Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls

by thatguyvex

Episode 89: Struggle Upon Two Worlds

Episode 89: Struggle Upon Two Worlds

A harsh midday sun was beating down mercilessly upon the sand swept desert. No clouds touched the endless blue sky, the air lacking even the smallest drops of moisture. Waves of heat rose in curling waves off the horizon in all directions, leaving the terrain a featureless ocean of dunes.

Save for the single, colorful line of figures traipsing across the desert wastes in a steady southern march. Encapsulating the traveling troupe was a translucent bubble of shifting, teal magic, maintained by a set of crystals that glowed with a steady stream of energy. The crystals were mounted atop of a rolling, purple and blue painted caravan being pulled by an irate looking mare who pulled her magician’s hat closer over her eyes to shield them from the sun.

“I don’t suppose it would’ve been impossible for you to add some kind of sunblock to this shield, Starlight?” asked Trixie for the thirty seventh time, by Starlight Glimmer’s count.

Riding atop of Trixie’s caravan, Starlight was examining the crystals to make sure they remained properly attuned, and rolled her eyes for the thirty seventh time, “I’ve already explained to you Trixie that I could only calibrate Canopius’ Climatis Controlus to cover a wider area, not deflect actual sun rays. Be grateful. The temperature out there is insane. At least the spell is managing to maintain a relatively cool sixty five degrees inside the bubble.”

“And we’re most grateful for the efforts, Starlight darling,” said Rarity, trotting along in front of Trixie’s caravan while wearing a stylish sun hat and purple rimmed shades, “This desert trek would be absolutely appalling without this ingenious bit of spellwork.”

“Might’ve also helped if somepony packed less,” muttered Applejack, further ahead in the group as she pulled along a large wooden wagon that was heavily laden with supplies and luggage of various sizes. Applejack herself suspected half of it was Rarity’s “essentials”, which for some reason seemed to include enough sunscreen to drown in.

“Oh ppffft,” Rarity gave a lady-like snort, “I’ve learned to pair down quite considerably since our last camping trip. Besides there are eleven of us in this intrepid expedition! I had to ensure we’d have proper supplies.”

“Which fer some reason includes how many dresses?”

“You never know when we might need to impress some locals, darling. First impressions are key in diplomatic affairs, and you don’t want to meet with the Queen of the hippogriffs under dressed, do you?”

“Trixie would be happy enough to just get to Mt. Aris,” Trixie said, wiping sweat off of her brow, “I may have traveled from one end of Equestria to the other, but even one as greatly seasoned as I in the ways of the road have never been this far south before! Most ponies are smart enough not to walk into this endless sandtrap.”

“Nothing for it, Trix,” said Starlight, “This is the only way to get where we’re going. There isn’t even any shipping trade that goes all the way to the continent's southern tip. I’m pretty impressed we’ve made such good time.”

The group certainly had, all things considered. They had departed Ponyville two weeks prior, taking a train down to Appleloosa before setting out overland, heading steadily south long very old and rarely used caravan roads. The first week of travel had taken them through dry mesas and plains, then into a thick and fog laden jungle. Progress had been swift, if a tad winding through those dark jungle paths, but eventually they’d crossed out of the thick green landscape and into the dry, arid wasteland they now crossed, and had been doing so for an entire other week.

Aside from Trixie’s caravan and Applejack’s wagon of supplies, the group traveled light, carrying only their own small saddlebags. Trixie’s caravan was more or less in the middle of the group. Behind it trailed Fluttershy alongside a bouncing Pinkie Pie, who seemed to find something interesting every two minutes to comment on, even in a place as featureless as the desert. Flying at the rear of the group was Rainbow Dash, who on Flash Sentry’s suggestion was acting as a ‘rear guard’ to keep a wary eye out for any dangers that might try to sneak up behind the party of travelers.

And there had been some dangers, albeit ones the group had dealt with readily enough. The jungle had had its fill of ravenous creatures, but Fluttershy was ample counter to such threats, able to tame even the fiercest jungle cat with a friendly smile, or if needed, a hard Stare. In the open desert on their first day the group had been accosted by a group of scorpions the size of large dogs, who seemed so utterly hungry that even Fluttershy hadn’t been able to dissuade them from attacking. Fortunately the group had no shortage of skilled unicorns among them, plus a Soul Reaper Lieutenant. The scorpions were sent packing in short order, with hardly a scratch among the ponies.

Yet the closer they got to their initially intended destination, the more a small, unseen tension was building among them. Each knew the real danger was not animals on the road, but a powerful group of otherworldly invaders, and an eventual confrontation with an ancient undersea sorceress. The trip so far had been a breeze, but hardly representative of the danger they’d eventually have to face.

Perhaps that was why those at the head of the group moved with such dogged determination in their steps. Or, in some cases, the way they floated through the air.

Aria and Sonata were at the very front, both siren sisters seemingly pulled along by an ever growing need to see the quest before them through. They had mostly kept to themselves through the journey thus far, although it was impossible for Sonata at least to remain quiet for long, and indeed within the first few nights of the journey she’d discovered a certain pink party pony who had a similar disposition to herself. It was either to the amusement or exasperation of their traveling companions when the pair got ot sharing jokes around the campfire at night.

“-and so then the walrus tells the sea cucumber, ‘No thanks, I’m a vegetarian’. Heheheh!”

At Sonata’s peal of giggles, Aria sagged and let out a long, pained groan.

“Uggggh, I think I should have just let the scorpions eat me. You meeting that walking pink disaster has got to be the low point of my life, and that’s including the time we got zapped to monkey land.”

Sonata’s cheer was unconquerable by any amount of grumpiness from her sister, so she just kept giggling as she sashayed through the air and gave Aria a playful elbow, “Gotta lighten up sometime, Aria. Pinkie’s a riot, in this world or the other one. Hmm, wonder how they’re doing over in Huquestria anyway?”

“Huquestria isn’t a word. It’s never been a word. Stop trying to make it a word.”

“Well we gotta call it something other than ‘Monkey Land’. Oh! Hutopia! That’s a good one!”

Aria rubbed at her forehead with a hoof, “I can tell you this much, whatever they’re doing over in the human world (which we are not calling Hutopia either), it’s got to be less boring than all this walking.”

“But Aria, we’re not evening walking!” Sonata said, turning over and waving her tail fin through the air for emphasis.

“You know what I mean. Flying still takes up energy, more for us than even walking does for the ponies. I’m tired. I’m hot. I’m hungry. And listening to bad pun-based humor for two weeks straight has done things to my psyche that I’m fairly sure aren’t covered by normal therapy.”

“If you’re hungry,” called Twilight from a few paces behind the sirens, “There’s still lots and lots of dried fruits and vegetables to eat. Applejack packed a bunch!”

“If I have to eat one more apple I’m going to go on a arson spree across every orchard in Equestria,” Aria said with a huff, “Your friend does realize there’s other foods in existence, right?”

“I didn’t hear that!” called Applejack from the middle of the group, and Aria raised her head to shout.

“Good!” then, blowing out a sigh, she grumbled, “Stupid vegetarian ponies. What I wouldn’t give for something with actual meat on it right now.”

Sonata’s mouth started to water, a line of drool trailing down her blue chin, “I have been craving them chicken sandwiches from that place we worked at the mall. Mmmmm those were so good.”

Twilight cleared her throat loudly, “Well, sorry our vegetarian diet isn’t to your standards, but I don’t think Fluttershy would have appreciate us appropriating her chickens as food supplies.”

“OMG, she had chickens and she didn’t tell us!?” Sonata cried, “We could be having fresh roasted chicken right now. You ponies are so mean, holding out on us!”

“The chickens aren’t for eating, they’re for eggs...” Twilight blinked several times, as if something was sparking and sputtering behind her eyes, “Which now that I think about it it’s odd we don’t have any cultural issues using eggs for a food source, especially in baking pastries. Can vegetarians eat eggs? Do they count as meat if they’re unfertilized, or are they considered a dairy product? They’re definitely not vegetables. But our dietary requirements all but standardize high levels of sugar intake, that’s why there’s multiple bakeries in almost every town in Equestria. I need to research this as soon as possible. It’s within reason to think there is a baking conspiracy that could have originated during the founding days of Equestria and-”

A yellow wing bonked her on the head, and Twilight blinked again. It was possible a bit of steam could be seen wafting out of her ears. “Huh? What was I thinking about again?”

“Nothing, Twilight,” said Flash Sentry, the source of the wing-bonk and the Twilight reset, “Nothing at all. I don’t suppose you know how much further we’ve got to go to reach our destination?”

“Oh! Not much farther I believe,” Twilight said, her horn flashing with magic as she teleported a map from her saddlebag out in front of her and stretched it out with her telekinesis. “Granted the maps of this region aren’t the most accurate or to scale that we’d like, but ponies so rarely travel this far outside of Equestria that this is the best we’ve got. Even so, I’ve calculated our distance traveled down to the half-mile, so even accounting for any variations in topography I can still say with accuracy that we should reach Klugetown some time either today or tomorrow.”

They didn’t know much else about the settlement than its name, and even that name had taken hours prior to departing Ponyville to dig up in Twilight’s research. It was supposedly some kind of trade hub for the region, but that wasn’t saying much, given there weren’t very many settlements in the desert to begin with. Aside from that Twilight and her companions knew next to nothing about Klugetown. Not who ran the place, or what kind of species even lived there. Still, it was the last dot of so-called “civilization” before hitting the southern coast, so it was an ideal spot to stop, restock supplies, and gather any information they could concerning Mt. Aris. If they were lucky they might even find a ship captain that could take them to the island mountain.

“By tomorrow, sounds good,” Flash said, glancing sidelong at Twilight, and at one of the books poking out of her saddlebags, “How’s your studying going? You going to be ready if we run into anything more serious than the local fauna?”

With a small gulp, Twilight licked her lips and eyed the book as well. It was a simple affair, bound in dark blue artificial leather and silver rim bindings. Most of its pages were old and wrinkled, the script within written in a swift, messy style. Who knew Princess Celestia had such bad penmanship back when she was young? It felt odd, having an old note/spellbook of her mentor’s from when Celestia was, well... young. Even the mental image of a young Celestia just didn’t click in Twilight’s mind. She tried picturing the ruler of Equestria as a gangly teen and it just wouldn’t form. Celestia was just always Celestia in Twilight’s mind.

