Nothing Probably Goes on Forever Too

by TundraStanza

Ch. 14: Dignity Dies in Cherry Blossoms

Your affection, your affection
Taking pride from fear
Past will tell you when to make
Yourself a hero.

Chapter 14: Dignity Dies in Cherry Blossoms

---

"Ichigo!" I shouted as I opened the closet door, "We've got orders. Several hollows have been spotted!"

"What?!" the orange-headed boy shouted back. I didn't have time to deal with his surprise. Donning my read glove with a blue flame and skull pattern, I gave him a good smack upside the head. His Soul Reaper form exited his body instantly.

"Come on! We don't have time to fool around," I said while grabbing him and jumping out the open window.

"Hey, wait!" he cried.

---

I said the incantation exactly as I had studied it:

The one who reigns, mask of flesh and blood

All creation, the flutter of wings

The one who crowns us with the name

Gathering of heat and war beyond the seas and rivers

Take steps to the south.

Hado 31: Shakkahou!

---

Screams woke me up from whatever dream I had been having. In my startled state, I got tangled up in the blanket before promptly reacquainting myself with the floor. The floor and I still weren't on a first-name basis, but I was starting to understand its pain. I rubbed my head in displeasure before slowly standing up.

"What's going on?" I said still half asleep.

"L-look," shook Spike as he pointed a claw to the ceiling. My half-open eyes followed the path of his claw upward. I blinked a couple times. I didn't understand what I was looking at. Though, the smoke and small debris were a nice touch.

Wait... I thought, Smoke and debris- holy crap!

"What happened?" I said now with eyes open wide.

"I... I don't know," stammered Twilight, "You were muttering something in your sleep. Next thing I know, a giant red sphere appeared out of nowhere and flew up to the ceiling."

"And it exploded!" added Spike for emphasis.

"A red... sphere?" I quietly echoed. Strands of my thoughts started lining up.

If I was mumbling the phrase that I was saying in that dream and an actual red orb was launched, then... But how? Only Shirayuki can cast Kido... right?

That may not be true anymore, replied my other self's thoughts, Since we're the same soul, it's possible that we now share powers.

"Hm..." I muttered while rubbing a hoof to my chin.

"Tundra?" called Twilight during my train of long thought.

"Hang on. I'll be right back," I replied as I practically glided downstairs and out the front door. I had to make sure this wasn't a fluke. I looked around and saw no pony in the immediate vicinity. Then, I held up my front hooves, pointed to the sky.

"The one who reigns," I chanted, "Mask of flesh and blood. All creation, the flutter of wings, the one who crowns us with the name. Gathering of heat and war beyond the seas and rivers take steps to the south." Red light started to swirl around just beyond my hooves.

"Hado 31: Shakkahou!" I shouted. A red sphere of what I assumed was fire was released up to the sky. After flying for about two seconds, it exploded in smoke. A slight, unusual rush of wind was all that remained of the fireball's existence. Twilight practically rushed out of the library after me.

"Tundra, are you nuts?" she asked frantically, "You can't just throw around powerful magic like that!" It was then that common sense came back to me. I realized how childish I had acted as if finding a new toy to play with. How did I forget "never play with fire"?

"Eh heh," I sweat dropped, "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I got carried away."

"You think?" called Spike from the open doorway.

---

After a quick breakfast of hay (I still thought hay was gross), I headed on my way to the Carousel Boutique. I intentionally walked slower than my average pace. I was not looking forward to a repeat performance of dress modeling. I had nothing against the dresses personally as they were attractive to look at. What I was against was wearing the dresses on my body. Regardless that my body and soul were those of a mare, my mind and heart were still those of a guy. I didn't want to lose what was left of me.

I was disappointed when my long walk brought me to the front door of the dress shop. Still, I tried to make the best of the situation as I knocked. I smiled politely as the door opened.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique: where everything is sleek, unique, and magnifique," said Rarity with her usual flare.

"Hey, Rarity. It's me," I said.

"Hello, Tundra. It's wonderful to see you again, darling," chimed the alabaster unicorn.

"Yeah, likewise," I replied though with notably less enthusiasm. Either Rarity didn't notice or she hid her recognition of my facade rather well.

"Ready to begin?" she beamed.

"As ready as I'll ever be," was my resigned reply.

