Chapter Forty One
"Why are we diverting from the main path?"
The walk back to where Zecora lived had been carried out largely in silence, neither party speaking along the journey. Ulquiorra possessed little motivation to engage the zebra in any conversation, primarily due to her strange manner of speech. And whenever Zecora looked back at him and saw his neutral expression, she changed her mind about actually speaking up.
For a considerable portion of the time the two journeyed together, the only distraction was the sound of feet and hooves against the ground, occasionally the snapping of a crushed twig, and eventually the sound of crunching grass, as Zecora moved away from the well-worn dirt path that indicated heavy traffic in this area; heavy enough that all the grass had been completely eroded away.
"A matter of much necessity I fear. Poison Joke it seems, to the path, grows very near. A detour we do need, or we will be exposed to the weed," Zecora explained as she paused to address him, before walking again.
Poison Joke? That was something he remembered reading about, as he studied about his surroundings, and how they were detailed in the Canterlot library. A very strange plant no matter how it was looked at. There was no real history as to where it came from, or how it came to be in existence. There was a great deal of speculation about its nature, theories that it was a creation of Discord's from long ago, but ultimately it was little more than guess work. The only confirmed information available dealt with the nature of its effects on others, signs exibited by those that had come into contact with it, and the available treatments for those that were infected by its pollen.
All in all, a most unpleasant bother to encounter. Right now he'd rather avoid seeing what it would do in reaction to his Arrancar nature. Without a word he followed the change in direction.
"Perhaps some herbicide would be a wise investment," he stated as they continued along the new path.
"What you speak of is an unnatural way. It is not something I would consider, even on my most frustrating day," Zecora replied as she stepped to avoid a fallen branch.
Another rhyme. Another uncertainty in this world. Another opportunity to simply remain silent and continue walking. The sooner they arrived at the designated location, the sooner he could determine if Zecora was a distraction. And the sooner he could return to Ponyville and continue his efforts there.
"If I may ask, however did you get assigned the dragon task?" Zecora asked as she turned to face him curiously. "Considering you are a dignitary, I would believe Princess Celestia would be more wary."
There were a great many things Ulquiorra encountered, and had to deal with in his day-to-day interactions with others. Some of these things were easy to tolerate, and others not so much. If he were to categorize everything on a scale of differing levels of intolerance, the cover story told by Twilight Sparkle would rank high on said scale. From the very beginning he'd allowed the unicorn to act as his guide, allowed her to spin the tale of him being a visiting dignitary from a foreign land, here to establish diplomatic relations with Equestria. Even from the beginning he'd objected to such, as it would interfere with his interactions with others. If they believed he was a dignitary then their actions would be guarded, stiff, artificial, and not give an accurate measure of what exactly he could expect in this strange world.
He had tolerated such nonsense for a period of no more than two days, before finally dispelling the notion entirely, and quite brutally in the process. He had no interest in being regarded as something he wasn't. Whether the rest of Ponyville had been made aware of his true nature after last week, or whether they still believed what they'd been told, he was uncertain. And right now he was uninterested, as he didn't have to specifically deal with them. But Zecora was another matter entirely, and she would have to be dealt with appropriately.
"The story shared with you by Twilight Sparkle and the others was not a matter of truth. I am no foreign dignitary, nor am I here to established diplomatic relations with Equestria, or any other country in this world. My presence here is the result of Discord's interference in the natural order of things," he explained bluntly. "In simple terms, the spirit of chaos chose to rip me from my own world, my own dimension, and deposit me here in this strange world."
He knew that by sharing such information freely would complicate the matter at hand. If Zecora was truly being utilized for nefarious reasons, revealing the truth of his origin could have adverse affects, whatever they might be. But at the same time, if whatever had sent the dragon after the holders of the Elements of Harmony, was actively using this zebra as a source of information, then there was the possibility of the revelation causing said mystery force to rethink its approach.
That was, of course, assuming his true nature wasn't already known by whatever he was up against. In hindsight, perhaps utilizing his released state had been a mistake on his part. Perhaps even now, this possible entity was attempting to concoct a countermeasure just for it.
As his attention settled on Zecora rather than his own thoughts, he noticed as she remained quite still, with her mouth hanging open at his words. It was safe to say she hadn't seen that one coming. And the fact she wasn't speaking suggested she had reason to believe his words. Perhaps it was appropriate to continue the matter, and show her just how far off base she'd been in her beliefs.
