Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
The feel of lumber essentially crumbling under her hooves wasn't really the most comfortable of sensations for Applejack to experience. And the fact it was being experienced when she wasn't really even putting that much force into it only served to make it even less comforting. Wood and lumber were as big a part of her world, if not bigger, than the fruits that grew in their orchards. This was just... wrong.
"This is worse than Ah thought," she stated grimly.
The walk from the orchards to the barn had been fairly short, which had suited her just fine. No sense moseying along at a leisurely pace when there was work that needed to be done, and a lot of work at that. Once inside it was a simple matter of pointing out the joist in need of attention, and investigating it to determine the true scope of damage they had to work with.
Although the fact she was essentially perched atop Ulquiorra's back and shoulders while examining the beam up close just struck her as an odd thing to be doing, and an odd spot to be being. Odder still was just how solid the position felt to be perched in. She knew he was floating in the air right now, as there was no other way she could be so close to the offending piece of lumber, but so help her it felt like he was still standing on the ground.
She had been subjected to unicorn levitation a time or two, willingly and unwillingly and it'd always been an uncomfortable, weightless thing to be feeling; way different from how she felt right now. How he did it, she didn't really know, she was just glad that he could.
"A lot worse. This is gonna be a total replacement job from the looks of it," she surmised, doing her best not to think too much about how she wasn't firmly on the ground.
"So it would seem," Ulquiorra noted as he descended back to the ground to allow her to dismount.
"Much better," Applejack mumbled, once she was certain she was back on solid ground once again. "A'right. Ah reckon we've got enough supplies fer the job in one o' the outbuildings."
"We'll need significantly more than whatever is on hand," Ulquiorra spoke up. "There are numerous structural shortcomings in the building's framework in need of being tended to."
"Well... ya ain' exactly wrong there," Applejack spoke slowly. "Ah don' want ya ta get the wrong idea 'bout us, Mr. Cifer. We don' jus' let things fall apart around us 'cause we don' care. It's just... money's tight sometimes, especially before harvest time, and we can't always afford to be makin' all the repairs we need to at once. We gotta do 'em as we can, on top o' everythin' else that goes inta runnin' a farm."
Whatever Ulquiorra's observations and opinions were, he didn't opt to share them with her. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but at the moment it felt... off. Almost like he was silently judging her over such a simple thing. It was those eyes that really sold such a thought, she was sure of it.
"Then I'll do it myself."
"Er-" Applejack grunted, "Mr. Cifer, Ah wasn' tryin' ta poor mouth ya er anythin' like that! Ah'm not beggin' fer charity-"
"I'm aware."
The statement was incredibly simple, and at the same time incredibly effective in making her shut right up and pay attention.
"Shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident occurred, Princess Celestia took it upon herself to make my status as an independent contractor official. I've been issued back pay since the time of arrival, hazard pay, overtime pay, as well as been provided with an emergency fund should something arise. Having no need for currency myself, it is only appropriate it go to use where it actually can be of use," Ulquiorra explained. "This isn't charity. This is preventing harm coming to others."
Hearing all this, Applejack wasn't entirely certain what to say. Or what not to say. All this time she'd thought the only cash Ulquiorra had access to was the few hundred bits he'd gotten from the gem Rarity gave him that one time, but apparently that wasn't the case. If his pay was anything like what Shining Armor had been earning prior to his leaving for the Crystal Empire... holy crap was he currently well off.
"Tha' makes me feel a bit better, knowin' Ah'm not takin' advantage o' ya," she eventually admitted. "So Ah guess it's off ta Barnyard Bargains? If so Ah'll come along wit' ya; help carry stuff back, an' get ya the usual discount Filthy gives us."
Yes, there was still work on the farm that needed to be tended to, but helping out a friend who was willing to help you out sort of took precedent over that. Besides, there was no sense in Ulquiorra having to pay full price for whatever he had in mind, when he was just helping them out.
An oscillating fan hummed in the background as its blades whirled about, blowing a thin piece of red ribbon/streamer material that'd been tied to its outer cage, as it fought a desperate but futile battle to alleviate some of the stuffiness in Filthy Rich's office of barnyard Bargains. A task that was made all the more difficult as it was tilted downward, so as to avoid blowing about any important documents that might've been caught in the path.
