Episode 122: Heir of the Quincy
Somewhere in Europe, roughly six centuries ago...
She sang for the congregation, as she always did. The village was built around it’s church, a collection of simple buildings that clustered up against the humble stone church with it’s single bell that tolled each day. She had few talents outside of a voice that could reach Heaven, or so the pastor told her with his kind smile. Much kinder than her parents, neither of whom had much use for a third daughter, let alone one too frail and weak to handle many chores at the farm, one of many that dotted the hilly fields surrounding the village. So the child found her worth by singing for the people who came to the church, and helping the kind pastor with the happy smile with getting around town. He was an old man, who could not walk well, even with his stout wooden cane.
That morning was the same as many others that summer. Clear of clouds, with a hazy heat that baked the ground. Little wonder many sought the church’s comfort. It was a hotter summer than most, and many waited and prayed to the Lord for rain to come.
But no rain came that morning either. Instead, the soldiers came.
She remembered the pounding upon the church doors, so thunderous and loud that it startled her mid-note. Heads turned, fearful, uneasy. Rumors had spread all through the village of the wars. To the girl’s ears the stories sounded so distant. Things for cities and places more important than a nameless village in the middle of nowhere. But in one sharp instant a new, bloody reality entered the girl’s life. It was etched in her mind like char on wood. The pastor’s kind demeanor, never changing even as he asked the men in armor and bearing naked swords what they wanted, his calm never wavering even as villagers were dragged out and lined up in the dusty streets outside.
The girl was taken outside as well, and she remembered the pain in her arm as the soldier gripped too tightly, bruising flesh as she was thrown together with the others. In the way children do, she asked nicely if the soldiers wanted to hear her sing?
They didn’t.
She had no idea what provoked them. Why the slaughter began. Why the burning started. It was like there was no reason for it at all. Just a matter of course, to the soldiers in their shiny armor, and blood stained swords. Did they want food? Did they seek to alleviate boredom? Was the village part of the soldier’s enemy country? Did they not love the same God? These were questions the girl asked herself later, but in the moment, there was only fear, and prayer for deliverance.
And deliverance came. It came in a flash of darkness.
The girl remembered the blood on her face as the soldier who had shoved her to the ground fell away, his chest pierced by an arrow of pure black.
The soldiers were fleeing in terror, cut down one at a time by arrows, mostly of shining blue, but the girl’s eyes followed the black arrows, which seemed to seek the soldiers with a wrathful fury. None of the soldiers in their bright armor survived, and in there place came new soldiers. These were men (and women!?) not in armor, but in white uniforms as pure as snow. In their hands gleamed bows of ethereal blue, captivating the girl.
Then from among them rode a man upon a midnight black horse, his own sooty skin matching that of his steed. Without being told, she knew this was the man who fired the black arrow that saved her life. Without being told, she knew to consider this man her ‘Savior’.
His first words to her were spoken in a soft voice, kind like the pastor, who had been among the first to die.
“I’m sorry, child. We should have been here sooner. Do you know where your parents are?”
At the farm, she assumed, but seeing all the smoke in the sky, she realized much more might be burning than the village. The kind man, her Savior, reached down with his hand to her, his smile unwavering, “Come, we’ll find them, if we can. If not, you will have a place among us.”
He was true to his word. They found her parents, although they were no longer among the living. And he did give her a place among his own people, as he did all of the survivors of that village and others that suffered during the wars that plagued Europe at the time. The girl grew older, and the fervor born in her heart that day to serve and protect her Savior grew with her. She devoted herself, mind, heart, body, and soul to him, and in time, became favored in his eyes.
She learned the arts of the Quincy. She earned her place as a Sternritter. She sang for him, when she could, still her truest talent, in her eyes.
She served faithfully alongside her King, her Savior, on and on through the decades. She understood that to grow the Quincy’s power required generations of inheritance, but in a few cases, certain talents and skills were preserved in an individual like herself, including the uniqueness of her Schrift. Although she harbored a deep held desire to still contribute to the bloodlines of the Quincy, there was only one who she would ever consider bearing a child for.
Yet he fell in love with another. Radiant Hope. A name impossible for her to forget.
No other person alive could have been more hated by Sapphire Shores, yet also loved, for she knew the peace that Radiant Hope brought to her Savior; King Sombra. Sapphire Shores even willingly and happily officiated their wedding, for how could she not? The man she loved with all her soul was happy, so the fact that he chose another... meant nothing.
Nothing, until the visions. Her Schrift’s unique power gave her glimpses of what could, or even likely would, be. Sombra did not rely on her visions but also did not ignore them when she brought them to his attention. She considered herself his ‘prophetess’, but he grasped that the future was ever in flux. It meant that telling him every vision she had was not always the wisest course, or so she believed. She had to serve him in her own way, and protect him from threats he might not wish to acknowledge.
That was when certain Quincy might have... accidents. In battle, usually. It was easier that way. Seeds of rebellion were silenced early. Bloodlines that would lead to erratic deviations in Quincy powers were cut off before the parents could even meet each other. Like a gardener tending to weeds, Sapphire Shores helped her King, her Savior, the man she loved, tend his garden without him even knowing it. Most of the time it was easy to cover up a death as an unfortunate loss in battle, or a freak accident, or sudden Hollow ambush. And most of the time she didn’t have to go that far. Even a few well chosen words could dissuade certain Quincy from matching with each other, altering bloodlines, or quash thoughts that ran counter to Sombra’s designs.
The only time she regretted having her power was when she’d seen the future of Radiant Hope and King Sombra. It was the only time she’d doubted her vision, and failed to act upon it. In some ways, that alone cost Radiant Hope her life. But that, too, prevented the disaster Sapphire Shores’ foresaw. .
An heir who would slay her own father? Unbelievable. Yet the vision had been clear. Radiant Hope had been with child, and if the child had been born, she would have grown into one who would usurp and destroy her father.
