//------------------------------// // Contracts and Mountains // Story: The Sword that is the Scabbard // by Boyzilla //------------------------------// The Sword that is the Scabbard Chapter 4: Contracts and Mountains As the sun tethers on the edge of setting over the horizon, an orange color radiating throughout the skyline, Shirou Emiya watches it in its wondrous majesty of the natural lighting it emits during this time. He hears a tea set being set upon a table, and so closes the blinds and turns to face the direction of the sound. Twilight Sparkle sat there on the couch of the hotel room they had been given free, her purple hued magic enveloping a lone filled up, suspended in the air. Yet, her eyes seemed to be staring into the air in front of her, distant from the world. Shirou walked over to her, sitting on the other side of the couch, yet it didn't make her concentration lapse. He placed a hand on her shoulder, which then snapped her back into reality, the filled cup wavering in the air before she recovered. "You alright?" Shirou asked with concern. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine... Just thinking..." Twilight trailed off in response, bringing the cup to her lips and sipping from the tea within. The unicorn's eyes widened in slight surprise as she took the cup away from her, looking at it as she complimented the taste of the liqued, "Wow... This is really good tea, Shirou." The human chuckled, "Don't flatter me, my tea is mediocre at best." "Mediocre? This is the best tea I ever had!" Twilight Sparkle replied in honest. "My friend, Rin, makes much better tea than I do. She practically drilled tea making in my head and I still can't get it as good as hers," He chuckled again at the memories. "I've always been a better cook than a tea maker." "You can cook?" She questioned, before smiling, "That's great! I'm sure you and Spike would be food friends." She seemed to pause to take another sip from the tea cup, "So, who's Rin?" "A friend, she's got a bit of a attitude at first but she warms up to you, though she is very stubborn and insistent of getting her way," Shirou said, taking a tea cup for himself and filling it. "Wouldn't be surprised she figured out I was gone already and is trying to find a way to drag me back to Earth!" He laughed. "I took you from... Earth, right?" Twilight asked curiously, in which Shirou nodded, it finally dawned on her that she had practically ripped Shirou from his home and friends. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to take you away from your life and drag you into this-" Shirou cut her off by placing a finger on her muzzle, "It's fine, I'm a hero, it's my duty to be an ally of justice and save everyone," He said as he lifted his finger again. Twilight opened her mouth to correct Shirou saying of 'everyone', but closed it as he really meant everyone, all sapient beings. "That's... A very big job..." She said. He nodded, "Yeah, I got my life cut out for me, huh?" "But, your whole life spent being a hero? What about finding your special somepony, sorry, somebody?" "I have someone I'm searching for," Shirou replied, a pleasant expression on his face as he mentioned it. "And I have plenty of friends helping me out, so I'm never alone." The purple pony sighed in relief, so Shirou wasn't forsaking life at all, he had a dream and he was trying to fulfill it. She drank the last of her tea, her eyes closing as the flavor came down her throat, before she placed the cup back on the table and spotted the three red sword symbols on her left hoof. "Shirou?" Twilight started to ask. "Yes, Twilight?" He replied in earnest, finishing his own cup which he placed back on the tea set. "Can you explain this further?" She finished asking, raising her left hoof and showing the Command Spells. "About the Command Spells, or the Contract between us?" Shirou questioned, wondering what she truly meant. "The latter, you told me about the Command Spells already and I understand that," Twilight said to him. Shirou leaned back a bit on the couch, "Well, do you feel the link between us?" "Link?" She questioned, pausing a small moment to examine her magic, only to find a small cord of sorts siphoning from her. "I think I do, it's like a small thread of sorts taking a minuscule amount of magical energy from me." "Minuscule?" Shirou said in shock, surprising Twilight, "If it's minuscule to you than you must be a prodigy of some sorts! You're supplying me with ample amounts of prana to stay in your world." "Prana? Is that what your people call magic?" "Yes, in a way, we get prana by converting our inner energy of Od through our magic circuits into prana, or by drawing in mana from the world and then changing it into prana within our circuits. The latter is a much more lengthy process." He recounted his lessons from both his father, God bless his heart, and Rin's lecturing. "However, it seems different for you, you're only supplying me with mana." "Unicorns use our inner magic to affect the magic in the air to do spells," Twilight replied, curious and eager to learn about how Shirou's species do magic. "Then wouldn't you be supplying me with Od instead of mana then?' Shirou replied, "Unless you produce mana within your body instead of Od, it would certainly explain your massive reserves a bit as you