Episode 27: Uphill Struggle
Episode 27: Uphill Struggle
It’d been awhile since Sunset had skipped a school day, and it felt strange. She’d always considered herself a pretty model student, even when she’d had her... spat with Celestia back in Equestria. Heck, it was because she’d been such a good, fast learner that she’d wanted so badly to learn ever more potent magic, faster than Celestia had wanted to teach her. As always when she thought of that time, not truly all that long ago in the overall span of her life, it left Sunset feeling a bit melancholy. The arrival of Princess Twilight had reopened the page in her mind that had considered returning to Equestria. Not permanently, but even for just a visit. Some practical part of her knew Princess Celestia would welcome her back with open hooves, yet the fear of her old teacher looking at her with sad, disappointed eyes still lay lurking.
Get your head on straight, she told herself as she left her apartment that Monday morning, You’ve got training to deal with. Insane, potentially fatal training.
Worried as she was about just how bad this training of Discord’s was going to be, another, larger part of her was eager to test herself. Sunset enjoyed a challenge, and while there were plenty of fears nestled in her gut, they were kept suppressed by the eager heat burning in her chest that left her smiling as her steps got lighter and picked up speed. There was sense of dull pain, faint as a faded memory, upon her brow from where Platinum had cut her spirit body. Even if the injury didn't transfer to her real body, the phantom pain was a reminder of it, and she knew her spirit body will still have a light scar on her brow, hidden by her bangs. It was a keen reminder of why she and her friends had to give this training their all.
Discord didn’t know how much time they had. A week, two weeks? He had said a month at most, but Sunset somehow doubted it’d take that long for things to go wrong in Soul Society and require them to step in. So every day was going to count. She wondered just what the training was going to entail. Just why was it so potentially dangerous? She supposed she’d find out soon enough.
As she turned down the main street leading to downtown her phone began to ring. Checking it, Sunset didn’t recognize then number, but when she answered it was Twilight’s voice on the phone.
“Sunset? This thing working? Hello?”
“Hey, uh, which Twilight is this?” Sunset asked, somewhat tense, as it really was impossible to tell the two apart over the phone.
“Oh, sorry, this is original pony-flavor Twilight. Huh, though I suppose temporally speaking we might have both been born on the same day, so I’m not sure if either of us would count as the ‘original’. I should ask her what her birthday is the next time I see her. Uh, anyway I was testing out this ‘cellphone’ and figured I might as well call you and give you an update on the portal.”
“Cool, but how did you get my number?”
A brief pause, “Umm, Flash told me.”
Sunset nodded, then grinned at herself at the silly gesture, given Twilight couldn’t see it. Even after a few years in the human world she still had a few things she never fully adjusted to, including the odd yet convenient invention of phones. “Did he tell you anything else?”
“Y-yeah. I... I don’t even know what to think, really,” said Twilight, and Sunset could year the uneasiness in Twilight’s voice, “A part of me wishes he’d trusted me enough to just tell me the truth from the start, but there’s a colder voice of reason in my head that says there’s no way he could have, given his...er... unique position. We, um, talked about it. Briefly. I think we were both weirded out by the situation.”
“Well, if you ever need to just chat, I’m here,” Sunset said, then winced, “As here as I can be, given I’m about to dive headfirst into some new training.”
“I spoke with the girls for a bit yesterday and they brought me up to speed,” said Twilight, concern coloring her words, “Are you sure you’ll all be okay? Rainbow Dash was blowing it all off like this would be a cakewalk, but that’s Rainbow Dash. I could tell Fluttershy and Applejack were both pretty tense. Pinkie was just being Pinkie, but I don’t know, even she seemed frazzled. And I didn’t get to see Rarity at all because of her injuries. Is she going to be okay?”
Sunset grit her teeth, having shared the same concerns over Rarity’s condition. Kido spells seemed as good as Equestrian magic for healing, yet it was hard to imagine that Rarity would be back at one hundred percent for the training today. Maybe Discord would let her sit it out for a bit, until her shoulder was better. Sunset wondered what story Rarity had told her family to explain away her not coming home last night. “I hope she will, Twilight. I’ll definitely look out for her, you can count on that. I won’t let her overdo it.”
“Good. That’s good. Please, all of you be careful. I can’t imagine the pressure you’re all under. I wish there was more I could do to help. I feel... pretty useless, just securing this portal. Like I ought to be doing more.”
“Hey, you listen to me, you’re doing the most important thing you can do right now, Princess, and that’s protecting your kingdom. I don’t want Equestria to have to face the danger of a Hollow slipping through that portal, or so help us, the Soul Reapers or Quincy deciding that they want to set up shop in our world. Even if you and the other Princesses would be there to confront such a problem, I wouldn’t want Ponyville to be ground zero for such a confrontation. From what you told me, Tirek was bad enough to deal with when you were Super Twilight.”
“Super Twilight?”
“Heh, its what me and the girls here call you when you were amped up on alicorn magic. Rainbow Dash watches too many Japanese cartoons. Anyway, you said you had an update on the portal?”
“Gah, right! My heads all over the place this morning. So as it turns out, knowing that Flash and this world’s Cheerilee are Soul Reapers helped a lot with my research on the portal. I had them help with testing the wards while they were in their, um, ‘spirit forms’. Even if I can’t see them, Fluttershy let me borrow one of those Hollow detectors the human me made. Really incredible inventions, by the by, I sooooo want to chat with her about the design! Uh, anyway, after burning the midnight oil testing the ward, I managed to adjust it so neither Flash or Cheerilee could step through. While its not conclusive yet that the same would happen with a Hollow, its a big step forward that I’ve got a calibration that’ll affect spirit bodies. We’re going to try some more tests today to see how much the ward can take. Flash is going to demonstrate something called a ‘Shikai’. Its pretty exciting. Just wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate it Twilight. Good luck with the tests, and... be safe, okay? We’ve had lots of surprises around here lately, and the bad guys have a habit of going after anyone they think is vulnerable to get at us.”
Twilight’s voice was filled with confidence, but Sunset knew the other pony well enough to detect the nervousness underneath, “I’ll be careful. You do so as well, Sunset. And tell the girls hi for me!”
“I will, talk to you later.”
“Later. Now...huh... how do I turn this thing off?” Sunset chuckled as she listened to Twilight fumble with the cellphone until the line cut off, and she put her own phone away and continued on towards Discord’s shop.
She found the gray cat waiting for her outside in the courtyard, the feline lazily stretched out on the front steps. The cat raised her head and yawned as Sunset approached, and Sunset saw its tiny whiskers twitch about as the cat actually smiled at her. “Good morning! You’re the first one here! Besides your friend who got all stabbed, and your other friend who got shot by a Quincy. Wow, you guys are getting kind of beat up a bunch lately, huh?”
Sunset sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, “Seems to be our lot in life. Here’s to hoping this training will make it so we’re the ones doing the beating, not the other way around.”
“Hah, good attitude! You know we’ve never actually had a chance to get to know each other. That’ll change today.”
Sunset blinked, “Why’s that?”
The cat’s grin got wider, like it was about to pounce on some fish, “Because I’m helping your friends train! Discord can’t do it all alone, the silly man. Actually he’ll pretty much be working with you and Clover exclusively, while it’ll be my job to oversee the rest of your friends. Should be lots of fun!”