A window air conditioner would've worked far better, as he knew full well. But that would require keeping the office door shut for maximum effectiveness, and he really didn't want to do that right now. Successful businesses weren't built on closed doors that rendered others inaccessible. He preferred an open door policy when managing the store, so those on staff knew they could ask him questions if they needed to. It helped him remember his roots, and the roots of his family before they were as financially successful as they were now.
That said, his friendly accessibility wasn't doing much to make the job of managing the store any easier right now, as all he wanted to do was sweat! The numerous invoices, receipts, bills, and other order-related documents all required a fine bit of focus and concentration as they rested in a certain and specific order spread out on his desk. Concentration that might've been helped by a cooler, dryer environment, if it were a viable option.
But nopony ever got to be successful by simply taking the easy, comfortable way out. Although a few certainly tired.
With a sigh of frustration, he glanced over at what was probably the most important document to be found on his desk. So important that it had a frame around it to keep it from getting lost in the shuffle. His family, dysfunctional as it could be at times, was his motivation to keep muscling through difficult moments such as this. They had seen him through tougher times, they'd see him through this as well.
"Mr. Rich, Sir?" came a voice immediately following a knock at his office door. "We have a bit of a problem."
He recognized the voice as being that of Amethyst Star; one of his younger staff who'd just recently earned a promotion to cashier. And right now she sounded quite uneasy.
"The Espada is here, Sir, in the store. He's... trying to make a purchase," she continued in as quite a tone as she could manage while still being audible.
"I don't see how that's a problem. His money's as good as anypony else's," he replied.
He knew from the moment he'd met the Espada that he was a unique individual, not simply in physical build but also in character. A bit intimidating, certainly, but there wasn't anything wrong with that; sometimes intimidation was a good thing. And after he'd been so instrumental in rescuing his daughter, he wasn't about to raise a fuss. As far as he was concerned, Ulquiorra was just another customer looking to purchase what his store had to offer.
"That's where we have a problem, Sir, he's not looking to pay with cash. He has a credit card and I..." Amethyst hesitated, "I got scared and forgot how to run the machine..."
"Oh."
Now that was a problem he could understand. Maybe not appreciate, but at least understand.
"Alright, I'll be right out," he finally replied and set the papers down, before pushing himself away from the desk.
How the Espada had acquired a credit card, he really didn't know. Nor was it really his place to care, so long as everything checked out. If the answer to the question came about, all good and fine. But for now, as he made his way to the checkout, he redirected his attention on channeling his patented salespony energy, as he did whenever he was making a sale himself.
"Mr. Ulquiorra!" he greeted with gusto, only then noticing that he wasn't alone. "And Applejack! What brings you to my humble establishment?"
"That'd be me, Mr. Rich," Applejack spoke up. "Mr. Cifer's pickin' up some supplies, an' Ah came along ta help tote 'em back. An' also see if Ah could get 'im the family discount."
"Ah, what the hay," he replied and shrugged. After all the good Ulquiorra had done for them, he wasn't going to fuss to the notion of the Espada catching a break on prices. "Sure. A friend of your family is a friend of mine! So, what might you be looking for."
"The following."
The answer was short, concise, and concluded as a sheet of notebook paper was slid across the front counter. Doing his best to ignore the voice, he focused his attention on the list, and immediately had to do a double take. It was a very comprehensive and itemized list in terms of materials, more so once it came to the hardware than the lumber; individual item names, SKU codes for each item, quantities sought, and the sticker price for each as well.
"Well now," he paused, not exactly sure how to finish that sentence. His was not to reason why, as the customer was -supposed to be- always right in the world of retail. "I was told you planned on paying for this with a credit card?"
"Correct," Ulquiorra confirmed. "During the tour I was given of Ponyville, you spoke proudly of the fact your store was equipped to process such transactions."
"Guilty as charged," Filthy couldn't help but mentally note. Back during the whole "visiting dignitary" thing, he had perhaps gotten a little bit carried away in detailing the more modern features he had to offer, and how he believed the use of such methods of transactions would become more widespread in the future.
Granted, the cards were still in their infancy and weren't usually seen outside of big urban centers like Las Pegasus and the such, but everything had to start somewhere! Why wait until the last minute to get on board with what could be the next big thing?
