Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls

by thatguyvex

Episode 85: Three Fated Souls

Episode 85: Three Fated Souls

“So what happens now?”

All things considered, after the conversation she’d just had, and all the things she’d learned, Twilight wasn’t sure she was actually prepared for whatever came next. The time for doubts, however, had largely passed. She was set on her course and there was hardly any room to wonder if she’d be able to handle it. That didn’t stop her mind from generating a nice, long laundry list of things to worry about, including her missing hand, still having an assassination plot aimed at her, and the fresh fear of knowing she had a sentient piece of the Soul Queen playing piggyback with her soul.

But, you know, baby steps. Deal with the problems one at a time, try not to die in the process.

Sombra may as well have read her mind, or simply had a good idea of what she was thinking, for he said in a reassuring tone, “For today, rest. Go visit your friends. Indigo Zap and Sour Sweet are both still in the hospital wing, and the rest of your squad is likely taking turns keeping them company. I suggest taking some time to do the same and collect your thoughts. As for your larger concerns, the assassin is unlikely to strike again so soon after botching an attempt on you. I’ll have Soarin keeping watch on you, just in case.”

“I don’t suppose you heard from Shining Armor or Cadence before bringing me here about if they found my tracer or not?” Twilight asked. She couldn’t imagine it’d take Cadence very long to backtrack the second tracer Twilight had made, although admittedly she’d taken less than an hour to eat and gather herself before having this conversation with Sombra, so it could be her brother and soon to be sister-in-law were still searching.

“Actually they did, just before you came out of your room. I avoided mentioning anything because I didn’t wish to distract you from the more pressing conversation at hand,” Sombra said, and Twilight huffed out a strained laugh.

“Is it sad or scary that I can’t even disagree with you that learning what I have about the Soul Queen and you actually was more pressing than the assassin trying to kill me?”

A trace of a sardonic smile quirked Sombra’s mouth, “I would say both. At any rate your tracer was found on a damaged uniform turned in to a waste disposal facility at the Hueco Mundo side of the Silburn.”

Twilight frowned, “What does that mean, exactly?”

“During any battle, large or small, it’s understandable that uniforms are damaged. Sufficiently damaged ones are usually turned in to be disposed of, if they happen to be beyond repair. More often than not the damaged uniform materials are recycled, or in the cases of scraps beyond such salvage, they are incinerated.”

Gears turned with smooth, oiled efficiency in Twilight’s mind, only slightly gummed up by the misty hazards of stray thoughts pressing in from darker corners. “I didn’t inflict that kind of injury on the assassin. Neither did Cinch. Could they have suspected a tracer and been looking to dispose of it?”

“Possibly, but I doubt it. Finding a tracer is extremely difficult, even for those who know what they’re looking for. There are experts who can, but I don’t believe the assassin knew it was even there to look for. More likely the assassin wanted to remove evidence they were present in your location at all. Conversely its possible something did cause damage to the uniform after the assassin escaped you and Cinch.” Sombra frowned, “Hmph, I still need to consider a reward for that woman, for coming to your aid. How... faintly irritating.”

Twilight raised and eyebrow, “Do you hold a grudge against her?”

“You don’t?”

“Not really. Not anymore at least. I may have still had a problem with her if things were different, but I’ve got so many other concerns on my plate now, having a grudge against my former school principal just feels... small, you know? Besides, she did help me. Goes a long way in my book to square things away.”

All Sombra did was simply nod at that, “I cannot disagree with that reasoning. Back to the matter of the assassin, the uniforms are not coded or have serial numbers, so we cannot identify the wearer based on that uniform alone. That said, every individual who turns in a uniform for disposal does have to check in with the facility’s records, so we’ll have a list of Quincy who sent in uniforms for disposal at that site. Unfortunately, given the size of the battle, and the number of casualties, that is going to be a long list indeed.”

“But a narrower one than we had before,” Twilight pointed out, “Combine that with the fact that whoever went after me was at least on par with a first class soldat, and we should be able to narrow the list even further.”

Satisfaction gleamed in Sombra’s eyes, “Which happens to be what your brother and Cadence are doing as we speak. They promised me a full list of suspects by this evening, at which point I intend to have said suspects placed under surveillance.”

“And if they make a move, we’ll be able to nab them,” Twilight said, feeling at least a little more at ease now that progress was being made, “I don’t suppose I could be in on the surveillance?”

“You’re going to be busy with quite a number of other things,” Sombra said, “I won’t tell you no, but please make sure you don’t overdo it, Twilight. If you end up targeted again, your ability to defend yourself is somewhat compromised at the moment.”

He gave a pointed look towards the stump where her right hand used to be, and Twilight self-consciously tucked it towards her stomach, hiding it with her left hand. “Oh. Right. I... kinda forgot about that.”

“I’m sorry,” Sombra said, “I shouldn’t have brought it up so bluntly, but I did need to speak to you about that. I can’t have a Sternritter whose battle prowess is weakened like that, so restoring you to full functionality is paramount.”

Twilight raised her eyes hopefully, “You can do that?”

“Well, yes and no,” Sombra admitted, “It’s more accurate to say that you can probably do so, with assistance from our own medical technology and a specific Quincy technique. Our prosthetic limbs are not on par with what Soul Society can do, but I believe that if you can engineer that visor for young miss Sugarcoat, then engineering an artificial hand is not beyond your ability. Especially if I show you a technique Quincy use to manipulate limbs with reishi strands.”

Something in Twilight’s memory flashed through her mind, “Reishi strands... wait... I think I’ve seen something like that before.”

“Whether you have or not, I can show you the technique in more detail. From what Cadence has told me, you’re quite good at picking up techniques swiftly, after only being shown once or twice,” Sombra said, “I’ll bring you back here tomorrow and demonstrate it.”

“And you really think that will be enough for me to restore my hand? Or... or at least build something that will work just as well as one?” It wasn’t as if Twilight hadn’t already thought of the idea of trying to build something cybernetic that might suffice. She was already one of the best students in the country in regards to advanced robotics, and while cybernetics was a very, very new field that was still largely experimental, but Twilight had read enough on the subject to feel like it was worth a shot. Then again that was all before reishi manipulation came into the mix, and if Sombra could show her that technique for creating reishi strands, then...

“Hmm, that would be perfect. In fact I think I already have a design or two in mind. I’ll see about jotting it down as best I can later tonight,” Twilight sighed, “My right hand was my writing hand, though. The notes are going to look so sloppy.”

“I could always assign you a scribe,” Sombra suggested, but Twilight waved it off.

“No, someone else might get something wrong. Best it's my own notes, even if they’ll be harder to read,” her stomach gurgled and Twilight winced, “Yikes, I’m hungry again. How long have we been talking?”

“Long enough, I think, for today,” Sombra said, “I’ll send you back to the hallway we came from. Soarin will be waiting for you there to escort you to wherever you wish to go.”

“I think I’ll take your suggestion and visit my friends in the hospital. I... I hope Indigo will be okay. Her legs...”

Sombra nodded, “Even with prosthetics it's unlikely she’ll be combat effective. Unless of course you develop a more advanced means of restoring her, but I don’t think you should worry about that for now. Just be supportive and deal with matters as they come.”

He paused, a saddened cloud crossing his dark features, “Which reminds me, the day after tomorrow will be funeral rites for all those who lost their lives in the battle. It’s customary for the family of the deceased to carry the casket...”

Twilight looked at him, and he quickly added, “That said, I doubt anyone would question it if you didn’t take on that particular duty-”

“I’ll do it,” Twilight said, her voice sounding somehow different to her own ears, as if the more child-like spark that lit up her voice once had changed into a sharper, quieter, yet somehow more matured flame, “She took care of me most of her life. The least I can do is take care of her, now that she’s gone.”

To this Sombra only gave her a silent, respectful nod, and said nothing more.

----------

Adagio imagined it was a good sign she could still get nervous. It meant she hadn’t become arrogant to the point of stupidity. She was planning on walking into a room filled with some of the most powerful entities in the world, and for all intents and purposes declare herself their peer. Granted she’d already proven to herself that she was strong enough to do this with her little stunt with Torch, but that was still a whole different affair than what was about to go down.

There were just so many ways this could go wrong, and Adagio was trying very hard not to dwell on any of them as she ascended the ludicrously long stairwell that led up the vast expanse of Las Noches’ central tower. Somewhere above lay Tirek’s throne room. The meeting place of the Espada. The place where she was either about to make her mark on Hollow society, or get herself brutally killed. Again.

What happens when you die twice? Did Hollows killed by other Hollows just fade away into nothing? Well, assuming one of them didn’t eat her. Either way, it sounded like a form of oblivion, and Adagio wasn’t planning to meet such an end today. But plans and expectations so rarely met with reality, didn’t they? It’d be just her luck to struggle and strive for all this time, only for something to go wrong now of all times.

Stop sabotaging yourself, Adagio. You’ve gotten this far. This is just another step. A risky step, but a necessary one. And besides, you’re not alone.

If there was one comforting factor in her long ascent up the stairs, it was that just ahead of her walked the towering figure of Torch, his footsteps echoing like a giant’s hammer on an anvil, followed closely by the entirely silent Lament, who moved with ghostly grace up the steps. They went ahead of her, as was proper for their power and position, but Adagio made sure she wasn’t far behind them, as to make it clear to any observers who she was with. This first entrance was going to be important. First impressions always were.

Which was why Adagio was dressed to impress. A thorough raiding of her wardrobe, along with quite a bit of creative sewing help from Roka over the course of the previous day, had afforded Adagio the outfit she currently wore. It was a combination of regal refinery, carefully chosen sex appeal, freedom of movement for combat necessity, and a few personal touches that Adagio sorely missed from the outfit she wore back in the human world.