To this day Sapphire Shores could not decide whether she’d actively desired Radiant Hope’s death or not. She hadn’t plotted it. Hadn’t planned it, like she had with others. No, she simply... didn’t act, when the time came. When her vision also granted her insight to an ambush upon the field hospital that Radiant Hope was overseeing, while Sombra was away mounting a defense against a Hollow incursion elsewhere, all Sapphire Shore had to do was keep silent and let events play out. Sombra still tried to save his love, of course, and nearly succeeded, if not for Soul Reaper interference. In the aftermath, no one could cast blame at Sapphire Shores.
After all, her visions didn’t always come when she wanted them to.
Sapphire Shores had hated herself for a long time for her indecision, and could do nothing to sooth her Savior’s pain and rage in the days to follow. Yet she’d felt certain over time that what occurred that day removed a threat, one too large to be ignored.
Or so she had thought. She had never anticipated that not only would Radiant Hope’s soul be reborn both among the Soul Reapers and the Quincy, but that the unborn child’s soul would also be reborn in the form of Twilight Sparkle. And unbeknownst to Sombra, Sapphire Shore’s visions showed her what lurked inside Twilight; the Eye.
An unholy amalgamation, in Sapphire Shore’s view. A part of Radiant Hope's soul, the Eye of the Soul Queen, and the nascent soul of the heir that was destined to slay King Sombra. All born together into a young Quincy girl who’s raw talent and power was only further bastardized and given unholy might by the foreign magic from the world of Equestria.
If she’d been indecisive when it came to Radiant’ Hope’s death, that indecision faded rapidly in the face of the resurgent vision that Twilight Sparkle would bring about her King’s downfall.
If Night Light and Twilight Velvet weren’t both so utterly vigilant and protective of their daughter, Sapphire Shores may well have found a way to snuff Twilight Sparkle out early in the girl’s life, but the opportunity never presented itself. In fact, rather infuriatingly, the girl’s existence confounded the power of her Quintessence. She could still sense the terrible conclave of reishi interactions that would lead to King Sombra’s death, still sense the moment to moment interactions around the child, but longer term predictions elsewhere were a muddled mess.
It made planning her assassination far more difficult than it had any right to be. It meant that, after repeated failures by her fellow conspirators, Sapphire Shores had thrown away all sense of consequence of caution and decided to end this matter herself.
Whatever happened to her after this was irrelevant. She would gladly accept execution at the hands of her Savior. After all, Sombra had given her new life, he had every right to take it away. But not until after he was safe from the abomination that was Twilight Sparkle.
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Ethereal silver light poured forth from the place Sapphire Shores had been standing, as if the glow of a thousand moons had been distilled into a churning sea of light. Twilight Sparkle could all but choke upon the spiritual pressure flowing from that spot, and felt a slender, icicle stab of unease in her heart. Even with Cadence by her side, and Soarin and Filthy Rich ready to fight as well, with Starswirl also an ally if only for the moment... Twilight still felt as if it wasn’t enough for what was coming.
“Cadence,” she said, knowing time was short, “Tell me, what are we actually facing?”
Her friend, usually so ready with a comforting smile or a casual quip was now wearing a mask of stiff dread, “The Vollstandig of a Schuztstaffle does more than increase a Quincy’s power. It removes any barrier between their human body and their soul, and brings out the full power of the Schrifts granted to us by His Majesty. To use it leaves one permanently changed, no longer able to fully return to being human... Sapphire Shores, she has cast aside her humanity to kill us.”
“Then we’d best do all in our power to kill her right back,” Filthy Rich said, exposing his Sanrei Glove, light already pouring from it’s Quincy cross, “Because I certainly have no plans to die today!”
Soarin looked to Cadence and nodded, raising his own hand with his Sanrei Glove upon it. Cadence, still grim faced, did the same, but looked swiftly to Twilight as the girl started to expose her own Sanrei Glove.
“No Twilight, you can’t do that.”
“But what else can do I?” Twilight said, not able to keep the desperate strain out of her voice, “The only other option is magic...”
As if understanding just what Twilight meant, Cadence forcibly shuddered until she was able to bring out a calming smile, “Then use magic, Twilight. You’re the only one who can, and it’s something you understand better than anyone here. Let the rest of us protect you in the only way we can, so you can find a way to win this.”
She wanted to ask ‘What if I can’t?’, but Twilight had grown past the point where she could allow herself that question. Her friends, her family, her own life, all of it was on the line, now. A memory of her mother’s fallen body, surrounded by blood, played through Twilight’s mind. Never again would she let someone she cared for die in front of her. There was no more time for doubts. Cadence was right. Twilight was the only one who could use magic, and magic was the only weapon here that could hope to grant them an edge against Sapphire Shores.
Tell me you’re ready, because I sure as hell know I am, said Midnight in her mind, and Twilight responded with a quiet nod.
You win. I’ll trust you. But we have to wait until the right moment, when Sapphire Shores’ guard will be down. So please wait, just a bit longer, and give me what magic you can until we get our opening. Then... you can hit her with everything you’ve got.
Midnight laughed in her mind, Music to my ears. Well then, let’s see what this bitch can do.
Around her three pillars of solid white light sprang up as Soarin, Filthy Rich, and Cadence all activated their own Vollstandigs. A few moments of blinding light played out and Twilight was able to see all three Sternritter emerge from their pillars of light in full, gleaming glory. She recalled Cadence’s appearance from the brief time she’d seen her in Las Noches, with the four butterfly shaped wings of scintillating light, the heart shaped halo, and crystalline blue armor ending in an ornate arm bow of the same material.
Soarin’s Vollstandig was far less ostentatious by comparison, consisting of two wings formed from what looked like streaks of cloud, forked through with blue bolts of light. His halo was a similar, circular wisp of cloud, filled in the center by the shape of a Quincy cross. Upon his uniform were wafting trails of cloud that seemed to react to every tiny vibration in the air. In Soarin’s hand his bow, shaped like a pair of feathered wings, also trailed wisps of cloud-like white reishi.