Still, there was no doubting the book’s contents were genuine, and contained no shortage of insights into the realm of magical study. Specifically it was a notebook from when Princess Celestia and her sister were being taught the secrets of High Magic by Starswirl himself. For the entire two week journey to the south, Twilight had stayed up long hours into the night studying the old, smudged pages, utterly absorbed.

“Sort of?” she said awkwardly, smiling self-consciously at Flash, “I think I grasp the basic principles of forming High Magic circles, but the runes are more complex than anything I’ve ever encountered before. Modern unicorn magic doesn’t even come close to comparing. Its like... like... if I tried to show an ancient cavepony how a steam engine worked in comparison to just a simple campfire. It's not just a matter of the power of High Arcane Invocations, its the way they manipulate magical energy itself. These spells do things with magic that I wouldn’t have thought were possible, even for something as innately versatile as magic. I feel like I’m reading about the building blocks of creation, not just another spell.”

Which honestly frightened her. She thought modern Equestrian magic was the best in the world, yet the Princesses had been sitting on magical knowledge that would, if spread, change the entire face of magical study and understanding in Equestria. High Magic just flat out bent or broke rules and limitations that Twilight thought were ironclad when it came to magic. Sure, the amount of power it took to cast even a basic High Magic spell was ludicrous, to the point that Twilight wasn’t so sure she could pull off one of them, but that was besides the point. High Magic was a tool that could conceivably remake Equestrian civilization. And the Princesses had kept that knowledge secret.

For good reasons, obviously. Twilight had seen how awry magic spells could go with even good intentions behind them. She didn’t want to think about how badly things could go if somepony equipped with High Magic lacked the proper caution.

It reminded her of what had happened with Starlight and her time traveling shenanigans. That could have destroyed all of Equestria and that wasn’t even High Magic... was it? Now that Twilight thought about it she wasn’t certain where Starlight had gotten the spell knowledge to cast her time travel spell. Could it have been some form of High Magic that even Starlight hadn’t known about?

She shook her head, feeling an uneasy weight on her shoulders. She loved learning about magic, and that certainly extended to learning the mysterious of High Magic. But she was also scared, to be entrusted with such dangerous knowledge.

Flash was watching her, and his face bore a kind, and worried look. Twilight gave him a reassuring smile, “Sorry if I seem down. Just a lot on my mind.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Hasn’t exactly been a normal, slow month, has it? Just because you’re used to this kind of world shaking stuff doesn’t mean it isn’t still going to affect you. Heck, I’m still trying to figure out how these work,” he wiggled his wings about, grinning, “I can’t imagine how much harder it is to dive headfirst into a whole new level of magic while also working out how we’re going to complete our mission. As always Twilight, you’re pretty amazing.”

She tried hard not to show much pleased she was, even at such simple words of praise, and played it off by double checking the map, practically burying her face in it to hide the heat on her face. “Yes, well, I try. You’re, um, not bad either. I mean, it's good to have you. Along! Good to have you along! For this adventure. And stuff.”

Somewhere ahead of them Sonata giggled and Aria groaned something under her breath about ‘getting a room’. Twilight didn’t get it, and continued to triple check her map. Yes, very important, topography.

Coughing in pure awkwardness, Flash spread his wings and took to the air, “And on that note, I think I’m going to go scout ahead.”

“Oh, you should probably take Rainbow Dash with you,” Twilight said, but Flash shook his head.

“No way. Last time I did that, she challenged me to a race to the next set of dunes, and I nearly ended up breaking my neck. I may be getting more comfortable with flying, but its still all I can do to just go in the direction I want. Anyway, I should be back soon, just going to make sure there’s no surprising waiting for us in the next few miles.”

With that, Flash took off, not particularly fast and not very gracefully either, but Twilight watched him go with a certain feeling of admiration for how fast he was adjusting to his new pegasus form.

And it didn’t hurt that he had a very... aerodynamic body. So lithe, and athletic.

Twilight blanched and batted at her wings with her hoof, trying to get them to go back down. Stupid wings. Why did she ever get them in the first place? Finally getting them to tuck back down at her side she sighed and put away her map, figuring there wasn’t any need to check her calculations a fourth time.

A swoosh next to her caused Twilight to look up and see Sonata flying beside her, grinning mischievously.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“You liiiiike hiiiim,” cooed Sonata, snickering.

Why did Twilight suddenly feel like she was back on the playground in kindergarten? Frowning, she looked away from Sonata’s smiling face and made a point of trotting a bit faster, “My relationship with Flash isn’t anypony’s, or siren’s, but my own.”

“I don’t know why you’re acting all embarrassed. It totally makes sense. I mean, he’s not my type, but I can still see the appeal of the handsome, supportive prettyboy. You should totally go for it! Its super obvious he’s into you too.”

“Okay, first of all, there’s far more to Flash than just being some ‘prettyboy’. He’s much smarter than he looks, and he’s steadfast, kind, loyal, and sure maybe he did hide some things from me but I think I can forgive that considering he’s literally jumped into another world to help me protect mine. As for him being into me... um, do you really think so?”

Before Sonata could respond there was a billow of air as Flash Sentry returned in a rush, landing in front of them. “Really think what?”

“Flash!” Twilight nearly tripped over herself as she jumped back, face somewhere between a firetruck and a strawberry in color, “Wha-what are you doing back so soon?”

He cast a slight frown between her and Sonata, who just grinned impishly, but he shrugged and said, “I found something. I think your calculations might be a bit off. That town is just over the next ridge, but...”

“But?” Twilight asked, and as she had stopped, soon the rest of the caravan was joining them, the other ponies all giving curious looks.

“What’s all the hubbub?” asked Applejack.

“Pleeeeease tell Trixie that there’s an oasis that’s been found? Or even a mudpuddle.”

“C'mon, Trix, we’re not even low on water supplies yet, so chill out,” said Rainbow Dash as she flew over the group, hovering overhead as she eyed Flash, “Saw you jet off, man. You spot something?”

“Its best you all just come take a look. Not sure what to make of it myself,” said Flash Sentry as he turned and started to trot ahead, taking the lead of the group. Various glances were exchanged among the rest of the party, but they all started to follow him.

It didn’t take long to find what Flash was talking about.

“Whoooo, someponies had a real serious party last night and nopony was the designated driver,” commented Pinkie Pie, breaking the silence of the group as the stood atop a small ridge, staring at the sight in front of them.

It looked like what was once a large, functional airship. Its dull purple and dark iron hull was now cracked apart and scattered like so much burned eggshell across several hundred meters. From the large furrow in the desert and the trail of wreckage it was clear the ship had crashed, but the cause of the crash was also evident in the fact that what intact parts of the hull could be seen had been blasted open with multiple, clear blast marks from what might have been explosions or magical beam impacts. The ship lay largely in two pieces, a crushed aft section and a crumbled forward section, with numerous bits of scattered debris stretching between the two like entrails.

“Oh my, we should go see if anypony needs help,” said Fluttershy, starting to trot down towards the wreckage, but Flash Sentry held out a wing to stop her.

“I already looked, and there’s no one there, Fluttershy,” he said, his face bearing a grim look, his eyes glancing away from her as he quietly added, “No one alive at any rate. You probably don’t want to get too close.”

The kind pegasus mare looked stricken, putting a hoof to her mouth. Nearby Starlight had hopped down from Trixie’s wagon and with a frowning look came up beside Twilight, pointing. “Look, see that banner there?”

Twilight peered, and saw a tattered black banner on the prow of the ship’s remains, bearing a symbol of what looked like some kind of bright, icy blue pair of fangs, or perhaps a pitchfork. Squinting, she said, “I don’t recognize the emblem. Whoever they were, they’re not known to Equestria.”

“Is it just me, or does this look pretty recent, too?” asked Rainbow Dash, “Like, the sand hasn’t even buried the little bits and pieces yet. That means this has only been here, what, a day or two?”

“Don’t that mean we would’ve seen or heard somethin’?” said Applejack.

“Not necessarily,” said Twilight, “We’ve been covering at least twenty miles a day. This could have been well out of sight or earshot even if it just happened yesterday. I’m more worried about who could have done this. Flash, you’re sure there’s no survivors?”

Flash nodded, face still grave, “I checked before coming back. I’m getting good enough at sensing spiritual pressures now through all the magic interference that I can pick out your guys’ life force even at a distance. I don’t know how big the crew was, but if there were survivors, they left the crash site, and left behind the... remains of those who didn’t make it. Plus, there’s more.”

“More what, bodies?” asked Sonata with a wrinkle of her snout.

“Probably,” said Flash, “But I meant more ships.”

He led them around the wreckage, which had been blocking their view of what lay beyond. Twilight felt her hoof strike something solid and looked down to see deep brown cobblestones emerging from the wind swept sands.

“Is this a road?” she wondered aloud, and after a moment realized it was a road, or at least the ancient remains of one, trailing along their path southward. In just a minute or two they got around the airship wreckage, and there were several gasps from the gathered ponies.

“Well, that can’t be good,” said Aria dryly.

Beyond the first airship crash were four more airships, all in similar states of destruction. They littered the desert field, dotting the golden sands like so much broken foal’s playtoys. The collective wreckage covered an area of at least a mile, all trailing towards the distant sight of a large town emerging from the heat haze.

“That’s got to be Klugetown,” said Starlight, swallowing nervously as she looked at the destroyed airships, “But what in the world happened here?”

The town itself looked unharmed, near as Twilight could tell at this distance. It was quite the unusual sight. She’d never witnessed a town quite like it. Klugetown was built within what appeared to be hollowed out remains of a huge redstone mesas, with dozens upon dozens of buildings built up along the mesas' interior and exterior walls like growths of fungus. Each ramshackle, dusty building was straightforward and haphazard in its construction, and it looked as if there was zero planning that went into the town’s layout, with one building piled atop the other, catwalks and rope bridges strung around and between them seemingly at random. Colorful banners and shade cloths were hung around with equal lack of symmetry, like discarded pieces of clothing left tossed about on a whim. Several huge windmills spun lazily in the desert breeze, some as large as airships themselves.