She had to admit, while she’d loathed much of her time spent as a human, she had to appreciate the way clothing could work wonders for creating one’s image. Even ponies didn’t quite get as much out of clothing the way the human form did.

Given the shear size of Las Noche’s main tower, Adagio had expected to be a tad winded by the time they climbed to its greatest height, hundreds of meters above ground level. She wasn’t even short of breath by the time they reached the last step, leading into a wide antechamber, at the end of which stood a pair of tall and thin doors of carved white stone. Adagio felt like she hadn’t done more than take a pleasant, short walk. Arrancar stamina at work.

Despite how thick the doors ahead looked, Adagio could hear voices beyond them. Her hearing was much better than it had been before as well, it seemed. More than that, however, her spiritual senses were remarkably sharpened. It took only a casual use of her Pesquisa ability to easily pick out the different spiritual pressures of the Espada waiting within the throne room. She could even guess at their identities, based on the feel of that spiritual pressure.

Grogar’s was an old, dry, and fetid power, wriggling like a pile of centipedes. She imagined the more bloated, noxious reiatsu seated near him, slightly stronger and somehow giving off a jiggly sensation of wry humor was Hydia’s. Then there was a rigid pillar of power, feeling grasping and possessive and radiating with pride, which Adagio made as Guto’s reiatsu. So close to her own level of strength now, too. Was she stronger? She couldn’t be sure.

Torch and Lament she felt next to her easily enough, Lament’s a closely controlled miasma of dark regrets punctuated by storms of other conflicting feelings. Torch’s, although still somewhat weakened from his injuries, was like a huge, steady bonfire of strength and battlelust, like an ever present heat on her skin.

Beyond that, she could feel the top three Espada like individual towers of monstrous reiatsu, each flavored slightly different. Cantrina’s had a glass-like, reflective quality, as if it took in everything around it and reflected it back in Catrina’s image. Chrysalis’ reiatsu, by contrast, was an amorphous mass of ever shifting shadow that felt so solid and thick that Adagio almost felt like she was being pulled into it, just by sensing it. It was backed by this deep rooted sensation of endless amusement as well, leaving Chrysalis’ spiritual pressure with the impression of a black hole that sported a constant, madcap smile.

It was a collection of monsters, to be sure, but none of them held a solitary candle to the overwhelming sensation of power that emitted from the back of the throne room. If Torch was a bonfire, then Tirek was a blazing sun whose consuming corona would vaporize anyone foolish enough to challenge it... and this was just from a casual sensation of his suppressed reiatsu.

And here I am, about to demand a seat at his table, Adagio thought, then grinned to herself, Well, no one ever accused me of lacking ambition.

Torch stood by the doors, hand raised to push them open, but paused to look back at Adagio, his voice low.

“Last chance if you want to back out of this. You’re not going to be much help to me getting Ember back if you’re killed today.”

Adagio shook her head, placed one hand on her hip while lightly spinning her trident in a lazily but confident pose, “If I was going to back down I’d have already packed it in and left Las Noches. I’m committed to this course. Open the doors, if you would, Lord Torch.”

He gave her one last look, then shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘up to you’ and pushed the doors open wide with an eerily quiet grind of stone. Lament, silently, stood at Adagio’s side, eyes focused ahead with unreadable intent. Adagio had gone over the roles Lament and Torch were to play here, but there were so many unknown factors with how the next few minutes were going to play out that Adagio could only give them general instructions. She hoped things would proceed smoothly, but knowing her usual relationship with lady luck, that wasn’t going to be the case.

This was proven almost immediately, for as the doors opened, Adagio heard Guto’s strong, proud voice ringing out in the chamber beyond, the indistinct words now given clarity with the doors swinging wide.

“-suggest that my top warrior, Gilda, be considered to replace the late Squirk. She’s easily strong enough to...”

Guto’s voice trailed off as Torch and Lament entered the throne room, almost walking shoulder to shoulder. They both turned towards their respective thrones, mounted high along the rising stone tiers of the chamber, and in doing so revealed Adagio who’d been walking just behind them. This afforded Adagio her first clear look at the room where the Espada met and kept their thrones.

It was a bit drab, in her opinion. Could really do with some sprucing up with some decent lighting and maybe some tapestries. if she were in charge she would mount some candelabras, perhaps a nice fire pit in the center, put in some fountains towards the back (small waterfalls, maybe?) and definitely get some color in here with a few tasteful banners or some such. The plain stonework and dark lighting, while adding a certain sense of vast and intimidating space, just sucked the life out of things.

She did like the pointed arrangement of the thrones, however, spaced out on either side, with lower ranked Espada clearly seated on lower tiers than their higher ranked peers. Tirek, of course, had the highest throne, at the very back of the chamber, presiding over all like a proper lord. Chrysalis’ throne was also remarkably well positioned, close to Tirek’s but just a shade lower. It made it clear to all what their place was in the hierarchy.

Aside from the obvious lack of Squirk and Smooze, all other Espada were present, and all of them were looking at the new arrivals, giving particular interest to Adagio herself. On top of that, most were surprised enough to be silent for a second, although Adagio noted that Chrysalis didn’t look even remotely surprised, and Tirek only wore an expression of bemused interest. Good, that’s exactly how she needed this to start, so she could get the first words in. She needed the momentum in this situation.

As Torch and Lament took to their thrones, Adagio strode to the center of the chamber. With a swift gesture of her arm she swept out her cape, and with her other she firmly planted the end of her trident on the ground with a clamorous ring. At the same moment she let her reiatsu flow out of her, holding little to nothing back as she spoke in a clear, confident tone.

“My Lords and Ladies of the Espada, I am Adagio Dazzle, and I am here to claim my rightful seat among you!”

Short, to the point, no obfuscation of her power or purpose. She hadn’t needed Torch to tell her it was the kind of approach Tirek would appreciate, even if it’d cause a scene. And it certainly did that, as Hydia barked out a howl of laughter, while Adagio could actually hear Guto’s teeth grinding as he glared absolute daggers at her. Probably because he sensed how even his power was with hers. Catrina’s eyebrows shot up and she gripped the arms of her throne as she leaned forward with keen interest.

Grogar’s expression was blank, save for the smallest of knowing smirks, which annoyed Adagio to no end, but she wasn’t surprised the bastard of an old goat would have predicted this.

Chrysalis leaned back, looking pleased with herself, while Tirek rested his chin upon one fist that was in turn resting on the arm of his throne as he said in a voice that reverberated through the chamber, “A bold claim, Adagio Dazzle. I see you arrived with two of my fellow Espada leading your path. My condolences to you, Lord Torch, about your daughter.”

Torch grimaced but waved a hand, “A matter I’ll be attending to shortly, you can be assured, Lord Tirek. Once this present matter is resolved, in fact.”

“I see...” Tirek smiled, like an old wolf who smelled a fresh game trail, and his gaze slid to Lament, “Good to see you finally joining us for these gathering’s, Lord Lament. I thought you preferred to stay out of Las Noche’s day to day affairs?”

Lament looked almost awkward, seated on his throne, but still sat with his customary still, statue-like demeanor. He only turned his eyes towards Tirek and said plainly, “It’s solely thanks to Adagio Dazzle’s help rendered to my family that I agreed to her suggestion of becoming more active. Don’t expect me to have much to say at these meetings, but I will attend them, as long as Miss Dazzle is also present.”

“Oh please,” scoffed Guto, turning a red-faced look of anger first towards Adagio, then at the rest of the room as he made a derisive gesture towards her, “Are we supposed to just hand out the title of Espada to every cocksure Arrancar that waltzes into these chambers and says a few bold words? Even if she has gained the favor of you, Lament, that’s hardly proof of her worthiness to sit beside us as an equal!”

Lament cut a glance towards Guto, but said nothing, which is exactly what Adagio had asked him to do if challenged. She’d also asked Torch to only speak up if it was absolutely necessary. The reason for this was because this was Adagio’s challenge, and if she let others speak for her, it would only make her seem weak. Torch and Lament were there only to give her credibility, but the the task of convincing the other Espada to accept her belonged to Adagio. Anything less and she’d just be proving Guto right.

So on the heels of Guto’s words Adagio turned to face him, and with little preamble she raised her free hand.

The water came swifter than it ever had before, forming from her own will and appearing as a swirling, compressed sphere in her upraised palm. Adagio could feel her reishi imprinting upon every particle of the water as it flowed from her essence. Her command over the element was so absolute at this point that she barely had to think about it, the water just acted as she willed.

The sphere burst into a line of insanely pressurized water, infused with Adagio’s Hollow reiatsu to enhance its already impressive cutting edge.

It didn’t strike Guto, but instead cut right by his face, boring a hole in the stone wall of the throne room behind him, punching a perfectly shaped hole through which the dull artificial light outside the tower could pour through. Which was more impressive when one realized that the outer wall of the tower was over a hundred and fifty feet away, and Adagio’s water had just punched through multiple chambers of thick walled stone.

“My apologies, Lord Guto,” Adagio said in a sweetly unconcerned tone that suggested she wasn’t sorry at all, “I have a terrible habit of responding poorly to those who talk around me, rather than to me. If you have an objection to my claiming my rightful seat, then you say it to my face. Otherwise my hand might slip a little next time.”

Hydia’s laughter redoubled as the large, toadish woman clutched her giggling belly, “Whohoohoo! She’s a firecracker, ain’t she? Groggykins, what were you doing hiding this gem from us?”

Grogar made a off hand gesture, resting in his seat as if more bored than interested by the proceedings, “Hardly hidden, Hydia. I’ve monitored Adagio’s progress from the first day I brought her to my labs. Her growth, I’ll admit, surpasses my expectations, but given our circumstances I’d say that’s fortuitous. Well, for us as a whole, if not for poor Guto and his favorite protege.”

Guto snarled, “If this one is a pet of yours Grogar, then how can we even trust her loyalty to Las Noches instead of just being your puppet?”