"What I am is a Hollow. An earthbound spirit subjected to the taint of the living world, mutated into a beast of pure primal instinct, driven to devour the souls of others in an effort to satiate the hunger caused by the loss of their heart. When this hunger becomes too great, some Hollows will turn on other Hollows and devour them in turn. Those that survive and devour enough Hollows will eventually evolve to new, more powerful levels. I am of the highest possible evolutionary level; Vasto Lorde," he explained, giving the stunned zebra a basic rundown of the facts of his nature.
Silence. Other than the background noises of the forest, there was nothing but silence to be heard. Except for laughing. Zecora's silence was soon replaced by her throwing her head back and all-out laughing. Did she find his story amusing? And if she did, was is truly that amusing? This was most unusual. He'd encountered a number of reactions to the truth about himself being revealed, but humor had never been one of them.
The laughing continued for several long moments before Zecora finally managed to regain control of herself, wiping away the tears that had started to fall from her unrestrained amusement. She could tell just by the look he was giving her that he didn't share in her amusement.
"I apologize if I seemed rude good sir, I merely found your sense of humor amusing as it were," she explained in an effort to justify her actions. "While it is an interesting story that you tell, I'm afraid I must say no sell. While you can possibly tell it best, tales of such beings are very common in my homeland to the west. And from what I can see standing before me, you are no roho mlaji."
Roho mlaji?
Without any doubt, this was a most unusual conversation to be having. That was about the only thing he could say for certain. Through all of her rhyming, had Zecora just told him that beings who devoured souls were regarded to exist in this world? Perhaps he was truly not the first Hollow to ever set foot in this dimension?
Unfortunately he didn't have any answers to such technical questions. To do so would require extensive knowledge of the spiritual equivalent of quantum physics, in order to postulate and speculate about the boundaries that separated various dimensions, and how their overall integrity might be affected at certain points of time. Perhaps Hollows at some point in the past had managed to fall through a weak point in the dimensional fabric when utilizing garganta travel, and wound up here?
Princess Celestia had stated that he was the only Hollow to ever be present in her land. However it was entirely possible she was speaking exclusively of her own knowledge and personal accounts. Perhaps wherever Zecora hailed from, it was beyond the boundaries of Equestria proper, and what happened there was beyond Princess Celestia's awareness.
Whatever the reasoning was, it prevented a curiosity. Perhaps further investigation at a later point was necessary.
"Do you possess a logical explanation as to how I was able to defeat the dragon, in the manner that was described to you?" he asked simply, deciding to veer back to the original discussion at hand. Discussing whether or not other Hollows existed in this world would do little until more information could be gathered.
"Ah... about that, I must admit, if there is a reason, I do not see it," Zecora sheepishly admitted. She'd gotten so carried away in his tale about what he was, that she'd completely forgotten about that topic. "This way," she finally said and began walking again.
Ulquiorra remained silent and continued following the zebra. The questions-to-answers ratio was becoming further and further unbalanced with every step he took. And every interaction with new -and untrusted- individuals simply deepened the overall mystery.
It was getting to the point of ridiculousness. If he were any of the lower ranked Espada, right now he would be at the point of screaming obscenities and demanding answers. Even if he was himself, he couldn't deny that such actions sounded minutely appealing to consider.
"I possess questions for which no answers exist. Perhaps you can be of assistance," he finally spoke up. If he wasn't going to get to the bottom of his on his own by just standing around, then perhaps it was time to utilize the proverbial shovel and start digging. "The first question relates to you and your method of speech. Is it due to a neurological condition that affects your ability to verbally communicate with others? Or do you possess the ability to communicate in a normal fashion, and instead it is a deliberate decision to construct rhyming sentences?" he asked.
"On that matter, I am quite happy to report the latter. To construct a proper rhyme, one must invest thought and time. To do so readily, one must practice steadily," Zecora replied as she walked along.
Ulquiorra was about to speak again, but stopped himself before ever opening his mouth. He could try and seek confirmation of Zecora's rhyming exercising being nothing more than an exercise to keep her mind active and such, but doing so would ultimately be of little overall value. The fact that it was deliberate meant she did indeed have the ability to communicate in a regular manner, and right now that was of far more probative value than anything else.
"For the next question I will require a straight answer without any attempts made to rhyme, as the information could be of a most crucial nature. These roho mlaji you speak of, what do they look like? What pattern of behavior do they engage in? And how are they killed?" he asked. If these creatures Zecora was referring to were truly Hollows by another name, then it was information he would need to be made aware of, so he could alert Princess Celestia and the others of the fact.
