//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirty Seven // Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Chapter Thirty Seven Things were a might bit strange right now. That was Applejack's observation of the morning at the market. She'd pulled market duty this morning, tending to the stall to sell their apples to whichever ponies cared to buy them up. Normally it was a position that required relatively little work once the initial setup was done. After the apples were hauled in and set out for display, and the stand was erected and deployed, it was just a matter of patience and getting their attention, and their wares usually sold themselves. But today things were different for some reason. Things had started out decently enough, but after the third customer things had suddenly stopped. Now that she thought about it, the entire marketplace seemed quiet, nor nearly as many ponies out and about as there had been just a few minutes ago. It was eerily similar to when Zecora still scared ponies anytime she came into town. "Somethin' definitely ain' right," she muttered to herself. Where was everypony? "Of that I'm certain." The voice behind her caused her to spin around and see just who'd managed to sneak up on her. She hadn't heard any approaching hoofsteps, she hadn't even smelt anypony that might be approaching her from behind. The first one to come into view was Twilight. Standing next to her was Spike. Standing behind the both of them was Ulquiorra himself. Just when had they gotten there? "The question, however, what is this curious thing that isn't right in this unusual world?" Ulquiorra asked her directly. "Mr. Cifer? Boy howdy, ah sure didn' expect ta see ya here in town today. Wha' brings ya by?" Applejack asked him, her concern relieved at seeing just who'd been behind her the whole time. "Questions for which I possess no answers. Twilight Sparkle and Spike have been doing their best to answer them," Ulquiorra explained as he stood with his hands in his pockets. Twilight nodded. "Ulquiorra's been making great headway in understanding friendship. We had a significant breakthrough already," she stated excitedly. Ulquiorra remained silent at the unicorn's enthusiasm, not wishing to go as far as she had in her take on the situation. "Really now? Well ain' that fantastic. Ah didn' wanna sound like the doubtin' type, Mr. Cifer, but ta hear yer actually figurin' out friendship an' makin' progress is something else!" Applejack stated and smiled. "If ya don' mind ma pryin', what've ya figured out so far?" she asked. "That friendship is knowing who has your back, even when there is no obligation for them to do so," he explained. So far that was the explanation that made the most logical sense. From his limited understanding, one that qualified as a friend was one who was there to help you, even if such help wasn't necessary, and was doing so of their own free will, rather than because they expected to be compensated for their involvement. That wasn't to say friendship was anymore logical in his view than it was yesterday. If anything, it seemed even more confusing, as he still couldn't seem to understand the concept of assisting one when it wasn't necessary; why bother when it didn't have to be done? And why assist if there was no guarantee of getting something in return? But at least it was somewhere to start, some piece of information to help him make sense of things that currently made no sense. Having this starting point would allow him to better reach an informed conclusion. And if nothing else, this endeavor would likely save him the difficulty of trying to convince the others to focus less on him, and more on their surroundings. It would also save him from having to explain the importance of situational awareness to the ponies, and how the opinions of others regarding him was of no true value. If he made such an attempt they would likely brush him off, and insist on going about whatever they were attempting to do in the first place. Applejack was silent at his words. When she'd heard Twilight's statement, she'd been expecting something more of a revelation than just that. Not that he was wrong in his analysis or anything; friendship really was a whole lot of what he said, but it was so basic and boiled down, that to her it just seemed to go without saying. But then again, the Espada was more or less learning things from the ground up, meaning he was giving it serious enough consideration to actually bother with it in the first place. Maybe for him, this simple fact really did amount to a significant revelation. "Ah tell ya what, tha' sounds like a major discovery ta be makin'," Applejack commented, uncertain what else she could say. "Only time will tell. Opportunities to exercise this discovery have been scarce," Ulquiorra replied and glanced around the marketplace. "It would seem many have not recovered from what they witnessed unfolding here." "You can't really blame them," Spike commented. He hadn't seen what the others had seen, but his vantage point at the time had been terrifying enough. First he'd heard the reports of how Ulquiorra had utterly dominated the dragon like it was foal's play to do so, and then the changeling massacre... in a way it was scary to think of what the Arrancar next to them was fully capable of. Even more terrifying to him, all that had been done when Ulquiorra wasn't even in top form. What could he do if he really wanted to open up? "I don't blame them. They're wise to fear me after witnessing everything, just as Fluttershy was wise to fear me," he replied without even looking back. "There are only ten in this world that know of my true nature. The others still believe me to be of this world and its known physics. If they were to know the truth they would experience the truest form of fear and despair," he explained calmly. Twilight unconsciously shivered at his words. