Kick about! Los Lobos!

by Dirty Bit

Capitulo Catorce

Starrk drooped his ears with a sour expression while he sat at a large table alongside many ponies, including Derpy, Sparkler, Princess Celestia, Pinkie, and her friends; While he was okay with Ponyville was safe from disaster, he didn't expect a party, nor did he wish to partake in one. Lilynette was more perplexed by how the foals that feared her earlier were now showering her with praise. He could feel a migraine coming on as Pinkie and Derpy rambled on about him saving the town endlessly.

Rainbow Dash saw the displeasure on Starrk's face and piped up "Okay, girls, I think Starrk needs a break from being thanked, don't you?" She asked Pinkie and Derpy.

Twilight nodded "I agree. Although, I'm curious as to how Starrk was somehow able to fire a beam from a cloud." She said as she examined the former espada; His facial features softened after Pinkie and Derpy ceased their rambling.

Celestia stared at Starrk "As am I. In fact, I wish to speak with Coyote, if it is alright with him."

Pinkie grinned "Sure thing, princess. Starrky's probably got plenty of interesting stories to tell."

Starrk turned to Celestia "What do you want to talk about? Anything involving what has happened earlier?"

Celestia looked serious "Is it alright if I may inquire about how you managed to fend off Cerberus with the help of your foal?" She asked the former espada.

Starrk looked up at Celestia "Oh, you mean that three-headed dog? I only used my cero on it. I'm glad that it was all it took to finish it off..."

Celestia stared with intrigue "A cero? I've never heard of such a spell." She said with a curious tone.

Starrk raised an eyebrow "That's because it isn't...It's a special skill only me and Lilynette know."

Celestia nodded "I see. Where exactly do you and Lilynette hail from, if you don't mind me asking."

Starrk looked up with a wistful glance "It's pretty complicated...Even I'm stumped about ending up here in this world with Lilynette. Not that it isn't bad or anything..." He said, remembering the glorious gift of a cloud as his bed.

Celestia blinked "You mean to tell me that you and Lilynette aren't from around here??" She said, catching the attention of the other partygoers as they grew curious about Starrk's backstory.

Starrk looked around to see that nearly everypony wanted to hear about his past life and sighed to himself 'What a drag...' He decided to get it off his chest since he had nothing better to do, and it wasn't like they would leave him alone about his old life "Before we came here, Lilynette and I weren't exactly ponies..." This earned a collective of gasps from his listeners "Back then, we were known as hollows, living in a world known as Hueco Mundo. I was one of the strongest of my kind; an arrancar..."

Derpy's eyes rotated "Hollows? But you and Lily are whole right now. What's so hollow about you?" She asked, confused at Starrk's term.

Starrk turned to Derpy "What makes us distinctive as hollows is that we have a hole on our bodies, namely around the chest region." He noticed Pinkie was examining at his chest, sweatdropping at the gesture "I don't have one now, Pinkie." Starrk deadpanned at Pinkie's shenanigans.

Pinkie nodded to Starrk with a smile "Just making sure." She chirped, winking afterwards.

Starrk heaved a sigh and continued "Anyways, we didn't exactly lead a good life back then, and I'm not entirely up to looking back on it again..."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow "But you were the strongest of your kind back then. Didn't you like it?"

Starrk turned to Rainbow Dash "As a matter of fact, I didn't. I was lonely back then, and I longed to be a part of my own pack of hollows. But every time I approach a group that was weaker than me, they died..." The former espada looked around to see that his many listeners grew uneasy over his explanation; Some parents were seen covering the ears of their foals.

Celestia was surprised "Was this because your power was that great?"

Starrk nodded with a wistful frown "Yeah...It's best to say that my own power made my life a living hell. The souls of everyone in my group of friends wasted away and disappeared just from being around me. But I had a solution to my problems..." He looked over at Lilynette, who was standing with her friends; The red filly looked back at him with a nostalgic gaze, signalling that she heard the story as well "From loneliness we divided our soul in two. We don't know which was the original, or maybe it was neither of us. It's just that there was no other way to escape from the loneliness." He looked down as he recapped giving birth to Lilynette "I envied the weak ones...I didn't like my power at all..." Derpy and Pinkie frowned at how sad Starrk appeared to them.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were astonished by Starrk's backstory 'Wait a minute...so...Lilynette's just a part of Starrk!? How did he even do that?' Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She wondered if she should spend more time and get to know Starrk in order to find out more about him.

