Episode 16: Invasion
Episode Sixteen: Invasion
Adagio had been dreaming of the cool ocean depths of home. In summer the shallow reefs along the coast of the Celestial Sea had been beyond beautiful, where the sunlight could cut through the clear water like glass and illuminate an entire world of rioting colors from countless types of sea life. The simple life of swimming those reefs with her sisters, long before thoughts of ambition and power had soaked her mind, was what Adagio missed most. Even in her dream, where she should have felt free, she instead felt the chains around her. She felt the chain in her chest, where her gem should have been, pulling her down to darker ocean depths, where something large and monstrous lurked.
There was no resisting the pull, wrenching her from the sunlit shallows, dragging her into the cold grasping embrace of the murky abyss, and the thing that waited for her there. A skull shaped like her own face.
The crashing of a titanic impact threw Adagio and woke her instantly from the dream turned nightmare. She was disoriented for a moment as all the girls inside Pinkie Pie’s bedroom started to awake from the tremor that’d tossed them about.
“What in tarnation is that!?” shouted Applejack, first on her feet, with Rainbow Dash just a moment behind.
“It is likely another attack by those masked monsters,” said Maud, who was inexplicable in the room at the door, staring at all of the girls, save for Sunset Shimmer, whom Adagio just noticed wasn’t in the room. Another crash from outside shook the floorboards and Adagio felt a grip on her arm. Looking over she saw a terrified looking Sonata holding her arm tightly.
“Dagie, what do we do?”
“You have to ask? Run, obviously,” she said, looking to see that Aria was up and tensely looking as if she already planned to bolt for the door.
“Maudie, you go get the family and lead them somewhere safe,” said Pinkie Pie, already bouncing towards the door, “Let us handle this!”
Maud held out a hand, holding Pinkie Pie’s shoulder, and looking with a steady gaze at her sister, “Don’t take any risks, Pinkie. This is not the same kind of monster you fought before.”
“Whatever it is we’ll deal with it,” said Rainbow Dash, glancing around, “Where’s Sunset?”
As if being summoned Sunset Shimmer appeared in the doorway, and Adagio was severely unnerved by the naked fear in the other girl’s eyes as she said, “Girls, we have to get out of here, now!”
“What is it darling? What kind of Hollow-” Rarity began to ask, but another massive crashing noise from outside shook the entire house, and Rarity gulped, “Never mind, yes, leaving now.”
The next few moments all happened in a blurring rush. The girls piled out of the room, and Adagio was almost blinded by the flashes of light as several of them, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, all transformed. Maud rushed upstairs, already calmly telling her other waking family members to get outside the house. There was some argument from one of the other Pie sisters, Limestone, Adagio thought the name was, but another tremendous impact from outside that shook books and plates off of shelves and caused furniture to topple over forestalled any further argument and suddenly everyone was running for the door.
They all exploded out into the front lawn just in time to hear the back of the house be crushed by gigantic force, wood and dust blasting everywhere. Adagio floated around to get a look at what was behind them, and wished she hadn’t. Standing above the house like a black monolith was the largest Hollow Adagio had ever seen. Shrouded in a black cloud, the creature’s pointed nose of a mask looked down at the small creatures fleeing from it, and it took one white boot and stomped further into the house, collapsing the back half completely.
“Oh no, our home!” shouted Pinkie Pie’s mother, eyes wide and mouth open in horror. Even if the elderly woman couldn’t see what was destroying her home, she could clearly see something was smashing the house to pieces.
“Mom, pop, take the girls and get out of here, now!” shouted Pinkie Pie, now glowing herself, pink mist flowing from her as she ponied up and her duplicate self, Pinkamena, took shape beside her. The straight haired Pinkie Pie doppelganger took one look at the giant Hollow and grinned with sharp teeth.
“Oooooh, looks like I’m going to have a real big breakfast today.”
Confusion and utter bafflement was apparent on all the Pie family’s faces upon not only seeing their daughter produce a duplicate of herself, but the fact that most of her friend’s also seemed transformed. The only one who appeared unsurprised was Maud, who looked on with a stony expression.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie, explain what is happening here,” Pinkie Pie’s father said, trying to sound strong despite a undercurrent of fear in his voice.
“No time pop! It’s super dangerous here. Get mom and my sisters away from here, please!”
“It’s coming,’ said Sunset, reaching into her pocket to pull out the Chappy gikon, “We need to lead it away from here, fast!”
She was referring to the fact that the giant Hollow was now focused on the cluster of tasty mortal treats in front of it and was howling its hunger, taking another giant step towards them. Sunset looked to Adagio, eyes pleading, “Take them to Discords shop! Can I count on you to do that?”
Adagio gulped, not at all liking suddenly having responsibility dumped on her, but she sure wasn’t eager to stick around here, and Discord’s shop was likely to be as safe as anywhere right now. She nodded, “We’re on it.”
Rushing over, she floated in front of Pinkie Pie’s father and and looked the man in the eye, “If you want to help your daughter, be out of the way. Stick around here, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll all be a liability.”
He shook his head, eyes filled with fear and confusion. Understandable given he had a small plush doll talking to him, and his house was exploding for no reason he’d be able to see, “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t bother trying to then, and just follow!” Adagio growled, “Now!”
“She’s right, father,” said Maud, “We have to go.”
Maud’s words seemed to tip the scale, and Pinkie Pie’s father nodded slowly, seeming to dredge up some manner of self control as he said, “Come, family, we will follow Pinkie Pie’s friend to a safe place. Pinkie Pie, daughter, do not hurt yourself.”
“I won’t pop, trust me. Me and Mena have got this covered!”
There was no more time for talk, then, as the Hollow took a final step, its foot crashing into the front lawn just in front of them. The impact nearly knocked a lot of them off their feet, Marble Pie actually almost falling over if not for Maud being there to catch her. Sonata visibly gulped, “Time to go!”
With that Adagio led her sisters and the majority of Pinkie Pie’s family away from where the site of battle would soon become. However even as she did so she looked around at the skyline around the city, and felt chilled as she could see multiple dark portals in the air opening, and realized that more of the gigantic Hollows along with a swarm of lesser Hollows were all starting to emerge in one huge circle around the entire town.
This isn’t an attack, Adagio realized with a sickening feeling in her gut, It’s an invasion.