He could hear the sounds of Zecora's attempts at thinking -why she was making so much noise while thinking, he wasn't sure- before finally taking a deep breath to address him. "They have no appearance. The roho mlaji are nothing but tales from my country, told to advise others to not live a life marked with regret, for such may prevent them from eternal rest, and drive them to great resentment in the afterlife. The roho mlaji are proverbs, not creatures of an actual existence," Zecora explained calmly, doing her best to do so without any rhymes; a feat surprisingly more difficult than she first thought. Perhaps it was something she could practice more often.
"You're quite certain of that fact? No historical accounts regarding white skull-like masks? Misshapen bodies with large, gaping holes in their chests where their heart would be?" he asked, pressing on further in his inquiry. Whether or not Zecora was being utilized as another pawn, there were more important matters at hand right now. He couldn't afford to be so guarded and cautious in how he proceeded, that he wound up passing up valuable information in the process.
"Quite certain," Zecora said as she slowly stopped walking and turned to face him with a critical eye. "Why are you so curious about an old tale from a faraway land? What significance do you believe it holds to you?" she asked him.
He considered being quite frank with Zecora at the moment. He gave serious consideration to going into detail to explain the situation to her, and the importance of her answers and information. Making her aware of the world of Hueco Mundo and everything that it held, would possibly convince her of the severity of the situation, and why he was so interested. If there were tales of creatures like Hollows in this world, then at some point there must have existed something to serve as the catalyst of such tales.
He gave such facts consideration. However he stopped himself before ever bringing any of these up. He realized that the more time he devoted to Zecora, the longer he was away from Twilight Sparkle and the others. And if Zecora had truly been sent as a decoy, then that was exactly what was wanted!
"Morbid curiosity," he finally replied and began walking again. Dropping everything now and sonidoing his way back to Ponyville would be the prudent decision to make. But if he did that, if Zecora was in communication with the mysterious force, then his sudden absence could possibly alert it to the jig being up. He would have to bide his time, continue escorting Zecora to the designated location, and then hurry back to the others. "Perhaps we should proceed before anything else of value suffers from the humidity of the forest."
Zecora said nothing and simply nodded as she once again began walking, Ulquiorra keeping pace easily. The sooner this matter was settled, the sooner he could return to Ponyville, and the better off they would all be.
The experience of being grabbed from behind and roughly jostled, while in the company of two other ponies and one dragon, was far removed from the list of experiences that Twilight would ever consider to be pleasant in nature. But had she been asked? Had her abductor possessed the pony decency to first ask her beforehoof, if she minded being scared half to death by being grabbed from behind without warning? Fuck no! She and the others had just been grabbed like fruit in a fruit stand heist. And when confronted with such facts, there were only two words in the Equestrian language that seemed to adequately confer just how upset she'd been over it all.
"Pinkie Pie!"
Did the pink pony have any idea just how uncalled for her actions truly were? The timing of her snatch and grab couldn't have possibly been worse if she'd tried. Did she understand the fact that she could've had her head bucked right off her shoulders by surprising them in such a manner, during a time when they were all on high alert? She'd put herself in serious danger with that little stunt. Did she really have no concept of that simple fact?
And just how did she go about bringing all four of them from the Ponyville marketplace, all the way to Applejack's barn at Sweet Apple Acres? It was several miles worth of distance to cover, and somehow she'd done it all in what seemed like just a few seconds. And as long as they were on that topic of discussion, when did...
"Don't ask that question, Twilight, you know you'll regret whatever answer you get," Twilight scolded herself. There were some questions best left unasked, and some that needed to be unanswered.
Fortunately the bubbly pink party pony seemed to understand that something was wrong, as she stopped bouncing about -in mid bounce no less- and turned to address her directly. "What's up Twilight?"
"Can I ask this one, Twilight? Please?" Spike asked, interrupting before she could finish drawing a breath.
Twilight looked at Spike, curious about why he was volunteering, but equally curious at just what he was going to go about asking. Regardless she nodded to give him the go ahead.
"Okay," Spike said in a manner that practically dripped of eagerness, despite his best efforts to appear serious. He cleared his throat before turning to look directly at Pinkie. "Pinkie... just what the fuck were you thinking by grabbing us like that!?"