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that Ulquiorra really wasn't one of them. Well... not so much forget, as simply not consciously recalling the information, and not remembering to actively apply it in the present situation. She didn't really think she could ever truly forget what Ulquiorra was. Information like that just didn't disappear, at least not without some outside force acting to... She stopped thinking and frowned. She was rambling to herself now! If spike could hear what was going on inside her head right now, he'd be laughing. Regardless of the distraction she'd caused to herself, by getting hung up on technicalities, she couldn't help but agree with what Ulquiorra had said. Everypony other than them believed that he was native to this world, indigenous to another location, but still bound by the same rules of physics, science, and magic that all others were bound by. They didn't know anything about Hollows, or Hueco Mundo, or anything else that was tied to him. If they were still this scared of him while thinking he was just another native of the world, how would they react if the truth ever came out and his otherworldly nature was revealed to them? Pandemonium wouldn't even come close do describing what would befall Equestria if the truth came out at the wrong time. Pandemonium would be what they had after the rioting and widespread panic of the reveal had calmed down. "Well shoot," Applejack spoke up, the sound of her voice snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. "Mr. Cifer, ah can't speak fer the rest o' Ponyville er nothin'. But ya've done a whole lotta good since gettin' here, ah-" "If your intention is to give some motivational speech, pertaining to how my actions amount to heroism, there is no point. Simply because I've kept you six from being harmed does not amount to my being a hero. My actions are nothing more than abiding by Princess Celestia's orders, and nothing more. At best we are nothing more than allies, working together to address circumstances beyond our control," Ulquiorra explained, cutting off whatever Applejack might've intended to say. Simply because his actions might be seen as good, that didn't mean he was a hero. He didn't need to be adored by the natives of this world, he simply needed to get to the bottom of the mysteries at hand. "You keep saying that," Twilight spoke up. Her focus had gone from worrying about the possible explosion of widespread panic over the truth of Ulquiorra's nature being revealed, to his pessimistic outlook on things around him. "You keep saying that you're simply following Celestia's orders. That you don't have any real concern for our wellbeing, and that you're simply keeping us from harm because you're required to. But I really have to ask; why'd you interpret Celestia's orders in such a manner?" she asked. "You know, that's a really good question," Spike added as he looked to Ulquiorra for answers. "The first time Twilight and the others were put in harm's way when they faced that dragon, you didn't simply distract it and lead it far away where it wouldn't do any harm. Instead you beat the snot out of it, so that it couldn't cause any harm to anypony. Isn't that going above and beyond the call of carrying out a simple duty?" he asked. "Huh," Applejack muttered and scratched her head with her hoof, "y'know ah never stopped an' thought about it like that. Ya did go outta yer way ta demonstrate ta the dragon tha' ya were the stronger o' the two; ah still don' have a clue wha' the dragon was thinkin' when he failed ta pound ya inta the ground like a tent stake back there. Why did ya go that route anyway?" she asked. He would admit that it was a reasonable question. Fighting the dragon in the manner he had chosen wasn't an absolute necessity to protect the holders of the Elements of Harmony. There were other available options at the time he could have selected, in order to neutralize the immediate threat it presented to them. But ultimately those options would do nothing to address the larger problem. "I could have done so. But at the time there were too many variables to account for. Would the dragon have detected my scent if I used my sonido, and tracked it back to the caves? Would it have given up the search for the one that angered it, and simply returned to its established home to begin napping again? Would it have returned to the cave regardless of how far away it was lead?" he asked, causing them to remain silent in thought. These were all things that needed to be considered, all of them viable answers to their questions. Seeing them in thought, he continued. "That is to say nothing of the theory of the dragon being targeted at the six of you. Had I simply fled there is no reason to believe it would've given chase. At the time I was nothing but an unknown. If the dragon was on a mission to kill you six, why would it have bothered with me, unless