----------
Shining Armor opened the door to Twilight’s room, already finding his sister awake and standing by the window, looking out with worried eyes. She turned to face him, “Shining! They’re surrounding the city!”
“I know,” he said gravely, “Remember what you promised.”
He eyed her hard, seeing her fidget, but she did nod, “I... I understand. I’ll stay here.”
“If anything goes wrong, use the escape route in the basement. Everything should be fine, but just in case,” he said, trying to keep his tone upbeat despite the dire situation. Twilight visibly gulped, but nodded again. He gave her a reassuring smile, “I’ll be back soon.”
With that he closed the door and rushed down the hallways to head for the main entry hall. His parents, Cadence, and Fleur De Lis were already there. Fleur glanced at him with an amused raised eyebrow, “Done tucking in the little sister?”
“She won’t have any idea what’s happening,” Shining Armor lied smoothly, “I told her there was an earthquake warning today and she ought to stay indoors. Twilight is a good girl and won’t disobey.”
“Just as it should be,” said Twilight Velvet, “And if anything goes wrong we still have Robert on site to keep her safe.”
The family butler Shining Armor knew was a capable Quincy himself, through he seemed to prefer to keep to the background. He hadn’t even seen the man since returning to the mansion, but knew Robert was around. No matter. Twilight could take care of herself well enough, but Shining Armor knew the wards around the mansion would be sufficient to keep her safe. More than that, he intended to slaughter any Hollows that he could find, to put an end to this invasion swiftly.
“Father, we should go,” he said, “The Soul Reapers will respond quickly to this.”
“I’m not so certain,” said Night Light, “Soul Society’s interest is largely in that school, not in the town itself. But regardless you are right, we must move swiftly...”
Night Light led them outside, and in the massive front lawn of the mansion the five Sternritter were met by a company of just over a hundred men and women in thick white military coats. They wore white berets, thick black goggles, and what would appear to the uneducated to be gas masks. Shining Armor knew the uniforms of these soldiers, the soldat of the Quincy, had several unique properties, but the most important was the coating of spirit particles designed to render these troops invisible to the eye of regular mortals. His uniform and that of his fellow Sternritter were the same, and it was part of what helped them do their work without complication in the living world.
“Men,” Night Light said, addressing the company of soldat, “This town is under Quincy protection and is being attacked by a horde of Gillian and lesser-class Hollows. You shall split into platoons and support each of us Sternritter in combating this vicious invasion of the living world. Only engage the lesser Hollow, and allow we Sternritter to deal with the Gillians. Preserving human life is our top priority. Sternritter Shining Armor shall enact a barrier to keep the Hollows to the city perimeter, while the rest of us will deal with each main flank. Fleur De Lis, take the south, Velvet, the east, I shall handle the north, and Cadence, the west. Shining Armor, once your barrier is up, remain in the city center and engage any Hollows that break past us or slip through the ward.”
“What about when the Soul Reapers show up?” asked Fleur.
Night Light’s face was steel hard, “The Hollows are our primary concern. Only engage Soul Reapers if they interfere with dealing with the Hollows. Understood?”
Fleur De Lis saluted, as did Shining Armor, Cadence, and Velvet, all of them saying, “Yes, sir!”
That said, the Quincy deployed. Each Sternritter used bursts of flashing blue reiatsu from their feet to leap into the air, quickly ascending and then leaping at high speed across the city towards their designated areas. The soldats followed, most of them unable to get the same speed and distance as their Sternritter superiors, but able to rapidly leap like white clad ghosts from telephone poles and electrical wires, using suburb home roofs and street lamps as steps as they followed their designated Sternritter towards the massing Hollows.
Shining Armor could see the Hollows were advancing slowly towards the city, and at least for now it didn’t look like they were attacking any of the humans in the area, but he knew it was only a matter of minutes at most before that many Hollows would start to cause damage. Then he noticed that, to the south there were signs of battle. He could feel multiple spiritual pressures flaring in that direction, and recognized them as belonging to Twilight’s friends. With so many Hollows out there it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was going on, but it felt like they were fighting one of the Gillians.
I can’t do anything until I get my barrier up. Father gave me orders to hold the center, but I’ll keep an eye out for an opening to go help them, assuming father doesn’t handle it himself.
The suburbs passed rapidly below him, and he could sense the platoon of twenty soldats keeping pace at street level a little behind him. Soon the suburbs gave way to the offices and rising skyscrapers of downtown, and Shining Armor took up a position on one of the taller skyscrapers roofs.
Closing his eyes he extended out his spiritual senses, marking the positions of his fellow Sternritter, and the approaching sensation of the multiple Hollow’s spiritual pressures. So far he only sensed the Gillians and the lesser Hollows. There was no sign yet of whatever potent Hollow had gathered this horde. There also wasn’t any sign yet of the Soul Reapers, but he didn’t doubt they’d show themselves soon enough.
First thing’s first, we keep the Hollows out of the main population center...
Shining Armor raised his right hand, and in a flash summoned his bow. He aimed it towards the sky, and pulled back on the pale blue string of energy, a pure blue arrow forming that then slowly started to transmute to a flaring white color as he altered the composition of spiritual particles inside the arrow.
Each Sternritter was unique. They were not only the elite of the Quincy for their spiritual power and skill in battle, but for the fact that His Majesty bestowed upon each Sternritter a signature power corresponding to a particular script, or schrift.
Shining Armor was Sternritter B, with the schrift of B, representing his power of “The Bastion”.
None among the Sternritter possessed his power of creating unparalleled barriers.
“Festung des Lichts!” (Fortress of Light)
He fired his arrow into the sky like a streaking white lance. It rocketed upwards above the city for almost half a mile before the arrow of specialized spirit energy flared like a small nova and bathed the sky in a dome of expanding white light. This light would be invisible to the eyes of the normal humans down below in the city, but to any spiritually aware individuals they’d see the sky tinting with sparkling white light as a glass-like dome encased the entirety of downtown and a good portion of the suburbs.
The Fortress of Light was one of several specific barriers Shining Armor could create with his arrows, this one tailor designed to ward off Hollows. Humans could pass through effortlessly, and even Soul Reapers could bypass the barrier, but for a Hollow the wall of opaque white light would not only repel them, but burn them with what would look like holy fire. Lesser Hollows would have little to no chance of getting by it. If the Gillians attacked in mass they might be able to get through, or weaken the barrier enough for a lesser Hollow to find a hole, but that was mostly because Shining Armor had to cover such a wide area. If he’d focused the barrier on a smaller area not even this many Gillians could break through it.
