---------- Keeping her distance from Starswirl, Twilight Sparkle carefully watched both him and the floating cubes that comprised his Bankai. He had yet to make a move, but it had only been a minute since he’d activated his Bankai, so it was possible that it had an ability that required time to charge up. That, or he simply was unconcerned with what she would do and hence was allowing her to make the first move. Given the relaxed stance of the Soul Reaper Captain and the way he was also carefully observing her suggested to Twilight that he simply wasn’t in a rush. I’m starting to hate this guy, said Midnight in her head, her voice seething, Look at him, like he doesn’t have a care in the world! Let’s hit him with something nasty this time, Twilight. No more pussyfooting around! She could all but read Midnight’s thoughts. The more magic she used, the closer their minds grew together, so it was easy to see the list of potentially agonizing spells that Midnight wanted to throw at Starswirl, including spells literally designed to do nothing but cause writhing agony in the target. Twilight forced those thoughts away and mentally shook her head at Midnight. We can’t afford to act carelessly. We don’t know what his Bankai’s power is, and if we throw magic around recklessly or attack without a plan, we’ll lose the moment we act. Not acting isn’t a plan, Midnight spat back, If we just sit here looking at him, he’ll get bored and attack first, and then we’ll lose the initiative. So if you don’t do something soon, I will! Twilight couldn’t deny that Midnight had a point. She couldn’t just watch him forever. But how should she approach this? She’d hoped to pick up some clue about his Bankai by observing it, but so far the cubes hadn’t done anything other than float there... ominously. From what Twilight had been taught in the Academy, a Soul Reaper’s Bankai was like a powerful extension of their Shikai. The basic power shouldn’t change that much, in theory, just be highly amplified and have additional abilities related to the original. So if his Shikai could produce any chemical known to Starswirl, then did that mean these cubes could produce more than just chemicals? She couldn’t afford to waste too much time speculating on the matter, so Twilight decided to do what any good scientist would; experiment. She chose one of the larger cubes and snapped off a shot, sending a reishi arrow streaking towards it. She hadn’t infused any magic into the arrow, so it was a plain, blue bolt of reishi that struck the cube dead on. Starswirl hadn’t tried to maneuver the cube out of the way, although Twilight didn’t know if that was because he couldn’t, or because he didn’t care about her attacking the cubes. Either way, the moment her arrow hit, Twilight activated the Variable, channeling her reishi into the cube to drastically alter the variance of gravity upon it. Specifically, amplifying the effect of the cube’s mass by several factors. Predictably, the cube began to fall from the sky, and she noticed Starswirl give her a nod, almost like one of her professors acknowledging her answer on a test question. Why did that not at all comfort her? “A good first attempt,” Starswirl said, “Indeed if this works, you could theoretically immobilize all of the cubes, thus nullifying my Bankai without having to expend much effort. Unfortunately for you, this is not the case.” He’d been holding a small cube in the palm of his hand since his Bankai’s activation, and Twilight saw him move his thumb dexterously over one side of the cube, which lit up with a faint white light. The larger cube she’d shot also lit up, and it’s fall immediately halted. Twilight saw a circular aura of light emanating in a ring shaped pattern from the bottom of the cube. She suspected this was creating a counter force to the increased effect of gravity.  So the cubes could emit force? Starswirl looked at her with an expectant gaze. “I should probably provide a more active demonstration. Watch carefully, Miss Sparkle. You saw my Zanpaktou’s ability to create chemicals already, and that basic principle hasn’t changed. The difference is that the range of production has expanded to include reishi particles, with a vast increase in the volume and speed of production. You should be familiar with the concept, since it is not dissimilar from what Quincy do. Observe.” As one, ten of the mid-sized cubes moved with frightful speed, rapidly surrounding her. White light emitted from their sides as Starswirl made complex motions on the cube he held. In a flash, each cube suddenly grew multi-barreled gun arms, each sporting belts of ammunition that were fed directly from the cubes themselves. “Producing weapons like this is barely an effort,” Starswirl commented as twenty different rotary cannons opened fire on Twilight simultaneously, each from different angles. Rather than dodge, Twilight drew upon her magic and Midnight’s knowledge, sweeping her hand out as she cast a barrier of translucent purple energy around herself. The magical sphere absorbed the punishing barrage, Twilight felt the impacts on her mental focus. These weren’t like mere, mundane machine guns. The ‘bullets’ being fired were like Quincy forged reishi rounds, packing a powerful dose of spiritual energy inside them that would shred her shield in a few seconds.  And Starswirl wasn’t done, sending one of his larger cubes forward, the front of it glowing with a luminous aura. “Of course basic weapons like that are limited in many ways. A more complex, but still deceptively simple use of my Bankai’s ability is to use rapidly produced chemicals and reishi constructs to generate simulations of Kido spells. While never quite perfect copies of the real thing, I think you’ll appreciate the value of volume over accuracy in this instance.”  The glowing surface of the larger cube crackled, and Twilight felt a panicked rush of adrenaline go through her as she saw a score of streaking white bolts of lightning come at her; near perfect copies of Hado Number Four, Byakurai. Teleportation was her only valid evasive maneuver, and she wrapped the magic around herself to pop in and out of existence. She appeared a few dozen yards up as reishi gunfire and simulated Kido annihilated the magical bubble she’d just occupied. She had to go on the offensive, and limit his chances to pin her down. If he could generate attacks like this from any of the cubes, she couldn’t afford to stand still for an instant. The only option she saw was to get in close to him, and either take him out directly, or destroy that small cube he was manipulating. It might have been a decoy, true, but it was the only possible vulnerability she’d seen so far.  