The blinking on Sunset’s end continued, “You know you’re a cat, right?”
With a innocent look in its walled, golden eyes the cat scratched at its ear, then proceeded to lick her paw and clean itself, “Really? Huh, when did that happen?”
Sunset rubbed at her forehead with the palm of one hand, “Right, stupid question. I’m going inside now, see if I can’t hunt down some coffee. I feel like I’m going to need it.”
“Discord’s waiting down in the training area. When your pals show up we’ll all come down and join you,” said the cat with a happy twitch of its tail, and Sunset left the feline there and headed into the shop. When she went into the kitchen she found it in use, and froze in the doorway, tense.
Aria Blaze was at the stove, cooking up what appeared to be pancakes. The siren appeared to be having some difficulty with the task, growling and swearing under her breath as she tried to get them the pancakes to flip without breaking up. As Sunset watched Aria tried to flip one over, and put a bit too much force into it, nearly sending the half formed pancake into the sink.
“Argh! For the love of...” Aria grumped, frustration pouring from her as she tugged at one pigtail and went to retrieve the errant pancake. Then, when she turned around, she also froze when she saw Sunset. The two girls just stood there staring at each other for a bit, and Sunset took a deep breath, deciding she needed to break the tension first.
“Morning. Um, did you want some help with that?” she asked, and almost instantly regretted asking when Aria’s eyes narrowed venomously and she all but threw the pancake back on the skillet.
“No. I don’t,” Aria said, pointedly turning her back on Sunset and hunching over her cooking.
Sunset stood there a moment, thinking maybe she ought to skip her coffee search, until her own sense of pride flared up. She’d taken Aria’s punch the other day, and accepted the other girl’s anger, but she’d be damned if she was going to slink away like a kicked dog just because Aria was angry at her. She sympathized. She understood. Aria had lost someone dear to her, and by all accounts Sunset was a good chunk of the reason it had happened. That was why Sunset didn’t snap back at Aria. The sirens were in enough pain right now, and it was understandable that anger would be part of responding to that pain. But Sunset wasn’t going to run away from being in the same room as them, or act like she didn’t care.
With heavy steps she went into the kitchen and started looking for some coffee to start brewing. Discord, for all his estentricieis, at least kept a well stocked and organized kitchen. Or maybe it was the result of one of his helpers like Screwloose or Screwball who kept the kitchen in such good order. Regardless she quickly found what he was looking for and got a pot of coffee going. By now Aria had managed to coerce a few pancakes into relative edible shape and got out a pair of plates to put them on.
As she watched, Sunset took another deep breath, “How’s Sonata?”
Aria snapped her head around and glared, “How do you think? She hasn’t come out of our room since we got back. I go to sleep listening to her crying.”
Sunset leaned back against one of the kitchen counters, hands gripping the edge of the counter tightly as she said, “We’re going to get her back, Aria. I don’t know how, or when, but we’ll find a way.”
Aria stood there, shaking, eyes raw with equal parts pain and anger. “You don’t know that. You don’t know anything! You’re as much of an idiot as we were for ever thinking for a second we could trust you and your friends!” she spat the word like it was acid, “I won’t let the only sister I got left be hurt anymore by listening to your idealistic horsecrap! Stay away from us, you got that?”
Without waiting for a response, Aria stomped out of the kitchen, burnt pancakes in tow. Sunset watched her go, and when she was gone Sunset hung her head, holding herself. She closed her eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry. Damnit all, Aria, I’m sorry about Adagio...”
But Aria was gone and Sunset was just talking to herself.
When the coffee finished brewing and Sunset poured herself a cup, it didn’t do much to improve her mood, but she finished it off anyway and then proceeded to head for the training area. She poked her head into the lounge area briefly to see if Rarity was still there, and was somewhat surprised to see she wasn’t. Could Rarity already be up and about? Sunset frowned and continued on until she reached the hatch to the stairs that descended to the vast underground training area.
At the threshold she paused. The stairs had changed. They were no longer wood steps leading down to a well lit rocky area, but instead was now a long set of spiralling stone steps that seemed to descend deep into a dark shaft lit by torches.
“The heck?” Sunset hesitated a few moments before blowing out a sigh and staring down the stairs. Whatever Discord was up to, it had to be part of the new training.
Tentatively at first, then with greater confidence, Sunset started down the stairs. A she went deeper she felt the air growing more chilly, and it gave her an unpleasant flashback to the fight with Captain Platinum. It served as a reminder of why it was so important to go through with this training, no matter how difficult and dangerous it turned out to be. She and her friends didn’t get a lot stronger, and fast, then they’d be at the mercy of any of the factions that decided to come after them in force. Whatever the risks, they had to face them head on.
The stairs went down to what Sunset estimated to be about fifty feet, and she idly mused on what kind of magic, or rather Kido more likely, was at work here. Could Kido spells warp space? Clover had explained some Kido basics to her, but Sunset had yet to really feel up to trying any such spells herself and she still had no real idea what the upwards limits of Kido based spells were. Far as she could tell the training area had been completely replaced. Or maybe it was like a portal, with the hatch to the stairs actually being able to switch between different portals to various locations.
At the bottom of the stairwell was a flat, circular room that had one tall archway opening up into a lighted area. Sunset walked through and had to shield her eyes for a moment. Sunlight glared down on her, and the chill she felt made its origin clear, for Sunset was standing on a wide slope of a mountainside, in the middle of a vast mountainous chain. Tall conifer trees covered the various stone peaks like moss, and snow blanketed parts of the slopes from the cold of high elevation despite the warm spring sun shining down.
“Hoi, Sunset!”
Sunset looked up and behind her, seeing that above the archway, which was set in the side of a smooth rock outcropping, Clover stood waving. With a short leap Clover jumped down next to Sunset, wincing a bit as she did so. Sunset was quick to give her a concerned frown, putting a hand on Clove’s arm.
“You okay to be jumping around like that?”
“As good as I can be without spending a month straight being treated by the Fourth Division,” Clover said, wincing slightly, “But Discord is skilled at healing Kido, and the medicines he makes are even better. I guess he was the Captain of the Twelfth Division for a good reason. Neither me or Rarity are at peak health, but with Discord’s help we can be part of the training without too much extra risk.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want either of you pushing yourselves if your injuries still need healing. This training is important, but it won’t do you and Rarity any good to cripple yourselves by tearing open wounds that’ve hardly had time to heal properly,” Sunset said, but Clover put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll be fine, Sunset. I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought I wasn’t up to it, and I’d sit on Rarity myself and spend all day smacking her with more healing Kido if I thought it’d help more than what Discord’s already done. He was up pretty much all last night treating her, not resting at all.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll trust you guys. Where are Rarity and Discord anyway? And where are we? How did Discord make his shop’s basement lead to a place like this?” Sunset asked, looking at the pristine mountainscape around her.
“They’re down the slope a little ways,” Clover said, “Follow me. I’ll explain on the way.”
