The Equestrian Incident

by StrawberryGamer

The Boundary Between Day and Night

The concept of existence was a difficult one to grasp, as the spirit understood well. How could one claim to exist while also not having any proof of that existence? She may have at one point existed, sure, but could she remake her own existence?

Of course not. She was dead, after all. Killed by her own niece. Nieces, she reminded herself. There were two of them. They took her home, defiled it for millenia. Erased all traces she ever existed. She got the last laugh though, for while she died, she never truly stopped existing. Her children made sure of that. They remembered her, cared for her, even kept her fed. But it was never enough to bring her back. She always hung on the border of life and death, always questioning her own existence. If she'd ever be free.

Then, as if in a dream, she found hope. Someone came to her, taught her of a new land she could call her own. Far away from the everpresent gaze of those who took her hope from her. She only needed the power to reach out and touch it. She just didn't have that power. They'd taken that from her too. Her children did their best, but it was just never enough. She held out however, her faith never waivering. One day she'd get that chance.

Then... For the first time, she finally opened her eyes.

---

"I'm home!" Ran announced as she entered the familiar atmosphere of the Yakumo residence. In her arms she carried bags of groceries and other materials that she was asked to procure for Lady Yukari. She set the bags on a nearby counter, almost stepping on a toy train that had been carelessly left on the floor. With a sigh, she put the discarded toy away and went to find her master. "Lady Yukari? Are you awake?"

A groggy moan answered her question as the bedroom door opened to reveal a bedraggled youkai woman. She wore a violet nightgown and her long blonde hair, normally well-groomed, was suffering from a severe case of bedhead. "I am now. Did you do as I asked?"

Ran nodded. "Miss Kirisame is working on finding the missing variables we need to pinpoint the source of this incident. She's even recruited Miss Izayoi and Miss Knowledge to assist."

Yukari allowed herself a smile despite her fatigued state. "I can always count on you. Anything else you'd like to share?" She almost sounded expectant. Was she expecting Gensokyo to crumble in a day?

Ran took a second to determine what would be worthy of reporting. "Disturbing the trees at the incident site draws out violent spirits, as Kirisame discovered twice. Some of the kappa have been concerned about a rumbling coming from the Underground, and with our incident solvers out of the way things could become bothersome if something were to occur. Oh, and I wouldn't expect to recieve the normal newspaper for a couple days." She paused for a moment, visibly fidgeting. "Um... How are you faring?" She suddenly asked, her expression becoming concerned.

Yukari's face contorted in pain very briefly. She closed her golden eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again. "I'm fine. Keeping the Barrier up without the shrine to stabilize it is tiring, but I can manage."

"Are you sure? I ran the numbers, the energy required to keep the Great Hakurei Barrier up without the shrine's power is-"

Yukari held up a hand, silencing the kitsune. "I know. I'm in no danger, so don't worry. That's an order." Her shikigami looked ready to protest the order, but she relented. With Reimu gone the job of keeping the Barrier up fell to the gap youkai. With Ran's understanding of how it worked, the Barrier should have shown signs of collapse, even with Yukari maintaining it. That she was telling her not to worry likely meant her master knew something she didn't, so Ran decided to place her trust in Yukari.

"Very well. Do you require anything else?" Ran asked, her expression returning to neutral.

Yukari thought for a moment, then nodded. "Check up on the Moirya Shrine for me. Sanae is still new around here and hasn't quite learned her place yet. I'm sure her goddesses would hate for an incident to come along and take her away unexpectedly," she said with a wink. "Make sure to remind them of that."

---

Twilight was hesitant at first to share any details of Celestia's assignment with her friends, despite assurance from her mentor that it would be fine. Heck, Twilight herself could barely believe what she heard. Several possible scenarios ran through her head, starting relatively peaceful but quickly degrading into anxiety-spiking nightmares. Ultimately it was Spike who convinced her to put her faith in her friends, so on the train home she explained the basics of what she was told.

"Darling, are you sure about this?" Rarity asked as she finished up her explanation. "I'm not doubting you or the Princess, but..."

"I'll doubt her then," Rainbow Dash said, "or did you forget her last few 'assignments?' Those went over real well. And now we don't even have the Elements anymore, just a stupid box we can't open!"

