Brought into another land, world, or realm, it makes no difference. The scabbard shall continue the search for his Saber. The one whom gave all meaning to him. He is Sword, a tempered steel made with blood of fire, a blade that seeks to be a Hero.
He is Steel, he is Sword. A blade forged in the fires of a hell with no equal. But, he is also a Scabbard, the sheath of a weapon meant to protect. For him, he will become, no matter the cost, a Hero of Justice, to save all he can. This is the Sole Emotion he has.
However, that is second to his desire. For he seeks something greater than being a hero, he searches till the end of his days for the blade that he is meant to be with.
He searches for his lover.
He searches for his Saber.
And nothing, not in any land, world, or realm. Will stand between him, his ideals, or the one who will always wait for him. So it doesn't matter if he is brought into this new world, it doesn't matter if it is no longer humans he will be saving. As long as he can save as many as he can while on his endless search, that is all he can ask for.
Everything happened at once, after the defeat of Discord, it all seemed peace would reign. However, as the Canterlot Wedding was preparing for its event within a few days, the Crystal Empire appeared. Then, Tirek escape a few hours afterward. Suddenly, different villains began to pop up everywhere all over the nation. With the Equestrian forces, heroes, and Princesses spread out to try and keep back the villains, Canterlot City was overtaken by the Changeling forces.
All hope seemed lost, surely this was the beginning of a slow and painful death for Pony Civilization.
Until, in the midst of fires within the once proud city of Yanhoover, a strange being appeared.
A Fate/Stay Night crossover with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This Shirou Emiya is from the first of the routes, the Fate route, with few elements of the recent Unlimited Blade Works anime included. And really, don't Dislike for the pairing alone, that's just cruel.
A fire, a red flame that burns the buildings all around, people crying out, crying out to save them. Crying out prayers, crying out curses, trying to live. People trying to save others, only to die themselves. Parents trying to save their children, but they burned all the same. Heroes trying to rise up, rise up and save them, but are cut down by fire and magic, magic and fire.
The fires continue to spread, leaving charred ashes of wood, and black skinned bodies of its victims, their souls gone from the world, asking why, why all the mindless destruction? Why the death of so many? Why the taking of so many futures?
Pillars of smoke continuously fill the air, the taste of ash filling the lungs of the weeping, the burning, the dying, the living. Endless seas of red and orange flames decorating the surviving buildings, the once green grasses, and beautiful gardens, turning them into destroyed mockeries of themselves.
This city, Yanhoover, a once great and proud beacon of the Equestrian civilization, reduced to a burning husk.
The one responsible, a villain, a single villain who's sole desire is the destruction of the people whom imprisoned her.
A pyrokinectic user, the one known as, Mors Flamma, a strange name befitting the translation into death flame. A small sized female minotaur, who's history is derived in fire and bloodshed.
The people, are not of humanity, they are of pony-kind.
"How does it feel, ponies, to be entrapped in your own city? It may not be the prison bars of Tartarus! But I'm sure the fires I gathered from it are a suitable substitute!" The voice of Mors Flamma yelled through the screams of the dying, toward the city's populace.
A mare cries out, filled with emotion, tears streaming down her eyes, "Please, stop this! Please!"
The female minotaur, whose fur coat is as crimson as the flames around them, turns to the voice.
"And who are you to stop me?" Mors questions, a grin on her face, pleasure from the surrounding death coursing through her. She looked toward the mare, royal purple hue of the coat covered with gray marks of ash, mane unruly and messy, and a small horn on the head depleted of energy.
She laughs, "You failed to stop me, Twilight Sparkle! You and your friends are scattered throughout Equestria! The Elements of Harmony in the hands of your enemies! Canterlot City overtaken, Ponyville under control of Tirek, Sombra slaving the Crystal Empire! You never had a chance."
Twilight Sparkle, fighting against her body's urge to collapse onto the ground from sheer exhaustion both physically and magically, stood up defiantly against Mors Flamma. "I have not failed... I will succeed!"
Mors frowned, "You are broken, Twilight Sparkle, you have no magical energy left to defeat me!" She shouted at the unicorn that dared to still continue and fight against her.
The pyrokinectic using minotaur raised her right palm into the air, magic fueling into the empty hand as she began to conjure a fiery ball on top it. "Perish! Pony civilization is at its end!" She yells in anger, throwing the ball of flame at Twilight.
The unicorn bit her lip harshly, drips of blood oozing down her chin as she pushed her body's limits, rolling to the side and avoiding the burning ball of flame. Without any magic to use, having spent it all in trying to save Yanhoover's population from the burning fires, and lacking the physical superiority of her friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, she couldn't do anything but dodge again and again.
'Think Twilight, there has to be something!' Twilight Sparkle thought hastily, trying in some matter to come up with any sort of plan. 'There has to be something! Anything! Equestria is depending on you! Not just me, but my friends as well! If I'm not there, my friends are sure to fail as well! We can only beat them together, as a team!'
The mare dodged another bolt of fire, taking cover behind a stone statue miraculously saved from the town's destruction that continued to burn around her.
'So many screams... So much death...' Twilight thought, her eyes continuing to tear up once more, 'I can't do this... No Twilight, shape up! If you beat Mors, then you can stop the flames!'
"I got you!" Mors Flamma yelled as an enforced ball of fire blasted the statue, the sheer kinetic force behind it sending Twilight Sparkle flying through the air, before crashing harshly on the ground in the midst of the town's center tourist attraction.
Twilight's brain automatically brought the info on sight of the large circle rune-like pattern that displayed before her exhausted body. 'The rumored Yanhoover Circuit, it's been here since the town's beginning, said to be carved by Starswirl the Bearded himself as a blessing for the city's prosperity...'
Shaking her head, a few drops of blood dripping onto the Yanhoover Circuit, she got back on her hooves. The unicorn's body swaying in its attempts to balance itself, pain racking through her system.
The holder of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, looked back at Mors Flamma, "You will be beaten! For everypony in Equestria! Harmony will come back!" She felt a magical surge come from deep within, and tried to grasp it, it lit up light a bright star, channeling into her horn she held her head up high and it start to spew forth purple flares that surrounded the entirety of her form.
Mors Flamma stepped back in surprise, "Where did you suddenly get this magic from?!" She exclaimed.
Twilight Sparkle clenched her teeth, 'It's too much energy... It's hard to control- Huh?' She arupted stopped her thought as she felt all the magical energy she had being drained into the ground underneath her. 'What's going on?!'
The Yanhoover Circuit, the once thought useless symbol meant only for the purpose of tourism, began to lit up brightly with Twilight Sparkle's magical energy. Brighter... Brighter... Brighter it lit up, blinding Mors Flamma and Twilight Sparkle, the latter who began to step back away from the circle as the last of the magical energy she had gathered from within be absorbed into the runes.
Twilight used her left hoof to block the sheer amounts of light emitting from the Yanhoover Circuit, suddenly, she felt a burning pain etching itself within the hoof she used. Her eyes darted to the forehoof of it, and saw three red-hued blade symbols now embedded into her skin, each blade's tip all joining into the middle, making a perfect circle if one is to trace along all three of the handles.
She took notice the light begin to die down, and put her hoof down to see something that she had never lay eyes on before. A being that stood on two legs, completely hairless except for the top of its head which had a crimson color, wore blue jeans and white with blue shirt, and held two golden-brown eyes that stared directly at her.
Before he could open his eyes from the blindness of the light that engulfed him while he was traveling, he smelled the burning embers and ash of a fire. It was all too familiar to him. When he did gain sight, it was greeted by the image of a small injured purple pony. His eyes caught sight of three Command Spells branded on its left hoof. At first, he was confused, but the sight of its... Nor, her, eyes told him that this pony is as human as any other human.
Which is stranger that he was summoned, he haven't even died yet.
His eyes trailed over the burning fires, and his ears finally picked up on the sorrowful cries of the living, the crying of the dying, the screams of agony echoing throughout the city.
This was the closest representative he had ever seen to that very same fire fifteen years ago... The fire he had prevented from happening again nearly five years ago with Her by his side.
Shirou Emiya, victor of the Fifth Holy Grail War, clenched his fists in barely contained anger.
"Oh, and what are you?"
