I yawn as I wake up and scratch my cheek, the sound of the barn door opening gets my attention and I can hear three little fillies talking.

"Mah sis said he's staying in 'ere," Applebloom says.

I look over the hay pile and spot the three fillies looking around.

"Hey! There's his sword!" the white unicorn filly says pointing a hoof at my zanpakuto.

They walk over to it and lean back just to look at it. It's about four or five times bigger than they are.

"It's huge! How heavy do you think it is?" the orange pegasus filly asks.

Applebloom places her right fore hoof on her chin. "Ah dunno, maybe as heavy as Big Mac's yoke?" she replies.

"Wanna try and lift it up?" the little pegasus then asks the others.

"I don't know, I think he might be angry with us for touching it," the unicorn says.

I decide to make myself known before they actually try to lift it. "I would be mad if someone tried to take my stuff without asking first," I say and stand up while brushing the hay off me.

They yelp in surprise and smile sheepishly at me. "Erm... Good morning, Mr. Ichigo," Applebloom says.

I stretch my limbs and yawn again. "Just Ichigo is fine, and please don't touch my zanpakuto, not only is it heavy, it's sharp as well," I tell them and place my sword on my back.

"We're sorry," they say in unison.

I smile and ruffle up Applebloom's mane. "No problem, just remember that... So, what brings you here?" I ask.

"Applejack sent us to get ya, she's about to start breakfast and said, 'He either gets 'ere now or he misses out'," she tells me in an impression of her sister.

My stomach rumbles at the mention of food, their apple pie yesterday was damn good. "Alright, let's get going then, I'm hungry," I reply and follow them out.

After breakfast, which was some tasty pancakes, I was told to gather a whole cart of apples for today. So I'm now in the northern section of the orchard using my Shunpo to gather ripe apples and put them in the cart. It only took me ten minutes to fill the cart and head back to the barn. Apparently, it takes Applejack and Big Mac each three hours to fill a cart fully and bring it back.

I park the cart and stretch my spine with a satisfying pop. I then head over to where I can sense Applejack's reiatsu and find her bucking trees. "Applejack, I'm done," I tell her.

"Ichigo? Already?" she asks and sighs. "Alright, thank ye for the help. I'll give ya yer pay after supper, so yer free to do what ya want till then," she tells me.

I shrug and smile. "Sure, see you later, AJ," I reply and make my way over to Fluttershy's cottage.

I approach the door and lightly knock. I can hear giggling inside and after a few seconds of no answering, I open the door myself. "Hello?.." I ask quietly but stop at what I see.

'Oh. My. God...' Fluttershy is on her back and Orihime is giving her belly rubs while they're both smiling adorably, Fluttershy's right hind leg is even twitching.

I pull out my phone and quickly take a picture, Fluttershy squeaks at the shutter sound and quickly gets behind Orihime.

"Ichigo! You startled me..." Fluttershy says, peeking out from behind the girl.

"Sorry, but that was adorable," I reply. Orihime has a light blush on her face.

"So why are you here? I thought you had to work on Applejack's farm," Fluttershy asks me and steps out from behind Orihime.

"I'm already done, I'm just faster then AJ is... Don't tell her I said that, she's already grouchy that I can do three hours work in ten minutes," I tell her.

"Alright, I won't tell her," she replies.

I smile and look at Orihime. "You doing okay here?" I ask her.

"Oh yes, Fluttershy has been so nice to me," she says and gently hugs the timid mare.

"That's good, I need to go back to Canterlot to help the Princesses get ready to face their hollows. I'll be back in about four or so hours," I tell them.

"Okay, have a good time!" Orihime says and I leave the small cottage.

I use my Shunpo to dash through the air and head towards Canterlot. After ten minutes, I land on the edge of the mountain and take a moment to catch my breath, jumping off is so much easier then getting up here... Why did they even build it up here? If it's because Celestia wanted to be closer to Luna during her banishment I'll slap her.

I stroll up to the Castle Gates where ponies just stare at me. I greet the guards who glare suspiciously at me. "Morning chaps, I'm here to see the Princesses," I tell them.

"Do you have an appointment?" the one on the right asks.

"They asked me to help them with something today," I tell him.

"No appointment. No entry," he replies sternly and with a glare.

I frown at him and then smile. "Alright, I'll just take the side door then," I say and walk to the right side of the gate by the wall. I gather reishi under my feet and start walking upwards like on a set of invisible stairs.

They just stare dumbfounded as I reach the top and just drop down the other side.

"Wait a minute... HALT!" they say confused and then yell at me, I just laugh and bolt off towards the Castle.

I run into the Castle and make my way to the Throne Room, passing maids and guards alike. "Keep up fellas!" I yell behind me as I enter the Throne Room.