“Sir,” one of the soldat’s said as the platoon caught up with him, “Your orders?”
“Divide into squads and patrol the barrier edge. Stop any lesser Hollows that get through,” he said. That not only would keep the likelihood of lesser Hollows getting to the city low, but it’d keep the soldats busy in case he needed to go help Twilight’s friends.
Which given what they were fighting, was a distinct possibility.
----------
Sunset hurled herself out of the way as the Gillian’s titanic foot smashed down towards her, just barely avoiding being pancaked alongside the Pie family’s minivan. She rolled to her feet instantly and rushed the foot before the Gillian could take another step, slashing hard with her Zanpaktou. The blade bit a small chunk out of the huge, bone white, triangular foot but it was barely a scratch compared to the sheer size of the Hollow and Sunset got the distinct feeling he was barely doing anything to it.
She jumped back once more as the Gillian raised its foot, not so much as an attack but just part of the huge Hollow adjusting its position, but with its size every small movement contained deadly force that needed to be avoided.
“I hate to be the voice of pessimism but it doesn’t seem a if we are having much of an impact on this brute," said Rarity, her blood red dress billowing as she jumped past the Gillian’s other foot, lashing out with her weapon which she’d transformed into a long, segmented whip of red crystal blades. Much like Sunset’s Zanpaktou the whip of crystal blades cut a chunk from the Gillian, but it was little more than a paper cut compared to the Gillian’s overwhelming size, and Rarity had to rapidly jump away as the Gillian kicked out at her, the giant foot snapping at telephone pole like a toothpick in the process.
“We ain’t got much choice, Rarity!” said Applejack, her booted feet cratering the street as she ran forward, leaping upwards and spinning in the air as rocket-like blasts of gold energy propelled her into a roundhouse kick that impacted above the Gillian’s foot, where perhaps it might have had a knee underneath its voluminous black cloak. The impact didn’t even slow the Gillian down and when it kicked out at Applejack it would have caught the girl dead on if Rainbow Dash hadn’t flown down like a prismatic falcon and swooped Applejack out of harm’s way.
“If we could bring this jerkface down to our level we could all pummel his mask at once!” said Rainbow Dash, setting Applejack down and streaking up into the air at high speed. She flew past the Hollow’s face, lashing out with a fist amid a torrent of lightning streaming from her wings, down her arms, and into her hand as she struck the Gillian across the nose. The impact of thunder and lightning left a mark, but didn’t manage to stagger the Hollow, which responded by opening its mouth and snapping gnashing teeth Rainbow Dash. The girl barrel rolled away from the bite, teeth snatching the air where she’d just been, and she circled out away from the Gillian, frustration written over every ounce of Rainbow Dash’s body language.
“Um, th-this doesn’t look like it's working,” said Fluttershy. She’d transformed as well, ponied up with wings and tail, and with her changed eyes and full display, but she looked unsure of what to do, having backed up across the street away from the Gillian and nervously watching.
“I don’t know, I think we’re wearing it out!” said Pinkie Pie, having also joined Fluttershy across the street. Sunset glanced around, realizing that Pinkie Pie’s doppelganger wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Pinkie! Where’s the other one!? The crazy one?”
“Who, Mena? She’s gone mountain climbing!” said Pinkie Pie, pointing. Sunset followed to where Pinkie Pie was pointing and her jaw dropped. Pinkamena was on the Gillian’s side, her arms elongated and split open into large pincer-like mouths which she was using like clamps to scale the giant Hollow. Sunset could now hear the doppelganger's crazed laughter.
“What’d ya’ll suppose she’s thinkin’ she’s gonna do? Might as well be a’ flea crawlin’ on a cow’s behind!” said Applejack, glancing at Sunset, “Dash might be right, we gotta git this critter down on the ground an’ go fer the mask all together.”
Sunset nodded, frowning deeply as she wracked her brain trying to figure out just how to accomplish that goal. Individually their attacks weren’t doing that much damage, and the logic that a combined effort might crack that mask could also be applied to one of the feet. Sunset had spent a large portion of her life as a quadruped, where four legs led to a lot of stability. It’d taken her awhile to get used to the human body’s bipedal locomotion. When you only had two feet, losing one, or even just injuring one, was crippling.
“Okay everyone, follow me, I’ve got a plan! Pinkie, get your clone down from there!” Sunset shouted, breaking into a run that’d take her around the side of the Pie family’s demolished house. She didn’t need to look to know her friends were heeding her word and following her, Pinkie Pie cupping her hands around her mouth to yell up at Pinkamena.
“Mena, get down, we’re doing a plan thing!”
“No way! I’m scaling Mt. Gillian and when I reach the summit I’m chowing down on this pretty slice of Hollow’s face meats!”
Pinkie Pie just shrugged and smiled sheepishly at Sunset as the girls ran around the house, the Gillian turning to follow them, “Well, I tried.”
“Its fine, we can probably do this without her,” said Sunset between breaths. They were now in the back yard of the house, the Gillian’s thunderous steps keeping it not far behind them. To either side Sunset could see other Gillians in the distance, some heading towards the city, others turning their attention towards her and her friends. Things were definitely not looking good. Tackling one Gillain was hard. If one or two more joined the fight, it’d be near impossible to win. Still, they had to try.
Rainbow Dash flew just above the other girl’s heads, looking towards Sunset, “Right, so you’ve got us running, but what’s the plan?”
“Step one; dodge!” Sunset shouted, sensing a build up of spiritual pressure inside the Gillian that felt very much like when the half-Arrancar had used that beam attack during their battle. One glance back was all she needed to confirm what was happening. The Gillian had opened its mouth wide, aiming down towards the girls with a sphere of crimson energy pooling within its gaping maw.
Sunset broke to the right, grabbing Fluttershy in the process, while Rainbow Dash snatched up Pinkie Pie. Applejack and Rarity were quick enough on their feet to dodge on their own, the group of girls splitting up from the path they’d just been taking. At the last second Pinkamena reached the top of the Gillian, sitting on the crest of its head. Giggling, she poked her head down to peer at the Gillain’s face, and just before it fired its blood red Cero beam, Pinkamena grasped the Gillian’s nose between one of the massive jaws her right arm had become and yanked, hard.