With a burst of Hirenkyaku she accelerated down, blurring from view as she sought to get behind Starswirl.  However she pulled back as she noticed a glitter of something dust-like in the air, and she barely avoided it when an entire wall of freezing gas solidified into a cloud of ice in front of her, blocking her path to Starswirl. “Don’t forget, I can still produce any number of chemicals from my Bankai’s cubes as well,” Starswirl explained, “There’s no telling what traps I’ve laid around myself, since I know you’d realize my only vulnerable point is the small cube I’m holding. I’ll give you a freebie and tell you now that it’s no decoy. This cube is the control nucleus for my Bankai. Damage it, or separate me from it, and you could win, Miss Sparkle. But what will you do with that information, I wonder? How will you close the distance to me? Another teleportation spell, perhaps?” She didn’t doubt he had a trap prepared to counter such a maneuver, which was why she had tried getting close physically first, to test the area and range of his defense. The freezing gas had appeared at a range of about ten meters from him. Consequently, glancing around, she noticed none of the cubes besides the small one he held had approached closer than ten meters as well. At a guess, she theorized that was because he needed to create a safe area around himself, since once one of the cubes produced an effect, he no longer had direct control of that effect. He could easily injure himself with a Bankai that could produce so many different kinds of attacks, so quickly. It was an amazing testament to Starswirl’s mental focus that he could control this power as well as he did, and only maintain a mere ten meter safe radius around himself. Twilight had to admit if she had a similar power, she’d prefer twice as much distance to feel comfortable to avoid injuring herself. It’s a system, she realized, A powerful system, but one that relies on several rules to be safe for its wielder. So what I need to do is disrupt that system. Of course actually being able to do that was a wholly different manner than simply conceiving of the idea. Starswirl was giving her no room to breath, and barely any time to think. The cubes with their gun arms morphed, altering their own reishi to change the rotary cannons into tubes of chemically charged rockets. Twilight found herself having to rush at full speed in a series of swift patterns that criss-crossed the air to avoid the storm of explosive warheads. A few that got close to striking her she was able to shoot down with a few swiftly fired arrows, but she realized too late that Starswirl was just using those simple weapons to distract her. Two of the larger cubes had gotten to either side of her, and between them a field of hardened reishi sprang up, connecting both cubes on all four edges, and trapping Twilight within. She was immediately reminded of her brother’s Schrift, the Bastion. Even the general makeup of the reishi particles seemed similar, although she felt a slight difference in the resonance of the spirit particles, and she noted a strange, almost oily chemical pattern to the barrier.  Chances were trace chemicals were part of all the reishi constructs that Starswirl was creating, but this was clearly something more potent, and she soon realized why as the chemicals inside the reishi barrier began to fill the rectangular prison with gas. She held her breath immediately, and prepared a teleport spell. One of the cubes imprisoning her produced a small device that looked like a flip lighter, and Twilight managed to teleport just in time to avoid the entire interior of the prison barrier exploding from the ignited gas. The moment she appeared once more, this time below Starswirl and his cubes, Twilight went on the offensive. She flew up, but also spun around, firing arrows in quick succession. She charged the arrows with magic to multiply them, the arrows duplicating in mid-air as they soared into various cubes. She adjusted her upward flight to skirt the edge of the ten meter radius around Starswirl, and kept firing arrows at as many cubes as she could. Starswirl wasn’t idle as she did so, directing his cubes to angle towards her, half a dozen of them gleaming with white light as they produced simulations of different Hado-class Kido. A veritable maelstrom of ice, fire, lightning, and raw destructive reishi chased Twilight upwards, but at the same time she carefully observed the cubes firing at her. They weren’t quite close enough to where she needed them to be, and only about half the cubes in total had her arrows embedded in them. She needed more.  With deft bursts of Hirenkyaku she sent herself dodging left and right, narrowly avoiding the simulated Kido spells lashing out at her. However above her six somewhat smaller cubes, about five feet wide apiece, had linked together at their edges to form a circular formation. Light flowed from the walls facing one another and pooled together in a growing sphere of spirit energy that took on a faint red tint that looked rather familiar to Twilight. Wait, isn’t that-!? The beam even had the distinctly low pitched hum of a Cero as it fired at her, and Twilight was a tad too slow in dodging it as the beam caught her right hand side. She managed to harden her skin with Blut Vene in time to mitigate the damage, but her skin was wracked with agony, the purple skin burnt raw red in some places as her clothes were shredded along her right side. She almost lost control of the reishi threads controlling her artificial hand, but managed to maintain focus as she kept dodging left and retaliated by firing a set of arrows into the cubes that had unleashed the Cero. “Did I mention that a while back I concocted a chemical that can roughly approximate the spiritual energy patterns of Hollows?” Starswirl said, “It’s useful for creating certain items the Stealth Corps favors, and is handy for some of my fields of research. Granted simulating something as basic as a Cero is easy enough, but the more complex powers still elude me. I was actually hoping studying that Arrancar girl would help me utilize my Bankai to create artificial Garganta.” Even as he talked, he never ceased moving his hands over the control cube, sending the other cubes after Twilight in a dogged pursuit. While many of the smaller ones pressed her with more rocket attacks, or barrages of gunfire, a swarm of tiny ones not much bigger than the control cube gathered up and rushed her from her opposite side. These cubes, no bigger than a regular Rubik's cube, grew buzzing blades that rotated around at high speed.  