They started walking, Sunset rubbing her arms to generate a bit of heat. Even with her customary leather jacket on, she hadn’t exactly dressed for mountain weather. She didn’t mind that Discord was going ot put them through the wringer during this training, but did he have to choose to do it in such a cold place? Big shocker, but Sunset was never much of a fan of the cold. As they walked, Clover explained the deal with the mountains.
“Apparently Discord has spent a lot of time connecting a few special doors in his shop to certain locations. All relatively local. One of them leads to his favorite tea shop. The one you just went through leads here, to this secluded area in the mountains not far from Canterlot City. Its remote enough that we can train without, um, worrying about damaging anything.”
“Smart,” said Sunset, glancing around and slowly getting an idea of where they were. She wasn’t exceedingly familiar with the local geography but she knew enough to now recognize some of the peaks she could see as being the same in the mountains that were a good distance north of the city. They were pretty popular camping spots, actually. “Aren’t we worried about running into any campers or hikers?”
“No, Discord has wards set up to ensure anyone wandering our way gets turned around without suspecting a thing. Should be perfectly safe,” said Clover as they reached a small gully where the the runoff of some melting snow formed a stream that made for a short waterfall. At the base of the waterfall she saw Discord and Rarity waiting for them.
“Ah, Miss Shimmer, welcome,” said Discord as she and Clover walked down the steep path to the gully floor. “I hope I didn’t confuse you too much with my little portal trick with the hatch. I figured you and your friends would roll with it.”
“It was a bit weird, but I can see the value in the setup,” said Sunset, “Quick access to different parts of the city, an escape route if you need it, and I don’t doubt you’ve got hidden caches of supplies and a few other secrets I don’t know about.”
Discord’s eyes showed a brief element of discomfort before he said, “Just trust that anything I do keep to myself has nothing to do with you, your friends, or the past of their families. But... yes, I do have a few more skeletons in the closet. Just not skeletons that pertain to you. If I were to air all my dirty laundry to your girls we’d be here for days just listening to me talk. That’s not why we’re here.”
Sunset nodded, “You’re right, and sorry if that sounded snippy. Guess I’m just kind of tired of surprises, even ones that make sense and are harmless. I was just telling Clover its pretty clever, setting up a training area out here. Varied terrain, plenty of isolation, and given the kind of powers we use, there’s no collateral damage to worry about.”
She then turned her attention to Rarity, “Hey. You feeling alright?”
Rarity was wearing a fresh set of clothes, her usual ostentatious and well cut dress and blouse plus some hiking boots. There was also something around the shoulder that Platinum stabbed, some kind of encasement of wood that covered Rarity’s shoulder, and arm. It was etched with a symbol, a Japanese kanji that Sunset didn’t recognize. Rarity noticed her looking at it and gave a short laugh, touching the cast of wood.
“I’ll be quite alright, darling. Mister Discord did quite a lot to make my shoulder feel better, and this um, let’s be generous and call it ‘quaint’ fashion addition is going to brace the wound for today so any exertions during training doesn’t make the wound worse.”
“Think of it as a medical cast made from spiritually awakened wood that holds a constant charge of healing Kido that maintains the regenerative processes,” said Discord, “I offered the same to Clover but she insists she’s fine.”
“Because I am,” said Clover firmly, “Truly. I won’t be a burden on anyone, you have my word.”
“I will trust your judgement on that count, as I won’t be taking it easy on you today,” said Discord, “I can’t afford to hold back if I’m to prepare all of you for what’s to come.”
“Yeah, speaking of that, what’s this I hear about enlisting your cat to help us out?” asked Sunset, raising an eyebrow, “Just... who are they? I gathered they must have been a Soul Reaper, because of that story you told about how they gave up their Zanpaktou to save that girl, Starlight Glimmer, but what is the deal with them walking around like a cat?”
“I just think it's very comfortable,” said the cat as it appeared at the edge of the gully, Sunsets friends following behind, “I think everyone ought to try being a cat sometime!”
Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were all dressed in warmer clothes than Sunset was, and Fluttershy even carried some extra coats to hand out to her and Rarity as they gathered together. Sunset looked at the coat, and reluctantly exchanged it for her leather jacket. The coat was warmer, to be sure, but she liked her signature jacket. Oh well, she’d be in her spirit body soon enough anyway, so it seemed a moot point, but the gesture was appreciated regardless.
“How’d you know we’d need the extra clothes for the weather?” she asked, and Fluttershy just gave her an odd, open look.
“I, um, asked if we’d need anything special for today and Mr. Cat was nice enough to tell me where we were going.”
Sunset shot the cat a look, but the cat just smiled innocently and said, “You didn’t ask.”
“Well, now that everyone is here, I’d say there’s no time to waste,” Discord said as he twirled his gnarled cane and then rested it on his shoulder, “Miss Shimmer, Miss Clover, you will follow me down the gully into the forest. The rest of you girls will work with my friend here, who I think it’s well past time she introduced herself, isn’t it my dear?”
Sunset blinked and Applejack pointed at the cat, “Wait a darn sec, whaddya mean she? Cat sounds male ta me.”
The cat chuckled in its light, yet very male sounding voice, “Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to judge by appearances? Oh well, Discy’s right, I oughta introduce myself properly to all of you, since I’m going to be your teach for the next bit.”
As the cat spoke something like steam seemed to start pouring from its feline body. As the cloud of steam grew larger around it, the cat’s body started to morph, stretching and expanding upward slowly. Gray fur gradually shortened into smooth, light gray skin. As the body grew taller and took on human proportions a long mane of bright blonde hair grew from the crown of a youthful face that regained the golden, walled eyes that looked in different directions. In mere seconds the cat was gone and what stood before them was a young looking girl perhaps no more than a few years older than any of the other ladies from Canterlot High.
Sunset thought she recognized her as one of the students she’d seen wandering the halls at the school, but she’d always just sort of been hidden in the background. She was about to ask about that when all the other girls, for some reason, started freaking out.
“P-p-put on some clothes will ya!?” Applejack shouted, looking away, though occasionally glancing back at the gray girl with her face burning red.
Fluttershy was even more cherry colored, having turned her back completely, “Oh my... she’s, um... gifted, isn’t she.”
“Kind of jealous, actually,” Rainbow Dash was muttering, making a point of finding a nearby rock on the ground interesting, “The heck did you eat growing up?”
Rarity was shielding her eyes, “You know, miss, you could have warned us first before, ahem, ‘going natural’ like that. Did you want to borrow something to wear?”
Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to mind, just grinning innocently, “Hiya, what’s your name?”
“Pinkie! Perhaps she oughta cover up ‘fore we start up a friendly chat! Where’s yer shame, girl!?” Applejack said.
It took Sunset a few seconds to remember that humans had that nudity taboo. No wonder most of her friends were suddenly acting weird. The girl was naked as the day she was born, and Sunset supposed by human standards she was kind of a knock-out. She still wasn’t too familiar with what humans considered good looking, especially with the female end of the spectrum, but she guessed the girl was a solid nine out of ten. A little top heavy for her tastes. It still freaked her out a bit that human females kept them up on the chest. Seemed seriously inconvenient. Then again, bipeds; go figure.
Seeing as how she’d just switched coats, she offered the girl her leather jacket, “Here, before somebody starts bleeding from the nose.”