Adagio reflected it was probably because Guto’s attention was focused on Grogar, and that he was almost intentionally going out of his way to ignore her that she was able to get as close to him as she did. She was fast, but she knew Guto had to be just as swift, yet with one single burst of speed she’d vanished and reappeared in front of Guto with the ruby tips of her trident aimed an inch from his throat. Guto went very still, his eyes now fixated on her with a death glare. Adagio leaned towards him, her own eyes like twin magenta stars.

“What did I say about ignoring me?”

Guto’s teeth flashed in predatory fury, but to his credit his own motions weren’t that of an out of control berserker, but a very well controlled and swift flash of his hand as he battered her trident aside. He was out of his throne, his sword blazing into his hand, almost before Adagio could react to parry.

The clash of trident upon blade echoed loud in the Espada throne room, and Adagio and Guto both flashed in and out of view several times with clashes of sparks as Guto sought to quickly overwhelm Adagio. Yet she kept pace, parrying each attack with fast, coordinated movements of her trident, and a moment later she and Guto were both standing in the middle of the throne room, facing each other.

“You arrogant whelp. You may have the power, but you haven’t the experience,” Guto said with a harsh promise in his tone, “Face me and you will die, Adagio Dazzle.”

“Oh good, you’re finally addressing me directly. I was getting annoyed,” Adagio said, not relaxing her stance but pitching her voice to address the room, “If anyone here is doubting my power, I trust this demonstration has sufficed to get all of your attention. How many Arrancar walk in here that can rile the Sixth Espada and block his blade? I may be newly minted, and weaker than some of you, but I know damned well you need more Arrancar like me, given those empty seats.”

“Then know your place and fight for that right,” Guto growled, standing to his full height, “If you have the spine for it.”

“Spine, she seems to have that in abundance,” spoke up Catrina, tapping a slim finger to her chin as she leaned forward in her throne, emerald eyes glistening, “Whether she has sense to match it remains to be seen. Tell me, Adagio Dazzle, which spot among us do you think you have the power to take?”

Now was the critical juncture. Adagio had thought about this aspect of the plan more than any other, because it was by far the most pertinent and potentially dangerous. She knew she had enough power to roughly match Guto, possibly even surpass him, but Guto himself had brought up the vast difference in experience between them. In a stand up fight, Adagio might have the advantage of power, but he had a much larger advantage in terms of skill and battle experience. Without something else to give her and edge, Adagio imagined she’d probably lose a fair fight with Guto. Not that she ever intended to fight fair.

Conversely, if she sought to claim the position of Ninth Espada, her only competition would be Gilda. In such a battle, Adagio was confident she could win. She’d been close to Gilda’s level of strength as a Vasto Lorde. Now that she was a full fledged Arrancar, she couldn’t think much of Gilda’s chances if they came to blows. From that standpoint, claiming the Ninth seat would be the easiest, safest course.

Which was exactly why she couldn’t do it.

To take the easy route, when it was obvious she had far more power than the Ninth Espada’s position required, would be a show of weakness that may well cripple her position with the other Espada. She needed their respect, which would only be won by shooting for the highest seat she could manage. The problem was that taking on Guto in an even match was too much of a dice toss. But then, she suspected she knew a way around that problem.

Without lowering her guard or taking her eyes off Guto, she said, “Lady Catrina, I’ll take the highest damned seat here I can get, and there’s only one way to know which one that is for certain...”

At that point she did raise her eyes, only enough to meet the intrigued gaze of Tirek, sitting high above, “And that’s by challenging the strongest.”

There was a moment of stunned silence, although Chrysalis never once looked surprised, only flashing a small smirk of satisfaction. Tirek himself broke the silence with a rich, thunderous bark of a laugh, raising his chin from his fist and inclining his head towards her in an acknowledging nod, “Ha! Tell me truthfully, do you even remotely expect to win such a challenge?”

“No, Lord Tirek, any fool could sense your power surpasses all present,” Adagio replied quickly, but with no lack of her own confidence, “I challenge you not out of expectation of victory, but because there is no other way to fully determine the extent of my own power.”

Guto spat, “You’re just too cowardly to fight with me!”

It was Adagio’s turn to smirk, “I’ve faced a Quincy Sternritter and a Soul Reaper Captain, and survived. I’ve broken bread with Lament himself, and came out with my head still attached. My bravery is not in question, Guto, only my place among you. Who better to determine that place than the one who stands at the pinnacle?”

A deep rumbling ‘hmm’ emanated from Tirek, his fingers drumming on the arm of his throne as he gazed at her with a measuring look, “It is no casual thing to even think of challenging me, young Adagio Dazzle. Perhaps I might destroy you out of casual boredom for displaying such gall?”

“Not gall, but respect, Lord Tirek, as well as simple common sense,” Adagio replied, which got Tirek to raise an interested eyebrow.

“Challenging one you know you cannot possibly defeat, and will likely face annihilation against, is common sense?”

“Consider this, Lord Tirek; I know you need powerful Arrancar to fill out vacancies among the Espada. We’re at war, and neither the Quincy nor Soul Reapers are likely to give us much time to recover our losses. Guto and I could fight over the Sixth Espada seat, but you can already tell our powers are fairly well matched. He has the experience, I don’t deny that, but it would still be a coin toss which of us would emerge victorious. Such a battle might even get one of us killed, and while the rule of Las Noches is survival of the fittest, that doesn’t always mean slaughtering one another is particularly useful when you need to fill out a roster of the ten strongest Hollows. I am one of those ten. It only makes sense that to determine which of those ten I am, I measure myself against the strongest there is. You have done this before, in the case of Lament.”

Now was when she’d given Lament some instruction to step in, and he wasted not a moment, saying concisely and clearly, “She speaks honestly, Lord Tirek. You and I fought, and you determined my place among the Espada. I never fought Torch, but took his seat.”

And right on cue, Torch spoke up, his voice believably grumbling, although Adagio imagined that might not really be an act on his part, “And that still rankles me a bit, Lament, but damned if I could argue with Lord Tirek on the matter. Even I’m not that hot headed. So far as I figure, if Adagio is looking to find her place the same way, why not have fun with it? Hell, take on her and Guto’s warrior at the same time! We got two Espada slots to fill, so let’s fill ‘em!”

Even Adagio was caught a bit off guard by that suggestion. She’d not considered Gilda taking one of the Espada positions, even if it was one lower than hers. Part of that was because from what she’d heard, Smooze was not confirmed to be dead. Then again, he was still missing as well. Adagio glanced between Torch and Tirek, wondering how this would play out.

Guto, eyes narrowing, spoke first, “We don’t know that Smooze is gone. Can we just offer up his seat so readily?”

With a soft, purring sound, Catrina licked her lips, “True, not that’d I miss that repugnant creature, if he is good and properly dead. Since we don’t know, however, we’ve got something of an unpleasant issue with the Warrens. Smooze was so good at keeping that disgusting riff raff under control and working the factories down there. We need a replacement, if only a temporary one.”

“For once you make an intelligent point, dear Catrina, “ said Chrysalis, reclining in her throne, and ignoring Catrina’s bristling glare as she went on to say, “However all we need is someone to replace Smooze’s position as an Espada. My children are already working to get the Warrens under control, with my dear Thorax taking over the task of overseeing the factories.”

Catrina’s eyes narrowed to burning green slits, “I was not aware of this. I was going to suggest my beloved Bushwoolies would be better suited to such work.”

“Oh, well, perhaps you should have mentioned something sooner,” Chrysalis said, yawning, then flashing a devil’s smile, “Of course you’re welcome to try to take it by force if you want it so badly.”

Catrina let out a sound very close a literal feline growl, but Tirek silenced the room with a single motion as he stood up from his throne. Every eye turned to him, Adagio’s most of all. She did everything in her power to maintain a straight, standing position as Tirek’s reiatsu poured over the room in a crushing wave. It was mind numbing how overbearing and monstrously encompassing his power was, especially now that he was letting it flow out of him.

For a moment she thought she might collapse, but somehow Adagio managed to stay standing, and even maintain eye contact with Tirek as he looked down upon her. Those eyes were calculating. Intelligent. Tirek didn’t rule through power alone, and for an instant Adagio caught a faint glance between him and Chrysalis, and Chrysalis give the slightest of nods.

“I grow weary of this talk,” Tirek said, “Adagio Dazzle, you’ve caught my interest. This may prove more dangerous for you than you know, for I don’t have a wealth of patience, and I do not long suffer fools and sycophants. However I am not blind. I can see your power, clear as day. You wish to test it against me? So be it. Guto, the warrior you’ve been grooming can participate as well. I’ll test them both.”

Tirek licked his lips, a sudden, deep, unfathomable hunger entering his eyes that left Adagio feeling as if she may have just bitten off far more than she could chew.

“Best you don’t disappoint me, Adagio Dazzle, otherwise rather than an Espada, you’ll become dinner.”

----------

It had always seemed to Twilight that more often than not, funerals were depicted in the rain. People dressed in black, under a procession of equally pitch black umbrellas, all walking under a depressing torrent from a gray sky.

Twilight might have preferred that. It would have fit the mood better than the sun shining in her eyes from an entirely too clear, painfully blue sky. The weather was that perfect late spring blend of warmth and cool breeze, the kind that let you know summer was just around the bend. Her mother would have loved it. It was the kind of day Twilight Velvet might have called for an all too rare family picnic or barbecue.

Somehow, it made the casket feel so much heavier.

Her father and brother held the front corners of her mother’s casket, while Twilight and Cadence held the back ones, Twilight on the left side due to her left hand being the only one she had to carry with. They marched at the head of a column of caskets, with Jet Set’s following behind them, carried by his wife Upper Crust, a pair of grieving parents, and a younger brother Twilight hadn’t known Jet Set even had. Those caskets that came behind were of the various lower ranked Quincy lost during the battle, some of them lacking bodies due to the inability to recover remains during the retreat from the battle.

