Episode 18: Pride and Flame
Sunset was almost glad to be surrounded by vicious, soul devouring Hollows, her blood pumping so fast and hot in her veins that she felt like she was burning from the inside out. It helped keep her mind from running out of control shouting questions about Twilight and the multitude of answers she wanted about just how, where, and when she’d gotten that bow of light.
It's the same kind as the one that other woman is using. It even fires the same kind of arrows.
Even as she side stepped the crushing fist of a ape-like Hollow, swiping her Zanpaktou through its shoulder and cleaving it down past the chest, Sunset could see Twilight nervously firing off streaking blue arrows of light from the bow in her right hand. Her aim was fairly decent, striking Hollows more than she was missing. It was clear Twilight had been training, increasing her skills far past the point of sub-par archery she’d displayed at the Friendship Games. And it was a good thing, because they certainly needed the help.
It seemed like every last lesser Hollow in the southern suburbs had gathered up to try and overwhelm the girls. Sunset wasn’t sure how many were left, but it was certainly enough to still give them a serious fight. The only good thing she could see was that she couldn’t spot any more Gillians left. It was just the small fry that needed to be swept up. Only there were a lot of small fry that needed sweeping.
Rainbow Dash was keeping the airspace above them clear, zipping back and forth to knock flying Hollows out of the air with concussive, lightning charged punches. For all of her friend's speed and grace, Sunset could still tell Rainbow Dash was flagging, her wings sagging more and more with each blast of lightning, and for every Hollow that was incinerated from the sky there was another waiting in circling patterns above, just looking for a chance to swoop into the fray.
The situation on the ground wasn’t much better. Applejack and Rarity had formed a tight perimeter around a tall SUV that Twilight was using as a perch to launch her arrows. Hollows swarmed around, only to be blasted back by powerful kicks from Applejack or cut down by swift, precise thrusts of Rarity’s rapier. Sunset was across the street with Pinkie Pie, Pinkamena, and Fluttershy, because some of the Hollows had tried breaking into the house there and Sunset had heard the frightened cries of a family that were inside, likely having no idea at all what was going on. Sunset imagined there’d be a lot of confused people wondering what had caused all the random property damage by the end of the day. She was worried a few people might have looked outside their windows to see her friends fighting, but there was nothing that could be done about that, now. If some of this fight ended up on video, posted on the internet, well, hopefully Clover and the rest of Soul Society had a contingency in place for that kind of thing.
Sunset saw one Hollow, its eight spindly legs and fanged mask making it look like some kind of skeletal spider, clamber atop of the house and smash in a window. Swiftly using Flash Step to appear behind the Hollow, Sunset swept out with her Zanpaktou and sliced off several legs at once, causing the Hollow to topple off the house and hit the front lawn. There, Pinkamena pounced, mouth stretching to an impossible width to devour the Hollow’s entire head in a blood splattering bite. Sunset winced, not for the first time wishing Pinkie Pie had a less disturbing power.
Pinkie Pie herself was sticking close to Fluttershy, holding a rake she’d grabbed from the lawn, not that that would be much of a weapon if a Hollow got past Sunset or Pinkamena. Fluttershy had managed to pony up again, though she was holding off on using her eye powers until it was absolutely necessary. Which might be soon, as several Hollows broke away from fighting Rarity and Applejack and made a charge straight for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Sunset leaped off the roof of the house, clearing a wide distance over the front lawn and landed right in the middle of the street between her friends and the oncoming Hollows, already lashing out with her blade to split one nearly in half.
She spun on her heels, lopping the leg off of another of the Hollows before having to dodge aside from a third Hollow, sporting a rhino-like mask with a huge horn that could have gored her had she not gotten out of the way. Fluttershy turned as well to face the oncoming Hollows and with a deep breath her third-eye glowed brightly and she spoke with a tired but commanding voice, “Go away!”
The Hollows immediately veered off, turning their charge into outright fleeing, and Fluttershy let out a shuddering breath, sagging. Sunset gestured frantically at them, “Guys, get back across the street, now!”
Pinkie Pie took Fluttershy’s hand, and with Pinkamena giggling beside them, lashing out with her hands transforming into mouth covered tentacles at several more Hollows trying to pursue them, the girls rushed across the street towards Sunset. As they passed by her she heard a cry of pain nearby followed by a loud thump, and turned to see that Rainbow Dash was on the ground, wrestling with a large humanoid-shaped Hollow with a large, eel-like mask and wide bat wings spreading from its back. Rainbow Dash was bloody from several deep cuts on her side and arms, but that didn’t diminish the anger in her eyes as she punched at the Hollow with crackling fists. Yet the Hollow took the blow firmly and kept trying to claw at Rainbow Dash in turn, while more Hollows closed in from the sides.
Sunset rushed forward, slashing down at the Hollow on Rainbow Dash. The Hollow used one of its wings to try to block, but all that did was cause the wing to be severed in half by the blow. It howled, and turned its claw towards Sunset, and its pointed fingers extended like miniature spears, forcing Sunset to jump back, parrying with her Zanpaktou. She got cut along the shoulder for her efforts, but managed to avoid being impaled, and charged forward, getting inside the Hollow’s reach and thrusting her sword through the center of its mask, shattering it and causing the Hollow to evaporate.
Rainbow Dash grunted as she got to her feet, and smacked her hands together, electricity sparking between her palms as she cut loose with a blast of lightning that seared through a pair of the closest Hollows that had been heading their way.
“Think that makes eighteen for me. How many are you up to?” the grinning Rainbow Dash asked Sunset, who just gave her an incredulous look.
“You’ve been counting!?”
“You haven’t?”
Sunset couldn’t help but laugh, feeling suddenly surprisingly lighthearted despite the dire situation. “No, but if I start now I bet I could catch up to you in a few minutes.”
“Pfft, please, as if I’d need the head start. We’ll start over from zero, starting now!” Rainbow Dash said with an eager, competitive grin. The Hollows closing in on the two girls didn’t seem to notice the shift in their mood from blood streaked exhaustion to renewed energy and eagerness. Certainly none of the Hollows were quite ready for when Sunset and Rainbow Dash both jumped in opposite directions from each other, each tackling their own group of Hollows with reckless abandon.
Sunset cut through one Hollow and then the next without even really thinking about it, feeling a growing warmth inside her as she laughed. Even if it was absolutely silly to be counting kills when there was no guarantee any of them would even survive the day, she felt an upsurge of energy inside her, like the pulsing caress of a growing flame’s heat. She didn’t want to lose to Rainbow Dash, or anyone else for that matter. She certainly didn’t want to watch these crawling Hollows walk all over her and her friends like they were nothing!
Distantly in the back of her mind she thought she heard a voice not unlike her own say, ”Good. You’re almost there. You’re remembering. Just a bit further...let that flame grow.
Sunset didn’t slow down, not ignoring the voice, but hardly letting it distract her from what she was doing. She began to move faster, her body moving like a lithe branch in a windstorm, bending and twisting as Hollow claws, talons, fangs, and fists tried to tear at her flesh but never could quite managed to catch her. For every attack she deftly evaded her Zanpaktou sang out, blade biting through Hollow flesh and masks. With a joyous laugh she counted them up, her body becoming a blur, not even consciously considering her Flash Steps anymore, and not even really seeing the world around her. Everything was just narrowed down to a heated, sweat soaked view of Hollows howling in rage around her as she tore into them, and the warmth inside her pulsed hotter and hotter as she went.