The Gillian roared, its aim thrown off as a huge torrent of destructive red spirit energy blasted outward, forming a bright beam that cut a path through the Pie family’s back yard and scorched a smoking path of devastation into the forest beyond, culminating in a large explosion that shattered trees like matchwood.
Sunset and the other girls had just managed to avoid the beam’s path, and now stood on either side of a simmering, blackened furrow in the ground.
“Holy cow, this sucker packs a wallop!” exclaimed Applejack, one hand on her stetson from keeping it from falling off.
Sunset gulped, “Right, step two; Rarity, use your powers to trap the Gillian’s foot when it takes another step.”
Rarity blinked at her, looking unsure, “I don’t know if my crystals are strong enough for that.”
“That’s why Fluttershy is going to use her power to strengthen you. It can do that, right?”
Pensiveness flowed off Fluttershy like a waterfall, “I’m not sure. I... I think so? I can try.”
At the Gillian’s roar of frustration, shaking its head to try to dislodge Pinkamena from its nose, Sunset shouted, “Try!”
Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod, and then focused her eyes upon Rarity. Her glowing third eye shone with bright blue light, and while Sunset couldn’t actually see if Fluttershy’s spirit energy was doing anything, she did notice Rarity blinked rapidly and open her mouth in an ‘O’ of appreciation.
“My oh my that does feel rather perky, Fluttershy darling. Do keep it up. Why, I feel positively brimming with energy!”
“Um, I-I hope I’m doing this right,” Fluttershy said, her face a mask of hard concentration as she focused on Rarity, “This somehow feels harder than commanding or weakening others. Its like its draining me so much faster, to boost you.”
“As long as its enough to get the job done. Rarity, trap its foot, now!” Sunset said, then waved her Zanpaktou at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, “As soon as Rarity roots its foot in place, we three hit it with everything we’ve got!”
“Gladly!” said Rainbow Dash with a wide grin, and Applejack just gave a firm nod, shifting her stance into one ready to charge at a moment’s notice.
The Gillian in the meantime gave a savage shaking of its head that finally dislodged Pinkamena, sending the doppelganger flying. However at the same time Pinkamena’s jaw arm had constricted around the Gillian’s pointed nose, and its teeth had suddenly buzzed around like a chainsaw, and while she was knocked free of the Gillian, she took half of its nose with her. Falling into the pile of rubble that was now the Pie family house, Pinkamena laughed madly.
“Got your nose!”
Pinkie Pie giggled, then looked worriedly as Pinkamena cratered into the remains of the house. “I hope she’s alright.”
The Gillian, bleeding from its now broken off nose, roared in ear splitting pain, and turned towards the girls, fury in its blazing eyes. It took another monolithic step towards them, and Rarity went into action. She plunged her sword, now transformed back into a rapier, into the ground. Sunset could feel the spirit energy flowing from her friend and through the ground, to erupt upwards at the Gillian's foot in the form of half a dozen curved pillars of red crystal that wrapped around the Gillian’s foot like tangling vines. The Gillian halted, roaring as the through crystals held its foot in place, temporarily immobilizing it.
Sunset didn’t need to tell Applejack or Rainbow Dash to strike. She and the other two girls charged forward the second the Gillian’s foot got rooted in place. They attacked together, Rainbow Dash’s wings flowing with streams of lightning, and Applejack’s boots bursting with propelling, golden light. Sunset jumped up, inverting her grip on her Zanpaktou to stab it down with all of her body weight. Rainbow’s fist hit first, impacting hard with a intense burst of lightning that lit up the entire foot and traveled in crackling arcs up the Gillian’s body. Applejack hit a second later with a powerful jump kick that impacted on the Gillian’s ankle, cracking the white, bone-like substance that made up the Hollow’s foot. Then Sunset’s blade dug in deep from above, going in almost to the hilt before she tore it free in a gout of black blood.
The Gillian howled, its free foot staggering back as it tried to pull its trapped foot free. Sunset jumped off the foot, shouting, “Rarity, release it, now!”
Rarity didn’t ask why. Sunset imagined Rarity was quick witted enough to know what Sunset wanted. Rarity had her crystals release their grip on the Gillian's damaged foot just as it was pulling with all of its might against that grip. The moment the crystals released, the Gillian’s own strength was used against it as it suddenly found itself yanking backwards on nothing, and with a frustrated roar it toppled backwards like a collapsing tree. When it impacted the ground it sent up a colossal cloud of dirt and debris, smashing across half the street, and leaving Sunset glad that Pinkie Pie’s house was in a sparse section of the suburbs where the next nearest house was well out of the way.
With the Gillian down on its back, the next part of her plan became obvious. With the injured foot the Hollow wouldn’t have an easy time getting back up, and now its head was in striking range. “Everyone, the mask! Go for it!”
As one her friends moved, all save for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy who kept back, not having any ability to launch an offensive attack. Even Pinkamena managed to crawl out of the rubble of Pinkie Pie’s home to leap into the attack, cackling as she wiped blood from her face and joined the rest of the girls in leaping up on the Gillian's body. It was like running along a giant black bridge of uneven cloth, and Sunset thought the Gillian felt strange underneath her feet, like walking on something made out of cold jelly.
She, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkamena all rushed as a group along the Gillian’s fallen form, heading for its mask. Halfway there the Gillian raised its head, baleful eyes staring at them, and Sunset realized she’d seriously miscalculated how dazed the Hollow would be. With a head splitting roar the Gillian opened its mouth and another intense glow of crimson light filled its mouth, aimed straight for Sunset and her friends.
Fear lanced through Sunset as she realized that not all of them could dodge in time, but even a she turned to desperately throw herself out of the way and maybe tackle one of her friends to safety in the process, a series of dozens of blue streaking arrows rained down from the sky. The arrows of light impacted into the Gillian’s head and mask, turning it into a pincushion, and causing the gathered red energy in its mouth to discharge like a bomb rather than a beam, exploding its entire head.