The column didn’t march alone, and was joined by lines of surviving Quincy who carried banners bearing the Quincy cross that stirred in the wind in time to a dire funeral march of drums that fell into sync with their marching boots. At the head of the column was a mounted group on horseback, the Sternritter themselves, led by Sombra who rode on a tall, black charger.

Their destination was a long, wide field that took up a well tended square mile or so of area situated along the far banks of the lake that the living world’s Silburn stood at one end of. It was still possible to see the shining white, fairy-tale style castle fortress in the distance across the sun kissed lake waters. The cemetery itself bore no obvious gates or fence, and Twilight got a sense of tingling warmth over her skin as they passed through what she assumed was some manner of reishi ward. Space was being bent to one degree or another here, because what she saw was a cemetery much larger than what should have logically been able to occupy the field they’d entered.

Hundreds of silver, five pointed crosses stood in neatly arranged rows. Then Twilight counted further, and realized that hundreds stretched out to thousands. Possibly tens of thousands.

Every Quincy who’d perished over centuries of ongoing warfare was buried here, or at least bore a cross and grave commemorating their death, if no body could be found or recovered.

Prepared for their arrival was a waiting line of empty graves, with an honor guard of Quincy soldats present at attention, awaiting their arrival. The mounted Sternritter, led by Sombra, peeled off and each took up position on a small hill rise above the open graves. The marching soldats moved into formation at the foot of the hill, while Twilight and the many other casket bearers moved to their assigned graves, carefully carrying their solemn burdens to waiting scaffolds that would lower the caskets to their final resting places.

Before this it was the duty of the casket bearers to also remove and fold the white flags bearing the silver Quincy Cross from each casket, and Shining Armor had practiced with Twilight the previous night to teach her the motions. Twilight’s hand felt cold and numb as she did her best to fold properly, even with just one hand to do it with.

Sombra was speaking as this happened, but Twilight wasn’t paying much attention to the words. They sounded ritualistic, as if he’d spoken them times beyond counting. She thought she heard something about sacrifice and honor, but it all just sort of washed over her in a static drone of white noise. She didn’t blame Sombra for that. What was someone supposed to say at these funerals that held any real meaning for those left behind? Twilight didn’t need to know why her mother died. She knew that already. Twilight Velvet had died protecting her daughter. Saying anything more than that was superfluous.

And still, Twilight went through the motions, standing with her surviving family as she watched her mother’s body lowered into the ground. She thought she’d be crying, but maybe she’d shed all of the tears she had in her already. Or maybe there would be more to come, in the quiet, dark, private hours of the night. Twilight didn’t know. She only knew she felt hollow inside as she saluted the graves on cue, along with the other gathered Quincy, and watched as Sombra and the Sternritter at the top of the hill formed bows, and fired arrows into the sky in salute to the fallen.

No, not quite hollow. That was the peripheral sensation around her. The numbness of being in so much pain, one couldn’t register it properly.

If she looked beyond it, deeper in, she realized that something still sparked within her, hotter and stronger than ever before, fueled and tempered by watching her mother being laid to rest.

She was going to end this war. At any cost, in any way she could.

----------

“Uhh, no offense boss lady, but are you sure this is going to fix me and Gaw up as full on Arrancar?” Di Roy asked, looking at the computer screen dubiously.

Adagio just gave him a sidelong smirk, “What, afraid of a few needles?”

“Look, I’m just not much for more of old man Grogar’s pseudoscience crap, especially if its being performed by someone who’s literally trying to pull this off from the equivalent of a glorified instruction manual,” Di Roy replied, and Adagio could see his face twitch beneath his shark shaped mask, a faint grimace of pain. She turned to him, swiveling on the bar stool she’d been sitting on, and crossed her arms as she stared at him in a frank look.

“Feeling a bit explody, are we? You don’t have time, Di Roy. You’re a half baked Arrancar that’s always close to blowing if you don’t get a fix of Hollow to eat. As an Arrancar, full and truly, you’ll be free of that pain and fear. Isn’t that worth a little risk?”

“Ugh... you’re not wrong, but damn if I wish you had something more solid to go off of,” Di Roy groused, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, I don’t,” Adagio shrugged, “This is the best I have to work with. Roka has already agreed to help with the procedure. This the only shot you and Gaw are going to have at evolving, Di Roy. Take it or leave it, but have an answer for me by the time I get back.”

With that she stood and grabbed her trident from where it’d been leaning against the lounge bar. Di Roy watched her head for the door, his eyes not doing much to conceal his worry, “You’re seriously going to take on the Primera? I mean, hell, even if he’s just trying to test you out, that’s kinda crazy. He could literally kill you with, like, a pinkie finger, you know?”

Di Roy held up and waggled said pinkie finger, as if for emphasis. Adagio glanced back at him.

“He could. I’m laying my bet that he didn’t become the Primera Espada by being stupid enough to casually kill someone who would make a more valuable ally. He needs new blood in the Espada ranks. Killing me won’t benefit him. That’s why I challenged him in the first place. Any other Espada, and they might seek to kill me to remove a rival. Tirek has no reason to view me as a rival, only another useful addition to his elite warriors.”

“Yeah, assuming you live up to his expectations. Screw it up, and he might still wipe you out,” Di Roy said.

“The dice have already been thrown. All that’s left is to see where they land. Look on the bright side, if I get killed here, at least you won't’ have to worry about this sketchy business with artificial Arrancar evolution,” Adagio said, opening the door and leaving Di Roy to stew on that.

Tirek, for the single most powerful Hollow and the man so many feared, was surprisingly reasonable. He’d given Adagio a day to prepare herself for his ‘evaluation’, and given her instructions to meet him at the appointed hour on the roof of Las Noches. Most of Adagio’s preparation had involved sparring with Torch at his horde’s territory. This had the dual benefit that apparently such sparring helped Torch work out the kinks in his injuries, and he claimed it helped him recover faster, while Adagio got a chance to get a proper handle on her new powers.

While she held no delusion in her head at all that she’d be able to be any threat at all to Tirek, she thought she might have a few surprises for him that would only cement her as worth keeping around.

Reaching the roof of Las Noches was as simple as finding one of the holes in the roof that had been punched out during the battle and essentially flying up to it. Well, it wasn’t actual flight per se, but Adagio found that with her current level of power, kicking off of the reishi particles in the air let her leap to such prodigious heights, and control her direction with such ease, that this was essentially no different than being able to fly.

The roof of Las Noches was one gigantic dome, many kilometers in diameter, so wide that even though the roof was technically curved it practically felt like level ground. The central tower of Las Noches extended beyond this roof, towering another hundred meters or so into the black sky of Hueco Mundo. Several smaller, but still massive towers flanked the central one like marble sentinels.

Adagio approached the central tower, and sensed a nearby presence.

“Hmph, so you didn’t chicken out,” Gilda said, watching Adagio approach with a sour look on her face and a unfriendly, narrow eyed glare.

“Of course not,” Adagio replied coolly, casually twirling a finger through her hair as she looked Gilda up and down, “What do I have to fear? I’m not weak, and if Lord Tirek requires proof of this, I’ll deliver it happily. Rather, I’m surprised to see you take on this challenge, Gilda. Didn’t you fare rather poorly in the battle with the Quincy?”

“How did you-?” Gilda began with wide eyes, then rapidly narrowed them again, her voice tight with anger, “Who says I had trouble? I did just fine, and you’ve got nothing to prove otherwise, so can it, you skank.”

“Please, such petty insults only make you sound weaker,” Adagio said, and at Gilda’s growl she only laughed and added, “You should focus that aggression on survival. Just because this is a test doesn’t mean Tirek may not kill whomever he finds to be lacking.”

“Indeed.”

Both Adagio and Gilda turned quickly to find Tirek standing behind them. Neither had felt his approach, which left Adagio feeling a tingle of cold down her spine. No one with that much power should be able to hide themselves so completely, yet Tirek’s reiatsu was so perfectly masked, Adagio couldn’t sense him even with him standing right there. His smile only showed that he knew what she was thinking.

“Mastery of many disciplines is but one route to power, my young Arrancar. Never forget that power comes in countless forms, including the form of being able to sneak upon an enemy to crush them before they even know you are there.”

Gilda visibly gulped, then managed to stand straighter, “Yeah, that’s, uh... pretty cool, Lord Tirek.”

Adagio tried not to roll her eyes, “Impressive. This was a test of our senses, wasn’t it?”

“In part. I didn’t expect either of you to detect me, but one never knows. Each Hollow possess hidden talents, and if properly evolved those talents will express themselves in numerous ways. I once knew an Arrancar who could detect even the finest details in the world around him. Not that it helped him much when faced with overwhelming power that annihilated him, but it was good to know he sensed it coming. Another lesson, there. Never rely on just one power, no matter how impressive it may be. That is the strength of Hollows. Infinite evolution, tempered by equally infinite conflict. Weak traits lead to death, strong traits lead to survival and growth. A simple notion that our enemies like the Quincy and Soul Reapers would deny out of misguided notions of ‘order’ and ‘stability’.”

It sounded a lot like some of the things Adagio had heard Grogar drone on about. No wonder Tirek liked keeping the damned goat around. They seemed to share similar world views. Adagio kept her inner thoughts to herself and simply said, “Misguided, but no less dangerous for it, and hence why I am ready and able to do my part to deal with such threats as an Espada.”

“That remains to be seen,” Tirek said, turning as a Garganta opened next to him, “Both of you, follow me.”

Though she was unsure what Tirek was planning, Adagio wasn’t inclined to question a man that could destroy her with a casual Cero blast. She was wary, just in case, but she didn’t hesitate to follow him into the Garganta portal, and though Gilda showed a similar nervousness behind her rigid posture, the tall, muscle-bound woman followed as well.

