Chapter 4: Familiar Faces
I wake up to the sound of birds chirping, and sunlight streaming in through the window. I sit up and yawn with a stretch, and unlike two mornings ago, I'm fully aware of where I am. I'm feeling much better now that I've had some sleep, though my leg is still a little sore.
I look down next to myself to see that Shanghai is still asleep. I decide that I'll step outside to watch the sunrise, and since I plan to come right back in afterwards, I also decide to leave Shanghai alone. I leave the guest room, and as I pass through the living room, I see Fluttershy awake, putting bird seed into some bird feeders.
“Um,” I start gently, though I still startle Fluttershy as she jumps a little. “I'm feeling a lot better today. I was just going to step out front and watch the sunrise. I'll come right back in afterwards.”
“Oh, um, alright,” Fluttershy answers quietly. “I'm glad that you're feeling better.”
I smile at her kind words as I step out the front door and watch the sunrise. I stand there for a few moments in silence, when a female voice off to the side catches my attention.
“Oof!”
(I'm pretty sure I recognize that voice…) I think as I turn in the direction of the voice… and am shocked by who I see lying on the ground by the trees of the Everfree Forest.
She has long blonde hair, and a large, black witch's hat. The hat has a large pink bow on it, and some pink frills under the rim. She's also wearing a black and pink dress. The skirt of the dress has two layers: the layer on the bottom is black, with pink frills on the hem; the top layer is only a semi-circle on the front, and is pink with frills on the edge. The sleeves are short and pink, and the front of the dress' torso is pink with buttons down the front. On top of the dress she's wearing a black shirt with straps over the shoulders, and she also has black boots on her feet. A broom is on the ground next to her.
I definitely recognize who this is, and she definitely shouldn't be in Equestria.
“Yeesh, wasn't expectin' such a rough landin',” she says, her manner of speaking being very informal.
After a few moments of silence, I finally find my voice, and I can't help but shout, “Marisa!?”
Marisa looks over at me, surprised by my sudden shout. Fluttershy also rushes outside in response to my shout, but stops when she sees Marisa. After a few moments, Marisa's look of surprise is replaced by a grin.
“Hey, I'd recognize those mismatched eyes any day,” she says, rising to her feet with broom in hand, before her smile drops away in favour of a confused frown as she continues. “But what're you doin' here Alex?” Without giving me time to respond, she looks around and keeps speaking. “Actually, where's 'here' anyway?”
“This is a place called Equestria,” I say to Marisa. “But I have no idea how I got here, or why I'm here.” I decide not to share the foreign memories I seem to have, since I doubt anybody would believe that some weirdo named Magic Man supposedly warped me here anyway. I'm having trouble believing it myself.
“Equestria, huh?” Marisa says. “You sure seem to know a lot about this place.”
“Well, this is the fourth day of my time here,” I answer, somewhat defensively.
Our conversation is interrupted suddenly when Rainbow Dash comes flying over. “Hey Alex, I see you-” Rainbow Dash cuts off when she notices Marisa, before speaking back up. “Who're you?”
Marisa smirks as she answers. “I'm Marisa Kirisame, a human magician.” She then leans towards Rainbow Dash sassily as she continues. “But who, and what, are you?”
Rainbow Dash answers proudly, with a flourish of her wings, “I'm Rainbow Dash, and I'm a Pegasus!”
“A Pegasus?” Marisa asks, clearly confused. “Aren't those suppose'ta be horses with wings? I mean, you've got the wings, but you don't look like any horse I've ever seen.”
I can see that this is going nowhere fast, so I interject. “Don't worry about it for now Marisa.” I then decide to ask Marisa something that's on my mind. “But, how did you get here?”
Marisa turns to me, a grin not too different from the ones I've seen on Rainbow Dash spreads on her face. “Alex, you should know that a Gensokian like me won't give up important information like that so easily.”
I know exactly where this is going, and I don't want it to go there. “Marisa, don't. Can't we just have a civil-”
“Nope!” Marisa cuts me off. “If you want the information that badly, you'll haffta beat me in a Danmaku Contest, right here, right now!”
I sigh heavily as I realize I'm not going to get the information any other way. “Fine…”
Marisa's face lights up. “Heh heh! That's the spirit! I hope you're ready for this, I'm not gonna go easy on you!”
Just as we're about to start, Fluttershy speaks up. “Um… What's a 'Danmaku Contest'?”