He turned around, placing his backside protectively in front of his new Master, her eyes had instantly told him that she was but a little girl forced into a roll she never asked for, but tried to fulfill anyway.
Shirou Emiya stared at the being in front of him, in a instant he could tell that this person was one that was cruel, delighted in the suffering around him, and no doubt the cause for the fire.
"I..." He started to say, "Am a hero."
The minotaur-like creature in front him paused, before grinning with malicious intent, "Alright then, hero, I am Mors Flamma, the pyrokinetic minotaur released of my prison! As you can see, I made quick work of this city, will you try and stop me?"
"You... You caused all of this? Why?" Shirou asked.
"Why? Because it's revenge of course! They trap me in a prison, I repay the favor by encasing them in flame!" She replied with little remorse.
"Why did they imprison you then?" He asked calmly, trying to reign in his anger from acting out wildly.
Mors answered him, "Oh, I might have caused a few mile long fires in highly populated areas a few hundred years ago or so. Nobody could stop me until Princess Celestia finally beat me."
Shirou Emiya snapped, this person, he hated these kinds of people. They take away lives with little remorse, uncaring that all lives are precious! As his duty as Hero of Justice, he had to put a stop to her!
"Enough of this talk, I'll just kill you here and finish Twilight Sparkle before continuing my vengeance!" The minotaur yelled before conjuring great fireballs in both palms and launching them at Shirou.
Like a trigger, he switched his magic circuits on, od flooding into them and the feeling of electrical currents channeling through his body as the circuits converted the od into prana, the magical energy used in all magecraft.
"Trace... On!"
A single sword projected into existence, both of his hands gripping the handle as it formed within seconds of his saying of those words. It is a common looking weapon, a hilt wrapped in red cloth and a gray tone in the blade's steel. Shirou Emiya brings it to his side, before swinging it horizontally just as the two fire balls come in front of him.
The two balls of flame are cut in two, before being absorbed into the sword as if it was a black hole solely desiring the element of fire. The gray tone of the blade takes a orange hue, before it glows brightly, small sparkles of light coming off and dissipating into the air before the sword returns to its natural state.
Suddenly, Shirou heard the voice similar to a young teen girl behind him, "H-How did you do that?"
He replied, knowing it could only be his Master, "Tân Amsugno, the Flame Absorption blade from a Welsh Swordsman. It absorbs all matter of fire into it before dispersing it as harmless light."
Funny how he found the particular sword in a museum of all things while in England, he instantly felt his inner world, as he likes to call wherever the blades are stored, copy and replicate it into it at first glance. It had been mostly damaged and unusable within the museum, but it had been copied in pristine condition.
"Not that... I meant how did you make the sword?" She said.
"Oh..." Shirou answered, feeling a bit stupid, "Later Master, I have to defeat Mors." He finished, beginning to walk forward to his opponent, determination on his face, the E-Ranked Noble Phantasm in his right hand.
"Wait! What's your name?" She said.
He paused briefly, his summoning didn't give him any information about his class, plus, there was only one person deserving the title of Saber in his mind. "Shirou Emiya, yours?"
"Twilight Sparkle..." She trailed off.
At this point, Mors Flamma got out of her stupor, "I had been careless! I will still burn you alive! Prepare to perish!"
"Pleasure to meet you, Master," It felt a little odd, yet nostalgic of his time with Her, when he address Twilight like that. "I'll defeat Mors, you go and help anyone you can!" Shirou exclaimed, his expression becoming serious.
"R-Right!" Twilight Sparkle answered, she had all sorts of questions, but they can wait. She had confidence, that with this new friend, Shirou Emiya, they could save the ponies of Yanhoover.
Reinforcing his body with prana, a trick he's learned in the past few years, he increased his speed, durablity, and strength and charged at Mors Flamma while yelling his battle cry.
"Raaaaaaaagh!" Shirou yells as he slashed forward Tân Amsugno, but his eyes trailed over the blade that came out and parried his own, in the back of his head he felt his inner world copy, record, replicate, and store the sword within himself.
Tân Amsugno cracked slightly, Shirou clenched his fist around its hilt, the Noble Phantasm weapons were always weaker than their original counterparts, and his Tracing still had imperfections despite five years of constant use. Quickly he disengaged and swung once more, only to be parried again, and again, until Tân Amsugno shattered altogether into yellow shards of prana energy which dissipated into nothingness.
Mors begins to mock saying, "Your sword has broken, you are beaten-"
With a bright flash of light, another sword formed within Shirou hands, this time it was a generic sword from the time of King Arthur's reign. Used by the soldiers of that era.
"How, I just broke your weapon!" She exclaims in shock.
"I have limitless blades," Shirou replied earnestly, "Aaaagh!"
A bright light lit up briefly as steel met steel, small sparks scattering across the ground as they engaged in swordsplay. The human hero never once giving the minotaur time to cast flame spell at any moment, always on the offensive, striking and parrying, slashing and dodging. The way Shirou moves is like that of a trained knight, yet holding a more agile and dexterous movement to it, his blows are heavy and powerful, causing sparks to go wayward about as he pushes Mors further back.
Another of Shirou's blades shatter from a powerful attack from Mors own, but summoned human steps back away from her, tracing another nameless blade into his hands. But the minotaur had managed to cast a fiery spell, and a long jet of flame bursts forward from her palms at him.
He dodged to his left, avoiding the attack, watching briefly as it destroys the previously half remains of a house. He needs to end this faster, Twilight did look exhausted when he was summoned, so she can't handle saving too many people. The quicker he finishes this, the more people that can be saved.
Discarding the blade he created previously, letting it evaporate into prana, he reached into his inner world for something better.
'Imagine it...' He began to quote in his mind, 'Something that can beat her!'
He felt his inner world shift, and the image of a sword appeared in his mind. He grasped it, letting od burn through his circuits, a small pang of pain racking his body as he channeled the prana from his magical circuits into his magecraft.
"Trace... On."
A sword, in the style befitting than of the ancient Greeks, formed in his right hand. It is a one-handed sword, quite generic looking, but it had a feeling to it.
'The blade, it has no name... But it thirsts for minotaur blood after Theseus used it to kill the minotaur of Crete, in revenge for all the children it ate as sacrifices for Athens losing a war.' Shirou thought, looking up to Mors, 'And this minotaur has killed a lot in the fires she's created. Funny, if it wasn't for Gilgamesh, I wouldn't have all these copies, I guess that bastard good for something.'
Mors Flamma shivered, "That-That blade..." She trailed off, before shaking her head. "No, you will die all the same!" She said, and launched more fireballs toward his direction, her weapon in her left hand.
Shirou charged, "The fire you created shall end today! As a Hero of Justice, I will save everyone!"
"Fool! Nobody can save everyone!" She exclaimed, firing more and more toward the charging hero.
"Doesn't mean I can't try! I will save everyone in this town from you!" He had reached melee range quicker than she anticipated. He had dodged and weaved out of the way of every single spell she mustered, fires burning all around him as he approached. He swung, she pulled up her sword.
The blade broke through it.
Blood spewed forth.
Mors Flamma crashed to the ground, headless.
Shirou Emiya looked toward the body of the minotaur, before pushing it slightly until it slid into a cart on fire, where it became a charred corpse until it was reduced to dust. He left the blade vanished from existence, where he turned and started running back toward the direction of the still burning buildings.
He had people to save, and a Master to aid, and then he will continue his search for the one he loved.
As they mass of survivors huddled up in the large room, overhead on another floor that looked over the entire stadium, a purple unicorn looked over the populace she helped save.
"Thank Celestia so many were saved." Twilight Sparkle said with a relieved expression.
A few meters to her side, sitting down on a chair, a tall but young man answered differently.
"But so many died as well, there should be more, more people that could have been saved." He said, glancing down at the direction of the crowd, his eyes trailing over a young colt that cried tears of joy as he rejoins his family. Yet on another side, a lone filly cries sorrowful for being the last survivor of her own family.
Twilight blinked toward his direction, how could this being, Shirou Emiya, care so much for a species not of his own kind. She opened her mouth to speak, "But, we should be happy that these ponies were saved from the fires."
He responded immediately, his golden-brown eyes looking into hers, "What makes their lives more important than the ones who died? Why can't everyone be saved, why should some cry for help be saved, while others who do the same burn to death?"
