Chapter Eighty One
Celestia didn't want to admit it, but she was indeed surprised.
"Well now. That's very interesting," she stated slowly, the impromptu examination being called to a close as she stepped back.
"What? What's very interesting?" Spike asked from where he sat on the makeshift work bench down in the library's basement.
"According to the results of the examination, everything is operating as it should. Mechanically speaking, there's nothing wrong with the flame network spell. It should be working just as intended," Celestia explained. It was a complex spell that produced the desired results, but nothing was out of alignment as far as she could tell.
Strictly speaking, she didn't have a clue why it wasn't working.
"But that just can't be. Something must be out of whack!" Spike stated as he jumped up to his feet, unable to believe that nothing was wrong. If nothing was wrong, then how come there was no communication going on? That was the part he didn't get at all.
"I'm well aware of that fact, Spike, but whatever it is, I'm simply not seeing it. All of the scans indicate that everything is fine. Obviously something is wrong, but the question is just what that something is," Celestia pointed out. She really didn't need someone explaining to her that something wasn't right, as it was blatantly obvious even to her.
But by the same token, she didn't need to be hostile when confronted by frustration over something not being right. She just needed to take a moment, and compose herself properly. And come up with an idea.
Fortunately one presented itself in short order.
"Perhaps we're looking at this from the wrong perspective," she stated, before summoning a scroll, much as Twilight had done earlier. "Send this over to Luna," she said as she levitated it into Spike's claws.
"But if the others didn't make it-"
"Trust me on this one, Spike, I need to verify something," Celestia instructed as her horn began to glow.
Spike really didn't know what Celestia was getting at. But he just shrugged, and exhaled a stream of green fire to incinerate the scroll, in hopes of sending it along its way to the intended target.
"Well now. That's very interesting," Celestia spoke up, "I didn't notice anything, because the spell wasn't actually being used until now. But now that is has been used..."
"What? What is it?" Spike asked, not liking the tone that Celestia was taking.
Celestia didn't immediately give an answer to Spike's question. Instead she summoned another scroll, before causing it to vanish in a flash of magic. Two seconds later, however, it reappeared right in front of her, and fell to the floor. She frowned in response.
"What?" Spike asked again, mentally concluding that if he wasn't informed of what was going on this time, he was going to start shouting in response.
"The spell is indeed in perfect working order, Spike, but the problem lays in its deployment. For whatever reason, the spell isn't being utilized. I certainly know that you're trying your best to use it, but for whatever reason there is, it's simply not responding like it should. No communications can be sent out, nor can they be received," Celestia explained.
"Seriously? How does something like that even happen? It's never failed before!" Spike pointed out. Sure he had to go to Canterlot to make sure his spell was still working, but he just figured that was a formality since he was working with Twilight. But now... now he was hearing that the spell could simply stop working even when there was nothing wrong with it? He didn't know what to think about that.
"Well there are several possibilities that would explain it. The spell utilizes the magic in your own body to work, so it could be something as simple as a nutritional imbalance being the case. If that's the case, it could be resolved with an according change of diet, and perhaps a few days worth of supplements," Celestia stated.
"What else could it be?" Spike asked, opting to forgo the question of how his current dietary intake would suddenly be inadequate for the task of sending and receiving letters via the flame network. Sure, he'd admit that he hadn't been eating as well as he could've been the past few days. But surely it couldn't have been that simple, could it?
"Stress," Celestia stated simply.
"Stress?" Spike asked, finding the very idea hard to believe. Even he couldn't resist looking Celestia in the eye incredulously. "Being Twilight's number one assistant, I'd like to think I'm pretty well versed in what stress can do. If stress was the culprit, wouldn't the spell have stopped working, like, years ago?"
Despite it being a jab at her student, Celestia couldn't help but smirk at Spike's question. It was certainly a good point to be raising, considering how Twilight could get at times.
"I know that it sounds strange, Spike, but it's a valid theory. As we go through life, we become adapted to certain stressors we're subjected to over time. But that doesn't mean we become insulated against stress entirely. It could be something new; some innocuous little development that occurred recently, that was otherwise not given much thought, due to everything else that's been happening around us," she explained.
"Yeah? Like what though?" Spike asked.
"That's not something I can answer, Spike. You're the only one who knows what you went through," Celestia pointed out.
Spike sat back down, rubbing his chin in thought, trying to think of what happened between the night Zecora showed up, and the last time he submitted a written report. It was a very narrow window of time to keep track of, but that didn't mean a lot of things hadn't happened, that would need to be run through for consideration.