Then without even any preamble there simply weren’t any Hollows left to cut down. Her Zanpaktou was buried to the hilt in the face of one last amphibian shaped Hollow that howled pitifully as it dissipated, and Sunset stood there in the street, almost a full block down from where she’d unknowingly left her friends, with not a Hollow left between her and them. Dully she was aware her count had gotten somewhere around the mid twenties before she’d forgotten to pay attention.
Sweat soaked her, but she’d only taken a few superficial wounds from her near trance-like charge through the Hollow ranks. Down the opposite direction of the street she saw Rainbow Dash had laid into the Hollows on that end in similar fashion. Meanwhile the last few flying Hollows were fleeing from the chasing arrows of Twilight Sparkle, the girl firing off meticulously with her bow to catch a last few stragglers before they got out of her range.
The rest of Sunset’s friends all gathered together, most of them looking with surprised eyes at either Sunset or Rainbow Dash as the two girls returned to the group. Applejack in particular stared at Sunset with a mix of awe and concerned anger.
“Might wanna warn us next time you an’ Dash decide ta go chargin’ off like a’ crazy pack o’ wolves wit yer tails lit on fire. Ya...” Applejack huffed out a laugh, shaking her head, “Ya could’ve least left some o’ them fer the rest o’ us.”
“Sorry,” Sunset said, breathing hard, but grinning, “Guess I just sort of got caught up in the moment.”
“Ha, I’ll say!” said Rainbow Dash, wiping her brow and smiling wide, “By the way, got twenty two. What’s your score?”
With an embarrassed look Sunset said, “I, uh, stopped counting when I got around twentysomething.”
“Awww c’mon Sunset! If I set a challenge you gotta keep count at least!”
“I’ll make it up to you next time,” Sunset said.
“Is there going to be a next time?” Fluttershy asked nervously, “Is an attack like this going to happen again?”
“That would be unlikely,” said Twilight, hopping down from the roof of the car she’d been standing on. She glanced at the glowing bow in her hands and with a nervous look, closed her eyes and the bow slowly vanished in a flow of blue reishi particles. Sunset noticed that on Twilight’s wrist she was wearing a distinctive silver cross.
“What’dya know, Twi?” asked Applejack, “I’m thinkin’ ya got some questions ta answer.”
“I, uh, well...” Twilight gulped, “I know that attacks like this are rare, and this one was intentionally organized, probably to target us... uh, maybe.”
“I’m sorry darling,” said Rarity, “But this is all most confusing. How did you come by such an interesting ability, one that looks rather similar to what that other woman was using.”
“Y-you must mean Fleur De Lis,” Twilight said, almost to herself, “Or maybe my mother? None of you have met her, have you? You’d know if it was Cadence-”
“Cadence? As in, Dean Cadence!?” Sunset asked, but Twilight continued musing.
“”By process of elimination it must be Fleur. So she’s here? I don’t see her anywhere?”
Sunset suddenly realized that was accurate. The Hollows were defeated, and neither the woman with the bow or any of the soldiers in white were anywhere to be seen. But that didn’t put Sunset at ease. Instead her intuition said the woman, Fleur De Lis, had to be nearby, perhaps watching them.
“We should get back to Discord’s shop,” she said, looking at each of her friends in turn, ending on Twilight, “We can... talk about things there.”
She didn’t want to use the word ‘interrogate’ or even ‘question’, but damn if she didn’t want to get as many answers as she could from Twilight. She just also didn’t want to upset the girl. Her friend looked nervous enough as it was without all of them giving her the third degree here and now. Twilight gave her a grateful look, no doubt glad for at least the brief reprieve before having to answer a lot of what would probably be some very awkward questions.
“Sounds good to me!” said Pinkie Pie, clapping Twilight on the shoulder, “I don’t even care where the glowy bow comes from. It’s nifty!”
“Quite,” said Rarity, leaning down to peer at the cross on Twilight’s wrist, “Hm, through I must admit I’m not certain this accessory really suits you, Twilight dear. Gold is a much more becoming color for your violet complexion than silver is.”
Twilight gripped the cross self consciously, “It was my mother’s.”
“Oh? Well, I suppose exceptions can be made for family heirlooms,” Rarity said.
“I see I didn’t need to be in such a hurry,” said another voice from nearby, the girls all glancing up at see Clover standing atop a street lamp. The Soul Reaper jumped off, sailing downward to land lightly on her feet beside them. Sunset saw that Clover already had her Zanpaktou drawn, and suspected from the tears here and there along Clover’s robes that she’d needed to fight her way here. Clover eyes roved over the group critically, lips pursing with worry, “You’re all alive at least. Is anyone badly hurt?”
“Nah,” said Rainbow Dash, brushing herself off, “I’m better off than I look.”
This was followed by the girl woozily swaying a bit and nearly falling over, if not for a rather quick response by Fluttershy to catch her. Rainbow Dash laughed it off, steadying herself, “Okay, guess I’m a little bit, uh... beat.”
“And you, Sunset?” Clover asked, “I felt your spiritual pressure fluctuating a lot just a moment ago.”
Sunset blinked, glancing at her Zanpaktou. The heat was still inside her, smoldering but not lessening. She recalled the voice she’d heard, what it had said. Had that been her Zanpaktou’s spirit? What had it been trying to tell her? That she was close to discovering what it was she needed to finally learn the blade’s name?
“I think my Zanpaktou was trying to connect with me, back there,” she said, “I felt close to understanding it.”
Clover looked relieved, face brightening with an enthusiastic smile, “That’s good to hear. If it’s reaching out to you, then you must be close.” Her enthusiasm dampened suddenly as Clover turned worried eyes towards Applejack. “Miss Applejack, I... I’ve made progress in investigating the matter with your parents.”
Applejack’s attention became riveted to Clover, green eyes flashing with intensity. “What’ve ya found out?”
Sunset saw the hesitation clouding Clover’s features, her voice quiet, “It would be for the best to tell you somewhere safer, where you can sit down.”
Applejack looked ready to argue the issue, but any such words she had were cut short as a blue arrow of energy snapped between the group, piercing Clover’s chest right between the breasts. Clover’s eyes went wide and blood spurted from her mouth as she fell backwards, Sunset moving to catch her in the blink of an eye, while a woman’s laugh echoed through the air.
“Hah, and here I thought for sure she’d dodge the first one,” said the pale white woman with the compound bow of energy, standing casually down the street with her bow out and her hand still on the string of blue energy. Sunset recalled that Twilight had called this woman Fleur De Lis. “Kind of disappointing, actually. I hoped to get a little more fun out of her.”
Sunset was barely paying attention to what Fleur was saying, too focused on checking Clover’s wound. The arrow of energy had already vanished, but it left a smooth round hole in Clover’s flesh that was already soaking her robes with blood. It wasn’t a wound to the heart, though. Not instantly fatal, but the blood flowing from Clover’s mouth suggested a lung had been hit. Sunset’s hand pressed to the wound without even really thinking about it, but she was already turning to look towards Fluttershy, knowing that Fluttershy’s ability was the only real chance of saving Clover. There was no chance of getting her back to Discord’s shop in time for him to do anything. Fluttershy, a look of wide eyed shock on her face, was already kneeling down next to Clover and focusing her gaze upon the wounded Soul Reaper.