She couldn't answer that, Twilight did not know the answer to the questions he gave. She had always known the answers to so many questions given to her by others, yet in a single conversation, Shirou gave her pause.
"There is no logic," Shirou continued, "I don't expect you to know the answer. I've asked the question so many times and yet still can't find it."
The holder of magic stayed silent for a few minutes, watching the crowd below get treated, yet more and more ponies arrive that outnumber the available doctors and nurses.
"Shirou," Twilight began, rolling the foreign name off her tongue.
"Yes Master?" He replied.
She rose an eyebrow, "Why do you call me Master?"
Shirou looked to her in slight surprise, but then began chuckling, "Oh, the irony... Well, to answer you. I am your Servant, you summoned me here and so you are my Master. Do you see three red marks on your..." He paused for a moment, "Hoof?" Shirou finished the sentence.
Twilight raised her left hoof, spotting the three strange sword symbols engraved on it. "Yes, what are they?"
"They are Command Seals, three absolute orders that can make me, your Servant, do anything of your order. From simple chores to bending space to get me from one place to another in seconds." Shirou answered her, he was having way to much nostalgia of Rin Tohsaka explaining this all to him.
"Absolute, as in, completely absolute?!" Twilight said in shock, "I can't do that, that's against sapient rights!"
"It seems I got a good Master," Shirou said, pleased that the one who summoned him had a good set of morals.
"Just call me Twilight, all my friends do." The unicorn said.
"Alright, I like calling you by your name better anyway." The summoned, still alive, human replied. "So, what's going on? From what I heard from Mors in our fight, she was freed from her prison. Who freed her?" He questioned.
"That's the million bit question," Twilight said, rubbing her hooves against her temples, "Nopony knows, all at once every single imprisoned villain was freed just days before the Changelings attacked Canterlot. By the time the wedding began, we were spread out trying to defeat them, and so Canterlot was captured... Everything spiraled down from there."
Shirou crossed his arms as he went into deep thought, 'This Canterlot sounds a lot like Camelot, probably their capital. If multiple enemies are set lose and causing terror, then every minute I stand here could be another person who couldn't be saved! I have to do something.'
The sword user stood up, and began walking toward the door. But he was stopped by Twilight Sparkle as she asked from behind, curious to where he was heading. "Where are you going, Shirou?"
"To defeat your villains before more people get hurt." Shirou answeared.
"Alone!?" Twilight said in shock, getting off the chair and galloping toward the position in front of Shirou, "Do you even know where you are going? Don't you know how powerful they are? Sombra controls the Crystal Empire, Tirek gorges himself on Equestrian magic, the Changelings feast on our emotions, not to mention the countless others with horrible powers!"
"It doesn't mater, if I can save as many as I can, I don't mind dying." Shirou said, a small smile on his face.
"What, you can't die!" Twilight said with small hints of anger laced in her voice, "How can you be so suicidal! We may have only recently met, but that's all I need to tell you that you are my friend! And as your friend I won't let you charge in there alone and without a plan!"
Shirou attempted to speak in protest, but Twilight Sparkle beat him to it, "I don't care, I won't let you go by yourself. I'll go with you! Together we can find the rest of my friends throughout Equestria and stop the villains together."
He sighed, giving up, "Well, I see I can't change your mind. But if it gets tough, please back away, as your Servant it's my duty to protect you." Shirou stated.
'Like I'm one to talk, right, Saber?' The human thought to himself.
Twilight nodded, "Alright! I'll try to get some supplies so can we head toward the nearest town, just south of Tall Tale Mountains."
'It's very American, but combined with European influence and with the notion of everyday magic made into public. The technology level is not as advanced as Earth's, but it's only a few years behind. However their military, from what I've seen, is very medieval.' Shirou thought as he walked down the pathways, most of the civilians were elsewhere, probably having evacuated deeper into the city due to this part of town being next in what would have been the fire's hunger.
He looked back toward the direction of where Twilight was staying, "I should probably get back..." He trailed off before he heard the familiar sound of waves crashing against something. Walking toward the direction of the sound, he found himself on a stone bridge overlooking the vast ocean, it's crystal blue waters sparkling from the shining light of the sun, a gentle breeze traveling through the air and making Shirou's hair wave slightly.
He smiled, closing his eyes as he remembered his time with his beloved, "It's funny isn't it, Saber. This very bridge and ocean so similar to that time? I know you can't hear me, but it's like you are so close I could almost touch you."
"This world, its different than our own. Yet so much the same. Heh, Rin would flip on how magic is used here, and Ilya would be frantically messing with all the ponies. But I'm separated from them now, until Rin finds some way to drag me back to Earth." Shirou said, the imaginary image of a regal young looking blond girl in blue clothing smiling at him, nodding in agreement to Shirou's words.
"I got my own Master, her name is Twilight Sparkle. She's a unicorn of all things, but not a phantasm beast, think more human and mundane. She reaches to my waist, is royal purple, and asks as many questions as Ilya in the short time I've known her." He looked toward her image, the image of his Saber.
His voice was stuck in his throat. Maybe it was out of confusion over the insanity around him. No, that wasn't it. Shirou was struck speechless by the overwhelming beauty... of this girl who had appeared before his very eyes.
He turned around, the image disappearing, and began walking back toward where Twilight Sparkle resided in Yanhoover City. He will save everyone he can while continuing to try and find his ever waiting Saber.
"Shirou, this way! No, not that way, this way!"
"Sorry, Twilight, my bad!"
The Master and Servant continued down the southern road toward the town of Seaddle, where from there the plan is to restock with proper supplies and then make their way to Las Pegasus. The city named after the flying equines was said to be where Fluttershy, of all ponies, currently resided.
"So, this Shy-"
"Fluttershy," Twilight corrected Shirou.
"Fluttershy, was sent to Las Pegasus because it happened to be one of the last safe areas? If it's safe, why are we heading there and not somewhere else where we could help?" Shirou Emiya questioned, wondering the reason behind it.
"Because she's my friend, and also the bearer of Kindness." Twilight answered, continuing her walk alongside the human swordsman.
"Kindness? But everyone can exhibit kindness." Shirou replied in confusion.
"No, I meant. You see, in Equestria there are six extremely potent magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. Each piece represents a trait which is held by the bearer who represents it the most. There is Kindness, Generiousity, Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, and finally Magic, which is me."
"Let me assume that these artifacts are useless without all six together?"
Twilight nodded, "You assumed correct!"
Shirou then had to ask a simple question, "Then why did all of you part from each other?"
Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it. Her eyes darted to the ground, her expression becoming solemn.
Shirou could tell that she didn't wish to talk about it, "Sorry... You can tell me later when you feel better about it."
From then onward, the rest of their travels toward the town of Seaddle past with little to no troubles. After a day's journey on foot, they arrived at Seaddle to see it struggling with something. It had a gloomy and hopeless atmosphere, and the reasoning behind it was due to the cause of increased bandit activity due to the chaos within the Equestrian Nation, the bandits had taken over the town's food storage, leaving the civilians to starve for their own gain.
"Bandits! But, there haven't been bandits for-" Twilight was cut off.
"Haven't been and now are two different things, Twilight. With the chaos occurring, it's no surprise people would get desperate." Shirou answered. "Perhaps we can talk them out of it? We don't have to kill anyone to stop conflicts."
"I know! Let me do the talking, I'm the student of Princess Celestia, so perhaps they will believe me more." Twilight answered, and started making her way toward the direction where the ponies of Seaddle stated the bandits were located, Shirou following close behind.
Twilight Sparkle thought that perhaps her status of being the student of Princess Celestia would be helpful in preventing certain conflicts. That, and she had a nagging feeling that she would be much safer with Shirou around. The twenty two year old human traveled just shortly behind her, eyes darting to numerous places that Twilight had little clue to why he looked to in the first place.
"What's the matter, Shirou?" Twilight Sparkle asked curiously.
"I don't know, I feel like we are being watched." Shirou replied to her, his hands twitching very slightly, on edge.
The unicorn's eyes widened, and she attempted to look around, but her summoned human stopped her action by placing a hand on her head.
Shirou whispered, "Don't act suspicious, just keep walking. Look, the food storage area is straight ahead." He finished, pointing toward the direction of a warehouse surrounded by a few granary.