"Well then, let's see about getting this order processed. If you'd just leave your card here, I can start getting your order processed while you gather your shopping list."
He'd only been part of the way through his sentence before Ulquiorra had already done such , setting the card down on the counter while he and Applejack went to retrieve what they had come to pick up. And now that he could see it for himself, and the embossed symbol of the royal seal on its front face, he had an idea of just how their Arrancar friend had managed to acquire one so quickly.
"Alright, Amethyst, if you'll observe..."
The trip back from Barnyard Bargains was a bit more grueling than Applejack would ever want to admit to it being.
She wasn't weak by any stretch of the imagination, but she had underestimated the amount of weight that would be resting on her back the whole way back to Sweet Apple Acres. The amount of hardware and supplies Ulquiorra had purchased for the repair job had been substantial; enough to just about replace every bit of metal in the barn as best she could tell.
Partially threaded hex bolts, coarse-thread hex nuts, fender washers, mending plates, joining plates, and a whole lot of other parts were currently tucked into her saddle bags as she walked along. Meanwhile the treated lumber was being carried by Ulquiorra atop his shoulder like it was nothing to him. Which, knowing him, was probably the case.
Much as she didn't want to admit it, by they time they got back to the farm properly unloaded, and everything organized in terms of layout, she felt like she needed a rest.
But she also knew she couldn't do that. She'd asked Ulquiorra to assist, not do the work himself. And that meant having to work on his timetable when he was available. And if they weren't having to run around to save Equestria right now, then right now was when it was going to get done.
So to paraphrase what Pinkie had so eloquently said some time ago, it was time for her to go and Arrancar up!
With a grunt she could only hope she'd successfully kept to herself, she made her way over an old workbench-looking table that hadn't seen much in the way of recent use, and procured an old wooden tool box by picking it up in her teeth, before carrying it over and setting it down on the floor next to the assorted piles.
"Pa's old tools should work jus' fine fer us, he had jus' 'bout anythin' a pony could need fer construction work," she explained. "Jus'... please be careful with 'em. Ah didn' think 'bout it at the time but Ah've seen the kind o' torque ya can generate, an' Ah don' know if they're up to it."
"Your property will not be damaged," Ulquiorra stated simply.
"A'right, good ta hear," she replied, feeling a bit relieved. "So. Now that we've got wha' we need, where do we start?"
"I don't require assistance."
The statement had been delivered so bluntly, and so matter-of-factly, it struck Applejack almost like a punch right to the gut.
"Ya... ya don't?"
"Correct," he confirmed. "Did you want to assist?" he asked, after what had felt like a small eternity passed between the two points of speaking.
As bad as the initial statement about not needing help had been, somehow the question had been even worse. Being told she didn't need to help was one thing, but to be asked right after if she'd wanted to, it honestly felt humiliating to her; like it was being offered as a courtesy or something.
"Wha's the use? Not like it really matters at this point," She grumbled as she found herself sitting down on her haunches the barn's floor and letting out a sigh. "Mr. Cifer, when Ah asked if ya could help, Ah didn' expect ya ta be doin' all the work yerself; jus' the high up stuff we'd need a ladder er scaffoldin' for. Now this whole mess has gone totally outta control! Ah felt bad enough when ya volunteered ta buy the supplies we'd need ta fix the barn up proper. An' now... now Ah'm gettin' told that Ah'm not needed fer fixin' mah own barn!"
She hadn't wanted to go down this particular line of thinking. Not here, not now, and most certainly not again. But she had, and now there was no stopping it; not after all that.
"Ah'm jus' so danged useless wit' ya around! When it was Nightmare Moon on the loose, all Ah could do was sit an' watch while others took 'er ta task and gave 'er the walloping that Ah' couldn't! Even Fluttershy an' Rarity did more than Ah could! The windigoes, Ah didn' even know they were around until it was already over an' too late ta do anythin' about. And now yer tellin' me ya can fix up mah barn all by yerself an' Ah'd jus' get in the way if ah tried ta join in. It's enough ta make a mare feel like she's got no reason fer even bein' around! What'm Ah even doin' here!? Am Ah even needed here at Sweet Apple Acres anymore!?"