Grid-like patterns of gold light flowed from the three wings appearing upon Filthy Rich’s back, which were shaped like elongated hexagons, one forming from each shoulder and the third rising directly from the center of his back. A golden waistcoat, trimmed in white, formed over his uniform and connected to his wings through long, gold wires that rose from the chest and wrapped over his shoulders. The shape of his halo was a gold Quincy cross, but at it’s front end it extended down a glass-like screen over Filthy Rich’s left eye, which shone with scrawls of glowing text. His ‘bow’, or rather his musket, was held up in a ready-to-fire position, it’s form altered now to incorporate multiple glowing hexagons of reishi attached along the length of it’s barrel.
A voice hammered the air like an echo bounced across a vast cavern, Sapphire Shore’s humming tone reaching out from the center of the dazzling light in front of the group.
“It is tragic, truly. All I ever desired was to serve my King, but to do so I’ve had either the choice to turn a blind eye to all that could harm him, or do what only I could do. I’m am the King’s Prophet, for my eyes see through to the truth. Twilight Sparkle, I know what you really are. It is not your fault that you were born. Yet it is a mistake I must correct, here, and now...”
Twilight hadn’t known what to expect to see once the gleaming light finally dimmed, and she for a moment wasn’t certain what to make of what she was looking at once it had. Vollstandig certainly changed a Quincy’s appearance to a degree, but mostly that was in the form of the wings, a halo, some minor cosmetic alterations to one’s clothes or bow perhaps. But this... what Sapphire Shores had become...?
The first obvious difference was her size. Sapphire Shore’s body was now easily three times it’s original height, and she hadn’t been a short woman to begin with. That by itself might not have been strange, as Rutherford’s Schrift let him grow to prodigious heights, but there was far more than that in terms of changes. Sapphire’s skin, indeed her entire body, had gained a silver, metallic sheen, as if she was a statue cast from pure metal. Upon her body was etched engravings of wings and eyes, a massive Quincy cross forged in the center of her chest, it’s five points each bearing a shining white eye. Her elfin features were similarly cast in silver, a metal beauty, but whose eyes were covered in silver wings that grew from the back of her head and wrapped around to form a feathery blindfold for her once human eyes. More wings sprouted from her back, eight in total, and they too were formed from silver, yet had a more liquid quality, like mercury trying to hold a solid shape. More gleaming eyes of white light dotted these wings, trailing lines of reishi like drops of water. Saphire’s legs were changed as well, as just below her knee the limbs transformed into massive mercury wings, covered in glowing eyes just as the ones from her back. Her arms were longer than humanly normal, oddly bent at the elbows and ending in hands bearing eyes on the backs of them. Each hand had unusually long fingers, and in the left hand was Sapphire’s bow. It was still made of liquid silver, but now consisted of six crescents that merged together around a central, shining white orb that bore multiple white eye images engraved upon it.
Although she still bore the humanoid, feminine figure of a human woman, that was about all that was left of Sapphire Shores that could be called human at this point. The rest was like looking upon some kind of strange, angelic horror forged from pure silver and white metal, who exuded a powerful spiritual pressure that was as chilling and potent as anything Twilight had ever felt outside of being in Sombra’s presence.
And when all of that spiritual pressure focused upon her like a lance, Twilight knew she was in serious trouble. There was hardly a moment for her to react when Sapphire Shores’ unnaturally long fingers drew back upon her six-crescent bow and the air filled with a silver ringing like a hundred church bells going off at once. From the bow fired a dizzying array of countless silver strands, and Twilight felt herself almost freeze in place trying to even count the numbers converging towards her.
Filthy Rich was able to react faster than the rest, his Vollstandig having enhanced his Schrift to the point that he could create objects using the Mason with just the barest bits of reishi, effectively multiplying reishi particles and drawing in physical air particles to combine them to create a solid wall of what appeared to be glass, but was hard enough to resist the titanic impact of Sapphire’s attack. At least for a moment. The strands, filled with the power of her Quintessence, broke apart and sublimated the reishi of the dome within a second and broke through.
Fortunately one second was more than enough delay for Twilight to act, flying back with a swift Hirenkyaku as she charged raw magic into her Hexenfaust, lighting her entire arm up with teal and purple edged energy.
“Reishi attacks won’t work on her!” she shouted to her compatriots, “I’m going to try infusing you all with magic!”
“Huh!?” Soarin said, “Magic? Won’t that be dangerous!”
He was cut off as several dozen of Sapphire’s reishi strands homed in on him, forcing the Sternritter to go into a series of fast evasive maneuvers, aided by his Echo providing him an extra layer of sensory warning for strands that tried to get around his side or behind him.
Twilight had no time to answer questions or even really ask herself how smart an idea this was. She was relying on Midnight’s knowledge of spells, more than anything, and the theoretical notion that magic spells existed to enhanced objects, or even people, in Equestria. So without hesitation she started firing magically charged arrows at her companions, each arrow carrying with it a complex magical circle around it’s tip.
Cadence didn’t try to dodge the arrow coming her way, showing complete trust. Filthy Rich and Soarin both looked more hesitant, but Soarin was too busy trying to dodge other things to worry about Twilight’s arrow, and Filthy Rich seemed hesitant to move too far from the stationary prisoners to consider evading. Starswirl himself just raised and eyebrow as an arrow came his way too, seeming more intrigued than worried.
As all four arrows hit, Twilight’s spell, boosted in power by the Variable, activated. The magical circles from each arrow merged into the Sternritter wherever the arrow hit, the arrow itself inflicting no damage as its energy was fused with the spell and helped charge it. The magic crests now flared with bright purple light, and each Sternritter was surrounded with a flickering glow of magic. Twilight could feel the magical energies trying to mesh with the Quincy’s spirit energy, and it took almost all of her focus to keep the spell from falling apart. Fortunately it stabilized not a moment too soon, for Sapphire Shores stepped forward, and in an instant became a silver flash that crossed into the center of the group and the woman turned, her eight wings flaring out around her.
“There is no victory here, don’t you understand that!? Even if you defeat me, you’ll only be setting our King upon a path to his death! How can any of you want that!? Why are you all so blind!?”