"Spike!" Twilight protested, completely unaware of Fluttershy's squeak in surprise, or Applejack's statement that sounded like "whoa nelly" or something along those lines. When exactly did he start using such language? First him knowing about wingboners and rutting, and now this?
Spike turned back to face Twilight again, an incredulous look on his face. "What's the matter, Twilight? Don't like hearing it coming from me? Well that makes two of us. So let's make a deal. I'll stop if you stop, is it a deal?" he asked.
He didn't know the full extent of whatever foreign profanities Ulquiorra had taught Twilight on that night in the library, or even why such an otherwise logical individual would feel such subject matter was appropriate to engage in. And he didn't even know what all of the words meant either. But he figured none of it was stuff that should be said in polite or mixed company. And whatever possessed Twilight to start using it, he wanted it to stop. She was the older of the two, she should be setting the example for him to follow, not the other way around. Which brought him to this idea of his. If certain things were alright for her to say, then they should be alright for him to say too, and with as great a frequency. And if she didn't like that idea... well then she had the ability to stop it right here and now.
Twilight looked at him with uncertainty, before finally closing her eyes and sighing. "Deal..."
Applejack just shook her head, deciding to let those two have their own issues themselves. She also decided to do the interrogation thing herself, and turned to face the confused looking Pinkie.
"So Pinkie, wha' exactly's the big idea o' grabbin' us an' bringin' us all ta mah barn?" she asked. She wanted to get to the bottom of that curiosity, and get back to town to tend to the apple stand. That back in five minutes sign wasn't going to keep the customers waiting forever. She'd put it up when she saw Zecora and the others having trouble carrying everything that they were trying to carry, in order to lend her natural earth pony strength to the endeavor. But this was turning out to be a lot more than five minutes. If she didn't get back soon then customers would be getting upset, and some of the less than honest townsponies -there were always a few of them in every city- might start stealing her wares.
"To get ready for Ulqy's party silly," Pinkie stated and grinned quite hard, her tone suggesting that it was an obvious question with an even more obvious answer; as if it required no explanation whatsoever.
"... Say wha' now?" Applejack asked, confused by the answer.
"Don't you remember back in the dream thingy when Celestia said Ulqy should get a big blowout of a party? Well what better time to do it when he's both here in Ponyville, and away and distracted carrying out an escort mission with Zecora? He's here but he doesn't know what's going on so we can surprise him!" Pinkie answered excitedly as she started bouncing about again.
The four assembled looked between themselves in confusion as Pinkie began diverging from talk purely about parties, and started talking about stuff they had no understanding of. Escort missions? HUD? Two player support? And what exactly did Luna have to do with any of this? And that was just the few words of gibberish they could get from the pink pony, her rapid fire manner of speech even more difficult to understand than usual. It was like she was having a high level sugar rush, on top of her own natural hyper nature.
Twilight couldn't help but wonder. If Pinkie met a steel plate in her current condition, could she bounce enough to vibrate her entire molecular structure right through the plate?
"Twi' do ya have any idea wha' she's talkin' 'bout?" Applejack asked.
"I got lost after "post-hit invincibility" whatever that means," Twilight replied. They weren't going to get anywhere like this. Igniting her horn, Pinkie was quickly grabbed in her magical aura and lifted up off the ground to keep her restrained, and brought her closer for conversation. "Pinkie!"
"Yes?" Pinkie asked, the sudden burst of hyperness gone as she now conveyed a high state of awareness of her surroundings as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Twilight just shook her head in a confused manner. She decided to skip all the possible stuff she could ask about, and instead cut to the chase on the matter.
"Pinkie, I get that you're excited about throwing Ulquiorra a party. I even get why you're excited about throwing Ulquiorra a party. But just grabbing us out of the blue like that was incredibly dangerous and you could've gotten hurt doing it. We've all been on high alert for nearly a week now. Not knowing it was you, one of us could've wound up hurting you because we thought something bad was happening," Twilight pointed out as she maintained a firm hold on Pinkie, hoping it would also serve to hold her concentration throughout the explanation.
Pinkie blinked a few times, as if she was being presented with a foreign concept she simply couldn't wrap her head around, and had wound up getting lost in attempting to listen. However as she blinked the look of confusion in her eyes was slowly replaced by one of understanding, as the concept of Twilight's words fully sank in.
"Oh..." she replied, her tone accompanying a change of demeanor. "Sorry everypony, I got carried away because I was so excited about Ulqy's party," she apologized.