She needed to calm down. She needed to get her head back on right. She needed to take a breath to help steady her nerves.
"... Ah'm sorry, Mr. Cifer, Ah shouldn' 've said that to ya like Ah did. That was jus' uncalled fer. Ah know yer only tryin' ta help. Ah just..."
She sighed and hung her head, sorely disappointed in herself and her outburst just seconds ago.
"Ah don' like all the excitement, or the danger, or the stress involved wit' keepin' Equestria safe, an' knowin' that ponies are gonna die if Ah don't; Ah downright hate it! Ah'm jus' a simple farmer, Ah'm not cut out for stuff like that. The only reason Ah haven' gone an' chucked it all by now, is 'cause o' mah friends bein' part of it. Even if Ah did, it wouldn' stop 'em, an' the only thing Ah'd hate worse than all o' the above, would be mahself fer abandonin' them jus' 'cause Ah'm scared. So when Discord said ya were here ta help on that front, Ah was mighty glad ta be hearin' it; it took some o' that weight off mah back ta learn we weren't alone. Gave me a bit o' hope that we might be a'right.
"But this is farmin' an' such. This is mah life an' what Ah'm best at. So ta hear ya say ya didn' need me fer that... Ah jus' sorta lost it, Ah guess. Almost like Ah'm bein' told my purpose in life ain' even worth the soil under mah hooves. Like Ah'm... like Ah'm jus' in the way, totally useless an' better off not even bein' here."
She needed to stop talking, right now. If she didn't shut her mouth right up, she was going to lose it completely. And if she lost it completely, she was going to wind up crying like a baby. Already she could feel it threatening to come on, and needed to run her foreleg across her face to keep her eyes from getting any wetter.
"Then I apologize."
Applejack slowly looked up in confusion, her own inner turmoil forgotten about at the moment, as she wondered if she'd heard right.
"Uh... come again?"
"I have firsthand knowledge of what it's like to experience a sense of uselessness; to feel as the entire justification for your basis for existence is ultimately for naught. It's something I experienced in Hueco Mundo, at the hands of Ichigo Kurosaki when he proved vastly stronger than myself; stronger than should've even been possible. Up until then, my purpose had been to carry out Aizen's orders and keep the city of Las Noches safe. And in that moment, as I faced down his Hollowfied form, I learned that I could no longer fulfill either of those obligations. In that moment, my existence no longer served any purpose, and it no longer mattered if I lived or died, as it ultimately made no difference."
The longer she listened to Ulquiorra talk -or monologue or whatever- the more she found herself sitting there in utter bafflement, just like when they'd first met. But this time around it felt so very different, considering what the subject matter was.
The fact that he'd turned so as to directly face her while speaking just added to the strangeness of it all. As if he was actually going out of his way to address her directly; with eye contact and everything!
"As emotionless and unfeeling as I may be, even I have standards. And having experienced such for myself, even I wouldn't go so far as deliberately inducing that feeling in others," he continued. "I said your assistance wasn't needed here, because I understand you have more important matters in need of tending to before the sun sets. This is hired hand work, best reserved for those who don't have earth pony magic for cultivating produce for sale."
To hear the way Ulquiorra explained it all, Applejack honestly felt low in response. Lower than even the belly of a snake in the wake of his words. He hadn't been dismissing her out of hoof like she was useless, but she hadn't seen that fact until it was too late. Her own insecurities had gotten the better of her, she'd yelled at him without good reason, and now she just wanted to go and kick herself.
"Mr. Cifer, Ah'm mighty sorry fer-"
"I'll require a tape measure to determine the exact length needed for the replacement joist," he stated, as if he hadn't even heard what she'd been saying. Or simply hadn't paid it any attention. "Followed by one fender washer being fully seated on each bolt."
"... Ah'll, um, Ah'll jus' get right on that, then," she mumbled, all the while trying to fight off the sensation of her head swimming. The entire mood of the conversation was changing far too fast for her to accurately keep track of; it was like trying to follow Rainbow Dash's path of trajectory when she was doing some of her stunt flying.
For her own sake, it was probably best to keep her head down, not ask too many questions, and simply focus on what she could. Lest Ulquiorra go and pull some other rapid change of plan she couldn't see coming until it was too late.