"That's enough, Rainbow!" Applejack scolded. "Ah know we've had our fair share of struggles in the past, but we always pull through, right? Elements or no, we can handle whatever comes our way. That's why Princess Celestia trusts us."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "That's right. As long as we stay true to ourselves, we will be just fine. At least, I hope..."

Twilight gave each of her friends a sincere smile. "Thanks girls, I knew I could count on you."

"And me too, riiiight?" Spike asked, giving his guardian a nudge with his elbow.

Twilight giggled, pulling the dragon in close for a hug. "Of course, I can't imagine not having you by my side, my number one assistant." Spike beamed with pride, returning the hug.

"So what's the plan then?" Rainbow asked. "This isn't exactly one of our usual world-saving adventures, so what are we supposed to do?"

"I think I've read a story like this once," Fluttershy said, resting her head on a foreleg in thought. "A pony from a faraway land ends up in a small town. The ponies in the town think she's there for a grand quest and try to help, but..." She gave a quiet, nervous laugh. "I-I shouldn't spoil it..."

"Indeed, it sounds like a fascinating tale," Rarity agreed, "but I doubt our situation is the same. She could just be a victim of coincidence, or perhaps an exotic immigrant like Zecora. I say we try and make her feel as welcome as we possibly can. She may even decide to stay. Plus I can't pass up this chance to get a firsthoof look at Neighponese fashion!" She squealed in anticipation, earning a few eye rolls.

"Let me handle first impressions," Twilight interjected, "it's my responsibility as a princess to give our visitor a good impression, especially if she is from 'another land.' If things go well, we can have Pinkie throw her a party and continue from there." Speaking of which...

Twilight's attention shifted to the one pony in the carriage who strangely hadn't given her opinion yet. In fact, Pinkie Pie had barely spoken at all since the celebration ended. She spent the whole trip so far just staring out the window towards Ponyville. It worried Twilight. "Pinkie? You okay?"

"I wonder..." Pinkie whispered, almost too quiet for her to hear.

"Hmm? Wonder what?"

Pinkie turned her head towards her purple friend. "What kind of cake she'd like, of course."

Author's Note:

Shoutout to Returning Home, a good read if, like me, you are looking for unique experiences.

More Reimu coming soon.

Comments

[Chernoboy]

3 days and nobody commented?
...
Yeah, I don't like playing that game of bringing that up...

Anyway, color me surprised on Yukari here. Like I said, my worries is that she may potentially come off as really patronizing, but this came off as a great mix of that side of her plus being actually helpful in fanon. Before I get gapped, I guess I should finish myself with a complete review though. So I'll say that I'm starting to like how the ponies' side are turning out as well. A bit weird that we'd see a somewhat sudden transition, since the last chapter, from Lyra to the Mane 6, but I suppose they have already filled out their initial roles. All in all, still interested to see how it would turn out.

On a completely unrelated note, I haven't felt this level of cautious optimism on a story in this chapter by chapter format in a while.

[StrawberryGamer]

10940245
Yukari is tricky, but still a joy to write. Really, the challenge is balancing her power, since she's up there with Discord in the "reality is my plaything" level of power. And as for the ponies... The Mane 6 are tagged up there, though I feel I should change that a bit. Kinda comes with being a discovery writer, tags are not always set in stone. Lyra is staying tho. I got plans for her~

On a completely unrelated note, I haven't felt this level of cautious optimism on a story in this chapter by chapter format in a while.

What do you mean by this?

[Chernoboy]

10940258
Actually, she might as well be above Discord in some ways, but uh, that would involve going into the lore and even I haven't understand it all completely yet. And because in hindsight, there'll be some commotion caused by it, and I'd like to avoid that.
I don't read tags good. I kinda go by premise most times so character lists don't always immediately get my eye. But yeah, shoulda figured that out... and I do hope Lyra stays, she's pretty promising so far and I'm sensing she'll be the bridge between Reimu and Equestria, what with her established knowledge.

What I mean by that, is that I haven't exactly been reading or been interested in the stories you'd usually read here or FF.net in quite a while, so being able to get invested like this is a rather surprising turn of events for me.