Applejack sighed as she approached. "Tha's a'right Sugarcube, we understand why ya did it an' all. But nex' time try an' be a bit more careful, a'right? Ah'd feel like a pile o' manure if one o' us wound up hurtin' ya 'cause we didn't know it was you," she said as she rested a foreleg on her withers.
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie replied, her demeanor brightening at Applejack's kind words.
"It doesn't look like much of a party right now," Spike pointed out as he looked around the barn. He'd been in Ponyville long enough to know that when Pinkie did a party, she did things big and loud, and the barn was anything but. It was... disappointing really.
"That's because we're not ready yet. When I was going over everything I found out I'm gonna need your help. We need to get everypony to show up, and the refreshments, and decorations, and gifts, and we gotta get Ulqy in here, and the more hooves the better!" Pinkie stated.
That was... unprecedented. Pinkie actually saying she needed help throwing a party? Right now that was either an honor, or reason to be concerned.
"Just one question... at the moment," Twilight replied as she set Pinkie back down and released her hold on her, "is this supposed to be a surprise party? Because if it is, I don't see how it's going to work. Ulquiorra can detect mana from vast distances. He's going to know something's up for sure," she pointed out.
"And that's where you come in, Twilight, I've got something extra special in mind for you. Listen..." Pinkie said as she stepped closer to fill her friend in on what was expected of her.
Somehow the tree before him failed to prove to be a surprise. The library that served as Twilight Sparkle's home was made from a tree despite being set in a town. Zecora's home consisting of a tree in the middle of a forest only seemed fitting. The only outstanding aspect of the entire presentation were the tribal masks hung about the tree in some fashion. Their overall design, combined with the fact Zecora was a zebra, left him relatively certain that her native land to the west was in some way similar to the continent of Africa. Or at the very least, the concept of Africa that he was familiar with.
However there were more pressing matters at hand, such as returning to Ponyville. Zecora had been all too willing to simply walk the distance, and he'd been forced to keep pace with her, rather than doing anything that might rouse suspicion. Had he known of the location beforehand, and carrying fewer items, he would've lifted her up off the ground, and taken to the skies to travel at a far quicker pace, and be done long before now.
Being considerate of others had significant drawbacks, it seemed. And so did taking considerable steps to not raise the suspicions of an unfamiliar, when they themselves were considered suspicious in nature.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of this entire endeavor was the fact he'd volunteered to do it of his own volition, rather than being asked or ordered to do so. But then again that had been due to his own motivation more than anything else. It wasn't friendship or compassion that drove him to take on this mission, but rather the need to determine the current threat level. And if nothing else, it at least lent credibility to the notion that he was better understanding friendship, and would be more able to sell his story to the others. Which would in turn divert their attention away from the ridiculous notion that he needed to be taught about friendship, and thus be better able to focus on identifying disturbances that would help establish a detectable pattern.
The only point so far that could be considered good, was the lack of any detectable reiatsu patterns that could give him cause for concern. Other than the patterns of various low-level wildlife, the only reiatsu he could detect belonged to Zecora herself. Perhaps she truly hadn't been sent as a decoy to divert his attention.
"That is the last," Zecora said and let out a long tired sigh as she walked out of the doorway. She was quite thankful for all the help she'd been provided with on the journey back to her home. Unfortunately the organization was something that only she could tend to, as only she knew full well just where everything went. And sometimes that took considerable effort. "Never did I believe I would be done so fast. Had it not been for you, I do not know what I would do."
Once again back to the rhyming. But there was nothing he could do about that except accept it for what it was. His task here had been done, there was no longer any need to remain here.
"Then I will be taking my leave now," he said as he slid his hands back into his pockets.
"Ah. Before you set out for your destination, we should first discuss compensation. For all that you have done today, it wouldn't be right to let you go without pay," Zecora stated as she stepped closer.
More interruptions, thus forcing him to maintain appearances to avoid rousing suspicions. This was more tedious than fooling Chrysalis. And on top of that it was preventing him from returning to Ponyville to ensure the safety of the others. That simply wasn't acceptable.
"Another time perhaps. For now I really must be leaving," he stated, concluding such with a burst of sonido, and leaving a confused Zecora behind in the process.
He'd spent too much time away, investigating the nature of the zebra and her trip to Ponyville. He truly hadn't intended to be away for so long.