The Garganta almost instantly opened up onto a wide, sandy plain, somewhere within Hueco Mundo that was far enough away from Las Noches that Adagio couldn’t even see the massive fortress anywhere on the horizon. As the Garganta portal closed behind her and Gilda, Adagio looked around to note that this particular expanse of bleached white desert was pockmarked by dozens upon dozens of craters. Amid those craters, strewn about at random, were small pieces of ancient cloth scraps, all black. Some just lay in tatters, while others hung like limp flags from the tops of small dunes.

“Where the hell are we?” Gilda asked, apparently having worked up enough nerve to speak.

Tirek, hands clasped behind his back as he looked out over the terrain with a shadow of satisfaction, replied, “An old battlefield, where once the Soul Reapers thought to build a foothold in my domain. I taught them the error of that folly, as I shall to the Quincy once I find out where their own base of operations are hidden.”

Adagio used one foot to nudge a scrap of nearby cloth, noting that the color and material was consistent with what she’d seen the Soul Reapers wearing. “They didn’t try to conceal themselves?”

“No. They were even more arrogant in the old days than they are now, and at the time the expedition was led by their Eleventh Division, captained by one who bore the title Kenpachi. Do you know this title?”

“That’s supposed to be, like, the biggest, baddest swordsman among the Soul Reapers, right?” Gilda said, scratching her head, “Which doesn’t make any sense, because isn’t their Commander dude supposed to be the strongest?”

Tirek smiled, but it wasn’t a particular friendly or pleasant one, as he turned to face them, “The one who bears the title Kenpachi is known as the strongest warrior, but skill with a blade is just one source of power, if you recall my lesson. Captain Commander Scorpan,” Tirek said the name as if it were meant to be a joke, “Is the most powerful Soul Reaper among the Gotei 13, but not by his skill with a Zanpaktou alone. It’s of little matter. I killed the Kenpachi from those olden days, who recklessly challenged my might with her forces. It was rather amusing, once the Soul Reapers realized the Eleventh Division was outmatched, they rapidly retreated, forcing that cocky woman to sacrifice herself and her Division to cover the retreat. A glorious day, although it certainly didn’t take the Soul Reapers long to recoup their losses. I even hear the present Kenpachi is even stronger than the one I slew. I’d be most interested in seeing if that rumor is true.”

As Tirek had been talking, Adagio had been puzzling over why he’d bothered to take her and Gilda out this far. He might have wanted to reduce potential collateral damage to Las Noches, but she somehow doubted he’d have to use that much power in testing her and Gilda in combat.

“You’re wondering why we’re here,” Tirek said, more statement than a question, and Adagio cleared her throat and nodded.

“I was pondering that, Lord Tirek. You could have tested us on the roof easily enough, couldn’t you?”

“Not in the manner I intend to, no,” Tirek said, unclasping his hands from behind his back and slowly cracking his neck, “This won’t be as you expect it. We will not be fighting.”

“I see,” Adagio said, “Then what form will this test take?”

“Yeah, I was kinda expecting to just have to go all out and show you what I've got,” Gilda said, frowning deeply, “This isn’t going to be one of those weird ‘written test’ things, right? Because I got shit handwriting.”

A dark chuckle escaped Tirek, his eyes flashing, and his smiling showing a tiger-like gleam of teeth, “Don’t worry. The test is very, very simple. Remain standing for sixty seconds. Do that, and I’ll acknowledge you as an Espada. Fall to both knees...”

He licked his lips, “And I will devour you.”

Tirek gave them no time to question what he meant by that. He showed them.

In an instant his body became engulfed in an intense, solid glow of deep orange light, crackling with motes and arcs of black energy. The spiritual pressure that exploded from him in a tidal wave hit Adagio and Gilda with bone crushing force. Adagio felt it in the pit of her stomach like a red hot sledgehammer, while at the same time all the world’s mountains were dropping on her shoulders.

She’d thought she’d had a solid gauge on Tirek’s reiatsu from sensing it during the battle, and again while in the throne room. Now she understood she hadn’t been feeling anymore than a trickle of what the King of Hueco Mundo was capable of. Now he was actively focusing his reiatsu upon crushing her and Gilda into the sand, without so much as lifting a finger to do so.

Adagio had been caught off guard enough that she nearly sunk to her knees within that initial moment. However regular exposure to other overwhelming spiritual pressures like Torch and Lament had given her a swift and near instinctive response of self defense. Even as her knees shook and started to sag, she immediately straightened them and forced herself to remain standing. A part of her was tempted to lean on her trident, but this wasn’t a matter of physically bracing herself. Tirek wasn’t actually putting any physical pressure on her. This was a matter of raw, spiritual power, and while Tirek’s stood head and shoulders above her at a seemingly incredible pinnacle, Adagio had been doing nothing but gain in power herself since she got to Hueco Mundo.

She hardened her soul against the ocean of power bearing down on her. With grim, tight lipped focus she let her own reiatsu pour out and push back against the tide. It was not far off from trying to swim up a thousand foot tall waterfall with her bare hands, but Adagio was nothing if not stubborn. Sweat broke out on her skin, cold and clammy.Her body trembled but she held firm, at least until she realized that all of a couple of seconds had passed and that was it.

She had to endure this for an entire minute? It seemed trivial, until one was in the midst of being ground down by such insane power.

Adagio chanced a glance at Gilda, curious how her rival was faring.

Gilda was already down to one knee, shoved there by the initial shock of Tirek’s reiatsu. The athletic, brutish Arrancar girl’s eyes were wide, her face a mask of sweat, but she’d smashed one fist hard into the ground and was not only keeping from falling to both knees, but gradually forcing her already fallen knee back under her. Still the toll of Tirek’s spiritual pressure was clear on Gilda’s strained face and pained grunts as she tried to rise.

Tirek remained impassive, watching them both with an imperious gaze, his hungry smile never fading.

Wind kicked up around them in a storm, billowing sand and long discarded scraps of cloth all around them as Tirek turned up the pressure even further, commenting dryly, “Ten seconds down, fifty to go. Hmm, I wonder, will I be feasting upon fish, or bird? Did you know each Hollow has their own unique flavor? I can usually smell how good an individual will taste before I take the first nibble.”

His taunts were meant to distract, Adagio knew. It took a great deal of concentration to maintain one’s own output of reiatsu to maintain one’s very being under such crushing spiritual weight, so no doubt Tirek was testing to see if things like fear or doubt would cripple those seeking to become his Espada. Even if Adagio had the power to qualify, if she lacked the mental discipline to handle this, then she’d probably make a poor Espada anyway. In that sense, she appreciated the nature of this test.

On the other hand, this was significantly harder than just a mock battle, and they weren’t even to the halfway mark.

Tirek continued to crank out more reiatsu, as if he were some infinite faucet. Gilda let out a growl of pure effort as she struggled against this force, and still sank back to one knee, now having to use both of her hands to keep her other knee from bending. Adagio hadn’t fallen that far yet, but her whole body felt like it could buckle at any second. Her muscles were screaming at her, trembling in protest. Her heart beat out a terrible, swift rhythm of fear in her chest, but Adagio quashed it with a feral snarl. She was not falling here! Not after coming this far!

Her own body became wreathed in indigo blue, droplets of water rising from the ground and forming in the air around her. Not for any purpose, but merely a manifestation of her own reiatsu as she pushed it to further heights, struggling against the power seeking to snuff her out.

Gilda’s own form was showing a flickering glow of violet and red light as the Arrancar girl dredged up her own reserves of reiatsu to remain in her precarious position, unable to get back to both feet, but still not sinking to that final knee.

Adagio couldn’t count the seconds. Her mind was wholly dedicated to the task of remaining standing. Yet it felt as if every moment was a struggle of a decade, sweat pouring out of her now as she stood under that unrelenting flood of soul crushing spiritual power.

Then, just as immediately as it had appeared, Tirek’s reiatsu vanished, leaving Adagio in a momentary state of shock as she staggered, gasping for breath. Gilda similarly let out a gasp, but was in even worse shape as she soon doubled over and vomited into the sand, sinking almost entirely to the ground, only propping herself up at all on one arm as she struggled to breathe.

Tirek remained exactly where he was, though his smile had faded to an expression that was more ponderous than anything else. “It seems you both pass. How unfortunate. I could have used a snack.”

“D-does that mean...?” Gilda started to ask, but couldn’t quite finish the sentence as she was still trying to remember how to breathe and stand up at the same time. Tirek silenced her with a look, his lips twisting in a disdainful sneer.

“Do not get too presumptuous. You only just barely avoided becoming my next meal. In less desperate times I’d still likely just consume you for wasting my time, but since you did pass by the smallest of margins and there’s no other candidates, you can suffice for the Tenth Espada. At least until Smooze crawls back out of wherever he went. Then you can take the matter up with him.”

Tirek’s cold smile returned, “I could tell you how I think that conversation will go, but I’ll just let your imagination take care of that. Do you still want the seat?”

Gilda looked genuinely afraid for an instant. Adagio didn’t really blame her. Smooze may have been the mere Tenth Espada, but everything Adagio had seen and heard suggested he was not one to underestimate. Yet for all Gilda’s bravado, there was also equally real resolve in there, as her eyes hardened and she finally forced herself to stand again, wiping the remains of vomit from her mouth and flicking it away in disgust.

“Yes, Lord Tirek.”

He made a small laughing noise in his chest and said, “Far be it from me to curb ambition, however reckless.”

Tirek raised a single red finger and a small blaze of orange energy, no larger or thicker than a needle emitted from it. Gilda grunted but otherwise showed no sign of pain as the beam of energy traced along her thickly muscled abs. In the beams wake, black markings were left, until the number ‘10’ was tattooed upon Gilda’s stomach.

