Episode 217: Back and Forth

Las Noches was now entirely too crowded, a starkly contrasting and unpleasant reminder to Adagio that the time she had to adjust her plans was painfully short. The continuous braying of Hollow howls sifted through to even the back halls of her territory enclosed within the ludicrously thick outer walls of the mighty fortress. Tens of thousands of Hollows now roamed or encamped the interior dunes of Las Noches, their noise only an echo of the blanketing chill of their combined spiritual pressure, enough to agitate even one like Adagio who had evolved so far along the Hollow line.

Her boots made clacking echoes off the stone walls as she all but stalked down the corridor leading from her chambers down towards the spiraling stairs that would take her to the tunnel entrance of her territory. Amid side passages and chambers she saw her people, dozens of Arrancar and even Adjuchas-class Hollows that had pledged themselves to her as vassals. Most were no less agitated then their Espada by the proximity of so many other Hollows, a naturally induced hunger and violence simmering under the surface of every face she saw. She imagined there’d be a few fights among the gathered hordes. Hell, Tirek probably preferred it that way, a means of working the gathered armies up into a ready frenzy before being unleashed on her home world.

Next to Adagio the somewhat pale and haggard form of Usagi walked along, keeping pace with her Espada as she tallied off items from a checklist she carried cradled in her long arms, “We have two hundred and twenty four Arrancar, split into ten Hollow squads, not including your personal Fraccion and squad leaders. Considering Lament...er, Hard Nail has no standing forces besides his two eldest daughters, we’re short handed to cover all of Las Noches’ defenses. In terms of provisions we’re doing well enough. After cleaning out several stores in night raids the Soul Reapers failed to notice, Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score have given us what I’d estimate to be about two months worth of human world food. That’ll keep our people happy, even without souls to consume.”

“This will all be over before any of that becomes a problem,” Adagio said, keeping her tone much calmer than the seething heat coiling around her Hollow hole left her feeling, “And I’m not worried about ‘defending’ Las Noches, either. Tirek isn’t expecting that of us. At best, we’re a placeholder and a token garrison while he and his army take a crack at gorging themselves on Equestrian magic. Cut out of the damn loop is what we are. Have you heard anything from Di Roy or Gaw yet?”

Usagi’s porcelain features looked downcast, even the white bunny ears of her rabbit skull mask seeming to droop, “Gaw is still in Canterlot City finishing the task you assigned her. As for Di Roy, no, not yet. Dumbbell wanted to go looking for him, but I told him it’d be foolish to act without your permission.”

“Smart. I need him and his friends here, setting an example to everyone else. Whatever has become of Di Roy, I’m not risking more people on it, not when I might be able to solve the issue myself,” Adagio said, only to pause as she caught sight of the very trio as she and Usagi came down to the end of the stairs. Dumbbell, Score, and Hoops were all waiting in the main entry tunnel as if they’d been waiting for her, the three young male Arrancar all having rather earnest looks about them as they approached her. It was a tad surreal, thinking back to when she first met them, with all of their cocky, bullying swagger.

Months of helping train with a growing if still small army of fellow Arrancar who had been drawn from similarly disenfranchised states as themselves had placed an air of something approaching maturity and discipline to the trio. Dumbbell gave her a nod of deference, almost half bowing as he said, “Lady Adagio, we’ve got a... problem outside. We were just coming to look for you.”

Adagio felt her neck hairs prick up, feeling a change in the air that only had become now apparent as she neared the exit to the wall out into Las Noche’s interior. Three potent reiatsu, one of which she recognized, the other two being less familiar but still powerful. What were they doing here? She nodded to Dumbbell, “Did they come here to see me?”

“That’s what they said,” Dumbbell replied, while Hoops gave a nervous twitch as his hand strayed over his Zanpaktou’s hilt.

“Didn’t even show a hint of respect; just demanded to see you. Rude ass jerks, even for big shots. Hope you put them in their place, boss.”

Score shuffled about, arms crossed, head down, “Hey, uh, boss, I know Usagi said we shouldn’t, but couldn’t we, ya know, at least go checking about for wherever Di Roy vanished to?”

“I know where he went, because I sent him,” Adagio replied, “If he’s not back yet that means something has delayed them. I was planning on dealing with that matter personally before much longer, but first it looks like I need to attend to these rude guests. I appreciate you three are worried about your fellow vassal. For the moment just go get some rest. We’ll all be busy enough before long. In fact, Usagi, why don’t you make use of these three while I deal with matters outside?”

“Come along, boys,” said Usagi, “If you need to burn off some energy, I could use a few hands to inventory the miscellaneous items you all enthusiastically took during your shopping spree in the human world. What exactly where you all planning on doing with that many boxes of canned cheese spray?”

“Are you kidding? The possibilities are endless,” said Dumbbell, but his joking tone didn’t quite match the worried look he and his friends still had as they passed by Adagio to follow Usagi around to a side tunnel that’d lead further down into the storage areas Adagio had had carved out to stockpile supplies for her territory. She watched them go briefly before smoothing out her clothes and giving her trident Zanpaktou a little tap on the floor, almost as if reminding herself of its comforting presence in her right hand, before she strode forth from the entrance of the tunnel.

Waiting for her there were three individuals who were pointedly ignoring the highly uneasy Arrancar that Adagio had guarding the front. She gestured to the guards, four of them, all wearing the distinctly non-uniform and colorful punk clothing her vassals had come to adopt as their preferred manner of dress, “You can all head in and get some food. I have matters in hand, here.”

As the guards gave her grateful nods and all hurried back inside, one of the three ‘guests’ let out a musically light chuckle as she turned to examine Adagio. Sable Spirit was taller up close than the Vasto Lorde Hollow had appeared at a distance. Her wings alone spanned nearly thirty feet, and very much gave her tall, powerfully lithe form a lean, hawkish feel. Exceedingly bright silvery blue eyes stared out from behind a smooth Hollow mask that was at once both knightly and faintly devilish, sporting impressively curved, crescent horns.

“You’re pretty damn polite for someone I’ve heard wants to off the Big T himself,” said Sable Spirit, moving with sinuously smooth strides to stand over Adagio, bending over to gaze downward at her, “Figured you’d be more brash and start bitching at us for being on your front doorstep without an invite.”

“Oh, I can be bitchy, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Adagio replied with a thin smile, “Violent, too, if that’s what you’re in the mood for. Of course I’d rather you just tell me why you’re here. I’m just dying to know what Tirek’s hired help might want with me.”