With little choice, Twilight had to go through the swarm, letting out a rough cry of equal parts determination and fear as she aimed her bow forward and unleashed a Licht Regen into the swarm just before she swept through it. Her hundreds of reishi arrows tagged many of the tiny buzzsaw cubes out of her path, but one or two still got through and cut painful lacerations across her arms and sides, staining her white uniform red. Still, by now Twilight estimated she’d tagged two thirds of Starswirl’s cubes with her arrows. That should be enough. Now all she had to do was get them in range... Throwing caution to the proverbial winds, she doubled back and charged Starswirl. As she came at him she fired magically empowered arrows, sending streaking bolts of teal colored witchfire arrows towards the Captain. As expected, he had defenses already prepared, with a few cubes sitting just outside the ten meter radius producing barriers similar to the ones that had trapped Twilight earlier. These barriers withstood her arrows, but Twilight pressed in hard, zipping up, down, and around Starswirl, all the while pouring more and more magic into her arrows, even boosting their variable damage yield with her Schrift. She needed to sell this as a real attack. A desperate last attempt to break through and injure the Soul Reaper Captain. She hoped Starswirl would be so focused on defending from it, and preparing his counterattack, that he wouldn’t realize what her real plan was. More barriers snapped up around Starswirl as Twilight’s magically empowered arrows exploded around him in an intense cluster that blanketed the area. Even Twilight was a little impressed with herself, both by the number of arrows and the explosive force behind the combined spiritual and magical energy. She’d improved a lot since her early days of training, or the attack on the Academy. Back then she could barely do a thing against the average Arrancar. Now she was fighting toe-to-toe with a Soul Reaper Captain and their Bankai.  Granted, she was clearly the one struggling here, and she doubted Starswirl was coming at her with all the tricks his Bankai could perform, but she’d take what little victories she could in regards to her self-esteem.  We so need to get you laid..., muttered Midnight somewhere in the back of Twilight’s head, which she promptly ignored. As the teal flames of the explosive barrage faded, she saw Starswirl’s barriers had held up, but they were sporting rather large cracks across their shining surfaces. She’d almost broken through! Still, that wasn’t the important part. The important part was that Starswirl had sent his large and medium cubes out in a wide cluster pattern around her, both above, below, and behind, nearly surrounding her. Each cube, whether it sported reishi constructs of simulated modern weaponry, or was glowing with the charging up of a simulated Kido, was ready to unleash devastation upon her. She could still teleport to evade, and very likely Starswirl knew that, which was why he’d left a net of the tinier cubes further out that would probably come at her no matter where she teleported to. That was fine by her. She’d estimated the distances of the cubes about to fire. They were outside the ten meter radius of safety from Starswirl, but over half of them were only just out of that range. ...A variable she was more than able to change. As all the cubes unleashed their fury, Twilight teleported to avoid the hellstorm of bullets, rockets, Kido spells, and several simulated Ceros. She also sent the power of her Schrift rushing through to the reishi arrows she’d tagged most of the cubes with earlier. The moment the Variable entered the cubes, it changed the angles of their attacks and their relative position by a small margin of several meters. This happened to land half of them much closer to Starswirl than he was anticipating, with many of them also suddenly aiming at him instead of at where Twilight had just been. Although Twilight couldn’t see it, still in the midst of her teleport, Starswirl’s expression of surprise briefly turned to a satisfied smile just before the cascade of attacks meant for her instead rained down upon him.  Popping back into existence a fair distance away, Twilight turned around to observe the results of her plan. It was impossible to see Starswirl amid the mass of explosions stemming from the mixture of different attacks that had converged on Starswirl’s position. Not all of them, of course, as many of the cube’s attacks also streaked out in random directions, but she’d managed to alter the variables enough that a good section of them had filled that ten meter space around Starswirl. Now a haze of smoke hung over the area while the attacks petered out. Twilight kept her bow aimed at the area, stretching out her senses for Starswirl’s reiatsu. It was still there, but she wasn’t sure whether she’d managed to inflict some telling injuries with her gambit. Her own body was shaking slightly from blood loss, and she felt an unpleasant combination of pain and numbing cold from the wounds she’d taken. If she was being honest with herself, she was fairly sure she couldn’t keep this up much longer. Soon enough the smoke faded, and Twilight’s lips tightened into a thin frown. “My word, Miss Sparkle, that was quite clever of you,” Starswirl said. He hadn’t escaped from Twilight’s plan unscathed. His body was marked by burns in some places, or caked over with ice in others, and his aged body was bleeding from several wounds seemingly caused by either bullets or abrasions from the explosions. Still, the reason the damage was overall superficial was made apparent by the sight of a handful of small cubes that floated around him. Their surface was reflective, like mirrors, camouflaging them, save for the fact that they were now burned and damaged from the attacks that they’d absorbed. Twilight could see the traces of reishi barriers around them that had been cracked and broken through, but still absorbed much of the damage that had come Starswirl’s way. He’d had a final defense in place around himself that didn’t rely on his own reflexes, she thought, not entirely bitterly, but with a grudging respect, Even when I out think him, he has backup plans. I don’t have a choice... I can’t win unless I risk it... The