I was proving to be an insurmountable opposition?" he asked further. No answers were coming from any of the three present. They were silent as looks of confusion and thought crossed their faces. All their speculation, postulating, and theorizing, didn't stand up to the simple facts he presented. Not that he cared any. "The course of action I took at the time was necessary to abide by Princess Celestia's orders. Nothing more, nothing less," he concluded. "Alright..." Spike said slowly in response to this new information as he thought. "Assuming all that's true and there's nothing more to it than that. Would you have done the same thing for anypony else in a similar danger? Hypothetically speaking, if you were assisting on a field trip with Ms. Cherilee, and you'd encountered a ground dragon, and it displayed the same level of hostility, would you have beaten it in the same manner, simply to follow Princess Celestia's instructions of not letting harm come to any of her subjects?" he asked, causing Twilight and Applejack to look at him in waiting for answers. Ulquiorra would admit there were things he couldn't foresee coming. From time to time, he was presented with developments he couldn't predict, and could just as easily be caught off guard as anyone else under the correct circumstances. This was just such a circumstance. Spike had asked a question for which he had no ready answer. Princess Celestia's instructions to him was to neither attack her subjects, nor do anything to cause them harm, or put them at risk. These instructions had been rather malleable in nature, depending on how they were looked at. However he had given it no amount of extensive thought, beyond how it related to protecting those who held the Elements of Harmony, and how, by extension, preventing them from dying served to protect Equestria itself from harm. But what about those who didn't hold the Elements of Harmony? What was his obligation to them in abiding by his orders? Within the circumstances of the hypothetical situation Spike had crafted, would Princess Celestia have seen his actions as necessary for protecting a group of regular everyday ponies? If she did see such, would she take action if the dragon had been killed by him? To the best of his knowledge, Princess Celestia didn't maintain rule over dragons native to beyond the borders of Equestria proper. Technically they couldn't be considered her subjects, and thus exempt from her instructions. But would he go to the same lengths he had for the others? For one who was still regarded as being so young, it was hard to deny Spike's intelligence. Well done really. "I'm uncertain," he finally stated and left it at that. There were a number of things that could be said. Things to belittle their belief in him being a hero. Things to point out that he was doing nothing more than abiding by Princess Celestia's orders, and he had no true care for whatever might happen to them. If they didn't possess the Elements of Harmony, he wasn't certain he would've taken the course of action he had. He could so easily point those facts out to them. But he chose not to. He was here today under the guise of trying to understand the concept of friendship. Belittling them for their own stupidity would more than likely be counterproductive to what he was aiming to achieve. Which would in turn hurt his efforts to uncover whatever mystery warranted his presence in this world. His current course of action was overall necessary. For the time being he would need to bite his tongue, and keep his more negative opinions to himself. He was going to need... to play nice... regardless of how foolish it seemed to him. Perhaps later he'd refresh their memories, and thoroughly remind them of just what he was. "Say, Applejack," Twilight spoke up. She could feel the unease in the air around her, the current line of questioning somehow proving to be uncomfortable in nature. A change of topic was necessary. "I just thought of something. To help Ulquiorra get a better understanding of friendship, we're asking other ponies what it means to them. It'd be a big help if you could tell us what friendship means to you," she explained. "Wha', me?" Applejack asked, slightly confused by the sudden question. A nod from her friend confirmed it. "Ah tell ya wha', Twilight, tryin' ta put that inta words is like tryin' ta do the whole applebuckin' harvest by mahself; it's a tall order," she explained and paused in thought. How would she describe this in a way that their guest would understand? Think... think... "... Ah guess one way o' puttin' it is... friendship means knowin' ah've got ponies who look out fer me when ah get too distracted with other things. Sometimes ah get so focused on what ah'm doin', ah wind up gettin' forgetful 'bout things tha' need ta be done. Or sometimes ah'll get so far in over mah head ah can't find mah way out on mah own, an' these girls are there ta make sure ah don' get lost," she explained. One explanation by Twilight Sparkle, one explanation by Applejack. The two had a number of similarities and amounted to little more than minor variations of a single account. Overall what could be gathered from Applejack's explanation was of only minor difference from what he'd already been told. However he said nothing, and Applejack started talking again. "Ah tell ya, ah don' know jus' where ah'd be without mah friends. They helped save