Speaking of airships, Twilight noted that on the town’s western edge there was a set of what appeared to be docking scaffolds protruding from the higher points of the mesas, and that there were at least two or three vessels docked there, though not one of these airships bore any resemblance to the ones laying in scattered pieces in the desert near the town.

“This is way weird,” said Sonata, shivering, “I’m getting all kinds of creep-o factor here. Anyone else?”

Pinkie Pie raised a hoof, “No Pinkie Sense warnings yet, but I’m definitely on your page with the creepy vibe.”

“Well I sincerely doubt we’ll make any headway in learning just what’s happened around here by standing and staring,” said Rarity, “Perhaps we should see what the locals have to say?”

“Trixie will literally walk over fiery coals if it means being able to purchase a mango juice, so yes let’s ignore the highly concerning airship graveyard and just get to civilization already.”

“Seconded,” agreed Starlight.

With that the group headed towards the town, passing by the extensive airship wreckage with uneasy looks.

----------

The worst thing about Klugetown wasn’t the residents, who would cheat their own mothers for the clothes on their backs, then sell their mothers to the highest bidder if they could. It wasn’t the endlessly complex and labyrinthine streets that one could get lost in with just one wrong turn. It wasn’t even the eternal presence of dirt and sand that got into every building and inevitably got into every little nook and cranny on one’s body if one lived in the town long enough.

No, Tempest Shadow decided it was definitely the smell that was the worst part of this rat infested mudhole that she was presently stuck in.

The mare sat at one of the town’s many exterior bars, underneath a canvas of striped leather that did little to keep the heat or dust off of her cloaked form. A barely touched clay mug of some horrifically unidentifiable liquid sat in front of her that the bar stall owner claimed was alcohol, but Tempest had her doubts. At least it smelled alcoholic enough to keep out some of the rest of the town’s stench. Oh for the wonders of indoor plumbing.

“You gonna drink that or are you having a staring contest with it?” asked her companion, Grubber, the squat creature looking for all the world like a plump, bipedal hedgehog with a hawk of white hair and dark, grayish blue fur.

Tempest turned eyes glittering with deadly intent towards him, and Grubber wisely coughed and looked away, leaving Tempest to return to staring at her drink and contemplating her failures in life.

Perhaps she was being overly dramatic, but the past few weeks had just been the pits. And everything had been going so swimmingly well, not so long ago, too. She’d been the battlefield commander for the entire army of the Storm King, leading his forces in conquest after conquest. They’d secured nearly the entire southern continent of Abyssinia and were poised to strike north towards Equestria itself, Tempest’s long abandoned and despised homeland. It was there she hoped to make herself whole again, and with luck enjoy a long and prosperous military career in the Storm King’s newly forged empire.

The fragmented stump of her broken horn sparked with angry motes of magic as she remembered just how swiftly things had gone wrong, her hooves clasping the clay mug in front of her hard enough to send cracks along its surface.

It had been so simple. The fleet had flown north across the southern ocean channel, making record time. The plan was to strike the hippogriffs of Mt. Aris first, securing a southern supply point for the fleet and possibly confirm the existence of the treasured Pearl of Changing, reputed to be in Queen Novo’s keeping. Once that was done they’d strike north swiftly and launch a surprise raid on Canterlot itself. The magical artifacts gained in Abyssinia would aid in defeating the arrogant, overconfident, so-called ‘Princesses’, and with their capture the Storm King would be able to drain their power into his staff and obtain all the power he desired, and needed to restore Tempest Shadow’s horn.

Getting past the hippogriff navy had been disgustingly easy. The hippogriffs weren’t quite as soft and weak as her pony brethren, but admiral Seaspray’s naval forces weren’t prepared for facing such a large and well trained airship fleet, and Tempest had routed the sea-bound hippogriff navy with barely any casualties. Mt. Aris had seemed theirs for the taking!

Then... then she had shown up! One pony. One.

The clay mug shattered in Tempest’s hooves, and the barkeep glared and yelled at her, but she wasn’t paying attention. She was remembering, growing more furious at the memory by the second.

Mt. Aris had been surrounded. The yeti shock troops of the Storm King were dropping upon the verdant city occupying the mountains grand slopes, sweeping aside defenders with ease. Tempest Shadow went down with them, at the vanguard of the attack. Her martial prowess was honed from a lifetime of hard survival in harsh lands and years more of concentrated training in the Storm King’s army. No hippogriff warrior could stand against either her martial fury, or the chaotic storm of magical energy her broken horn could summon. She had little control over her magic, but her fury certainly fueled its potent energies, and when she pointed it in the rough direction of her foes, they generally regretted facing her.

She’d certainly never lost a fight, not until that damnable purple maned mare had stepped out of the chaos of battle to face her. Tempest had been shocked to see another pony after so many long years away from her people, but she had not thought much of it initially. Just some dumb tourist or traveler, probably, or so Tempest had thought.

But no, this mare, with pink fur and a two toned mane of purple and teal, had not only stood in Tempest Shadow’s way, but single hooved turned the entire tide of the battle! Never before had Tempest seen anything, pony or otherwise, move with such speed! Never had she seen a mere pony strike with such power! She hadn’t even drawn the oddly thin, curved sword she carried sheathed at her side, this mysterious pony had simply used her bare hooves to demolish Tempest’s yeti shock troops with contemptuous ease.

When Tempest herself had tried to strike this pony down, she’d blocked every strike Tempest made, and evaded every arc of uncontrolled magic from her horn. She’d then casually back hooved Tempest into a hippogriff dwelling with the ease... Tempest shuddered, the same ease the Ursa had smashed her horn all those years ago as a filly.

Tempest, barely conscious, had watched as this strange mare had launched herself among the fleet, and began throwing bizarre, foreign magic of her own. Incantations that Tempest had never heard before had led to explosions of elemental power that had ripped airships apart like so much paper mache.

Retreat was the only option, galling as it was. Tempest Shadow had gathered survivors and gotten back aboard one of the smaller airships, ordering a rapid withdrawal signaled to the whole fleet. During the retreat, Tempest Shadow had seen the Storm King’s own flagship get torn in half by the mysterious mare’s spells. She would have thought the Storm King finished if she hadn’t seen the strange purple maned mare using another odd power to literally step across the sky at high speed, carrying the Storm King’s unconscious form on her back and his magical Staff of Sacanus in her hooves.

That must have been what the mare was after, because once she had the Storm King and his staff, she paid the fleet no more attention. Tempest had taken the opportunity to get what ships would still respond to her signals as far away from Mt. Aris as possible.

What ships hadn’t been destroyed or ran in other directions followed Tempest north. After the disaster with the hippogriff’s, Tempest thought the best course was to go towards the desert settlement of Klugetown, where reconnaissance reports indicated they had airship docks and repair facilities. She still had enough troops that she imagined she could subdue the town and force the to provide repairs and supplies. From there she intended to take her time figuring out a new pan of action.

Only that had gone terribly wrong as well. As soon as Tempest Shadow’s splintered fleet arrived in the skies near Klugetown, and she advanced upon the settlement with the intention of hitting the town fast and hard without giving the residents a chance to form an organized resistance, the fleet was attacked again. This time it was a different pony, a pegasus instead of a unicorn. Yet this one was no less incredible in her combat prowess. Wearing what appeared to be a fantastical suit of winged armor, and bearing weapons the like of which Tempest had never seen, this pegasus cut Tempest’s remaining airship forces to ribbons with incredible precision. Her main weapon had been some manner of energy cannon that tore through airship hulls like so much sodden tissue.

Tempest wasn’t even sure how she’d gotten lucky enough to survive the crash, but after she pulled herself out of the wreckage it was clear the Storm King’s army was done for. What few survivors there were from the devastated armada all deserted her and left, all save for Grubber who seemed to want to stick with her for reasons she couldn’t quite fathom.

If the Storm King had any forces left that had returned to Abyssinia, then they’d be leaderless and likely unable to hold the territory they’d conquered in that land. As for the Storm King himself, he was captured by a ludicrously powerful enemy that Tempest Shadow couldn’t have imagined encountering in her most wild nightmares. The situation looked well and truly hopeless.

It was a feeling she was all too familiar with, and hated with a passion. Hence her rage at her current situation. After years of harsh travel, barely surviving off the land, in search of anything resembling purpose she’d thought she’d found a place to belong at long last. She thought she’d found someone who would, if not be a ‘good’ leader, would at least be one who’d value her efforts and reward her hard work.

But it was all gone in the span of days. Yet Tempest was made of stern stuff, and wasn’t about to let this completely crush her. She still had in her possession one trump card to play.

In a simple brown sack tied to her side beneath her cloak rested the small, glowing green spheres of the Misfortune Malachite. The potent stones were to be her ace in the hole against Equestria’s Princesses, the one thing she could use to guarantee their rapid defeat, for nothing in her experience could withstand the petrifying power of the stones, not even alicorns.

But without an actual army to back her up, or the Storm King’s Staff of Sacanus to drain the alicorn’s magic power, there was no point going to Equestria now.

She needed to rescue the Storm King. Or at least recover his staff. But how? She had no idea where the ponies responsible for destroying the armada even were. She had no doubt the unicorn and pegasus were in cahoots with each other. It was impossible to think that two stupidly overpowered ponies would show up one after another to decimate the fleet like that. But how to find them, and even if she did, how would she get past them to rescue her boss?

The Misfortune Malachite might defeat them, but if she used the stones up on them there’d be nothing left to use on the Princesses.

Stealth. She’d have to rely on covert tactics to do this. Dig for information first. Any rumor on where these strange ponies might be hiding. Such ponies of extraordinary ability couldn’t remain hidden entirely without drawing someone’s attention, so Tempest would just have to be patient and wait.

“Okay, so you’ve been staring at the bar counter for, like, at least ten minutes straight not saying a word,” Grubber commented, “Are you have a flashback? That looks a lot like a flashback face to me.”