She kept her tone clipped, with just the right glaze of flippancy. She didn’t let her deeper anger and agitation show. She very specifically avoided gazing at Bray for more than a heartbeat in mock curiosity. The only Arrancar among the visiting trio, Bray still kept most of his form cloaked in those heavy, dark robes he favored. The equine mask that hung from the deeper shadows of the cloak’s hood was no Hollow mask, just another theatrical affectation of his chosen appearance, as was the faint purple glow to the edge of the robes. Even during her negotiations with Bray in the weeks prior to now, he’d been elusive and always hidden. Trust had not been much of a factor in their dealings, only a mutual dislike for Tirek’s status quo and the opportunistic mutual interest in his downfall. Now, however, her biggest concern was the fact that she’d sent Di Roy to contact both Bray and Erebus prior to learning of Tirek’s maneuvering behind the scenes to get Bray on board for invading Equestria. So if Bray and his forces were here, then what had become of Di Roy? If Bray had thrown in with Tirek, he may well have captured Di Roy to use as leverage against her, considering her own aims would run counter to his own. Or he may have just killed Di Roy. Before she had departed, Fluttershy had given Adagio a general inclination as to the past relationship between Bray and Guto. It wasn’t as if she had any real trust for him in the first place, but it was painfully clear now that any agreement or alliance with this scumbag was on thin ice, at best. It rather made her wonder why Tirek had bothered recruiting him? Was Tirek just that desperate to fill out his invasion force?

Bray turned his shambling form towards her and his tone of honeyed, faux affability rang out, “Why, we only want to talk about our mutual interests. My dear colleagues here already know about just how much you desire to take old Tirek’s place on top of the hierarchy, and, well, I thought perhaps we all might have a lot to talk about in that regard.”

“Oh?” Adagio didn’t show more than mild interest, mostly because she didn’t really buy into what Bray was saying in the least, and wanted to keep her own cards close to her chest, “And I suppose you all assembled your hordes and came skipping along to Tirek’s war drums because you just couldn’t wait to stab him in the back?”

“Hey, looks to me like you're working for him too, despite wanting his chair, so maybe stuff the sarcasm up your tailpipe?” Sable Spirit growled, “None of us are here because we want to be! I was perfectly pleased to run my little slice of Hueco Mundo, far away from all of Tirek’s endless BS and beefing with the Soul Reapers and Quincy. But when the Big T shows up and says ‘march or die’, I’m not stupid enough to sass him over it. So yeah, I sallied the fuck forth. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be happy to see him and some of his Espada lackeys bite it in the near future, you get what I’m saying?”

Finally the third figure spoke, “Yes, Silver, I’m certain she picked up your incredibly subtle hints. You almost actually made sense, for a change.”

“Oh bite me, Shadow Lock. If we left this up to you, we’d be here until the end of days, talking in circles.”

Up close, Shadow Lock didn’t cut a particularly impressive figure, at least when compared side by side with a fellow Vasto Lorde like Sable Spirit. His build was shorter and more compact, not really displaying any particular muscle mass, and all clad in a set of rigid plate armor that was colored a dusky dark purple. He wore a black with a large mantle encircling his neck and lower face, his white Hollow mask unusually smooth and visor shaped, obscuring his eyes in a slit of shadow. His hair was white and purple streaked, messy and shoulder length. Unlike Sable Spirit, who carried a tall spear tipped with a crescent shaped sickle blade, Shadow Lock didn’t appear to carry any weapons at all. But he was still a Vasto Lorde, which meant that even if he was keeping his reiatsu subdued, it had to be substantial.

He didn’t respond to Sable Spirit’s barbed tone, instead turning his unnervingly sightless attention towards Adagio, “To try and spare us any more of my rival’s winging, I’ll keep things brief. I am not here out of any love or loyalty to Tirek. Like Sable Spirit, however, I lack the power to deny Tirek if he makes a point of tracking me down in my domain and giving ultimatums. You, from what we understand, still wish to depose him. He is tolerating you for his own amusement, it seems, but you’re also being left behind while we march on this other reality with our armies. Yet, even if we obtain victory in this so-called ‘magical’ world of Equestria, it is unlikely Tirek will let us return to our independent territories. It’s in our best interest if he were not to return from this war.”

“You’ll hear no argument from me on that point, but am I to understand the three of you are coming to me to offer your support for my bid to overthrow him?” Adagio asked, incredulous and mistrustful of the concept at face value. Sure, Shadow Lock and Sable Spirit were Vasto Lordes who enjoyed their own distant domains of Hueco Mundo, but they sure had come quickly to heel when Tirek called them, and to discuss openly defying him so casually with her, out in the open...? Well, it was true Tirek probably wouldn’t care, but things smelled a little too good to be true by Adagio’s reckoning, especially with Bray in the mix.

“Not precisely,” replied Shadow Lock, “Not without certain guarantees and incentives.”

“If we thought Tirek could be offed that easily, we’d have done it ourselves by now,” said Sable Spirit, throwing out a casual shrug of one arm, “In case it wasn’t obvious, he’s kind of damn near unstoppable and unkillable, otherwise the Soul Reapers or Quincy would have pulled it off centuries ago. Been kind of wondering how someone like you who hasn’t even been an Espada for more than a few months thinks she can take down Big T even with help from crusty old bastards like Bray.”

“...Thank you for that,” Bray muttered darkly, then in a brighter, syrupy tone, “But my two Vasto Lorde compatriots speak the truth. Neither willingly wish to be lapdogs to Tirek, and well, hahah, I did tell them about our little arrangement, Adagio. I do hope you’re not too upset I answered Tirek’s call as well? I mean, it’s not as if I could tell the man ‘no’ to his face when he appeared at my enclave. Rather upsetting, really, that he found where it was.”

“I don’t find it all that strange,” said Shadow Lock, “Neither I nor Sable Spirit held any delusional notion that Gehenna or Naraka were hidden from his view... I merely hoped we were far enough away from Las Noches that he wouldn’t care. Apparently this Equestria is enough of a prize that he’s no longer ignoring us, Privaron Espada or independent Vasto Lordes alike. Although I did note many Privaron Espada have escaped being called upon.”

“Yeah, Erebus, Scathe, Smite, even Ahuizotl are all MIA,” mused Sable Spirit, rubbing a clawed finger over the edge of her mask, “And I know for a fact they’re not dead, even if those rumors that the old Storm King offed Ahuizotl turned out to be BS. Not even sure if the Storm King is dead, even if his fortress got totaled.”

“Oh, he’s dead, I can confirm that much,” Adagio said, hoping to put the trio a little off balance, and was rewarded by the surprised looks from all three of them, “Before you ask how I know that, I’ll simply say he threatened my vassals and caused his own demise by underestimating those he shouldn’t have.”

All true statements, if not remotely covering the full truth of what had happened. But she made sure her words carried that ring of truth to them, and let the two Vasto Lordes and Bray draw their own conclusions. The hint of respect and hidden fear amid them showed they all were operating under the assumption she’d dealt with the Storm King herself. She wasn’t about to correct them on that point.

“Got some serious power in that soft, curvy frame, haven’t you?” said Sable Spirit, “Storm King was no lightweight. Paranoid bastard was a bane to any other independent Hollow that wanted to be left alone, but he wasn’t weak. Still, that doesn’t mean you got the juice to tackle the Primera himself.”

“If that’s your concern, why bother coming to speak to me, then?” asked Adagio, to which Bray swiftly interjected, all amiable and reasonable in his tone which was as slick and empty as a used oil can.

“I may have let slip to them that you knew of a particular method of transforming non-Arrancar into Arrancar.”

Adagio stiffened, her eyes growing stormy, “And how do you know that, assuming it's true?” It wasn’t something she’d gone out of her way to advertise and she sure as hell hadn’t told Bray about the method she’d uncovered from Grogar’s research data. Bray offered her a look so falsely affable she was tempted to shove a Cero down his throat right then and there. He splayed out his hands in an almost mockingly apologetic manner.