“Aww, but I find these reactions hilarious,” the girl said, but waved her hand at the jacket, “Keep it. I had Discord bring some clothes for me. Now that I’ve had my fun I’ll get dressed. Just a sec.”
Discord had removed a small wooden box from the folds of his robes and tossed them to the girl, who knelt down and opened the box, pulling out a set of black, form fitting bodysuit and leggings, a pair of white boots, and a orange tunic-like getup that looked like it was meant to go over the bodysuit. She dressed quickly, and when she was done she spun around and gave everyone a friendly smile and bow.
“Alrighty, so hello everyone, my name’s Ditzy Doo, of House Doo, one of the four noble houses of the Soul Society, though like Discord here I’ve been in exile for a long time. Pleased to meet all of you.”
Pinkie Pie happily shook Ditzy’s hand, “Pleasure to meet you! Birthday? I gotta update my files, since you’re a new friend and all!”
“Sixth of April, and if we’re doing parties, I’m a muffin girl, all the way,” said Ditzy.
“Blueberries?” Pinkie Pie asked hopefully, to which Ditzy winked.
“You know it!”
“Did we just become instant best friends?”
“For life.”
Pinkie Pie made a sound somewhere between a squee and a giggle and Sunset ran a hand through her hair, clearing her throat loudly.
“Not to interrupt, but question; haven’t we seen you at the school, Ditzy?”
At the question Rainbow Dash suddenly snapped her fingers, “Hey! That’s right! I totally remember her now! She like never talks, but it's always hanging around in the background and stuff!”
Rarity rubbed her chin, “Hmm, now that you mention it I do seem to vaguely recall someone of your particular appearance being in some of our classes, Miss Doo. But, that aside, are you sure I couldn’t make something for you to wear? The orange, I’m sorry it just doesn’t complement your complexion, darling.”
“Hey, this is the official training outfit used by the Stealth Corps back home,” said Ditzy, stretching as if to show the outfit off, which Sunset had to admit did... um... cling rather snuggly. “Buuuut, to answer the other question; the girl you’re thinking of isn’t me. It's my daugher. Derpy.”
“Daughter?” Sunset asked.
“You named your kid Derpy?” Rainbow Dash deadpanned, “Are you a sadist or something?”
“I’ll have you know it's a traditional name of the Doo family bloodline!” Ditzy said defensively, turning her chin up and crossing her arms under her ample chest, “Besides I’ve taught her how to protect herself. She’s completely able to deal with any bullies dumb enough to make fun of her name. Or her eyes for that matter. That’s one trait I wished I hadn’t passed on to her. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?”
“So, wait, is your daughter also a Soul Reaper?” asked Sunset, “How’d that even happen? You don’t look old enough to be a parent.”
Ditzy blinked at her, one eye focusing on Sunset, “I hope I don’t look too old, otherwise I’m going to have to smack Discord for selling me a defunct gigai. And no, Derpy isn’t a Soul Reaper. She’s got the potential, inherited from me, but she’s never trained in spiritual powers, and has no idea about what her real heritage is. Far as she knows I work as an international security consultant; aka a bodyguard. Not too far from the truth, since I spent a lot of time protecting Discord’s interests.”
For a moment all the friendliness drained right out of Ditzy Doo’s face and became something fierce and cold, “And I’ll appreciate it if none of you breathe a word of this to Derpy. I don’t want my daughter to be a part of any of this. She was born a human and it's my wish that she live a normal life and die as a human, old and happy. Got it?”
“In spades,” said Sunet, glancing at her friends, who all nodded their ascent.
Ditzy nodded, smiling once more, “Great! Now that twenty questions is out of the way, I’d say it's time to start training! You and Clover go along with Discord, and the rest of you follow me. We’re going up the mountain a ways.”
“I’m down for that! It’s what we came for, right girls?” said Rainbow Dash, looking pumped.
“Y-yes, I guess so. What are we going to be doing exactly?” asked Fluttershy, to which Ditzy just waggled a finger.
“Better to show you. Come on, follow me. Oh, and good luck Discy. Don’t break them.”
“You too, Ditzy. Try not to overdo it,” said Discord as Ditzy led off Sunset’s friends, taking them out of the gully and trekking up the mountain slope. He then turned to her and Clover and nodded down the gully towards the edge of the thick forest clinging to the side of the rocky terrain. “This way.”
As they walked, moving along the edge of the stream, Sunset sped up to walk next to Discord, giving him a sidelong look, “Alright, so why are me and Clover being trained separately from the rest of our friends?”
“While the core idea behind the training is going to be the same for all of you, there are different techniques involved when it comes to training Soul Reapers as opposed to pushing a Fullbringers abilities further. While we could train you all together, it’d be less efficient, and take longer, and time is a commodity we don’t have much of,” replied Discord simply. They reached the forest and he continued on into the thick forest of tall pines.
They continued on for a time, perhaps half a mile into the forest before Discord led them to a snowy clearing. There he stopped and turned to her and Clover, nodding at Sunset. “Best to take your spirit form now.”
“Right,” Sunset said, pulling out the Chappy gikon and swallowing it. Her soul popped out of her body, fully clad in black robes and with Hokori sheathed at her side. She glanced at the waiting Chappy and instructed the gikon to take her body back through the portal to the shop.
“No problem boss, good luck with the crazy training!” said Chappy, turning to jog off, but pausing briefly, “Ummm, hey, is it okay if I take your body for a whirl at the pizza parlor? They’ve got these new garlic butter stuffed crusts I’m dying to try.”
“Ugh, okay, okay, just... don’t overdo it! I don’t need to deal with indigestion after exhausting myself training,” said Sunset, and Chappy made a joyful whoop before bounding off. “Sigh, I really wish I could use my powers inside my actual body.”
Clover patted her shoulder, “It’ll be okay... hm, although I do admit I think your Chappy gikon has been acting odder than she should. I wonder if she’s developing some abnormalities by constantly being used for extended periods of time in the living world?”
“Are they usually not?” asked Sunset.
“Well, gikons are kind of for emergency use when a Soul Reaper needs to leave a gigai quickly, which honestly isn’t that common. I think yours might be the first gikon that’s gotten such regular heavy use, so maybe she’s developing personality quirks outside the gikon’s normal programming?”
“Ahem,” said Discord, “While that is an interesting question, we have other concerns at the moment.”
He pulled back the sleeves on his dark green robes and knelt down, placing his hand on the snow, eyes closing in concentration as he started to chant.
"Cry in the depths, essence of man, burn, writhe
Steel from blood, iron from bone, the coffin shatters
Rise and defy the sky, defy the sun, defy the moon
Ten shall count resolve, ten shall count worth
Ten shall be the corpses left behind"
As he chanted an intense violet glow of light began to expand outward from where Discord knelt, spiraling like a whirlpool. Sunset felt immense spiritual energy flowing from the man as his chant reached a crescendo, and the deep purple light began to rise around them like walls. In fact Sunset realized the energy was transmuting into walls. Tall, thick walls of conjured wood and... and bone?