"Well... Fluttershy got attacked in the market a few days ago. But that's not really out of the ordinary; stuff like that has been going on for weeks all over town," Spike pointed out. About the only ones who hadn't been affected were Rarity and Twilight. He wanted to count himself, but he didn't know for certain anymore. "Then there was Ulquiorra trying to teach me about combat the day after that."
"Combat?" Celestia asked and blinked at the mention of the word. She... really didn't like the sound of that. "What sort of combat?"
"Well... so far none. All he did was buy a big bucket of tennis balls, and spent the better part of the day hurling them at me while I ran. I didn't get to learn anything. Except for how bad it hurts to get hit by tennis balls," Spike explained, rubbing his head as he did, remembering the pain of being hit by so many.
Celestia didn't want to laugh, or show any kind of amusement. But Spike's recollection of events had been so unlike what she'd thought she might hear, it was hard not to let the relief shine through. She didn't want to admit it, but at hearing Spike mentioning combat, she had feared just what Ulquiorra might've attempted. So it was a welcome relief to find out just what had been going on.
She knew that with danger being all around them, they would have to make hard decisions. But Spike was still just a baby, and shouldn't be getting involved with such issues. She was going to need to speak to Ulquiorra later, about what was and wasn't proper around here; otherwise he might wind up trying to militarize the foals of Ponyville next.
"Has there been anything else that happened since then?" Celestia asked, deciding to get back on topic, and away from the obvious unpleasantries of such thoughts.
"Let's see..." Spike mumbled in thought, mentally running through whatever came to mind in his search for what might've caused him to stress out so hard, that he could actually break the spell. "Not really. It's all been pretty routine here, just another house guest to be looking out for," he replied and shrugged. Zecora coming to stay with them had certainly been shocking, but he wasn't seeing how that might be what got him so shaken up.
Maybe it was a lack of sleep finally catching up to him. Sleep had been hard enough to come by ever since Rainbow Dash has her freakout attack, and the nightmare from several nights back had done nothing to help him with that. But then again in between helping look after Zecora and everyone else, it was hardly-
"A nightmare?"
Spike quickly covered his mouth at hearing Celestia's question. Had he... had he seriously said that out loud, rather than just thinking it to himself?
It was either that, or Celestia was reading his mind in search of the answers she needed. And he highly doubted that she'd been poking around up there without his permission.
He quickly considered denying everything even mildly connected to his nightmare, having absolutely no desire to talk about it. But one look at Celestia's face made it clear to him that he couldn't lie to her. She didn't even have to give him a specific look to convey the fact that he couldn't lie to her. He just knew that it wouldn't work; not under these circumstances.
Resigning himself to defeat on the matter, Spike proceeded to tell Celestia about the nightmare that he'd experienced. Sombra, his actions, the consequences of his actions... he didn't spare her any of the details that he could remember. Once he got started talking about it, he couldn't make himself stop talking. Everything he'd been holding in for the past few days, keeping it away from Twilight and the others, had desperately wanted to be let out, and it was going to achieve just that.
By the time Spike was finished talking, he was aware of the fact that he was no longer sitting on the work bench. Instead he was being held closely in Celestia's forelegs. He was also aware that his cheeks were damp. Had he actually been crying during his tale? And if he had been, why hadn't he noticed it?
"It's alright, Spike, it's alright," Celestia told him gently, her words soothing in tone as she gently kissed him on his forehead.
"I'm sorry," he sniffed as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Spike, you didn't do anything wrong," Celestia reassured him. "You're far too young to be getting involved in matters like combat. Ulquiorra had no business deciding that it was right to try and train you to fight."
"Wait, what?" Spike asked as he looked up again. "No, it wasn't like that. I asked Ulquiorra to train me," he objected.
"You did?" Celestia asked. Spike nodded. "But why?"
Once again, Spike proceeded to tell his tale, this time of the conversation he'd had with Twilight the day before Zecora showed up, and the motivations behind his actions. Although he'd been a bit more blunt with Celestia than he had Twilight, as he knew she was more psychologically durable. She wouldn't bruise and break as easily as Twilight would if she heard what he had to say.
By the time he was finally finished, he was being hugged again. Not that he was complaining, however.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all of this, Spike. Your heart is certainly in the right place. But sometimes the heart simply isn't enough to overcome everything else," she stated as she once again pulled back to look at him.