I remember that Equestria doesn't have Danmaku Contests, so I try to explain the best I can. “Well, in a Danmaku Contest, one person shoots the other with Danmaku. Danmaku is a bunch of objects, known as bullets, organized in elaborate, complex patterns-”
Rainbow Dash cuts me off. “Bullets?” she says, flustered. “As in kill!?”
“No no no,” I say to Rainbow Dash, shaking my head. “Danmaku bullets are non-lethal, meaning they can't kill. There's no reason to be worried. But getting back to the explanation: one person shoots the other person with elaborate, complex patterns of non-lethal Danmaku bullets. The second person has to dodge these patterns in order to be victorious. However, because of the complexity of the patterns, there's an extra rule which is absolutely necessary, otherwise it would be impossible for the second person to win: Simply coming into contact with a bullet isn't enough to count for a loss. Instead, a loss only happens if a bullet passes through a small point in the center of your body called the 'focus point'. Because you can't see this point, all Danmaku make a distinctive noise when passing through the focus point. Finally, a very common term used in Danmaku Contests - which would be helpful to know - is 'grazing'. A graze is when a bullet comes into contact with your body, but misses your focus point.”
Marisa speaks up impatiently, tapping her foot. “You done now? Good, let's get this started.” With that, Marisa enthusiastically - but unnecessarily - declares, “I officially challenge you to a Danmaku Contest! If you win, I tell you how I got here. If I win, I ge'ta keep it a secret.”
The two of us rise up into the air, and a barely visible blue box surrounds us, representing the borders of the in-bounds space. This space is the confines of the Danmaku Contest: any Danmaku bullets will vanish instantly the moment they leave the blue box. Marisa finally takes notice of the gauze wrapped around my leg.
“Oh wait, you're injured,” she says, while I wonder how blind she must be if she missed that. “In that case, I guess I lied earlier. I'll go easy on you this time 'cause your leg is injured, but next time, I won't hold back, injury or not.” (Gee, thanks) I think to myself sarcastically. “But this Danmaku Contest starts now,” Marisa says enthusiastically, before shooting a thick barrage of star-shaped bullets at me.
I clear my thoughts and focus on the bullets. I note the trajectory of each one, ignoring the ones that will go out-of-bounds, and I expertly weave between the ones that get near me. Even though I could shoot back at Marisa to theoretically finish this quicker, I know from experience that I can't focus on dodging and shooting at the same time: either I'm shooting and forget to dodge, or I'm dodging and forget to shoot. Because of this, I resort to my usual strategy: waiting out each pattern, which only lasts a certain amount of time. Back in Gensokyo, this strategy - dubbed the 'Timeout Style' - became my signature strategy for Danmaku Contests.
As Marisa's first pattern continues on, the density and severity of the pattern gradually increases. Marisa gives me a somewhat playful, yet very determined, look as she taunts me. “You're not doin' as well as I remember. Heh heh, have you been forgettin' to practice?” I ignore her taunting as I continue to put all my focus into dodging as I'm eventually forced to graze the bullets in order to avoid losing.
Just as it seems that grazing won't be possible anymore, the pattern times out, and all the bullets disappear. I breath a sigh of relief as I catch my breath.
“I'd forgotten about your Timeout Style,” Marisa says, sounding slightly disappointed. “But I'm not done yet. It's not a Danmaku Contest if I don't use a Spellcard! Since I promised to go easy on you this time, I'll only use a single volley of a single Spellcard, and then be done.” A somewhat disturbing grin is plastered on Marisa's face as she says this, and I realize exactly which Spellcard she plans to use. Knowing that the Spellcard is a straight, wide shot, I quickly fly to one edge of the in-bounds area so I can avoid it by going to the opposite side. Marisa pulls out a small object in the shape of an octagonal prism: her Mini-Hakkero.
“Alright, ready or not, here it comes!”
Marisa whispers a spell into the Mini-Hakkero, and then points it right at me. Slits on the Mini-Hakkero's front begin to glow. After a few tense moments, I see the thin, white line of the warning tracer appear - signifying the center of the path the attack will follow - going from the Mini-Hakkero and passing straight through me.