As she waited just outside of the library, Twilight paced back and forth anxiously. Why her? Why her? Why her? Why did she have to get assigned the part that she did? Didn't Pinkie know what she was asking of her right now? There was no way this was going to work, it just couldn't work. How could it possibly work?
"Calm down, Twilight, calm down," she scolded herself during the most recent turn to face the direction she'd just paced along. "You're getting yourself far too worked up over something that isn't even worth it. All you need to do is find Ulquiorra and get him to come to Sweet Apple Acres. You can do that easy enough, he's very logical, he'll listen to reason. It's not like he has to be convinced to do anything unusual. It's not like he's going to have any reason to be suspicious. Just... just be patient, be yourself, and everything will go fine."
That's what she told herself. If only it were that simple to be calm, cool, and collected about things. But sadly it wasn't, and the longer she waited, the more anxious she got. The hard part about all of this was actually waiting for Ulquiorra to make his appearance before proceeding with everything else. Waiting could be so darn frustrating!
And unfortunately, when you waited while being anxious, your mind tended to wander. And where it wandered to wasn't always pretty. Case in point, Ulquiorra being gone for so long. She'd been to Zecora's hut plenty of times to know about how much time it took to walk both there and back to Ponyville, and it shouldn't be taking this long. The way Ulquiorra had so effortlessly lifted everything out of the broken cart with just his two hands like it was nothing, she just knew it couldn't be taking long because he would need to stop and rest.
And that was saying nothing about how he'd so effortlessly forced an adult dragon into a dead stop... while standing in midair at the time! Somebody who could do something like that, after spending twelve hours hiking up a mountainside without even the slightest hints of fatigue, could surely walk to Zecora's hut and back without getting tired from carrying a few supplies.
But what if it wasn't that? What if they'd run into trouble out there? The Everfree Forest was a dangerous place, full of animals that they still hadn't cataloged at this point in time. What if one of those unknown creatures had discovered them, and right now Ulquiorra and Zecora were captured and about to be eaten? What if Rainbow Dash was right!?
"What am I thinking!? This is Ulquiorra we're talking about! If he'd encountered anything in the Everfree Forest that he couldn't handle, we would've seen evidence of it before now. We would've known if he'd discharged a Cero, or if he had to use his resurrección," she thought, pointing out the absurdity of it all, and scolding herself for being so unreasonable. It had to be a far more mundane reason to explain what was taking so long.
But still, that didn't make waiting any easier to deal with. She had no idea where he was right now, and he could literally be anywhere. Why didn't she put a tracking beacon spell on him when she had the chance? At least then she'd have an idea of his general location.
That was a frustrating aspect of Ulquiorra as far as Twilight could see. He somehow had this habit of not being noticed until he wanted to be noticed. He could so effortlessly appear behind somepony in near silence, and they didn't know he was there until he spoke up and startled them in the process.
"Wait a minute..."
With that thought in mind she smirked. He liked sneaking up on ponies? Well she'd fix that in very short order. Standing firmly she place, she whirled her body around as hard and as fast as she could, nearly popping her neck in the process, letting out a loud yell of "Caught you!" as she faced... empty space...
Ulquiorra hadn't been behind her at all.
What was going on here? A subverted running gag or something? She sighed in anxious frustration and outright annoyance.
"Damn it, Ulquiorra, where are you when a pony needs you?" she asked no one in particular.
It might've been fate, chance, coincidence, or just sheer dumb luck. But whatever it was that seemed to be controlling actions around Ponyville, as soon as she asked the question, Ulquiorra appeared directly in front of her in a flash. And that unnatural timing and close proximity was enough to bring a startled yelp from her, as she fell backward and landed on her haunches.
"That's not funny," she grumbled as she climbed back to all four of her hooves.
"It wasn't my intention to be humorous," Ulquiorra replied as he looked at her. "Has anything noteworthy transpired during my absence?"
He would just have to phrase his question in that manner, wouldn't he? Phrasing it that way, after letting them all know that he can spot deception, that was just great. She was going to need to be calm to sell the story.
"Not really. Just more of Pinkie being... Pinkie," she replied, figuring it was quite true and quite worth telling. "Now that you're back, should we head to Sweet Apple Acres and see what it is Applejack was asking about?" she asked him.
"At present time I fail to see a reason not to," Ulquiorra replied. At least if it were manual labor, it would be something he could properly grasp. Without another word he set off for the farm, Twilight following close behind him.