Cero attack she’d endured before had stripped off much of the uniform on her right side, although enough remained for decency’s sake. However this did leave the Sanrei Glove on her artificial right hand exposed. She raised it now, prepared to take the risk of utilizing Vollstandig, even if she couldn’t do so without risking doing irrevocable harm to herself. “Oh?” Starswirl raised an eyebrow, wiping some blood from his brow, “You’re going to use that glove? I commend your resolve, but it’s not necessary for you to push yourself any further, Miss Sparkle. This fight is over.” “We won’t know that until I try,” Twilight said, but Starswirl shook his head, and to her surprise the numerous cubes of his Bankai started to all move towards him while shrinking in size. In wisps of smokey white energy, the cubes dissipated and then reformed around the tiny control cube in Starswirl’s hand. Within moments that cube had absorbed the others and then transformed in a gleam of white light back into the form of Starswirl’s sealed Zanpaktou. “Wait,” Twilight said, “Why did you deactivate your Zanpaktou?” Starswirl started walking towards her, seemingly in no rush as he sheathed his sword and started rolling his shoulders, making pained grunts as he did so, “Augh... you made this old man pull a few muscles, I think. At any rate, Miss Sparkle, like I said, the fight is over. Do you not recall the offer you made me? You suggested we should combine our research efforts. I do believe my response was that I wished to test you further before deciding upon that offer. Well, I’ve tested you, and have decided.” She couldn’t quite make herself fully lower her bow as he approached. Her ability to trust in good fortune had taken quite the beating in recent weeks, so it was hard for her to think that the battle was really over. “You’re serious? You’ll actually consider working with me?” He glanced at her bow, then at her with an expression that was softened with a hint of sympathy, “Is it that surprising to you? You’ve given me quite the stimulating contest. It’s not often I find someone as young as you who can think as fast on their feet as you. I was already impressed by your research into magic and your ability to combine it with spiritual abilities, but you also show great talent in applying that knowledge in active situations. Put simply, Miss Sparkle, you’ve passed my benchmarks for being a worthy research partner.” “And me being a Quincy isn’t a concern for you?” “Of course it is, but I know you’re a smart enough girl that you wouldn’t have made the offer without being able to deal with the potential fallout of such a partnership. Surely you understand your King and fellow Quincy would have issues with working with a Soul Reaper, yes? I surmise you have a means of mitigating that issue?” Twilight glanced away, finally letting her bow fade so she could check her injuries and cover herself slightly. She was suddenly a bit uncomfortable with the tatters of her uniform. “I have some... influence with Sombra,” she admitted, “I believe I can get him to see the value in a collaborative effort, in this instance.” Starswirl noticed her discomfort, and while his own Captain’s coat was damaged from the battle, he took it off and handed it to her so she could wrap it around her shoulders. She did so with a mild look of surprise that soon transmuted into a look of gratitude as she nodded her thanks. Starswirl didn’t really have what she’d call a grandfatherly demeanor, but there was a relaxed, mature mood about him that reminded her of her father.  “I have similar influence with Captain Commander Scorpan,” Starswirl said, glancing away from her, “He can’t exactly replace me easily, you see. So if I say I have a Quincy who’s willing to set aside our long standing animosity to, however briefly, work upon similar research goals, he’d have to accept it. More or less. I’ll probably still get an earful. Hmm, perhaps it’d be better to keep this whole arrangement on the ‘down low’.” “That may be for the best,” Twilight said, “Just so we’re clear, does this mean you’ll not attempt to recapture Ember?” “Hmm, while I would still love to study an Arrancar specimen further, I think our collaboration will bear more intriguing fruit, so I shall give you my assurance I’ll leave the one called Ember be for now. Assuming she’s managed to retrieve her Zanpaktou without getting herself blown up by the defensive measures I left in place.” Twilight gave him a blank stare, “What kind of defenses?” “Oh, nothing too fancy. I even attached a puzzle to it for fun in case someone wanted to try and disable it!” Starswirl said, holding up a finger, “I do enjoy giving people tests, and even suggested to my lab assistants to give it a try, but you know, no one seemed interested. It’s not like the explosive device is that high a yield.” “You attached a bomb to Ember’s Zanpaktou!?” “Not a big one. Just big enough to kill an Arrancar at point blank range. Which I suppose could kill a lot of things, but really what’s the point of a timed puzzle if there’s no risk?” Twilight considered pulling some hair out, either hers or his she didn’t know which. Estimating the distance to the lake, she imagined it wouldn’t be hard to teleport there, but she was feeling seriously drained by her fight with Starswirl. She mentally checked with Midnight to see they had enough energy reserves before saying, “I need to get to them. Wait, I need to disguise myself again too, in case any of your people see me! Dang it, the only way this could get worse is if-” She felt the warning from Midnight at around the same moment she felt Starswirl grab her shoulder and pull her to the side. For a second she thought he was attacking her, but no, he was just pulling her out of the way as a Seele Schneider, fired from the forest below, streaked up like a bolt of lightning. The reishi blade turned arrow would have impaled her through the chest if Starswirl hadn’t spotted the attack coming and pulled Twilight to the side. The Seele Schider hit him instead, although he’d moved as well so the Quincy weapon struck his upper right shoulder instead of his chest. Still, the Captain grunted in pain and the reishi blade shut off, falling down and leaving a gaping wound in his shoulder that left his right arm hanging uselessly at his side. “Starswirl, are you okay!?” Twilight shouted, but before he could answer, she felt a burst of reiatsu from below. She barely had time to react as someone moving faster than even Twilight’s reflexes could track came flying