In hind sight, maybe she really should've taken Ulquiorra's advice, and tended to other parts of the farm while leaving him to work on the barn by himself. It wasn't exactly a thought she liked to entertain, but it was possibly a necessary one.
It was only early afternoon by the time everything was said and done, and by that time it already felt much later in the day, and she felt like she'd thoroughly had it.
It hadn't even come from Ulquiorra having unreasonable demands for her assistance. No, the problem had been her own fault in just trying to keep pace with him as he moved from one task to another once he'd gotten started. Even just trying to watch him at work was like trying to keep track with the movements of a hummingbird as it buzzed about from one flower to another. He had speeds and degrees of precision that would positively make Rainbow Dash glowing neon green with envy! At times she'd all but swear she was seeing two or even three of him.
Even gravity itself seemed like it couldn't properly keep up with him when he was in motion, what with how he went about getting the joist lifted up, replaced, and firmly secured into place.
He hadn't even stopped there. Once the joist had been taken care of, he'd moved onto other areas of the barn in need of being addressed. Although the longer it went on, the less his actions seemed like they could be justified on the basis of simply keeping others safe from harm.
One of the doors that'd started sagging under its own weight had been forced back into its original position and shape, and secured with a new piece of lumber running diagonally like an impromptu turnbuckle. Maybe if she got creative with her reasoning, that could possibly be justified as him doing his job. But the rest of the stuff that was getting tended to? Well that was just slipping further and further into straight up bullshit territory. This felt more like something her friends would be doing upon learning about the situation.
The repair work hadn't even been the sort done in a hurry to simply make things qualify as safe, either. She'd thought he might take that route, just getting things secure enough that he could say he did his part, but that hadn't happened. Instead of a ghastly patchwork job, from what she could see, it honestly looked like he'd tried to stay within the style of the original architecture as much as possible.
By the time they'd run out of supplies for repair work, she was far too tired to do anything other than sit down and simply observe. She'd pushed herself to her limits just trying to keep up, to lend what assistance she could, and now she was regretting it. Trying to keep up with Ulquiorra had been a very dumb idea from the start. She was going to need a big dinner, a hot bath, and go to bed early tonight, just to hope she felt better in the morning.
"Ah never expected ya ta be goin' this far above an' beyond," she commented as he once again touched down on the barn floor. "Yer inner architect showin' or somethin'?" she asked as a previous conversation with Spike came to mind, back when they were fixing Zecora's old cart.
"It felt right."
If her head had gears in it, she was certain that statement would've caused them to seize in place.
She could only look at him in confusion as he stood there, wiping down one of her father's wrenches with an old cleaning rag, before placing it back in the tool box where it once sat.
"Ah'm sorry, Ah think Ah misheard ya. Did ya jus' say somethin' felt right to ya? Ah didn' think ya went inta stuff like that."
"I don't. Just as it was strange for you to hear, it was equally strange for me to say," Ulquiorra stated. "Such a strange, and even annoying sensation to be subjected to. To willingly volunteer to do something entirely unnecessary. And yet it was done, due to a persistent sensation of the endeavor being worthwhile, for reasons that I simply can't comprehend. Lacking a better explanation to describe it all, it "felt right" to do this. To be involved in the construction of something that tangibly, physically exists, rather than attempting to analyze intangible concepts of thought and emotion that still dumbfounds scholars to this very day."
The more this conversation continued, the weirder it seemed to be getting. And that was an evaluation she could make, even when taking Pinkie's usual antics into consideration. This was weird even by those standards. Weird enough it was starting to make her feel a bit uneasy, and wonder if she should be concerned or not. Had he managed to get exposed to poison joke again without them knowing? Was the pollen in the air or something?
"Nothing has been the same since the fight with Nightmare Moon. Whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing, I don't yet know."
"Yer right 'bout that. Nothin's been the same," she agreed and nodded as certain memories flashed through her mind. Some good, some not-so-good, and some downright terrible. "But tha's perdy much life in general. Change is gonna happen whether ya want it or not, whether yer ready fer it or not. An' all ya can really do is buckle in, plant yer feet firmly, an' take it head on. Sometimes ya roll wit' it an' come out a'right, sometimes ya get rolled and have ta pick yerself back up again."