The dozens of eyes upon her wings flashed, and numerous beams of light shot forth like a galaxy of stars flares, the silver beams consisting of such pure reishi that Twilight couldn’t even be sure it was the same as conventional reishi. In fact, given the nature of this transformation, and the way it had empowered Sapphire Shore’s Schrift, Twilight had a hunch that the power she was seeing was akin to what Sombra had wielded... or rather, the Soul Queen’s Consort. Still a fragment of it, true, but a fragment enhanced to the point of being more akin to a dagger, as opposed to a fully fledged sword.
Her fascination was somewhat hindered by the fact that she had to throw all she had into bursts of speed to weave through the deadly storm of silver beams, and she simply wasn’t fast enough as one beam nearly hit her dead on and forced her to throw up a magical barrier, which still shattered under the beam’s contact and Twilight felt hot blood pour out of her side as her hip was scored deeply.
“Twilight!” Cadence shouted, blinking in and out of view as she too dodged the beams and retaliated, her butterfly wings generating potent prismatic rays that were also infused with a glow of magic from Twilight’s spell. Sapphire Shores bent several of her wings like a shield to absorb the rays fired by Cadence, and there was a ripple in the air from the impacts as if the beams were entering a pool of water. Even with the pain of her wound distracting her, Twilight could see much of the reishi in Cadence’s attack was being bled away before impact, but she also noted that not all of it was halted. Some of the beams, still infused with her magic, did score away a few of Sapphire Shores’ feathers.
It wasn’t much, but it was proof that, with magical assistance, Sapphire Shores was not immune to their attacks!
As if seeing this for themselves and feeling emboldened by the fact, Soarin, Filthy Rich, and Starswirl all mounted their own offensives.
To Twilight’s surprise, Filthy Rich used his teeth to bite his own wrist open and then fling blood into the air. Using the solid material of his own blood droplets, he instantly created a large fortress tower that spread out beneath him, it’s surface covered in hatches that soon opened up to expose lines of muskets akin to his own. Using his own musket like a signal, Filthy Rich fired off a fusillade of bullets, all magically charged.
Conveniently the tower stood protectively in front of Spoiled Rich and Gladmane, both still immobile from Twilight’s binding spell.
As the barrage of bullets slammed into Sapphire Shores, she screamed like a banshee, more rage than any actual pain as the bullets seemed to mostly bounce off her metallic body, and she fired a concentrated beam that bent and lashed like a whip up and down the tower Filthy Rich had made, causing it to fall apart an instant later.
Soarin had flown behind Sapphire Shores, his wings beating loudly with huge flaps that generated noises like thunder. Noise, Twilight noted, that seemed to actually stick with the young Sternritter. His Schrift alone could not make sound waves, but his body, and his Vollstandig, could, and with the Echo he controlled that sound to start building up a massive vibrating sphere of force that was faintly lined with purple magic, which he then fired by aiming his bow towards Sapphire Shores and letting loose an arrow that with strands of reishi dragged the ‘Sound Bomb’ along with it.
With a derisive sound, Sapphire flung her right hand towards the sphere of vibrating noise and sent uncountable strands of silver reishi into the sphere, dismantling it like heat melting cotton candy. However Twilight’s magic still carried portions of the sound waves forward like a breaking wave, slamming into Sapphire Shores and causing her to stumble. Not a lot, but enough that Starswirl was able to get right in front of the woman and swing his Zanpaktou in a wide arc.
Magic lined liquid splashed forth, acidic chemicals that doused Sapphire and started to sizzle on her metallic flesh. Yet Sapphire was unfazed, one of her winged legs kicking out in a blinding, steel flash. The wing leg acted like a blade, cutting Starswirl across the chest as he Flash Stepped backwards, leaving a trail of blood falling through the air in his wake.
Twilight joined in the attack, feeling the last embers of the magic she could sustain alone flagging as she started teleporting around Sapphire, blasting away with barrages of magically charged arrows. Sapphire laughed in a bellowing voice as she countered with sickening speed, beams from the eyes of her wings slicing Twilight’s arrows out of the air. Sapphire Shore’s reiatsu continued to rise, making the whole silvery prison dimension shake as she kept laughing, although it was a laugh filled with a strange delirium and pain.
“Hahah! I didn’t want her to die, you know!? She made him so happy and I loved her for that! And hated her, because she wasn’t ME! But I would have loved you too, Twilight, if only you hadn’t been a threat to him! I’d have cared for you like my own, if you brought joy into his life! But you won’t, so I have to kill you, hehehe, it’s all I have left!”
Moving quicker than any could react to, Sapphire Shores rushed Twilight like an out of control shooting star. Twilight barely had a millisecond to raise a protective shield of magic around her body and switch from Blut Arterie to Blut Vene, covering her body in patterns of red before Sapphire Shore’s speared her with both leg wings, essentially delivering a super-sonic drop kick.
Twilight felt her lungs lose all air, her ribs crack, and her body fly uncontrollably past the speed of sound as it was sent rocketing towards the edge of the prison dimension. She nearly blacked out, and was only able to stay conscious due to Midnight all but screaming inside her head.
Twilight! That’s it! We can’t wait for an opening! We can’t wait for her to have her guard down! Stop being SCARED of me and let me take control, or we are doing to DIE!
Even with Midnight’s voice pounding in her skull, Twilight was too dazed for a few moments to do more than vaguely flail her limbs. She became aware of her body hitting something surprisingly soft and stretchy, however, and a second later blinked her bleary eyes into focus to see Filthy Rich and Starswirl standing protectively in front of her. She’d hit some kind of elastic netting, it’s red color suggesting Filthy Rich had made the net with his blood to catch her.
“Still alive, Twilight Sparkle?” he asked, and she coughed out a sputtering reply.
“Hmm, this enhanced transformation you Quincy’s have produced is quite potent,” Starswirl muttered, applying some kind of blue, syrup-like liquid that dripped from his Zanpaktou to his chest wound, “Defeating it will require a means of bypassing that Schrift, and Miss Sparkle’s magic doesn’t seem to be giving enough oomph for the task.”