---

Well... I was pleasantly surprised. The items Rarity had me model for weren't so dressy so much as they were accessorized. Aside from the translucent, white wedding gown (don't ask), I didn't have to wear a single dress. Instead, the high-standard unicorn had me try on things like hats, ribbons, bow ties, and hair pins. I didn't even know Rarity designed sunglasses. I think I actually had fun that day.

"All right, darling," said Rarity, "That will be all for today." I stepped off the rounded podium and reached my hooves forward in a stretch. I guess standing in one place for so long stiffened my joints. Soon, however, I was standing upright again.

"Rarity!" called a high-pitched voice. A door to the back opened and in ran a brightly colored, younger clone of Rarity. Sweetie Belle was so adorable. That won't be the last time I've said that, either.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie. Not right now," apologized the older sister who was currently levitating several items in her light blue magical aura.

"But I've been sitting around with nothing to do for hours," emphasized Sweetie Belle. In her defense, it had been three hours since I arrived that day. So technically it had been hours. Still, I didn't want to be the start of an argument that I couldn't finish. Rarity managed to find places to put some of the objects in her hold while she paused to think.

"Tell you what," proposed the boutique owner, "Why don't you keep our guest busy and I'll catch up with you later?" I probably looked a bit stupid turning my head and looking around for Rarity's 'guest'. It wasn't until after five seconds had passed that I realized who she was talking about.

"Me?" I asked pointing a hoof at myself.

"Okay!" perked up the filly almost instantly, "Come on! I'll race you to the back!" Just like that, Sweetie Belle was scampering again.

"Hey, wait up!" I called. Hoping to avoid tripping, I opted for a brisk trot instead of running after her.

---

I wasn't much of an artist. I never have been. Whenever I picked up a crayon in the past, I could only draw five things effectively: one-colored backgrounds, smoke, stars, boxes, and stick figures. Yeah, my pride did not exist in drawing.

So now picture this guy who can't draw. This same guy has lost all of his fingers. This guy could levitate objects with just a feeling. That feeling, however, froze anything he lifted in a literal case of ice. This frost magician was in an alien's body and on top of that, the body is female. In just that moment in time, I was that guy.

I was, however, willing to try something else. Sweetie Belle was rigorously completing a masterpiece on her sheet of paper. In a cautious motion, I leaned down and picked up a crayon in my lips. (To anyone who happens to get turned into a pony-like creature in the future, here's my piece of advice: keep your tongue in the back of your mouth unless you want to taste what you've put in your mouth.) Admittedly I felt a little silly, but to my fortune, Sweetie Belle didn't notice and kept going.

My mouth dexterity, besides talking, was next to zero. I tried to lean down to the paper and draw stars, but my initial motion sent the first line off the paper to the table beyond where the paper ended. So, then I tried to cover the paper in a green-colored background. But, my aim with the crayon left lines spaced so far apart that the result looked more like thin stripes more than anything else. This was not my finest hour.

I looked over to what Sweetie Belle was finishing up and I practically cried at how beautiful it looked. Let's just say that the show animators really underestimated how well she could draw Rarity.

---

The lights in the room shut off all at once.

"Uh, is this normal?" I asked rhetorically.

"No, it's not," answered Sweetie Belle anyway. I mentally face hoofed at her misunderstanding of my sarcasm. From beyond the room's length, a scream shattered the uncomfortable silence.

"Rarity!" shouted the filly and I simultaneously. I galloped to the door, Sweetie Belle right behind me. When I banged the door in, I heard wood the sound of wood splintering. I think I might have broken a hinge when I barged through the door. In hindsight, maybe I would have been better off freezing the door knob. But that was far from my mind as I entered the main, front area of the store.

"What happened?" asked Sweetie Belle for both of us. The room was barely lit, and Rarity was facing away from us, so I couldn't tell what she was feeling. I slowly trotted closer to Rarity, not really sure what to expect.

"Rarity?" I tried asking. With the same slowness, Rarity turned herself around to face me. Something was wrong with this picture. The alabaster unicorn had a 'lights on with no one home' look in her eyes. But maybe, just maybe it was the fact that there was a giant, orange-yellow flower attached to her chest with several purple roots ingrained in her coat. Maybe.

I don't like the looks of that flower, thought Shirayuki.

If it is what I think it is, then I don't either, I thought-spoke back. A really high pitched giggling noise in the room confirmed my suspicions.

"I have total control," squeaked the voice.

"Wh-what is that thing?" asked Sweetie Belle. Before I could answer, Rarity lifted her left front hoof. A long katana manifested itself in her grasp. She jumped toward me as if to strike.