“Do forgive me. You see, I didn’t know all of your vassals on sight, what with the fact that you came to deal with me face to face, yourself, when we discussed our alliance. So when your man, Di Roy, arrived at my abode, I may have responded somewhat forcefully.”

“He would have told you whom he served,” Adagio said, voice growing razor sharp as she took a single step towards Bray with enough spiritual pressure spilling out of her to made him audibly gulp and hop back, “And if you’ve harmed him, your followers will be picking up pieces of you from every corner of Las Noches.”

“Aaaahahah, of course I haven’t harmed him, merely kept him detained. Had quite the productive chat,” Bray said, a little too quickly, “Amid our talks, he made mention of the fact he became an Arrancar due to your intervention. He of course didn’t tell me the method you used, only that you knew a way. Now, considering Shadow Lock and Sable Spirit are both Vasto Lordes, I think you can see where I’m going with this whole discussion?”

She did, and much as a part of her still very much wanted to impale the man on her trident and smear his corpse into past across her walls as a decorative example to anyone who might think to cross her, Adagio was not a slave to her impulses. Forcing her ire down, she allowed herself to think, to consider the problem before her from all of its myriad angles. She hadn’t gotten this far by failing to take advantage of every opportunity, and this, much as she hated to admit it... could be an opportunity.

An Arrancar’s potential power was partially based on what kind of Hollow they were before evolving. Her own immense power was thanks in part to the fact she’d become a Vasto Lorde before she’d become an Arrancar. If she used Grogar’s technique to evolve Sable Spirit and Shadow Lock, that would make for two potentially powerful Arrancar, easily capable of taking higher ranks among the Espada. Assuming, for just a moment, she might count on some level of reliable loyalty from the pair... but that was the catch, wasn’t it? She couldn’t count on that. Gaw, Di Roy, Dumbbell and his pals, even Usagi to a degree were all proven in their loyalties to her. Allies like Hard Nail and Torch had demonstrated she could rely on them.

It was one thing to cut deals with those like Bray and Erebus as long as she held enough cards to deal with them if they turned on her. But elevating Sable Spirit and Shadow Lock’s power to such a degree, with no real guarantees of their loyalty? Not to mention she’d be doing this right before they’d be sent to Equestria to wreak havoc alongside Tirek and the other Espada. There were some serious potential downsides, all on the possibility they might help her take Tirek down. Could she count on their dislike of Tirek and desire to remain independent over their fear of him or any ambitions they might have to turn on her?

And what was Bray getting out of this?

“You’re already an Arrancar, Bray, so how does helping them end up benefiting you?” she asked bluntly, to which he gave a swift chuckle.

“I can tell you don’t trust me, but my motivation hasn’t changed from when we made our original bargain, Adagio. I want Tirek gone, and the freedom to grow my cadre of followers without interference once you take charge. Simple as that. I don’t know how many other Privaron you’ve made bargains with, but the bottom line is that if you’re still seeking to end Tirek’s reign, you need more power, and this attack on Equestria is the best possible opening to pull it off. So why not elevate our dear Vasto Lorde friend’s here, and we can work out a plan to ensure the title of Primera Espada changes hands. Oh, and I’ll release your vassal Di Roy back to you, of course.”

Implying that if she didn’t agree to this, Di Roy might not find his way back? Was Bray dumb enough to push her like that, or was she just being paranoid herself, now? As for the rest of it... the way Bray phrased that clued her in to his real motivations. Yes, Bray likely did intend Tirek’s downfall, and for the title of Primera Espada to change hands. Probably to his own. Sable Spirit and Shadow Lock might be willing accomplices or just easily duped accessories; hard to tell which. Either way, Adagio imagined Bray’s plan was to acquire power in Equestria, let Adagio and Tirek weaken or outright kill each other in their power struggle, and sweep things up in the aftermath.

Knowing this, however, didn’t change the fact that he was right. She needed every ally possible to arrange Tirek’s downfall. She could deal with the ramifications of who was loyal and who was going to betray her after she ensured Tirek wouldn’t be coming back from Equestria. There was still the issue of what kind of damage Sable Spirit and Shadow Lock might inflict on Equestria alongside their hordes, however. While she tried to maintain a practical mindset in terms of achieving her goals, there was an unmistakable twinge of distaste at the notion of giving power to those that might end up causing a lot of harm in her home world.

Of course if they were going to agree to being her allies, she could make it abundantly clear to them how displeased she’d be by any unnecessary collateral damage. Assuming she could trust them, which she wasn’t.

And there was one other consideration; that Tirek had to know these three were here, talking to her. Even if she tried to give them some kind of benefit of the doubt that they waited until Tirek’s attention was elsewhere to sneak over here, Adagio’s gut instinct told her that the ruler of Las Noches would be able to predict this move by Bray, at least. Which meant that it was entirely possible that Adagio making common cause with this trio was something that served Tirek’s ends. How, she wasn’t sure. Did he just want to see what she’d do with them? He seemed eager to... test her. His move to order her to guard Las Noches while he attacked Equestria had been a damn clever one, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still interested in letting her take her shot at him.

He probably knows Bray is just as likely to turn on me as anyone else, and for all Sable Spirit and Shadow Lock’s talk of hating the idea of serving Tirek, they come to heel all the same when pressure is applied. Could Tirek be using me to...?

The pieces fit, in a twisted sort of way. Tirek was planning for success. He was just that type. Loved a challenge, but was in it to win. He had plans that extended beyond Equestria, which was just a stepping stone to taking on the Zero Division. While he’d replaced the losses among the Espada, he was probably preparing to lose more in the invasion of Equestria. Sable Spirit and Shadow Lock, if turned into Arrancar, and if they survived the battles to come, would likely be far more potent replacements than, say, Gilda was. Chances were Tirek didn’t care if she used them as part of her own plans to overthrow him, because he was simply planning to win in that event, and cow them and her into continued servitude while he turned his attention to the Zero Division after ravaging Equestria.

She’d just have to make sure he didn’t win. As for Bray, however...

“You,” she said, pointing at Sable Spirit, “And you,” she then pointed to Shadow Lock, “I don’t trust entirely, but I don’t need to trust you to believe that your self-interests align with mine. I’m willing to transform you both into Arrancar, on certain conditions involving exactly what you will and won’t be doing when you follow Tirek with your armies into Equestria.”

The pair of Vasto Lordes both briefly glanced each other’s way, Shadow Lock speaking first with a strong note of bemused interest, “You have the leverage to set some terms, Adagio Dazzle. Some. Tell us what they are and while I don’t speak for the violent savage beside me, I’ll consider your conditions.”

“What the nerd is saying is that he’ll quibble for a while to make it look like he’s calling the shots. Meanwhile I’m not going to mince words. I want power, and you got a way to give more of it to me. You want to set a price tag, I’m game, as long as it isn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg,” said Sable Spirit.

“Glad to hear it. I’ll discuss my conditions with you in a moment, after our third guest leaves,” Adagio said, giving Bray a pointed look, to which the cloaked Privaron Espada bristled and his tone shifted to something almost quivering with outrage.