"How do you know so much?" Twilight whispered back.
"Five years of experience."
'Five years?' Twilight thought, 'If he's been through this for five years, just where did he come from?'
Approaching the warehouse, Twilight Sparkle knocked on the entrance of the building, it opened slowly, as if anticipating her arrival. She stepped inside, Shirou following closely behind. The room was quite dark, and she could feel a stone flooring beneath her hooves. With temptation creeping to her forethought, she lit up her horn and casts a simple lighting spell.
The room lit up from the brightness of the spell, revealing an entire group of ponies dressing in different types of brown colored cloaks and hoods.
Twilight took a step back in alarm, but then recollected herself. "I'm here to speak with your leader concerning the stolen food storages?"
The nearest bandit, an young earth pony mare, walked over to her, "He's up ahead, I shall lead you too him."
The bearer of Magic nodded, "Thank you,"
Suddenly Shirou spoke up in a whisper, "You're forced, aren't you?"
The bandit's eyes widened slightly, before turning around and beginning to walk toward the direction of which the leader is located.
Twilight looked up to Shirou with a raised eyebrow, before it dawned on her. "Forced, they're forced to be bandits? Then the leader must be another of the escaped villains..." She whispered to herself, following the mare with Shirou behind her.
"Look at the faces of the bandits, Twilight." Shirou said, catching the unicorn's attention as she glanced at the direction of the numerous bandits.
She took notice of it, identical, exactly the same, half of them were of the entire same appearance.
"They're the same... Cloning spell? No, something different, clones are advanced magic and only then they last two minutes at most." Twilight whispered to herself.
"Well, well, well, isn't it the esteemed student of Celestia herself... I've heard many rumors about you, Twilight Sparkle."
He knew from the expression upon his master's face; Shirou Emiya could tell that she had knowledge of this particular person, and of it, he could tell that it wasn't one of friendship. This was a foe, an enemy most likely that of one of the many escaped villains Twilight spoke about.
"Mirror Image..." Twilight trailed off her words.
'Mirror Image?' Shirou thought in confusion, was she referring to the villain or perhaps the correct spell of what he had used to create those identical looking bandits that surrounded them? The appearance of this stallion looked quite bland, his fur coat had a silver hue to it yet his mane held a contradicting black color, a lone horn sported on his head indicated his status as a unicorn.
"How did you escape, Mirror Image?" She said out loud, looking toward the stallion unicorn.
Mirror Image apparently is the name of the stallion in front of them, how odd, but Shirou wasn't one to question the naming policy of this foreign world. Suddenly his body twitched, muscles tensing as his eyes darted toward the direction of the bandit copies who began moving toward them in a charging matter.
This unicorn foe apparently is not talkative type, that's fine, you shouldn't talk too much in a fight.
Shirou switched on three of his magic circuits, his inner energy of Od, the living force of all humans and animals, channeled into them which absorbed the energy and began transferring it into prana at a prodigious rate.
"Trace... On!"
A nameless medieval blade formed itself into reality by Shirou's command, the hero struggling to be that of justice grasping its hilt with two hands. His actions surprised Twilight Sparkle who wanted to speak out only to silence herself by the realization that they were being attacked by Mirror Image's lackeys.
*TANG!*
Shirou parried a crude Equestrian-made blade, his eyes briefly trailed over the sword as his inner world copied and stored it for later use. He frowned as the history of the weapon came into being, the forgery of the word behind it riddled with flaws as is its use, a weapon copied numerous times incorrectly.
He may also copy the blades of others, but Shirou Emiya had pride within his swords, the use of this blade mocked swordsmanship in every way except its use as a weapon.
Shirou swung his blade across a diagonal arc, splitting the bandit into two pieces, or at least that would have happened otherwise. Upon striking a mortal wound, the bandit dispersed into harmless magical energy and dissipated into the air.
'These aren't clones, they're something else, I think the name Mirror Image is more literal in terms of magical copies of a single thing over and over.' He thought to himself, he felt a pull of magic emitting from Twilight Sparkle before briefly engulfed in light shortly after.
He and Twilight Sparkle reappeared just a few meters away from the bandit copies and Mirror Image, at first he had thought she had used a Command Spell, but discarded that when he noticed she still retained all three of them.
"What was that?" Shirou asked as he held his blade in front of him, his body positioned just a bit in front of her.
"Teleportation Spell, we were surrounded, we could've died!" She exclaimed in worry.
"Stand back Twilight, let me do the fighting. I don't want to see you hurt." Shirou said, raising his sword to prepare for the incoming horde, switching a forth circuit on to create prana in order to reinforce his body's physical attributes.
"You're my friend, Shirou! We'll defeat them together!" Twilight retorted as she prepared her own magical energy for combat.
"No! You have to deal with Mirror Image himself, defeat him and his images should vanish. You can't handle this many opponents, leave it to me." Shirou countered, "Now go!" He exclaimed.
With that, Shirou Emiya charged forward, the two-handed sword raised to his side. "Raaaaaaaaaah!" He yelled, swinging the blade down with extreme force, shattering the first image's sword in a single stroke. He quickly followed up, cutting horizontally through it before the flawed creation of Mirror Image dissipated into harmless energy. Shirou turned quickly, avoiding a weapon strike to his side, he brought the copied medieval blade soaring through the air and incapacitated the second image.
He leaped back, avoiding another attack; using the momentum of gravity of his falling through the air, the moment he landed he swung the sword right through yet another's blade, breaking it apart into shards as his weapon sliced right through it and into the enemy's entire body.
However, the recent weapon breaking caused his own to fall apart from the overuse. Quickly, Shirou traced into existence two nameless short swords within both his hands. The enemies were weak, though numerous, there was no reason to waste Noble Phantasms and prana on such opponents.
"Grgh!" Shirou grunted as he avoided three unison attacks on his person, parrying two following strikes, he kicked the image in front of him away, before swinging both blades into the other two images that were alongside the previously kicked fake clone.
His eyes caught Twilight's engagement with Mirror Image, the purple unicorn using a series of unknown magical bolts similar but not exactly like Rin's Gandr. Fast but small violet colored projectiles launching with increasing speed, impacting harshly against a mysterious barrier that looked like a large mirror-like construct. Each magical bolt creating sparks and flares of purple energy as it crashed on to the mirror shield.
Emiya stepped out of the way of an incoming blade, the human's weapon pulled back from his right to his left side, before slashing out with as much strength as he could muster. The short sword came in swing, shattering the crude blade copy and going through the image like scissors to paper, however, the moment it touched the ground, Emiya's weapon collapsed into prana remnants.
He clenched his teeth, a downside to his tracing, normal weaponry cost next to nothing but shatter easily when met with great force due to the strength he exerted when using them. However, they were not affected by the downgrading of bringing the weapons into reality from his inner world displayed in Noble Phantasms.
The Hero of Justice brought his left blade to bear, parrying attacks as he weaved himself out of the way. Once again, Shirou traced the same nameless short sword into existence within the grip of his right hand, appearing forth with a display of bright blue light and arcing electric-like effects around his palm.
'This is taking to long, how many of them are there?' Shirou thought to himself as he crossed the two swords in his hands, blocked an improvised attack, he immediately countered by pushing forward with the crossed blades and then swinging them both in unison across each other, prana fueling his body's reinforcement and of the swords he carried.
The result caused him to utterly annihilate another three images that had gotten in front of him, dispersing into energy as their forms were cut apart into pieces due to Shirou's counter attack.
Rightly so, Emiya's traced swords shattered from the excessive force. He might have spent five years training his limited abilities, but his Tracing still had flaws he had yet to correct, structuring he had yet to understand and compensate.
He took a few deep breaths, glancing around him to see half a dozen images still remained around him. His attention quickly turned to Twilight, whom seemed to have forgone the use of magical bolts, and teleported to the side to avoid a image that Mirror Image himself had just created.
'Twilight's having trouble, she's not used to combat.' Shirou thought to himself, 'I got to help you, alright, I have an idea!'
He stood up tall, and raised his hands in a readied position, he could feel the four currently activated circuits burn in his body as Od channeled through them and converted into prana. "Trace... On."