Quickly the Hollow’s body began to vanish into ash-like motes, and Sunset jumped off of it to land in the crushed concrete of the street, looking up at the sky where she saw a figure slowly floating down on a blue disc of light. It was a woman in a pure white uniform consisting of a elegant button-up jacket and tight fitting pants, with knee high black boots and a flowing white cloak. Her skin was as white as her uniform, and she had long, light pink hair framing a heart shaped face sporting lightly violet eyes. She had a bow in her right hand, an exceedingly long compound bow whose construction looked as if its complex pulleys were made from gleaming silver metal, with streams of blue energy forming the strings and streaming from certain parts of the bow like a fiery aura.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cut in on your action, but you girls did look so close to being eradicated I just couldn’t help but step in,” said the woman in a cultured voice carrying just a hint of condensation.
“Who the heck are you!?” asked Rainbow Dash, brushing herself off of some dust, “We had that Hollow totally under control!”
“Really? It looked more to me like you were about to be vaporized by a Cero, but perhaps I misjudged the situation,” the woman said with a laugh.
Sunset wasn’t too inclined to disagree, despite the derisive look the woman had in her eyes, but it still stung her pride, “Be that as it may, don’t dodge the question. Who are you?”
The woman’s eyes turned towards her, narrowing, and her voice became sharp, “I don’t answer questions from Soul Reaper lackeys. I only helped you because I’m here to slaughter Hollows anyway. I’m certainly no friend of yours. We just happen to be sharing a battlefield and have the same targets. Speaking of which...” she pointed and Sunset turned, blood draining from her face as she saw three more Gillians had closed the distance and were now little more than a football field’s distance from them. Among the Gillians were also several dozen lesser Hollows, flying like birds alongside the moving mountains of the Gillians.
“This is startin’ ta really git outta hand,” said Applejack, wiping sweat from her brow, “Was hard enough takin’ down one o’ these vermants! Hate ta suggest it, Sunset, but we might wanna think ‘bout makin’ a break fer it.”
The idea of running away didn’t sit well with Sunset at all. In fact it made her gut turn to acid with frustration and anger. She and her friends were supposed to be able to protect this city! Her hand tightened, sweat soaking her palm as she growled under her breath, “Dammit, I need more power. I don’t have time to play games with you! If I have to take that power from you, do you think I won’t?”
“Sunset, darling, are you alright?” asked Rarity, eyeing the approaching Hollows nervously, “If we’re going to run, doing it sooner is better than later, and if we’re going to fight, we’ll need to adopt a new strategy.”
“Take your time, think it over,” said the woman with the bow, idly, “Perhaps I’ll just stand back and watch this time. I’m sure you have this under complete control, right?”
“Hey, if you’re not gonna help, can you at least can the smart ass commentary?” shouted Rainbow Dash, her wings flaring with electrical pulses of energy. The woman just laughed, like mocking wind chimes.
“So now you’re asking for my help? Fair enough. To be honest I’m not sure who all you girls are, but I recognized one of you has Soul Reaper powers, and the rest of you look like your sporting abilities that look suspiciously like Fullbring. I’ll have to ask Shining Armor if he knew about the lot of you, and why he didn’t brief us if he did. I have a sneaking feeling he’s been keeping secrets concerning his little sister. I do recall he and his woman were assigned to watch that high school, which I’m guessing you’re all from?”
Sunset wasn’t sure what the woman was talking about. Fullbring? What was that? And how did this woman know Twilight’s brother? She also just said that Shining Armor was assigned to watch Canterlot High? What for? Who was this woman and who did she represent? Sunset hadn’t missed the implications of the fact she was wearing a clear uniform and was using powers that looked an awful lot like that blue arrow Twilight had said saved her back during the fight at Rarity’s house. She shoved aside all that for the moment, focusing on the here and now.
“If you can deal with the big ones, my friends and I can handle the smaller ones,” Sunset said, “We just need to keep them from getting deeper into the city.”
The woman smiled, thinly, raising her bow towards the Gillians, “I can live with that arrangement. Do try to keep up.”
Shen then jumped into the air, leaping upwards a good fifty feet, before pulling back on her bow and with a single release let loose with an entire volley of what looked to be hundreds of arrows that streaked the sky like a shotgun blast. One Gililan was knocked back by the barrage like it’d been hit by a hurricane force wind. Sunset found herself feeling a spike of jealousy. The gap of power between her, her friends, and this woman was readily apparent, and it just made her feel even more heatedly intend on awakening her Zanpaktou further as fast as possible.
“I want to eat her face,” said Pinkamena, more or less summing up the mood of the group.
“Long as she’s shootin’ Hollows, I ain’t much carin’ if she wants to be arrogant ‘bout it,” said Applejack, “Now let’s git in there an’ do some damage.”
“Focus on the small fry first,” said Sunset, just as the lesser Hollows started to swoop down towards them, “We clear those out, then we focus on another Gillian, assuming our new ‘friend’ doesn’t finish them first.”
As the lesser Hollows reached them, and Sunset rushed forward to bury her sword into the mask of the first bird-like Hollow that tried to get its claws into her, Sunset felt a hint of worry in the back of her mind.
Aside from causing destruction, what was the Hollow’s objective here? Who had organized this attack, and what wa the purpose of it? Sunset felt like she was missing something obvious.
----------
“Who said that ‘all war is based on deception’?” asked Grand Fisher as he stood at the apex of a dark stone mesas, still inside the infinite desert of Hueco Mundo, monitoring the attack of the Gillians on the human city through a few small portals. The portals were called Garganta, something that Hollows could form naturally to act as gateways between their realm of Hueco Mundo and other realms. He had just a few of the small, mouth-like portals open to watch the Gillians and other lesser Hollows. The Gillians were being largely kept from getting far from where they’d entered the living world, by the expected intervention of the powerful forces of the Quincy, and Grand Fisher soon expected the Soul Reapers would get involved as well.
Which is what he wanted. When the Soul Reapers arrived, it was inevitable the old, bad blood between Soul Reaper and Quincy would have the forces defending the city fighting among themselves a much as the Hollows he’d rallied for this attack. All of that would create a lovely stew of chaos that would distract all of the prominent forces powerful enough to stop him from his objective.
“I hardly care,” said Grogar in response to Grand Fisher’s query, “Probably some long dead human. So do you truly believe this plan of yours will work?”
“If you doubt me, why allow me to go through with it?”
Grogar cracked a withered smile, not at all a friendly expression, “You’re my experiment, and I enjoy watching how experiments play out until the end. Its key in such situations not to interfere with the outcome. I’m merely here to observe how you perform, not to ensure your success.”