“Welcome to the Espada, Gilda, for however long it lasts. However long you manage to hold the position with your own power, until another takes it from you,” Tirek said, with the voice denoting a tone of ritual. He then turned to Adagio.

She raised an eyebrow at him, “I don’t suppose I get to choose where you stick that number? I’d look terrible with it on my face.”

A small scoff escaped Tirek, “Not even curious what the number will be?”

“It will be whatever it needs to be,” Adagio said, “I don’t care what it is to start. I’ll be improving it, given time.”

Gilda muttered something along the lines of ‘cocky bitch’, but kept it low enough that it was little more than a whisper.

Tirek’s eyes flared with deep rooted amusement, “Yes, I suspect you will. Such hunger for power is an admirable trait, just so long as you never forget who rules in Las Noches. Aspire to whatever height you desire, but know that I am the final limit against which that ambition will be measured... and I won’t grant a second chance, Adagio Dazzle. Now then, about that number.”

----------

“Miss Shimmer? Ahem... Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset’s eyes flew open and she cast a fitful look around the classroom. A number of students were giving her looks that ranged between snickering to sympathetic, while Mr. Cranky stood at the whiteboard with his arms crossed in a most unamused fashion, his lips drawn down in an even deeper, more grumpy frown than his usual. The teacher was looking at her expectantly, and Sunset knew he’d likely just asked her a question.

Sunset sat up straighter in her desk and resisted the urge to rub at her tired eyes and suppressed a yawn. Her eyes felt scratchy and heavy, as if dusted with sand, and her muscles ached. Sleep had been an infrequent companion of hers, lately. Part of it was the training, a daily thing now. Half of the sessions were spent working with the girls on boosting their Fullbrings, hoping to trigger another one of them completing theirs as Rainbow Dash had. They hadn’t had any luck yet, but as Ditzy had explained this was a factor of mental barriers more than physical. Still the training helped each of Sunset’s friends get ever more familiar with their abilities and sharpen their skills, while also helping Sunset get accustomed to her Bankai. The other half of her training sessions were either focused on intense one-on-one bouts with Discord, to boost her skills in dueling even further, or spending time with Clover and the volunteer instructors from the Kido Corps in working on Kido spells.

Then, when Sunset wasn’t training, she was patrolling. Screwloose and Screwball could only cover so much of the city, and strangely enough rather than Hollow activity lessening with a bunch of extra Soul Reapers in town, it was only going up. The Hollows were generally of a lesser variety and not incredibly dangerous, but to keep locals safe Sunset and the girls had been pulling long hours of patrol into the night, leaving only so many hours for schoolwork and sleep. And graduation was just around the corner, too...

“I’m sorry Mr. Cranky,” she said, managing a small, apologetic smile, “What was the question?”

“Ugh, sleeping in class is a detention worthy offense, but since I’ve already given you that for being late, again, I suppose I’ll just have to settle for having you read aloud to the class, starting from the top of page one hundred and sixty,” Mr. Cranky said with a grumbling huff.

Sunset nodded and with bleary eyes opened up the textbook in front of her, the same one on eastern mythology that they’d been reading through that entire school quarter. Finals were next week, and Mr. Cranky was going over all the bullet points that would be on the tests. As Sunset began reading, she caught a glimpse of Clover, several seats over, casting her a small wave. The Soul Reaper was in her gigai, the artificial body all but identical to Clover’s normal, gray skinned and green haired form. She looked a bit younger in her gigai, to help with her cover of being a high school transfer student, and of course she was wearing civilian clothes as opposed to a Soul Reaper uniform. Rarity had helped Clover with a wardrobe for everyday life, along with a number of other Soul Reapers who were now in town, undercover, to work on studying the portal to Equestria.

Sunset kept reading, but gave Clover a small smile in thanks for the encouragement as she kept another yawn down and kept reading.

It was surreal, being back in school after all that had happened. Nothing felt quite real, now, as if walking through Canterlot High’s hallways or sitting in its classrooms like this were some kind of odd dream. But perhaps that was because Sunset couldn’t forget everything that’d occurred in Soul Society. The memories were so sharp and clear. She could remember every sharp, cold and biting blow from Platinum’s Zanpaktou. She could recall with crystal clarity the feeling of helplessness as Starlight Glimmer had stolen away to Equestria. Every battle, every moment of tension or fear, triumph and struggle. The pungent smell of Fluttershy’s blood in the air after Hurricane had wounded her, or the heat on her skin from facing Hokori in the struggle to achieve Bankai.

Now she was sitting here reading a textbook in class, with an irate teacher still glaring at her and a few of her fellow students still giggling at her misfortune for being caught sleeping in class.

Yeah, surreal felt like the right word for it.

It’d been about three weeks since she and the girls had returned from Soul Society. Sunset had been keeping in contact with Equestria via her journal, but thus far all she knew for certain was that Princess Twilight had left with her own friends on a quest to help Sonata and Aria find a missing piece of Adagio’s soul, somehow held by a mysterious sea creature called Charybdis. Meanwhile the other Princesses, with Discord’s help, were heading up a search for the human world’s Starlight Glimmer... so far with no success.

It worried Sunset. Her exhaustion was only partly due to the few hours she had to get to sleep. A lot of it was because even in those limited hours, she was having trouble falling asleep, instead laying awake, staring at her ceiling, worry over what Starlight Glimmer might be doing to her homeland.

Eventually the school bell rang with a loud blaring series of rings, and Sunset let out a heaving sigh as she closed the textbook and shuffled along with the other students out of class.

“Remember, detention!” Mr. Cranky called after her as she left, and Sunset’s face bunched up in a grimace as she shot a short glare over her shoulder.

“Yes, I know Mr. Cranky, thank you.”

As she walked down the hall she let a frustrated sigh growl out of her throat.

Detention my butt. I fought a freakin’ god of death! And won! But oooooh, I end up twenty minutes late to class, and I have detention. I have more important things to be doing!

Which was why she wasn’t going to detention and slipped down a side hall as soon as she could. Grinning to herself she walked a bit easier, at least until Clover caught up to her.

“He’s going to find out eventually that you keep skipping,” Clover said.

“Pfft, whatever, I’m graduating in a couple of weeks. And I have way more useful ways to spend my time than sitting in a classroom bored out of my mind.”

“I can’t disagree with you there. I was actually just going to suggest that detention might be a good place for you to catch up on your sleep,” Clover replied, her eyes softening with concern, “You really should try to get more rest.”

“In case you haven’t noticed Clover, I haven’t had time for rest,” Sunset replied swiftly as they exited out of the school building and started walking around a small garden area towards the front of the school. “Between training, dealing with all these extra Hollows that keep crawling out of the woodwork, and still doing my schoolwork and studies for finals, I literally have, like five hours to sleep each night, if that!”

“You don’t have to patrol as much as you do, and you always spend at least an hour longer training than anyone else among your friends,” Clover pointed out, “You’re pushing yourself.”

“Well I have to!” Sunset said, a bit louder than she’d intended. At Clover’s look Sunset took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as she said, “You were there Clover. You saw how powerful Starlight Glimmer is. She... she took Chishiki from you.”

Clover nodded slowly, her eyes briefly glancing away with a pained look, “I know, but do you really think driving yourself to exhaustion is going to help?”

“What else can I do? I have to close the gap. If you’ve got a shortcut other than training my butt off, I’m all ears.”

“Not as such, but still, you’d do well to let yourself have more time to recover. Do me a favor,” Clover made Sunset pause by putting a hand on Sunset’s arm, not particularly hard, but rather a gentle touch that got Sunset’s attention, “Just try taking it easy for the next week or two?”

Something in Clover’s voice made Sunset raise an eyebrow and look at the Soul Reaper a bit more closely. “Why? Is something going on?”

“Not exactly, but I’ve heard from Meadowbrook that Captain Starswirl will be coming here soon, with some kind of ‘addition’ to the portal project. I also heard from him that we may be shifting locations soon, although I don’t know the details. I overheard Meadowbrook talking with Captain Celestia the other day about it. Apparently they have a plan that involves you and the girls helping out with the project. I thought it might be best to give you a heads up and suggest you take a day or two to rest, just in case whatever they have in mind requires you to be alert, and you know, awake.”

Sunset thought about that for a moment, then nodded, “Alright, I’ll try to get some early shut eye tonight, but we’ve still got training to do. Kido work today, right?”

Clover smiled then, “Yes, we’ll be moving on to working on your level fifties today, and as for me...” her eyes suddenly gleamed, “A special instructor is arriving to teach me how to control a level ninety Kido. I can hardly believe it. Usually only Captains are allowed to try Kido of that caliber! It’s a real honor. And it’s going to be the head of the Kido Corps himself that’ll be here to teach me! Can you imagine? He barely ever leaves the Kido Corps complex, not even for emergencies, but Captain Starswirl made a personal request for him to come out and oversee my instruction! Gah, what if I screw it up!? What if I embarrassed myself in front of the legendary Puddinghead!?”

Sunset’s head tilted severely, her expression dumbfounded, “Legendary...Puddinghead?”

Clover’s face was brushed with rosy hues as she put her hands on her cheeks, “He’s known as the grandfather of Kido, the Kido genius who invented eight of the ten level ninety incantations! Only top students at the Academy who specialize in Kido are allowed to meet him! But he’s coming here for me. I’m so going to screw this up.”

“Whoa there, calm down Clover,” Sunset said, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder, “Yeesh, and you say I’m overdoing it. Take a breath, girl. Huh, Puddinghead... who’d have thought?”

Of course Sunset knew Puddinghead from Equestria’s own history, although she couldn’t quite get her mind wrapped around the idea of the historical figure always depicting in plays as an utter bumbling dunce was somehow a Kido master here in the human world. Go figure.