A longbow formed within Emiya's left hand, and an arrow appeared in his right. He leaped back, avoiding a sword strike from one of those fake images, and landed on top of a elevated platform. He put the arrow into his boy, pulling back the string as his breathing calmed, eyes focusing on the mirror-like barrier that disrupted Twilight's magical attacks.
He poured prana into the arrow, reinforcing it to its maximum extend. But he knew that simple reinforcing would not penetrate the barrier enough to let Twilight get an advantage, and so...
Shirou took a deep breath, before saying the words.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Instantly, ten of his magic circuits burst into life, Od flooding into them with like a painful electric current, prana being produced in waves as it poured into the arrow which began to emit a yellow light. For five years, Shirou has been looking for some sort of meaning to his inner world, strangely enough, this simple sentence seemed to feel like it defined him. It completed him, yet at the same time, it felt incomplete.
He released the arrow, it soared through air with great speed, breaking through the resistance of air pressure as it passed by the groups of images. Within mere seconds the arrow impacted against the mirror-like barrier, and shattered it into shards of magical energy, but destroying the shield that protected Mirror Image was all the arrow could accomplish as it too dispersed into harmless prana.
"What the-!" Was all Mirror Image manage to exclaim as Twilight Sparkle, even though astonished, reacted quickly to the situation. Her horn lit up with powerful magics, and a great bolt of violet color flew from her it and struck the surprised stallion.
"Gah!" The unicorn foe exclaimed as he stumbled and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
The fake clones, images, all dispersed into harmless energy as Mirror Image was defeated by the combination of Shirou Emiya and Twilight Sparkle.
Shirou let his weapons vanish from his grasp as he jumped back down and rushed toward Twilight.
"Are you hurt?" He asked in concern.
She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. "I'm... Fine... Mors was more difficult than this battle..." The unicorn said in between gasps for air.
Both of them turned their attention to the painfully groaning Mirror Image, who looked up to them in expressions of fear. Shirou knocked him out shortly after.
Twilight said, "We will bring him back to town, and let them give out judgement. They have magic inhibitors for unicorns like him." She finished, having now caught her breathing.
With that, Shirou carried Mirror Image, Twilight convinced the forced bandits to return back to their homes, they having been relieved now that they no longer had to be villainous, and made their way toward Seaddle.
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..."
Twilight Sparkle stealthy walked to the best of her ability, sneaking toward the planned place, the Void Scar, in which she would meet with Shirou Emiya after he had successfully halted the siege weapons in the changeling's control. In all honestly to herself, she had doubts that her newly acquired human 'servant' could manage to destroy siege weaponry without getting caught at all. No offense to his skills, but Shirou did not seem like one sneak around.
Then again, perhaps it was best not to underestimate him. She had many too many mistakes, so many that it ailed her heart. Perhaps one of the major mistakes was her overestimation of her own abilities and skills, thinking that she could handle someone like the pyrokinetic minotaur, Mors, by her lonesome. She needed her friends, the ones who stood beside her through thick and thin for such a long while, the ones who helped her beat both Nightmare Moon and Discord.
They were always strongest when together, and it wasn't just because that they were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, but primary the reason lied in their strength as a team, a team of friends.
The purple unicorn hid behind a tall formation of rocks, keeping her breathing silent despite her heart pumping anxiously at the slightest chance of being discovered.
'Twilight you're stupid, why didn't you just listen? Shirou will find out eventually, what will he think of me if he figures it out when we meet Fluttershy? Maybe he'll just ignore it? Perhaps I'll get lucky and he won't know? No, he'll figure it out, he's smart... Although a bit suicidal...' The bearer of Magic thought to herself.
She shook her head, recollecting her focus, 'Now's not the time, you got to concentrate on getting out of here with Shirou first!' Twilight suddenly could smell the familiar scent of ash. The unicorn took a glance to the side, looking toward the direction of the changeling encampment. Her eyes caught sight of Shirou, moving quickly, a single blade in his hand.
That blade, the sight of that single sword, froze Twilight Sparkle to the core as her mind tried desperately to wrap around on how he could possess it.
'That- That is Mors Flamma's sword!' Twilight thought, nearly saying it out loud. 'Didn't he destroy it though? The shards of it were sealed after it was found in the fires! So how did he obtain it and repair it?'
Twilight Sparkle bit her lip, 'Stop getting distracted, you can't act like a little filly at a time like this! Void Scar, Void Scar, Void Scar...' She trailed off her thought as she approached her destination.
'So these are changelings?' Shirou thought to himself as he observed one of them. They were quite identical to Twilight's physical appearance in terms of shape, however they had black chitin instead of smooth fur coats. Also, the changelings held both horn and wing appendages, like a combination of both a unicorn and pegasus turned into a insect-like creature.
He noticed that a few hovered, indicating they had flight capabilities. By the knowledge of what they were building, and having seen a few pegasus back within both Pony Cities. The siege weaponry was meet to disable enemy flying combatants, allowing air superiority to the changeling forces. It is possible that Los Pegasus' main regiment is a type of air force, and the main city will lose a huge defensive advantage should the changelings have their 'net guns'.
If Shirou was alone, he could probably trace some sort of noble phantasm that would cause a large area explosion, effectively destroying all the siege weaponry and ridding vast amounts of enemy troops. However, killing such large amounts of people were against the ideals an Hero of Justice strives for, unlike Mirror Image's copies, these were real living sentient beings. Not to mention, an explosive of that size would kill Twilight from the blast radius alone.
The siege machines are made out of wooden materials however, if he destroyed those with some sort of mass fire, not only would they have to reconstruct them, but also the fires would spread to their other resources, effectively ridding those as well and forcing the changelings to fall back for supplies. Can't have net-firing devices with no nets to speak of after all.
But, what would cause a type of fire of that much wide area spread?
He felt his inner world shift to this question, revealing in his mind a number of potential choices, there were only a few, but one in particular caught Shirou's attention.
"Trace..." He said to himself, feeling two of his twenty-seven circuits fire on, "On."
A dim flash of light erupts in his hand, a long sword forming within Shirou's hold. He could feel the drain on his circuits, he underestimated the cost of the weapon. This nameless sword, once held by Mors Flamma, had to ability to create a wide range of flames with a single stroke of its blade. Of course, normally fires like these would be ineffective against opponents because the fire would pass through them for only a very brief moment, dealing very little burn damage. The main use of its magical ability is more along the lines of demolition.
However, it appeared that this weapon drew upon the surrounding mana to use its attributes. The fact that it did that would explain why it costed him as much prana as a D-rank noble phantasm, despite it's more E-rank offensive magic.
A thought past Shirou's mind if perhaps all weapons in this world drew on mana from its surroundings, but he didn't have enough experience in this world to justify that yet.
'I can see why Rin says my mind wanders too much sometimes...' Shirou inwardly chuckled at his own expense, imagining the tsundere mage pointing a finger at him while lecturing about something. 'Let's hope my unicorn master ain't the same... Though let's face it, with my luck she'll be as troublesome as Rin.'
Shirou Emiya stood up with sword at hand, aiming it toward the general direction of the first of many siege machines. He brought it diagonally to his side, before slashing downward to his other. The magical properties of the traced weapon activating, conjuring forth a wave of reddish orange fire and lighting up the target area. This action caught the attention of all nearby changelings, whom scrambled about to drowse the flames with anything they could find. It was quite a comical sight if Shirou didn't know they were trying to invade a city.
The living Servant's active magic circuits hummed and burned within him, generating their maximum output of prana as he used the energy to keep the traced blade of Mors Flamma in existence, preventing whatever force of this realm from trying to correct and destroy the weapon.
Shirou came out of his hiding place, and rushed toward the position of where his other targets were placed. His speed was phenomenal, almost like a blur but yet still could be seen with the naked eye. Though in the future, he would get much faster with experience and development.
His feet skid across the ground briefly, dust being thrown into the air as he stopped his movement suddenly. Our Hero of Justice gripped his weapon with both hands, and then released another blast of flame, destroying entire swaths of the siege constructs.
The entire area burned as the wooden framework turned into charred remains. Black pillars of smoke rising to the air, embers climbing alongside it as the changeling forces desperately tried to halt the spreading fires, only to fail.
Shirou kept his breathing in check, he wasn't exhausted nor was he low on od, sure Mors Flamma's weapon might cost prana to keep. But in comparison to many other weapons he's projected before in the past, this was but a love tap.