“I’m planning, you moron,” she said with a harsh snort, “If you’re just going to distract me you could go elsewhere, you know.”

“Oh I know it. But really, wasn’t keen on walking across a desert by myself, or even with the big guys. Seriously, yeti fur and hundred plus degree temperatures don’t mix. Nah, I figure you’ve always known what you’re about, boss lady, so I’ll tag along and see what you cook up. Can’t be worse than my chances out there on my own. Seriously, this town isn’t exactly ‘people friendly’, know what I mean?”

“Then if you insist on staying under my command, I require you learn when to remain silent while I think,” Tempest said, propping one hoof on the counter and placing her chin on it as she thought hard, and aloud, “We have to recover the Storm King, somehow, which means learning where those damned ponies have gone. Given they could be literally anywhere, I have to think long and hard about how to go about finding them-”

Meanwhile as she talked, Grubber glanced casually off to his right, towards the road leading into Klugetown, and blinked. He reached over and tapped Tempest’s side with a finger. “Hey, boss lady?”

“-which could take days, weeks, even months of tracking rumors this way and that! I don’t have that kind of time to waste! Who knows what they’re doing to the Storm King right now, so we have to find them quickly! But how? There’s only two of us-”

“Seriously, Tempest, if you’d just look over-”

“-and you’re not exactly what I’d call a prime recon asset! I’m going to have to do most of the legwork myself. Maybe if I start with the top gangs in Klugetown and shake them down, they must know the most out of anyone here who comes through the region. Any rumors from caravans must eventually pass on up to them. Of course they’ll probably resist, so I’ll have to crack a few heads together-”

“Tempest!” Grubber somehow shouted and whispered at her at the same time, his tapping becoming so insistent that she couldn’t ignore him anymore.

“What!?” she roared, turning towards him with a fierce look. He just grabbed her head by the cheeks and turned her to face towards the road.

A sizable group of ponies were cantering into town, drawing along with them a colorful caravan and wooden wagon. Among the group of colorful pastels that stuck out terribly among the dull browns and grays of Klugetown, there was also the rare and strange sight of two floating sea serpents the likes of which Tempest had never seen before. However far more arresting to her attention, and the reason she didn’t immediately pummel Grubber for pinching her cheeks (she hated it when people did that!), was the sight of a certain unicorn mare with a light pink coat and purple mane with a teal streak through it.

It’s her!

There was no mistaking it. The mare might not have been wearing that tacky coat with too many belts on it, and she wasn’t armed with that odd curved blade, but there was absolutely no way this was a different pony. She looked exactly the same, even down to the somewhat smug way she trotted along.

What she was doing here, in the open, unarmed, just walking into town amid a caravan of other ponies Tempest had no idea. None of the other ponies resembled the pegasus that had finished off the fleet outside town. Perhaps these other ponies were also associates of the mare, or perhaps she’d just come in with a random group of travelers. Regardless of what the truth was, the fact was that one of Tempest’s targets had literally just walked right into town!

Tempest grabbed Grubber and immediately flipped over to the other side of the bar counter, scattering a few plates as she dragged him down to hide with her beneath the counter edge. The bartender, a tall, burly blue fishman let out a rough, “What the blazes are you louts doing!?”

Tempest silenced him with a look that said ‘shut up or you’re face is going to be intimately acquainted with the dirt’. The fishman bartender gulped at that look and wisely decided to go back to cleaning a random mug from the counter.

That done, Tempest and Grubber crawled to one side of the bar and peeked around the corner, just in time to watch the purple maned mare and her troupe trot by. Though her eyes were mostly locked on the unicorn who’d caused the disaster at Mt. Aris, Tempest wasn’t so blind as to not see who else was among the group.

“What in the world is an Equestrian Princess doing here?” Tempest asked aloud.

“Who’s a what now?” asked Grubber, and Tempest rolled her eyes, nodding towards the darker purple unicorn with the obvious pair of wings.

“She’s an alicorn. I don’t recognize her, but if she’s got wings like that she’s either a Princess, or one very dedicated cosplayer.”

“Coswhat?”

“...Nevermind,” Tempest said, cheeks burning slightly. So what if she’d been into Daring Do conventions as a foal, before everything in her life went wrong? She examined the rest of the group and saw little among them that seemed remarkable, at least until she spotted the sole stallion in the group. He was one of only two in the caravan wearing clothing, the other being a snooty looking mare in a gaudy magician’s getup. The black robes he wore were plain enough, albeit of a style she wasn’t familiar with. What she did recognize was the style of the sword he wore sheathed through the sash of his robes. The same thin, curved style of blade that the unicorn mare had carried.

If Tempest had had even a sliver of doubt, that pretty much cinched it for her.

“Right, so what now, boss lady?” asked her stout companion, and as the caravan of ponies and two strange floating sea serpents passed by through the crowded streets, Tempest Shadow rose to her hooves, a determined and eager smile curling her lips.

“What do you think? Follow those ponies.”

----------

“Sooo, the Staff of Sacanus. It do anything fancy besides drain magic from stuff?” asked Starlight Glimmer as she casually twirled the large, darkwood staff in her hooves, admiring the rather large white crystal embedded in the top.

The question wasn’t immediately answered, so she sighed and went to grab a bucket of ice cold water, and proceeded to use her magic (she was getting better with it by the day) to splash the stuff across the shaggy, disheveled form hanging from chains in the room’s ceiling.

The Storm King coughed and sputtered awake, blinking bleary blue eyes, “Huzzahwha? Are we in Canterlot yet...? Oh, wait, no we’re not because SOME CRAZY PONY RUINED EVERYTHING!”

Starlight coughed politely, rubbing at her ears, “Okay, remember that talk we had about volume control? Do I need to get Platinum back in here to remind you about it?”

The mention of Platinum caused the Storm King to hush up rather fast, his simian features growing pale. He still had a bit of frost coating his furry, ape-like form from Platinum’s previous interrogation methods.

“Seriously lady, what do you want from me?” he pleaded, “I already told you everything I know about the staff. Listen, you seem like an appropriately level-headed kind of gal with clear lack of moral compunctions, which trust me I totally appreciate. How about instead of hanging me here like a side of beef you just let me down and we can totally partner up for some old fashioned world conquest fun. I have a growing brand and a LOT of pull down south, so really it’d be in your best interest to-”

“Quiet,” Starlight said, the simple, plain coldness of her town causing the Storm King to clamp his mouth shut immediately.

Starlight got up from the plush chair she’d been sitting in and set the Staff of Sacanus aside before slowly trotting up to where the Storm King hung. She looked up at him, eyes gleaming and wearing a thin smile. “I’m not some small minded despot looking to take over the world. I don’t care about ruling anything. I have a much higher goal in mind, one a shallow would-be king like you could never grasp. All I want from you is what information I can squeeze out about this world’s magic and what you were planning to do with this staff. If you’re fortunate, once I have that, I’ll let you go and you can pursue whatever petty conquests you want. It won’t matter to me.”

“Going to be kind of difficult to pursue conquering anything short of a Bed and Breakfast with my whole armada reduced to a fine pile of firewood,” grumbled the Storm King.

“Too bad, you shouldn’t have tried to attack the hippogriffs while I was busy making friendly with them,” Starlight said, but her smile did warm slightly as she chuckled, “Although I’ll admit it was a rather well timed invasion. Your attack made me something of a celebrity with the hippogriffs, and Queen Novo was so grateful for my heroics that she didn’t even ask me why I wanted to see where she kept the Pearl of Changing. I wonder how long it took them to realize the Pearl was gone after I left?”

Despite himself the Storm King whistled in appreciation, “You’re a whole different pile of crazy, but I like it. Devious, powerful, kinda nuts, huge chip on your shoulder. You remind me of my second-in-command.”

“That’s nice and all, but I’m not interesting in getting buddy-buddy with you, so let’s cut the chit-chat and get back to the staff, shall we? You say it can drain magic from objects or creatures, but you haven’t really told me what you intended to do with it once you reached Canterlot.”

“Yeah, kinda hard to keep talking when some insane, ugly mare has frozen my jaw shut!” said the Storm King, referring to when Platinum had gotten a tad carried away with the other day’s interrogation. “Seriously, where’d you find that psycho? I’m an evil world-conquering overlord and even I think that mare’s straight up out of her noggin’.”

“Platinum is going through a phase right now,” Starlight said, waving a hoof, “Sort of a personal and existential crisis. I think she’ll come around eventually, but even if she doesn’t, she’s still a useful member of the team. She’s not your concern right now, unless you keep dancing around the subject that is. So either tell me what you planned to do in Canterlot, or this room is about to get quite a bit chillier.”

“Alright, alright! Look, the staff is pretty useless unless you drain a lot of magic into it. A little magic and it can do a few nifty tricks like control some weather, or zap out a bit of lightning, but to get it really juiced up you got to drain something HUGE. Like, we’re talking a major league source of magic. Pull that off and BAM, you’ve got yourself a ‘I win’ button on a stick.”

“Hmm, I like the sound of that,” Starlight said, eyeing the Staff of Sacanus briefly before turning back to the Storm King, “And I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess you knew of such a magic source in Canterlot?”

“Oh yeah, big time. The Princesses. Tall, shiny flowing manes, horn and wings, control the sun and moon. Can’t miss ‘em. Also there’s a pink one who’s like, all about hearts, or kissing, or some lovey dovey crap, but really the ones you want are Tall White and Moopey Blue. I think that’s their names.”

“Celestia and Luna,” Starlight said, rubbing her chin, and the Storm King pointed his two fingers at her, even with his arms chained above his head.

“That’s the ones. Drain them dry, and you’ll be rocking even more power than you already have. So, that’s all I know. Can you just let me down now so I can blow this joint? If you’re taking Equestria, I at least want to get back to Catland and set up shop, figure out if there’s another land ripe for conquering; preferably far away from here.”

“I’ll consider it. For now you might as well hang around,” Starlight replied, wearing a small half-smirk as she gathered up the Staff of Sacanus and trotted for the thick metal door leading out of the room.

“Ha-ha-ha, I get it, because I’m not wearing pants, right?”