“Wait just a damn second! I’m the one who brought these two here! I’m a part of this deal-”

“I’m the one who decides who’s a part of what deal, Bray,” Adagio said, “And to be quite frank I’m regretting I ever wasted my time negotiating with you in the first place. I don’t mind a self-serving person with ambition. I’m one myself. I don’t even fault you for being a manipulative liar. Again, guilty as charged over here. However, what I cannot abide is someone using my own people as a threat against me. The last person that did that...” she dropped her voice an octave and her magenta eyes gained a frozen edge to them, “I ate his face off and made his followers devour each other for my own amusement.”

“D-don’t try to intimidate me, Dazzle! I’ve dealt with worse than you, smarter, too.” Bray drew himself up to his full height, part of his mask slipping enough that Adagio could almost make out the pale, emaciated flesh of the man’s face, although it was all still cloaked in deep shadow. “And I still have that idiot Di Roy, so if you want him back you’d best play a little ball here. I’m not about to be cut out of the loop just because you’re feeling uppity about me capturing your messenger. Hell, this is Hollow business. It’s the least you ought to expect!”

“I am not the typical Hollow. And if you harm Di Roy, even a scratch, I will burn you and your entire damn army of sycophants and half-assed cultists to ash. Personally. Be grateful I’m giving the chance to bring him back of your own accord instead of ripping your limbs off one by one as an added incentive.”

Sable Spirit gave off a low, appreciative whistle, “Damn, Bray. She doesn’t like you much at all. I kinda want to see you push her, just so I can see what she’ll do to you in response.”

“This is all so churlish...” Shadow Lock muttered, putting an armored hand to his helmeted face and shaking it, “It's exactly why I’ve stayed as far away from Las Noches as possible. Other Hollows are so exhausting to deal with.”

Bray remained fuming, glaring at Adagio past his mask. His reiatsu was rising, a low, grumbling power that took the form of a gray shifting aura around his cloaked body. Adagio simply responded with her own spiritual pressure, matching him easily, and putting on just a bit more pressure beyond that to make it clear to him just how bad an idea it would be to push her.

Eventually Bray deflated, blowing out a hissing sigh, “Fine. I’ll have your vassal returned. Uppity bitch.”

“That won’t be needed, asshole, I’m already back!”

Adagio turned, blinking in surprise. Bray wheeled about as well, while Shadow Lock and Sable Spirit looked on with more casual interest as Di Roy, seemingly unharmed, came waltzing up from the direction of Las Noche’s main gates. He was a bit dirty and dust covered from what Adagio surmised was a less than clean captivity, but he wasn’t sporting any obvious injuries. He looked at her with an embarrassed, chastened half-grin, running a hand over the top of his Hollow mask fragment.

“Sorry, boss, I kinda screwed up the whole ‘messenger’ thing. Ended up saying more than I meant to when this jerk questioned me.”

“Its fine, I’ll have you pull some additional chores for me later to make up for it,” Adagio said, “But how did you get here?”

“Yes! I had plenty of guards watching your cell!” Bray shouted, “You couldn’t have broken free!”

Di Roy crossed his arms and turned his nose up at Bray, “Says you! I’m totally a badass, I’ll have you know! But... uh, yeah, I guess I had help.”

“Help?” Adagio asked, to which a deep, feminine voice spoke up from behind her, within the tunnel entrance to the wall section of her territory.

“He means us.”

Adagio was getting a tad tired of people sneaking up on her. She looked over her shoulder to spot three cloaked figures. The big, white cloaks they wore had a familiar design to them, and Adagio suspected they were imbued with reiatsu suppressing properties to enable the wearers to hide their spiritual pressure. Hefty, with big hoods, one could still tell that the middle figure was significantly taller than the two on either side of her, although all three had feminine forms. Before Adagio could ask who they were, all three removed their hoods.

The two on either side of the central figure were young Arrancar women, both with pale skin and nearly identical features. They wore their hair both short, their Hollow mask fragments taking the shapes of blade-like hair pieces. They looked like twins, save for one had hair and eyes of an intense ocean blue, and the other an equally bright blood red. She knew these two, not from personal experience but by description. Their names were Yin and Yang, and they were loyal vassals to the woman in the middle.

She was tall, built with the muscular physique of an experienced and well trained warrior. Her skin was a deep, lustrous purple, marred by scars that only added to her striking appearance. A strong featured face bore intelligent and cocky blue eyes, topped by a head of starkly saffron hair cut into a striking mohawk. Even under her thick cloak, Adagio could vaguely make out the black robe underneath, and the hilt of a Zanpaktou.

Taking a deep breath, wondering just how the hell Tirek might respond finding this woman on Adagio's doorstep, she looked at the trio and smiled, “Why... Tempest Shadow, you’re probably the last person I expected to see here in Las Noches.”

This was the first time she had met the woman face to face, but was familiar with her and the two Arrancar sworn to her through a set of highly unusual events that had taken place in the weeks after the Quincy assault on Las Noches, but prior to the clash that had taken place at Camp Everfree. She certainly hadn’t imagined the former Soul Reaper Captain would appear on her doorstep, but was deathly curious. Especially considering she wasn’t sure how Tirek would react to the Gotei 13’s previous holder of the title “Kenpachi” being suddenly strolling about his fortress.

“I didn’t plan on being here,” Tempest Shadow replied with the blunt honesty she’d been told to expect from her, “X seemed to trust you, but I wasn’t eager to jump into another partnership after getting burned by the last person I thought I could give my allegiance to. Needed some time to sort some things out on my own and decide where my sword belonged in all this nonsense.”

“For the record,” said the blue haired Yin, “If you betray her like the Storm King did, we’ll make you pay for it.”

“But we did rescue Di Roy, so you owe us anyway,” said Yang, the red head, giving the Arrancar in question a nod, “Seriously, you get captured a lot, don’t you?”

“Only twice! ...Uh, wait...” Di Roy protested, bu then he counted on his fingers, “Three times, now? I might be losing count, actually. Crap, boss, I’m sorry, do I get captured that often?”

“Well, you got immediately broken out this time, so we won’t count it,” Adagio assured him, and was about to ask Tempest Shadow what had changed her mind about working with her, when Bray cut them off with a shout.

“What is she doing here!? Are you allying with Soul Reapers, now, Dazzle!?”

“Wait, isn’t she the one who was working for the Storm King?” said Sable Spirit, “Like, ex-Eleventh Division Captain or some shit?”

“It was thought she’d vanished after the Storm King’s own mysterious disappearance,” said Shadow Lock, eyeing Tempest Shadow like a wary dog having spotted a wolf, “There were rumors she was the one responsible for the destruction of his fortress.”

There was no smile on Tempest Shadow’s face, but her eyes did burn with a certain truthful light, mirrored by her hard tone, “Most of that destruction was caused by others. Friends, in the end. The Storm King did perish by my blade, but I never would have accomplished the feat without their help. As for why I am here, I’ve been convinced to stop fence sitting and throw in with this conflict.”