Plus, it also helped that his reserves restored themselves more quickly due to the pact between himself and Twilight, that purple unicorn was a massive reservoir of mana.
Shirou's senses picked up the change of movements, the changelings now had divided themselves between trying to rid the fires and finding the culprit behind it. Well, his mission was successful, the changelings would be forced to retreat and resupply, it's now time for him to meet his master at the Void Scar.
He moved as quickly as he could, speeding through the open flames. He heard the outcry of a changeling, which were followed by screams of anger as they soon figured out he was the one responsible. Shirou's five year honed survival instincts screamed at him, allowing the swordsman to spin quickly and block a few sickly green bolts directed at him with the blunt side of the blade.
He could feel the blade be stressed, his mind quickly picking out a crucial detail.
'Ah, Mors Flamma's blade is simply a decorative tool. The sword itself is terrible, but the magical ability behind is its primary means of offense.' Shirou thought to himself, letting the weapon disperse into prana particles, and bringing forth into existence a zero point seventy-five meter long roman spatha.
The roman spatha, a more advanced sword coming around in the first century, slowly replaced it's more popular known gladius. This weapon had a longer reach, and a sharper point which later down the road, would be modified by the vikings into their own weapons. But more memorably to Shirou, was that this same weapon would be the basis in which knightly swords were to be created.
However, for the meantime, this traced construct is lighter and smaller, yet still gives that extra arms length he needs in order to preform his next action.
'Wait, are those crossbows attached to their hooves?' Shirou thought in shock, seeing a small number of changelings then arm their crossbows with arrows, and launch towards him. The human servent brought forth the roman spatha, and deflected the arrows that would have had made contact with his body, the rest of them bouncing off the ground and fueling the flames with their primitive wooden shafts.
Shirou Emiya used the extended reach to cut apart some rope holding together a large amount of spared barrels, he quickly stepped out of the way, allowing the supplies of the changelings to roll helplessly into the fires. With this in mind, he ran toward the Void Scar, smoke and wind passing by his face, he escaped the area, but with enemy forces at his heels.
He spotted Twilight, her purple fur coat quite the contrast to the light grays and tans of the rocks. She waved at him, her eyes seemingly bulging outward in shock and surprise when she saw the dozens of changelings heading his way.
"Prepare whatever spell you got!" Shirou yelled towards his master, knocking her out of her stupor as she changed her expression into one of determination and concentration.
Her small, yet powerful, unicorn horn lit up in a spectacularly display of raw, yet focused, purple hued mana.
'Rin would have a field day with her...' Shirou thought to himself, stopping himself abruptly in front of Twilight Sparkle, turning one-eighty degrees to face the opposition. 'Twenty or so of them, possibly more to come.'
He smirked, 'Saber would never be intimidated by this number, then again, when is she intimidated by anything?' Shirou thought amusingly, before his image was surrounded by a bright flash of light, then replaced by a terrain.
The young human adult scanned the area around him, then spotted the other side of the Void Scar many, many meters away.
"Whoa, Twilight, I really didn't expect you to teleport us this far..." He said in awe, "That's fantastic!" He complimented her.
The teen unicorn giggled, but her voice sounded slightly exhausted, "Thanks... But she should get moving quickly, they can fly and we can't. Thankfully, I know a certain area around here that we can hide in."
"Alright, lead the way," Shirou replied, letting the roman spatha disperse into prana remnants, which themselves dissipated into nothingness.
Twilight Sparkle and Shirou Emiya both would find a secluded, abandoned, pony-built shelter, made for the purposes of natural accidents for any tourists, it would now serve as a sanctuary for our heroes to quickly rest before making their way toward Los Pegasus.
Where Twilight Sparkle will meet and face her friend, Fluttershy.
A explosion of flame. It engulfs the entire city block. The whole part, filled with houses, stores, and city buildings, surrounded by a sea of fire. The air, thick with the pillaring smoke and ash, is like the poisonous fume of a volcanic eruption.
Screams, crying out...
Save me... Save him... Save her... Save them...
Keep walking... Just keep walking... Don't look back... Save yourself...
Help him... Help her... Help them... No...
Help... Help...
So much death.
A endless spread of orange and red...
The burning husks of the dead and dying...
Once beautiful buildings, flora, and decor turned into charred black remnants.
They reach out... Their cries echoing through the destruction...
A pour of rain... Distilling the fires... Drowning them down into small cinders and broken pieces.
A few more steps... Forward... Nothing remains... Falling... Dying...
A face.
One who found something.
A look so happy... Why... Why does He smile? Why can't... Smile like that?
Twilight's eyes opened, her body's drowsiness fading as she awakened. The purple unicorn groaned due to the discomfort of having slept in such a crude place. Both Shirou and herself had taken shelter from the changeling forces in a pony-built safe house of sorts. However it had appeared on arrival that the place lacked certain luxuries like bedding, it had few blankets in which they improvised.
However, the student of Celestia didn't have much, if any, experience sleeping on the bare floor with nothing but a thin sheet of wool between herself and solid wooden plank. To make it simple, her muscles ached.
"Good morning master," A male voice said while the sound of something pouring echoed in the background.
Twilight smiled, disregarding what she assumed to be a bad dream related to the recent incident at Yanhoover, she sat upright.
"Shirou... You know I said you don't have to call me that," Twilight replied as her eyes took notice of a small tea set sitting on the floor, one cup filled near her while the other being poured at her Servant's side.
A small smirk graced his lips, "I know," He replied simply.
A faint aura of lavender enveloped the steaming tea-cup, "How did you even find this tea set in this place?" Twilight asked as she raised it to her lips and blowing gently before taking a sip. 'Mmmh... Might not be coffee but it's the next best thing...' She thought to herself.
"I was rummaging through the place and found a faucet that still worked, as luck would have it, I also found some tea bags." Shirou began as he took a drink of his own tea before continuing. "I didn't find the rest. I just projected them, they'll disappear after a bit."
Twilight paused, 'I'm drinking store-bought tea from a magical construct?' The unicorn could barely wrap her mind around it. 'So... His Tracing abilities can do more than just bladed weaponry. How far does it extend?'
"I know what you're thinking, 'Just what else is he capable of?' you must be asking?" Shirou voiced Twilight's exact thought. "Well, not much really. Remember I said I was a third-rate magus. This is all projection, honestly, the tea set costs me more prana than a regular sword does." He answered.
"That doesn't make any sense! A sword should have far more of a magical cost than a tea set!" Twilight said.
The red-haired human shrugged, "Again, my body's speciality is swords and only swords. Trust me, even Rin gets a headache from it." He began before finishing it off, "Sure I can trace other items, but swords will always cost less."
Before Twilight could start firing questions faster than the speed of light on the nature that made Shirou Emiya's abilities, the Servant stood up, his tea empty, and looked toward the direction of the exit.
"We should get going," Shirou said. "Can't let your friend keep waiting for you!" He said happily like all would be right in the world.
It was a contagious feeling.
The unicorn couldn't help but smile in agreement, even if she had to face the consequences of meeting her friends again.
Shirou Emiya has seen quite the many mysterious in his life, both of wonder and horror, but the spectacle before him gave him a long pause in the sheer awe and impossibility that it presented. He might be a third-rate magus, but even he could understand that the sight before him ran into the realms of absurdity.
"Twilight..." His voice escaped from his lips.
"Yes?" The lavender unicorn answered him with a smile, clearly enjoying his awed expression.
"You never told me half the city was on clouds," The summoned 'servant' finished.
"Oh, and you're ponies- people don't have cloud cities?" Twilight corrected herself.
"... No," Was all Shirou could say in reply.
"Well Shirou," Twilight began, pointing a hoof toward the city's direction. "Welcome to Las Pegasus!"
It occurred to Shirou that perhaps his and Twilight's world had much more in common than anticipated, for it now clicked to him that there was an american state titled 'Las Vegas'. It had only visited the States once or twice, having mostly stayed within the European nations and its Asian counterpart. He briefly wondered if it had any similarities outside of the name, but the red-haired man wouldn't know as he never visited or had the cultural knowledge of the famous city.
