The next time Twilight awoke, she was well enough to get up. After talking it over with Kisuke and the newly-introduced Tessai, it was decided that she would do chores and help watch the shop, and in return, she would be given a place to stay and have her daily needs (food, etc.) met.
Tessai had slightly dark skin, very short black hair in a pattern resemblling a row of corn, glasses, a handlebar moustache, a white muscle shirt underneath a blue apron, and regular pants.
Twilight had been told to avoid killing Hollows if possible, since her magic was not the same as a Shinigami's power and there was no guarantee that the Hollow would have it's soul sent to it's proper place if she ended it. Not only would this be against basic morality as it would be total erasure of the Hollow's existence and ran the risk of doing the same to any souls it had absorbed, but it could attract unwanted atention from the Soul Society who were understandably against that sort of thing and apparently filled with people who could kill her before she realized they were there.
That being said, they were going to give her some training to keep her from getting killed. She'd effectively had her power cut by 90%, nevermind casting speed, so she'd gone from the level of a high-tier unicorn to a beginner. She could barely teleport more than five feet now.
This left her vulnerable since Hollows were attracted to the power she let out like body heat, reiatsu, or spiritual pressure, as they got stronger based on what souls they ate, but she was not strong enough that she could adequately defend herself.
She was going to go to school as well. She was stuck here for now, so she might as well make the best of it. She knew from experience that she couldn't spend all of her free time trying to work out how to get back or she'd burn herself out.
Besides, she might very well not have the power to get back right now, what with the new limitations on herself. Holing herself up in the shop would also be spitting on everything she claimed to have learned about friendship and social interaction.
It took Kisuke a while to get the documents in order, and unfortunately she'd have to go through all of school again because it would be rather hard to explain a six-year-old having a college-level intellect.
On the one hand, she was bored out of her mind until she'd managed to skip a couple grades and get to history class since she knew all the other material already. On the other hand, she met some new friends.
Ichigo Kurosaki and Tatsuki Arisawa. Ichigo was something of a crybaby, but he was also cheerful. Tatsuki was a tomboy who reminded her somewhat of Rainbow Dash and was easily Ichigo's superior in hand-to-hand combat and regularly beat him in their spars. She had dark blue hair which was slightly spiky. Twilight liked to think she rounded out the group.
*** In The Present ***
"Woah, woah, woah!" Rainbow interjected. "This guy was a crybaby?" she pointed at Ichigo.
"He was 6. Name five people who didn't cry easily at that age." Twilight deadpanned.
"Oh." Rainbow quieted down.
"Now as I was saying..."
*** To Continue ***
She started training in some basic martial arts so she would be less helpless without magic, and was soundly beaten by Tatsuki no less than 37 times, before something terrible happened. Afterwards, Ichigo didn't cry anymore, and his smiles were rare.
They met a girl called Orihime when Twilight was biologically 7 and the others were 9. She was a kindly girl who reminded her a lot of Fluttershy. Beyond the occasional close call with a Hollow, little of interest happened for a few years.
Ichigo had always been picked on because of his hair color. It only got worse as he got older, but he started putting up a fight. Tatsuki and herself would lend a hand if they happened to be nearby, earning themselves reputations as delinquents in the process.
Ichigo would only start it if someone had been careless of a shrine or if they were being jerks for no good reason. It turned out Ichigo could see ghosts from an early age.
Urahara had warned her that spending a lot of time in the company of those who were not spiritually aware could cause them to develop awareness, effectively painting a target on their back.
Since Ichigo was already spiritually aware, she didn't see any point in not spending time around him. Though her free time was somewhat in short supply anyway between school, her hobby of martial arts, light training in her magic to hopefully build up her reserves to the point where she'd be able to make the trip back to Equestria, researching the spell to return, and her discovery of the internet.
Her habit of scheduling her whole month in advance became rather necessary to actually meet all her objectives. Her friends thought she had OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), which she didn't. She just... liked to make checklists and keep things organized. That was all. Really.