towards her from the forest. Only the fact that Midnight had already been preparing a teleport spell to get to the lake helped Twilight evade a burst of reishi arrows that would have pin-cushioned her if she didn’t teleport away, although she adjusted her target location to appear nearby. She couldn’t abandon Starswirl now that he was wounded, and ostensibly on her side. I expected them to make a move, but this is the worst possible timing! Twilight thought, realizing that the assassins after her life had finally come for her again, much as she expected them to do and had been preparing for. Yet this wasn’t quite like she thought it would be. She’d expected them to be wearing a heavy cloak and mask, like before, disguising their identity. But she wasn’t hiding herself. And this assassin was definitely a she. Twilight recognized her, if only because she’d made a point of familiarizing herself with the files on her fellow Sternritter. She’d never met Sapphire Shores in person, but knew her appearance, and knew by her files that she was one of Sombra’s most trusted and powerful servants.  Rather than her usual ostentatious and stylized uniform, Sapphire Shores was wearing a much more plain Quincy uniform suited for a soldat, but she wasn’t bothering with the mask. Her admittedly beautiful face was filled with a sharp, frozen look of deathly determination as she aimed her bow at Twilight once more. Twilight summoned her own bow and aimed right back, but for a moment, both women paused, while Starswirl drew his Zanpaktou with his left hand. Sapphire Shore’s eyes flicked to him, narrowing. Twilight took this moment to speak. “Sapphire Shores... tell me why. You’re not acting alone, but you’ve been trying to kill me for a while now. I want to know why.” Every second she could stall Sapphire was a second her own contingency plans could fall into place. She suspected it would come to this, sooner or later, but she’d never imagined someone so high up in the Quincy ranks would be behind the plot to kill her.  “It’s simple,” Sapphire Shores said as a powerful spiritual pressure that gripped Twilight’s heart in an icy fist as she felt the extent of Sternritter Q’s power wash over her, “You have to die, so that His Majesty will live.” ---------- The surrounding darkness became more oppressive with every step Sunset Shimmer took deeper into the tunnels beneath Camp Everfree. The firelight from her Zanpaktou did much to illuminate it, but Sunset got the distinct impression that her presence hadn’t gone unnoticed. She had that particular sensation running across the back of her neck that told her she was being watched, and a moment later, she heard Hokori’s voice in her head. Watch your back. We’re not alone down here. Sunset nodded and proceeded with more alert caution, glancing behind her even as she kept moving forward. “You two sensing anything? I can still feel Gloriosa, a little, but her signature is muffled.” This whole area is covered in a faint taint of Hollow reiatsu, this time it was Hikari who spoke, her softer tone carrying a cautionary note, It gets stronger, further down. “We have to be near the center of the lake by this point,” Sunset muttered, and paused as she came around a bend and saw that ahead of her the tunnel abruptly ended, but instead of a wall, it ended in what appeared to be a massive root that spanned the tunnel’s length. However, the root had an unnatural opening within it, like a doorway. Surrounding the doorway, and most of the root itself, were lesser root offshoots, and a number of sprouting flowers of white and purple hues. The Hollow reiatsu that Hikari had mentioned was now far more readily apparent to Sunset. It was still relatively faint, but it permeated the entire root. She hadn’t sensed it, even when she’d first entered the tunnels. Chances were none of the Soul Reapers at the lab would have picked up on this unless they were specifically trying to scan beneath them, which why would they? So Sunset wasn’t surprised no one had noticed this, but she did have to wonder just what this all meant. Was there actually a Hollow down here, hidden beneath Camp Everfree? For how long?  This Hollow stink is baked right into the ground, Hokori said with a huff, If there’s one down here, it’s been here a looooooong ass time, Sunset. Heh, might make for a good fight. Her sword’s flames burned a bit hotter, and Sunset tried not to smirk. Of course Hokori was spoiling for a good fight. So far her friends had gotten more action than her, and that skirmish with Gilda at the apartment hadn’t been much of a warm up. Sunset wasn’t as eager for a fight as the sword half of her Zanpaktou was, she was far more concerned with protecting Gloriosa, Timber Spruce, and getting back to her friends... but a small part of her did want to cut loose a little and see if all that sparring with Discord really had made her any stronger since her duel with Platinum. She did have at least one technique she hadn’t perfected yet that Hokori no Hikari had been trying to teach her, and they hadn’t gotten it nailed down quite yet. She shook her head and approached the doorway into the root system, “Let’s just find Gloriosa. We’re here to save her and her brother, not get into a fight if we can avoid it.” Pfft, spoilsport, said Hokori, but Hikari quickly cut in. She’s right. We must prioritize helping others before satisfying our egos. After a brief pause, Hikari added, We can kick the Hollow’s butt after we save the humans. Well, good to know the two halves of her Zanpaktou could agree on something. She kept herself tense and ready to evade any dangers as she stepped through the entryway. She nearly slashed with Hokori when the roots hanging down near the doorway actually moved. The roots didn’t attack, however, merely pulled back away from her, the flowers closing into buds as if finding her firelight painful.  