Clover took Sunset’s advice, taking deep breaths as they rounded the corner to the front of the school, “Yes, yes I need to focus. Can’t go losing my head over this. It’s just Kido instruction, which I’ve even done myself when I subbed at the Academy. I can do this.”

“Damn straight. Just take it easy, and you’ll do just fine. Huh, wonder what the guy will be like? Can’t be anything like what Equestrian history says.”

“What’s Equestrian history have to do with it?” Clover asked, but Sunset waved her off as she spotted her friends gathered at the sidewalk near the front of the school.

For a moment, as it so often did, seeing her friends together lifted Sunset’s spirits. Still, the notable absence of Twilight Sparkle dampened the feeling somewhat. She couldn’t help but wonder what Twilight was doing, and if she was okay. Sunset hadn’t heard anything since Twilight had left with her family, and the silence was worrying.

As she and Clover reached the cluster of other girls, Pinkie Pie waved at them, “Heya Sunset, heya Clover! Did Mr. Cranky give you detention again?”

Sunset blanched, “Is it getting that common?”

“Well you have been arriving to school a teeny bit late rather regularly, Sunset,” said Rarity, holding up a finger, “If you’d like I can recommend you a particularly good coffee blend to use in the morning that I favor. Always perks me right up.”

“Ain’t no good ta rely on caffeine,” Applejack put in, arms crossing as she nodded firmly, “Only cure fer sleepyheads is turnin’ in good n’ early.”

A snort exploded from Rainbow Dash, “Says the girl who literally sleeps for three hours and somehow feels awake each morning. I don’t know how you do that.”

Applejack shrugged, “Just them solid Apple family genes I reckon. Been gettin’ up just fine myself, but I s’pose I can see if ya’ll are havin’ trouble with it. We’ve been pretty busy lately, ain’t we?”

“And not getting any less so,” Fluttershy said, yawning and blinking her own eyes sleepily. “I’ve been having trouble lately myself.”

“Bet you still stay awake in class,” said Sunset, sighing, “I’ll try to get to bed earlier, but I still don’t want to leave the city too unguarded.”

“Could always ask some of those Soul Reapers working on researching the portal to spend a bit more time patrolling,” suggested Rainbow Dash, but Sunset shook her head.

“I don’t want them wasting a second on anything other than figuring out how to get us to Equestria,” Sunset said with a certain sharp intensity, “Every day we’re stuck here is another day Starlight could do something horrible over there. Stopping her is our top priority, and until we can actually get to Equestria, we’ve got to keep the city and the portal safe, while also increasing our strength however we can.”

“Workaholic city, we hear ya,” said Pinkie Pie, “Buuuut in the meantime we can still try to have some fun, right? I was thinking we could bake ourselves up some cookies to fuel our training session today!”

Normally any kind of baking would probably take up too much time out of training and Sunset would’ve curbed Pinkie’s enthusiasm, but considering Clover’s words about pushing herself too much, Sunset managed a weak smile and said, “Okay, sounds like a plan. But we’d better hurry if we’re going to get to Discords in time to-”

“Heeeeeey! Sunset!”

At the rather high pitched, energetic feminine voice, Sunset shuddered and rapidly glanced around. Most of the students were already well on their way walking home or had already driven off, leaving her and her friends as the only ones near the school entrance. Which was good because as much as the kids at the school were used to weird, magical happenings, Sunset still didn’t want to have explain Chappy to anyone.

The voice in question was coming from the nearby bushes, which rustled as a head peeked out. A small, fluffy white head of a stuffed rabbit plushie. It had small, pink button eyes with girly black eyelashes, a cute little nose and smiling mouth, and as she hopped fully out of the bush, Chappy struck a pose making a squeaky noise as she did so. Her body was a bouncy, plush affair with stubby legs, with a visible zipper on her back.

This was Discord’s notion of a ‘solution’ to Sunset’s Chappy problem.

Ever since Sunset returned and discovered Chappy had run rampant with Sunset’s real body, Sunset had become exceedingly reluctant to use Chappy for her intended purpose of occupying Sunset’s body while running around in her spirit form. Fortunately the badges she and the girls had been given back in Soul Society could also work as a means of exiting her human body so she could enter her spirit form. This did leave her body defenseless, but Sunset was still hesitant to let Chappy take her body for another drive. Sure, Chappy had said she was sorry for what she’d done, but Sunset wasn’t about to trust the erratic Mod Soul quite so readily again.

She’d still felt bad about just leaving Chappy as a little orb, so Discord had suggested putting her in a doll-based gigai. He also said this doll was specially modified with monitoring and analyzing devices, which allowed him to track Chappy’s movements and also study the unusual nature Chappy was exhibiting, which involved far more independent thought than a Mod Soul like her should be capable of. So far it seemed like a workable compromise, although Sunset still wasn’t sure why Discord insisted Chappy live in her apartment.

“Behold, master!” Chappy declared as she zipped down the zipper on her chest and whipped out from her fluffy insides an envelope, “A mysterious letter was delivered to our domicile, and I, your ever lovable and loyal Chappy, have brought it to you forthwith! Aren’t I considerate? Praise would be most appreciated!”

Sunset ran a hand over her face while her friends all had a small giggle fit at her expense. With a suffering sigh she went over and knelt down in front of Chappy, “This could have waited until I got home, you know? I told you not to go running around in broad daylight. If someone sees you I’m going to have a heck of a time explaining it.”

“The danger is understood, master, but this letter didn’t look like it could wait, given who it’s from,” Chappy said, waving the letter at Sunset’s face, and causing Sunset to actually look at the letter more closely. It looked like it was made from rather fancy looking paper, and with a sudden shock Sunset snatched it out of Chappy’s hand.

Looking it over, there was no mistake. The symbol of the Quincy cross was on the envelope. As her friends gathered around her curiously, Sunset opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. It consisted of just one slip of paper, with a short note written in a clean, steady hand that Sunset recognized even without the signature that sat beneath the letter’s message.

“Sunset? What is it, darling?” asked Rarity, peeking.

Sunset stood, holding the letter loosely as she read it one more time, her voice filled with equal amounts trepidation and hope, “It’s from Twilight. She’s back in town.”

Author's Note:

And so our arc focusing on Adagio and Twilight comes to a close, and we're moving right along with Sunset Shimmer and the gals from Canterlot High. But don't fret, it isn't likely to be very long before Twilight and Adagio get right back into the mix as our three main heroines' paths start to become entangled once more. And what about Equestria? Well we'll be checking in there fairly soon too, so those interested in seeing what's going on there won't have to wait too much longer.

And since it's somewhat pertinent to the events of this chapter, have another Arrancar Encyclopedia:

Hope you folks enjoyed reading, and as always thanks for taking the time to check out my story. Any and all comments, questions, or critiques are highly appreciated. 'Till next time!

Comments

[sailing101]

DAM IT WHAT'S THE NUMBER!!!!

[MSie95]

Man, that was one heck of the ride. I'm so happy that Twilight and the girls are going to reunite. She needs some good company and the exchage of infomation will... well, they all have been through a lot. Hope Applejack doesn't carry any family photos. Or better she does. Better Figure it out now than latter.

On the side note, is Chappy influenced by Equestrian Magic?

[DDDDDDDDD23]

Will starlight be able to take hikori hikari when it is a fusion of soul reaper and equestrian mssgic?

[DDDDDDDDD23]

I kind of want twilight to realize that the only way for this war to end is if the espada are destroyed and the quincy demilitarize because their will always be hollows. Also I kind of want Twilight to realise that what the shinigami say about quincy powers are true. Quincy got the soul queens power to destroy while shinigami have the soul queens power to purify.

[DDDDDDDDD23]

Who wants to bet that sombras first life killed the soul queen for power. I am not saying that sombra is evil but his first life was.

[Follower of Chaos]

Shoots a bala so that it just misses Vex's head
WHAT IS THE FUCKING NUMBER THAT ADAGIO'S BEEN ASSIGNED?

That tease aside, gotta admire the guts on Adagio to challenge Tirek directly. Chrysalis and Grogar seemed to expect her to do it so this is definitely part of their plans (even if Grogar claims Adagio's grown more than he expected). Honestly didn't expect Gilda to become an Espada too, even if only temporary.

I like how Tirek seems to almost welcome an attempt to take over, simply warning them that does not give second chances. Adagio better do it right the first time when it comes to it. Of course, she has Grogar and Chrysalis to deal with in the meantime.

Figures that Sunset has become obsessed with getting back through to Equestria. Though I think she greatly underestimates her fellow Equestrians, I think they all do. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna should be a fair match for Substitute Starlight and Firefly. Unless she manages to get a hold of the Storm King's staff, she was headed that direction last we heard.

The real threat is Espada Chrysalis. I actually eagerly await a confrontation where the Espada attacks the Changelings and comes to blows with Queen Chrysalis. How ironic it would be if seeing this heartless version of herself, is what finally knocks the Changeling Queen off her self destructive path of revenge, make her embrace her feelings and awaken her true power? The good Changeling Queen Chrysalis vs the evil Segunda Espada Chrysalis, shit would be hype as hell.

Can't wait for the fourth arc to start, NEXT TIME ON EQUESTRIA GIRLS: FRIENDSHIP SOULS.

[AdverseFlower95]

Tirek’s eyes flared with deep rooted amusement, “Yes, I suspect you will. Such hunger for power is an admirable trait, just so long as you never forget who rules in Las Noches. Aspire to whatever height you desire, but know that I am the final limit against which that ambition will be measured... and I won’t grant a second chance, Adagio Dazzle. Now then, about that number.”

----------

“Miss Shimmer? Ahem... Sunset Shimmer!”

YOU FREAKING TEASE!!!!

Sunset stood, holding the letter loosely as she read it one more time, her voice filled with equal amounts trepidation and hope, “It’s from Twilight. She’s back in town.”