Grand Fisher let out a humorless laugh, “And what does Lord Tirek think of your experiment?”
There was a sound of scraping metal and Grand Fisher suddenly found Grogar’s sword placed keenly just underneath Grand Fisher’s throat. By now Grand Fisher had the hulking, humanoid body of a partially evolved Arrancar, his back still having thick, shaggy fur from his pure Hollow form, and his face still largely covered by a massive, grinning mask, but inside that mask his eyes flicked warily to the old man whose sword stood poised beneath his vulnerable throat. Grogar’s face betrayed not a single shred of amusement.
“Lord Tirek’s opinion is none of your concern. Whether you live or die is utterly inconsequential. Even capturing the unique souls of those girls is a side matter, a secondary objective, to the large goal of destroying the Soul Society and the Quincy. You are nothing more than one pawn, no, less than a pawn, in that grand scheme. We allow you to play at war with these worthless lesser Hollows because you, along with all of them, are completely expendable. Never imagine, even for an instant, that you can speak to me like an equal.”
Grand Fisher’s voice filled with obvious fear as he said, “I understand, Lord Grogar.”
The elderly man made a scoffing sound as he took his sword away from Grand Fisher’s throat and sheathed it at his side once more, “Good. Now, what is your next step? Even that many Gillians won’t last long against Sternritter, and it's only a matter of time before the Soul Reapers show up as well. How do you intend to get those girls?”
“Simple. My comrades and I have made the mistake of always going to them, fighting them on their terms...” Grand Fisher said, chuckling darkly, and opening up a Garganta portal that showed a suburban street close the downtown area, where it was possible to see a group of humans running along the sidewalks. Pinkie Pie’s family, along with the three sirens. “This time, I shall make sure they come to me. While all the forces that could defend or aid them are tied up, I shall set up my lure, and choose my battlefield.”
Licking his lips, he began to step through the Garganta portal he’d opened, “But first, I need bait for the hook.”
----------
Screwloose blasted apart another group of Hollows, her bazooka-like weapon smoking from all its many barrels as she jumped from spot to spot, unleashing barrages to the left and right as more targets presented themselves. She was grinning from ear to ear, more than happy to be in the thick of things, but one eye was twitching wildly. All that’d come out to the Apple family farm were a few score of small Hollows, none of them strong enough to really give her much of a workout.
“Huh, this is too easy,” Screwloose muttered, smashing one Hollow’s head clean off with a backwards swing of her bazooka as she idly rubbed her chin. She glanced at the farmhouse, knowing that Applejack’s family were hiding inside, taking shelter until Screwloose gave them the all clear. There weren’t many Hollows left for her to destroy, though she could barely make out the distant forms of Gillians miles away at the edge of the city, where it seemed all the real action was taking place.
“Would’ve figured at least a few of the big boys would come out here. Totally a prime target, our tasty apples,” Screwloose said to herself, barely paying attention as she evaded one lesser Hollows claws, only to give it a swift kick to the ribs that sent it flying away. She pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed a number, casually firing off her bazooka one handed at a few Hollows that were stalking towards the farmhouse.
“Hey, Screwball? Yeah, I’ve got everything covered here. What about you? Just a few huh? Same here. It’s like they’re not even trying. Uhhuh...uhhuh... okay now you’re just talking crazy. This kind of attack is the textbook definition of a distraction. Figured they’d come straight for the families again. Uhhuh... Uhhuh... well okay when you put it like that it sounds like we’re being intentionally stretched thin so we can’t cover all our bases.”
Screwloose frowned, glancing at the farmstead, and the general lack of any Hollows left for her to kill, and then back at the city, rather surrounded by Hollows.
“Okay I’m starting to see where you’re going with this, but it's not like I can just leave the farm, and you can’t leave the other families. Let’s call the boss, see if he’s got a plan.”
----------
“Plan? Screwloose, the last time I had a plan we got exiled to the living world,” Discord said, grimacing at his phone, “The girls are probably fine. Mostly. I’m nearly eighty percent sure of that. Well, yes, it would be a problem if one of the girls’ families suddenly became vulnerable, but you’re covering Applejack’s, and Screwball is covering Rarity’s, and we have our feline friend covering Fluttershy’s... well, yes, Pinkie Pie’s family doesn’t have a designated guard but the girls are with them, so...”
Discord frowned, stroking his beard, “Well yes I suppose if the Pie family’s home was attacked they might send the family away so they didn’t get caught up in the fight. I imagine they’d sent them here. The sirens are with them too, so they’d have a pass to get past the wards. Assuming they got here and weren’t intercepted between here and the house...Oh. Well, yes, that is an oversight on my part.” He winced as indistinct shouting could be heard on the other end of the phone, “Now there’s no need for that kind of language Screwloose. I just like to act like I’m perfectly omniscient, I leave the actual omniscience to Celestia. Okay, fine, it seems like I have no choice then.”
Discord sighed as he hung up his phone and glanced at his hat, sitting on the table where he’d been enjoying some tea. The Hollows really knew how to wreck a perfectly good day.
“I’m going to spend an eternity cleaning up after that mess, aren’t I?” he sighed to himself, briefly recalling the events of ten years ago, but he quickly pushed aside the thoughts and grabbed his hat, plopping it on his head. He then went into an adjoining room, sliding back a hidden door to reveal a small storage area that was largely empty, except for one thing; a sword stand.
On that wooden sword stand rested a long, gnarled wooden cane about four feet long, with the head carved into the shape of a strange being with almost draconic features, a twisted horn, and even more twisted antler.
“Been awhile since you and I went outside, partner,” Discord said to the cane, running one hand along the dark gray surface of it. Discord let out a nostalgic chuckle as he picked the cane up and turned to head for the shop exit, “Let’s you and me go for a stroll.
----------
The Gillian’s Cero beam cut across the sky like a blood red comet, and Night Light kept well ahead of its destructive path as he rose along on small discs of reishi underneath his feet. At least eight Gillians were targeting him, now, with four having fallen so far to his arrows. That still left far too many aiming to break through his son’s barrier around the city, but there was little to be done about it until he got rid of the Hollows currently targeting him.