Beyond the entry, she found herself inside what appeared to be a tube formed from the large, hollowed out root. The interior walls were covered with more flowers, and an assortment of vines and strange planets, many bearing thorns. Having seen what Gloriosa could do with her plant-based magic, Sunset wondered if Gloriosa had somehow unconsciously made all of this, but the Hollow reiatsu was even stronger inside the root now, and she suspected this wasn’t Gloriosa’s doing. At least, not alone. Taking a moment to sense where Gloriosa’s faint spirit energy was, Sunset turned to the left and followed the root tunnel at a downward curve. The root began to bend, and Sunset realized it was spiraling down, taking her towards a central point. It didn’t take her long to reach the bottom, which opened up into an oval chamber that reminded her of the interior of a large cocoon, or perhaps an unopened seed. Her firelight illuminated the chamber, which wasn’t all that large, perhaps the size of the interior of a regular two-story house. The floor was sloped down, and water gathered at the bottom in a pool that glowed with faint, green light. Roots gathered together to form a rough bridge from the tunnel entrance and spanned over the pool, leading towards a large cluster of roots that coiled together around some kind of sappy, dark purple, semi-organic sac.  Gloriosa was halfway across the bridge when Sunset arrived, and Sunset called out, “Gloriosa, wait!” Gloriosa was carrying her brother in her arms, his form limp as she turned to face Sunset, who gasped slightly at the sight of the other woman. Gloriosa’s eyes were both pitch black now, with only a small ring of her iris’ having a bright yellow tint. Most of her face was covered by the waxen, bleached white substance of a partially formed Hollow mask, it’s edges rimmed with twisted, root-like spikes, while purple, striped patterns crossed beneath her eyes. Timber Spruce’s wound had now seeped blood into Gloriosa’s yellow dress and blue denim jeans, staining both dark. Sunset wasn’t even sure if Timber was breathing, but she did sense a faint spark of life still inside him. When Gloriosa spoke, her voice had a distorted quality to it, like a broken radio, “I have to take him to her. She says she’ll heal him. Keep him safe.” Sunset’s eyes flicked towards the bud-shaped concentration of roots at the center of the room, surrounding the faintly glowing, purple cocoon-like sac. The Hollow reiatsu coming from it was... strange. Overpowering, in a sense, but also weakly pulsating, and somehow giving off a sensation of sickliness. It was like sensing a once powerful, but now wounded and dying animal. The Hollow’s reiatsu was also now stemming from Gloriosa, and Sunset knew this had to be what had infected Camp Everfree’s caretaker. How that had happened, Sunset wasn’t certain, but now that Gloriosa was standing next to the thing... she had a suspicion. It was far from a certainty, but the similarities were lining up. Gloriosa’s Hollow reiatsu matched that of the thing in the cocoon, but as far as Sunset could tell the reiatsu was still Gloriosa’s. Or at least, she did have her own that was separated from the Hollows. And the power to control planets, Sunset kept wondering why the geodes, which were a source of magic not tied to nature, would let Gloriosa do that. Somehow that power seemed more tied to Gloriosa herself, and this land she cared about so much. She knew Twilight had been studying the magic of the geodes, and had a theory that the magic had been using Gloriosa’s spirit energy like a lens to generate the nature based powers, but what if there’d been a kernel of Hollow spirit energy inside Gloriosa as well that had been overshadowed by the magic? Given Twilight’s focus on studying magic, she might not have even noticed the small element of Hollow power. It was even possible the Hollow energy wouldn’t have grown without the use of Equestrian magic to amplify it’s growth, the same way it had amplified growth in Sunset Shimmer and her friends.  It had only really struck Sunset now just how similar Gloriosa’s power was to Fullbring. Especially the rapid growth of the power due to having a magical power source to boost it. Could it be this entire time that Gloriosa’s ability to control plants wasn’t actually magic from the geodes, but a Fullbring that had been massively enhanced by using the magic from those gems? A magic so powerful that it’d essentially drowned out any ability Sunset, or Twilight who’d been studying them, had to sense the Hollow-like reiatsu of a Fullbring. Granted she didn’t have any proof of this theory, but given the presence of a powerful Hollow and it having some sort of connection to Gloriosa, it seemed a sound theory that this Hollow might have “attacked” Gloriosa’s mother at some point, perhaps with the intention of creating this very link to control Gloriosa.  It might be a power specific to this Hollow, though. I’m just stuck guessing without more information, and Gloriosa’s in no mental state for twenty questions. I have to get her and Timber away from that thing... Taking a deep, calming breath, Sunset made sure to keep her sword down and in a non-threatening position, while also making sure her shield was at the ready, just in case. She spoke in a slow, soothing voice, and maintained eye contact with Gloriosa. “Gloriosa, please listen to me. Whatever voice you’re hearing in your head, you can’t trust it. I want to help you and Timber. My friend Fluttershy can heal your brother, I promise. I just need you to step away from that... thing, and come back to the surface with me.” A crooked twitch that was half sardonic smile, half angered grimace played its way across the bits of Gloriosa’s lower face still not covered by the Hollow mask, and her tone was acidically bitter. “Can’t trust it? Can’t trust you or anyone else either, can I? Oh, Twilight Sparkle promised to keep my home safe, and look at what happened! Hah...hahah... destroyed and ruined, all of it.” “I... I know, and I’m sorry it happened,” Sunset said, truly meaning it. She’d never wanted Gloriosa’s home to become a battleground, even though she’d known the risks of aiding Adagio and Twilight’s plans. Sunset had wanted to protect Camp Everfree and everyone in it, but Timber Spruce’s blood slowly dripping to the chamber floor was proof enough she, nor her friends, had managed to succeed in protecting everyone.  She kept her eyes locked on Gloriosa’s accusing, dark stare, not willing to look away from it. “We shouldn’t have put your home or family in danger. I can’t change how all of this has reached this point, but I’m telling you the truth when I say all I want to do is help you and Timber right now. There’s a Hollow messing with your head, Gloriosa, and while I can’t be sure how it got in there, I know that if you can just trust me for a little bit longer, I can help your brother, and help you. I just need you to fight that voice. Whatever it’s trying to tell you, it has to be a lie.” It did, didn’t it? Sunset didn’t actually know who or what this Hollow was. Adagio was proof enough that not all Hollows were monsters, but could Sunset even consider the possibility that this Hollow was trying to help Gloriosa in some fashion?  