Clover was still conscious, and looked like she was trying to say something, but Sunset just shook her head, jaw tight, “Stay still, let Fluttershy take care of you.”
Her voice was strained with worry but also with rising anger. She let Fluttershy take over with Clover, seeing the strain on Fluttershy’s features as her third eye casting a wash of blue light over Clover’s body. Sunset didn’t dare interrupt Fluttershy’s focus with any inane questions about whether Clover would okay or not. Instead she just stood and turned to face Fleur. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena were all already staring down the woman, while Twilight stood off to the side with a look of pure shocked indecision on her face.
“I don’t got no idea why ya just did that,” said Applejack, her white and bronze metal boots seeming to vibrate with pent up energy, “But ya just made a big ol’ mistake.”
Fleur ignored the girl’s statement, instead turning a coy look towards Twilight, “Got tired of being a wallflower for your brother, hm? I don’t blame you, little Sparkle. You’ve got the Quincy blood singing strong in your veins, how could you stay away from a battle with Hollows? Tell me, did it feel good? Slaying your first Hollows?”
“I...I didn’t come here for that...” said Twilight, backing away, “I came for my friends.”
“Is that so? Well, you're young. You can afford to lie to yourself, I suppose. Of course now that you’ve gone and exposed yourself I can’t imagine you’ll be spending much time with your ‘friends’ anymore, even if your family did decide to allow it,” Fleur said offhandedly, only to be interrupted as a red crystalline spike erupted from the ground behind her, aimed for her back. Fleur spun faster than Sunset’s eye could follow, using her bow to shatter the spike into shards. She turned back, grinning at Rarity, who had been the one to attack.
“Oh ho! Quite the backstab attempt! Very ruthless. I like you. What’s your name, girl?”
Rarity sniffed, brushing some of her hair out of her face, “I have no reason to give my name to uncouth trollops that attack my friends. Girls, shall we?”
Rainbow Dash pounded her fists together, “I’m right with you Rares! Let’s do this!”
“Ain’t gotta tell me twice!” said Applejack, taking a stance not unlike a linebacker as her boots began to glow with pent up golden energy.
Pinkie Pie for once wasn’t smiling, “Mena, sic her.” Pinkamena’s immediate response was a hysterical giggle of joy, followed by morphing her arms into long, biting, tooth covered tendrils.
Sunset took a step forward to the head of the group, Zanpaktou raised, “I don’t know who you are, but you’re not getting away with this.”
All of them attacked at once. The only ones who remained still were Twilight, whose face was a pained mask of indecision, Fluttershy, who was entirely absorbed by trying to heal Clover, and Pinkie Pie, who could only cheer on Pinkamena and the other girls leaping into the fray.
If Fleur was remotely concerned at having to face five on one odds she certainly wasn’t showing it with her polite, but predatory smile as all five girls reached her to attack at once. She even chatted casually as she began to counter them. “At this point I suppose it’d be a breach of etiquette not to introduce myself.”
Applejack had jumped above her, a set of golden jets of energy erupting from the top of her right leg as she smashed it down in a powerful heel kick, but Fleur raised her compound bow, using it to parry the blow. Applejack’s kick impacted with enough force to crack the concrete of the street beneath Fleur’s feet, but the woman herself didn’t seem remotely phased as she used her bow like a flyswatter to bat Applejack aside, knocking her into a nearby van so hard that half of the vehicle indented into itself and Applejack slumped to the concrete, stetson hat slowly floating to the ground next to her.
“I am His Majesty's loyal servant, Sternritter T, the Tempest.”
As Rainbow Dash and Rarity came in from the sides, a massive blast of swirling air exploded out from Fleur’s body, like a concentrated tornado that shoved both girls back before either Rainbow Dash’s first or Rarity’s rapier could get close. Rainbow Dash ended up bouncing into the wall of a house across the street, leaving an impact of splintered wood before flopping to the lawn. Rarity didn’t fare much better, thrown rolling into an open garage to crash into a tool shelf that then collapsed onto her. Fleur’s smile didn’t falter as she aimed her bow behind her without even looking, targeting Pinkamena who’d rushed around behind, tentacles raised to strike.
“But you can call me Fleur De Lis,” she said as she fired an arrow that caught Pinkamena in the gut and sent the doppelganger spiraling away to bounce along the street for several dozen yards before laying in a crumpled heap.
Sunset was the only one still standing, and didn’t slow down as she charged in, blade low, and then swept it up in a uppercutting slash at Fleur, who responded by flipping her body into a spinning leap that avoided the blow, and then landed her neatly and lightly upon the edge of Sunset’s Zanpaktou for just an instant before Fleur kicked out and knocked Sunset backwards, nearly head over heels, to land on her back, dazed.
“Now, if you children are done trying to play war with the adults, why don’t you all run home? I only kill Hollows and Soul Reapers, and while you’re dressed up like one, my bacon-headed young lady, you’re certainly no Soul Reaper.”
Laying on her back, Sunset’s heart seethed. In the span of mere seconds she and her friend’s attack had been defeated, and while she didn’t think any of her friends were down for the count, it was blatantly obvious that this opponent was several plateaus of power above them. Yet that didn’t daunt her. It only made the heat inside her ignite hotter. It was like all the pain in her body was being converted into more and more heat, blistering away fear and exhaustion.
It was shame. The shame of lacking the strength to stand against the threats to those she loved and cared for. The shame of not having the power she knew she had the potential to possess, if only she had the ambition to grasp it.
As Sunset slowly stood, Fleur De Lis regarded her with raised eyebrows, “I’m giving you a chance to walk away, girl. Your Soul Reaper friend is as good as dead, but that’s no less than what her kind deserves. I don’t kill my fellow humans unless I have to, and if you keep attacking me, well...”
Sunset ignored her, fully standing now, and grasping her Zanpaktou in front of her with both hands, and glaring at it with her eyes filling with a blazing light that seemed to make her whole body shimmer. She could feel her connection with the Zanpaktou, feel the tantalizing resonance between her soul and the spirit of the blade. It was as if the Zanpaktou was waiting with baited breath to see what Sunset would do. It was an open challenge, and an invitation. One Sunset willingly, fully, and happily accepted.
In a flash of searing light Sunset found herself back in her Zanapktou’s inner world. She stood upon the broken path amid the endless sky, leading up the steps to the throne. Sitting upon that throne was the red, flame clad form of the she-demon, her Zanpaktou spirit, looking down at her with an imperious but questioning look.
“So, here we are. You’re trapped, facing a foe you’re just too weak to confront, with the lifeblood of one friend pouring out onto the street, while the rest either lay near defeat, or close enough to it to not matter,” said the she-demon, her voice resonating with the heat of blazing flames across the air. “What will you do, Sunset Shimmer? Beg me for help? Cry to the power of ‘friendship’ to save the day?”
Sunset locked eyes with the she-demon, and began walking up the steps to the throne. Her Zanpaktou spirit smiled at the sight, sitting up with taloned hands clasping the arms of the throne, “Or have you finally remembered who I am? Who you are?”