His platoon of soldats were in the suburbs below, eradicating the lesser Hollows swarming around. The well trained Quincy soldiers were doing a skilled job of targeting and destroying the small fry without causing any undue collateral damage, keeping the mundane humans out of harm’s way, or indeed even noticing that a battle was taking place among them.
Some humans of course were feeling the impact tremors of the Gillians moving around, and more than a few might have seen the craters the Gillians were leaving around as they walked. Some confusion was apparent in the humans peeking out window or walking along the sidewalks, but so far no actual panic had set in. The people of the city didn’t understand what was happening, yet, and Night Light aimed to keep it that way.
The bow in his hand was almost comprised entirely of light, and it was shaped like twin crescent moons. The outer moon was almost as large as his body and bent outward like a normal bow, but it was connected by strings of light to the inner, smaller crescent of light, its curve faced towards Night Light himself. That small crescent was what Night Light gripped and pulled back to summon his arrows, almost as large as spears as he fired them towards the Gillian that had attempted to hit him with a Cero.
The spear-like arrow smashed through the Gillian’s mouth, blasting out the back of its head. As the Hollow began to fall Night Light hit it with a series of more arrows, bursting its body into motes of dust before it could hit the ground and accidentally crush any homes.
To his left he saw the Gillians going for the barrier halt, and all simultaneously begin to charge points of crimson light within their maws. A barrage of Ceros like that wouldn’t take down Shining Armors barrier in one go, but if the Gillians got off several like that then even the power of his son’s impressive barrier wouldn't last.
However just before the Gillians fired, there was a flash of light followed by a dark streak cutting across the sky. As if a giant scythe had cut through them the five or six Gillians that had gathered to attack the barrier all began to collapse at once, the top parts severed from their bottom halves. Night Light immediately sensed the presence of not just one, but two powerful spiritual pressures, and recognized them both for who they were.
“You’re here faster than I expected,” he said to the person he knew was now standing a little behind him and to his right. He’d sensed her before the other one who’d destroyed the Gillians. He glanced backwards, frowning softly, “Has Soul Society gotten its glacially slow bureaucracy moving a bit swifter these days, or are you here without their approval, Celestia?”
Celestia stood in the air, watching him with a guarded by still faintly amused look on her face. She wasn’t wearing the normal civilian garb of a humble school principal anymore, but rather the black robes of a Soul Reaper, with the addition of a flowing white overcoat designating her rank as a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions. There was a symbol on the back of that overcoat, the Japanese kanji for “thirteen”, showing which Division she led. At her side were sheathed two curved katana, only one of two sets of rare twin Zanpaktou that Night Light knew existed among the Soul Reapers.
“I don’t suppose it’d be appropriate for me to comment on Soul Society’s laws to one of our enemies,” Celestia said, actually sounding a tad saddened as she looked at him, “You’re daughter is doing well, by the way. A model student.”
“Of course she is,” Night Light said, face schooled to ironclad stillness, “You didn’t think we’d let her transfer to that school without keeping a close watch on her, do you?”
There was the sound of rushing air and suddenly another woman appeared next to Celestia, the blue skinned form of Luna standing now slightly between Celestia and Night Light. She too was clad in similar fashion to Celestia, though her white overcoat bore the kanji for the number “two”. While Celestia's swords were still sheathed at her side, Luna bore two naked blades in her hand, one a normal curved katna with a black wrapped hilt, and the other a shorter, straight edged tanto she held in a reversed grip. Night Light knew neither Soul Reaper had released their Zanpaktou's power yet, and that he was just seeing their sealed state. It was a testament to Luna's power that she'd cut part those Gillians so quickly with just a sealed pair of Zanpaktou. He had fought Soul Reaper Captains before and knew how powerful they were, though he'd never faced this particular pair of sisters before. He was confident that he, with four fellow Sternritter, would be more than a match if it came to blows, but by himself he'd be in a tight spot.
Luna’s piercing gaze leveled on Night Light with obvious dislike.
“There is no time for talk, sister, especially not with our old foes. We must finish these Hollows quickly, since it seems the Quincy want to take all day with this matter.”
“Agreed, sister,” said Celestia, not taking her eyes off of Night Light, “Shall we stay out of each other’s way while we deal with these beasts? No arrows in the back, as you Quincy are so wont to do?”
“I seem to recall the last sneak attack was perpetrated by Soul Society, not by us,” snapped Night Light.
The roaring of Gillians suspended any further talk, the ones that had been after Night Light now targeting him and both Soul Reapers. Beams of red cut the air like blades, forcing Night Light and both Soul Reaper sisters to rapidly vanish out of the way. Seeing Celestia look at him expectantly, Night Light grimaced, saying, “Fine, a truce for the time being. Are there more of you out here, or is it just you two ladies I need to be concerned about?”
“It's just us for now,” said Celestia, then blinked and tapped her chin with a finger, “Well, there was one scheduled to arrive back here today. I suppose she’s arriving to quite the surprise right about now.”
----------
Clover stepped through the final doors of the Senkaimon gate, the portal Soul Reapers used to travel between Soul Society and the world of the living, and almost ran headlong into a Gillian’s foot.
“Wh-what the-!?” she almost leaped back through the Senkaimon, but the gateway’s arch of sliding paper doors hanging in mid-air was already closing, and upon snapping shut disappeared. Clover was left standing in the middle of a suburban area not far from where she knew Pinkie Pie’s house was, only to see that there was a horde of Hollows around. A dozen Gillians at least, plus what must have been at least a hundred lesser Hollows.
As she looked on in pure shock she could see that the Hollows were being fought against. She could see the streaks of blue arrows from what had to be Quincy bows, and more importantly, she recognized the lightning cutting the air that looked like it had to be coming from Rainbow Dash. If she focused on her spiritual senses for a moment it was a chaotic mess to pick out any details among so many conflicting spiritual pressures, but she could just make out the sense of Sunset Shimmer and her friends not far away.
This is insane. I wasn’t told about anything like this! Did the Soul Society even know? Gah! I have to get to those girls, quickly!
What she’d learned back in the Twelfth Division’s archives still left her feeling chilled and her gut twisted with worry, but those revelations would have to wait until the present crisis was dealt with. She just hoped she wouldn’t be too late to help.