She now had a very, very good idea of what sort of stress was causing the spell to not respond. What Spike was going through right now, it was utterly horrible for one so young. To feel so worried about the well being of those around him, that he would feel motivated to learn how to fight with lethal force, and then be confronted with a nightmare where he wound up using that force against those he sought so desperately to protect... As old as she was, and as much as she had seen in her time, things like this still managed to make her heart ache when she was confronted by it.
Now the question was what could they do, that could help Spike cope with what he'd experienced, that would also enable him to resume his role as a link between Canterlot and Ponyville?
All of them served their roles that made them important, but out of all of them, Spike was the only one who could both send and receive messages. He was their only real means of sending word about occurring developments, and warn of impending danger. As important as Twilight and the others were to the safety of Equestria, the simple fact was that Spike held a greater measure of importance about him; just for a different reason. If they couldn't adequately address what had caused him such trauma, and help him get beyond it, then it might not matter whether or not Rainbow Dash ever recovered.
Ulquiorra hadn't been the only one sent out on an errand to gather the necessary supplies. His had simply been the most noteworthy due to the risk that would be involved. But the others who had been upstairs on the main floor, had each gone on their own individual missions to acquire what Zecora said would be needed in developing the cure.
Twilight was the first to arrive back at the library with Zecora, their excursion to the marketplace yielding a considerable haul of ingredients, laid out on the main table for examination. It wasn't so much that there were a lot of ingredients that had to be gathered up, but there were a lot of each of the ingredients that would be needed, as they had to take into account the sheer number of those who were afflicted.
She tried to talk, to say something to Zecora. But nothing appropriate seemed to come to mind. Amazement that these everyday ingredients could be combined in a way to cure what had been terrorizing everypony for so long? Expressing gratitude for Zecora's presence and knowledge? Asking if this would really work? None of it really seemed right. And the lack of knowing what to say left her with a gnawing, empty sensation to wrestle with. She wanted to talk, but had no idea of just what to talk about.
In the end she decided on something that was far simpler, opting to go over and hug her instead. Actions spoke louder than words, supposedly. Hopefully her actions spoke with clarity rather than just volume.
The hug was quickly returned, with just as much firmness as had been given out. She would take that as meaning Zecora understood what she was trying to convey.
It was around that time, that the door to the library swung open, and Applejack walked in, hauling a cart behind her that just barely cleared the doorway, and only because she had been careful in her approach.
"Ah'm back," she announced as she slid out from the rig. "Ah managed ta get everythin' on mah list. Wha' abou' y'all?" she asked, before moving around to shut the library door.
"Not quite," Twilight replied as the hug was broken. "We couldn't get the sunflower oil, that had to be ordered in. If all goes well then we should have it no later than Monday," she explained.
"Let's hope so," Applejack replied. Although simply hoping that nothing went wrong, and leaving it up to chance, rarely yielded desirable results. Maybe it would work better if she headed out to try and retrieve it from wherever it was being ordered in. At least that way it would be relatively safe. But considering their luck it was a specialty item that wasn't available directly to the general public.
The sound of shod hoof steps coming up the basement stairs could be heard, bringing their attention to the doorway as Celestia made her way back to the first floor, Spike riding on her back as she did so.
Twilight was over by them so quickly, it could've easily been mistaken for teleportation. "So what's the prognosis? Is the spell out of alignment? Is the integral stability thaumatic matrix degrading?" she asked quickly.
Celestia shook her head, her calmness serving as a counter to Twilight's near-frantic state. "There's nothing wrong with the spell. Rather the problem at hoof, runs far deeper than mechanics of magic can address," she stated.
"Uh... wha' now?" Applejack asked.
Celestia paused momentarily, giving consideration to how she was going to go about delicately wording her explanation.
"As best I can tell, the problem comes down to a simple matter of stress. Much like everyone else who's been afflicted in some way by this crisis, Spike has been going through an unimaginably stressful time, and doing his best to cope. But considering the managerial duties he's been sharing with Twilight, as they try and keep everything from going to pieces in an ensuing panic, has put far more strain on him, than anyone could ever reasonably ask him to manage. The degree of responsibility being demonstrated is truly commendable, but the expectations attached are entirely unrealistic, and even dangerous. Not just for him, but for anyone. To be honest, I'm surprised that something hasn't happened sooner; this entire town has slowly been turning into a pressure cooker," she explained.