"Ichigo? What's going on?" Celestia asks me with a raised brow.

I see her and Luna sitting on two thrones with confused expressions.

"Not much, just here to start on your training to help you beat and control your hollows," I reply and side step an earth pony guard that tries to tackle me in the back, I reach out and bear hug him from behind. "But your guards here wouldn't let me in, so I let myself in. They didn't like that," I say and pat the grumbling pony in my arms.

Luna hides her smile behind a hoof while Celestia sighs. "Please put Private Steel Lance down, we are in the middle of court right now. We honestly didn't expect you to arrive until much later," the white alicorn tells me. I see a line of ponies just gawking at me.

"Oh..." I say and put the pony down. "Well next time, please let your guard know that you're expecting me at least. Though the chase was fun."

"Pay Tia no mind, she is just sore that we have met our zanpakuto first," Luna tells me. Celestia just has a deadpan expression.

"And I said I was happy for you, sister, but it wasn't a race to begin with," Celestia replies to her with a glance.

"Eh, I'll just look around Canterlot for a bit then, I'll be back in a few hours," I tell them.

I start walking out, but Luna lands in front of me. "We would like to show thee around Canterlot if thou would like?" she asks me.

I raise an eye brow at her and look back at Celestia, who has a faint smile on her lips. I then turn back to Luna and grin. "Sure, though it's not like I can get lost anyway, but I'd welcome the company," I reply.

Luna smiles widely and we head out into the city.

First, we just walk through the streets looking at all the different shops. Ponies were surprised nonetheless to see their Princess walking with a strange creature they've only seen as a statue in the Gardens, some even recognised my outfit and panicked, running around and trying to get away.

Luna gave me a concerned look, but I just laugh it off. Seriously, these ponies can be way too skittish...

"Thou art not upset they fear thee?" she asks me.

"Na, it's not their fault, they've only heard stories about me from their elders or books and the... incident back then. So I don't blame them for running around like their flanks are on fire," I reply cheerfully. Luna looks ashamed at that. "What?" I ask her.

"That would be mine and our sister's fault... We wrote about the event in a history book, and over the centuries, thou has become an old mares tale to frighten little foals... like we were, with Nightmare Moon," she tells me with a sad expression.

I wrap an arm around her neck, ignoring the looks of surprise from the ponies. "That's in the past, Luna. Let it go, you're not alone anymore remember? And if other ponies can't see you as Luna, Princess of the Night, then to hell with them," I tell her.

"We know, but we cannot just forget the pain we caused, it will forever haunt us," she replies.

I sigh, although I only remember pieces of the time Bob went on a killing spree, I won't forget them either. I'll just have to do the best I can to repay the ponies for it. "I can't forget my hollow's actions either, but I choose not to forget it. I'll just raise myself above my past and better myself," I tell her.

Her expression softens and she smiles. "Thou art very strong in both body and mind, if only we befriended thee back then," she tells me.

"Yeah... That would of been nice, though I gotta wonder, the character I dressed up as right now was a spirit when in his shinigami form. Meaning he wouldn't age since he was technically a ghost... It makes me wonder if I'm alive or a spirit... or in between," I reply, flexing my fingers back and forth into a fist.

"That... is a perplexing question, thou believes thee could be dead?" she asks as we continue to walk.

"Maybe, but everyone can see me while not everyone can see a hollow, which are basically ghosts as well..." I reply. This is starting to confuse me. "Eh, we'll just have to wait and see if I'll age or not," I say.

"It will be interesting to see nonetheless," she says and I notice we're in a park, families running around playing and having a good time.

"We thank thee for coming when thou did, court can be so boring, especially when everypony only comes to speak with our sister..." Luna says sadly.

I smile and chuckle. "To be honest, I'd be glad for that. Dealing with ponies issues all morning doesn't sound fun, you could... I dunno, read? Erm, maybe write a book?" I reply.

"We do like to play on our phone when we have nothing to do," she says and her phone appears in her magic with my old Angry Birds game on it's screen. No wait... It looks a bit different, the birds are gryphons? But the pigs are still the same.

'Dammit, that reminds me. I was only three levels away from getting three stars on all the levels... Bugger! ' I think to myself with a pout.

'Aw isn't that a shame, guess you'll just have to start over! Hahahaha,' Bob laughs at me.

'Yeah yeah, very funny,' I reply with a huff.

"Something the matter?" Luna asks me with a raised brow.

"No, just talking with Bob," I reply.

"Thou can talk to thy hollow right now?" she asks surprised.

"Yeah, and Zangetsu... You can talk to your zanpakuto as well by speaking to her in your mind or thoughts," I tell her.

She closes her eyes and after a few seconds, she smiles widely. "Amazing... We wish we could have done this sooner... We would have never been truly alone," she says.