"So how did things go with Zecora?" she asked as she walked alongside him, glad that the Espada hadn't simply flashed out to shorten the journey.
"There were no unforeseen interruptions. The fact no incidents have occurred during my absence, would suggest Zecora was not utilized as a decoy for the purpose of luring me away from Ponyville," he explained, noticing how Twilight nearly tripped in the process.
"Say what? You... you thought Zecora was a... like a trap or something?" she asked him.
"Under current circumstances it was hard to consider otherwise. Hence my decision to proceed. If Zecora had been dispatched to Ponyville with the intent of luring several Element holders away into the forest, my volunteering to proceed alone would be objected to and refused, indicating something was amiss. At the same time there was the possibility that Zecora was being utilized as a decoy, specifically to lure me away from the town, leaving it vulnerable to attack, while at the same time trying to gather information about my nature. However, based on all available information, it would seem safe to determine Zecora played no part in any nefarious schemes," he explained as they walked along.
Twilight thought on his words as they walked. She wanted to write it off as him simply being overly suspicious of the unknown. But to do that she'd have to disagree with him on the matter, and try as she might she simply couldn't. His theory that Chrysalis had been used as a pawn, would certainly suggest Zecora wasn't above such a corrupting influence either. But she really didn't want to go around and be suspicious of her friends anytime they talked to her, or asked her to do something to help them.
"Another mystery may have also been uncovered," he stated during the following silence.
"Oh no..." Twilight groaned, "another one? I'm almost afraid to even ask. Please... please tell me it has to do with her rhyming and not something else..."
"That is not something I can do, as it does not," Ulquiorra replied. "During our travel back to her home, Zecora mentioned an old tale of beings called roho mlanji. She insists they're nothing more than folk tales to motivate others to live a life without regrets. But from her explanation they possess a remarkable similarity to the basic nature of Hollows," he explained, adjusting his gait when he noticed her beginning to fall behind. "I believe the matter is one in need of further research."
"You mean... you think Hollows have found their way to Equestria in the past? But... but how could that even be possible? Didn't Celestia say something about you being the only Hollow to ever set hoof... foot... whatever, in Equestria?" Twilight asked, feeling utterly confused, scared, and intrigued all at the same time.
"I can't comment on the physical possibilities of such. I don't have access to the proper fields of physics to explain interdimensional travel by non-corporeal beings across the planes of different realities. At present time all I can do is speculate about the reality of everything we've encountered so far," Ulquiorra explained. "Despite her longevity, it's unlikely Princess Celestia is aware of every single detail that occurs throughout the entire world. If there are old tales of monsters that devour the souls of others, there must be a point of origin for them. And if Hollows truly have visited this world at some point in time, then it is possible some races have developed abilities to neutralize them. In which case it would be wise to learn them, just in case."
"Don't think about it, Twilight, just don't think about it," she mentally told herself, desperate to head off her own mind and prevent it from going down the course that it naturally wanted to take after being presented with this new and terrifying information. First there was the theory Ulquiorra developed when conversing with her friends, and then this new theory that Hollows have come into this world in the past? She really needed to stop leaving the Espada unattended, he just kept getting into trouble when she was gone! And that trouble just kept causing more and more worry.
"Maybe Celestia will let me talk him into moving into the library so I can keep an eye on him," she thought as she walked. That way he couldn't get himself into any trouble when he was left unattended. However almost immediately after she considered such, she shook her head. "What am I thinking!? Ask Ulquiorra to move in with us? Oh that's real bright thinking right there, Twilight. He's already more or less said that he thinks that Rainbow Dash might actually be physically attracted to him. The last thing you want to do is add fuel to that fire. You don't want to make him think that you're after him too! You don't want to give him the insane idea that you and your friends want to be his harem!"
Now that she thought about it, that line of thinking was just too weird to even consider. Not the thought about being in a harem of sorts, there was nothing actually wrong with polygamy; not legally anyway. It wasn't uncommon for some ponies to partner up in groups of three or more when forming a family. The real headache came when two or more of the participants were friends prior to the arrangement, and if the relationship went bad, it usually tended to spoil the friendship and left the participants bitter. That was one reason she was careful in her interactions with others. It was one reason she never did anything that might be considered flirting with Thunderlane, just in case there was something between him and Rainbow Dash.
And it was for that reason, that she was careful when she interacted with her friends, to not do anything that would suggest she had any romantic feelings for any of them. There were simply too many things that could go wrong there.