Bray was still sputtering, “Whatever! If I tell Lord Tirek that you’re here-”

He gulped, stopping mid speech due to the point of a sword at his neck. Adagio whistled, impressed. She had just managed to follow Tempest Shadow’s movements, but the Flash Step was fast and smooth even by the standards set by what Adagio had witnessed fighting Captain Luna. The title of Kenpachi was well earned indeed. Tempest didn’t strike Bray, just held her sword against his throat before the dust even settled from the air pressure of her sudden movement. One couldn’t feel her reiatsu underneath the suppression cloak, not in full, but even without that the woman carried a stare that was enough to freeze blood.

“Call to him, if you want,” Tempest Shadow said, “You’ll be dead before he gets here, and when he arrives, I’ll happily explain myself to him after kicking your corpse at his feet.”

“W-wha-what do you mean by that?” Bray said, “You can’t possibly think you’d survive his wrath?”

“Let’s just say I think he won’t care as much as you want, and I’ve got pretext enough to be here because of that embassy over there,” Tempest Shadow cocked her head towards the distant embassy building of the Canterlot Spirit Coalition, and Adagio let out a sudden, rich chuckle, realizing just whom she had to thank for Tempest Shadow’s presence, now.

“I see, I see... Discord tracked you down, didn’t he?”

Tempest didn’t so much smile as just twitch her lips into a spasm of amusement, turning from Bray as if he was no longer of any consequence as she strode back casually towards Adagio, “The old bastard did, yes. Gave me a long spiel about... everything that’s been happening. Especially where Zero Division is concerned.”

Sheathing her Zanpaktou, Tempest crossed her arms and looked at Adagio with the expression of a woman who’d been carrying a grudge for entirely too long, “I lost a lot when Central 46 hung me and my people out to dry. To think this whole damn war was for nothing other than Zero Division’s scheming makes my blood boil. I’m not about to sit around and play spectator when there’s people like you and Discord trying to do something about it. Certainly couldn’t ever look X in the eyes again if I let this world go to crap after what he and his team did for me. So, Discord offered me a position in his Coalition, and I’ve accepted. You’re looking at their newest Field Marshal, and two Deputy Marshals, assigned to their embassy here as a ‘honor guard’. Just so happens to give me an excuse to come say hi and figure out what’s going on with your own schemes.”

“Hah, beautiful, love to hear it,” said Adagio, her mood greatly improved with this news. Tempest Shadow and her two vassals joining the Coalition did give them the perfect excuse to be in Las Noches, and if any Arrancar, Espada or otherwise, chose to dispute the fact... well, Tempest wasn’t exactly a pushover.

Turning to Bray, Sable Spirit, and Shadow Lock, Adagio clapped her hands together, “Well now, this has been a day hasn’t it? Bray, why don’t you run along and do... whatever it is you do with yourself? I’ve no use for you. Sable, Shadow Lock, why don’t you come inside? I’ll have my vassal, Usagi, brew us up some tea and we’ll get to talking about just what I can do for you, and in turn what you can do for me.”

Perhaps Las Noches being so crowded wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

“We need to move faster, dammit all! Come on, both of you, are your legs there as a mere suggestion of locomotion!? Ocellus, transform into something with longer legs! No! Something that flies! Preferably fast!”

Chrysalis was half stumbling from corridor to corridor as she retraced the steps she and Ocellus had taken down into the depths of Laverna’s labyrinth. She nearly forgot several still active traps and had to be saved by either Platinum’s quick Flash Step or Ocellus’ equally quick thinking in disabling the trap before it was too late, but for Chrysalis it was like she barely even noticed the near-death experiences and kept rushing forward at a pace beyond brisk.

Following along, Ocellus gave Platinum a very concerned look, her wings buzzing as she flew beside the Soul Reaper turned unicorn, “I don’t get it. Just how bad is this other Chrysalis from your world?”

“I don’t believe there are words to do justice to the creature,” Platinum said, to which Chrysalis immediately interjected while half bouncing off of one turn in the maze at a panicked half-run.

“She’s a murderous, hedonistic lunatic who’s sole interests are torture, murder, mayhem, and eating souls, not necessarily in that order!”

Platinum shrugged, “Well, that actually sums her up rather astutely I suppose.”

Ocellus sucked in a terrified breath and let it out slowly as she tried to calm herself, “So she’s like you, but with even fewer moral qualms about anything?”

“I am NOT like her!” Chrysalis shouted, glaring backwards only long enough to almost trip over a set of stone stairs spiraling up, one that Ocellus recognized as being fairly close to the exit, “I do not like torture; its merely an occasionally necessary tool. I generally avoid murder and mayhem, as one cannot consume love from the dead, and chaos isn’t conducive to a well run totalitarian regime!”

“Not exactly selling yourself as the ethical beacon here, Chrysalis,” Platinum commented with a dry look at her friend, “But you are correct, you are not like her. Which means we need to speak with this hive’s rulers to warn them about what’s coming.”

“Oh piss on him!” Chrysalis blurted in reply, briefly pausing to catch her breath at the top of the stairs, “Thorax is the reason I’m in this mess to begin with! It would serve him and this sappy hive right to be blindsided by that ]maniac.”

Platinum stared at Chrysalis hard, her tone equally made of steel, “Do you honestly mean that? These people are your children, are they not?”

A shudder went through Chrysalis, her face going through a rather erratic set of twitches as something resembling conflicting emotions poked and prodded at her. Ultimately her eyes showed more fear than anything else, but her voice did carry the tiniest note of contrition in it, “They clearly don’t feel I am their Queen, and... and what do I owe them, anyway? Abandoning me to the ponies. Turning all colorful and naively trusting. I barely recognize them or my hive. I don’t owe them a single iota of responsibility any longer.”

“Yet you know exactly what kind of monster your counterpart is and what she’ll do if she catches them blind,” said Platinum, “Do you really want that to happen here?”

Chrysalis let out a strained, groaning noise under her breath, her wings buzzing in pure agitation, “I... don’t see why I should care. But if it will get you to stop guilt tripping me relentlessly, we can shout a quick warning to that moron, Thorax, while we run full tilt the opposite direction. I am not being detained here, that’s for sure. If anything us fleeing may well save this stupid hive, considering my counterpart probably wants me instead of them.”

“You may have a point in that regard,” agreed Platinum, “But even if she is specifically going to target you, I would not put it past this creature to turn her sights upon the changelings purely for the amusement of it. She may also unleash her own brood upon them, for I have sensed enough Hollow reiatsu to indicate she’s brought in her horde.”

“Great, just stupendous, I’m really utterly thrilled by all the good news you’re delivering me,” Chrysalis said past clenched teeth, picking up her pace to be nearly galloping, “I don’t suppose you know of a convenient Soul Reaper technique that can hide us from the madwoman?”

“Sadly stealth was never my forte, you’d have to have Captain Luna here for that purpose,” replied Platinum, “Now, while I don’t disagree that a swift departure has its advantages, mostly in hopes of drawing your Hollow counterpart away from here, there is an alterative option.”

“Nooooo,” Chrysalis drew out in a long, seething breath, “Don’t even suggest it!”