Love Sign「Master Spark」
I fly as quickly as I can away from the little white line, and make it out of range just in time for an enormous beam of rainbow-coloured light to shoot from the Mini-Hakkero, grazing both of my feet. The beam - Marisa's signature Master Spark - is almost three meters thick, and overall very intimidating. The beam persists for several seconds before dissipating, and after it does, the blue box disappears, leaving the two of us to return to the ground.
Rainbow Dash comes up to me quickly. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine,” I respond. “I had to deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis in Gensokyo. I might be getting kind of rusty though.”
Marisa speaks up, shaking her head with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “As always, I just can't seem to hit you,” she looks up at me with a grin before continuing. “But one of these days I'll win a Danmaku Contest against you, I promise you that.”
“You say that every time, Marisa,” I say in response. “But I won, so you have to tell me how you got here.”
Marisa sighs. “Yeah, yeah, I haven't forgot.” Leaning against her broom, she explains what happened to her in a casual tone. “I was searchin' for mushrooms in the Forest of Magic for some spells, but then I came across a strange, gap-lookin' thing just hangin' in the air.”
This confuses me. “A 'gap-looking thing'? What do you mean?”
Marisa shrugs. “It looked kinda like one of Yukari's gaps, 'cept the inside didn't quite look the same, so it couldn't've been one of hers. Anyway, I was curious and decided to see where it lead. I jumped in, and found myself here.” I mull over this, but then Marisa speaks back up, looking at the Everfree Forest. “But it doesn't seem like I'll be able to go back anytime soon, so I'll be headin' off now. I'm gonna need to find a place to build a new house, and this forest here looks like a good candidate.”
Rainbow Dash looks at Marisa in surprise. “But, the Everfree Forest is full of all sorts of dangerous monsters.”
Marisa smirks as she looks over her shoulder. “I use'ta haffta fight gods almost on a daily basis. I'll be fine. If anythin', maybe the 'monsters' of this so-called 'Everfree Forest' will keep me occupied.” With that, she makes her way into the Everfree Forest.
Rainbow Dash looks at me. “Gods?”
I sigh, continuing to look in the direction Marisa went as I answer. “That was an exaggeration. But she is very strong. I have no doubt that she can take care of herself just fine.”
Fluttershy finally speaks up quietly. “Um… Maybe you should come back in and rest after that fight?”
I look up to the sky and see that the sun is almost overhead, meaning it's almost noon. I hear my stomach growl, and I answer with a blush. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and I all step inside, and I'm met by a slightly upset Shanghai who comes from the direction of the front window. “You left me again.”
I look at Shanghai. “I'm sorry. This morning after I woke up, I was going to watch the sunrise, and then come right back to wake you. I wasn't expecting Marisa to appear like that.” Shanghai doesn't respond, pouting. I sigh as Rainbow Dash speaks up.
“Let's leave her be for now and get some lunch.” I nod as we follow Fluttershy to the dining room.
After eating some lunch, I enter the living room to find Shanghai staring out the window. I call out to her.
“Shanghai?”
She turns to look, but then after realizing who called her, she turns back to the window. I sigh and sit on the floor next to her.
“Look Shanghai, I'm sorry. I was planning on coming right back, I promise.” Shanghai just stays silent and doesn't move. The way Shanghai is ignoring me nags at the back of my mind, like I'm missing something. I think about why she's still so upset despite my apologizing. After thinking it through, I figure it out: it's not a problem of whether or not I was going to come back, it's a problem of leaving her behind in the first place. I speak to Shanghai again. “I'm sorry for upsetting you. I realize now that you're upset with me for leaving you behind again. I should have woke you up whether I was planning to come right back or not.” Shanghai finally looks at me. After a few moments of silence, she speaks.
“Thank you for understanding. Just, please don't leave me behind again.”
“I promise.”
Our conversation is cut short by a knock on Fluttershy's door. Confused, I answer the door. I'm completely taken aback by who I find on the other side.
They look like a human, and are definitely female. She has shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair. She has a bow-less red ribbon on her head, which wraps across the top of her head, and goes down behind her ears. She's wearing a mostly-blue dress with short, white sleeves, and a pink ribbon tied around the waist. Over her shoulders, she has a small, white shoulder shawl, and she has a pink ribbon tied in the front hanging loosely around her neck. She's carrying a black book which is secured shut by a red ribbon which is wrapped around the book in a way reminiscent of a Christmas gift, and she has some thin string wrapped around her left forearm, attached to some metal rings worn on the index and middle fingers of her left hand.