When Sunset reached the throne, she crossed her arms under her breasts and looked the she-demon squarely in the eyes, a deep, confident smile on her face.
“You’re in my seat.”
“Oh? And what are you going to do about-”
Before the she-demon finished her sentence Sunset’s hands snapped out, gripping the she-demon around the scruff of the neck on both sides, and Sunset bodily hauled the spirit off the throne and into a shoulder throw that sent the she-demon flying down the steps, bouncing off the last few, to skid along the pathway back out of the throne room. By the time the she-demon had shaken her head and recovered, standing back up, Sunset had already sat upon the throne, settling into it with a content sigh, hands clasping th throne’s arms with comfortable familiarity.
“I remember,” Sunset said, taking in and letting out a deep breath even as her heart started to race with a burning heat that felt as if she’d placed a shard of the sun in her chest, “I know who you are. I was scared of what you’d cost me, so I shoved you aside for a long time. You did nearly cost me everything, once.”
“Perhaps I did,” said the she-demon, cracking her neck with one hand and stretching, “I burn, Sunset. That’s what Pride does. It was up to you whether I burned you, or burned for you.”
Sunset nodded, her smile softening, “Yeah, that’s where I was wrong. I thought I had to discard my Pride to be... be accepted, as their friend. In a way that was true. Without humility I’d never have been able to earn their forgiveness, or their friendship. But I shouldn’t have tossed you aside entirely. Pride is my fire. My passion to be the best I can be. I have to balance you out with purpose. Pride without purpose is just hubris. But I know what I need to do, and I know what my purpose is. Now... now I can wield my Pride without it burning me.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “Instead I’ll be burning only what I choose to.”
The she-demon threw her head back and laughed, and it seemed the sky all around the throne began to bleed with crimson light, flames flickering across the infinite horizon of the inner world. “About damn time! Alright, you can sit on the throne then and call the shots! For now.” The she demon grinned devilishly, “I won’t make it easy on you, of course. You better prove worthy of sitting on that throne, otherwise I’ll pull your ass right back down.”
“Anytime you want, take your best shot,” said Sunset, her own smiling not faltering in the least.
“Then all that’s left is my name...” the she-demon winked, “But you already know it, don’t you?”
“Yes. Strange, feels like it was always there, and only now can I hear it,” Sunset said, shaking her head, “Also, can I say I still don’t get why all these names are in Japanese?”
“I’m a Zanpaktou, Sunset, better get used to it. And hey, don’t mispronounce it!”
“Heh, what do you take me for?” Sunset said, and in an eye-blink she was back on the street, standing before Fleur De Lis. It was clear no more than a split second had passed, but Fleur’s expression of supreme confidence had changed to one of faintly confused interest. It was easy to see why. Sunset could feel her spiritual pressure blazing inside her, rising higher and higher as the connection between her and the Zanpaktou in her hand seemed to turn into liquid molten metal in her hand.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Fleur De Lis, a deep frown crossing her elegant features.
“Protecting my pride,” Sunset said, and held her Zanpaktou aloft, the blade now glowing with a intense orange-red light as Sunset intoned both the release phrase that had burned itself into her brain, alongside the name of the sword she’d bonded her soul to.
A pillar of gold and orange fire swept up in a spiraling torrent around Sunset, enfolding her body and searing the air, bathing all the surrounding area in a field of hot color. The street seared and concrete turned to molten stone as the release of spiritual energy continued in a pillar that any spiritually aware beings would be able to see from practically any corner of the city. Sunset herself felt the power inside her swell and take a new shape, her hand now clasping two different objects as the flames subsided and she was once more visible to all.
In her right hand was a new sword, its broad blade marking it as a traditional knight’s longsword, its cross-guard shaped like two spread wings carved from red hot iron. The hilt was wrapped in flaming red cloth that hung from the hilt for about a arm span’s length. In her left hand was a large kite shield, attached to her arm with red leather strips. The shield itself tapered towards the bottom to a sharp point, almost like another blade.
Sunset let out a breath she’d been holding, looking at Fleur with hard eyes hot with anger. Fleur for her part made a scoffing sound, making an off hand gesture of dismissal.
“Adorable. But if you think a mere Shikai is going to make a difference against-”
In a blink of an eye Sunset was in front of the other woman, broadsword smashing downward. Fleur barely managed to block with her bow, but the force of the blow sent her skidding back, heels scraping the street. Fleur’s eyes popped wide. “What the-!?”
Sunset didn’t give her even a second. She was on the woman again, spinning into a backhanded slash that Fleur tried to block once more, only to find herself being lifted off the ground and thrown bodily through a fence line across the street. Sunset Flash Stepped above Fleur, dropping out of the air with her sword now aimed downward. Fleur rapidly threw herself out of the way, Sunset’s body hitting the ground and her sword smashing a small crater right where Fleur had been an instant earlier.
“Ugh! Enough!” Fleur growled, aiming her bow, and a current of swirling air flowing into the compound bow and seeming to wrap around the many strings and pulleys of it before she fired an arrow that seemed enhanced by a vortex of air around it.
Sunset twirled in place, and set her kite shield in front of her. The arrow impacted the shield in an explosive blast of hurricane force air that smashed apart the rest of the yard’s fence and overturned a nearby parked car, but Sunset remained grounded where she was, her shield having absorbed the blow. More than that, when the shield was struck, the red cloth attached to the hilt of Sunset’s sword began to become covered in flame. She then burst forward, using Flash Step to get right in Fleur's face once more, the broadsword curving a deadly arc through the air that now was trailing a glowing aura of flame as the blade itself seemed to start growing hotter and hotter.
Fleur raised her left hand, a sharp torrent of air coalescing there in the shape of a disc of hardened wind. Sparks, like embers from a kicked up campfire, erupted from where Hokori struck the shield of wind, and Sunset could see the heat in her blade searhing through the air like a red hot poker through drywall. Fleur flung herself aside as her deflection failed, and a seared piece of her uniform's white mantel fell off as she narrowly avoided Sunset's blade. The Sternritter then formed her left hand into an almost claw-like gesture and growled, "Sturmkralle Ein!" (Stormtalon One)
A lash of air shaped like the expanding claws of a bird of prey slammed out from Fleur's hand, and Sunset met it head on, Hokori's shield leading the way. The blast of exploding air smashed windows of the nearby house and blasted apart the lawn's picket fence, and Sunset felt the powerful jolt of hurricane force wind rock into her. However Hokori's strenght was filling her limbs and the shield took the brunt of the blow, Sunset feeling a sense of ever growing heat inside the broadsword as the shield took more and more hits. She surged forward through the attack of wind that buffeted her, made her bones strain against the force, and she thrust out with her sword, which was now glowing visibly like the metal had been dunked in the heart of a forge.
The searing thrust cut a burning line across Fleur's cheek as she dodged back, and the woman let out a chocked snarl as her leap took her to the next yard over. She absently touched the burned cut on her cheek, eyes wide with rage.