"Sweetie Belle, stay back!" I ordered as I summoned my own sword in a defensive stance. Metal clanged against metal as I struggled to hold the possessed Rarity off.

I'll handle this, said Shirayuki's mind.

No, you can't! I responded.

Why not? she asked.

Rarity isn't the enemy here, I tried explaining.

Could have fooled me, responded Shirayuki sarcastically. During that time, Rarity had swung her sword several times against mine. I had to constantly realign my hold to keep up my defense.

"Rarity! Tundra! Stop fighting!" cried Sweetie Belle.

I would if I could, Sweetie, I thought, But I don't think Ritze the mind controlling flower will let her stop. I managed to enforce one powerful push sending Rarity sliding back a few feet. After that, I held my ground.

The squeaky voice from earlier said, "Let's see what else you can do." On that suggestion, Rarity raised her sword upright and in front of her face.

"Scatter," she said in monotone, "Senbonzakura."

Oh, heck no! I thought as I watched her blade separate into a thousand pink petals. A slow, invisible twister guided the cherry blossoms through the room in a circular motion. But I knew better than to assume that this was a peace offering. When Captain Byakuya Kuchiki of Squad 6 performed this technique in the anime, his intent was to kill. These petals were all as sharp as his Zanpaktou, Senbonzakura. If I didn't do something... well, the boutique floor would be a lot redder.

Now, Tundra! urged my other half.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" I shouted without thinking. My Zanpaktou became white along with its ribbon. Shirayuki stood in her evergreen armor where I had stood a split second before.

But the moment of beauty was not meant to last.

---

The unicorn Cutie Mark Crusader watched from a ways behind the alicorn. Visibly, she was trembling. She felt afraid and betrayed. Where had those weapons come from? Why was her sister fighting a friend? This wasn't right.

As the petals began to clear from the scene, she could see drops of red trickling down the alicorn's legs. Within the next few seconds, a small geyser of the red liquid poured out of that pony's right side. The blue maned alicorn collapsed to the floor unable to cry out in pain. Sweetie Belle held her mouth agape as her eyes squinted with tears. To add insult to injury, the yellow flower that had somehow possessed her sister laughed in its high pitch voice.

"That was fun," it giggled, "Let's do it again." The petals reassembled together to form the original sword that Rarity held in her grasp. Instead of holding it straight up, however, the unicorn now held the blade so it pointed at the floor.

"Ban...kai," she droned. Her grip on the sword released and it began to drop.

I-is she giving up? thought Sweetie Belle hopefully. When the sword fell through the floor, the feeling of unease reclaimed her unsettled heart. White ripples like those of a pond spread out from where the blade had fallen. Two seconds passed before a horrifying sight met the filly's eyes.

The entire room seemed to vanish in a large blue abyss. Several, giant sword blades rose from the ground in the formation of an aisle around Rarity and the perceived target. Said target was currently lying on the ground struggling to move.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi," droned Rarity. What had been giant swords now separated into millions of cherry blossoms. Sweetie Belle had already seen the damage that one sword's worth of those petals could do. She did not want a repeat performance anytime soon.

"Stop!" she cried ignoring Tundra's earlier warning to stay back. She ran forward with tears streaming from her eyes. She stood in front of the fallen alicorn's body and looked at Rarity in desperation.

"Sis, please... stop," she whimpered. Unfortunately, whatever force bound her big sister wouldn't let the attack stop. Sweetie Belle closed her eyes waiting for the end.

---

"Nyah, what a mess you've found yourself in," commented an alto voice.

"Huh?" spoke the filly as she opened her eyes. What had been her sister's house was now replaced with a beach. It was complete with a lone palm tree and small ocean waves. Sweetie Belle looked left and right in confusion.

"Where... am I?" she asked.

"Not exactly the best time for that kind of question, nyah," replied the woman's voice. Sweetie Belle turned around to face the speaker. Despite the sunny appearance of the scenery, the silhouette of the speaker was shaded out. It was like a sentient shadow.

"Who are you?" asked the filly.

"Nyah, I'm hurt Sweetie Belle," said the silhouette, "I've been a part of you all this time and you've forgotten me."

"What are you talking about?" said Sweetie while raising her voice, "I don't know you."

The figure sighed before saying, "You're wasting precious time, nyah. Soon your sister and your friend will die if you don't step in." The calm ocean waves started growing larger and flowed further up the beach line.