Whatever Ulquiorra's thought on the matter were, he didn't voice them to her. Whether that was a good thing or not, she really didn't know. Sometimes the way his mind worked was scary, sometimes it was downright insulting, and sometimes she didn't know what to make of it at all.
"Listen," she spoke up as she approached to pick up the tool box so it could be placed back in its original spot. "Ah know ya prob'ly don' need to, ya not bein' mortal an' all. But do ya wanna stay fer supper after doin' all that work? We got plenty o' vittles," she offered, figuring it was the least she could offer him, after all he'd done for them.
After what felt like a solid minute of silence, he finally responded.
"Having never experienced what a "vittle" actually is, it may prove worthwhile."
For the first time today, she found herself having an honest to goodness laugh. Ulquiorra's response had been so serious, and so deadpan in its delivery, she simply couldn't hold her amusement back as she snorted and succumbed, her entire body quaking with mirth.
However that mirth was soon ended as a loud rumbling sounded overhead, like a crack of thunder. Immediately the hairs on her back were standing up, just before the sound of lightning erupted far too close for her own comfort, sending her jumping in both fear and surprise as it sounded like it'd struck right outside the barn door.
It was only afterward that she realized she'd wound up clinging to Ulquiorra's frame. She felt a bit embarrassed as the fact sunk in, and slowly let go of him to touch down on her hooves again, trying not to give too cringey of an apologetic grin.
"Sorry."
"There's something outside," he stated as if nothing had just happened. "Something that doesn't belong here."
The sentence had been so simple, and the delivery so dull, and yet it'd still managed to send a chill running up her spine. How could it not, considering what he'd just said?
He'd outstretched his arm as he walked to the door to block her path, a futile gesture on his part as she was following regardless, consumed with a desire to know just what he was sensing, yet simultaneously afraid of just what they'd encounter upon setting hoof outside the perceived safety of the barn.
There was a large, circular scorch mark in the ground, just past how far the overhang of the roof extended past the building. As best she could tell it was easily ten feet across, with the edges still smouldering. But what was at the center of the blackened circle was of far more interest right now. And the what in this case was Twilight, flat on her stomach with her limbs splayed looked, looking both unconscious and in pain.
Her immediately instinct was to venture into the smoking circle that used to be grass and check on her injured friend to make sure she was alright. But the impulse to do that stopped after a hoof, as her mind caught up to everything and she realized that this wasn't actually Twilight. Or at least not the Twilight that she was friends with. The Twilight she was friends with didn't have purple, feathery wings on her sides like this one did. The Twilight she was friends with wasn't an alicorn like this one was.
"What the..." she asked as her mind tried to process everything. "Mr. Cifer, what is this? Is this a changeling or somethin'?"
"This is no changeling," Ulquiorra stated firmly, all the while never taking his eyes off the mysterious alicorn as she slowly began to stir. "Her reiatsu contains elements similar to that of Twilight Sparkle and both members of the diarchy. But how this could be, I don't know."
Somehow, the confirmation that this wasn't another changeling invasion only managed to fill her with more unease.
"Note to self. Never do that again," the purple alicorn muttered in a voice that was all too similar to Twilight's, as he slowly pushed itself into a sitting position, and stretched her wings before tucking them in at her sides. "Or at least not until I recover enough to know what I'm actually doing next time."
"T... Twilight?" she found herself asking, uncertain of what exactly to believe or even think right yet. "Is that you?"
The purple alicorn's ears seemed to perk up and swivel at registering the voice, followed by her moving herself to turn around, and smile in response.
"Hi, Applejack," she greeted in a tone that was too eerily similar to Twilight's to not be Twilight. Although that friendly tone and smile quickly shifted to something else as her eyes fell on Ulquiorra where he stood. "Oh dear. You're not supposed to be here. Or at the very least, not like that. Are you from the other side of the mirror? Was there a malfunction in the portal when you stepped through?"
Applejack found herself looking at Ulquiorra in confusion, who was presently looking back at her. She had wanted to ask him what this was all about, but she was certain he didn't know any better than she did.
"This is outside my area of expertise, far beyond whatever knowledge I may possess relating to this world," he stated, his right hand already slipping into the satchel at his side, before withdrawing what looked like a scroll sheet, in addition to his notepad and a pencil. "Perhaps Princess Celestia will know what's going on."