Even as she considered that notion, Gloriosa herself flinched, closing her eyes and shaking her head as if an internal pain there had intensified. She stumbled backwards, but soon caught herself and held her brother even more tightly to her chest, black and yellow eyes glaring at Sunset. “You think I don’t know, but I do. I planted my beautiful flowers all over my forest. And she could see through them, too. She heard, and knows. Your friends with the monsters that brought this to my forest! And... and Twilight Sparkle knew, too. She helped plan it. Even as she was pretending to help me...” “No, Gloriosa, Twilight was trying to help you! So am I! I won’t lie to you. Yes, my friends and I were helping her and a... an Arrancar friend rescue someone from the Soul Reapers, but we never intended for that to end up causing so much destruction-” “Well it DID!” Gloriosa shouted, and her voice was amplified dozens of time’s over. Her body became coiled in intense green light, and the geodes around her neck floated up, not clear of her, but suspended as if under a harsh breeze as the ground started to shake beneath Gloriosa’s feet. Her hair rose like flickering flames, framing her enraged features. “You! All of you! Quincy! Soul Reapers! Hollows! You destroyed my home! You’re destroying my forest! My family’s legacy! My parent’s gift to me and Timber! This place is all we have left of them...” She was stepping backwards now, towards the cocoon of vines. Sunset saw the roots and vines shudder around the luminescent sac within, and she paled with horror as she saw the vines sprout thorns and then uncoil to start wrapping around Gloriosa and Timber Spruce. “Wait, Gloriosa! Don’t!” Sunset moved with an instantaneous Flash Step. She wanted to reason with Gloriosa, but if this required force, then force is what she’d use. She was careful to control the output of her flames, but she still slashed down hard, with a bright flaring of orange fire spilling from Hokori as she appeared next to Gloriosa and the vines trying to wrap around the other woman. Her Zanpaktou sliced cleanly through the vines, and almost instantly Sunset felt a burst of raw Hollow reiatsu push out from the cocoon in a violet wave that hammered her backwards. This was followed by a sound that was part sinuous, but raw and ragged female voice, and part monstrous howl. ”Begone, Soul Reaper. She has not chosen you. It is I who will fulfill her desires, as she shall mine. I will not tolerate your interference!” Sunset didn’t quite hit the wall of the chamber, instead managing to flip over and control her momentum so she landed just short of the wall instead. She saw the vines she’d cut were rapidly regrowing, with oozing, white sap boiling up to harden into fresh vine. The purple sac within the cocoon was pulsating further, it’s glow of light intensifying, and Sunset frowned as she noticed that the light spilled from the cocoon and flowed out from the center of the chamber along the floor in eerily familiar patterns. Are those... magical runes? It took her a second, but it quickly struck her realization that this chamber was carved with patterns forming a magical circle! She even recognized some of the spellwork from her studies back at Celestia’s school. A fairly fundamental technique used by unicorn spellcasters was the idea of transference circles. These magic circles were used most commonly when a spell required more magical energy than any one unicorn could handle alone, so multiple transference circles were created so a group of unicorns could shift their magic to a single spellcaster, essentially pooling the magical energy  needed for a larger ritual.  The problem here was that Sunset only saw part of the runes needed for a magical transference circle. There were a number of other runes she didn’t recognize at all, and they had a much harsher, jagged pattern to them that hurt her eyes to look upon them. She didn’t know what this Hollow was up to, or how it’d learned to carve these runes, but Sunset didn’t think for a moment this wasn’t related to the Kraken she and her friends had fought at the beach and the magic circle it had created in the ocean. Something big was about to go down, and somehow Gloriosa was at the center of it... or perhaps it was more the geodes that this Hollow was after? The mount of magic contained in those gems was truly incredible. If this Hollow got ahold of that power, it would be disastrous. But even more concerning, looking at the transference runes, Sunset got the impression this circle was set up to transfer magic both in and out of the circle. So if the magic wasn’t meant to be transferred in, but out... where was the magic going to go? Sunset had no intention of finding out. She was going to stop this right here and now! While this Hollow’s reiatsu seemed powerful while standing right next to it, it still wasn’t that strong by Sunset’s reckoning. Like something that was once mighty, but had lost much of its potency.  Even as the vines regrew and started towards Gloriosa once again, Sunset held Hokori aloft and focused her spirit energy into it. The burst of force from earlier had been absorbed partially into Hikari’s shield, so she had plenty of extra energy to put into her blade. While she had a few new techniques she hadn’t had a chance to make much use of yet, none of them were suited to this particular instance, so Sunset went with her old standby, the flames around her Zanpaktou turning a brilliant azure blue. ”Aoihi Senko!” Fortunately the Aoihi Senko gave her a lot of fine control over the intense blue flames that shot out of her slashing blade, allowing Sunset to concentrate them into a narrow jet no wider than a few feet, but all the more intense for the concentration. This meant she could avoid hitting Gloriosa while striking the cocoon dead on. She felt her flames hit their mark, and while the cocoon did resist them to a degree, Sunset could see the vines and roots charring and withering against her fire. The Hollow’s reiatsu was resilient, and Sunset wasn’t using her Bankai, but as long as Sunset kept this up she knew she’d eventually burn through. The Hollow’s voice let out an enraged and pained howl, but it seemed unable to actually do much other than make more roots grow down from the ceiling and start encasing it further. However it didn’t need to do anything, as Gloriosa acted on her own, crying out a fierce, “No!”  