“Hear me out at least. While she is immensely powerful and I’d never imagine myself able to beat her alone, I am a former Captain of the Gotei 13, and you yourself are hardly weak. If there’s any similar level of power to be found in this King Thorax-”

“OUT OF THE QUESTION!” Chrysalis tried to roar with angered confidence, but it came out more akin to a frightful shriek as she halted in place, spun around, and planted a hoof on Platinum’s chest, “I will not consent to... to... working with the blind fool who ruined my hive! And even if, in some bizarre twist of fate you did convince me to do something so vomit-inducing, do you honestly believe we’d stand a chance of winning against that psychotic monster!?”

Platinum glanced down at the hoof pressed to her chest, and with icy calm raised her own hoof to push it aside, which Chrysalis didn’t really resist. She was looking at Platinum with a tremble in her legs she couldn’t control, even as her pride railed against the visibly shameful display of just how terrified she really felt. There was a sickeningly cold sensation gripping Chrysalis’ heart that she had only ever felt in that moment she’d risen from the broken remains of her throne to gaze on her horrifically altered children, her broken hive, and Thorax standing tall among the Equestrians that had helped him ruin her life. Hopelessness, helplessness, and an acidic hole in her gut born of coming face to face with impotence.

Back then, it had given birth to a hatred beyond anything she’d encountered in her many years of leading her hive. That hate had driven her through lonely exile, uselessly trying to come up with revenge plot after revenge plot, until cosmic coincidence had landed her amid these visitors from another reality. And, shockingly enough, she found herself ever so slightly accepting of Platinum’s consistent overtures of camaraderie, if only because she was in no position to rebuff them.

She would never call it a friendship. Chrysalis still felt like that was a strange, alien word that didn’t belong in her vernacular outside of knowing how to exploit it. Yet, faced with such utter terror as what her counterpart induced, knowing just how viscerally real the danger was... it was hard not to appreciate the fact that Platinum could look at her with hard, honest concern, rather than scorn or dismissal or anything else she might validly feel towards the cowardice beating in Chrysalis’ heart at that moment.

“I have never fought a battle I didn’t think I could win,” Platinum said, then gained a sardonic half-smirk of pure irony as she ran her artificial hoof over the burn scars on her face, “Although that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of miscalculations in that regard. I can’t, and won’t, force you to remain here and fight alongside those you feel betrayed you. But consider this; you’ve run and hidden from your enemies for a long time now. Aren’t you tired of running?”

Chrysalis didn’t answer immediately, jaw twitching as her mind reeled back and forth in the roiling seas of conflicted thought. She then felt a touch on her leg, entirely too gentle to feel natural to someone whose life was that of brutality, dominance, and feeding upon love instead of giving it. That strange, alien touch was coming from Ocellus, the small changeling having flown up to lay that soft, gentle hoof on Chrysalis’ leg as she looked the former Queen straight in the eyes.

“It's okay to be scared.”

“No...” Chrysalis said, backing up and shaking her head as she turned around, “It isn’t. It's a weakness. And weakness is never okay.”

She didn’t elaborate further, but her legs hadn’t stopped trembling as she tried to trot onward with a more controlled gait. Ocellus watched her go for a moment, expression trapped between determination, pity, and a slowly dawning look of understanding. Platinum remained silent, moving to follow only after a moment’s hesitation.

Chrysalis refused to look back at either of them, forcing herself to stare ahead, not wanting either to see the trembling uncertainty on her face.

Watching Pipsqueak pace back and forth in their cell within the Changeling Hive left Ocellus with a flicker of an amused smile, the Arrancar herself perfectly content to lay on her back on the soft resin bed that jutted from the small, oval cell’s walls. “Hey, Pipsqueak, you think the changelings puke this resin stuff up, or does it come out of their butts?”

“Ocellus, please, this is a serious situation!” Pipsqueak said, face creased with a stormy broil of worries as he kept trotting back and forth. Ocellus wondered how long it would take for him to burrow a hole in the floor at this rate.

“Is it?” she asked, raising her head slightly and propping it on a hoof as she laid on her side, yawning, “I mean, we can walk out of this cell at any time. Not like the guards could stop us. Only reason I haven’t gotten to carving is because I know you wouldn’t want me to mince meat a bunch of these puds.”

“They took our Zanpaktou, Ocellus.”

“Pfft,” she sputtered a little giggling laugh, “As if that would stop me. The only two here who seem strong are those two brothers, and of course they are because they’re mirrors of my brothers. That nifty lightshow they were performing makes me think they’ve got a new card to play against Mom. Kinda looking forward to seeing how that plays out, heheh.”

“Is this all really just a game to you, Ocellus?” Pipsqueak asked, voice strained, and also carrying a distinct note of intense curiosity as he paused his pacing to give her a long, focused look. Ocellus enjoyed the attention, but decided to take his question seriously. He deserved that, all things considered. She sat up, still propped on the resin bed, but returning Pipsqueak’s stare. They’d both dropped their disguises after being caught by Thorax and Pharynx, so she had her Hollow hole visible in her chest, and she idly prodded at it with a hoof.

“You want to know something, Pip? Yeah, everything pretty much is a game to me. Don’t know if I inherited that from Mom, or if it's a twist all my own, but I don’t do anything I don’t think is going to entertain me. Or at least lead to future entertainment, like sitting here in this cell all nice and quietly. What’s wrong with that, exactly?”

She was struck by how hard it was to get a real read on Pipsqueak’s age as he bit his lower lip and made a frustrated noise and sat down, back to the wall. He looked both tired and filled with energy all at once, and a lot older than his seeming years as he gazed first at the floor, then gradually back up at her, “I’ve known responsibility for most of my life, Ocellus. First to struggle against my disease, then to learn the ways to be a noble’s heir, all while not knowing how soon my time was going to be up. I... I tried every day to be cheerful about it, you know? So I wouldn’t worry my mother. I never wanted her to see how scared or tired I was all the time. I didn’t want her to... worry... hah...”

He ran his hoof over his face, and for a few seconds his eye’s white sclera bled to black, and the fragments of a Hollow mask began to form in his hoof. He frowned and tossed the fragments aside, not quite forming the Hollow mask of a Vaizard. “It didn’t work. She worried herself so much she turned on her comrades, her friends, her entire life... just to save me. I didn’t ask her to do it. I didn’t want her to do it. But she still did it for me, and a part of me is always going to wonder if it was maybe my fault for keeping the mask up all the time. Maybe if I’d talked to her more, she wouldn’t have gone as far as she did.”

Ocellus let him talk, paying rapt attention. Pipsqueak did pause for a time, as if gathering his thoughts before continuing, “I don’t blame her anymore. I hated what she did, but I see her trying so hard to make the best of our situation, and I can’t help myself, I feel the same need to take responsibility and shoulder my share of the burden. That’s why I trained with you, learned to get a hold on this Hollow power in me, and even came out here with you to follow mother and Chrysalis. Heh, it's like I can’t really help myself, I take everything seriously the same way you treat everything like a game.”

“Yeah you do, and I think that’s a big chunk of why I like you, Pipperoni,” Ocellus hoped up and went over to him, throwing an arm around his neck and hugging him, “You’re the high-strung worrywart to my mercurial psychopathy!”