"You know about Princess Celestia?" the purple alicorn asked, before shaking her head. "I guess that's a silly question, seeing as you just said her name. And since you're actually writing her. Never mind then. I can send that letter for you when you're ready."
"You cannot," Ulquiorra replied, all the while focused on what he was writing at a speed few could ever hope to match. "And you will not."
"I won't?" the purple alicorn asked, her brow furrowing in obvious confusion as she looked between him and Applejack for clarity.
"Correct. Wherever you came from, and however you arrived here, you are not the Twilight Sparkle of this world. The Twilight sparkle of this world is still in Ponyville as we speak. Until we get answers about what's going on, you will do absolutely nothing but sit there where you can be monitored."
The purple alicorn audibly gulped in response, swallowing a nervous lump that'd formed in the back of her throat over the course of that statement. She had no idea just who or what this strange pale individual addressing her was, but there was something about him and the tone of his voice that left her feeling very uneasy in his presence. Uneasy enough that she honestly didn't feel it was best to try and oppose him right now.
"Er, right then. I'll just... sit right here and do nothing."
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we're moving forward!!! finally!!! but now I want more chapters !!!
Finally! We've moved on from all the filler at last!! It's a shame this story dosen't take place in the original timeline. Either way this should be good.
Neat
So is the new Twilight Canon!Twilight during her fight with Starlight, which in turn makes HiE an alt timeline? But if that's the case, where's Spike? Ulquiorra also mentioned that she has reiatsu from Celestia and Luna. So she could also possibly be from the Tirek fight. Which raises the question as to what's she doing time traveling.
Moar! I must have the awkwardness of what what will happen thrown into my eyeholes.
Finally EG
maybe its twilight from Cuartro?
Oh? Do we have the Twilight from the OG timeline?
Traces of the Diarchy, yet not Cadance (who I can't recall off the top of my head if Ulquiorra's met or not). This isn't a Twilight from the Tirek fight, nor is it a truly ascended Twilight either, as those aforementioned Diarchal reiatsu traces are present. Yet she knows of the mirror, and due to Ulquiorra's essentially-human form, automatically assumed he's from the other side. Things are about to get rather... interesting.
Oooooh, Princess Twilight has arrived, but as an entity from the TV show rather than a new version of this story's Twilight. I love it. Super looking forward to more.
Hot damn! Now that's what I call character development.
Really interesting that the original TV show Twilight appeared. Deffinately an unexpected twist! This makes me really excited for the next chapter.
It is twilight when the other twilight sparkle was investigating the magic and absorbed the magic of the portal, so she said that something was wrong with the portal remember.
It was at this time, Twilight knew... she bucked up.
Okay, I went through like ten drafts of this message, and I wanna go through it and attempt to piece it together or at the very least provide my theory on it.
SO. Firstly, this Twilight is obviously an Alicorn, meaning she should be post-Tirek at the very least. Considering the fact that she also knows of the portal, that further solidifies it since according to the MLP Wiki Equestria Girls takes place after Season 3. Not only that, but whilst she is aware of what a human is, "Are you from the other side of the mirror?" she herself doesn't know who Ulquiorra is, thus meaning she likely didn't receive any intervention from Discord.
Considering the fact that, as Discord mentioned, there are many timelines around, here's my take with the limited information:
This Twilight is also an Alternate-Timeline Twilight, one where Discord didn't realise their own timeline was thrown off course, or at least something similar. and thus one of those 'Tragedies' came to pass, perhaps one where Twilight didn't manage to reach through to Starlight like she originally did, thus meaning the whole world essentially got destroyed, thus forcing her to actually go back in time and attempt to correct it. Unfortunately, instead she got thrown to another Timeline.
I also got other theories, such as Twilly actually faking not recognizing Ulquiorra since he may have went evil in her world, and thus wants to speak to Celly first, I find it personally unlikely, and I believe the first option more.
Overall, I am so hyped for what happens, can't wait for the next update!
Leave it to Ulquiorra to raise this barn.
10859762 No dice
Something is wrong I can feel it.
I guess Patricia Urquiola is a major soul in Ulquiorra's body! 😁