Presently Soarin and Cadence both were flying swiftly around Sapphire Shores, the former loosing vibrating arrows that were forming a circle around Sapphire at head level, while the latter was firing crystal bolts from her arm crossbow that upon impact were scattering a pink fog that engulfed Sapphire. This did little to slow Sapphire down, but it did distract her as Soarin triggered his circle of arrows to generate several waves of sonic vibration that bounced off each other and slammed into Sapphire Shore’s head.
However Sapphire flapped her eight wings with such incredible force that the shock-waves alone blasted away the pink fog from Cadence’s arrows, which Twilight assumed must have contained elements of the Lust inside it, and even appeared to counteract the sound waves that the Echo had magnified. Even at a distance Twilight felt the impact of the shock waves from Sapphire’s wings, her already injured body near doubling over. She heard faint cracking noises behind her, and realized that the very walls of the prison dimension were slowly breaking under the strain of the battle.
Filthy Rich grimaced, looking at Starswirl, “I’m not thrilled battling one of my own alongside a Soul Reaper, but if you have a plan, I’m all ears.”
“I do believe Miss Sparkle is the key to victory, but only if she can generate enough magic to suspend your comrade’s powers or create an opening for us to inflict actual damage, or otherwise subdue her with one of your own Schrifts. Well, Miss Sparkle, how much ‘gas’ do you have left in the tank?”
Starswirl’s expression was strangely soft, encouraging, and desperate all rolled together. He knew he was pinning everything upon her, and knew there was no other choice, and his eyes told her that he understood that pressure and actually believed in her ability to do what needed to be done. He couldn’t have known all of the details of the relationship between Twilight and Midnight, but if Starswirl had been studying the situation at Canterlot High he might have suspected she had more power inside her. Oddly, his trusting and encouraging gaze made her feel like she was back in school, with a professor showing their confidence in her ability to ace a test or term paper.
“I... I do,” she said, regaining her breath, ignoring the taste of blood on her lips, “Just need a second.”
“We’ll buy you at least thirty,” said Filthy Rich, flourishing his musket and glancing at Starswirl, “Come on, Soul Reaper. We must buy the good lady some time.”
“I’ll do my level best to keep up,” Starswirl chuckled dryly, and with that the pair charged in at Sapphire, joining Cadence and Soarin in their attempts to keep the woman at bay.
And Twilight Sparkle placed the hand of the Hexenfaust over her heart, took a deep breath, and called out to the magic within, and the alter-ego she both feared, and knew she needed to rely upon.
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Rarity infinitely preferred having a task to focus upon at the moment, since it helped stave off the looming thoughts concerning her present... condition. All of those unpleasant emotions were being neatly sewn up and compartmentalized in their own little panic room, to be let out at a to-be-determined date. Right now she had entirely too many friends in danger of also having a ‘condition’ for her to have a breakdown.
The task in front of her was trying to figure out a weak point in this massive silver sphere, but thus far her luck on that front had been wanting. She’d brought out a few knights to keep watch for danger while she extended small crystalline filaments like a latticework all across the sphere’s surface, gently probing it’s reiatsu to try and understand it’s structure. In some ways the structure was quite simple, but it was dense, with the reishi consisting it’s form so heavily packed that there was practically no room to probe. The reishi was also volatile. It was as if this space was more than a prison...
Before Rarity could finish that thought one of her knight’s sent a signal her way and she saw through it’s senses, seeing a figure rapidly approaching from the south, where that giant tree was.
Rarity swiftly recognized Fluttershy, feeling her friend’s reiatsu well before the girl came into view. When Fluttershy arrived, Rarity turned to her with a smile she hoped looked natural and not horribly forced, “Fluttershy, I’m glad to see you’re still alright. What happened back at the camp? I couldn’t help but notice there’s a striking new terrain feature.”
She made a faint gesture towards the tree. Fluttershy nodded, but her eyes were unusually focused upon Rarity. She could feel her friend’s gaze piercing straight into her and Rarity near broke out into a sweat. Then Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, her expression going quite frightfully calm.
“The tree was made by a Hollow that’s become one with Miss Daisy.”
“What? That’s... quite unexpected. I’d ask how, but I suspect the answer wouldn’t help in this instance. But what’s happening? Is Sunset still there?”
“Sunset and Clover are facing Miss Daisy right now,” Fluttershy confirmed, “She asked me to get you and the rest of the girls so we could come help as soon as possible. But it looks like you have your own problem right here.”
“Yes, this sphere is going to be trouble,” Rarity said, turning back to it, “Twilight is trapped inside and I think she’s fighting-”
“I didn’t mean the sphere, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, her eyes unblinking, like two clear pools of water.
Rarity stiffened, gulped, and looked back at her, “W-what do you, um, mean?”
Fluttershy’s response was just to approach her in two short, swift steps, and throw her arms, all six of them, into a tight, gentle hug around Rarity. Fluttershy’s voice was filled with both an ocean of comfort and a mountain of sorrow, yet still somehow managed to maintain a calm, even pitch.
“I’m so sorry, Rarity. I wish I had come with you. I could have stopped this.”
“...No, no Fluttershy,” Rarity said, hugging her friend back just as tightly, “There’s no way to know if it would have made a difference. Please, just try not to tell anyone else yet, please? Rainbow already knows, but I don’t want anyone distracted when there’s still a crisis to deal with.”
“I figured you’d say that,” Fluttershy replied, stepping back, offering Rarity a smile that was worth a million tubs of comfort ice cream, “I’ll keep quiet, but I had to do that, first. Now, let’s have a look at this sphere.”
Rarity was grateful beyond words, both for Fluttershy’s understanding, her kind comfort, and the fact that Fluttershy was able to switch tracks so quickly. There really did seem to be a newfound maturity and confidence in her usually timid friend, and Rarity for one was happy to see it. It made her want to work on a new ensemble for Fluttershy, something perhaps in a business suit style? Rarity shoved aside any bleak notions that she might not so easily be able to use her sewing room anymore and instead focused on watching Flutteshy work.