"Rarity... Tundra," whispered the filly replacing her frustration with worry. A strong wind started bending the lone palm tree at a right angle.

"Do me a favor, will you, nyah?" pitched in the silhouette, "Prove you're worthy of my power and call me before you die, okay?" With that, the shadowy figure vanished.

"Wait!" shouted Sweetie Belle as a tsunami-sized wave crashed down and engulfed the entire beach line.

---

The filly gasped as she opened her eyes. What was that vision she just had? Turning her head slightly to the right, she noticed a small sword now being held in her hoof's grasp.

Is this... what she meant by... her power? contemplated Sweetie Belle. But the time for thinking was quickly vanishing as several of the pink petals from before began to close in on their target. Sweetie was still afraid, but she clenched her face in newly founded determination. She pointed her blade toward the incoming onslaught.

"Growl, Haineko!" she shouted.

---

Pain... so much... pain. I never wondered what it would be like if I ever pissed off someone with Byakuya Kuchiki's powers. Now that I had felt it first hand, I wouldn't have to wonder. I had no idea how many places I had gotten cut, but it was definitely enough to merit screams from my nervous system.

This is just fan-tipping-flastic, I thought. Sure, Shirayuki currently had dominance of the body but I could still feel all of her pain. She slowly opened her left eye wondering why we were still alive. The answer was surprisingly not in the form of Princess Celestia or Twilight Sparkle saving the day. Instead, it looked like we were surrounded by a dome made entirely from gray sand. The one currently holding the dome in place was...

"Sweetie Belle?" coughed Shirayuki. Indeed, the unicorn filly looked like she was concentrating while holding the handle of an empty blade.

This sand is... Haineko? I contemplated. I could hear metal clanging against metal. The dome started distorting in a few places every once in a while. Was that Senbonzakura hitting Haineko?

So even though the Zanpaktou change form, their overall density and structure are still that of the original swords, I thought. Then I internally groaned, Oh, great. Twilight Sparkle is rubbing off on me.

The sound of clashing metal faded a minute later. The dome of ashes swirled around a bit before it returned to Sweetie's possession as a full katana. At this time, I also noticed pink petals returning to the form of Rarity's katana.

"Aw, she's run out of energy," cooed the high pitch squeak, "Oh, well." The purple veins in Rarity's chest shrank and disappeared as the yellow flower exited her body. The flower seemed to float in midair as the purple stem reformed into a small, red rodent's head.

It is Ritze, I affirmed, But how? Is this one of David's newest experiments? Shirayuki tried to move, but all she succeeded in doing was gripping her sword tightly. That wasn't going to be enough.

"I'll just take control of one of you," squeaked Ritze. If she wasn't an energy stealing, body snatcher, she would have been kind of cute. Alas, she was a body snatcher and therefore was not cute. The rodent-flower started levitating face forward toward Sweetie Belle and me. The filly wasn't ready for this full-out battle and my body was still incapacitated from round one.

Did some pony order a miracle?

"Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro!" shouted a reinvigorated voice. Before any pony in the room could react, six rectangular bars of light that resembled flower petals held the abomination in midair. The flower rodent was ensnared in the lights, struggling fruitlessly to escape its restraints. I think Sweetie Belle and I were both surprised when we saw the caster of that Kido.

"Hurry!" exclaimed Rarity, her emotions clearly returned, "Strike it now!"

Sweetie recovered from the shock first and shouted, "Haineko!" Her blade separated into fine-grain ashes. The ashes rushed toward the rodent. With one swing of the hilt, the filly successfully cut through Ritze.

"Yaaaaaaugh!" screamed the flower rodent. As the bars of light faded, the red headed mouse shrank in size and form to resemble a tiny blue seed. I needed to destroy that seed.

"S-sokatsui," stammered Shirayuki raising a hoof. The familiar blue fire blast flew forward disintegrating the blue seed into the shadows from whence it came. The three ponies left in the room took shaky breaths in this moment of recomposing.

I recall an implicit agreement for all of us to sleep on the floor that night.

---

...

Some amount of time later, I woke up. Although the blanket covering me was green in color, I didn't hear the heart monitor that would indicate that I had been taken to the hospital. Still, after opening my eyes a bit and looking down, I could tell that somebody had decided to bandage me up in several places. It was then that I noticed Rarity muttering to herself. There was something about "the right flowers in the vase", but I couldn't tell for sure.