We both exclaim in shock at the same time.
“Alice!?” “Alex!?”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy rush into the room in response to our shouts, Rainbow Dash speaking in a 'ready to kick ass' tone, “what's going on!?” Rainbow Dash falls silent when she sees Alice. I'm the first to speak up.
“Alice, what are you doing here?” I can't hide my bewilderment as I ask the question.
“I don't know,” Alice says defensively. “I was walking through the Forest of Magic, but I wasn't paying attention and tripped on a root. When I stood back up, I was over there.” She points behind herself, and I notice that she's pointing in the direction of where Marisa suddenly appeared. It's not difficult for me to put two and two together, and I conclude that when Alice tripped, she probably happened to fall right into the same gap that Marisa described. Alice speaks up again. “I'm not sure what you're doing here Alex, but I'm glad I ran into a friendly face here, wherever this is.”
I decide that I'll explain everything to Alice, but the open doorway wouldn't the best place to do so. “How about you come inside, and I can explain what I know.” Alice comes in and notices Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. I take a moment to introduce them to each other. “Alice, this is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, this is Alice Margatroid, my friend from Gensokyo.”
“Oh,” Alice says, slightly confused. “It's nice to meet you, I guess.”
“Uh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash answers somewhat lamely, while Fluttershy silently moves behind Rainbow Dash. “Sorry about Shy,” Rainbow Dash continues. “She's a bit, well, shy.”
I speak to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, I'd appreciate it if you could help with explaining things to Alice.”
Rainbow Dash is caught slightly off guard as she answers. “Oh, um, alright.”
I explain everything I know to Alice, and Rainbow Dash fills in the missing pieces. Once everything is explained to Alice, she sits in silence for several minutes, letting it all sink in. Finally, she speaks up.
“I… think I understand everything,” she says hesitantly, before looking at Shanghai and continuing. “And I might have some insight on what happened with Shanghai, but…” She trails off and looks out the window. I look outside as well, and I see that the sun is starting to set. I look back to Alice as she speaks up again. “It's getting late, and I don't have anywhere to stay.”
Rainbow Dash speaks up in response. “You're a doll maker, right?” This seems to be a rhetorical question, as Rainbow Dash doesn't wait for an answer. “Maybe Rarity would let you stay with her.”
I look at Rainbow Dash. “This is the first I've heard of this 'Rarity'.”
Rainbow Dash looks at me. “Oh yeah, you haven't met her yet, have you? Well then, you should come and meet her too.”
Deciding that I ultimately don't have anything better to do, I follow Rainbow Dash and Alice. Eventually, we stop in front of a shop. Alice and I both give Rainbow Dash a confused look. “Why are we at a shop?” Alice asks Rainbow Dash, echoing my thoughts.
Rainbow Dash looks at us as she responds. “This is the Carousel Boutique, Rarity's clothing shop. It's also where she lives.” Rainbow Dash steps inside, and - after a quick glance at each other - Alice and I follow her in. Rainbow Dash calls out into the shop. “Sorry for popping in when it's so late, but it's for an important reason! Could I speak to you please?”
In response to Rainbow Dash's shouting, a feminine voice calls back, “yes, yes! Calm down Rainbow Dash, I'll be there in just a moment!” After a few seconds, a very sophisticated looking pony - who must be Rarity - comes into the room.
She has white fur, and a long, curly, violet mane and tail. She's wearing a short, black pencil skirt, and a light blue, short-sleeved blouse. She has bracelets of what appear to be crystal beads on both her wrists, and rings with crystals embedded into them on several of her fingers. There's also a somewhat large crystal on the side of her pencil skirt's waist. The most prominent detail to Alice and I, however, is the single horn on her forehead. Even though Rainbow Dash explained to us that ponies with horns are only Unicorns, we simply can't help that the sight of that horn brings Oni to mind. Our thoughts are interrupted by a shocked exclamation from Rarity.
“My word!” Rarity's expression is an odd mixture of shock and horror as she looks at Alice, and I'm trying to figure out what's so horrifying when Rarity continues. “You are quite right Rainbow Dash, this is very important.”
Rarity walks over to Alice. “Wh-what?” Alice asks in confusion.
Rarity is looking over Alice's clothing as she responds. “Your attire. It just looks so… Old.”