Starlight rubbed a hoof to her forehead, suppressed an urge to obliterate the cretin, and left the room, banging the metal door shut behind her as she left. She got perhaps ten paces down the hallway beyond before a familiar, oil-slick voice spoke from the shadows.

“I see you’ve been busy while I’ve been gone. Making friends with the locals, and acquiring such lovely, shiny new toys.”

Starlight stopped and turned a smug glance towards Chrysalis as the Espada slide out of the gloom of one of the adjoining hallways. She gave the Staff of Sacanus a playful spin, “I do like collecting other people’s things. Feels like I can always put them to better use than their previous owners. As for ‘friends’, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Oh, but I’ve heard you’re such a star, now, among some of the inhabitants of this realm. The hippogriffs seem to just love you. Well, they did until they realized you stole their precious national treasure,” Chrysalis laughed, like the chiming of slime coated bells as she came up beside Starlight and they both resumed walking down the hall.

“Of course,” Chrysalis went on, “I have to question the wisdom of such overtly provocative actions. I thought the idea was to be covert in our stealing of Equestria’s magic. I somehow don’t see the stealth aspect of obliterating an entire army and making oneself a celebrity to an entire kingdom. Or is this one of your brilliant ‘chess’ maneuvers I’m unfamiliar with?”

“I already have a headache, Chrysalis, can you save the sass for another day?” Starlight replied, reaching one of Hitsuyo-Aku’s research labs, one she’d been converting for her personal use on studying the magical artifacts she’d started to gather. Going inside and placing the Staff of Sacanus inside an apparatus designed for such study, she turned to Chrysalis and nodded to another item in the room, placed within a similar apparatus. The object in question was a shining, luminous orb that shone with a radiant spectrum of bright colors.

“Between this Pearl of Changing and the Staff of Sacanus, we’ve already make more progress than I could have expected in this short a timeframe. If Platinum comes back successful, we’ll have another artifact in our growing arsenal.”

Chrysalis examined the staff and orb with mild interest, but perked up at the mention of Platinum, “Oh? You’ve sent our dear ex-Captain out on a mission? Is the poor dear feeling any better these days?”

The far too sweetly affected tone of sugary concern in Chrysalis’ voice suggested she didn’t remotely care about Platinum recovering from the mental funk she’d been in since betraying Soul Society, but instead rather delighted in the idea of the Soul Reaper’s emotional distress. Starlight fixed Chrysalis with a hard stare.

“She’s dealing with it. Honestly I wasn’t eager to send her out, but keeping her cooped up in this place wasn’t doing her any good.”

“One has to wonder if she’s in such a poor frame of mind if she can even accomplish anything useful.”

“I sent Firefly with her to keep an eye on things and act as backup,” Starlight said, “They’ll be fine. Even if this situation has ‘trap’ written all over it.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Chrysalis said, leaning over one of the lab’s tables with her chin propped in her hooves, licking her lips, “I love a good trap.”

“A trap for us, but couldn’t resist the bait,” said Starlight, waving a hoof dismissively, “Firefly caught rumors of a train transporting a prominent artifact. Some kind of ‘evil’ amulet. The papers all over Equestria were jabbering on about it. Too much so, really, to make me think it isn’t some kind of set-up. The Princesses have probably set the train up to draw us out, but that’s fine. Platinum and Firefly can handle whatever is thrown at them, and if the Princesses themselves appear, then that means they won’t be in Canterlot. Makes fine timing for your arrival.”

“Are we going to go play in the ponies fairy tale playset while the Princesses are busy springing their ‘trap’ then?” Chrysalis mused, then smirked in understanding, “Oh, you want your Bount back, don’t you?”

Starlight flinched, “Trixie did her part blocking the portal. We’d be in a much worse position without her help. I owe it to her to spring her free if the opportunity presents itself. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to use test out the Pearl of Changing. Between the two of us we can impersonate whoever we want, including the Princesses.”

“I do like the pink one. She has quite the figure on her. A girl can get jealous,” Chrysalis said, snickering under her breath.

With a slight eye-roll, Starlight went to examine the readings that had been taken earlier that day on the Pearl of Changing, making sure she understood how the artifact was to be used. While she did that she said, “All that aside, did everything go well back in Hueco Mundo?”

“Squirk is dead and both the Hollows and Quincy forces were quite mangled by the exquisitely violent battle. Not quite as many dead Sternritter as I’d have preferred, but one can’t have everything. Yet.”

A non-committal grunt escaped Starlight, her eyes scanning the data on the pearl, “As long as Squirk is out of the picture and can’t be used to crack through our portal block, that’s all that matters. Having the Arrancar and Quincy damage each other is just an added bonus. Less we have to worry coming after us. I’ve got the Queen’s Key mostly figured out, and the Cross Gate still has plenty of juice for another trip. Few more weeks, maybe a month, of to gather the power we need here and we’ll be ready to hit the Soul Palace.”

“Your confidence is inspiring,” Chrysalis said, stretching herself out and turning to leave.

“Where are you going?” Starlight asked, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked up from the data.

“I hardly had time to go exploring when we first arrived. Since I’ve got some time, I thought I’d go for a stroll. Stretch these beautiful wings,” Chrysalis extended the thin gossamer appendages from her insectile form. “After all, I brought some of my family along this time. I thought I’d show them the sights.”

“Chrysalis, we are not here to indulge your hunger. Our only goal is to acquire the power to deal with the Zero Division.”

“Lighten up, Starlight dear. I know the rules, and I’ll play by them so you can feel all nice and squeaky clean of responsibility. But you must let a girl go have some fun and blow off steam. I won’t devour a single soul, or let my children run too rampant. However, in these new forms, mmm... there’s more we can devour than souls. Considering you’ve gotten to have your fun by blowing up an army, you can’t deny me the right to go have a little fun too, yes?”

Starlight flinched at that. She hadn’t really intended to go quite so ‘all-out’ against that armada of airships, but when she’d seen them attacking a peaceful kingdom of people who had no obvious defense against such an assault, she’d just gotten... so very, very angry. It’d been difficult to control herself. She’d probably used more force than had been necessary to end the threat, only snapping out of her anger induced rampage when she’d realized the Storm King’s staff was a potent magical artifact, and that it made more sense to capture him rather than just flat out kill him.

It’d been awhile since she’d had such a lapse in control. Not since she’d watched Sunburst’s soul dragged into Hell itself.

Still, her own misadventure with the Storm King’s armada had nothing to do with letting Chrysalis run wild in Equestria.

“I’m concerned your idea of ‘fun’ is going to involve innocent lives. I dealt with a conquering despot. No real loss to this world, there. That’s different than if you descending on some hapless town to wreak havoc.”

“Aaah, so you wouldn’t mind it so much if the target of my fun happened to be what you could justify as ‘bad guys’, would it?” Chrysalis said, batting her eyelashes innocently. “Why I do feel like I’ve seen the light and want to lay waste to the twisted and wicked today. I’ll go get my white hat and crusading gear.”

“Chrysalis, this isn’t a joke.”

“No, it’s not. I’m bored, and I’m going to go enjoy myself. If it appeases your conscience, I’ll enjoy myself upon someone you can construe as guilty of some wrongdoing. That way everyone wins. Except whoever the object of my fun turns out to be. I’m sure I can find some bandits, or slavers, or something of the sort out there somewhere. Does that sound fair to you?”

Starlight considered the matter for a moment. She still needed Chrysalis on her side, and with Firefly and Platinum away from the base there wasn’t anyone Starlight could send to keep a leash on the Espada, unless she decided to go along herself.

Could she afford to leave Hitsuyo-Aku unguarded to go keep an eye on Chrysalis?

As if reading her mind, Chrysalis said, “If you want to come along and make sure I don’t play too rough, I’d actually enjoy the company. If you’re worried about our little hideout, or perhaps Platinum’s son running off on his own, I brought my daughter Ocellus with me. She can watch things here while us adults have a Girls Night Out.”

Starlight raised and eyebrow, and Chrysalis flashed an amused smile at her as she turned to slide closer to Starlight. Starlight couldn’t help but notice the fangs jutting from Chrysalis’ lips gave her a distinctly spider-like visage, not helped by the hungry alien gleam in her eyes.

“You’re so uptight, Starlight, you really should learn how to enjoy yourself more. Come with me. You can make sure I stay a good girl, but perhaps you’ll find that there’s more in this world to enjoy than just the magic you can plunder from it.”

“Chrysalis, seriously, this is creepy, even for you,” Starlight said, putting out a hoof to push Chrysalis back, which didn’t seem to bother the Espada turned Changeling Queen. In fact it only seemed to amuse her more. Starlight took a deep breath and said, “I’ll come along, but only to observe. You want to toy around with some idiot bandits, it’s not skin off my back, but I’m not joining in any of your idea of fun. Now, you said you brought your daughter here? I thought all of the Hollows you spawn are your ‘children’.”

“Ocellus, like her brothers Thorax and Pharynx are very special to me,” Chrysalis said with a strangely fond and motherly look on her face, “Unlike most of my children, they are not expendable tools of my will. They’re quite independent of me, really.”

“Uh-huh, and I’m supposed to trust this Ocellus around Pipsqueak? She’s not going to try to eat him?”

Chrysalis busted out with a guffaw, holding her chest as she laughed, “Oh, wouldn’t that be hilarious if she did? The look I can imagine on Platinum’s face. Ah, but no, Ocellus is a sweetie. She only eats boys that irritate her, and I don’t think Pipsqueak is likely to do that. She knows she’s a guest here and that its her job to keep the place secure while I’m away.”

Starlight made a small ‘hmm’ of thought, then a reluctant sigh. Platinum and Firefly weren’t due back for at least a day. The train route between Canterlot and Manehattan wasn’t long, but it didn’t depart until tomorrow morning. Platinum and Firefly would wait until the train crossed a relatively wide and empty span of foothills before ambushing it. If anything was going to go wrong, it’d happen then. Enough time for Starlight to go chaperone Chrysalis around and be back the next day.

“Why do I have a feeling I’m going to regret this? Fine, let’s go.”

