HiE Omake - Zero

The lights clicked on as Celestia stood in the middle of the room in front of the flat-screen on the wall, the pointer grasped in her golden magical aura.

"Today we'll be discussing chapter zero of "A Hollow in Equestria." I must say none of us expected this story to be such a big success. One hundred and seventeen reviews in the first week for the first chapter alone and we even made it to the featured box. I have to thank all my little ponies and our beloved bronies for such a groundswell and outpouring of love and support," she stated  and smiled.

Ulquiorra appeared next to her in a burst of sonido, his blank expression contrasting with Celestia's smile.

"One of the most common comments about the story so far is how similar everything is to Dirty Bit's story "Cuatro" simply by virtue of my involvement in each story. However the comparison couldn't be anymore wrong if it was attempted due to the stark differences in the subject matter and structure," he stated.

The screen behind them changed to display a side by side comparison of the cover art for each story, a big red VS between the two.

"Before we begin let's remember that Dirty Bit himself complimented on HiE due to its structure and even referenced us in the closing of his own story. Without such praise we might not have gotten where we are today," Celestia pointed out before levitating the pointer over to Ulquiorra so he could do his part.

"The story of "Cuatro" explores the concept of my being reborn in the land of Equestria with no conscious memory of who I was prior to my arrival there, reshaped in alicorn form. The story of "A Hollow in Equestria" deals with Discord himself fetching me from the void of death and bringing me to Equestria with my memories, Arrancar form, powers and abilities intact as well as my intellect and my overall nature unchanged...at least I believe so. I can't entirely be certain what the spirit of chaos might have done to me while the lights were off," Ulquiorra stated.

Celestia giggled at Ulquiorra's statement before taking a turn to speak. "Another key difference in the two stories is where they're set. "Cuatro" begins with Ulquiorra waking up in the Everfree Forest during a snowstorm and making his way to Sweet Apple Acres. "HiE" more or less begins in Canterlot when Discord brings Ulquiorra before me and I'm made aware of the entire situation from the very start, rather than being read into the discovery several chapters later on. Of the two settings I much prefer the second as I'm aware of everything immediately and have some measure of control over the situation."

"And we all know how much you enjoy exercising your control over others," Ulquiorra quipped in his usual monotonous tone before continuing the explanation. "Another key difference is the role Discord plays. In "Cuatro" there's absolutely no explanation regarding how I arrived in Equestria, why I was ponified or why I was suffering from amnesia. In this story Discord isn't even provided the opportunity to be a potential theory as he's still encased in stone at the time and the setting is winter, placing "Cuatro" firmly in the realm of season two. "A Hollow in Equestria" on the other hand directly involves Discord and explains that he's responsible for my presence in Equestria and how I can understand the written and spoken word of the main language. Furthermore our story is firmly set in the realm of season three as it takes place after "Keep Calm and Flutter On." What this means for me is that I will be spared the horrors of "Lesson Zero" as Twilight Sparkle suffers a nervous breakdown. There will be no "Cutie Pox" no "Ponyville Confidential" and thankfully no "Too Many Pinkie Pies" to contend with."

Celestia giggled again. "You would've probably wiped out Ponyville trying to dispatch all the clones. Pinky's a darling girl but with her moderation is a must," she stated before turning back forward again. "Another comment we seem to get a lot of deals with the discrepancy in power levels between Ulquiorra, myself and my sister Luna. Apparently some fans aren't happy that everypony's favorite Espada feels eclipsed in our presence and believes he should be ranked higher than he's being portrayed."

"An unfortunate side effect of a crossover story. To the best of my knowledge Tite Kubo and Lauren Faust have never discussed their main works with each other in any sort of manner to determine who is ranked in accordance to their power. In the realm of "Bleach" my strength is considerable. In "My Little Pony" I have less strength than the ones who juggle celestial bodies as easily as others breathe. It's little different from the displays of low level souls being overwhelmed in the presence of incredibly high levels of reiatsu," Ulquiorra elaborated. "Logically however it makes the most sense. If this story is to be successful and not devolve into an all out war I need to be portrayed with a handicap for the sake of advancement. If I started off as more powerful than Celestia and Luna together that would be the end of the story as they would simply fear me and have no trust for me. My presence might even prove fatal to the Mane Six. Surely none of you want to see that happening...or do you?"

"Speaking of such, Ulquiorra," Celestia interrupted, "how is it you're not overwhelmed by Discord's presence? The only force in the world capable of defeating him is the Elements of Harmony as it's been proven twice already. He can even cross the dimensional boundaries while I can't, so why were you unaffected?" she asked.

"During the final battle between Sosuke Aizen and Ichigo Kurosaki," he began as the screen changed again to show the mentioned scene from the manga, chapter 420 page 14,

"Aizen stated that the only way a lower being could sense his reiatsu was if he deliberately lowered it to the point where they could actually get a sense of it, meaning he was too strong to be sensed by those that were too weak. Theoretically the same applies in this case. Equally possible is that Discord, being what he is, is incapable of being sensed or interacted with unless he directly desires such. As we saw in his first appearance Discord inserted himself directly into a stained-glass window and swam about as easily as if it were water. It's safe to conclude that we aren't dealing with a logical being who is concerned with the laws of physics and reality."

Immediately the screen behind them went to static before switching over to a very angry looking Luna, her face uncomfortably close to the camera she was looking through.

"Ulquiorra Cifer! I demand retribution from you for forsaking Canterlot's royal muffins! You're going to eat these muffins, you're going to like these muffins, and you're going to like them more than anything!" Luna stated as she pulled back to present a large serving tray of muffins.

"Oh dear," Celestia sighed and facehooved at her sister's antics. This was how she made her debut? Talking about muffins? Seriously? And using a line parodied from "Lesson Zero" on top of it?

Ditzy Doo appeared next to Luna, looking annoyed as well despite her unfocused eyes. "Nopony says no to muffins, nopony!"

"Then I shall be the first," Ulquiorra replied as he withdrew a TV remote control from his left pocket and turned to face the screen.

"If you think you're getting out of this one that easily then you're quite fu-"

CLICK

"Quite prepared," Ulquiorra stated and placed the remote back in his pocket.

"And that concludes the first chapter of "HiE Omake." Say goodnight, Ulquiorra," Celestia replied.

"Goodnight Ulquiorra."

END