”Secret Bakudo: Ju Bai Tamashi Rengoku!” (Ten Layered Soul Purgatory)
With a sound almost like the slamming of giant iron doors the Kido spell took final shape and Sunset and Clover found themselves standing within what looked like a large chamber, about eighty feet wide and twelve tall. The walls and ceiling were indeed made from intertwined beams of wood and what looked like humongous, thick bones. However while that was disturbing, what really affected Sunset was the immediate feeling of intense drain on her body. She suddenly felt tired and winded, as if she’d run a dozen miles. She put a hand to her chest, breathing hard.
“What the...? Clover, are you feeling this?”
Clover’s face had paled and she nodded, her own breathing labored, “Yes. This is... Discord, is this what I think it is?”
“If what you think it is happens to be a special barrier Kido that is compressing your spiritual energy, then you’re right, Clover,” said Discord, gesturing around him in grandiose fashion, like a magician revealing his master performance, “You’re standing within one of many ‘Secret’ class Kido I’ve developed over the years. No standard classification number, only performable by myself and a select few I’ve taught the secrets to.”
“That’s great and all but why do I feel like I’ve had the strength drained right out of me?” asked Sunset, trying to regulate her breaths. This almost reminded her of what it felt like to be crushed under the heavy spiritual pressures of those like Grogar or Captain Platinum.
“That’s because this Kido is designed to put strain on the reiryuku of any spirit being within it. It’s designed specifically for training Soul Reapers under extreme conditions. Having your spirit energy compressed in this manner, while being forced to fight for survival... this is the key to unlocking greater power in a Soul Reaper, because it has the side effect of strengthening the bond between Soul Reaper and Zanpaktou.”
“Fight for survival?” Sunset asked warily, one hand already going to Hokori’s hilt, “Against what?”
Discord gravely pointed behind them and both Sunset and Clover looked over their shoulders. The wall on that side of the room began to shift with the distinct, dusty and dry clack of bones. First a sharp, skeletal foot tore its way from the wall, followed by a thin, grasping hand of bone. Bit by bit a figure tore itself out of the wall, a shambling human skeleton, clad in the wide and red lacquered armor of an ancient samurai. Sunset thought it didn’t look too tough an opponent, but the moment that thought glided through her mind she saw dozens of more skeletal, clawed fingers bursting from the wall. And not just that wall, but all of them. From all corners of the chamber the morbid army took form, like some old, resurrected horde. Amid the echoing, rattling regiment Sunset saw drawn swords and ready spears. Within the empty eye sockets of each skeleton burned tiny purple flames.
Clover, while sounding perfectly creeped out, managed to actually sound somewhat admiring at the same time. “These are well made constructs, Mister Discord. I, uh, take it that we can’t advance to the next stage until we’ve defeated all of these opponents?”
“Correct,” Discord replied with a small, wry nod, “They are held back only by the will of the one who cast the Kido spell that created this tower we stand in; namely me. The moment I release them, they will do all in their power to kill you. Destroy them and the way opens to the next layer. On each new layer greater challenges await, more deadly constructs combined with the fact that the strain on your spirit energies will only grow more intense. Reach and clear the tenth layer alive, and you pass.”
“Sounds simple enough,” said Sunset, taking a deep breath and preparing herself, calming her nerves and steeling her resolve.
“Yes,” said Clover, drawing her own Zanpaktou and taking a ready stance, “No matter the difficulty, we will prevail.”
“I hope so. I can’t afford to give you too much help during this, you’ll have to survive on your own skills, my dears.” Discord turned and walked to the side until a staircase of bones formed from the roof, leading to a opening to the next floor that he went up, “I’ll await you at the top.”
After he was gone the staircase and opening in the ceiling closed back up, leaving Sunset and Clover alone with the horde of skeletal samurai. As if by unspoken instinct and understanding the two girls went back to back, blades held at the ready.
“Showtime,” Sunset said, holding one fist out to Clover.
Clover looked at the fist, blinking, then smiled sheepishly and bumped it with her own.
As if the skeletal constructs took that as a signal, they silently bared their weapons and came in at the girls on all sides in one, giant, rattling mass.
-----------
Rainbow Dash was enjoying the brisk hike up the mountainside. The clear, crisply chill air was bracing and the view energizing. Of course not all the girls dug it the way she did.
“A-are we there yet or what?” asked Pinkie Pie, huffing and puffing as one of her eyes twitched, “I think I’ve got a stitch in my side.”
“Aww c’mon Pinkie, you’re like the definition of boundless energy most the time, but a little hiking is getting to you?” asked Rainbow Dash teasingly, and her friend put her hands on her knees, bending over for a moment to catch her breath.
“That’s when I’m on level ground! Inclines, in a word, suck! And we’ve been walking forever!”
“We’ve been walking ten minutes!”
“For-ev-er!”
Applejack just gave Pinkie Pie a playful punch on the shoulder, “This is why I’m always tellin’ ya ta lay off the pastries, Pinkie. Yer needin’ ta balance out yer diet more so you don’t git winded by a’ little hill like this.”
“I beg to differ,” said Rarity, “But I must agree with Pinkie Pie, that this mountain hiking is a tad draining. Where are we going and why weren’t we perfectly fine training down by that lovely gully?”
As she spoke there was a distant flash of violet light coming from the forest at the bottom of the mountain slope, where all the girls knew Discord had taken Sunset and Clover. Rainbow Dash peered and shaded her eyes from the sun as she watched while what appeared to be a tall, pagoda-like tower rise from the treetops. It was easily over a hundred feet tall, with a distinct eastern look about it as each floor had long, sloped roofs with dark shingles. Something in the tower’s construction looked odd to Rainbow Dash’s eyes, as if some parts of it were made from large bones, but that couldn’t be right.
“The heck is that?”
“One of the reasons we can’t train too close to your friends,” said Ditzy Doo, standing at the head of the group with her arms crossed. “You see, Discy’s Kido spells for this training take up a lot of space, and multiple versions can’t be cast too close to each other without destabilizing.”
“So that’s some kind of weird training tower Discord just summoned?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Sweet! You going to do the same thing?”
“Will we be at a hundred times gravity?” asked Pinkie Pie, still catching her breath.
Ditzy Doo laughed, shaking her head, “No and no. First of all, a hundred times gravity? Wrong continuity. Second of all, the Kido I’ll be using is a lot simpler than Discord’s fancy training tower, but that’s because the tower was made for training Soul Reapers to bond more closely with their Zanpaktou. You girls are Fullbringers, and your power springs from a different source. The Kido I’m about to use is similar, but tailored for Fullbringers, and doesn’t quite require the same finesse.”
Thrusting her arm into the air, palm turned upward, a intense golden glow began to enshroud Ditzy Doo. “It also helps to have lots of earth around to act as a foundation.”
Ditzy Doo then slammed her palm down into the mountainside, sending currents of golden yellow light splintering outward like cracks in a mirror. The girls all looked around at each other worriedly as they felt the stone beneath their feet start to shake. Rainbow Dash was about ot ask what was going on but Ditzy Doo spoke first, chanting the resonate words of a Kido spell.
”Battleborn from the entombed soul
Waxen figures drenched in flame, hardened for war
Form now the cradle of seeping blood
Clad in armor of bones, warriors await their time"
As the mountain shook, Rainbow Dash heard a deafening crack as to either side of them dirty and rock erupted from the sides of the earthy slopes. She, along with all the girls were thrown off their feet as an entire slab of stone, over a hundred feet wide, emerged from the side of the mountain, with them on it. It jutted from the mountain like a fist, but that was just the beginning.