the farm once when mah family got in over our heads an' couldn' do it alone. They didn' even wait fer us ta ask before pitchin' in an' lendin' a hoof. If that ain't friendship then ah don' know what is," Applejack stated. "Then you've received some form of physical or monetary compensation for your association with the others?" Ulquiorra asked. This new explanation by Applejack seemed to make more sense, seemed to be something he could understand better than the more vague concepts shared by Twilight Sparkle. "Well... ya could say that. But that ain't why ah'm friends with 'em, friendship ain't about wha' ya can get outta it. There's some things in this world tha' jus' can't be measured in the context o' bits an' such," she stated. This concept appeared to be a running theme in this world; anything that couldn't be broken down into easy to explain values was described as being something that couldn't be measured, labeled, calculated, and typified in physical terms. It was a concept that he was very slowly, very begrudgingly, being forced to accept as a possibly valid explanation; especially after everything that'd happened in Las Noches. That matter aside, there was a specific similarity he noticed between the two explanations; both of them were structured in a manner that supported and emphasized the importance of companionship. Perhaps that was truly why he couldn't understand friendship himself. He'd never had any need for companionship before. Perhaps his aspect of emptiness is what prevented his understanding of the matter. He never had any true need for companionship before, he'd done fine on his own. The only reason he worked with the other Espada, was for the purpose of serving Aizen. With that as a consideration, he was left to wonder if this would need to be reported to Princess Celestia. What point would there be in attempting to study and understand something if he wasn't physically capable of understanding it? But then what? Princess Celestia had assigned him the task of studying friendship. It was his primary purpose in this world. What would become of him, if he were to tell her that he couldn't fulfill his purpose? He wasn't the type for giving up when things proved to be difficult. Even when things had gone very, very wrong back in Las Noches, he had still dutifully done his best to complete his assigned mission, futile as it had proven. "You know, I just thought of something," Spike spoke up. He could see this conversation likely wasn't going anywhere; not with the way the conversation back at the library had gone. A change of topic was definitely necessary. "Pinkie's pretty much an expert on when it comes to friends. I bet if anyone could explain it, she could do it," he suggested. Twilight blinked. Spike hadn't seriously just said that, had he? Pinkie Pie and Ulquiorra were like polar opposites in nature. Could Ulquiorra really make sense out of anything the pink party pony would have to say on something as complicated as friendship? Something that she herself still didn't get all the time? "Perhaps that would be most prudent. If this "Pinkie Sense" you referred to is a real condition, it would seem wise to presume she's already aware of my arrival in Ponyville, and preparing another surprise in some vain hope of making me smile. Delaying the inevitable would serve no purpose, and may only put others in the line of fire if said surprise goes wrong," Ulquiorra replied as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Knowin' that girl, ah wouldn' be surprised one bit. When it comes ta Pinkie she's always wantin' ponies ta be happy an' smiling, goin' outta her way ta make it happen," Applejack explained. "I think she's got her work cut out for her when it comes to Ulquiorra," Spike commented. However it wasn't until after the words came out of his mouth, that he actually thought better about what was said. "Uh... sorry, no offense." "None taken. It's an accurate assessment," Ulquiorra replied evenly. If Pinkie Pie were truly obsessed with making him laugh, or even smile, she would be facing a significant uphill battle ahead of her. He had never laughed before, never smiled before. He had no reason for such irrelevancies in his life. Perhaps one day she would realize that fact and drop her wasted efforts. "Now that you mention it... if you don't mind me asking, Ulquiorra, how come you don't smile or laugh?" Twilight asked curiously. It couldn't simply be that he refrained from either due to his nihilistic outlook on life; nihilism couldn't override someone's natural physical responses to outside stimuli. But then again what if it could? She didn't know anything about the physical nature of Hollows, with the exception of what Ulquiorra had freely shared with her when asked. Of all the Espada his aspect of emptiness, just as Applejack's Element of Harmony was honesty. Applejack was an absolutely terrible liar, even before she'd been selected as a bearer. Maybe it was similar for Ulquiorra? Maybe he didn't laugh because there was literally nothing to him? No that couldn't be it! Nothingness didn't observe a sense of duty. Nothingness didn't go out of its way to protect others that were regarded as important. Nothingness didn't... now that she thought of it, nothingness shouldn't display any curiosity about what surrounded it, and at the same time defined it by its absence. There was definitely more going on here