----------

Sunset Shimmer contained her frustration, swallowing it as she picked herself up off the ground. Not an easy feat when all of her senses were scrambled like eggs due to Discord’s Zanpaktou. He’d managed to tag her twice with Konran Arashi’s power so far, and each time had thrown her entire sense of perception off balance in a new way. Her body moved in all the wrong directions now and she’d had to adjust rapidly to that, while at the same time her eyes had ceased to perceive the world around her clearly and instead was showing her a mishmash of negative colors and blurry shapes.

She’d been fighting mostly on raw spiritual senses and her hearing, which miraculously had escaped being scrambled. Even with the massive boost in speed and strength her Bankai granted her she was still having trouble keeping pace with Discord. Yet she was also doing better than she had in some of their previous training bouts. When Discord got serious, he could usually outpace her in short order. The match had been going for a solid hour, and normally it only took Discord half that time to leave her disabled completely.

Not this time. Sunset wasn’t sure if the training was paying off, but so far she’d been giving as good as she’d been getting and hadn’t allowed Discord to get a third hit in. Was her spiritual pressure strong enough now that she could resist some of Konran Arashi’s power? That would make sense. The rule of thumb was that all spiritual abilities, regardless of the form they took, still had to overcome their target’s innate reiatsu to be effective. Since Konran Arashi was only in Shikai form and Sunset was using Bankai it made sense she had some resistance, but even so she could tell that resistance had been increasing over the time of their training.

On top of that her skill in manipulating her fire had gone up by leaps and bounds. Unable to properly see Discord, she’d shifted from chasing him physically to rapidly flying over the training field to rain down a torrent of fire in various patterns. An avid gamer, Sunset Shimmer was familiar with the ‘bullet hell’ style of video games, and so had taken to swinging Hokori’s flamberge around in various arcs to generate bolts and spheres of fire that shot out in complex patterns to impact on the ground below.

She didn’t have to see Discord for him to have to dodge such widespread attacks. She just had to sense enough of his reiatsu to know the general spot he was in, and unleash a continuous hail of flaming bolts and explosive spheres of fire. Sunset discovered it was glowingly easier to fine tune the shape and intensity of her flames, leading her to also gradually try to encircle Discord with a constricting wall of fire.

However Discord had his own counter to that. Konran Arashi didn’t just disrupt biological orders. It disrupted all natural orders. So when he turned his Zanpaktou’s radiantly chaotic energies upon Sunset’s flames the walls of fire started to dissipate into puffs of randomness, sometimes exploding, sometimes turning into water, other times burst into clouds of sand or smoke.

This had left the pair at a standstill until Discord had ceased playing defensively and showed just how much his Zanpaktou could really do. Sunset had been used to him firing off swift but small bolts of wavering, prismatic energy, like slim slicks of gasoline. However this time he thrust Konran Arashi upwards and the stream of chaos energy shot up in a fountain that then expanded above Sunset Shimmer in a large curtain of scintillating colors. Before she knew it, gravity itself had ceased working properly and she went careening down into the ground, even her flame wings unable to keep her in the air as the fundamental forces allowing her to fly were shattered.

She’d just managed to stand back up when Discord appeared before her, rainbow light trailing from his blade as he sliced it towards her. She couldn’t see it, only feel it coming, and had to fight her instincts in order to get her body to move enough for her to interpose Hikari between herself and Konran Arashi. The shield and blade impacted with a clarion ring, and Sunset felt a gut twisting sensation as Konran Arashi’s power surged into the shield half of her Zanpaktou.

Suddenly flames ejected randomly out of Hikari, draining power from Sunset’s sword, weakening the flames coating Hokori. Sunset still swung Hokori in a harsh, potent arc, using her flame wings to boost her swing’s momentum. Discord chuckled dryly and leaped up over her swing, Flash Stepping away even as Sunset’s sword hit the ground, melting the ground and shattering it in a wide crater.

“You’re still moving quite well for having your entire sense of direction and balance thrown out of whack,” Discord said, appearing a few dozen feet away with one hand on his hat while the other casually held up his Zanpaktou, “The more you use Bankai, the better your reiatsu will concentrate itself, rather than radiate out. Though don’t neglect training with your Shikai, still. As I hope I’ve provided ample examples, a Shikai can still be very effective, especially considering its less draining than Bankai.”

Sunset managed a cocky smirk, “Oh, I haven’t forgotten my Shikai. Been training a bit on my own with it, and Hokori no Hikari has helped me learn a few new tricks...”

With a sweeping motion she dragged Hokori’s tip through the stone ground beneath her feet, igniting a series of emerald sparks.

”Midorihi Hashira!” (Green Fire Pillar)

Abruptly the ground beneath Discord’s feet glowed with a fiery green light, and then erupted upwards in a series of thick pillars of yellow-green fire. This technique took a little work on Sunset’s part, as she had to implant the ground with her flames and let it build strength for a few minutes. That was part of the reason she’d been sending so many fire attacks down from above earlier. Not just to attack Discord, but to hide several such nodes of flame energy in the ground where they’d wait, essentially like land mines, just waiting for her to send a spark out to detonate them.

Sunset wasn’t certain why they flames took on a green color, but it seemed a lot of her Zanpaktou’s abilities changed the color of her fire. As she watched the multiple pillars of soaring green flame burned out. Even if she couldn't’ see it clearly, she could sense the flames dissipating as Discord swept his Zanpaktou through them, Konran Arashi breaking apart the pillars in short order.

“Impressive. More versatility is always a good thing,” Discord said, though Sunset wasn’t wasting a second. Even as he spoke, she rocketed towards him, her speed fast enough to tear the ground apart as she went. Zipping behind Discord, she spun Hokori in a upward arc, but Discord side-stepped with the blow and tapped her blade with his own, knocking Sunset off balance.

“Looks like my win again,” Discord said, slipping his blade up under her chin before she could regain her balance. Yet Sunset’s eyes gleamed as she smirked again, and Discord saw that the girl’s form flickered around the edges with motes of white flame.

“Did you?” she asked, only from behind him as she knocked Discord’s hat off his head with Hokori’s edge, while the Sunset Shimmer that Discord thought had been her turned into a copy image of her, only now fully bathed in white fire.

”Shiroihi Yume.” (White Fire Dream)

The flame clone vanished in a swirl of pure white fire, and the real Sunset Shimmer, who’d used the distraction of the earlier flame pillar attack to create the clone and hide herself behind some nearby rock outcroppings, twirled Discord’s hat on one finger and kept grinning at him. “I told you I’d been practicing with my Shikai, and my Zanpaktou’s been helping me develop some new tricks.”

Discord glanced back at her, then closed his eyes with a pleased laugh under his breath and slowly returned his Zanpaktou to normal, sheathing it within his gnarled wooden cane. “That you did. Well done. I thought I sensed a slight difference in your reiatsu, but didn’t realize it was a clone. That takes a rather precise amount of control of both your reiatsu and your fire, and you did it while your senses were being scrambled by Konran Arashi. You truly have improved.”

Sunset let out a happy sigh, letting her Bankai dissipate and allowed her Zanpaktou to return to normal as well. Her sense returned as Discord deactivated his Zanpaktou, and she breathed in relief now that her head wasn’t hurting from her senses being tossed around in a blender. “Thanks, I’d like to think all this hard work was producing some results. Still, kinda frustrating how hard it is to even get the drop on you once with my Bankai, while you’re still using Shikai.”

“I’ve been in the game for centuries, Sunset, do try to give me a little credit,” Discord said, holding out his hand expectantly. Sunset tossed him his hat and Discord plopped it back on his head. “You should have sensed it when you fought Platinum just how large a difference there is between those who’ve had countless years to refine their powers versus those still discovering them.”

“Yeah, but I beat Platinum,” Sunset said, stretching her arms. These practice bouts always left her sore, and apparently working out a spiritual body required just as much stretching as a physical one.

“Oh, you gave Platinum a proper kick in her haughty posterior, so don’t take this as discouragement. That said, Platinum was hardly fighting at her best during your one-on-one with her. Emotionally distraught, likely filled with doubts about the course of her actions, and not thinking straight I don’t think Platinum had the frame of mind to use her skills to the fullest against you. Even then, you saw how much control she had over the ice palace her Bankai formed. Your fight with her was a very close thing.”

“You know, you say not to feel discouraged, but this really does take the wind out of my sails,” Sunset groused, but Discord just smiled like a grandparent who was amused by their grandkids antics.

“Just looking to give you proper perspective, Sunset. You need to respect your opponents abilities, and not assume that Bankai is an end-all be-all power that will get you out of every jam. You’re strongest weapons are this-” he poked his cane at her head, “-and this.”

The cane poked her chest, right above her heart.

“More than anything else, your battles are won in the mind and heart before blades even cross. Never forget to use both.”

“You’re starting to sound like Celestia.”

“I’d like to think I’m far prettier than her,” Discord said, waggling his eyebrows. Sunset let out a light laugh, but then fixed him with a satisfied grin.

“And don’t think I forgot our bet. I won the match, so fess up, what’s the deal with your Bankai?”

“Oh, we did make that bet, didn’t we? Well I suppose I can tell you a little about it, but I’m not revealing everything. Some secrets need to be saved for the proper time,” Discord said, but soon the lightheartedness drained from his face and he suddenly gained a very serious expression, leaning on his cane. “I’ll tell you why I won’t use my Bankai during our training sessions, or indeed when I have allies nearby. In that sense, I and Celestia are alike. My Shikai is easy enough to use in pinpoint fashion. My Bankai is not. In fact my Bankai is very much an all or nothing kind of ability, and if misused has dire consequences.”

Sunset looked at him curiously, “How so?”

A momentary look of shame crossed his face, “You’re familiar with my assistance, Screwloose and Screwball. Do they strike you as entirely normal?”

“Errr... I guess they’re a bit eccentric? I mean, Screwloose tends to treat everything like a game, and Screwball acts way more childlike than somebody as old as most Soul Reapers should. I guess they’re both kinda odd, but I just figured that’s how you roll with the people you recruit.”