No. There was nothing wrong with the idea of several of them being in a consenting relationship. The real problem with the thought was the prospect of who they'd be involved with. Them being physically attracted to Ulquiorra? They weren't even the same species. Not that there was anything wrong with that, she wasn't intolerant of mixed couples or anything. There was certainly nothing wrong about relationships between ponies and gryphons, or even ponies and buffalo. But ponies and Hollows? That was... was... it...
"Don't think about that either!" she yelled to herself in frustration. She could see why Celestia got so upset with him at times. He was starting to drive her to a frazzle, and he really hadn't even done anything yet! It was bad enough that she wanted to start pulling her mane out. And then after she got done with pulling it out, she wanted to put it right back in, according to both hair length and color hue. That was assuming she didn't take the time to borrow a pair of scissors and clip each hair to an equal length with one another.
"... Twilight?"
"Huh?" she asked and blinked in confusion. Had he said something and she'd been too distracted to hear? That must've been it. Curiously she looked up at him for clarification, and he was looking back at her. In fact he'd turned completely around to face her in order to address her.
"I asked if there was a problem. Your entire demeanor is consistent with one under great mental strain," he elaborated.
"Oh," she replied, "let's just say these theories and mysteries you come up with are disturbing to consider. Before you came here, we never would've thought twice about any of this stuff. It... it's a lot to get used to," she explained. And that was putting it very, very mildly.
"That is a matter we both share. Yours is a world that serves as an antithesis to everything I once regarded as normal and acceptable. There are contradictions I cannot yet reconcile, despite my best efforts," he replied. Seeing that she was beginning to walk again, he turned and continued. "Many contradictions, and many mysteries."
"I don't mean to be critical or anything, Ulquiorra, but sometimes I wonder if you see mysteries where there are none," Twilight commented as they walked along.
"Mysteries exist regardless of whether or not one actively looks for them. Such as why there is a significant amount of reiatsu in the same direction as Sweet Apple Acres," Ulquiorra replied as he once again turned to face her directly. "What exactly are you not telling me?" he asked her pointedly.
He observed as her entire demeanor changed, as she grinned and giggled nervously, looking from her right to her left with quickly shifting eyes. It was more than apparent that he'd caught her doing something. The only question was just what that something was.
Without warning she quickly stood up on her hind legs and wrapped her forelegs around him, her horn glowing brightly in the process.
"SURPRISE!"
During his time in Equestria he'd been subjected to several teleportations, and each time was the same; a strange tingling sensation, followed by an immediate change of scenery following a brief period of sensory distortion affecting the audio and visual organs. So it went without saying that he'd just been subjected to a surprise teleportation on Twilight's part. However it took a little longer to determine that he'd been teleported to the barn on Sweet Apple Acres. For whatever reason, he was uncertain.
Just as he was uncertain about the exact decor of the barn itself. Or why a significant number of ponies were present and yelling at him, in a manner that suggested enthusiasm rather than terror. Looking around he could easily identify the majority of them as being the same ponies who had come to meet him in the park during his first trip here.
And he was quite uncertain as to why Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were both present and accounted for. With no answers as to what was up, he turned to Twilight as she set back down on all four hooves, again looking at him nervously.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"It's your party, Ulqy!" he heard Pinkie call as she appeared right next to him, a smile on her face of such considerable size, he wondered how it was physically possible in the first place. "Everypony gets a "Welcome to Ponyville" party, and you missed out on yours, so we're making up for that one right now! And then later we're gonna make up for all the other parties we've missed in your time here!" she stated and blew an extending party horn in excitement.
A party? For him? And with the diarchy present... he was just now recalling the exchange that was had during that conference from several nights ago. It would seem Princess Celestia and the rest had been quite serious about them being in attendance. Serious enough that Twilight had been utilized to hijack him... much in the same way Coyote Starrk had done with the woman Orihime back in Hueco Mundo after that unexpected turn of events. And much like the Primera Espada, he could tell that she wasn't exactly happy with what part she'd played.
It was time to stop and take stock of his situation. He was surrounded by ponies who should be terrified of him. He was in the presence of both members of the diarchy. He had just been forcibly brought here by the one who held the Element of Magic. And everyone seemed intent on him being the guest of honor for this party. Escape seemed quite impossible under these circumstances. And from his vantage point it seemed he had little option but to be present for this celebration.
This could not end well.