than meets the eye. A sudden thought occurred to her; what if Ulquiorra was wrong about his outlook on life? Not wrong as in choosing the wrong belief system, but rather in his own understanding? Nihilism was the belief that nothing has any meaning because nothing truly exists; an absence of anything that holds true value or merit to justify a reason for its existence. If that were Ulquiorra's outlook to life, then why would he spend all his time in the library and read about Equestria and all it had to offer? Why would he care about what might happen to them? Why would he care if Celestia found displeasure with him and his actions? For that matter, why would he ask Celestia to provide him with a reason to justify his existence? None of it made any sense to her. The only thing that seemed to make sense, was the possibility that Ulquiorra might have made a premature decision about his outlook on life. Maybe he'd confused the concept of nihilism with the belief of minimalism. That was entirely possible, and a logical explanation for the inconsistencies she'd seen since the Espada's arrival. But she needed to follow up that theory with facts. "What I mean is... is it because they're irrelevant? Or is it because you haven't yet found anything that would warrant such a response?" she asked, finishing up the initial question that'd been paused by her thoughts. Ulquiorra remained silent in thought. It was a valid question to ask. It was a specific question, and phrased in a specific manner, that he hadn't ever given consideration to asking himself. At one point in time he would've simply disregarded it as the nonsensical curiosity of an emotional and illogical being, trying to make sense of their surroundings, in an effort to grasp some intangible lifeline to maintain their sanity. However he wasn't certain if that logic still applied now. He had been confronted with so many new concepts in his short time here, that he wasn't quite certain what exactly to believe in anymore. Magic, talking animals, friendship, exceedingly bright colors... everything standing in stark contrast to what he'd once accepted as the borders that defined existence. There was certainly nothing in the realm of Hueco Mundo that would warrant such a useless gesture to show something that would be regarded as interest. Perhaps that was part of it. Perhaps there were aspects to himself that even he didn't fully understand. "Yet another mystery to add to my next report," he thought to himself, before addressing the unicorn in response to her question. "At present time I have no readily available answer. Perhaps it's something else that will need to be discovered, in order to be adequately answered." Twilight tried not to frown. It was an answer, but it was pretty much a non-answer and didn't amount to anything. This was going to be harder than she thought. But regardless, she remained optimistic that they could discover something beneficial down the line, it would just take some measure of diligence to get there. "Well... if anypony has the answers we're looking for, Pinkie's probably a good candidate. If you haven't smiled simply because you haven't found anything worth smiling about, she'll probably be the one who knows what'll do the trick," Spike suggested. He possessed significant doubts about Spike's take on the matter. It was highly unlikely that Pinkie Pie would be able to make him smile or laugh simply by presenting him with something that piqued his interest to a significant degree. Unlikely, but not impossible. He'd been taken completely by surprise before. Who was he to say that him smiling was something that wouldn't happen? "We shall see then," Ulquiorra responded and began walking in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. "Hey jus' a minute now," Applejack spoke up, causing Ulquiorra to stop in his tracks, and turn to face her. "Mr. Cifer, ah gotta work the market fer most o' the mornin', but sometime this afternoon, could ya maybe swing by the farm? We... we sorta got some work on the barn that needs ta be done, an' yer strength'd be mighty useful," she explained. Once again with the prospect of manual labor. Not that he was opposed to the notion. Being able to do something physical in nature had a certain appeal to it, something that couldn't be achieved with these supposed studies. Perhaps it would be worth exploring. "If there's time in the day," he replied, before setting off for the bakery again. "We'll see you later, Applejack," Twilight replied before following along with Spike in tow. Applejack watched in silence as the others left the marketplace. The conclusion of the meeting hadn't exactly been how she'd wanted it to be, but there really wasn't much she could do about it. There wasn't much she could continue adding to the discussion, and as long as Ulquiorra remained in the marketplace, traffic would be ground to a halt. She didn't want to be unfriendly or anything, but business was business. Mr. Cifer likely understood that fact, he was all about being logical and such; she couldn't see him taking offense to being informed of the situation and asked to assist by not being present. And if he did... well she'd try and make it up to him later. Right now though, she had to get back to business. Ponies were starting to show up again, and ponies meant the possibility of getting apples sold. "Apples! Nice red, delicious, juicy apples!"