Sado Yasutora, nicknamed 'Chad', joined their little group in middle school, as did Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima. Sado had moved here from Mexico and was quiet and very tall for his age. He wasn't broody or anything, he just didn't talk all that much. Keigo had neck-length brown hair and was rather hyper and easily excited, but meant well and often tried to cheer Ichigo up, though he tended to get a bonk on the head for his trouble. He also tried to get the attention of girls, but usually failed miserably. Mizuiro had dark blue hair and was calmer and more logical than Keigo, and had seemingly effortless success with girls.
It was seemingly a normal day when everything changed. School was normal. Well, normal for this school. Keigo had launched into one of his outbursts and gotten punched in the face by Ichigo once he showed up around lunch, Orihime had encountered Chizuru Honsho who'd been fended off by Tatsuki, and their teacher, Misato Ochi, had taught in her usual exuberant manner.
Chizuru was a girl with red hair and red-rimmed glasses who was a proud lesbian. She frequently made advances on Orihime due to Orihime's, er, figure, only to get a beat-down from Tatsuki when she tried it. Most likely due to jealousy, she became enraged if she believed someone else was making a move on Orihime. Misato Ochi was a middle-aged woman with brown hair and glasses who tended to wear a red gym suit. She was strict at times, but fair.
She'd heard that Ichigo's house had been hit by a truck last night, but something didn't feel right about that. Something seemed off about Ichigo too. He was obviously thinking about something and while she was a poor sensor, even she was able to tell that his spiritual pressure had skyrocketed since yesterday and that didn't just happen for no reason.
"Hey Ichigo, I heard your house got hit by a truck last night!" Keigo said.
"Pretty much." Ichigo sighed.
"Did you got everything cleaned up yet?" Mizuiro asked
"Of course not. It's gonna take forever!" Ichigo said, annoyance lacing his tone.
"Need any help?" Chad asked, prompting Ichigo to look up at him since Chad was standing and Ichigo was sitting at his desk.
"Uh, that's okay." He awkwardly.
"Yeah Chad, you could end up bringing the whole house down you know." Keigo commented.
"Alright, what've we got next?" Ichigo asked.
"Language Lab." Keigo answered automatically.
"Hello," a girl with black hair and the usual school uniform said as she approached Ichigo's desk. "you're Ichigo right?" she asked in a fake polite voice. Ichigo gasped quietly and stared at her in bemusement.
"I'll be sitting next to you from now on. My name is Rukia." she continued in the same odd tone.
Ichigo freaked out a bit, getting out of his desk and backing off a step from the girl. "It's- It's you!" he said, pointing a finger directly at her.
"Geez, what's up with you Ichigo?" Keigo asked.
"Do you know her from somewhere?" Twilight asked, while coming over.
"Of course not. We've never met before. Isn't that right Ichigo?" Rukia asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Rukia's a new transfer student." Mizuiro said.
"Nice to meet ya!" Keigo said cheerfully.
"It's a pleasure." Rukia said, holding her hand out for Ichigo to shake. Only he and Twilight could see what was written on said hand in both English and Japanese. 'Make a scene and you're so dead!' Well that wasn't suspicious at all. She grinned slightly evilly. Ichigo reluctantly shook hands with her.
She was just about to ask him what exactly was going on with the new girl when the bell rang for the beginning of the lunch period. Ichigo more or less dragged Rukia to an empty space on the school campus and Twilight followed.
"Alright, ya freaky little nutjob. What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he asked.
"I kind of want to know what's going on too." Twilight added.
"How scary you big brute! Jeepers, you you're not going to hurt me are you?" she said in her fake-polite voice.
"Okay, first of all, you can drop the goody two-shoes act!" Ichigo said pointing at her accusingly.
"Well I think it's pretty good considering I learned it overnight." Rukia said in a more real voice.