Approaching the sphere, Fluttershy created several golden hands from the halo that shone behind her and let the ethereal gold limbs explore the sphere’s surface. Unlike Rarity’s lattice of red crystal, Fluttershy’s limbs of spirit energy pressed their palms against specific points in swift, hard motions that were still somehow as gentle as the movements of a hummingbird.
“Hmm, the reishi here is so unstable,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t think whoever made this thought it out very well, or maybe they just made it in a rush?”
“Do you think you could open it?” Rarity asked, and Fluttershy frowned.
“I don’t know if I should try. My Fullbring can affect spirit energy, and is much better at it now than it was before, but this sphere is like an angry, wounded bear. Poke it wrong, and it’ll get nasty.”
“I was afraid of that,” Rarity said, crossing her arms in thought, but then she sensed several more reiatsu signatures coming their way, this time from the north, “Oh? Fluttershy, I think that’s Applejack and Pinkie Pie!”
“It is,” Flutteshy confirmed, not looking away from her examination of the sphere, “And Sweet Cider is with them.”
“I hope that means everything turned out okay over there,” Rarity said, tensing up slightly at her own words as her eyes cast about to look across the entire expanse of the forest, mountains, and what was once Camp Everfree’s lake, “There’s been so many battles, it’s been impossible to keep track of it all. Aside from this sphere, and the tree, I’m not sensing any other spikes of reiatsu. Are you?”
“No,” replied Fluttershy, appearing less ruffled by it all, like a leaf calmly floating along with the current of events, “For better or worse, I think it will all be over soon.”
“Well, that’s not an ominous way of saying it at all.”
“Oh, um, sorry,” Fluttershy said, a hint of her more usual shyness peeking forth, “I just meant I don’t think there’s any more trouble spots other than whatever’s happening here with Twilight, and dealing with Miss Daisy.”
A few moments later, in a flash of cobalt lightning, Rainbow Dash appeared. Riding piggyback on her was Pinkie Pie, whom Rarity immediately noticed looked quite a bit different in a rather colorful jester’s get-up and half mask, and carrying a different looking hammer.
“Rarity!” Pinkie Pie cried, jumping off an annoyed looking Rainbow Dash and hopping over to her. Pinkie did a near mirror of Fluttershy’s hug, although one handed since she was carrying her hammer with the other. “It’ll all be okay, okay!?”
Does everybody already know!?, Rarity shot a wide eyed look at Rainbow Dash, who rapidly shook her head and mouthed the words ‘I didn’t say anything!’
Before Rarity could question that, the mask shifted on Pinkie Pie’s face, flowing from white to black as it shifted sides, and an altogether more razor sharp gaze met Rarity’s as Pinkie said, “Never mind Pinkie. She’s freaked out, but we’ll put a zipper on her lips for now.”
“Mena, you don’t need to do that,” said Pinkie again, and Rarity rapidly figured out that for some reason her friend’s split personality was merged back into Pinkie’s body, explaining the rapid mental shifts and the mask moving back and forth, “I’m not gonna blab. Just really, really want to get today over with.”
Sweet Cider and Applejack brought up the rear of the group, the Soul Reaper Captain herself looking like she’d been through a literal meat grinder. Rarity was amazed the woman was still able to move at all with all of the injuries, let alone still carry her swords... wait, when did she get two of them? And Applejack...
“Oh my, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, you both look quite stunning, if I may say so,” Rarity said, giving Applejack’s armor an appraising look, “A bit more gold than I would have picked for you, darling, but you certainly make it work for you.”
Applejack’s face was stiff with awkwardness as she scratched the back of her head, her eyes fixed on Rarity up and down, “Ummm, eheh, y-yeah, I guess so. An’ yer not such a sore sight either, what with the white hair n’ dress. Them fancy lookin’ knight fellas yers too?”
Rarity felt a twinge of relief inside her, noting that Applejack might have been giving her a strange look, but didn't seem to actually know the truth. Applejack's shifting glance seemed to have more to do with just being embarrassed about Rarity's compliment.
“Yes, and I can summon quite a few more of these loyal beauties, too. I’m a bit iffy on the white hair, honestly, but I do suppose it brings out the color in my eyes,” Rarity said, almost glad to have even a brief moment of normal conversation. Of course such things couldn’t last long under the present circumstances, as made evident when Sweet Cider strode forward a few steps and nodded towards the silver sphere.
“Hmph, definitely looks like Quincy work ta me. Ya say yer Quincy ally's in there? ”
“Yes, our friend, Twilight, was trapped inside with what we think is someone who’s been out to kill her. Your fellow Captain, Starswirl, is in there as well, I think,” Fluttershy said, her eyes flickering towards Sweet Cider’s terribly wounded body, her gaze lingering on the stab wound in the woman’s stomach, “Do you want me to heal you?”
Sweet Cider’s face, blood and sweat stained, flinched but she shook her head, “I ain’t keelin’ over just yet. Ya sure ‘bout yer pal bein’ stuck in there along with Captain Starswirl?”
“Me and Rares can pretty much confirm that,” said Rainbow Dash, “Saw Twilight and the old Captain dude, along with a few other Quincy fighting before this stupid marble appeared. I couldn’t scratch it when I tried breaking in.”
“That’s probably for the best,” said Fluttershy, her golden limbs still exploring the sphere’s surface, “I don’t think if we broke this shell, it would have pleasant results.”
“What do ya mean by that?” Sweet Cider asked.
Just as she did so, there was an unnaturally loud cracking sound, like a mirror splitting but put on full volume with reverberation. A few small splits appeared upon the sphere’s surface, spilling silver light. Fluttershy’s eyes widened, then narrowed in concentration as she directed her limbs of golden light to examine the cracks.
“Because the sphere is incredibly unstable, but charged with an equally dangerous amount of volatile reishi. The battle inside is destabilizing it. I don’t know how long it will hold together, but I’ll do what I can to keep it intact.”
“Why bother?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Let the thing crack open. That way we’ll be able to help out Twilight!”