Despite having heard this the first time around, it still wasn't any easier for Spike to hear being repeated to Twilight. To him the mention of stress being the culprit made him feel like he was weak, and simply not trying hard enough. He didn't care if Celestia was stating that anyone would succumb in his place, as it did nothing to change his opinion on the matter.
Making matters all the worse was how he had no way of fighting stress. It wasn't like changelings or a manticore; there was nothing to grab hold of and punch black and blue. It was one of those dumb, internal battles that required a heck of a lot more effort to win, and seeing the psychiatrists. And he seriously doubted that they had the time to actually go about doing all that. He'd much rather be facing the manticore than this.
He didn't even want to think of how Twilight might react to this news. That was going to be even worse than facing the psychiatrists, he was absolutely certain of that.
What he didn't expect, however, was for Twilight to pull him into a hug the moment he climbed down off of Celestia's back. Not that he was complaining, however. He'd take the calm before the storm.
"So if it's stress, then wha' do we do about it?" Applejack asked as she pulled her attention away from the surprise hugging that just unfolded.
Celestia looked over at Applejack briefly, before turning her attention to Twilight and speaking up. "Tell me, Twilight, do you know why I enchanted Spike's fire for communication purposes?" she asked.
"So we could be in direct contact with one another. You said it was so I wouldn't have to interrupt petitioners if I had a problem to bring to your attention," Twilight responded as she looked up.
"Well, that's true, but it's not the sole reason," Celestia explained as she sat down on her haunches. "The reason I enchanted Spike's fire, rather than giving you the enchantment to use directly, was to help teach you about the importance of working together with others, and that nopony can do everything by themselves, no matter how competent they might be. Looking around, it's safe to conclude that you've learned how to work with others quite well. I believe it would be safe to modify things a bit, to streamline the process for the time being."
"Say what now?" Spike asked.
"In simple terms, Spike, I intend to lighten your official workload, to give you the opportunity to recover. For the time being, Twilight will be the one responsible for sending and receiving communications back and forth. For her the process will be more automatic, as the workings of the spell won't be bound to her physical body," Celestia explained.
Spike didn't know how to feel about this just yet. The idea conjured mental images of Twilight being the one to experience the indigestion that went with burping up flaming scrolls. And while it was funny to think about, he doubted she'd be receiving them the same way he did. But more to the point, he was... uncomfortable with being replaced so easily. It wasn't that he thought Twilight would send him away, now that she didn't need him for correspondence purposes. But there was still the point that his effectiveness was being diminished now. His own measure of importance was being reduced. And if he wasn't important, what was his point of being here?
He knew that he could still help Twilight with organizational duties, as he was the only one skilled enough to keep up with her. But still, the thought of being replaced, even temporarily, didn't set well with him. The only real comfort he could take in all of this, was the fact that Ulquiorra wasn't likely to kill him, just because he was of diminished capabilities. He was a bit past that point, if Twilight was to be believed. That took some of the potential stress away.
Twilight and Celestia were talking in the background, but he really wasn't hearing what they were saying. His focus was elsewhere at the moment.
And then the front door opened with a shove, and Ulquiorra stepped back into the library, carrying two large burlap bags, one of them slung over his left shoulder while the other was held in front. Without so much as a word, he used his leg to swing the door shut, and sat both of the bags down on the floor.
"Ah take it tha' there is Zecora's list o' stuff, an' not evidence tha' yer movin' inta the library with us?" Applejack asked.
"Correct," Ulquiorra replied simply. He'd been dispatched to acquire the roots of death blossom flowers, and he had done just that. Beyond following the crude map he had been given, the most tedious aspect was finding a sufficient quantity of the flowers to remove the roots from. Actually pulling them out of the ground, without destroying the roots in the process, was another issue. But that wasn't worth discussing right now.
It was at this point that Zecora stepped forward to examine the presented bags.
"Were you able to... I mean, did you... did you... were you able to get everything that was on the list? Even that from my hut?" she asked.
"Everything," Ulquiorra repeated, "those found in your hut are in the smaller of the two bags."
Twilight watched as the sudden change in Zecora's demeanor occurred. She'd gone from timid almost like Fluttershy, to a mare who had eagerly moved to dive into the aforementioned bag with both front hooves, fumbling around inside, running over the various -and obvious sounding- containers of unknown contents, before apparently finding whatever had sparked such interest. Whatever it was, it must've been something exceedingly important.