“Secret Bakudo: Kitae Tamashī no Butai !” (Arena of the Tempered Soul)
At Ditzy Doo’s words, completing the Kido, the slab of stone burst forth with pillars and vast stone walls, encircling the girls in what appeared to be a conjured arena akin to an ancient colosseum. Tall bronze braziers mounted along the top of the arena’s walls burst forth with intense crimson fire, and bathed the area in a hellish red glow.
Rainbow Dash, still trying to get to her feet, felt an immediate and intense pressure on herself. It wasn’t unpleasant, per se, more like she’d just downed half a dozen energy drinks. She felt extremely agitated, like she could run ten kilometers and still have energy to spare. But it was a dangerous kind of energy, like it wanted to burst out of her, as if she were a balloon being stretched tight with too much water. Rainbow Dash also felt unusually... aggressive, like all she wanted to do was put her fist through something.
“What in blue blazes did you just do lady!?” she near shouted, pointing at Ditzy.
“Easy. I created an arena to train you girls in. The same arena I helped train your mothers in,” Ditzy Doo replied evenly, facing Rainbow Dash with a unblinking gaze.
“Our mothers trained here?” Fluttershy looked around, her body shaking, her voice oddly hissing and angry, “Did you also scare them half to death by summoning this thing without any warning?”
“H-hey, is anybody else feeling really, really grumpy right now?” asked Pinkie Pie, frowning, “Because I’m getting maximum grump vibes offa all of you, and I’m feeling kinda the same.”
“I do feel strange, certainly,” said Rarity, eyes narrowing, “A tad cross, if I do say so, though I’m not at all certain why. Its as if I’ve drunk entire too much coffee while being annoyed by a late night project.”
“All I’m feelin’ is like I wanna knock someone's block off,” said Applejack, face twisted into a deep grimace, “I ain’t likin’ it one bit.”
Ditzy Doo nodded, “That would be the arena’s aura doing its thing. You see, your powers as Fullbringers stems from Hollow origins. I’m sure you remember how your powers behaved strangely while in Hueco Mundo?”
Rainbow Dash glanced at her friends, noticing they were all looking at each other apprehensively, Pinkie Pie in particular giving off a disturbed vibe as she shuddered and said, “Yeah, Mena got super cranky. Like, way more than her usual levels of grumpiness.”
“That’s because Hueco Mundo’s aura, the Hollow energy that permeates that realm, resonates with your Fullbrings. Ultimately a Fullbring is a mutation of Hollow powers inside all of you, inherited from your mothers. While Fullbring operates different than pure Hollow abilities, the kind of Hollow energy present in Hueco Mundo can enhance and excite your powers. Without control, it can make them unstable, as you witnessed in Hueco Mundo. With control, you’ll find being bathed in Hollow energy can make you stronger. It can even help you evolve your Fullbrings.”
“So that’s what this fancy arena is all about, eh?” said Rainbow Dash, cracking her knuckles, “Its hitting us with a bunch of that Hollow energy. That’s why I’m feeling so riled up!”
Ditzy Doo touched her nose, “Bing bing bing, and the prize goes to the blue one. This is why Discy needed my help to train you girls. Only I could use this Kido, since the user needs to have Hollow energy in order to fill up the arena with a similar aura. Otherwise it’d be useless for amping up your Fullbrings.”
Rarity frowned, rubbing her chin, “Wait a moment, wouldn’t that mean you have...?”
“Oh, right, I forgot to mention that part, didn’t I?” said Ditzy Doo as she raised her left hand above her head, turned inward as if grasping at something. Rainbow Dash then felt a sudden surge of spiritual pressure, stemming from the woman in front of them, a upwelling of spirit energy that started to turn distinctly dark and predatory. Very much like a Hollow’s. A deep red aura, like trails of smoke, rose from Ditzy Doo’s form, and in her raised hand an object began to take shape from gathering particles of crimson light.
Within seconds a mask formed in Ditzy’s waiting hand.
The mask was white as bone, except for three identical slash marks along the cheeks in dark red. It had a vaguely feline shape to it, with tapered portions on the head that looked like cat ears, or perhaps more like demon’s horns if one looked at it just the right way. The mask bore thin eye slits and a grinning, fang filled mouth, bearing very much a similar appearance to the masks of Hollows, aside from the fact that this was clearly an object to be worn and not an organic part of a body.
Rainbow Dash heard the other girls gasping, Applejack all but snarling, “What’s the dang meanin’ here!? What’re ya!?”
“Y-you can’t be a Hollow, can you?” Fluttershy backed away a step.
Confusion spiked inside Rainbow Dash, and on instinct she transformed, allowing her body to be suffused in blue light as she ponied up and sprouted her metallic wings. Immediately she could tell that being inside the arena’s aura was affecting her power. The lightning energy that spiraled and flowed around her outstretched wings was tinged red, and she could feel her power vibrating inside her with violent intent. Some part of her wanted to immediately lash out at Ditzy Doo, even though at the moment she hadn’t made any threatening moves.
Ditzy Doo upon seeing Rainbow Dash transform gave her a smile and nod of approval, then said to all of the girls, “It’d take too long to go into what I am and why. Suffice to say I’m sort of like you girls, and that similarity should help make training you even easier than it was with your mothers. This arena alone was enough to train them, with its ability to simulate Hollow reiatsu, but I wasn't like this back then. Now that I am, your Fullbrings will feel the Hollow power inside me and react to it. Now then...”
In one swift, sure motion Ditzy Doo put on the mask, and Rainbow Dash saw the woman’s eyes transform. Blackness filled her sclera and her already golden eyes gained a glowing luminescence identical to that of a Hollows. When she spoke again her voice had become distorted, almost monstrous.
“Training starts now. You girls are going to come at me with everything you have. Go ahead and ‘pony up’.”
Rainbow Dash took a calming breath, steadying her nerves under the pressure of Ditzy’s unnerving spiritual energy, and raised her fists. “Don’t need to ask me twice.”
Applejack’s teeth grated, but she followed Rainbow Dash’s lead, transforming in a glow of gold light, her metallic boots now tinged red from both internal energy and the glow of the red flaming braziers encircling the coliseum. “Gettin’ real tired of all these dang surprises.”
“Very well, let us, as Rainbow Dash would say, ‘do this thing’,” said Rarity, her flowing crimson dress flowing onto her body and her rapier appearing in her hand in a gleam of red light.
Fluttershy silently transformed, third eye opening while her other eyes narrowed with quiet determination.
Pinkie Pie spat on her hands and rubbed them together, licking her lips as she brought out the flow of mist that formed into Pinkamena. The straight haired doppelganger took shape and already had multiple mouths of sharp teeth forming all over her body, her main mouth dripping with drool and her eyes glowing brightly yellow.
“Sooooo hungry!” Pinkamena growled, shaking like an animal barely held back on a chain.
Ditzy nodded in approval, turning and widening her stance to present a ready combat pose. “Now remember girls, don’t hold back. Otherwise-”
She vanished in an eyeblink and a shockwave of sonic force as she moved with breakneck speed to appear in the center of the girls’ formation. “-it will hurt.”