‘I...don’t think I would’ve used those exact words. Also ‘Pipperoni’?” He blanched, “Even my mother never came up with silly nicknames for me that weren't quite that bad.”

“I promise to come up with a million more, Piptato.”

“These are all going to be food-based, aren’t they?”

“I’m hungry,” she said meaningfully, licking her lips while glancing towards the cell exit where the changeling guards stood. Pipsqueak frowned, and she gave a half-apologetic grin, “But I won’t go all buffet on anyone here, I promise.”

“Weirdly, I believe you, but your mother siblings are a different matter altogether,” Pipsqueak said, sighing, and somewhat awkwardly hugging her back before also pushing her away to arm’s length, “Which is why I need to know what our plan is. If my other and this world’s Chrysalis get captured, or at least confronted, it may lead to a fight. We will need to break ourselves out of here and hopefully do so without inflicting undue harm on the guards.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about that too much,” Ocellus said, raising her nose almost as if she was sniffing the air. Pipsqueak looked at her with a tilted head.

“Why? As established, worrying is my thing.”

“I just mean, soon enough the guards here will have waaaaaay bigger problems than guarding the two of us. Heheh,” Ocellus’ eyes gleamed in the cell’s gloom, making Pipsqueak shudder a little, “I can smell her. My Mom is coming.”

Trying to make any kind of organized sense of the chaos in Klugetown was a task akin to herding cats. That were on fire. The fact that the Arrancar had been driven back only marginally helped matters, because now most of the citizens were in a panic, which in Klugetown meant either looting, drinking even more than usual, or shuttering themselves inside numerous hidden bolt-holes and hiding spaces all over the town. Sombra had rather quickly figured out that carrying out Celestia’s request to evacuate the town in full would be next to impossible, but he did see the logic of getting as many of them as possible to Mt. Aris.

He was somewhat familiar with the abode of the hippogryphs, and its subsequent tie to its underwater cousin. He and Radiant Hope had passed through the small city-sate some time ago, albeit not for very long. Fortunately it wasn’t all that far from Klugetown, so as long as they could get those airships to agree to ferry folk along, they could get to Mt. Aris well before sunrise. The airship captains were keen to want to know what their payment for such a job would be, and Sombra was all too happy to ensure them letters of promise to be paid in full by the Equestrian crown; Celestia could complain at him about the cost in bits some other time.

The unusually relaxed, eager, and smooth talking Abyssinian cat individual whom Platinum’s Reigai had apparently become attached to (or vice versa, Sombra wasn’t quite sure what to make of that relationship) had offered his services as middle-cat to negotiate and organize affairs. Just so long as he got paid, too. Capper, as he was called, certainly seemed to know everyone in Klugetown, and everyone knew him right back. I did little to lessen the chaos of looting going on, but Capper was at least facilitating getting the more sensible residents to agree to gather their own belongings in order to board airships for the purposes of fleeing before any more soul-sucking monsters from another reality came calling.

That was the main concern at the moment. Sure, the relatively small contingent of Arrancar that had struck they town had been forced to withdraw, mostly due to the timely intervention of the Reigai. Yet that had barely been a fraction of the full force that the Hollow Chrysalis had brought to this realm. Sombra feared what might happen if a force double or triple the size of what he and Firefly had faced came at them, and there was no real way to be sure when or if that would happen.

Among the Reigai, Red Heart had nominally taken charge. Sombra was a tad taken aback by that, given she appeared to be a Reigai of lower rank than the ones based on Soul Reaper Captains like Starswirl and Platinum, but Starswirl showed absolutely zero interest in leading, organizing, or doing anything other than immediately vanish and go poking around the town for his own “research”. The last Sombra had seen of the man he was busy prodding some of Klugetown’s more colorful residents to ask them pointed questions about their biology, some of which bordered on the very rude. As for Platinum’s Reigai, she was willing to “take charge”, but this mostly consisted of following Capper around and yelling the occasional officious sounding order while still indulging in the local drink.

So it mainly fell to Red Heart to set up further defenses for the town while the evacuation was being set up, directing the lesser Reigai troops to form into squads to patrol an established perimeter. At the very least if the Hollows took another crack at them, they’d have some forewarning, but Sombra wasn’t inclined to sit on his haunches and wait. His body was coated in aches and pulsating pains from a litany of bruises, burns, and cuts received from a long day, and now night, of fighting. His magic reserves were low enough that his horn radiated a continuous soreness in its core, a sure sign of magic fatigue. But the night was still young, enemies roamed Equestria, and Sombra’s work was not done.

With a simple melding into the shadows of night, he returned to the canyon where Hitsuyo-Aku dwelled. Or had. His face was now a mask of consternation as he took shape from a pool of shadow, standing upon the lip of the canyon edge as he gazed down where the lone dark gray spire of steel had been. Hitsuyo-Aku was gone, leaving a big, ice-cream scoop shaped divot in the ground that was many hundreds of feet deep.

When had this happened? It must have been not long after the Arrancar had retreated from Klugetown. Try as he might, he could sense no magical disturbances that might signal the presence of spirit entities.

“Where in the world have you run off to?” he muttered, running a hoof over his face. With a drained gait, he trotted towards the nearby desert dunes where multiple craters pockmarked the sands. He looked at the devastation of the terrain, frowning, imagining the fight that must have waged back and forth here. Finally, with a cold desert wind blowing over him, he found the remains of the Regai Zecora.

He looked for a long few moments at the bisected, featureless body of well wrought wood in the vague shape of a humanoid, such a seemingly empty husk compared to the rather vital seeming woman who had doggedly chased him alongside Firefly, and then put her life on the line to allow them to escape Chrysalis’ Hollow counterpart.

Sombra bowed his head in respect to the fallen, then turned as he felt the air stir beside him.

Firefly landed, her wings fluttering in a ragged, aching manner. She wasn’t really in any better shape than he was, blood caking her pink fur in splotches of matted red. She wasn’t wearing her Fullbring armor at the moment, and he imagined she was conserving energy until the time came to fight again. Her eyes lit upon the Regai’s body, her eyes growing downcast, “...Maybe we should have fought with her.”

“There’s no point second guessing,” Sombra said, “We might have only ended up laying beside her, and rendered her sacrifice meaningless.”

“You’re a cherry dude.”

He didn’t have much energy for banter, so instead changed the subject, “You saw that our enemy has fled? Or rather, I suspect, merely refocused their efforts elsewhere.”

“Yeah, I saw,” Firefly said, groaning a little as she sat and rubbed her forelegs as if trying to work out the pains in them, “Don’t know if this was a lucky break for us or not that Chrysalis decided to go hunting elsewhere. Zecora might have done a number on her, but with that regen factor, the bitch is damn near impossible to kill.”

“Nothing is truly invincible,” Sombra said flatly, “It's just a matter of finding the right method. But, setting that aside, how did they move that fortress so completely? Was it the same way you and that Starlight mare used to get to this world?”

“The Crossgate,” Firefly began to lightly pace, as if sitting still would only make her exhaustion worse, “Starlight knew all the technicals behind it, but it's something the Soul Reapers made so they could do selective teleporting over, I don’t know, infinite distances? Not sure what they wanted to use it for. Starlight just believed it could be used to get us here, and with the help of the Queen’s Key, eventually get us into the Soul Palace to take our fight to the Zero Division.”