GAHHH!!! AGAIN!!!!

[lordelliott]

Hey, Grogar still has a live feed of everything Adagio sees and hears, right? It's just been so long since that was mentioned, I thought I ought to check that it's not forgotten.

Lovely chapter by the way. The last arc was oodles of fun, and I love Adagio's PoV, but I'm glad we're moving back to Sunset and company.

[Blue Horizon]

I know it won't happen, but I still have dreams Sunset can become a Visored.

[Follower of Chaos]

9423827
Well the Soul Queen isn't dead for starters, she was imprisoned by the 0 Division Soul Reapers and locked in her own palace. Kind of throws a wrench in your little theory there especially when The Consort was the one that was actually killed.
9423825
Dude, the Quincies and Twilight are already well aware that their powers destroy souls, rather than purify them. They have literally never denied that so please stop pulling shit out of your ass. There are and always have been, way too many Hollows for the Soul Reapers to deal with alone. What the actual fuck do you expect the Quincies to do when the Soul Reapers can't handle them all and they attack humans?

Soul Reapers maintain the balance of souls, in order to retain their absolute authority over the spirit world. Not all Soul Reapers, but you can bet your ass the guys in charge (the Great Nobel Houses and Division 0) have this mindset. Division 0 could have ended this war in fucking no time flat if they actually cared enough, but then that would give those beneath them like the Gotei 13 the chance to dedicate all their efforts to finding a way to supplant them. This war continues because, while the three sides fight each other, they and the nobels can sit secure that their authority is absolute. THEY are the ones who absolutely need to be stopped, not the Quincies.

The only this war is going to truly end is when all three sides, from an Adagio led Las Noches to the Gotei 13 and a Twilight (or maybe Sombra) led Vadenreich, can come to terms with one another and negotiate peace.

[Adser]

The "secret project" of the Shinigami is an investigation of how to use a hollow portal to bypass the equestrian block right?

That little mess would definitely get all 3 sides together again, and given the amount of freedom each side has (Sunset group has Celestia overseeing them, Twilight has a free pass from Sombra and Adagio as a Espada can almost be considered her own boss) I can see all sides cooperating to resolve the Equestria problem.

[Noctis Prism]

Oh snap! Time to see how things go when reunions abound!

[Pat_Hoof_5000]

9423828
WHAT'S HER NUMBER YOU TEASE. ARGH!

[sailing101]

9423923

Well the Soul Queen isn't dead for starters, she was imprisoned by the 0 Division Soul Reapers and locked in her own palace. Kind of throws a wrench in your little theory there especially when The Consort was the one that was actually killed.

Until we actually meet this fic's version of 0 Division, we can't say for sure if they conform to the reputation that STARLIGHT told us they have. We just don't know enough yet. Kinda like how some people in this comments section still insist that this Fic's version of the Quincy are just like their canon counterparts.

In Bleach canon, the soul king was betrayed by the ancestors of the noble families, who only held back from killing him outright when reality started coming apart at the seams. This separated the living and spirit worlds, and made souls start to turn hollow.
The original 13 captains of the soul reapers were the 13 most uncontrollable criminals in soul society, who struck a deal with the nobles to guard the soul king and prevent the final collapse of reality, and protect souls from hollows.

In this Fic, the way things work is different. We don't know if the soul queen holds reality together. We don't know what condition she is in after she was betrayed, or who betrayed her. Just because Squad Zero guards the soul queen does not make them the betrayers. All we know about them so far is speculation, provided by a primary antagonist.

and given that we know one of her abilities was to make new life by tearing out pieces of her soul…..
and Chrysalis can spawn drones from her blood....
were there other parts of the soul queen scattered among the realms perhaps?

[Garuda IV]

As much as I've been looking forward to it, after everything that's happened to her, I'm not sure if I'm ready to see what'll happen when Twilight reunites with Sunset and her friends. Especially if she doesn't have her prosthetic hand, yet.

[Sunset shimmer417]

Wow what a cliffhanger.
Great chapter!
I’m exited for twilight and the girls to meet again for!
Also I wanna find our where Adagio got placed!
Can’t wait for next chaper.

[Jirodyne]

And so our arc focusing on Adagio and Twilight comes to a close

What?! NOOOOO!!! Adagio is the best part! We need more of her! We need to see her number! We need her to Rescue Ember!

You can't just leave on a cliffhanger, as if your kicking us in the nuts!

[RIPoste]

BWAHAHAHAHA! Tirek killed a kenpachi?! Of the eleven division? If that Kenpachi happens to be Pansy, I am so gonna lose my shit!!!

[Follower of Chaos]

9423999 To be fair, it's not just Starlight who has let slip shady elements of this universe's Division 0. It's been straight up confirmed that they would be called down to smack the Gotei 13 if they didn't obey Central 46 and the Nobel families. We do at least know that the Nobels and Central 46 are just as corrupt and immoral as the canon versions, that's kind of been presented as the Soul Reaper's big issue for the entire story.

I don't really see any reason to doubt Starlight, she clearly believe that Division 0 sent Starburst to hell and we know she's not all that evil. I very much doubt that she would make a claim like that without having solid evidence. Division 0 being in charge of who gets sent to hell or not is a pretty bad sign in terms of their morality.

I understand that things work differently in this story, but the problem there is with the Quincies we have been clearly shown that they are very different from their canon counterparts (which is why I take exception to DDDDDDD23 still acting like they are the canon Quincies). With Division 0 and the Nobel Houses, we've been given reason to believe they are still corrupt and shady as fuck. Like you said, we can't know for sure until they actually appear but it's not looking good based on what we know already.

[Anachronon]

Sunset and her friends are training their butts off, thinking that they made fairly good progress in terms of training. Meanwhile, Adagio be like: "Slowpokes! I am already an Espada!"

[Feather Book]

Twilight sighed, “My right hand was my writing hand, though. The notes are going to look so sloppy.”

It consisted of just one slip of paper, with a short note written in a clean, steady hand that Sunset recognized even without the signature that sat beneath the letter’s message.

My warning bells are ringing... Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.

I am looking forward to their reunion though. And to find out what Adagio's number is. Another great arc closing chapter and I'm sure the next arc will be just as great.

[RanmaChaos]

Another amazing chapter. Well done.

[random reader]

I don't see why everyone is so ticked off about the lack of reveal of Adagio's number. At this point, we already know she's either going to be 6 or 7. What does matter is how the other Esparra beneath her will respond to getting demoted, since they will need to be pushed down a rank.

[NetherWalker]

9423828

Honestly didn't expect Gilda to become an Espada too, even if only temporary.

That's why I love Vex dude, he runs with what's cool and interesting, and Gilda as an Espada? Much better than just leaving the seat open for no reason while Smooze dicks around somewhere else. I hope this turns into some character development and examination for Gilda, possibly even Smooze if we're lucky.

[sailing101]

9425431
The most dangerous thing about hollow Tirek is that he followes the evil overlord list.

SOMEONE MAKE AN OMAKE

[furryman]

9423984
Number 6
c1.staticflickr.com/9/8356/8393811680_b2ac94e22a_b.jpg

[DR-Fluffy]

I've finally binged read all the way to the current chapter, 85, and now I'm just sitting here wandering what I'm going to do with my life until the next chapter is out.

[Stonehooves]

9424554
It's either that, or else Twilight's managed to make herself that robot hand. If she's back in town, there's probably been a little more time that passed. As long as it took chapter-wise, the Battle of Hueco Mundo was only really maybe a couple hours long. Possibly a day, but not much longer than that.

[Lord Seth]

I like the fact we got a real measure of Tirek's strength in this chapter. An issue I've had with the "Big Three" (Tirek, Scorpan, Sombra) is we haven't really gotten to see their power level in perspective (Sombra v. Tirek doesn't really count because they were on fairly equal ground). Sombra had a brief fight against Catrina but we didn't see much, and I can't remember if we actually got anything that indicated Scorpan's power level (granted, it's been so long since we saw him I might have forgotten). But this chapter showed just how high Tirek's power level was compared to Adagio (already a reasonably powerful Hollow), which was useful to know. I guess by extension that also tells us about Sombra, too.

I am still curious about what Tirek and Scorpan's history is in this series. My guess is that Tirek and Scorpan were both Hollows and allies, but Starswirl convinced Scorpan to quit and purified him with the Zanpakto, then Scorpan became a Soul Reaper and at some point later the Commander. That's essentially a Bleachified version of their backstory from the TV series.

[the other sans]

then Tirek was a blazing sun who’s consuming corona would vaporize anyone
and all of them were looking at the new arrivals, giving particular interesting to Adagio herself
Probably because he sensed how even his power was with hes
so wide that even through the roof was technically curved it practically felt like level ground
Screwloose and Screwball could only cover so much fo the city
and I, you’re ever lovable and loyal Chappy

1. Whose.
2. Interest.
3. Hers.
4. Though.
5. Of.
6. Your.

[Yutah123]

Whoo! Twilight and Friends the Reunion!

[Forthwith]

Argh! Genre whiplash! Going from the horrors of war, power plays, and politics straight to a school setting is so jarring. Unavoidable on some level, but still jarring. It's been so long that all of the main 6's problems feel so far away.

But good to see they're getting the band back together.

[Tohshi]

I don't mean to be nitpicky but I do find it funny that you refer to Tirek as the Primera Espada, as that is using the feminine form of primero, effectively calling him a girl, which I mean is fine if that's how Tirek wishes to be refered to but something tells me it isn't.

[Follower of Chaos]

10992364
Well he can blame Kubo for that one, since Primera Espada as a title came from bleach itself and the Primera was male there as well.

[Spellflame]

Something in Twilight’s memory flashed through her mind, “Reishi strands... wait... I think I’ve seen something like that before.”

You did that