would recharge energy much faster than I do." He said. "Well, I always was considered a Third-Rate magus, so it's not really my forte." "Third-Rate!?" Twilight exclaimed, the term was familiar to her do to some stuck up nobles of Canterlot viewing lesser magically attuned unicorns as Third-Rate, "But, the swords, the bow and arrow!" "I'm so incredibly specialized that my magecraft only revolves around swords, though it can extend to other weaponry. Due to this, I can't cast any other spell besides Reinforcement and Projection.Tracing is due to my specialization through projection." "So that's why you say those words, trace on, it represents you using the... Tracing Spell," Twilight said, rolling the wording of the new spell off her tongue. Shirou shrugged, "Saying it helps me focus my magecraft. But anyhow, the link between us helps me stay here due to your energy preventing the world from removing me per say." "Removing you, like, erasing you from existence?" She said. He shook his head, "Don't think so, I'm still alive, so I think I would just merely return home. Anyhow, once all three of your Command Spells are used, the contract ends. So I'll only be able to stay in this world for a few moments after it does, alright?" She nodded, "So basically, I got two Command Spells I should use wisely only in emergencies, and never use the last one until you wish to return home." "Pretty much it," Shirou said. "Now how about we get some sleep before we head off tomorrow?" Twilight agreed, and the lights within the hotel room flickered off to signal their rest. Traversing the Mountain Pass between the cities of Seaddle and Las Pegasus proved to be a peaceful endeavor for our heroes. The rocky roads were still quite polished and stood out from the surrounding landscape, and the formations of the mountains created a sort of natural defense from any ambushes as it was too steep for any off road travel. The road to Las Pegasus probably held the quickest travel time to reach the city, however there happened to be one clear mark in which something could go sour. "Equestria sure has to be a dangerous place if there are so many areas like this..." Shirou trailed off as he looked at his surroundings. "Before the release of all Equestria's enemies," Twilight began. "There wasn't any reason to fear places like this. It actually was a tourist sight of sorts but now..." "Now it's a tactical advantage for anyone looking to set up a headquarters." Shirou said, as both he and Twilight hid behind a large boulder, overlooking a ravine. A massive undertaking was being set foot inside this ravine, great siege weapons being constructed by what seemed to be black insect versions of the ponies. They mined the minerals from the cliff side, using the power of the rushing river to fuel the machines crafting the parts, all the while patrolling the area. "Changelings..." Twilight seemed to hiss out, catching Shirou's attention at her obvious dislike of the beings below. "So these are changelings?" Shirou questioned, observing the now identified enemies of the pony civilization. "They seem to be preparing for an invasion, look at those machines." He said, pointing at the constructs so Twilight would pay attention. "They're not meant to tear down fortress walls, they'll like huge net guns, devices made to capture multiple moving targets." "They're trying to invade Las Pegasus-Mmpfh?!" Twilight exclaimed before Shirou quickly covered her mouth to prevent her from further yelling. "Quiet," He said softly, "I can destroy the siege machines but I don't think I can handle that many of them." Shirou stated. She calmed down, and when he stopped covering her mouth she said, "Well, how many do you think are there?" "Given the number of siege machines, probably around hundred or two... The issue is not that I can't destroy them, but how we are going to escape." The holder of the Element of Magic briefly scanned the area, the road they were traveling heads down into the ravine below so it was out of the picture. Looking around and spotting a few key things, Twilight Sparkle got an idea. She turned to Shirou, a determined look on her face as she said. "Alright, here's the plan." Twilight started, "The main road is not an option, but there is another way to get out Tale Tell Mountains in this ravine. However its a bit of a dangerous area, but if I can focus well enough I think I can teleport us across the void scar. We just both have to be there at the same time, so you have to work quickly." "Void scar?" Shirou questioned, unfamilar with the land's geography. Her eyes widened when she remembered that fact, "Sorry, the void scar is the name of a great sinkhole that seems to go down for miles, it's surrounded by sandstone so you can't miss it." Twilight explained. Shirou looked over the boulder, scanning the environment for a matching description. He spotted it, at the edge of the ravine was a sudden change from normal rock to sandstone in the ground. He fell back down to their small hiding, and gave her a thumbs up. "Alright, I know where it is. I can meet you there in ten minutes tops." Shirou said. "Ten minutes? You sure you can do it in that little of time, Shirou?" Twilight replied. "Don't worry, I got this, trust me." The unicorn nodded, trusting her new friend, "Here we go then..."