“You dare mark me? Very well, let's see you deflect this!” said Fleur, aiming her bow once more, and this time letting out a rapid fire torrent of arrows, much like the kind she’d used to slay Gillians with ease. Sunset kept her shield out, letting it catch the stream of glittering blue arrows, which either shattered or deflected off the sturdy shield in a rain of impacts. With each arrow the flames grew more and more upon the red cloth of the sword’s hilt, until it nearly touched Sunset’s hand, but they flame did not burn her.
Fleur ended her barrage with an annoyed sigh, “Impressive, but if all you can do is defend this will be over soon.”
“Well, half of that statement is accurate,” said Sunset, feeling the blazing power in her right hand as the energy her shield had been absorbing, and transferring to the blade, now reached its peak. She didn’t really understand just what she was doing. She was acting almost entirely on instinct, but she knew that Hokori was guiding her. With the blade of her sword now glowing like it’d been heated on the coals of a forge she followed her instincts without hesitation, raising the blade and thrusting it forward as if she intended to pierce Fleur De Lis, even though the woman was a good score of yards away.
Flame erupted from the tip of the blade, a thick, concentrated jet of red, orange, and gold fire that melted a devastating path towards Fleur. Sunset could feel the very moisture in the air all but evaporate as the blast of searing spiritual energy rocketed out at her opponent. The light from the attack was nearly blinding and it was hard to keep hold of her sword as it shook in her grasp, but she held firm, not letting Hokori get out of control. She was in control now, and her pride wouldn’t let her lose such control ever again.
When the flames subsided there was a burned path of charred black all the way down the block, thankfully not actually touching any of the houses, and with only a few embers leftover so no fires would spread. Sunset knew she’d have to be careful with this new power when fighting in town in the future. She looked around for Fleur, for a second thinking she might have actually incinerated the woman, but a moment later she spotted Fleur standing on discs of blue reishi, about a hundred feet up.
Fleur’s left arm was seared, the white of her uniform sleeve gone and the flesh underneath blackened. The woman’s face was a twisted visage of pain and rage.
“You... you dare? And just when I was thinking of sparing you as an ignorant girl not deserving death simply because the Soul Reapers duped her into helping them. Oh my, girl, you’ve just signed your own death warrant!”
Sunset glared, bracing herself as Fleur, ignoring the damage to her left arm, took aim with her bow once more, and it seemed like all the air began to shudder and swirl as wind kicked up, gathering in a vortex around Fleur, “The power of the Tempest will erase you.”
Fleur’s bow glowed with a growing arrow of energy, but before she could fire, someone put a hand on her arm and forced the bow to aim upwards. The arrow exploded upwards into the air, a tornado of tearing, ripping air that Sunset could feel down on the ground even as the arrow sailed upwards harmlessly into the sky.
Fleur growled, turning on the one who’d grabbed her arm, only to blink as she saw it was Shining Armor who held her fast. He didn’t look amused, face a steel mask.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” shouted Fleur, “Let go, Shining Armor!”
“What am I doing? What are you doing?” asked Shining Armor, keeping his fist locked tightly around Fleur’s wrist despite her attempts to pull free, “You were about to unleash an attack that would wipe out half the suburbs, Fleur De Lis! Have you forgotten our job is to protect human life?”
“She burned me! My face! She marked my face! That bitch burned my arm! Let go of me this instant. I’ll finish her off myself.”
“No, Fleur. We are withdrawing. Night Light may require our aid to deal with other Soul Reapers. These girls are not a concern at this time,” said Shining Armor with ironclad resolve. Fleur chuckled, finally yanking her hand free.
“Oh, and the fact that your little sister is down there has nothing to do with this? I wonder what your father and mother will have to say about her suddenly showing up here, seemingly trained to form one of our bows. Care to explain that?”
“I shall, but not here, and not to you,” said Shining Armor, “Now are you going to come along willingly,” his eyes narrowed, “Or do I have to force you?”
Fleur stared at him for a moment, then cast her withering glance down towards Sunset and her friends. By now Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had managed to recover their senses and were standing once more, and while Pinkamena was still down, she was moving and slowly trying to get back to her feet as well. Twilight was staring up into the sky, looking lost, but she and Shining Armor met eyes, and he nodded to her reassuringly, causing Twilight to nod in return, relaxing slightly.
Only Fluttershy didn’t look up, still entirely absorbing in healing Clover.
Fleur let out a sharp sigh, “Tch, so be it.” She then spoke more loudly, directing her words at Sunset, “I suggest you carefully consider what side of this war you intend to remain on, girl. The Soul Reapers won’t take kindly to you having a friend among the Quincy, and you won’t get lucky twice when facing a Sternritter. Especially if you ever end up facing me again.”
Sunset returned Fleur’s look with her own eyes gleaming with inner fire, and no hint of fear in her voice, “Luck won’t be a factor.”
To this Fleur smirked, “We’ll see, won’t we?”
“Twilight,” said Shining Armor, looking down at his little sister.
“Y-yes?” Twilight asked, wincing as if expecting a tirade from him. Shining Armor did look angry, if also deeply worried, his brow creased in hard thought.
“If I told you to go home... would you?”
Twilight paused, blinking, and then her eyes slowly traveled over her friends, meeting their looks each in turn before finally resting on Sunset’s. For her part, Sunset just smiled in understanding and gave Twilight a comforting look as she nodded silently. However to her surprise Twilight responded by saying, “Not yet, brother. Not until I know my friends...” she glanced at Clover’s fallen form, “all of my friends, are safe.”
Shining Armor didn’t look happy about that, but he said, “Be home before nightfall. Otherwise someone will be sent to retrieve you, and I can’t guarantee it’ll be me coming to do that.”
“I understand.”
With that Shining Armor turned to Fleur, “Come on, the others need our help.”
Fleur looked at him incredulous, “You really think your parents and lover can’t handle those two Soul Reaper Captains?”
As if to punctuate her sentence there was a distant burst of light from the sky of the northwest side of the city, and even Sunset could feel the intense press upon her soul that came from sensing several immense spiritual pressures spiking highly from that direction. Even from such a distance Sunset could tell that whoever was fighting over there were insanely powerful, and she felt a heated spark from inside herself, and her Zanpaktou. She didn’t hear Hokori’s voice, per se, but she knew that her Zanpaktou, much like herself, wasn't intimidated by sensing those incredible spiritual pressures, but was rather enticed by them. She wanted to not merely become that strong, she had a desire to surpass what she was sensing. If this was the scale of the war she and her friends had stepped into, she had to get that strong. Otherwise watching Clover bleed out would be the least among the possible tragedies that might occur.
Shining Armor and Fleur De Lis exchanged looks, and both seemed to mutually agree there was no more need for discussion, and both flew off across the sky riding upon those small blue discs of reishi they could form beneath their feet.
Sunset was left to regroup with her friends. She looked at her Zanpaktou’s new broadsword shape. It looked as if it should weigh heavily on her arm, but both the blade and the huge kite shield felt light as blades of grass in her hands. Still, they were a bit awkward to just carry around. However, examining the shield, she noticed that there were a pair of vertically aligned slits in the back portion of the shield, perfectly sized for the blade. Turning the shield horizontally, she flipped her sword around and sheathed it right through those slits, combining the sword with the shield so that the wing shaped hilt poked up from the top.
“Huh, neat,” she said, and then walked over to check on Clover as the rest of her friends gathered around.