"Alright, forget it. Just tell me what you're doing here anyway. Weren't you supposed to be heading back to your Soul Society or whatever it was?" Ichigo asked. Rukia looked at Twilight wide-eyed.
"If it involves ghosts, relax. I've been able to see them for ages and I've been Ichigo's friend for more than half his life." Twilight said.
"Well, in that case I suppose I can talk about this freely. I can't return to the Soul Society because only a Shinigami can open the gate back and I don't have the power to return of my own volition anymore." Rukia said regretfully.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Ichigo asked, aggravation eclipsed by curiosity.
"I intended to give you some of my power in order to let you fend off that Hollow, but you absorbed almost all of it." Rukia said.
"I wouldn't know anything about that. You say that like I did it on purpose." Ichigo said.
"Thanks to you I barely qualify for spiritual awareness right now, and I'm stuck in this ridiculous Gigai form." Rukia said.
"What's a Gigai?" Twilight asked.
"A Gigai is an artificial temporary body used by Soul Reapers while in this world in case of emergency, such as a crippling wound or if they're otherwise weakened. A Shinigami resides in a Gigai while waiting for their powers to recover." Rukia explained.
"Oh, now I get it, so that's why the others could see earlier right?" Ichigo asked.
"Precisely. Unfortunately, I can't possibly do my duties as a Shinigami in my condition. So, until I get my powers back you are going to fulfill my duties, Ichigo." she proclaimed. Ichigo was staring at her in obvious confusion, so she continued. "It's only natural. Since you now possess the powers of a Soul Reaper, you have no right to refuse your calling-"
"No way!" Ichigo denied with his arms crossed in an 'X' shape.
"What?!" Rukia asked.
"My monster-fighting days are over. That was a one-time deal!" he said.
"Don't be ridiculous Ichigo, you did just fine yesterday." Rukia argued.
"That was just because my family was in danger, but I'm not ready to go fight to the death for complete strangers. Sorry to disappoint you." he said, before starting off.
"So what are you going to do now?" Twilight asked Rukia. She could see Ichigo's logic and wasn't going to pressure him into doing something he didn't want to, even if she didn't completely agree.
"I have no other choice." Rukia pulled on a red glove with a skull surrounded by blue flames on it.
"Hey!" she called to get Ichigo's attention, then launched herself at him. Ichigo turned just in time to look surprised before getting an open palm to the face, and suddenly there were two Ichigo's. One in his school uniform, and the other in a black robe with a claymore on his back.
The original slumped forwards while the other was pushed backwards. Twilight was immediately concerned when she noticed that the original wasn't breathing.
"Aw crap! What happened to my body?!" Ichigo yelled, his voice slightly shriller than usual as he pointed at said body. "What in the world did you to me?" he asked, looking himself over.
"Rukia! You killed him!" Twilight cried, unable to find a pulse.
"No I- Well technically yes." she admitted, not making either of them feel better. "Don't worry, it's completely reversible. Now follow me." she commanded.
"Hold on, we should probably make sure nobody notices a corpse on the ground in broad daylight." Twilight said, then pulled Ichigo's body to a nearby wall so that a cursory inspection would make it look like he was just asleep.
"Alright, let's go." Rukia said as soon as Twilight had gotten Ichigo's body in a less corpse-like position. "Hold on." she said, raising a hand when Twilight began to follow. "This is a Shinigami affair, you shouldn't get involved."
"Not happening. I'm at least coming along to make sure Ichigo doesn't get himself killed." Twilight said adamantly. Rukia stared her in the eyes for a second, before allowing her to join them.
They followed Rukia for some time, and growing impatient, Ichigo asked. "Are you going to tell us where we're going?"
"We're getting close." Rukia said, pulling what appeared to be a cell phone out of her uniform.
"Close to what exactly?" Ichigo asked.
