//------------------------------// // Chapter three: Some explaining to do... (Or rather what I should've done) // Story: Kyōka Suigetsu, crumble! // by The Archiver //------------------------------// Pov: Princess Luna "I can't believe this low-life has already tried to get into the heads of my subjects." I'm almost enraged just by seeing this pathetic creature's face. Filled with a false sense of friendliness and welcoming. Knowing Aizen he most likely already knows how his antics can set one off if they can see right through him. "I can see his mouth moving but I can't tell what he's saying..." I shake my head and concentrate back onto the conversation he and my sister are having. "All I'm saying Celestia is that you should give me a chance to prove I've changed myself." Aizen "pleadingly" tells my sister and she is having none of it. "Absolutely not. There's no telling what type of havoc you could be trying to concoct when you think nopony is looking." Celestia stares down Aizen but he chooses to play dumb. Of course, he was always prone to do such things. I, on the other hoof, know how to get a point across. "Celestia, I honestly don't understand why were are still talking to him. You know just as well as I do that he will try and play us for fools." I decide to finally say what's been on both of our minds, even if sister will not admit it. I furrow my brows out of complete and utter hate for this "hybrid" as he first introduced himself. After I say this however, one of Twilight's friends speak up out of confusion. "Woah, woah, woah, wait. Noponies have really explained on what the deal with this 'Aizen' guy is. All I've heard is that he's a criminal, and don't get me wrong. I hate bad guys as much as the next mare but I think it'd be best not to keep us all in the dark. Especially since the same guy is right in front of us." Rainbow Dash is now in between us and Sōsuke Aizen with her hooves extending outwards whilst standing on her haunches. "Hmmm... I suppose you all do deserve an explanation as to what has led to the clear animosity towards the one who 'helped' you all contain Discord. But I use the term 'help' very lightly in this case as I know he has done this for his own means." I turn to Celestia and she nods her head as a "go ahead" so I trot a bit closer to Twilight and her friends with Rainbow Dash traveling behind me, passing Aizen with a glare, although he pretends not to notice. "This all started 1,215 years ago. Celestial and I were only just becoming crowned rulers. We thought nothing could harm us as we had conquered the celestial bodies. I in particular felt as though we had nothing to worry about for as long as me and my sister was together.” I shake my head upon reminiscing our foolish and care-free nature but carry on. “That is when Aizen first let himself become known to us on a personal level. We heard about him before from our mentor Starswirl the bearded. Starswirl only spoke of him in high praise as if he could move mountains with just a blink of an eye. Apparently he wasn’t lying. Although Starswirl was always one to let power speak for itself rather than personality which was how were we blindsided by his true nature." Aizen cheekily smiles at my unintentional compliment. “Well what can I say Luna, I’m great at what I do. But trust me when I say, I didn't mean to cause any harm to anyone. I only did my best to help you all become better." I snap my neck around to meet his gaze as I have a near constant frown on my muzzle. "Don't you dare begin your lies now. Sure you tried to "teach" the earth ponies, peagsi, and unicorns on how to practice proper 'Kidō' as you call your little spells. But you only did so to expand their magic reserves and experiment on them!" Everypony around us gasps except myself, Celestia, Twilight, and of course Aizen. W-wha? Experiment on ponies? T-that just s-sounds horrific!" Fluttershy squeakily says. And not even a second passes by before some more voices start backing her up. "Hold on now. When you say 'experimentin' do you mean those tales about them 'arrancar hybrids' mah Granny Smith would be talking about?" I nod my head to confirm Applejack's suspicion. "The very same creatures, he turned them into a form of the undead. The same ones that are forbidden from even existing. Aizen in his 'oh so clever' nature decided to make hundreds of these 'hybrids' in his image. None were as powerful as himself but some came close or were on par with spell casters that spent their entire lives learning magic." Applejack looks surprised by this new revelation, tilting one eyebrow upwards. "But ah thought those were just tall-tales meant to scare little foals into not wandering far from home. Not even Granny Smith knew where they originated from. Yet you're saying that this skinny fella made an entirely new race?" "They were as real as you are. Of course ever since my sister set him in stone we've been forced to pick up the pieces. We had to eliminate every single last one of them. It's what their families would've wanted and what they would've wanted, even if not outwardly expressed." I coldly reply. Celestia nudges my side before clearing her throat. Though in the corner of my eye I can see Aizen clenching his fists, a visible vein runs through his neck. And it seems like I'm not the only one who notices them. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie do as well. Fluttershy decides to back up a bit more, attempting to hide behind her mane while Applejack keeps watch of him every so often. Pinkie, has the weirdest response of them of all and simply holds a sympathetic look for him. "My little ponies, it was a necessary evil. You see these hybrids were rogue and all of them supported Aizen. There was no telling if they'd try and break him out. And to add onto that, all of them were given a warning to surrender to Equestria and come in for detainment so we could figure out what to actually do with them." Celestia tries comforting them, walking a bit closer to the group with a feeling of warmth surrounding her. A large stomp emanates from Aizen. It makes a spider web pattern from his spot. This is one of the only times I've seen him so... Emotional like this. "I can almost hear him foaming from the mouth all the way over here." I take a mental crack at his enraged state. "I am sick and tired of you both holding that over my head dammit!" His knuckles tighten to the point where they turn into a pure-white state. "I gave them a chance, an opportunity to live a better life. Every single entity I approached with that offer to become hollowifed were at their rock bottom. None of them regretted the transformation except for a select few. And you wanna know what I did to those people?" Aizen takes a step closer to the mane 6. "I reversed it! But fuck me did those historians lie and fabricate the facts. Saying things like I'd go so low as to brainwash them." Aizen, after noticing that the mane 6 has taken a defensive formation decides to take a few steps back. Taking a deep breath he continues. "I will admit that I've done some 'distasteful' things but they were all for the greater good. The ponies I experimented on had a place with me. With my operations. But of course the big princesses don't take too kindly to these so called 'potential threats' and did made it their top priority to hunt them all down after a singular incident." Celestia walks a bit closer to Aizen, her warm vibe becoming cold in an instant. "If you call leveling an entire town 'one little incident' then we've got some things we need to work out." "I had zero control over what Bloody Pint did. He got an unintentional awakening for his resurrección and the mere Reiryoku that had been stored inside his body was just too much. He had to release it somehow. The quincy he was fighting had gotten the jump on him. Bloody just panicked after having a near death experience, is that truly so bad? It was his first time going up against someone apart of the Sternritter, a real threat! " Aizen is actually showing a bit of his true emotions. Celestia on the other hand simply stares at him. "Oh it's fine if one panics during near death, that I get. But to do nothing short of committing mass murder to an enormous scale is completely ridiculous!" Celestia rebukes, getting directly in Aizen's face at this point. "You may think you can be as slick as water but I'll tell you this. I'll have you contained inside a small cage, unable to move-" But before Celestia can continue a large shout is heard. "Everypony just stop it!" Twilight is the one to speak up this time, attempting to mediate the situation. "I know that the situation is less than ideal but it's clear neither of us know both sides of the story so why don't we hear it from Aizen's himself?" Twilight asks. "I... Will not lie darling, after all this running around we've done I could actually use some rest instead before getting some answers and now that I think about it. I haven't seen Sweetie Belle all this time either!" Rarity begins panicking. "Wait none of y'all have seen Apple Bloom either? Darn it, ah told that filly time and time again to come straight home after going to school." Applejack concernedly states. Rainbow Dash grips both sides of her face out of fear. "Scoots! Oh buck, I just remembered that I was supposed to meet her up at their club house today. She always goes off to do something whenever I'm