Fists and feet flashed out with blinding swiftness, making Ditzy look as if she was suddenly three or four different people, her form blurring into multiple mirages of herself as she truck all five girls simultaneously. Rainbow Dash felt a kick struck her square in the back before she’d barely had a chance to turn her head in shock, and in the next instant she, along with all of her friends, were sent flying like skipping stones over water to crash to the ground at different points around the arena grounds.
As Rainbow Dash was still getting the stars blinked out of her eyes as she tried to stand, she heard Ditzy saying distantly, “And by the way, I forgot to mention this, but the training doesn’t stop until you girls manage to make me bleed!”
----------
The cell was a plain, dreary, if immaculately clean place. The thick bars separating the cell from the rest of the room were essentially a formality, for Celestia knew she could break free at any time she wished. Yet such violent action would completely undermine her purpose. The entire point of willingly complying with Platinum was for the purpose of overturning the problems within Soul Society by using the due processes of law. To do otherwise would risk destroying the fragile order that had managed to hold together for such a long time, an order Celestia had helped build with her own hands alongside her sister.
Those hands now clenched in her lap as she sat in quiet meditation in her cell, awaiting her hearing with Central 46. She’d been divested of her Zanpaktou, though not her Captain’s robes, which still hung around her shoulders, a heavy weight of responsibility for so light a cloth.
There were narrow slits for windows in the top of the wall that provided some small light, and a view of the Seireitei; the inner realm of Soul Society where the Soul Reapers dwelled with the members of the four noble houses, and where the Soul Reaper Academy was built. At the very center of the Seireitei’s many ordered, clean avenues of shining white stone and tall, immaculate buildings stood a large plateau of stone. Upon that plateau was built the headquarters of the Gotei 13. It was a vast fortress of many towering pillars of stone and interlocked castle walls, all of it bearing the distinct sweeping roofs and wide walkways of Japanese inspired architecture. The particular tower that Celestia’s cell was in faced a long jutting expanse of stone that pushed out from the north side of the fortress plateau; the Sokyoku Hill where it was traditional to hold the execution of traitors and other severe criminals.
Celestia thought it was in poor taste to build cells to specifically look out on such grim ground, but she supposed if she’d wanted to object she should have paid more attention to such things when the fortress was being built.
She took a deep breath, clearing her mind. She wished that Lulu was here, but there was no way she’d be allowed to share a cell with her sister. She imagined Luna was being held in a completely separate part of the fortress. Celestia hoped fervently that Luna wouldn’t do anything rash until the hearing. They needed to maintain their poise and wits if they were to put an end to this foolishness.
Celestia heard the clink of a key turning and the door to the cell room opened, the Soul Reaper guards outside opening it up to allow entry for another. Captain Platinum strode into the room, gesturing at the guards with a dismissive wave, “You may close the door. I wish to speak with the prisoner alone.”
The guard only hesitated a moment before bowing, “Yes ma’am.” As the guard closed the door, Celestia couldn’t help but notice the tension in the young man as he glanced at her apologetically. Many of the guards seemed more embarrassed by having to have Celestia be in a cell rather than wary of her actually trying to escape. It was a tension Celestia had noticed in more than a few places within Soul Society upon her and Luna’s return, as if all was stretched taut and ready to snap among her people. It was... troubling.
“Ah, Captain Platinum, you’ll forgive me if I do no rise to greet you. I was meditating and it seems my leg has gone and fallen asleep,” Celestia said in a polite tone, to which Platinum rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t come here for a verbal sparring match, I came to inform you that the Central 46 have set you hearing date. You and your sister will be answering for your actions in four days time.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, but kept most of the surprise off of her face, “That’s remarkably fast, for Central 46. I imagined they’d drag their feet for at least a week.”
Platinum allowed a small smirk to tug at her lips, “They are taking the situation seriously, Celestia. As should you. Treason is a serious matter.”
“And a phrase completely inapplicable to myself and my sister,” Celestia said with calm assertion. She met Platinum’s eyes with an intensely inquisitive gaze, “I confess only to being curious. We’ve never been friends, Platinum, but I thought we respected one another. I believe, or at least believed, that we both seek to serve Soul Society in our own way. What makes you so intent on trying to prove me and Luna as traitors? Where would you even get such a ludicrous notion?”
Platinum’s expression turned still and cold as a frozen lake, her voice carrying about as much warmth, “Do you take me for a fool? As if I’d reveal my hand to you at this stage, just so you could fabricate more lies to worm your way out of meeting justice.”
Celestia did stand then, not letting her eyes leave Platinum’s for an instant. She calmly strode up to the bars of her cell and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please, Platinum, explain yourself.”
“Hmph, of course you’d say something like that, but I won’t be taken in, and neither will Central 46. Once they see the evidence I have to present, there will be no doubt as to the traitorous nature of you and Luna,” Platinum said as she turned around and went back to the door. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes still cold, “You know there was a time, long ago, when I did respect you. When I thought you were the model by which other Captains should be judged. To think you’ve deceived us for all this time...”
“Platinum, listen to me, I don’t know what ‘evidence’ you think you have, but I’m telling you that someone, somewhere, has tricked you with fabrication!” Celestia said, having difficulty keeping her voice as calm as it was before. Some part of her knew that if she looked as rattled as she felt it’d only reinforce whatever delusion Platinum was under, but it was hard to keep a straight face. So someone out there had manufactured some kind of false evidence against her and Luna? It must have been convincing, to make Platinum think it’d swing the Central 46 or even the Captain Commander against her and Luna. However she was at a loss to think of what this evidence could be or what crime it supposedly convicted her and Luna of.
Platinum eyed her for a moment longer, for a moment looking almost doubting, then she shook her head with a scoffing noise, “Tch, your desperation just digs your grave deeper. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but the proof I found is irrefutable. So goodbye, Celestia. I shall see you at the hearing, and then I suspect, upon the Sokyoku Hill.”
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Is Ditzy another one of those "fourth-wall breakers"?
That's an interesting little twist with Ditzy and Derpy; I'm sure you wouldn't have set it up this way without a reason, and now I'm curious to see how it plays out,
Really looking forward to seeing 'A Day in the Life of a Quincy' and 'Hollows in their Natural Habitat'; things like that were touched on in the manga but never explored to the same level that the Soul Reapers were.
Interesting, interesting... I didn't expect Ditzy at all. At. All. Epic twist. Discord having a Vizard in his ranks of allies fits what we know of him and his background very nicely. I do wonder about his tastes though. Skeletal troops and gladiator death ring? Honestly
On the shinigami side, I worry more. What is being spun and who is the weaver of that web? Looking very very complex. Celestia's banter is awesome though.
Overall character wise, I worry about Pinkie. Her abilities summon a powerful combatant, but she herself is left the most vulnerable as a result... maybe an evolution of Pinkemena will help... Actually... what were her mother's powers?
And Chappy. I can't tell if you are going the modsoul route of if the soul is just... evolving from frequent use. Either way, it's awesome and I love how your story continues to be so unexpected even as it trails somewhere near the canon events of the manga.