The fact that it turned out to be a stuffed animal that was eagerly pulled out of the bag, was enough to leave Twilight very confused. It was an old looking doll, about the same size as her own Smarty Pants, and in the form of some animal that she couldn't even begin to recognize.
But to see the look of excitement and relief on Zecora's face, as she sat down to vigorously hug the doll as it gave a soft squeak, it just struck her as heartwarming. And the fact that Ulquiorra had actually brought it right along with what were likely vital ingredients for the cure, when he had absolutely no reason to do so of his own accord...
Yeah. He could claim that he didn't have a heart all he wanted. Actions still spoke louder than words.
"Has it been determined why the flame network is currently down?" Ulquiorra asked, opting to change the subject to something that was far more relevant, as well as more important.
"Based on my findings, I would hypothesize it being the result of undue levels of stress from everything that's been going on. Although it's possible that I may be wrong," Celestia replied.
Stress. That was one that Ulquiorra could believe easily enough. He'd recognized the potential for stress leading to complications in Twilight Sparkle as she tried to handle everything on her own. It only made sense that Spike would be just as vulnerable to its affects, seeing as he assisted Twilight Sparkle; a difficult task if ever there was one. He had simply assumed that they would be facing mental consequences, rather than physical complications.
"Assuming your hypothesis is correct, what is being done to address it?" he asked.
"I'm afraid there's not much that we can do about it. Stress, much like the side effects of the terror fog, isn't something that can just be undone. Worse is the fact that there's no cure for stress," Celestia explained as calmly as she could. "For the time being, I intend to reassign the spell to Twilight so that we can maintain communications between Ponyville and Canterlot. That's about the extent of what we can do, while giving Spike whatever time he needs to recover."
Ulquiorra looked at Twilight Sparkle, before lowering his gaze to Spike as she continued clutching him. The look that he got back was one that he'd witnessed many times before. It was the look of someone who had been informed that they, and the position they held within an organization, had been rendered obsolete, and that they no longer had any importance that justified either their continued service, or even existence. It was the look that the Privaron Espada would often get when they realized that Aizen could easily replace them with artificially created Espada that were superior to them.
Whether the look was due to some feeble hope Spike had that he could argue the case otherwise, a pleading effort to suggest that he could still be useful, or the fear that his theory from earlier regarding the Elements of Harmony would play out with him, there was no way of saying for certain. But then again he wasn't here to keep them calm and happy. His role was to keep them safe through whatever means.
"If ya don' mind mah askin', is there a reason yer walkin' with a limp?" Applejack asked, bringing his attention to where she currently stood in the room. "Ah noticed it when ya walked inta the room jus' a bit ago," she explained.
And then all eyes were on him again, out of either curiosity, or misplaced concern. Whichever it was, he wasn't sure. But the change in subject was welcomed right now.
"There was a slight incident in the procurement of the death blossom roots. On the way back, a cockatrice was encountered. Recognizing the fact that it was in the presence of a superior predator, it attempted to do what it does best in such a situation. It was dispatched before it could complete the process. However the petrification that took place up to that point in time has not yet worn off," he explained, making it simple so they could understand the events that had transpired.
"Wait, wait. Are you saying that the cockatrice turned part of your body to stone?" Spike asked. That hardly seemed like a slight incident to him. Something like that was a serious, life-threatening situation for a pony to encounter.
"Correct," Ulquiorra replied, before lifting up his left pant leg, showing them the point of his shin where stone and flesh met, his ankle completely unable to move as a result, hence the limp Applejack had witnessed.
"This is quite bad," Zecora spoke up, toy forgotten as she examined Ulquiorra's leg more closely. "I... I do not possess any sort of remedy for what has been had. Only the cockatrice responsible could undo what has been done here. But if it has escaped, the situation will be quite hopeless, I fear..."
Twilight was torn in several different direction all at the same time. The fact that Zecora was actually starting to rhyme again, she considered that a good sign. But the matter was drastically overshadowed by Ulquiorra's current condition.
"Um... when you said the cockatrice was dispatched, you mean it was..."
"It was killed by being smashed flat with the shovel I was using to uproot the death blossoms," Ulquiorra elaborated. What did they think he did; shoo it away? Where was the point in that? If he had done such, someone else could've been put at risk of total petrification. "Incidentally, I owe you a new shovel."