"The spot where we're supposed to go for our latest orders from the Soul Society." Rukia answered. "The spirit of a boy who dwells in this park is likely to come under attack by a Hollow soon."
It was at that point that a terrified scream rang out as one of the pieces of equipment was destroyed by a spider-like Hollow of a dark grey color. "H-Help me!" the boy cried out.
Ichigo immediately moved to help and Twilight prepared a Beam. She still couldn't spam them like she used to, but she had much improved.
"Wait! Hold on!" Rukia called, causing them to pause.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked.
"We need to hurry!" Twilight said worriedly as the Hollow gained on the little boy.
"Where do you think you're going? He's a total stranger isn't he?" Rukia somehow managed to be both stern and slightly mocking as she addressed Ichigo. "And you aren't a Shinigami, so this isn't any of your business in the first place." Rukia said harshly.
"So what?! I can't just stand by and let this happen! You expect me to just sit by and watch him die?" Ichigo asked.
"I've avoided fighting Hollows because I didn't want to draw attention to myself, but I've never just left someone to get eaten!" Twilight added.
"Don't be such fools! You can't just use your powers when it's convenient. All spirits of this world are equal in the eyes of a Shinigami! You can't just get involved because they happen to be nearby or they need help. That's not how it works!" she lectured them as the Hollow continued to gain on the little boy who continued to cry out for help. Prompting them to start towards him again.
"If you intend to stay out of Shinigami affairs then leave him be! You can't just help one and be done with it! If you help him then you're committing yourselves to saving every last spirit! You must be willing to go to any length to do so, even if it costs you your life." Rukia said solemnly. The Hollow had at this point almost caught up to the little boy.
He fell, and the Hollow raised a leg to end him, but the leg was blown off and the other front leg sliced off. Twilight's handiwork on the first, Ichigo's on the second. Ichigo cut off a third leg to force it away, and the Hollow fell on it's back and faded away.
"So have you two made your decision then?" Rukia asked. From what she'd seen, the energy Twilight possessed was similar enough to a Shinigami's that it wouldn't raise any alarms if it was used to fight Hollows, as long as it wasn't a massive attack that could destroy a skyscraper.
"I'm waiting for Ichigo's decision. I'm not going to pressure him into this." Twilight said. Truthfully, she still didn't know for sure if she could send a soul to Soul Society by herself, or if it would simply be gone, so she was rather depending on Ichigo's answer.
"... Like hell I have. I haven't decided to do squat. I saved this kid because I wanted to, you hear me?" Ichigo said quietly but seriously. "What about you?" he asked Rukia.
"Me?" Rukia asked, not understanding what he meant.
"I seem to remember you putting your life on the line to save me last night." Ichigo said. "Tell me, were you really thinking about you duty when you risked your life to save mine?" his voice rose. "Of course not, that's the last thing on your mind when you save someone!" Rukia's eyes widened and her pupils contracted as the Hollow reappeared behind them. Twilight had faith in Ichigo and wasn't worried.
"At the very least, I choose to be different!" he growled as he stabbed the approaching Hollow right in the middle of it's face and up into it's brain. The Hollow collapsed seconds after he pulled his sword out, fading away from the edges inward instead of all at once this time.
"Hey, are you alright?" Twilight asked the little boy as he stopped trembling. He had no obvious injuries.
"Hey kid." Ichigo began. "If you don't wanna go through that again you better hurry up and pass on already." he said, before lightly tapping the hilt of his sword on the boy's head. The boy's expression became peaceful as a circle of blue light appeared underneath him and he sank into it.
It was the first time Twilight had actually seen a Konso, and based on Rukia's expression, they weren't usually this impressive.
"You did that quite beautifully." Rukia complimented.
"I'm gone." Ichigo said.
"I guess we'll see you later." Twilight said as she followed him. There was no way they'd get back to school before the end of lunch and she was left wondering what to tell the teachers since they obviously weren't going to believe the truth and she was a terrible liar.