“No, Rainbow,” said Fluttershy, her voice quietly intense, “If this sphere breaks, it will release all of that energy at once. I don’t think this is meant to be just a prison or barrier. I think it’s a bomb.”
----------
Twilight found herself once more within her own mindscape. The infinite plane of shadows, stars, and flashing purple strands of light seemed less foreboding than before, but still not quite a comfort. Perhaps she was never quite comfortable in her own mind? She was standing in front of Midnight, who in turn was standing upon nothing, while eyeing the shape of a black cube sitting in the middle of the expanse.
“The Eye is still secure, right?” Twilight asked.
“You really think we’ve got time to worry about that right now?” Midnight shot back, arms at her side with clenched fists, “Don’t try to dodge the subject. Are you going to give me control, or not? Because if we’re going to die, I at least want to go out with a bang instead of a pathetic whimper!”
Twilight had come here prepared to give Midnight what she wanted, but not without saying her pace. In this place, where hours only meant seconds in reality, she had a minute to get out what she needed to say.
“Midnight, my whole life I’ve spent just being controlled by others. Even without my knowing it, my life was being steered by someone else; my parents, Principle Cinch, even King Sombra. Half the time I don’t even know if the choices I’ve made were mine alone, or just because I was trying to please someone else. The only time I’ve felt like I had any control at all was when I was with Sunset, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash... because for the first time I was just being with people who didn’t expect anything of me. Nothing other than to be their friend.”
“Okay, great, friendship is magically delicious or whatever the tagline is. Super. What the hell does that have to do with the mess we’re in right now!?”
Twilight sucked in a breath and went up to Midnight, reaching out quickly and taking her alter-ego’s hand in her own. Midnight flinched at the contact, but Twilight just held the hand of her other self tightly.
“It matters, because when I make this choice, I want you to understand what it means to me, Midnight. I’m giving you control. I’m trusting you. No conditions. No reservations. No demands. No expectations. I’m giving it to you because I understand now that I’ve been doing to you what had been done to me my whole life. Well, that’s over. You’re free, Midnight. I’m trusting you with freedom. What you do with that is completely up to you, now.”
A silence hung between them as Midnight stared at Twilight with a stunned pair of eyes. Then a salacious smile spread over her face as she gripped Twilight’s hand harder and pulled her close, to the point that they were flush up against each other.
“Offer a girl the world, why don’t you? You’re not going to regret this Twilight. And I promise you, you’re going to enjoy the ride.”
----------
The day really couldn’t get much worse, Filthy Rich reflected as he barely avoided being bisected by another of Sapphire Shore’s potent silver beams, and he retaliated with a powerfully charged shot from his musket. With the Mason Schrift granted to him by His Majesty, Filthy Rich split the musket ball into a storm of shards that he then built into a series of ballista sized bolts. The magic that Twilight Sparkle had empowered him with made the bolts glow with pale, teal energy, but that energy had been weakening by the moment as it was drained through continuous use, and the bolts themselves were deflected by a powerful sweep of Sapphire Shores wings.
Filthy Rich grunted as the shock-wave smashed him backwards. It truly was maddening how much more potent Sapphire Shores was. He’d always known she was one of His Majesty’s most powerful and faithful servants. She’d lived far longer than most Quincy, and stood well above even her fellow Sternritter in most regards. Night Light and Coloratura matched her, true, and Rutherford was older, but there was no denying that Sapphire Shores had been seen in a special light among the King’s chosen.
It made it all the more dire to be facing her in battle, for even Filthy Rich had never imagined the power of a Schutzstaffle’s Vollstandig. Was sacrificing one’s human form really the only pathway to power for the Quincy? Was this their destiny, if they wished to finally topple the Soul Reaper’s regime and that of their Soul Queen? Was this the price of eradicating the Hollows and securing safety for all human souls, including that of his daughters?
Oh yes, this certainly not among Filthy Rich’s top days ever. His daughter was still in danger. He’d just learned one of his closest friends had cuckold him with his wife to have said daughter. And now he was fighting a losing battle against one of the strongest Quincy in generations, who’d turned herself into an angelic eldritch horror for the sole purpose of murdering a girl whom Filthy Rich really didn’t know very well but felt honor-bound to defend.
If he lived through this, Filthy Rich decided he would look into finding a skilled therapist.
He’d say he and Spoiled needed marriage counseling, but they were well and truly beyond that point. He didn’t even know what to think on that front. The sad thing was that, as hurt as he was, as mad as he was, he did still love her. He’d always loved her, abrasiveness and all, from the very start.
Really the only plus side to all of this was that if he did end up dying, he wouldn’t have to find out what punishment His Majesty would mete out to the traitors. Perhaps if he entreated His Majesty, Spoiled would be allowed exile rather than death? If for no other reason than Filthy didn’t want Diamond Tiara to lose a father and mother all in one day. No, not a father, he resolved with a fierce heat in his heart. Blood or not, he’d never cease being a father to his little girl! Damn Gladmane! Bastard that he was, if Filthy Rich really was shooting blanks, he was grateful that Diamond Tiara was born! If Gladmane and Spoiled had just been up front about the matter Filthy might not have even cared about it! It wouldn’t have been the first time in Quincy history that a bloodline had to be continued through such an arrangement due to one partner or another being sterile, and Filthy was man enough to accept reality for what it was. It was the going behind his back that hurt, not the actual act itself.
He couldn’t help but spare a glance, even amid this fierce battle, towards the two captives. Luckily Twilight Sparkle’s magical chains were still holding them in place, but Filthy Rich was worried about them being hit by one of Sapphire Shore’s beams. Well, mostly he worried about Spoiled being hit. If Gladmane lost a limb or two, Filthy wasn’t about to complain. Wait... was Gladmane moving?
It was hard to discern, but it looked like the man was being pulled downward at a slight angle, but without actually moving, like an invisible force was yanking at the chains on him. With a scowl, Filthy Rich realized Gladmane must have been using his Schrift, the Weight, to try and pull the chains apart. When Filthy had captured Gladmane he had no real means of sealing his fellow Sternritter’s Schrift, only binding his limbs so he couldn’t use his weapons. As long as Gladmane was covered by someone, that wasn’t too much of an issue, but with this battle going on it was impossible to keep an eye on the prisoners.