I was about to reply when my phone starts beeping. I quickly get it out and look at the radar, six very strong signals nearby, I look to my right and up in the sky.

A large tear in the sky opens and I go wide eyed in horror. Six... SIX! Menos Grande walk out and roar, making the very air itself shake. Some ponies watch, frozen in fear, some just looked confused and others pass out from the reiatsu the Menos are giving off.

Luna looks up at the giant hollows with dread on her face. "I-I-Ichigo... What are those!?" she asks me with a stutter.

'This isn't good, not good at all. What the hell attracted them here?' I think to myself.

'I believe it is yours and the Princess's reiatsu that lured them here,' Zangetsu tells me.

'Us? How can just the two of us attract that many!?' I ask him.

'I'm not sure, but I think someone else is involved,' he replies.

I don't know if I can take on six Menos in my current state, sure Ichigo managed to repel one even before his sword release, but I've never fought anything this big before.

'Well, no better time then now to try it.' I draw my sword which unwraps and I point my sword behind me, I then take a deep breath. 'Zangetsu, can my body handle the pressure?' I ask him.

'Yes, but only for a short time. If you are to do this, then end it quickly, and don't use your mask, your body won't survive the pressure on it,' he replies and warns me.

"ICHIGO! WHAT ARE THEY!" Luna yells at me with fear and panic in her tone.

I shake my head and look at her. "They're Menos Grande. I'll explain later, I need you to get everyone away from here right now, I'm going to try something I haven't tested yet, and I don't want anyone to get caught in the fight," I tell her seriously.

A flash of red gets my attention as one of the Menos starts charging up a Cero. 'Oh shit! It's now or never!'

I swing my sword forward and place my left hand on my right bicep as the cloth on the grip of my sword wraps around my arm.

"Ichigo? What art thou doing?" Luna asks still in a state of panic.

"No time, GO NOW!" I yell at her and look forward again.

"BAN-KAI!" I shout out and my reiatsu spikes.

Luna gasps and back peddles quickly away from me.

I'm surrounded by reishi and I feel the grip of my sword change and feel lighter. My shihakushō changes into a long coat and the reishi around me dies down, leaving me standing there in my Bankai form. My chest feels tight like I'm going to burst.

My sword Tensa Zangetsu is thinner now like a katana, but dead straight instead of curved. The blade is pitch black and the tsuba is shaped like a rectangle with four L shaped pieces attached to a corner, a short thin chain hangs off the kashira.

Luna looks at me awestruck and wide eyed. "Luna... I'll only tell you once more, get everyone out of here!" I tell her and crouch down and launch myself at the Menos charging its Cero.

I instantly reach its head and raise my sword. "GETSUGA TENSHOU!" I yell and swing my sword down as it was about to fire, a beam of black reiatsu carves right down the middle of the Menos and splits it in half and cancelling out its Cero.

Before it even starts to dissolve, I start slashing at the next one in a series of rapid attacks moving even faster then I could before. I stop as it collapses and hold my sword to my right pointing down and block the fist of another Menos. I quickly swing my sword horizontally and launch a small beam of white reiatsu, not exactly a Getsuga, but quicker to perform.

It hits the Menos in the face leaving a large crack in its mask and making it recoil with a roar, I dash to its head and slash it across the crack and cut the top half of its head off.

I start panting as the pressure in my chest is building. 'Dammit, I need to move faster!'

With three down I move onto the next. I'm blind sided as a Cero hits me but I grunt and push back, I can't dodge or deflect it and risk it hitting the city. I hold my left arm up and keep blocking the Cero, I then raise my sword behind my head and gather my reiatsu into it.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!" I yell again and swing down. Cutting right through the Cero and into the Menos.

My vision starts to blur and the pressure in my chest is nearly unbearable, I breath heavily as one of the remaining two Menos begins to charge up a Cero.

'Motherfuckers, you think I'm done yet!?'

I dash behind its head and forcefully turn its head to face the other Menos, it fires its Cero and blows the head of the other Menos clean off.

I look around and see the park is now cleared, with a grunt and roar, I pull the menos hard and slam its head into the ground.

I get up to finish it off but my legs give out and my Bankai cancels itself as I collapse onto the grass and gasp for air. 'Dammit... I can't move!'

'I had to cancel your Bankai, or you would have been killed by the pressure,' Zangetsu tells me.

'Well shit,' I think to myself as my vision gets even more blured.

"YAAAAAAAHHHH!" I hear a male voice yell out. I look up to see a human dressed in a shihakushō and holding a spear falling from the sky and impale the Menos in the head, the Menos dissolves and the man walks over to me.

Now that he's closer, I can see he's bald and has red markings next to his eyes... 'Wait a minute... Ikkaku!?' I think to myself, but before he could say anything, I pass out.