The Equestrian Incident

by StrawberryGamer

The Case of the Missing Shrine

Okay, the trees themselves didn't pounce. No, it was much stranger. Something emerged from the trees and pounced on Marisa, knocking her to the ground. Claws raked against her chest, trying to dig into her skin. All she saw was a flurry of branches and sticks as she scrambled to push whatever it was off her.

Suddenly the weight was removed as whatever it was had been knocked to the side by a kick from Suika. Marisa quickly jumped to her feet before it could recover and finally got a good look at the creature. It kinda resembled a dog or wolf, but only vaguely as the whole thing was made of sticks and logs. It stared at them with ominious green eyes and bared it's wooden fangs.

Suika started to grow, intent on squishing the wolf, but Marisa held up a hand to stop her. "Hold it! This one is mine," she said. If this walking bundle of firewood was gonna ambush her, then there was no way she was gonna take it lying down. "Alright buddy, I don't know what kind of youkai you are, but you messed with the wrong magician." The wolf prepared to pounce again, but she was ready this time. With practiced speed, Marisa unleashed a magic barrage of colorful stars on the wolf. It gave no resistance, shattering into splinters instantly. "Ha! That wasn't so tough."

She glanced at Suika, who had somehow grabbed a second wolf and was hugging it until it too burst apart and collapsed into a pile of kindling. "Aww, these aren't very fun to play with," she pouted.

"You got that right. I was hoping for more of a fight," Marisa agreed, kicking the pile of wood left behind. She took a moment to check herself. Aside from some light scratches on her legs and a slight soreness from getting tackled, she was unhurt. Her sleeves and apron were slightly torn and her hat had been knocked off her head. The wolf had been unable to cause any major damage, which she was thankful for. "I'm good for another round. How about you?"

Suika gave a thumbs-up.

Marisa smiled, grabbing her hat and putting it back where it belongs. "Great. Now then, where were we?" She picked up one of the sticks left behind and pocketed it. A souvenier for her collection. The rest of the remains started to dissolve into green smoke, which absorbed itself back into a tree. The one Suika crushed did the same. Marisa made a mental note of that. More magic they did not understand? She was going to need some help figuring this mess out. "Hey Suika, I got a few errands to run. I need you to stay here and keep watch for more of those wolves. If anyone comes by looking for Reimu, tell them she's busy."

"Errands?" Suika asked.

"I need to find a way to bust in and look for clues without the strange magic in there getting in my way, yeah? Plus I need to stay ahead of the news. If Aya catches wind of this, it'll be all over Gensokyo and then we'll be swarming with youkai." She paused. "You didn't... tell anyone about this, right?"

"Only... Only Keine," Suika said, fidgeting nervously, "no one else."

"Good. She can at least keep a secret..." Marisa mounted her broom. "I'll be back as soon as I can. If anything changes, let me know." Leaving the dark thicket behind, the magician took to the air towards the lake and her next stop, the Scarlet Devil Mansion. If she was gonna find any answers, it would be there.

The gate was guarded as usual, but rather than waste time dealing with Meiling, Marisa just flew around to one of the windows and slipped inside. The halls were quiet, but this was not entirely unusual. In fact, it was to her benefit, since it meant there would be no interruptions. A grin came to her face and she took a deep breath...

"Honey, I'm hooooome!" She yelled, which echoed through the halls.

A sigh from behind her told her that her brilliant idea had worked. "Must you do this? We have a perfectly usable front door." Marisa turned around to face the head maid of the mansion, Sakuya. She held an empty platter in one hand and a pair of throwing knives in the other. She frowned upon seeing Marisa's torn clothes, but refrained from bringing them up.

The magician shrugged. "Yeah, but it's not Meiling's nap time yet, and I'm on a time crunch. I need some help with a few things. Can we talk? As equals?"

Sakuya scrutinized the girl in front of her, stowed her knives and led Marisa to a private room. "Would you like some tea at least?" She offered.

Marisa shook her head. "Like I said, I can't waste too much time. If I'm not quick, the whole of Gensokyo will know by morning." She blinked and there were two cups of tea suddenly sitting on the table. She smiled as she took one of the cups. "And that's why I came to you."

Sakuya took the other cup. "So I assume this is about Miss Hakurei? Miss Ibuki was here earlier asking about her. Is she in trouble or something?" She asked, taking a sip.

"That's just it. We don't know where she is," she prepared herself to tell Sakuya the news with a sip of tea, "not only that, the whole shrine is just gone. There's just this big bunch of trees where it used to be."

Marisa noticed for a split second that Sakuya's grip on her teacup faltered, but she quickly recovered. Even still, she looked unnerved by the news. "The Hakurei Shrine... Just gone?" A nod. "Does anyone else know about this?"

Another nod. "Aside from us and Suika, just the Yakumos and Keine as far as I'm aware. I want this kept quiet for as long as possible. If a youkai notices Reimu's absence and decides to make a mess of things, we only got me and that chick from the other shrine to deal with it right now. And you too I guess. Sometimes."