Fluttershy’s attention had not left Clover for even an instant, and it seemed to be having some positive effect, for Clover’s wound wasn’t bleeding anymore, and the Soul Reaper was still breathing. Still, the hard lines of worry on Fluttershy’s face left Sunset feeling nervous.
“How is she?” Sunset asked.
Fluttershy didn’t look up, sweat falling in small rivers down her face as she said in a strained voice, “I don’t know. I can keep her breathing, and fix some of the damage, but I think she’s needs more than what I can do right now. I’ll keep trying.”
“Well let’s not mess ‘round wit wastin’ no more time,” said Applejack, “Let’s git her ta Discords!”
“Moving her could be dangerous,” warned Fluttershy.
“So’s just sitting here doing nothing,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Guys, Pinkamena’s beat up pretty bad too,” said Pinkie Pie, who was actually helping her doppelganger with one arm of Pinkamena’s slung over her shoulder. Pinkamena for her part looked like a walking bloodstain, the wound to the gut having bled down until most of her lower half was a crimson mess. Yet Pinkamena seemed more energetic than Clover, still smiling.
“Meh, I’ll live. I can bleed all over the place and still have an appetite. Still, a nap sounds really good right about now.”
There clearly wasn’t much time to think about this, so Sunset spoke in a commanding tone, “Rainbow Dash, fly ahead to Discords and let him know we’re bringing in wounded. Applejack, carry Clover while Fluttershy sticks close to heal. Pinkamena, will Pinkie Pie dismissing you help you heal?”
“Yup, though so would eating some tasty Hollows.”
“I think they’ve all run off, those that were left anyway,” said Sunset, “Either way, we go to Discords, and don’t stop for anything until we get there.”
----------
Two blurs of motion cut across the sky, one exploding a streaking azure stream of spherical projectiles at the other, which moved fast as black lightning to evade the pursuing spheres of light.
Luna kept a keen eye on the projectiles rocketing towards her, moving faster and faster to keep the cluster of homing spheres at a distance even as Twilight Velvet also pursued her, taking every opportunity to fire off more spheres from her cannon barreled arbalest. Luna saw Velvet streak ahead of her, turning in mid-air to fire several spheres in a circular pattern around her, just as the pursuing one's behind also took up a enclosing circle around Luna.
Each sphere then burst like a bubble, showering out now in a storm of arrows that filled the sky with a buzzing, thick blanket of lethal reishi. Luna, however, was only just warming up, and hadn’t shown Velvet a fraction of her speed. Of all the Captain ranked Soul Reapers in the Soul Society, Luna was regarded as the most masterful in the use of the Flash Step. Despite the space where Luna was being bombarded on all sides by the exploding cloud of reishi arrows, Luna’s form flickered in and out of the visible spectrum, gracefully untouched.
Velvet’s glare made Luna smile in satisfaction, “Having trouble hitting me?”
“Don’t look so smug, you haven’t struck me yet, either,” replied Velvet with a tone cool as a winter wind.
Luna’s smile didn’t falter as she held her Zanpaktou’s aloft, the katana in her right hand, the tanto still held inverted in her left. “I was just being sporting, allowing you the first move. Shall I now make mine?”
She didn’t bother giving Twilight Velvet even a second to respond to the quite rhetorical question. Luna just instantly flashed behind Velvet, spinning with both blades slashing at the Sternritter’s exposed back. To Velvet’s credit, however, she reacted faster than Luna would have expected, twisting out of the way of one blade while managing to interpose her arbalest between herself and the tanto, and then instantly lashed out with a retaliatory kick that Luna jumped back from. Velvet followed up by bringing her arbalest around and firing a point blank sphere of explosive reishi at Luna, who was already raising her hand clasped around her tanto, while chanting a Kido.
“Bakudo Number Eighty One: Danku!”
A rectangular barrier of translucent force snapped into place between Luna nd Velvet, catching the sphere of reishi... but the sphere then instantly changed course to fly around the barrier, forcing Luna to instead use her katana to slash the sphere before it impacted her body. The moment she slashed the sphere it exploded into a hail of arrows, forcing Luna to evade at such close range that one of the arrows did manage to tear through her black robes, scoring a light wound as she Flash Stepped away.
Now it was Velvet smiling in satisfaction, “You were saying something about being sporting?”
Luna just chuckled dryly, “Well struck. Out of respect for your daughter I wasn’t intending to unduly harm you, but since you seem to want a more serious fight... you shall have it.”
She connected the hilt of her tanto to that of her katana, combining the two Zanpaktou as she intoned its release phrase with the clear ring of deadly intent in her voice that matched the icy chill in her eyes. Her spiritual pressure burst outward, rimming Luna’s body in a pale blue and silver light.
“Descend from the heavens and rip asunder all under your gaze! Tsuki no Kagetsume!” (Shadowclaw of the Moon)
Pale silver light engulfed both of her blades and merged them briefly into an extending rod of light that then reformed and expanded like liquid mercury into the shape of a massive crescent bladed scythe. Then with a shimmer of moonlight that scythe split into two, creating twin weapons that Luna held in each hand, seemingly too large for any person to wield yet she held them with practiced ease. Each scythe bore a long, dark shaft of wood, and the blades were equally black, only the edges lined in gleaming silver. Luna pointed the right handed scythe blade at Twilight Velvet, and it looked as if all of Luna’s body started to become cloaked in shadow, an inky blackness flowing from her outline to pool at her feet like an expanding lake.
“All under the shadow of the moon will feel its claws, Quincy. Prepare yourself!”
----------
Celestia felt her sister release her Zanpaktou to its Shikai state and didn’t need to look to know that a fair portion of the sky in that direction would be getting coated in deep darkness. She sincerely hoped Luna would have the presence of mind to still be careful. Luna could be quite cocky and prideful, and her Zanpaktou’s personality matched that, only encouraging Luna to further take risks. She also hoped for Twilight Velvet’s sake that she would know when to retreat. Celestia didn’t wish to make the young Twilight Sparkle go through the loss of a parent if it could be helped. Then again, Night Light certainly wasn’t making things easy on her.
There was little subtlety in Night Light’s arrows. No tricks or hidden dangers, as was the case with Velvet or Cadence. No, when Night Light fired an arrow of reishi, it was the most perfectly concentrated spear of spirit particles Celestia had seen fired by a Quincy. She didn’t think any by a Captain of her stature would have enough power in her Zanpaktou to turn aside such arrows, and every time she did it felt like her arm was going to be ripped from its shoulder. The power of Night Light’s arrows left a sonic boom behind every time he fired, and Celestia worked hard to dodge rather than deflect, though she was no master of the Flash Step like Luna was.
Night Light was also utterly calm as he fought. His stance was relaxed, his face nothing short of a placid lake of pure focus. He would move swiftly from spot to spot, take careful aim, arrows large as spears forming in his moon shaped bow, and he’d fire without a word. No banter or talk. Celestia knew Night Light would fight until either she and her sister were dead, or willingly retreating.
Cadence was more worrying, for she was hanging back, watching Celestia intently. No doubt waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Or perhaps she was hesitant out of a sense of possible friendship? Celestia knew it was a laughably naive hope, but some part of her wished that the long standing cordial relationship she and Luna had with Cadence in their civilian personas might have counted for something. With Luna getting serious, however, it seemed like it was inevitable this fight would end in blood, on way or another.