I guess the Carousel Boutique was larger on the inside than I had thought. I was in a well-furnished guest bedroom that I didn't even know existed. Slowly, I rose into a sitting position. Even though I still felt pain, it wasn't enough to send me crashing back to the bed. Most of the pain was in my right shoulder anyway.

"Good morning, Tundra," said Rarity turning to look at me. I raised my left hoof to my forehead trying to rub myself awake.

"How long have I been out?" I asked. My throat felt a bit dry in that moment.

"It's... been about two days, darling," said the alabaster unicorn with a sorry frown.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked noticing her sad face.

"N-nothing," she stumbled over the word, "Well... except..." At this point she raised her front hooves up in an "I surrender" motion. I didn't expect her to lay her hooves on the bed nor did I expect her to wail with tears flowing out of her eyes.

"Oh, Tundra, it was the most dreadful thing," she cried, "I couldn't stop that repulsive creature from taking control of me. I hurt you in ways that a lady should never inflict pain. But worst of all, worst of all... I may have mentally scarred my one and only sister for the rest of her life." Well, I'll give the show writers credit here. Rarity was a drama queen. Though, considering the events that had taken place, I think she had a right to be. She bawled like that for a couple more minutes.

Since I was right within range of her tear stream, I decided to offer comfort in the one way I knew how. I slowly and softly rubbed her back with my hoof. This seemed to help reduce her wailing to a hushed whimper.

"It's not your fault, Rarity," mentioned a younger voice. Rarity took a pause in her crying. Both she and I looked at the open doorway. The source of the comment was her younger sister, standing just inside the room.

"You're not to blame for anything," reiterated Sweetie Belle.

"But I-," stammered Rarity.

"She's right," I interrupted, "None of us were prepared for that attack. You couldn't have known." I sat up a bit straighter before continuing, "Sometimes, life throws things our way. No matter how much we prepare and plan, there will always be at least one thing that catches us off guard. In those times, we just have to accept the situation, learn from them, and then move on."

Sweetie Belle walked up and nuzzled Rarity.

"Besides, you're my big sister," she said, "I'll always be her for you." Tears changed in Rarity's eyes from grief to joy.

"Thank you," whispered the older sister as she pulled in the younger sister for a hug. I smiled at the familial sight before me.

---

Over a lunch of hot tomato soup, I managed to talk with the unicorn sisters in better moods. Somewhere in the conversation, I asked Rarity how she had known how to use a Bakudo. She said that she didn't remember the exact details. There was however a half-awake dream that involved a short conversation with a bipedal gentlecolt wearing handsome, old-fashioned attire. She described how the only thing off about this man's appearance was the tacky mask he wore, though she hadn't bothered to tell him that. Long story short, she now knew a few general Kido techniques in addition to wielding her new sword's powers.

If I'm piecing together what she said properly, I thought to myself, Rarity talked to the spirit of Senbonzakura.

It would seem so, replied Shirayuki's thoughts.

During the next half-hour, I told them about the situation that Princess Celestia had explained to me. I told them about how David had this whole plan involving creatures of the shadows and bringing about a new created world.

"That sounds like the story of a badly written work of fiction," commented Sweetie Belle.

"That's pretty much what I told the Princess," I chuckled.

The conversation pretty much devolved into small talk after that.

A few days passed before I could finally shed my bandages completely. A few small scars remained, but even Rarity commented how unnoticeable they were. When someone that normally overreacts to appearances says you look good, then you look good. There was no question about it.

---

A bright light and arcs of darkness scoured the abyss. They destroyed everything in their path. Thick, red water spilled from the cuts carved into the lavender unicorn. She let out a scream.

"Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle," whispered a voice.

---

I shot up from the pillow into a sitting position. I gasped at the dream I had just had. It was too gripping. I didn't know what to do but I knew I had to do it quickly. In haste, I threw off the blanket covering me and rushed out the front door.

Twilight, please be all right, I thought as I flew in the direction of the library.

Comments

[Leo Archon]

You. Are. EVIL! Leaving me hanging on such a perfect cliffie!

And David's really going all out, here. First the shadow Changelings, now he's bringing in the Bount dolls?

You know what would be REALLY weird? If the people in Hueco Mundo somehow sensed what was happening, and sent Harribel to investigate. She's the most level-headed member of the Espada. Though, I wonder how her body would react to Equestria?

[Deathpony]

NUU evil cliffhanger cant wait for the next chapter

[Fireeaters]

Why not just call David " Aizen"? That's who he seems to be the equivalent of.