Sakuya's fingers twitched, but she stayed calm. "So why are you telling me?"

"I hate to say it, but you're the most trustworthy person I know I can tell about this. And I need your help keeping this under wraps. Aya cannot find out about this. I'm not too sure I want to go to the other shrine about this either, after what they tried to pull."

"What do you mean you 'hate to say it?'" Sakuya asked indignantly, then took a breath to calm herself. "So you want my help keeping this news from reaching the newspaper? How do you expect I do that? Kidnap the papergirl?"

Marisa shrugged. "You said it, not me."

The maid groaned, wondering why this girl always made things so difficult. "And what of any other visitors to the shrine? Youkai visit there all the time."

"I can't solve every problem, alright?!" Marisa shouted in frustration, slamming a fist on the table, "I just know there are some stupid magic trees keeping me from finding my friend and I don't want anyone getting in my way!" She took a deep breath, and gulped down the rest of her tea. There was a tense moment of silence as she regained her temper. "Ugh, sorry. I just-"

"I'll help." Sakuya said finally.

"Huh?" Marisa's eyes lit up.

"I said I'll help. I'll get Aya out of the way tonight. I'll also keep the Mistress away from the shrine." Sakuya finished her own tea and collected the cups. "That is all I can do, however. You're on your own for the rest."

Marisa resisted the urge to just get up and hug Sakuya right then and there, mostly out of fear of being stabbed. "You're the best! I really owe ya one for this."

"Yes you do," the maid responded, a sinister glint in her eyes, "and I will collect."

Undeterred by the looming threat of a favor from Sakuya, Marisa stood up. "Oh yeah, one more thing. I need to borrow your librarian."

Sakuya stumbled as she stood up, fixing Marisa with a flat stare. "I'm sorry, what?"

---

It was certainly not Lyra's brightest idea to go looking through the Everfree Forest for a strange mare. It was even less so given this day's previous events. But after hearing that explosion, the mint mare felt a new rush of resolve to find her. Celestia only knew what kind of monster could have done that.

Lyra led her friend back to where she found the mare previously. Nothing seemed disturbed here, but after a quick look around, Bon-Bon found a piece of paper pinned to a tree. It certainly stood out, a white paper with a red border. Written on the paper were symbols Bon-Bon recognized as Neighponese, but she couldn't understand it. "Hey Lyra, you went to Neighpon once, right?"

Lyra nodded, walking over to inspect the paper. "Yeah, it was a cultural exchange program for school. I learned some Neighponese as well. Don't expect me to hold a conversation, but I think I remember enough to get by. Let's see here..." The lyrist stared at the writing for several seconds, trying to decipher it. "Ah, I think I get it. The hoofwriting is super sloppy, but it's meant to be a guidepost of some kind."

"So she's leaving them to mark a path," Bon-Bon deduced.

"Excellent work, my dear assistant! Come, let us find some more to prove your theory." Lyra strode confidently into the forest, ignoring the glare from her roommate.

"Excuse me? I'm the assistant?" Bon-Bon huffed indignantly, but upon hearing Lyra's giggles she smiled and followed. Sure enough, they quickly found another paper sign. Then another. Then two more. It quickly turned into a very easy to follow path. Even the underbrush looked like it had been cleared.

"Looks like she's been busy. She must be trying to clear a path to Ponyville," Lyra said, leaning down to examine the ground. The dirt looked almost blackened, as if somepony burned the plantlife away. Was there a unicorn here too? She could only see one set of hoofprints in the dirt, so probably not. "Hey Bons, you ever heard of earth ponies using magic?" She asked.

The earth pony of the duo shook her head. "Any pony can use their own natural magic. But no, I've never heard of an earth pony using unicorn magic like this without an artifact of some kind."

Lyra was quiet for a few moments longer as they continued down the recently made path, focusing more on the ground below than the trees in front of them, until suddenly the grould transitioned from blackened dirt to clean bricks. The two had emerged into a large clearing which looked serene and bright. Severely out of place compared to the dark and ominous forest around them. A grey stone path bisected a lush green meadow. At the close end of a the path was one of those arches Lyra had seen a few times during her trip to Neighpon, though the name escaped her. At the far end was a small ornate building she recognized as a shrine. Lyra noticed a large crater in the forest off to the left, answering the question of where the explosion had come from. As for who made it, that question was still unanswered.

Lyra stepped into the clearing, marvelling at the little slice of Neighpon around them. "Bon-Bon, look at this! Isn't this incredible?" She asked in wonder, cantering around the clearing. "How did this get here? There's nothing like this anywhere in Equestria!"

Her friend was... less than enthusiastic. "That's the million bit question, isn't it? How did this get here, and why plop it down in the middle of the Everfree? It's not natural..."

But her concerns were ignored as Lyra had already approached the entrance to the shrine. "Ooh, Bonnie! Get over here!" She called excitedly. With a sigh, Bon-Bon caught up to her friend who was standing next to a box with slots on the top. Peering inside, it was empty.