“Damn it all!” he said, turning and diving towards where the prisoners were held, but couldn’t so much as get a few meters before Sapphire Shores turned her bow towards him.
Flashing silver lights, like bursting stars, blazed along the six different arcs of Sapphire’s bow, and six flat arcs of light shot out like particle-thin razor blades forged out of silver light. Filthy Rich inverted his dive and threw himself in the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding being split into pieces, but one of the thin blades of light still cut through his right wing. Mere contact of Sapphire Shore’s reishi with his own was enough for not only the wing to be severe, but for a strain of the Quintessence to start eating away at his control of reishi. His Schrift remained strong, as that was granted by His Majesty, but Filthy Rich could feel the power inside his musket weakening as the reishi flow into it slowed.
To make things worse, Sapphire Shores rounded upon Soarin, who’d flown around her left side and had been building up another set of sound vibrations to condense into an attack, but Sapphire beat him to the punch by snapping out her hand at frightful speed and grabbed the young man around the neck.
“I appreciate that you are following our King’s orders trying to protect the girl,” Sapphire said, “But you are beyond any hope of saving her with your meager powers, Echo.”
Sapphire started to squeeze, choking the air out of Soarin’s lungs.
“Get off him!” Cadence shouted, her butterfly wings flaring with prismatic light as she literally barreled straight into Sapphire Shores, shoulder checking the woman and ramming her arm crossbow into Sapphire Shore’s chest, firing a crystal bolt.
The bolt shattered on Sapphire Shore’s metal chest, and she hadn’t even released Soarin as she proceeded to smile at Cadence. Strands of silver shot out of her wings and wrapped around Cadence, channeling streams of energy into the woman, who let out a piercing shriek of pain.
“Another young one with delusions,” Sapphire Shores said, “I understand you don’t want to see your lover’s kin perish, but it is for the best, Lust. You should be able to understand... oh? What’s this?”
Cadence groaned in pain as Sapphire Shores lessened the coursing energy punishing her, while Soarin continued to choke as he tried firing several useless arrows that broke upon Sapphire Shore’s body. Meanwhile Sapphire examined Cadence more closely, her head tilting curiously.
“I see... you’re already carrying his child.”
“What?” Cadence managed to sputter, and Sapphire Shore’s tightened the silver strands flowing around her.
“Congratulations to you and Shining Armor, I suppose. I hope the gaining of a grandchild will soothe Night Light upon the loss of his daughter. Assuming you live. I suggest you think carefully about the life inside of you, Lust, before you continue to oppose me. Even if I die here, none of you will survive your unlikely victory, I’ve made sure of that.”
“You talk entirely too much, do you know that? Hado Number Ninety Three - Ura Hado Sannodo: Teppusatsu!” (HIdden Way of Destruction - Third Path: Iron Wind Murder)
From above Sapphire Shores, Starswirl had appeared, and sweeping out his Zanpaktou, backed by a hand he used to trace a gleaming green kanji in the air, he unleashed a Kido that created a tempest of swirling winds. The winds formed into the head of a green dragon with a massive mouth, a flowing mane, and wide whiskers. From the dragon’s puffed up mouth came a concentrated blast of wind force strong enough to create multiple circular shock-waves as it smashed into Sapphire Shores.
Soarin was released, as was Cadence, and both Sternritter fled backwards, the former rubbing his neck and coughing to catch his breath while Cadence looked pale and shaken.
The blast of wind drove Sapphire Shores down briefly, but not for long before flashes of light beams from her wings tore through the wind and speared upwards. Although Starswirl was able to get out of the way, the beams struck the side of the prison dimension and created more cracks along its surface, and it felt like the whole dimension groaned.
It’s been half a minute, Filthy Rich realized, Whatever Twilight Sparkle is doing, I hope she’s done doing it.
He looked back towards where he and Starswirl had left her, and when he did so, he blinked.
The girl was surrounded by the embrace of stardust and living witchfire. It took Filthy Rich a second to realize that the groaning of the prison dimension, and some of the cracks forming in its surface, hadn’t been coming from Sapphire’s out of control attacks, but rather from the near gravitational force of power stemming from Twilight Sparkle’s body. This wasn’t reiatsu, however. Filthy Rich could tell that Twilight’s reiatsu wasn’t changing much, although it was growing. No, the power flowing from her was what Filthy Rich could now recognize as magic, and magic to a degree he’d never witnessed from the young girl.
But he ha read about it in Cinch’s report on the incident at Canterlot High.
Sapphire Shore’s attention was arrested and the woman all but wrenched herself around with a deep, twisted scowl on her metal lips as her blinded eyes looked towards the girl.
“You will not be allowed to leave here alive, Twilight Sparkle!” Sapphire declared, the six crescents of her bow moving so that they started to spin around the central orb, which then generated a single, large arrow of liquid silver the length of a limousine. She fired the arrow, which cut the space between her and Twilight.
Witchfire, in a teal inferno, wrapped around Twilight and then burst outward. The silver arrow was halted, gripped by a sparkling teal aura of raw telekinetic magic.
With raven wings spreading from her back, Twilight stepped forward, her feet making circular blazes of teal energy on the air. Her uniform changed, burning away in washes of magical energy to change into a deep purple dress that integrated elements of the Quincy military style, but otherwise accentuated Twilight’s curves and left her shoulders bare. Purple gloves and boots clad her limbs, and teal fire formed flickering auras around her eyes and created a long, pulsing horn upon her brow. Her hair flowed up around her head, as much ethereal energy as solid now.
Twilight wore a satisfied smile, and spoke in an almost mocking tone as she grasped her hand and used the telekinetic magic to break the arrow that had been fired at her in half.
“Let me correct you, so you stop sounding like an idiot for the next few minutes it’s going to take me to break you like I just did your little toy; my name right now isn’t Twilight. It’s Midnight.”