Still, as both Twilight and Shirou approached and entered the confines of the Las Pegasus, he couldn't help but be in awe at how the city seemed to practically glow with activity. The previous two Equestrian cities, Yanhoover, and Seaddle, couldn't really show him the highlights of the pony civilization's golden days. Of course, that didn't mean the half-cloud city didn't suffer from any changes, there was a clear and notable military caution within its borders.
Shirou Emiya briefly noticed a large portion of the city's defenses were aerial combatants, those net siege weapons of the Changeling forces would've devastated them if the Servant hadn't burned the machines to ash.
But his heroics were unknown, and this pony-filled city quickly caught wind of his presence.
He didn't mind, he had saved them indirectly, that's all that mattered.
"Aren't you suppose to be greeting someone?" Shirou asked the purple unicorn that is his master.
This shocked Twilight Sparkle out of her stupor, "Oh! Sorry about that Shirou... Just, no pony has seen anything like you before... So I'm a bit nervous."
He could understand where she was coming from, the recent events didn't make things easier for something new to make an appearance.
"Fluttershy should be near the park," Twilight said. "She rarely flies high so we wouldn't find her on the city's clouds."
The trip to the park went without incident, though there was a certain number of guards that seemed to trail them just outside their vision. But they left them alone for the most part. Arrival at the large area of greenery yielded an unexpected result.
"All the animals are in one place..." Shirou trailed off in a confused expression, animals never did that normally.
Twilight nodded, "That's Fluttershy's work, her talent is taking care of animals."
"So she's a zoologist?" Shirou questioned as they approached the large number of small critters, his eye spotting a lone yellow form in the midst of them.
"Of sorts..." The unicorn's voice became wary of something.
With every step, Shirou began to notice a different side of Twilight, one of doubt, fear, and desperation.
It was unlike her.
"Twilight?" He said in concern for her.
She didn't answer him, for the unicorn took a few steps forward, catching Fluttershy's sight as the yellow pegasus caught her own.
"Fluttershy...?"
The petite looking pegasus got up on her hooves, her mouth trying to form words, large eyes failing to hold back tears.
"Twilight?" A small shy voice spoke.
The animals parted, making a pathway between the two ponies. Shirou himself remained quiet, this was not his conversation, it was Twilight's. Both unicorn and pegasus slowly walked up to each other before joining in the middle. Twilight and Fluttershy were at the edge of tears before they suddenly enveloped each other in heartwarming hugs.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Twilight apologized again and again. "I didn't... Tirek... He just... I'm sorry..."
"I know it's not your fault..." Fluttershy comforted her.
The unicorn sniffled, "I didn't know what to do after we all broke apart... I tried helping ponies, but it was useless... I needed you, all my friends..."
"We needed you too..." Fluttershy softly spoke, "Tirek did some awful things... But I realize that we should have stood together... I'm sorry to Twilight, for leaving you."
"N-No you should apologize... It's my fault."
Fluttershy broke the hug, looking Twilight in the eyes with an expression of happiness, "I forgive you, even if it wasn't your fault, I forgive you."
"You... Forgive me?" The words stuttered with uncertainty out of the unicorn, "I... I'm so lucky... To have friends like you."
The yellow pegasus, holder of Kindness, handed her a handkerchief, allowing Twilight to wipe her face of the tears she had shed.
"Do you feel better?" Fluttershy asked kindly.
She nodded, "Yes... I feel much better now that we're friends again." Twilight Sparkle smiled, before realizing that she wasn't alone. "Oh, Fluttershy, let me greet you to a friend I made at Yanhoover," The unicorn started pointing toward her summoned Servant. "This is Shirou, Shirou this is Fluttershy."
The red-haired human waved with a kind smile, "Hey, I'm Shirou, Shirou Emiya. It's nice to meet one of Twilight's friends."
The yellow pegasus seemed to recoil into a smaller version of herself, "Hi... I'm Fluttershy... It's nice to meet you too..." She spoke very softly, like a whisper.
Thankfully, Shirou heard her, even if he had to reinforce his own ears to do so.
This seemed to make Twilight happy, "Great, we're all friends!" She turned to Fluttershy, "How about we go get some lunch together? Catch up and chat? I think I remember a restaurant around here somewhere that I heard in a magizine."
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, "That sounds nice..." She spoke in what Shirou would now guess would be her usual tone, as Twilight seemed to be fine with the whisper-like speech.
"Wait," Shirou stated as he placed one hand in another as a idea came to him, "How about I cook something? All I need in a few ingredients."
It's been such a long while since he's cooked something, it'll be nice to do so again.
"That sounds great Shirou, you did say your cooking skills were greater than the tea making," Twilight answered. "Fluttershy, you have to try his tea, it's the best ever."
"Oh... Yes, please do. Tea sounds nice. I have a room at a hotel..." Fluttershy replied.
"Then it's settled," Shirou finished. "Now... Which way is the marketplace?"
It briefly reminded him of those cartoons where a stranger arrives and everyone closes shop due to nonsensical notions of xenophobia.
That... Actually, now that he thought briefly about it, it is exactly what happened.
However, as luck would have it, a male minotaur waved at him to come into his store.
"I noticed your predicament," the orange-coated minotaur stated as he closed the glass-panned down behind Shirou as the magus stepped inside.
"Yeah, everyone seems afraid of me," Shirou replied.
"Don't mind them, ponies have always been suspicious of things they've never seen before. Though this is a bit excessive, probably with all that's going on in their nation it has them all on edge." He said while escorting the human through the shop.
"I don't blame them," The red-haired man said. "I'm Shirou."
"Copper, now..." The minotaur began as he went around the counter, "What can I help you with?"
The human Servant's eyes browsed through the store's stock and goods, determining that is sold imported items through the various sales pitch and tags. It was a miracle in itself that he could read the words, he thanked his past self for deciding to learn the English language.
"Do you have rice?" He asked.
"Rice?" Copper questioned, "Hmm... That's a Griffon Empire import... That crop isn't grown by many farmers..." The minotaur began flipping through a notebook. "I'll go look in the back."
Shirou Emiya nodded and stood in wait.
A loud slam echoed through the building as a sack of uncooked rice lay on the countertop.
Copper patted the bag with a hand, "I don't know what you can possibly make with rice, not many recipes for it," Copper commented.
It took a considerable amount of willpower for Shirou to resist countering that sentence with a barrage of different recipes and combinations that rice could be used for, in, with, and out of. But he managed to hold it in as he then to ask a simple question.
"How much?'
Twilight Sparkle had spent the past hour enjoying the conversation and company with her friend, Fluttershy. The unicorn felt more at ease since they had made up after the unfortunate incident that still plagued her mind to this day. What could possibly separate the two friends in the first place?
"Twilight, I know you're anxious but I forgave you," Fluttershy said to the purple unicorn.
She nodded, "I'm aware..." Twilight trailed off, "It's just so hard."
Fluttershy pressed a hoof against Twilight's own; her face lifting to meet her friend's own. "We can do this together..."
"It's dangerous," The holder of magic replied. "We might not even get all together before something horrible occurs!"
"But we have to try... Twilight, I always looked up to you as a leader of our group, where is my friend and leader now?" Fluttershy questioned.
A silence occupied the room.
Then the door opened wide, causing the two ponies to looked towards its direction.
But all that came through was Shirou Emiya, Servant of Twilight Sparkle, who carried a few bags full of various cooking ingredients.
He smiled sheepishly, "Ah... My apologies, I got a little lost."
"Don't worry about it, it's okay..." Fluttershy whispered quietly.
"Shirou..." Twilight trailed off.
The red-haired human tilted his head, "You look down, Master." he said.
"Master?" Fluttershy questioned curiously.
"I'll prepare a dish," Shirou smiled with an optimistic attitude, "That I'm positive will cheer you up."
Twilight vaguely noticed her Servant move towards the petty kitchen that made up Fluttershy's hotel room. She moved only a small bit to re-seat herself for a better look at Shirou's actions. A small bit of her natural curiosity rising in interest as the human conjured forth cooking utensils that the kitchen lacked from his shopping bags.
"What's he doing?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, why is he pouring- Is that rice?" Twilight said puzzlingly.
"Yeah," Shirou absently answered.
"But rice is very plain,"
"Trust me, I know what to do."
A few minutes passed, Fluttershy and Twilight conversed about peaceful days as Shirou Emiya cooked in the background. When the magus finished, placing numerous dishes about on the table, he completed his duties by handing out silverware before sitting down himself.