late." "No need to be so spooked girls, they're all in town hall. I can sense it with my pinkie sense, three tail wags and an itchy ankle means that the crusaders have met up! And a sniffle combined with a good ole scratchy throat means that they're going to a gather at town hall. But I guess rather than a gathering it'll be more of a safe house." Pinkie Pie tells them all assuredly. "I-I actually have to go check up on my animals to m-make sure none of them had g-gotten hurt in the chaos." Fluttershy shyly says before quickly taking off. Though I'm not surprised by her clear cowardice towards the situation. "And I've got to prepare to cheer everypony up once this is done! Oh-oh! Maybe I should throw a party together for all of us. After being in my meanie-pinkie funk, I could really use a party to get back in my grove." Pinkie Pie enthusiastically announces. I roll my eyes and snort. "Hmph, fine then, we shall pick up this conversation later to hear this cretin's side. Just know that this grace period shall not save you Aizen." Aizen chooses to ignore me though, somehow angering me further. "Ah suppose that this matter is gonna be settled at a latter date then. I've gotta go find Apple Bloom." Applejack hurriedly states. "And yall better not cause no trouble neither. I'm looking at you Aizen!" And with that, she promptly turns around and gallops off to town hall "And I have to go find my little sister! Applejack Wait for me dear." Rarity quickly follows after Applejack, trying to keep pace. "Hey wait up guys, I've gotta go get Scoots-" I pull Rainbow Dashes' tail to keep her in place before she can go flying off to town hall, then quickly spit it out. "Actually element of loyalty I have a task for you. I need you to go and stay with Twilight Sparkle while she watches over our escaped prisoner." I tell her with a bit of authority. "Ba- why do I have to help watch over that creep?! Twilight should be able to do it all on her own." Rainbow Dash expresses her clear disdain on the matter. I give her a hard glare in response to her obvious disrespect of my authority but she had the nerve to glare back. Celestia though, chooses to take over the situation to prevent it from escalating. "Now now Rainbow Dash, we only ask this of you because we trust you. You seem to have a keen eye when it comes to spotting danger or unwelcomed situations. We just need you to help in case something happens. And Twilight, you're okay with this temporary arrangement, right?" Celestia gets a small nod from both of them yet Twilight seems to have been staring at Aizen the entire time, though Celestia doesn't address this. A small sigh leaves her mouth but she nods her head in acceptance. "Alright, I'll help watch this guy until everypony is rested up. But you owe me for this Twilight." Twilight whips her head around at the mention of her name from the rainbow-maned mare, taking her eyes off the hybrid. "Wait hold on, why do I owe you Rainbow? I thought that saving ponies came from the goodness of your heart." She asks in confusion. Rainbow Dash only shrugs. "I don't know Twi, I'm just a little mad that I've gotta be around that loser over there." Rainbow Dash points a hoof at Aizen who quickly says. "No offense taken." Despite her meaning to be offensive. Twilight however moves closer to Rainbow Dashes' face. "Need I remind you about all the properity damage you've caused to the library. Do I have to get out the crashing statistic chart on you again? If not then it's clear that I don't owe you any favors." Twilight threatens. "NO! No... We're not doing that again, last time you gave me a half-hour lecture over the probabilities or whatever egg-head stuff you were talking about. Luckily I tuned you out for most of it." Rainbow Dash quickly concedes to Twilight after hearing about that wretched crashing statistic chart. Twilight is pleased by this and waves to us both as she guides Aizen back over to her house with Rainbow Dash following suit. I lean over to my sister and whisper to her. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, giving Aizen zero restraints while letting him live in the element of magic's home?" Celestia looks at me with some concern. "I hope so... You saw how he reacted to us talking about his 'arrancars' so passionately. Maybe he has changed over the last thousand years and is growing as a pony, er, person. And if he is then I plan on exploiting Sōsuke Aizen to the very fullest." My sister darkly responds, then suddenly adds. "Or y'know, getting him to somehow make a device that produces infinite cakes." She says with her usual troll face. Even with all the self-control in the world. I still manage to face hoof after hearing that last part.