“There’s more to it than that,” said Discord, “They were both a tad unusual, true, even when they were my subordinates in the Twelfth Division. However they didn’t become like they are now until they got caught in the edge of my Bankai’s effects. I didn’t realize they were too close until after I’d released it.”

“Wait, when? Against who?”

“Starlight Glimmer, when I tried to prevent her from stealing the Hogyoku,” he replied, lips thinning into a distant frown, “She’d already destroyed my lab and used the Hogyoku on Screwloose, Screwball, and Ditzy to infect them with Hollow reiatsu. She fled and I chased her, forced her into a confrontation. The Hogyoku was already making her stronger than I could have anticipated, so I resorted to my Bankai to try to stop her. I didn’t realize that Screwloose and Screwball, having received a lower dose of Hollow energy than Ditzy, had recovered enough to try to come to my aid... so they were caught in my Bankai’s radius.”

“That’s... I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. You don’t really have to say anymore if you don’t want to. I can guess Starlight got away somehow.”

Discord nodded, “Yes, even back then she was crafty, and I underestimated her. A lesson I’m trying to pass on to you; never assume you’re more powerful than your opponent, or that even if you are that victory is guaranteed. Nothing is ever guaranteed. My arrogance and assumptions have cost me much, and I don’t want you or your friends to experience the same failures I have.”

He looked at her straight in the eyes, “Which is why you must be very careful how you handle this situation with Twilight Sparkle and Adagio Dazzle.”

Sunset gave a start, eyes snapping wide before she quickly got control of herself and rubbed the back of her head, “So, you knew. Ditzy Doo?”

“Ditzy Doo,” Discord confirmed with a nod.

“Riiiight, guess I should’ve figured. I was actually going to tell you tonight before heading home, and try to get your take on all of this. I want to help Twilight and Adagio out, but I’m not sure how to pull this off without making things complicated with Soul Society. I was hoping Celestia might be able to help.”

Discord cast a glance off towards the direction where Puddinghead and Clover were still training, his eyes narrowing slightly. “If you want my opinion, I’d suggest not involving Soul Society at all. Celestia may be one of the most reasonable women I know, but you’d be putting her in a difficult position if you informed her of what was happening. She wouldn’t turn you in, but if things went poorly, she’d be implicated. Stealth and deception are your allies in this venture, Sunset.”

“What about you and Ditzy? Can you guys help?” Sunset asked hopefully.

“Ditzy has family matters to keep her occupied, and I wouldn’t pull her away from her plans with her family even if all of Hueco Mundo were about to invade. That said I have a few ideas that might make things easier for you and your friends. You and your friends should come by tomorrow night. I’ll show you what I have, and you can work out plans from there. Just be prepared for the worst. Things are afoot around this town, and I get the distinct feeling things will get far more complicated than they already have.”

----------

Well, that hadn’t been quite as helpful as Sunset had hoped, but at least Discord had said he’d try to help in someway or another. She supposed she couldn’t fault Ditzy Doo for wanting to spend time with her kid and...husband? Lover? Baby daddy? She wasn’t sure what Time Turner was to Ditzy, and it wasn’t any of Sunset’s business. She had a lot more on her mind than that.

She’d left Discords with Clover and her other friends, all of whom were exhausted from the evening’s training. They’d stopped by a strip mall with several food places, getting pizza to fill up, and stopping by a doughnut store to appease a particular promise made to Pinkamena. Then, after enjoying some relaxed conversation, they’d all bid each other good night and gone their separate ways, although Clover stayed with Sunset almost all the way to Sunset’s apartment. The house Clover was staying at with Posey and several other Soul Reapers wasn’t far from where Sunset lived.

Clover had chattered excitedly over all the Kido spells she’d seen Puddinghead use and didn’t seem to mind at all that she was sporting numerous burn marks and heavy bruises from all the near misses and close explosions from the Kido Corps Chief’s training.

“Tomorrow he says he’s willing to show me how to try a level ninety Kido, now that he knows I have enough stamina to handle one!” Clover said, beaming, “I can’t wait! I wonder which one it will be? A Hado, or a Bakudo?”

“Mmmhmm,” Sunset said, her mind still wandering around the problem of what to do about rescuing Ember. How to pull it off without alerting Soul Society?

“Uh, Sunset? You in there?” Clover leaned forward, waving a hand in front of Sunset’s face.

“Wha? Oh! Yeah, Kido! Puddinghead’s going to teach you some tomorrow, rather than just trying to explode you?”

Clover gave her an odd, searching look, but nodded, “That’s the idea. He’s rather intense, but he’s definitely a Kido genius. I’ve never seen someone invoke incantations that fast. Most Captains can’t even compare to that. It’s an honor he’s giving me the time of day at all. So how are things going with you and Discord? I was too busy with my own training to see how yours has been going.”

“I’m definitely getting better, but still not as fast as I’d like. I’m going to try to relax a bit, like you wanted, but I still got to keep some of the pressure up. New techniques are swell and all, but it’s going to take more than a few green pillars or a flame clone to be able to take down Starlight Glimmer or an Espada.”

“True, very true,” Clover sighed, “And much as I’m eager to learn high-level Kido, I’ll admit I have no idea if I’ll be useful in fighting such powerful opponents. Sometimes I feel like I’m just going to hold you and the others back. Without Chishiki...”

“Hey,” Sunset turned to her. They were less than a block from her apartment, standing beneath a street lamp at a street intersection. “You’re never going to hold us back, Clover. Ever. You’re part of the group, and its as a group that we get anything done at all. Maybe you can’t solo an Espada, but hey, I probably can’t either. It’s as a team that we’re going to win, Clover. So don’t knock yourself, okay?”

Clover’s head bobbed in a shallow nod, but there was a hesitance in her eyes and voice as she asked, “I believe you, but... can I ask why you and the girls have been acting off since you met with Twilight, then? If I’m part of the team, you can tell me what happened, right?”

A moment passed in silence as Sunset hesitated. She really didn’t want to get Clover involved in this. If things went wrong, then Clover might be in a much worse position than even Sunset and her friends would be. “Clover, I... look, I want to tell you, but can you trust me or now and understand that if I’m not saying something, it’s for good reasons?”

For a second Clover looked hurt, but she took a deep breath and said in an understanding tone, “I do trust you, Sunset. You’ve earned that. Just... whatever it is, know I’m on your side, no matter what.”

Sunset couldn't help but smile warmly at the other girl, “Thanks, Clover. If it comes to that, I know I can trust you too.”

They parted ways, and Sunset walked the rest of the way to her apartment with slightly lighter steps. As always, the challenges looming ahead looked ever more complicated and difficult, but she just had to trust in the people closest to her and realize that no matter how bad things got, they’d find a way through it.

Since she was still in her spirit form, she didn’t even have to open her door to get into her apartment. Chappy would be out with her real body, but should be back soon. She’d probably grab a quick drink and sit down with a video game or something to unwind for the rest of the night, get to bed a little early and wake up early, refreshed, and-

A woman Sunset didn’t recognize was sitting in her kitchen. A burly, buff teenage girl with white hair, tinged purple, and fierce golden eyes. A huge number ‘10’ was tattooed on the girl’s well muscled abs, and her white clothing and the Zanpaktou sitting across her shoulder was clue enough to her being an Arrancar even before Sunset saw the Hollow hole in her chest.

“Hi,” the woman said with a malicious, tooth-barring grin as she raised a finger and charged a deep red Cero at the finger’s tip, “Bye.”

The Cero discharged at Sunset at nearly point blank range.

Author's Note:

Events in Equestria are heating up alongside events in the human world (Hutopia?), and we'll be switching back and forth a bit more often this arc than in previous ones. Got a lot of ground to cover on both fronts, hopefully I can keep it balanced. Tempest Shadow hasn't been having a good week. That trend isn't likely to improve in the near future. For that matter, Sunset's week is about to take a nosedive too.

Sincerest thanks for reading folks, and hope you all continue to enjoy the story. As usual I highly appreciate any and all comments, questions, or critiques you might have for me. 'Till next time.

Comments

[Thought Prism]

This was a ride. Some jokes, character moments, new developments, and a dramatic cliffhanger? You spoil us. Also, as of this chapter, the fic has cleared one million words. Which is a crazy accomplishment.

[Follower of Chaos]

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what should have happened when the Storm King's army attacked Equestria. Be it at the hooves of the Alicorn Princesses, The Six Pillars, Starlight Glimmer, Discord or their Changleing, Dragon, Griffin and Yak Allies. Maybe the result would be less violent but it would be no less one-sided if the plot of the film didn't demand Equestria not even try to fight back.

As much as I'm looking forward to how shocked Starlight is going to be when Platinum and Firefly are inevitably overwhelmed by the Princesses and forced to retreat, knowing she has that damn staff pretty much makes it a moot point. It's kind of a tension killer when I know that staff effectively means the Equestrians are as useless against her as most Soul Reapers.

I can only hope Twilight uses her new knowledge to give Tempest Sue a thorough flank kicking. Though I am interested in seeing what you do with Tempest going forward.

While Sunset's immediate concerns are troubling, she could end up using this opportunity to capture Gilda so that she can replace Ember with her. Gilda couldn't even defeat pre-Sternritter Twilight so Sunset should be able to take her. The Soul Reapers just need AN Arrancar, doesn't have to be Ember specifically.

Currently more interested in the Equestria Girls side of things, with Celestia and Luna vs Platinum and Firefly being the likely highlight of the Equestria plot lines. Can't wait to see how it all progresses.

[Jarimor]

*facepalm*
memegenerator.net/img/instances/400x/71774458/oh-you-done-fucked-up.jpg

[hydra30]

Looking bad, Twilight and the others need to deal with Tempest before she becomes a problem.

[PoisonClaw]

underneath a canvas of striped leather

I reeaally hope that's dyed leather, because otherwise...

[lordelliott]

Could your interpretation of the Pearl of Changing be used to a similar effect as the Hitsuyo-Aku?