"This looks..." Fluttershy began as her eyes scoured the table filled with different unidentified recipes.
"Amazing..." Twilight finished her friend's sentence, her sense of smell completely overcome by the cooked meals.
The human waved it off, an embarrassed expression on his face. "Thanks, but you haven't even tried it yet."
An lavender hue of magical energy enveloped the silverware given to Twilight, striking one of the many dishes before bringing it to the unicorn's mouth and devouring its contents. Soon after, the magic dropped, the fork falling back onto the table.
"Mmmm..." She moaned.
"Master?" Shirou questioned with a smile.
"Mmmmm!" Twilight only continued.
"Do you like it?" He questioned again.
"Mhmm!" She nodded.
Fluttershy took a bite soon after, only to find herself in the same position as Twilight Sparkle.
"Mmm..." Fluttershy moaned as the taste exploded in her mouth.
Shirou began to eat casually, taking small humor to himself. When his small petite unicorn master finally recovered, she exclaimed.
"Where did you learn to cook like this, Shirou?!" She asked in awe, stealing a few more bites after saying the sentence.
"Self-taught, friends, recipes, all the above honestly. My old man couldn't cook so I took the reigns." He answered her.
"Old man, Your grandfather?" Fluttershy questioned.
He shook his head, "No, father." The magus replied.
"Self-taught..." Twilight trailed off in disbelief, "No way..."
Shirou chuckled at his master's reaction, "Believe what you will."
Following lunch, the three began to discuss while having tea.
"Twilight, I couldn't help but be curious but why are you all separated from your companions?" The red-haired hero of Justice questioned this particular flaw.
The purple unicorn gave an anxious expression.
"I can't help you if you don't let me," Shirou said, though when has that ever stopped him from trying beforehand.
Twilight Sparkle glanced toward Fluttershy for a brief moment before sighing in resignation. She finished her tea before taking a deep breath and starting her long-winded tale.
"It was a rather hectic day in Ponyville, I dearly wanted to attend my brother's wedding but a message from Celestia stopped my friends and I from boarding the train..."
There, within the train station, six ponies and a small bipedal dragon prepared to broad the train that leads between Ponyville, their hometown, and Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle, along with her friends: Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. All of them were just about too broad, speaking with the excitement of their upcoming roles at the wedding about to take place when suddenly...
Spike covered his stomach, before burping loudly, the sound occupied by a small burst of green flames escaping his mouth as a scroll appeared within the air. Twilight Sparkle caught it with her magic, unfurling it to read out loud.
"What is it, Twi?" Pinkie Pie exciting questioned, bouncing up and down while inner planning the various of objects for the wedding's reception.
"Probably my brother finally deciding to apologize..." Twilight answered with annoyance, after all, she was invited to the wedding by a letter, not her brother, Shining Armor, in person! But the first sentence caught the unicorn off guard, it didn't display the formality of Princess Celestia or Shining Armor's usual form of address.
"Huh?" All her friends commented, merely hooves away from entering the train.
"A dangerous problem has arisen, I've discovered that Tirek had escaped when news from Appleloosa came in... All the ponies in Appleloosa had their magic stolen?!" Twilight exclaimed in alarm. Her friends begin surrounding her as they were eager to know more of the predicament, she continued, "I believe he is heading to Ponyville next and may have allies that have also escaped from Tartarus as well. I do not wish for you to be harmed if they target the train on its departure. Stay safe!"
"This... This is bad," Twilight finished as she put down the letter.
"Bad? This is astoundingly horrific!" Rarity exclaimed in response. "Many uncouth barbarians have escaped a dreadful prison such as that and now they're all coming here?"
"I say bring it on!" Rainbow Dash said, bumping her front hooves against one another while hovering with her wings above the ground. "We can take them all and still make it in time to do the wedding!"
"Now hang on a second," Applejack interrupted Rainbow Dash, "We're dealing with possibly a lot of baddies, we should prepare and make some traps to slow them down."
Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement, "Yeah! I already got a few pranks about that can be used!"
Twilight Sparkle smiled, then a face of determination appeared from her, "Alright girls... Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie, you all go set up some prank traps to slow them down. Rarity and I will try to see if we can set up some spells. Spike, I want you to begin evacuation of Ponyville to the town hall. Fluttershy, you can help Spike with that."
For the next half an hour, the heroes of Equestria prepared to engage Tirek and any other villains he had mustered up from the depths of Tartarus.
It was really all for naught.
Despite best intentions, the villains the Bearers were facing were those who had little qualms with causing suffering. Their past foes were those who delighted in causing mischief and sought to rule without bloodshed. But these new opponents were of a different league of villainous plots.
They were inside the town hall, the group of friends discussing what the next course of action would be while the opponents outside attempted to break through the fortifications that were created by them to shield the residents of Ponyville from Tirek and the dozen other enemies. The citizens of Ponyville were afraid, as they huddled up in the corners of the hall's room.
"I never expected them to be so brutal..." Fluttershy commented.
"I think it caught us all off guard," Applejack said, shaking off the disturbing feeling that tempted to invade her body.
"Darn," Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed her aching wings, "That one stallion really got a hard hit on me. But I'll be fine!" The pegasus stated.
"Do you got a plan, dear?" Rarity asked Twilight.
The purple unicorn banged her head a few times with her hooves, "Um... Hm... I might be able to do a mass teleport for all of us to Canterlot or at least part way... But it'll take way to long for me to charge the spell and the slightest provocation could start a disaster."
Bang!
"I don't know bout you guys," Spike commented on the situation, "But I don't think we have many other options."
"..." Twilight remained silent, "Alright, I'll do it." She said.
"We'll cover you!" Pinkie Pie said with an optimistic attitude.
"They won't get past us!" Dash replied.
Twilight closed her eyes, muttering in the inner magical energy within her and running a series of calculations in her brain. Everything needed to be timed right, a single mistake, a single miss in the spell formula, and everything will go completely haywire. She wasn't a Alicorn, she couldn't 'skip' steps by merely flooding the spell formula with magical energy. A talented unicorn, taught by Celestia herself, still had to run step by step in a delicate inner assembly line.
Bang!
'Focus...' Twilight thought to herself.
Bang!
'Focus...!'
Bang!
"Here they come!"
'Focus, Twilight!' She screamed to herself as her mind became enwrapped by a series of tubes spreading out from a single pipeline, already she could feel the drain from her reserves being devoured at an alarming rate by the advanced spellcraft she was conjuring.
Starting Spellcraft Formula
Accessing Required Mana
Estimating Number of Selected Targets
Building Equation Answers...
She opened an eye, a single glance at what was going on.
It was all that was needed.
A villain was swinging a blade at the neck of one of her friends.
She snapped. She had to save them!
Error! Spell Interrupted! Misfire!
"Leave her alone!" Twilight yelled, the energy diverted, the sheer mass collected at her own fired forth in a single beam, impacting against the villain stallion that was completely incinerated by the blast.
She had just killed somepony, and everypony had seen it.
Executing Teleportation.
Her vision was encased in a flash of light, her friends also being enveloped by the bright shine... But none of the other residents were taken.
She had failed.
Twilight Sparkle found herself halfway across Equestria, with none of her friends around her. She had teleported herself far away.
And she had killed somepony.
The following vomiting on the grass was an appropriate response.
"I think that's enough for now," Shirou said, concerned for Twilight's emotional wellbeing.
"You should rest..." Fluttershy said.
"Y-Yeah... You're right..." Twilight trailed off, getting up from the couch and placing the empty cup on the table. "I'll... Goodnight..." She said as she excused herself and enter the bedroom.
Shirou began picking up the tea set, "So... That's why she refuses to speak of it before..." The red-haired magus stated.
"It's not her fault either... It was Tirek and the others... Everything after Ponyville just seemed to escalate so quickly..." Fluttershy responded.
"I understand... It's happened to me before," Shirou said, remembering the times that occurred when he, Saber, Archer, and Rin were fighting in the Fifth Holy Grail War. "You should rest too, I'm sure we have a big day tomorrow."
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and she left for the beds as well. Shirou found himself on the couch, but he didn't mind.
The only thing on his mind that night was saving Twilight.