Dinky stared wide-eyed at Starrk's story and turned to Lilynette "Wait...So Mr. Starrk isn't your dad?"

Lilynette huffed "Of course not! Like I'd want to have him order me around all the time." She said abrasively, though was inwardly troubled by how many ponies were reacting to her birth.

Sparkler raised an eyebrow 'They could kill somepony just by standing next to them? That explains Lilynette's crazy question the other day...' "Wait a minute. You said that you could easily kill somepony just by standing next to them, yet here you are surrounded by so many ponies while nothing's happening. Could you answer that question?" She asked in an inquisitive tone.

Starrk looked at Sparkler after she asked her question. Looking back on it, she was touching on a vital issue that pertained to his existence as an arrancar. Oddly enough, he couldn't fathom how this was possible, let alone explain it. He then up at the ceiling "The way I see it, since I went from being an arrancar to a pony, I don't think there's much to worry about."

Celestia examined Starrk "I see...And you cannot explain how you both came into Equestria?"

Starrk shook his head at Celestia "Your guess is as good as mine, but I will say this..." He looked around at the many ponies "I'm happy to be surrounded by my own pack after so long...I'm happy that I'm not alone." Starrk stated sincerely.

Pinkie giggled and trapped Starrk in a hug, eliciting a grunt from him "Oh, Starrky, we're happy, too. We don't care if you and Lily are two of the same ponies, we still care about you!" She nuzzled the former espada while he twitched an eyebrow in irritation.

Derpy smiled "We're not a pack, silly. But we're glad to meet you, too!" She proclaimed brightly.

Sparkler frowned at Starrk's story, but managed to smile at his longing for company "We'll make sure you won't remain by yourselves. Just try not to go overboard while you live here." She said, trying to hide her worry over Starrk and Lilynette's demonstration of power behind her statement.

Celestia hummed to herself 'So Coyote and Lilynette are two halves of one soul. I wonder what would happen if they were to join together once more...' She smiled "It is nice to know that you're no longer alone, Coyote. Perhaps you can learn from the ponies around you if you ever feel lost."

Starrk gave Pinkie an annoyed stare while she clung to him "I'm sure I'll manage..." He said in a dry tone.

Celestia chuckled at Starrk's slight misfortune "Then maybe you'll go far in Equestria with Lilynette at your side." She then frowned "But I wish for you to comply with my request that you and Lilynette maintain your power as you live here. If it is as strong as you claim, then I would hope you would use it for when danger would arise."

Rainbow Dash grinned "That's gonna be a piece of cake and then some! If Starrk can take Cerberus, who else could possibly stand up to him?"
_____

Meanwhile in Canterlot, Luna was busy awaiting Cerberus' arrival alongside her squadron of night guards. When the image of some royal guards guiding the three-headed guardian came into view, Luna smiled in satisfaction "Ah, Cerberus hath been found at last." She said to herself as she turned to her guards "Our job here is finished! Let us make haste to our castle at once!"

The guards saluted and replied in unison "Yes, your majesty!" Altogether, Luna and her guards unfurled their wings and took flight towards Canterlot. As they flew, one of the thestrals donned a quick red gleam in their eyes.

After flying for so long, they finally reached the Royal castle and landed in the gardens. Luna nodded to her guards "All you may go back to patrolling the castle at thy leisure. Your efforts of monitoring the Gates of Tartarus shall be rewarded later tonight." After she received a collective of bows as a response, Luna flew back into the castle as she left behind her group of night guards, who dispersed to their desired locations around the castle.

All but one...

The lone thestral looked around to make sure that the coast was clear before looking up at Luna's figure disappearing into the castle with a disdainful sneer 'Soon...' He thought to himself. The best revenge was planned with patience, and needed to be done so properly; He could remain and wait for his power to return, but it would render him susceptible to discovery if he were to ignore the habitual routine of the night guards. Not to mention, there was the knowledge of a certain artifact he could use to make his plan complete.