"I remember visiting a shrine once. I think you're supposed to toss a coin in and bow while offering a prayer to the spirit the shrine is supposed to house," Lyra explained, "and then you get some kind of blessing from them. I think. I might be missing a step. But you know what they say, it's the thought that counts, right?" She giggled as she tossed a bit into the box and closed her eyes, giving a silent prayer.

Bon-Bon sighed and pulled out a bit of her own, following suit. Spirit, I'm sorry for my friend's behavior. If you're listening, please don't punish her too harshly. She means well, but...

Her prayer was interrupted by the door to the shrine opening. Lyra looked up as well, seeing the mare from before looking around with a glare. To her surprise, two orbs floated in the air around her, one black and white and the other red and white. "What is with all the noise out here?" Her eyes locked onto Lyra's which made the unicorn take a step back. "Oh, it's you..." She looked like she was about to chase the pair away, then her eyes drifted towards the offering box for a second and she smiled. "I see... Well whatever you are, you aren't youkai. So I guess... Welcome to the Hakurei Shrine. My name is Reimu. I'm the shrine maiden around here."

Author's Note:

Hoo boy, this chapter was fun to write. It also brought to mind a question. How will the Touhou characters fight in this fic? Do I keep to the bullet hell games? Do I adapt the fighting game spin-offs? Do I look for inspiration in fanworks like animations? Or do I just handwave it away and not explain anything? The answer is actually a bit of both option two and three, but I'll elaborate more another time when they fight something more substantial than a single Timberwolf.

Comments

[fanreader999999]

Yukari must be up to shenanigans again.

[Oreon]

tfw the only reason Reimu didn't throw them out is because they gave her some money made an offering to the shrine.

[StrawberryGamer]

10921214
Hey, when money talks, Reimu listens.

[Chernoboy]

Ayy yo, I'm only a day later than I usually am to stories I plan on keeping up with. And another solid one, clear start, clear stakes, clear end. All with another showcase that you actually do understand the characters. Well, just because you started via fanworks doesn't mean you can't adapt fast.

So anyway, I particularly love the bits from Gensokyo, and admittedly it is pretty biased. I have known Touhou since before I was even 10 and only relatively recently embraced it. But that's definitely not to say Lyra and Bon-Bon doesn't add to it. Who knew characters with little to no major roles vould be given unique personalities and knowledge that helps with smoothening out the introduction of terms and customs?

[StrawberryGamer]

10921266
Welcome to dealing with background ponies. Lyra may be my second favorite pony behind Vinyl, but she is my favorite to read. One common trait when it comes to her is that she is usually very eccentric. Often that is written as a human obsession, but I like to write her as someone who loves to travel and study strange things. Bon-Bon typically plays the straight man(mare), but she has her own quirks too.

As for the Touhou characters, I'm glad you feel I'm doing them justice. When I was looking up Marisa, she quickly became my favorite because of how much she reminded me of one of my own characters, which just made her easier to write. Other characters like Sakuya and Reimu, seem simple on the surface, but get more interesting the deeper you go. And as for Yukari... Oh, I am gonna have fun with her.

[Chernoboy]

10921274
That makes sense. Lyra, I mean. And that's a refreshing take, instead of sticking to the typical fanworks mould she's heavily associated with. Yeah, I can see the mentioned parts on Bon-Bon so that's props to you in actually making those traits clear to be seen before describing them to your readers.

Honestly, I feel like it's easier to have Marisa as your favorite Touhou character, just because of her established personality. And yeah, I can notice when something is amazingly in line with canon, especially since it's much easier to break them these days. Again, definitely true on more below the surface thing. Oh, and I wish you luck with using Yukari. She's a little hard for me to gauge, an impressive and imposing character, but she more often than not comes off as super patronizing so I hope you know how to regulate that.

[StrawberryGamer]

10921314
If there is one thing I care about the most in my writing, it's characterization. Characters should not just drive the story forward, but be fun and interesting as they do it. How I often do it is in interactions with others, which is why my stories tend to be heavy on dialogue. Consequently, I sometimes struggle with solo scenes.

[Curtis Wildcat]

10921377
It's been my personal experience that developing background characters has always been a bit of fun. 😀

[Herald of Opera]

If anyone comes by looking for Reimu, tell them she's busy.

Seeing as her home seems to have vanished, most people would assume that she is attempting to resolve whatever incident caused that and wisely leave her alone. Especially since the first few stage bosses are often entirely unrelated to the incident.

"Honey, I'm hooooome!"

I half-expected Alice. (That was mostly a fandom thing but you've admitted you don't know much about the games anyway)

"The Hakurei Shrine... Just gone?"

I forgot to mention this on the first pass (well, okay, the first pass was that comment I made without even reading the story), but the Hakurei Shrine essentially is the Barrier protecting Gensokyo from the outside world. Its disappearance should be immediately noticeable.

one of those arches Lyra had seen a few times during her trip to Neighpon, though the name escaped her

Torii. Thank you, Quantum Protocol.

Bon-Bon typically plays the straight man(mare), but she has her own quirks too.

Surely she can recognize a fellow hunter of monsters, in this case.