Alice is even more confused by this. “Bu-”
Rarity cuts her off. “No need to worry, I'll help you fix it.” With that, Rarity begins to herd Alice - who's too confused at this point to form a complete word - towards the back of the shop.
I give Rainbow Dash a 'do something!' look. She shrugs silently, giving me an apologetic look. I stare at Rainbow Dash for a moment in exasperation. Then I set my mind: I'm not going to let my friend get - literally - pushed around like this.
I step in front of Rarity, purpose clear in my motions. She stops in surprise, then - in an impatient tone - says, “excuse me, but you are in my way.”
I put my hands on my hips as I answer. “Have you ever considered you might be imposing yourself onto others?”
Rarity looks at me silently for a few moments, with a combination of surprise and confusion on her face, before answering in an equally surprised and confused tone. “I beg your pardon?”
I gesture to Alice as I make my point. “Have you considered that maybe her choice in clothing has a purpose?” Rarity looks at Alice's outfit in confusion. I continue after a moment. “I'd like for you to tell me: in your opinion, what does she resemble in that outfit?”
Rarity looks over Alice's clothes for a few more seconds before responding. “She looks like one of those old Victorian era dolls. It's-”
“Exactly,” I cut her off before she can continue so I can get my point across. “That clothing makes her look like a doll.” I look at Rarity, slightly accusingly, as I continue. “Were you aware that she makes dolls? Specifically, dolls in the 'Victorian era' style.”
Rarity looks at Alice with a shocked look on her face. “A doll maker? You are a doll maker?”
“Yes,” Alice says in a - forged - tone of frustration, finally catching on to what I'm doing. “And I wear this outfit to make it easier to tell that I am, so I'd rather not wear something else.”
Rarity speaks to Alice in an apologetic tone, an apologetic expression on her face. “My apologies.”
Rainbow Dash finally comes over, giving me an impressed look. “Anyway, can we get to the reason why we're here now?”
Rarity seems a bit surprised by Rainbow Dash before she responds. “Ah, yes, what was it you needed Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash sighs, and takes a moment to introduce us to Rarity before she explains why we're here. Rarity responds enthusiastically. “Of course Alice can stay here. Perhaps I could even try designing some clothing inspired by the Victorian era.”
Alice smiles at Rarity and bows slightly. “Thank you for letting me stay here.”
Rarity looks at Alice. “You can stay free of charge for the first few days, but after that, you will have to start paying rent. I have a business to run after all!”
Alice looks at Rarity. “Rent? Um, I don't have much yen on me…”
Rarity is taken aback. “You only have foreign currency? Well, I suppose you could work in the shop full-time instead of paying for the rent… but it is getting late, we can work this out in the morning.”
Rarity leaves with Alice, presumably to lead Alice to her new room. Rainbow Dash and I return to Rainbow Dash's house, and I wordlessly go to my room, climb into bed, and say goodnight to Shanghai. Shanghai falls asleep right away, but I - for once - don't. I lay there, thinking about what's happened these past few days. I consider how much I'm enjoying Equestria and Ponyville. I realize that I'm happy here, especially now that Alice is here as well. I remember my encounter with Marisa this morning, and smile as I imagine how much excitement she'll bring. As I listen to Shanghai's quiet breathing, I also think about how I enjoy having her around despite the hassle she's been so far. I yawn, and turn onto my side, closing my eyes. I fall asleep to the calming rhythm of Shanghai's tiny breaths, a smile on my face.
End of Chapter 4
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I'm glad Marisa and Alice didn't try to attack Alex and i personal feel like you really captured their personalities! All in all, another great chapter!
8146558
Thank you very much! Unfortunately, every story needs an antagonist, and (story spoilers) said antagonist will show up in chapter 5.
8146571 True, and i think i might know who your antagonist is but you could always throw a curve ball and ave it be someone completely different. Even if you do that wont change how i'm enjoying this story.
8146692
If you want to, you could tell me who you think the antagonist is. Of course, I won't tell you whether you're right or wrong, since that would spoil the reveal.
8146710 My first thought was Seija Kijin, but now that i think about it that might be a little to obvious. i'm still looking forward to the next chapter.
8147541
As my Author's Note at the start of Chapter 4 says, Chapter 5 is already done. I'll probably wait until near the end of the week to upload it, so that I can have time to be absolutely sure that I'm happy with it.
8147561 That's not a problem, upload it when you're ready!