Sombra’s expression wasn’t quite blank, but he clearly was only partially following her, “Right... the enemies you wanted to plunder magic to empower yourselves to fight against. Hmph, this Crossgate, does it have any limitations? How does it work, exactly?”

“Asking the wrong gal. Like I just said, Starlight was the one who knew the specifics of how the thing actually worked. Buuut... lemme think... We used the Sokyoku, oh, uh, that’s a big flaming phoenix thing that was a million Zanpaktou spirits rolled into one, to fuel the Crossgate. Even coming to Equestria only used up about half of that power, so it had plenty of energy for smaller stuff. When you’re not jumping dimensions, it can teleport all over a realm it's already in, along with whoever or whatever else you want to move around. Means Chrysalis could’ve jumped anywhere, really.”

“Surely it has to have something to target in order to teleport,” Sombra said, “Even we unicorns can’t just teleport ourselves at random without risking putting ourselves at risk.”

“I mean, you’re sort of right? The whole system had a method of using these little mini-portals to observe possible target areas. This lets the Crossgate hone in on a specific location to transport to. I remember Starlight used this to observe a lot of areas in Equestria, setting up possible locations to move to in case the Princesses discovered us.”

A dark curse fell from Sombra’s lips and he pounded a hoof into the sandy ground, “Damnation. We can’t track them, then!”

“What could we even do if we did? We’re in no shape to try and take Chrysalis on.”

“No, and the fact that neither Celestia nor Luna have arrived her tells me that the battles against that monster’s brood are too intense for either to have the freedom to break away,” Sombra said, “But we still should try to locate where she went, if we can. Once the Princesses repel the attacks on Equestria, it’d be helpful to be able to point them at where the enemy leader is. Not to mention Discord remains in their clutches...”

“Yeah, so is Trixie. I seriously hope she’s still alive. Poor Bount gal was never going to really go all the way with us to fight Zero Division, but she’s about as loyal to Starlight as it gets, and...” Firefly said, gritting her teeth, thinking. Her eyes then lit with a brief spark, “Now there’s a thought.”

“What?”

“Alright, so remember that Queen’s Key thing I was talking about?”

Sombra furrowed his brow, “Yes. I don’t know what it is, but it sounded important to your original plans.”

“Uh-huh, it was one of the important items we needed to swipe from Soul Society, along with the Sokyoku and the Crossgate. Basically a shiny bauble that’s sole purpose is to act as a ward pass to bypass the Soul Palace’s defenses. Now, it's useless for pretty much any other purpose, but the thing is that it’s still a very unique spiritually attuned object. It gives off a specific energy signature. And pretty sure its still where Starlight stashed it in Hitsuyo-Aku, and in a spot I’m also fairly certain Chrysalis doesn’t know about.”

“Can you track it?” Sombra asked with re-energized intensity.

“I can’t guarantee anything, but my spiritual senses are pretty damn decent, and I can cover a large area. With any luck, I might be able to track down where Chrysalis went by seeking the Queen’s Key itself.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” said a voice from above, and both looked up to see a form descending from the sky on wide, pink wings. Sombra felt a brief but deep pang of guilt, looking upon this immaculately beautiful, colorful individual.

Princess Cadence had never pursued him or Radiant Hope for any additional recompense after the many transgressions he’d committed against her and her people, but did little to keep the sensation of guilt from gnawing at him any time he was in her presence. The Princess of the Crystal Empire was dressed for war, wearing her crystal blue armor and bearing her large, immaculate spear. He doubted she’d flown all the way here, and more likely had teleported, and further proof of this became evident from the sight or Radiant Hope cantering along quickly on hoof below where the Princess flew.

“Sombra!” Radiant Hope cried out at the sight of him, her canter becoming a gallop as she rushed up. As she fussed over his wounds, Cadence landed, observing the damaged battlefield and the body of the Regai of Zecora.

“Celestia relayed to me what happened,” Cadence said, looking at Sombra with a strong compassion that only made him feel more awkward and guilty, “It looks like you all had a difficult fight.”

“We lived, and thankfully the damage done to Klugetown was manageable,” Sombra replied, wincing a little as Radiant Hope finished checking him over.

“You look like you’re ready to collapse. You should be resting,” she said, a hoof tenderly touching his mane. He briefly, if only for a moment, allowed himself to lean into that touch, but soon enough had to pull away, much to his own reluctance.

“I’ll rest soon enough. Klugetown is about to evacuate to Mt. Aris. I’ll get rest once we’re there... although if you plan to pursue Chrysalis...”

“You’ve done enough for one night,” Cadence told him, soft and stern all at once, “I want you and Radiant Hope to stay with the people of Klugetown. I’ll handle the pursuit of Chrysalis.”

She cast a quick look at Firefly, “Assuming you’re capable of doing as you say? Firefly, correct?”

Firefly was already in the air even before Cadence was done speaking, wings flapping with clear fatigue, but the mare was more than willing to push herself by the look on her face, “That’s me. I... yeah, guess now’s not the time for telling you I’m sorry for the fact we brought Chrysalis to this world in the first place.”

There was a terrifying stillness to Cadence’s features for a split second, but her voice remained as smooth as the crystal of her armor, “It isn’t. Right now, there are more important matters, including preventing that monster from doing further harm. Lead me to her, and that will be a good start on that apology of yours actually mattering.”

“Right, fair, but... uh, not to be an indelicate bitch here, but didn’t your last fight with Chrysalis kinda go poorly? You want another go at her, I ain’t going to stand in the way, but maybe we ought to go ask those Reigai if they want to throw in, too? Or at least wait until more powerful pony Princesses become available for the Chrysalis beatdown?”

“You’re right,” replied Cadence, reaching up to lightly touch an old ring that sat upon her horn, right above the one that was her marriage band. Sombra had not seen one of these so-called ‘Relics’ up until now, and was a bit surprised at just how innocuous the object looked. Cadence took her hoof away from the ring and met Firefly’s eyes, “She’s horrifyingly powerful, and alone I don’t believe I could beat her. But I’m not pursuing her in order to challenge her to a duel. If we find her, we’ll have to call in help.”

“Alright, as long as you have a plan, then I’m not gonna complain,” said Firefly, “So if we’re doing this, we’d better get going. Now, if any of you ponyfolk got an idea of any targets nearby that’d be tempting for Chrysalis, that’d really help with narrowing down the search.”

To this question, Cadence’s expression grew a pale, grim cast under the moonlight, “I can think of one place that is closer to this desert than any of Equestria’s settlements. The Badlands, where the Changeling Hive is.”

Author's Note

Back and Forth is an apt title for this chapter, as that's going to be the style for a bit as I bounce back and forth between the fighting across Equestria, and chapters like this that focus on more connective bits between the action. Next round will focus back on the Mane 6 and others defending Equestria's cities. And I certainly haven't forgotten about events in the Beast Realm, either.

My thanks for reading, folks, and as ever I highly appreciate any and call comments, questions, or critiques. 'Till next time.