----------
Twilight paced within her room, wringing her hands and constantly glancing between the large window taking up much of one wall, and the flat screen television she had placed above a mantel across from her bed. The room itself was spacious, perhaps a bit too much so, but her parents had long ago noticed Twilight's pacing habit and had given her one of the larger bedrooms in the mansion so she'd have space for it. Normally she'd felt relaxed and comfortable in her little sanctuary, but knowing what was going on outside in the town had her nerves doing cartwheels.
The television was turned to a local news channel, and a professionally calm looking anchor woman was reporting, accompanied by a helicopter view of the suburbs.
"While the exact cause of the tremors is currently unknown it is believed by authorities that we are experiencing a series of low level earthquakes with overlapping aftershocks. The tremor events seem constrained to a ring outside the downtown area and suburban locations, and while there have been reports of minor damage to streets, homes, and loss of power due to fallen utility poles, there have been no injuries. The chief of police and the fire department recommends that citizens remain in their homes and stay off the streets. Emergency services are responding to-"
Twilight tuned out the report, shaking her head. It was a miracle no one had been hurt so far. Normal people might not be able to see the battle taking place amid their very city, but Twilight just had to look out the window to see the distant flashes of light and the walking, towering dark forms of the Gillians. She was hopeful, having seen more than a few Gillians be brought down already, but it looked to her like her family and fellow Quincy weren't destroying the Hollows fast enough to keep them from reaching the downtown area. A huge white dome of white energy that she assumed only spiritually aware individuals could see was acting as a barrier, and she somehow felt a sense that the barrier was her brother's, even if it was so distant she could barely sense its spirit pressure.
Where are my friends amid all that? Are they okay?
Worry gripped her in a firm, clammy grasp, making her feel awful for staying at the mansion. But she'd promised her brother she would stay here. She'd promised!
A distant explosion, deep in the suburbs, made her flinch. She felt like such a coward. Her mind buzzed at a thousand miles a minute with thoughts of Sunset and the other girls being hurt, or worse, with dozens of different horrific scenarios playing through Twilight's brain. Her eyes sneaked a glance at her bedroom door. Unconsciously her left hand reached over and gripped the silver Quincy cross dangling from a band on her right wrist. The cool metal somehow felt alive in her hand, comforting to the touch.
Another faint explosion in the distance, caused by who knows what, left Twilight shuddering... and then taking a deep breath with a face firming with determination.
"I'm sorry, Shining... but I can't..."
With that, she strode towards the door.
Stats
Page generated in 0.047 seconds
Total duration
701 users online
963,083 hits today, 2,364,530 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Another great chapter. Well done.
I get the dreadful feeling Twilight's gonna end up the bait.
so much action, so much excitement, what did clover find!this is pure enjoyment!nicely done!
Ha, you actually used my idea.
Also, I'm going to leave this here:
.......... *resisting the urge to scream* ............ She-demon is cracking smile right about now also baiting sunset.
7317228
Damn, you beat me to it.
HMMMMM YESSSS THE FIRES OF BATTLE WILL TEMPER ALL....
Damn, the Hell's Gate got opened! And more is coming out.
Amazing chapter!!! Go and help your friends Twily!!!
Fight Twilight.... Fight for your life! Fight for your family!!! Fight for your friends!!!!!
7328955
Very specifically she did not. That is part of why Pinkie Pie's ability manifested as Pinkamena, as opposed to whatever might have manifested if she'd been able to tap into laughter at that moment.
7330105
All I can say on that point is that I don't plan to mirror everything in the manga from the Quincy arc.
you could not even let sunset killa gillian *sigh* why do you hate her so much that you made her a complete failure in this story
so tirek is in charge of huco mundo while that sorta makes sense that means your not giving the postion of main villian to the most dangerous villian of MLP (im assuming the quincy king is still the son of the soul king so will be more inportant latter on)
also im guessing this means sombra is the quincy king
By the why, does anyone else think that Cadance is really Queen Chrysalis?
Skilled with stealth, hiding that tracker on Twilight, and that scene where she shows up in Shining Armor's room instead of the other way around.
now i am interested 2 c who the other arrancar quincy, and captains r
Quincy and Soul Reapers, ever at each other's guts. They do seem rather informed though, to comment on the possibility of it being a fullbring. Looks like Shining's cover attempts are being blown apart though.
Take them to Discords shop
through he seemed to prefer to
Soul Society’s interest is largely in that school
I hate to b the voice of pessimism
impact on this brute,’ said Rarity
Its like its draining me so much
roaring as the through crystals held its foot in place
all save for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy
and what wa the purpose of it
fighting among themselves a much as the
Its key in such situations
Has Soul Society gotten its glacially slow
1. Discord's.
2. Though.
3. The Soul Society's interest is largely in that school.
4. Be.
5. Meant to be a closing quotation mark.
6. It's.
7. Tough.
8. Extra spacing.
9. Was.
10. As.
11. It's.
12. Has the Soul Society gotten its glacially slow.
Adagio's dream worries me and Grand Fisher is smart.
Ah, so that's what she is.
Curiosity sated!
*reads further*
Oh, and Luna is the Captain of the Second.
Do you mean "condescension"?
Now than i think of it, is being fluent in German required for the Quincy ?
Does it meant than Twilight is fluent in german ? Or was she already before since the old families of the Vanderreich seem to have been of german nobles descent ?.
10918626
Being fluent isn't required, but many Quincy probably learn simply as a matter of pride and prestige.
In Twilight's case she probably learned German before knowing about the Quincy simply for academic enjoyment, and its unlikely to be the only extra language she knows.
10918795
i was more saying than due to the germanic nobles roots of the family, it was likely than it would had been part of her education, and since there is a lot of persons of german descent in the US, her parents pushing for it wouldn't had been odd, and her joining the quincy or not, i am sure they would have.
What was the Quincys relation with the habsburgs and others leading nobles german dynasties ? It must had been quite odd at some points.
10918840
Honestly I couldn't say, as I know little of actual German history, so the precise relationship between historical families and the fictional families of the Quincy could be anything. The only thing I've set down solidly is that the Quincy have a lot of political and economic clout all over the world, not just in their original homeland, but most of it isn't in the open and is more of the kind of influence that might be ascribed to secret societies and conspiracy theories.
Um… I’m sure if a bunch of Gillians showed up in any city around the world the Soul Society would respond as quickly as they could.
This is literally the best sentence you could’ve started with.