To Twilight the idea that Ulquiorra was strong enough to break the shovel while killing the cockatrice wasn't all that hard to believe; not after what they'd all seen him do in the past. Although the idea of him actually using the shovel for such a purpose just struck her as such an odd concept. She had little doubt that he'd done as said, and made a cockatrice pancake in the process.
"That leg will have to come off," she commented, unsure of what else to say on the matter.
"I'm well aware of that fact," Ulquiorra replied. Did she foolishly believe that he intended to keep a useless stump? "Were it not for ensuring the required ingredients were delivered in an expedient fashion, I would have severed it prior to my arrival here. Now that they have been delivered, there's no further obstacle in doing such."
"Hold up! You're gonna be doing that now? Right here?" Spike asked.
"Correct," Ulquiorra replied, "if anyone has a weak stomach, they may wish to leave now, while they still have the opportunity. Things are bound to get quite messy," he stated.
"Stop this! Stop this at once, I must protest! Amputation of a limb is a serious matter; it should not be discussed in jest!" Zecora protested, both shocked and appalled at how things were going. This was a serious, life-changing experience that was being made the subject of almost casual banter. What was wrong with all of these ponies? Had they all been affected to such a degree, that they thought it was appropriate to be making light of such issues? "He must be taken to the hospital, post-haste. Attempting such a delicate procedure here would lead to such a waste."
"Your concern for my well being, while certainly not unappreciated, is entirely misplaced, and unnecessary," Ulquiorra stated simply, before walking over to the round table of the library, his left foot falling a little more heavily with each step than it was before. While not the most optimal of the available options, it would certainly work for what needed to be done.
"I... I do not understand," Zecora admitted as she shook her head, more confused than before.
"Ya see, Zecora, Mr. Cifer's sorta like a salamander, an' can regrow his limbs if he needs ta. Granted, Ah ain' seen it fer myself, but he says he can do it," Applejack explained, hoping to make sense of the whole thing for the zebra.
Zecora looked from Applejack over to Twilight for clarification on what was being said, and received a nod in response. Knowing that Ulquiorra could actually heal himself in such a way made their banter a little less objectionable to experience. Perhaps she should have simply kept her mouth shut until she had all the facts in.
"That does it, I'm outta here! I don't care how much I get paid for my duties, I draw the line at disposing of severed body parts!" Spike stated. His title of "number one assistant" didn't specify any such grisly tasks. He was gonna wait upstairs until this whole thing was all over, as even just the thought of Ulquiorra cutting off his own leg was starting to make him feel queasy.
"Actually, Spike, you might not have to..." Celestia replied.
+++
"If you can communicate with your Queen at this distance, then relay this message to her. I am coming for you, Chrysalis, and it is my intention to kill you for what you have done here today."
That had been the entirety of the message before a sickening noise of flesh being pierced by steel silenced the changeling's outburst. It was that particular sound that made Celestia flinch hard, nearly driving her to vomit again from the mental image it conjured.
Ulquiorra stepped back out of the cell, sliding his blade back into the sheath as he turned to look at her.
"Let us begin then. The first step will be verifying if the information on hive placement is correct," he stated simply.
"If it is, that would mean Chrysalis was quick to extract herself from the bad lands," Celestia mentioned, more to herself than to Ulquiorra. It really went without saying, but she preferred noting it to herself.
She suspected that a lot more drones were going to become collateral damage before this issue was resolved, but there was little she could do about that. Her primary concern, as far as the changelings went, was that Chrysalis be taken alive in all of this. Beyond that... she really didn't know.
As Ulquiorra walked past her, she walked in the opposite direction to return to the throne room. Unfortunately that meant passing my the holding cell. That also meant -out of a morbid sense of curiosity- taking in the consequences of her actions and efforts.
The kill had at least been clean. She'd feared there would be changeling bits all over the cell walls, floor, and even ceiling, despite knowing how unlikely it would be. If not for the absent right eye, she could assume that it was still simply passed out from the sheer degree of fear Ulquiorra had thought to inflict upon it.
Janitorial would have to be alerted to this, sooner rather than later. She truly pitied them this part of their duty.
But before she could consider the matter any further, something highly unexpected happened. The blood she attributed to Ulquiorra's interrogation techniques, as well as the severed limb, had all burst into teal flames. And just as quickly as the whole display had started, it had come to an end. It was almost like watching a match be taken to a small pile of the gunpowder used in fireworks; just a sudden flash it was completely gone.
What exactly had she just witnessed happen!?