He couldn't remain here; The thestral looked around once more to make sure he was all alone before he chose to fly away from the castle and sneak into the streets of Canterlot. From roof to roof, he silently flew over each building in search of another fitting host in order to remain incognito. He spotted a unicorn stallion that stood out from all of the many higher-class ponies; His coat was navy blue and his cutie mark was a pair of musical notes; on his back was a set of saddlebags.

A perfect candidate indeed. The night guard flew down towards a nearby alley as the stallion trotted near his location, unaware of his stalker's presence. When his target was close, the thestral gave a whistle and caught his attention, lingering in the shadows and watching the stallion come closer with a look of curiousity "Hello? Who's there?" He asked in the darkness.

As he stared into the shadowed alley, there was a sound of air escaping from somepony's lungs as a black wisp shot out of the darkness and jumped inside of the stallion's eyes, causing him to yelp in reaction. When the wisp was inside, the stallion stood still for a moment until his eyes narrowed while he donned a successful smirk; a quick glint of red flashed in his yellow eyes "Excellent..." He said to himself in a devious tone.

From the shadowed alley, the night guard trotted into plain sight while caressing his temple "Wha-...Where am I? The last thing I remembered was surveying the area around the Gates of Tartarus..." He murmured to himself.

"I found you passed out on the job." The stallion answered in a straight tone "You're part of the night guard, correct? Shouldn't you be back at the castle with Princess Luna?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.

The night guard, remembering his duty, looked up with light distress as he unfurled his wings and took flight into the sky. When he was at a far distance, the stallion chuckled in amusement as he trotted away, admiring the horn on his head as he felt the magic inside of his host. Perhaps he could practice a spell or two on an unsuspecting victim in secrecy if he felt up to it. But now wasn't the time; He needed to find a good source of information to further his progress.

Looking around, all the stallion saw were high-class ponies with their noses in the air. No doubt they wouldn't give him the time of day since he would easily be considered riff-raff to him. He decided to go with the secondary option of searching his saddlebags for anything useful. Looking inside the first one after opening it with his magic, he noticed a set of words embroidered on the inside of the bag saying 'Property of Noteworthy'. So this stallion's name was Noteworthy...

Noteworthy searched through the rest of his first saddlebag to find some supplies including a set of records and a map of Canterlot. He fished out the map and studied its contents, seeing that he was obviously in Canterlot. A neighboring town was seen south of it, known as Ponyville. If he were lucky, he would have more help there than his current location. Noteworthy stashed the map inside of his first saddlebag and checked his second one, noticing a satchel of bits and folded pair of glasses.

It would be good to have a satisfactory amount of currency if he were to travel afar in his new body. He trotted down the streets of Canterlot to see if he could find a way to reach Ponyville. After a period of travel, he noticed a train station up ahead "Hm? What's this?" He said as he approached the station, studying the enormous contraption on the rails "Such a remarkable structure..." He muttered to himself as he locked his gaze on the train.

"Excuse me, sir."

Noteworthy turned to see a pony in a conductor's outfit "If you're looking to go on the next train ride to Ponyville, might I suggest buying a ticket first?" He said in a helpful tone.

What luck did he have: A ride to Ponyville laid right at his feet "Of course. Can you direct me to the stand that sells them?" The blue stallion questioned.

The conductor arched a skeptical eyebrow before pointing to the right of Noteworthy, leading him towards a kiosk with a pony wearing a visor monitoring his workplace. The blue stallion trotted over and caught the clerk's attention "Excuse me. I would like to purchase a ticket for the train?" He asked in a polite tone.

The clerk smiled "To Ponyville, right? That'll be 5 bits, please."

'Noteworthy' smiled as he fished out his satchet of bits and pulled out the exact amount needed for his fare. After paying in full, the clerk offered him a ticket "Here you go, sir. Have a nice day!" He said cheerfully as he tipped his visor, to which the blue stallion merely waved before trotting towards one of the train's open carts. It was good for him that nopony noticed the evil smile on his face 'Excellent...Let's see how far I can go from here...Soon, my revenge will be complete...Soon...' A quick gleam of red flashed in Noteworthy's eyes.