[Voltaje]

Pop, bummer... You left us in a cliffhanger ¬¬, well, I gather two things, either Gilda was there by coincidence, meaning sunset will survive, but her body may not even if sunset deafet Gilda, things that would be complicated. Sunset did trained a lot and may be kind of drained, and after we will see a plushy sunset due to her body died, Or, both Gilda and Adagio are there, and Adagio will save sunset and put an excuse about it, like we need interrogation, and later I will dispose if the body etcetc and stuff, or is something completely different.

[Sygh Draconis]

[Tyrant Chaos]

“Hi,” the woman said with a malicious, tooth-barring grin as she raised a finger and charged a deep red Cero at the finger’s tip,

Well Fu-

“Bye.”
The Cero discharged at Sunset at nearly point blank range.

[Feather Book]

Well, that's a cliff hanger of an ending...

The Equestrian bits of this chapter where great. Tempest and Grubber where spot on. It looks like things are going to get complicated on that side of the portal too.

As always, great chapter and I'm looking forwards for next time.

[Noctis Prism]

Well damn, things went south rather rapidly.

[random reader]

Wait, hold on! Wasn't Gilda's cero colored purple?

[Cyclone Stormchaser]

“You liiiiike hiiiim,” cooed Sonata, snickering.

I read this in Happy's voice from Fairy Tail.

[Adser]

The Equestrian side of things are getting quite interesting, with many different screw-ups going at the same time that are going to explode in everyone's faces in a spectacular manner.

While I'm not surprised at all that Discord would vouch for cloak and dagger operations, considering his personality and his story with the soul reapers, it is still a really, REALLY bad idea from Sunset teams to try and break Ember out.

They have something that the factions haven't got in millennia, an issue they can actually compromise over. Unless the experiment sacrifices the Hollow life (and I doubt that it is something that cannot be fixed with a willing and more powerful Hollow helping) then every single side wins by working together, and if the girls want to start in the path of ending the war without total annihilation of the sides then this is their best, and maybe only, start point.

There is also the fact that expecting the plan to go off with no problems, undetected, with everyone alive, with noone having second thoughts or feeling betrayed and keeping the alliance between the girls and the Soul Reapers alive requires a planet sized amount of stupid hubris.

And talking about hubris, hello Gilda, it was nice knowing you. Your plan is spectacularly idiotic and your chances of surviving have gone to the negatives.

[Jirodyne]

Welp, Gilda decided she wanted to die quickly without any mess. What a suicidal bitch.

[RanmaChaos]

Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.

[thatguyvex]

9526027
I'm not 100% sure, but I think every time I've had her using a Cero, it was red. It's possible a purple one snuck in there somewhere, though. Do you remember around which chapter you saw it?

[Lord Seth]

“Okay, so you’ve been staring at the bar counter for, like, at least ten minutes straight not saying a word,” Grubber commented, “Are you have a flashback? That looks a lot like a flashback face to me.”

This is a great line, but it should be having a flashback.

[the other sans]

It’s dull purple and dark iron hull was now cracked apart and scattered
Not just to attack Discord, but to hide several such noes of flame energy in the ground where they’d wait
just how large a difference their is between those who’ve had countless years
And don’t think I forgot our bet. I won’t the match, so fess up, what’s the deal with your Bankai?
The house Clover was staying at with Poesy and several other Soul Reapers wasn’t

1. Its.
2. Nodes.
3. There.
4. Won.
5. Posey.

was to strike the hippogriffs of Mt. Aris first
Mt. Aris had been surrounded
as far away from Mt. Aris as possible

Ares? Previous chapter was written as such and the first instance was written as Ares here too.

Trixie did her part blocking the portal. We’d be in a much worse position with her help. I owe it to her to spring her free if the opportunity presents itself.

Without, I'm assuming. Unless she's saying they'd be worse off with Trixie helping them which doesn't make sense actually...

Few more weeks, maybe of month, of to gather the power we need here and we’ll be ready to hit the Soul Palace

Maybe a month?

[Yutah123]

Tell me that lowly Gilda didn't take out Sunset just like that.

[Kadigan]

You never know when we might need to impress some locals, darling.

Holy crap, the Equestrian counterparts are so fucking innocent in comparison, it almost hurts... Their minds haven't been tainted by mass bloodshed or death, yet. I have a feeling that that'll happen, before they're through, but... I wonder what would they have to say to each other, if the mirror images had a moment for a few words...

Sad part is... if they do get drenched in blood somehow, I doubt they'll continue to fit in. Equestria just isn't that sort of a place, y'know? Well, mostly...

[Aemon Targaryen]

9526707
I am the only one who find weird than a kingdom of MLP have the same name as the only african kingdom who was never annexed by the european empires ? Although I had watch the movie, I didn't remember than the Storm King kingdom (or any (had this name).

Also, I had started the story like... Two days ago ? And I love it.

Thank you author.

Do you know others stories when Sunset is in a shonen (I already know for naruto and Black clover).

At first, I didn't liked the idea of the two worlds so mixed up (with Equestria girls characters being part of the various groups) but you got me, this story is awesome.

[thatguyvex]

10730149
Heya, and glad to hear you're enjoying the story. For other shounen style fics with Sunset in them, I don't know too many, but SAPR is one of the few even longer than my own. Based on RWBY, depending on whether that's up your alley or not.

[Forthwith]

Gilda, have you met my friend, subtlety? No? What a shame.

[MightyAlpaca]

Gilda at least knows how a proper introduction between mortal enemies should go... even if her subtlety is rather lacking

[Aemon Targaryen]

Sunset's training made than i think of it, but is she strong enough to beat Shikai Captain Celestia or to go toe-to-toe with her ?

[Follower of Chaos]

11099674
Absolutely not. Even beating a BARE-HANDED Captain Celestia, or the WARM UP Princess Celestia would be a stretch in and of itself.

Captain Celestia was fighting a RELEASED Grogar, who went through several power ups over the course of the fight, without even having a Zanpaktou and was still more than holding her own. In fact I'd argue she was still WINNING (as even Grogar acknowledged he had no chance of beating her).

By comparison the best "Laughter of Madness" Pinkie could achieve was making Grogar genuinely exert himself against her, until Applejack and Sweet Cider arrived. There was no indication she could have beaten him on her own. Bare in mind the difference in power between Sunset and the other Rainbooms is negligible, if not non-existent.

Sunset 1 v 1 is NOT ready for really any form of Celestia at all.

[Aemon Targaryen]

11101614
Fair enough, although "negligible" is a bit too much about how close of power Sunset and Pinkie are, although it's true Pinkie could won if Sunset isn't careful.

[Follower of Chaos]

11101702

Fair enough, although "negligible" is a bit too much about how close of power Sunset and Pinkie are,

It's really not though. By feats, there is little to no difference between them.

The only thing that gives Sunset a real advantage is the black flame sword and good luck hitting Pinkie with it is all I'm gonna say.

although it's true Pinkie could won if Sunset isn't careful.

Which kind of proves there is little to no power difference between them (at least not a meaningful one) or there wouldn't really be a shot of Pinkie winning.

[Aemon Targaryen]

11101809
Well, Sunset and Adagio are of roughly the same strength, with pretty much a 50/50 regarding who win per Vex's words, while Grogar was still stronger then Pinkie, for all Grogar have a lot of tricks and trumpcards, Tirek wouldn't had put Adagio at the rank of the 6th Espada if she wasn't stronger than Grogar.

[Follower of Chaos]

11101821

Well, Sunset and Adagio are of roughly the same strength, with pretty much a 50/50 regarding who win per Vex's words, while Grogar was still stronger then Pinkie,

Yes this is true.

for all Grogar have a lot of tricks and trumpcards, Tirek wouldn't had put Adagio at the 6th Espada if she wasn't stronger than Grogar.

Yeah the SLIGHT problem with that, is Grogar was using his siren gem to increase his own power EVERY time one of his experiments died. He was doing that all throughout the fight with Celestia, hell he basically admits it was the only reason he stood a chance against her at all.

In short, Grogar is A LOT stronger NOW than he was when Adagio was made an Espada. We don't know how the two compare to each other now. And again we have Sunset and Pinkie both taking on Gaia with everyone else and they all basically proved they were on the same general level there.

Though it makes me wonder how strong Equestrian Grogar would be if he appeared in this story? Given a mere THIRD of his power let Chrysalis tag and restrain Discord (the trio split Grogar's power between them), he would almost certainly be hit with the nerf hammer. HARD

Otherwise the dude would be lolstomping everyone.

[Aemon Targaryen]

11101839
Well, we will need Vex's confirmation regarding wether or not "negligible" is the good word or too much regarding the difference of strength between Sunset and Pinkie.

Although to be fair, Pinkie have access to pretty much the most dangerous powers of the Spirit 8 short of Twilight if she manage to tap into the Spirit Queen's power or Sunset if she is a inheritor or not.

[Aemon Targaryen]

11101839
Also, regarding MLP Grogar's powers : there is the possibility than for reaching his strength (although It is true the nerf hammer will hit him hard), Espada Grogar will need the second Resureccion.

How much of a power boost does the second Resureccion give in fact in Bleach's canon ? I think it would give to Espada Grogar a power equal to that of Espada Chrysalis

[Follower of Chaos]

11101846

Well, we will need Vex's confirmation regarding wether or not "negligible" is the good word or too much regarding the difference of strength between Sunset and Pinkie.

Or we could just continue following the story and see weather or not Sunset pulls ahead of her friends (because at present she really has NOTHING putting her noticeably above them), using our own judgement based on the content of the story itself and not bother Vex with it every time.

Kind of ruins half the fun of reading a story like this (ie speculating on who is stronger than who and who would beat who) if you just ask the author every time?

Although to be fair, Pinkie have access to pretty much the most dangerous powers of the Spirit 8 short of Twilight if she manage to tap into the Spirit Queen's power or Sunset if she is a inheritor or not.

She really doesn't though.

Fluttershy's are way more dangerous than Pinkie's for a start and Twilight is well beyond both using Midnight Sparkle (matched a Schutzstaffel straight up). She doesn't need the Soul Queen stuff to be the only main character that is obviously above the others based on feats.

[Aemon Targaryen]

11101861
Isn't the randomness of Pinkie's powers more dangerous ? I do not mean in direct raw powers, but regarding the nature of it.