+++
"Ya actually did that!?" Applejack asked in disbelief. She knew that Ulquiorra could be extreme in how he did things. But the idea of him severing one of his own limbs, just to make a point, seemed extreme even for him.
"Correct," Ulquiorra replied as he used the edge of the table to sit on, so he could pull his leg up to rest on his right knee, to expedite getting his footwear off. "It had the intended purpose of convincing the changeling that I meant business. Needless to say, he was all too willing to come clean about the location of the hive," he explained, before finally tugging his foot loose.
"I could certainly see the validity of such an approach to the problem at hoof at the time," Twilight stated and nodded. Although she really would rather not observe the process being carried out. Even reading about torturous interrogations in various books didn't sit well with her all the time. "What I'm curious about right now, is the process in how your limb just disintegrated like it did. How does something like that actually occur, when there's no ignition system involved?"
"Everything requires sustenance to survive. Some simply gain sustenance in a different form," Ulquiorra explained as he began rolling his pant leg up. "All Hollows require the consumption of reishi to maintain their atomic stability and cohesion. Some obtain it through absorbing what is latent in the area, while others prefer to go for large quantities through the consumption of souls," he continued, stopping once the pant leg had been rolled up to his knee. That was far enough. He spared the others a glance, noting the discomfort at his words. But that was none of his concern. Sometimes a reminder of what he was, and what his nature was, could prove to be a good thing. It would keep them from becoming too friendly around him, and with him.
"When a Hollow can no longer obtain sufficient quantities of reishi for an extended period of time, either because there is none available to absorb, or because what is available proves to be too meager for the needs their actions demand, their body will begin cannibalizing itself for fuel, in a desperate effort to maintain its continued existence for as long as possible," he continued in explanation as he withdrew his zanpakutÅ, and stuck his leg outward. "When that no longer works, because there's no more reishi to be had, the cohesion of their atomic stability ceases, and they disintegrate. That is what was witnessed on the day in question."
"Alright. All of that does make sense," Twilight replied and nodded. The way Ulquiorra described everything, his body worked a lot like a pony's body. Or at least enough like one that there were similarities. "But how does that explain the teal flames Celestia witnessed? What was the source of ignition, that resulted in the display?"
"That... I will admit, I have no explanation for," Ulquiorra replied. And in one clean swipe, with a sound not unlike a ripe watermelon being cut into, sliced off the petrified portion of his leg, letting it fall to the ground with a loud thud.
Spike had been quick enough to look away as Ulquiorra lifted his sword in preparation of the cut, not wanting to see what he knew was coming. Just knowing what was coming was already making his stomach do flip flops, and he knew that if he'd watched it, he was gonna lose it.
Twilight gagged in response to what she'd seen, nearly vomiting on the floor right then and there, completely unprepared for the sheer goriness of it all. The fact that he'd kept his leg extended outward meant that she got a nice cross sectional view of the musculature and bone that made up his leg, before the blood started flowing freely from the wound.
She really should've put a tarp down before letting him go ahead with doing this. But curse her curiosity on the issue for now allowing her to think critically on the matter. Watching him pluck out his own eyeball had done absolutely nothing to prepare her for this.
"Does... doesn' it hurt when ya do somethin' like that?" Applejack asked as she tried to think of anything else but what she'd just seen happen.
"It's excruciating to experience," Ulquiorra admitted freely, seeing no reason to deny what was basic fact.
Applejack was about to ask why Ulquiorra would do something so casually if, by his own admission, it hurt that badly. But before she could get the words out, they died in her throat as a black, viscous substance erupted from the stump. The next thing she knew, she was observing the leg rebuilding itself from the bone upward, until it looked like nothing had ever happened.
"Now that was amazing," she stated, not knowing what else to say.
Twilight merely groaned from where she stood. It had all happened so fast. She'd intended to use the mage's sight spell to try and get an understanding of the magical mechanics behind Ulquiorra's high-speed regeneration, but she'd been too slow to achieve that goal. Her disgust had slowed her down just enough for her to miss her window of opportunity. And as she watched Ulquiorra flexing his newly formed foot, she knew it was far too late to gather any relevant information on the subject.
Unless...
"There's something I don't understand about all of this," she spoke up as she looked to Ulquiorra. "If you're more or less a ghost, how do you-"
"Don't try and comprehend the workings of the biological mechanics to a Hollow's physiology, Twilight Sparkle," Ulquiorra interrupted as he pulled his footwear back on. "Your mind would likely explode if you attempted such."