Friendship souls
hollows
Soul Reapers
Not Dark Souls
Oh well, I'll still read it
Ditzy is Derpy's mom. Huh. Well, that's a new one. And she apparently has big boobs, which is always a plus! Interesting chapter, looking forward to more!
I wouldn’t want Ponyville to be ground zero for sigh a confrontation
to start pouring from it’s feline body
go over the bodysuit She dressed quickly
She like never talks, but it's always hanging around
appreciate it if none of you breath a word of this
created this tower we stand in; namely me
Will be be at a hundred times gravity
At Ditzy’s Doo’s words
of traitors and other sever criminals
1. Such.
2. Its.
3. Forgot your fullstop.
4. Is.
5. Breathe.
6. Extra spacing.
7. We.
8. Ditzy, in this case.
9. Severe.
Hmm... For an anime training montage, that'd be a pretty hard thing to do normally to keep it short but you're doing quite fine with a JRPG which are notorious for grinding.
Interesting to what you did with our Fullbring trainer doing that to her but otherwise makes complete sense. I do wonder however if Sunset may reach that level as well one day (read: chapter) it'd definitely be interesting to see her interpreted form. Speaking of form, since our Hollow cam is coming up, I do have to wonder how Adagio is going to change. Back to human shape? Becoming an Arrancar in the process and looking like how she used to? I'd like to think so and that her gem is acting like a vacuum trying to restore her original form since it is in essence a part of her soul despite the fact that her physical vessel was destroyed. Quincy training is also gonna be a hoot since it's now in an academy and not a solo sort of thing. Makes me wonder if others like say maybe Moondancer are in the academy as well seeing as how diverse the Quincy here are.
There are even a few possible Equestria style power-ups now available with the new movie.
Not now but the movie gives the Author even more possible options from the Canon side of things.
Ditzy is Derpy's mom and also a Vizard? Cool concept here...
Nice twist on who the cat was.
Didn't Discord complain to ditzy about her being able to get out more because she can be a student at the school? Does that mean she goes to school with her daughter or is this a continuity error
huh, ditzy. I honestly expected Chrysalis instead.
7609886
Knowing my swiss cheese mind it's probably continuity error, because I don't remember Discord saying that, but he could have totally said something like that. Which chapter?
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
7610385 The training begins.
7610591
Thanks, I'll go ahead and fix that up then.
7610385 I recall that too, but I can't seem to find the quote. I know it was before Episode 21, because that was where I caught up with the story after starting. I'm searching through the early chapters with the keywords 'cat' and 'school', but I'm coming up blank here.
7610766
I found it in chapter eight and made a quick edit to fix the line. Yeah, during those early chapters I was still hammering out ideas and its entirely possible I intended for the cat to be the Derpy we see at the school, but simply forgot about that line later on after I changed plans.
...Hell yeah, this is one of the best Bleach crossovers I've come across. I love the world-building and character interactions you've got going on, and I can't wait for more after marathoning this fic all day.
And because I can, I'll just start making guesses.
1. Assuming Sunset gets Bankai, she'll probably look like some sort of winged war goddess clad in armor.
2. Assuming Human Twilight gets Vollstandig, it's gonna have traits of Midnight Sparkle, at least where the wings are concerned.
3. I do hope you decide to implement the new magic powers (or at least some of them) shown in the newest Equestria Girls movie for the girls to give them even more variety. They'll definitely open up new opportunities for even better combo powers.
I wish you luck in your endeavors.
WHOOHOO! Great chapter! Keep this up!
Best standardized test ever: the I.S.A.T.
INTENSE!!! SUPER!!! ANIME!!! TRAINING!!!
You know, this chapter got me thinking, so AJ's mom was a Fullbringer who had Hollow powers but now she's a Soul reaper and correct me if im wrong but does that mean that she can change into a Vizard? is that even possible? Man im so pumped for next chapter!
7632768 Maybe?
I was expecting it to be revealed that chrysalis was the cat, but ditzy's still good :)
Okay I have to stop and comment on a few things here. Let me start by saying the first arc was awesome, all the powers make sense and fit the characters, you introduced ALL of the major factions immediately rather than any of them being an asspull being an asspull in the last arc (canon quincies) and we have a nice mix of characters across all the races especially with a confirmed Vaizard in the cast. The introduction of minor villains within each faction to be dealt with later (Fleur and Grogar) while keeping the main, god tier villains hidden for now (Well Sombra's appeared but I'm hoping he's not a full on villain) gives us people to hate and want to see get their ass kicked before the real bad guys show up.
Now as for the current arc I have some problems with it. They all find out that their mothers have had their memories sealed and absolutely no one suggests finding a way to break it so the mothers can help the daughters (Cloudy Quartz still being able to see ghosts would suggest they still have their powers, they just don't remember anything). I know Discord said he couldn't but that doesn't mean it's impossible, Pony Twilight was able to break spirit of chaos Discord's spell on her friends by giving them back their memories. It would certainly give Princess Twilight more to do and an actual purpose beyond working with the portal.
Ditzy's training only further emphasises my opinion that they should be training to invade Las Noches and rescue Adagio, not enter Soul Society. No matter how convincing Platinum's supposed evidence is, no Soul Reaper with any sense or ability to think for themselves is going to not know they've been set up and, unlike in canon the Soul Society is in open warfare with not one but two organised armies who rival them in power. I point blank refuse to believe they are stupid enough to fight among themselves right now unless this universes' Aizen has literally half or more of the captains under their control (either willingly or more likely some manner of mind control). Therefore the whole reason the group are going to Soul Society doesn't make sense and in Las Noches most of their group would get an inherent power boost especially if, as I suggested above, they find a way to restore the Cloudy Quartz and the other mother's memories. Applejack is the only one with an actual motivation to go to soul society.
By the way probably maybe not your intention but I hold Twilight Velvet and Night Light personally responsible for what happened to Adagio and, until they do something to redeem themselves, I will spend the remaining chapters until I'm caught up wishing bodily harm upon them (Velvet deserves way more than the papercut she got). It's not fair that Sunset has to take it from Aria because Velvet has an irrational grudge on Discord.
I hope Clover reaches legit Captain level just to see the reactions of the Soul Reapers who knew her as she kicks some Captain ass.
... Did you just... Make her say "Sigh"? Alrighty then, its you're story, I'm still rooting for Sharkman though. Sharkman for life.
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After taking the time to study history, I think you'll find, that yes, there are some leaders who really were that stupid. Even the ones we still to this day call brilliant architects of history have had startling moments of idiocy, Julius Caesar anyone?
Though I do agree that it seems stupid, I really can't say I find it too unrealistic, or unbelievable. It is how the greatest nations crumbled after all, not through the genius of their enemies, but the incompetence of their leaders.
This easily tied with my other favorite bleach crossover of all time. Arana on SpaceBattles.
Hello, Ditzy!
Derpy's mother? Huh. Even Derpy was not at all on my radar for...well, anything.
As a wise man once said “Now there are two of them!”
Spoilers to all readers not currently caught up with the story. This is your warning.
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If you haven’t caught up with the story, it’s best not to read this comment. Since it’s been so long I assumed your caught up if your still reading it that is.
Nice, you actually guessed correctly with all three of these theories!