Celestia wished she could sense if Clover was alright or not. She couldn’t sense Clover’s spiritual pressure anymore, though that could just be because the Sternritter’s spirit energy were too strong to feel clearly beyond it.
Taking a deep breath, Celestia watched Night Light’s movements closely. When he next fired she charged forward, gritting her teeth against the force of the arrow as she used her left handed blade to catch the projectile and change its trajectory just enough to fly past her, while leading with her right handed sword in a straight thrust. Night Light managed to sidestep, but Celestia had anticipated the movement and was already turning around so that she could backslash with her left hand, her Zanpaktou cutting a crimson line across Night Light’s shoulder. He didn’t do more than wince slightly at the wound, but didn’t so much as break stride as he made a few quick jumps back, pulling back on his bow and firing three quick arrows, each creating a sonic boom that shattered glass from windows in the suburbs beneath them.
Celestia threw herself into several quick dodges, feeling the air tearing as the arrows flew past her, whipping her hair around her head. She responded by stabbing a finger out, channeling flows of spirit energy into it as she chanted, “Hado Number Four! Byakurai!”
A bolt of yellow lightning flashed from her finger, nearly striking Night Light as he nimbly landed on a telephone pole and then jumped away, the electrical Kido spell frying the pole and blowing transformers all the way down the street. Celestia didn’t let up, using Flash Step to quickly get in front of Night Light and then jump at him, both blades slashing in a cross pattern. He blocked with his bow, the blue crescent of energy colliding with Celestia’s Zanpaktou in a crash of force and colliding spiritual pressures that actually cracked the ground beneath them.
While her blades clashed with Night Light’s bow, Celestia sensed a flicker of movement above her. Cadence was little more than pink blur, appearing above Celestia, her arm mounted crossbow aimed down at the Soul Reaper. The pulsing pink bolt that flew from that bow trailed a neon streak behind it, Celestia only have a fraction of a second to push hard with one sword to knock Night Light away from her while swinging her other blade up to catch the pink bolt of light to send it twirling away with an expertly timed parry. Cadence finished flipping in the air and landed in a crouch, already firing another bolt, which Celestia twirled away from, parrying with her right handed sword to deflect the second bolt.
Yet she noticed a jolt of reishi that transmitted from the bolt into her, like the sensation of a small bug bite. Her mind flickered with heated emotions, and she shook her head, trying to clear the fuzz. Suddenly Cadence’s voice spoke, in a soft, beckoning tone.
“You don’t want to fight, Celestia. I’m not your enemy, but a friend.”
The fuzzy warmth tried to stretch sticky fingers into Celestia’s mind, but centuries of experience sharpened by a willpower bright as the sun crushed past the feeling of sudden euphoria that’d been trying to cloud her mind. Celestia sighed deeply, looking between Cadence and Night Light with equal determination.
“You are right that I don’t wish to fight, but not because of whatever mind affecting power you’re trying to conjure on me, Cadence. All either of you have to do is stand aside, and I shall not harm you, but if you persist in detaining me and my sister then you continue to leave me no choice.”
Cadence’s eyes flickered with surprise, then respect. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect one arrow to inject enough of my power to affect a mind like yours. I really would prefer not to fight, Celestia, but we cannot stand aside either.”
“It is meaningless to discuss this,” said Night Light, already forming another large, spear-like arrow within his crescent shaped bow, “Soul Reapers will never compromise with Quincy, and we shall never capitulate to Soul Reapers.”
“All we wish is to retrieve one of our comrades and ensure their safety,” Celestia assured him.
“And we are to trust you would not harm one of ours if they’d already engaged your comrade?”
The rumble of explosions amid the spreading blanket of shadows in the sky from where Luna and Twilight Velvet fought seemed to drive home the volatile nature of the situation, yet Celestia was not ready to give up hope to avoid any more unnecessary fighting. If either Cadence or Night Light pressed her hard enough to force her to unleash her Shikai it would be difficult to hold back any longer. Taking a deep breath to keep her voice level, she said, “If I seriously desired to hurt either of you why would I still be fighting with my Zanpaktou sealed? Let me go calm my sister. Let us go seek our comrade. The Hollows are defeated, and at least in this time and place there is little to be gained from us doing battle.”
“Night Light,” said Cadence, “You of course have command here, and I will follow whatever orders you give, but I will point out that right now we have no standing orders to fight the Soul Reapers in the city. Things can only escalate from here, if we continue to do battle.”
Night Light’s eyes flicked towards the distant battle between Luna and Twilight Velvet, little more than a inky stain in the sky where flashes of light could be seen. It was difficult even for Celestia to sense what was happening there, as part of the power of Luna’s Tsuki no Kagetsume was that it disrupted spiritual senses. All she could tell was that both Luna and Velvet were still alive and fighting strong, but not which of the pair was winning. Then again, neither were likely going all out yet, neither Luna nor the Quincy. In Night Light’s eyes she could see the hint of fear, of deep rooted worry of a husband for his wife. Or was it something else? Celestia couldn't be certain, but it felt like Night Light was stretching his spiritual senses out, felt something that, for just a second, caused a look of surprise in his eyes, before he sighed and looked at her with his expression guarded once more.
“Hmm, very well,” he said, letting the arrow vanish from his bow, “I will allow you and your sister to collect your comrades and withdraw from the field, under our escort. You have my word we will not further engage you unless you engage us first, Soul Reaper.”
She inclined her head in a gesture of relieved acknowledgement, sheathing her Zanpaktou, “Thank you. Now let us hurry, before our loved ones tear each other apart.”
----------
Twilight Velvet wasn’t at all certain what to make of the shadows pouring off of the Soul Reaper Captain named Luna. They filled the sky like a miniature lake, and flowed off of the Soul Reaper’s body as if she were bleeding the shadows from arterial wounds. With the smallest gesture with her scythes Luna sent waves of shadow hurtling at Velvet, and she could see the undulating darkness taking the shape of dozens upon dozens of curving claws as they flashed at her.
Velvet didn’t hesitate to start blasting the shadows with her arbalest, pouring reishi into the mixture of cannon and bow to fire balls of explosive spiritual energy into the lunging shadows. The shadows could be damaged, cut apart, it seemed, but more just formed, coming at Velvet again as she rapidly dodged and twisted around, firing all around her as shadows closed in. More and more shadow bled off of Luna, the shadows now climbing upward like they were painting the sky black, seeing to enfold Velvet. She had no intention of being caught within a realm of shadow generated by this Soul Reaper. She flew upward, up and away from the grasping shadows, and fired down with a relentless barrage. Her blazing spheres of energy erupted into arrows that tore apart the shadows, but like beating back an ocean wave with cannon fire, the shadows just kept coming, no matter how broken up they got.
Luna’s chiding voice spoke from the shadows. “You can’t escape with simple brute force, Quincy. You can’t kill darkness.”
Velvet growled, reminded of just how much she despised Soul Reapers and their arrogance. Images flitted through her mind of battles past, of the blood soaked corpses of her first squad, and of her own mother and father’s graves, one of countless white crosses in an endless field of graves for the Quincy fallen.