The geodes sparkled with power as Gloriosa gripped them and raised her other hand. Her body was now rimed with luminous green light, and her skin was darkening to a vibrant purple shade. Plant life burst into being on the ground, thick roots covered in thorns and crackling with green energy that was both magically and spiritually charged. The roots formed a shield in front of Sunset’s jet of fire, the magic and spirit energy managing to match Sunset’s power as the roots not only withstood the flames, but managed to sprout half a dozen offshoots that flew towards Sunset like thorny spears. Sunset was more than fast enough to Flash Step out of the way of the spearing vines, which impacted where she’d just been standing with enough force to shake the whole chamber, but it meant Sunset had to cease her attack to move to another position. Meanwhile, Gloriosa raved. “Why can’t you just leave us alone!?” she cried, her brother now held next to her in a set of gentle vines under her control as she aimed her hands like claws towards Sunset, “We were happy before all of you showed up. I... I had it all under control. We weren’t going to lose the camp. I was going to fix it. Just like mom and dad would have. I have to fix it. I can still make it right, I just need you all to go away!”  She lashed out with more thorn coated vines, making a ripping motions with her hands as dozens of them, all several feet thick, sprang from the ground and whipped towards Sunset in a dizzying pattern. Quarters were tight enough that even with Sunset’s speed advantage it wasn’t easy to avoid all of the tearing vines, and she relied on Hikari to block several that otherwise might have still struck her. That was fine by Sunset, as every blow on the shield only built up more energy for her to use.  Needing an opening to distract Gloriosa, Sunset focused on her sword for a second while rapidly Flash Stepping across the room. White flames wafted from Hokori, and swirled out from the blade. In between Flash Steps, another Sunset Shimmer took shape, a flame clone formed by her Shiroihi Yume technique. Sunset wasn’t practiced enough at this yet to form more than a handful of clones without them becoming unstable, but she only needed one here. To Gloriosa’s eyes it suddenly looked like two Sunsets were darting around the room, and the woman’s eyes flicked left and right in agitation as she tried to decide which to attack. Opting for both, Gloriosa split her vines between the pair, which was what Sunset had figured she’d do. With fewer vines coming at her, she was able to dart between them and get in close to the cocoon. Her flame clone was struck by the vines coming at it, and it dispersed into flickers of white fire, but it’d served the purpose of splitting Gloriosa’s attention, now that Sunset had gotten in front of the cocoon. She thrust her sword forward, seeking to impale the sac within the cocoon of vines and roots. However, standing on the opposite side of the cocoon, Gloriosa threw her hand back and touched the cocoon, and suddenly a growth of fresh vines burst from the cocoon and wrapped around Sunset’s Zanpaktou. “Dammit!” Sunset swore, igniting the flames around Hokori and channeling a burst of flames from them that incinerated the roots grasping her sword, but more were already snaking around either side of the cocoon and stabbing at her, forcing her back.  “Gloriosa!” she shouted, “Don’t you get that you're being controlled by this thing!?” The Hollow’s voice spoke now, loud as a thunderclap, yet somehow low and rasping as a whisper. ”That’s where you’re wrong, Soul Reaper. I’m not controlling her. I’m opening her eyes. The choice remains hers whether to take what I offer, or reject it. Do not fault her if she finds my offer better than yours.” “And what the hell are you offering her other than to take away her sense of self?” Sunset snarled, charging up another Aoihi Senko as her Zanpaktou erupted with bright blue fire. ”What are you offering other than the continued destruction of the forest both she and I consider home? Come, Gloriosa, join with me. Hurry, before this Soul Reaper takes away your last chance to protect our home.” “Don’t listen, Gloriosa! Aoihi Senko!” Sunset unleashed her attack, widening the jet of flame and bending it to try and come at the cocoon from an angle that Gloriosa couldn’t defend from. The flame bent and twisted like a living river, striking at the cocoon from an upward angle. Gloriosa tried to thicken the roots around the cocoon but Sunset’s attack broke through before the roots could fully form and started to burn into the sac itself. The Hollow howled, and Gloriosa growled, pouring more magic and spiritual energy into her hands as she slammed them into the ground like claws. Suddenly Sunset found the ground beneath her shift as a thick root as wide as a truck rose up beneath her with the force of an industrial car crusher, trying to smash her flat into the ceiling. She had to cease her attack on the cocoon in order to brace with Hikari, using the shield to block the root from crushing her all the way into the ceiling. She then shoved Hokori into the root and channeled an intense beam of fire through it, cutting the root in half. As it split apart and freed Sunset, she landed on the ground once more and turned towards the cocoon, and her eyes shot wide. Gloriosa had used the second or two Sunset had needed to get free of the root to step right up to the cocoon, which now wrapped it’s vines around her and Timber. “Gloriosa, wait!” Sunset cried, rushing forward. She managed to grasp Gloriosa’s arm, but a wall of thorns grew from the vines around Gloriosa, stabbing at Sunset and drawing several shallow wounds. Sunset doggedly held on, despite the pain, meeting Gloriosa’s eyes, “Please Gloriosa, let me help you!” The depths of Gloriosa’s eyes reflected the woman’s boiling over fears, desperation, and confusion, but as she was drawn towards the center of the cocoon, it was as if those emotions were being drained right out of her as her voice said in an almost dream-like state, “Don’t worry, Sunset. I got this.” Another raw burst of Hollow reiatsu hammered out from the cocoon, pushing Sunset away. Before she could recover, Gloriosa was pulled completely into the cocoon, merging with the sac within. Timber Spruce wasn’t absorbed into it, but he was gently wrapped with vines on the side of the cocoon like a child sleeping in a cradle.  Then, as Sunset watched, an unbelievable bright light flared from inside the cocoon, and every single rune within the carved magical circle flared to blindingly incandescent life.