Her son was already a soldier in this war, and sooner or later her daughter would be as well. The thought sent cold rage billowing through Twilight Velvet, a woman whose loyalty and love for her husband was eclipsed only by the love she felt for her children. The fear that any of them, or all of them, might be killed by Soul Reaper blades was all the motivation Twilight Velvet needed to hate them.
“I can’t kill darkness, perhaps,” she agreed as the shadows closed around her, “But it can be banished with enough light.”
She reached back into the mantle of her uniform, where several sheaths containing silver tubes was located. She quickly withdrew four such tubes between her fingers, flicking them out into the darkness. The caps on each tube flipped open and bright, clear luminescent blue liquid poured out. Velvet formed a set of reishi strings from her fingertips, touching her spiritual energy to each tube, which had now poured their water out in a spreading pattern almost like a dome. Blue spirit particles flared like fire, then bright as phosphorus, and suddenly everything was bathed in blindingly brilliant light from the explosive flare of energy that came from each tube of spiritually charged liquid. Such tubes were usually for more subtle techniques, but activating the stored spirit energy inside them to explode with light was a simple trick, and using four at once created a flare of light so bright it was like summoning a sliver of the sun for just an instance.
The shadows were a lot more solid than real shadows, as if they were almost akin to a living, black liquid, but the concentrated light forced the shadows back for a second, forced them to peel away from Luna for a moment to reveal her more clearly, wincing at the light. Velvet responded instantly, dropping towards Luna while firing her arbalest in one echoing blast after another.
Luna in turn responded with huge, sweeping arcs with her scythes, catching the sphere’s of explosive spirit energy in cacophonous blasts that shredded the shadows around her even as her scythes cut down the rapid fire attacks from Velvet. The shadows were forced to recede, then, and Luna formed them into a hardened, spherical shield around herself until Velvet’s attacks abated, at which point the shadows unfurled almost like wings around Luna’s body, revealing her mostly unharmed, but certainly looking unamused as the Quincy who was still thwarting her.
“Perhaps you’ll have to use your vaunted Soul Reaper ‘Bankai’ if you wish to defeat me,” Velvet suggested cheekily at Luna, who in response merely looked to the scythe in her right hand, as if examining it for damage. The blade was smoking lightly from where Velvet’s blasts had hit it.
“Bankai? You think yourself deserving of facing the highest form of a Soul Reaper’s Zanpaktou, merely because you’ve survived a few minutes against my Shikai? Is this your first time battling a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions?”
“So what if it is? You likely have never faced a Sternritter, either. I haven’t used all of my power, yet, either,” Velvet shot back, scowling. She wasn’t bluffing, either. She had yet to make any use of her schrift, or the trump card of the Sternritter, the transformation known as the Vollstandig. The reason she hadn’t, much as she suspected none of her fellow Sternritter had, was because the Vollstandig was still a secret ability that His Majesty had not authorized them to use in a situation where the Soul Reapers being fought might still escape to report back to the Soul Society about it. Unless Night Light granted her permission, she couldn’t risk the transformation, even if Luna did use her Bankai.
As for her schrift, it was the letter V, the Vengeance. Unfortunately in order to use it, she had to make physical contact with her target, and so far Luna had proven to very difficult to get close to. However she didn’t see much choice. Her arbalest didn’t seem capable of breaking past Luna’s defenses. She’d have to risk getting close enough to touch Luna, only then could the Vengeance be activated and perhaps turn the tide in Velvet’s favor.
Shadows gathered around Luna once more, both scythes at the ready. Velvet got ready as well, aiming her arbalest. She intended to fire off a wide barrage to distract Luna, then move in fast as possible to try and make contact. Only Velvet noticed Luna’s shadows were spreading out to the side of her and behind, and that she was aiming her scythe at the shadows beside her, not at Velvet.
What is she- Velvet began to wonder, then saw Luna smirk and slash at the shadows beside her. Only then did she notice the swoosh of air behind her. She twisted to the side, but still felt a blinding stab of agony in her side as the scythe blade Luna had stuck into the shadows next to her emerged out of a small patch of shadow that had attached itself to Velvet’s feet and stretched out behind her, just wide enough to allow the scythe blade to go through.
Velvet realized Luna must have attached that shadow to her some time when the shadows had been enclosing her, just before she’d blasted the shadows back with the silver tubes. It seemed Luna could strike with her scythes out of any place those shadows were. Velvet now had a deep gash in her side from the scythe’s cleaving blade. It would have severed her spine and gone right through her if she hadn’t dodged at the last second.
Whipping her arbalest around she blasted the small shadow attached to her, though Luna pulled her scythe back quickly before the vanishing shadow might cut off. However now Velvet had to put a hand to her side, which was pouring blood far too quickly to think it was merely a flesh wound, staining her white uniform crimson.
“Ugh... damn. Dirty Soul Reaper tricks...”
“I’ll finish this quickly,” said Luna, twirling her scythes in her hands and leaping forward towards Velvet.
It was then that Celestia, like a descending angel, interposed herself between them, putting a hand on Luna’s striking scythe and halting it in its tracks. At the same instant Cadence and Night Light appeared on either side of Velvet, Night Light instantly putting his arms around Velvet.
“Are you alright, my love?”
“Mmph... more... more embarrassed than anything,” she said, grunting at the pain, feeling the hot warmth of the blood dripping down her side. “An elite Sternritter shouldn’t be seen in such a disgraceful state.”
“Nonsense,” Night Light said firmly, “A wound like that is to be expected, dealing with a Soul Reaper Captain.”
“Why do you stop me, sister?” asked Luna, turning hard eyes on Celestia, who met the gaze with an even calm look of her own.
“I have convinced Night Light to allow us to collect Clover and end this pointless fight for today. Please, Luna, put your blades away, and allow this to be the end of it for now. Enough blood has been spilled for one battle.”
Luna looked ready to argue, and a part of Velvet wished she would. She wanted nothing more than to destroy the two women before her, if only because of what they represented. Yet if Night Light thought it best to halt the hostilities for now, then there was no arguing it. Her husband would not have agreed if he didn’t think it was the best course of action. Velvet suspected it wasn’t defeat that Night Light feared, merely that victory would come at too high a price today to be worth it. Then he squeezed her hand and whispered, “Stretch your senses out, Velvet. South.”
Blinking, she did so. When she did, her eyes snapped wise. Twilight!? Her Twilight!? What was she doing out there in the city!? And... and why did her spiritual energy resonate with the distinct sensation of Quincy powers?
No wonder Night Light had agreed to stop the fighting. There was no way he’d want to risk one like Celestia or Luna being forced into Bankai when their daughter was anywhere near the site of battle. He must have just recently sensed her, too, otherwise he would have told Shining Armor or Cadence to go retrieve her. As it was Velvet had all but forgotten about the two Soul Reaper sisters and was now only thinking of wanting to go to her little Twilight. She felt as if her little girl was heading deeper into the city, and now that she was sensing more clearly, she could feel that her daughter was with a group of others... all with distinct spiritual pressures of their own.
“Husband, what is going on?” she asked faintly, partially from fear for her daughter, partially from the pain of her wound.
“I don’t know,” Night Light said with steely eyes, “But I very much intend to find out.”