I've been a Project Touhou fan for a few years but i never thought I'd ever meet anyone from Gensokyo in person, let alone be sent to Equestria to help with several incidents. Now I have a difficult job ahead of me, I hope I don't mess it up
After being spirited away by the Yo-Kai of Boundaries Yukari Yakumo, I was transformed into a unique Tengu and given a somewhat daunting task. Find the residents of Gensokyo and help defend Equestria. I am Arashi, the wolf-crow Tengu, and this is going to be one wild ride. Oh and this is a Displaced story. Hope you enjoy. This story is Slice of Life/Adventure
Project Touhou belongs to Zun. Tags will change as needed. This story is Slice of Life/Adventure
Edit: After thinking about it for a while I realized why I don't want to work on this story. What I had planned was a little to daunting for me because as much as I like Touhou I mostly know the characters from Touhou Mother and that doesn't have all of them. So what I'm going to do is rewrite this into a one or two chapter story and change the main plot but there are going to be a few parts and small points I'm planning to keep. I have a few other things I'm working on at the moment but inspiration is fickle so you never know. Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy the remake.
It was the perfect kind of summer day. No clouds in the sky, a gentle breeze blowing in from the ocean. It was the kind of day where many people went to either the beach or a pool. Me? I was in my room marathoning the Project Touhou games. I was currently wearing an olive-green shirt with the image of a brown tree with the word Yggdrasil under it, and blue jeans. Currently I was on Mountain of Faith, which is the tenth main game in the Project Touhou series. I had just finished fighting the final boss, and when I stood up to stretch I heard an odd sound behind me. Turning I saw a tall woman in a pink and purple dress. She has long blond hair and two red bows tied in her hair. “Yukari? How! Why?” I gasped.
Yukari simply smiled as a tear in space opened underneath me as Yukari said in a sing song voice as I fell, “I found you.”
Being inside one of Yukari’s portals was… interesting. Everywhere I looked I saw purple and giant red eyes and even though I was falling I had no idea which way I was falling. Not to mention all the eyes that seemed to be looking at me even. Being the fearless person I was I did the only obvious thing to do, scream. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Eventually I had to stop to take a breath and when I did a hand was placed over my mouth. “I’d forgotten how fun it was to see someone’s first reaction to being in the Gaps, but this screaming is really getting annoying. I mean seriously it’s not like your falling to your death or anything.” Standing right in front of me was Yukari who was rolling her eyes.
“Huh?” I asked.
“Your mind simply said, you were falling because the Gaps are so different from the world you know and the way you entered it, you stopped falling the moment you entered. Now then we have lot of work to do.” Yukari said.
“What kind of work? And why were you looking for me?” I asked.
“I was looking for someone to help me with something and you just happened to be the first person I found to matched the criteria I was looking for.” Yukari said as she sat down on nothing.
“What kind of criteria are you talking about?” I asked curious.
“Sorry that's classified. For now I think I’ll teach you the basics of the traditional Gensokyen greeting.” Yukari said as a wide smile spread across her face.
“You don’t mean…” I said as I went pale and a feeling of dread appeared in the pit of my gut.
Yukari’s parasol appeared in her hand and pointed it at me with a large smile on her face. “Yup! We’re going to have a Danmaku battle.” Yukari said.
“NO! and not just no, but HELL NO! I already have a phobia of things flying at me, especially if they can cause me pain! This is just going to make it worse!” I said taking a few steps back.
“And now you don’t” Yukari said snapping her fingers. “Lesson one, DODGE!” With this a purple kunai, shaped energy bolt flew out of the tip of her parasol and hit be in the face sending me flying.
“YOU’RE NOT PICCOLO!” I yelled before time seemed to speed up, and before I knew what happened Yukari had finished teaching me the basics. After a moment, I asked. “What just happened?”
“Oh, I just changed your perception of time so it seems as if you sped through the training. That way we can get to the good part of this story faster, don’t you agree?” Yukari asked.
“Does this mean my theory that your power over Boundaries lets you control whatever you want was correct… I’m never going to get an answer to that question, am I?” I asked. Yukari didn’t answer me and just gave a knowing smile. I sighed before asking. “So, what do you need me to do?”
Yukari’s expression became serious. “I’m going to send you to a certain world. For now, your job is to simply find all the residents of Gensokyo that I sent there when Porky’s invasion caused Gensokyo to become unstable, but you should know that many evils will rise while you're there. Some that were meant to appear and others that aren't. I'm trusting you to not only help me, but also help those you meet.”
Hearing this rage filled me. “I'll do my best and are you telling me that the events of the fan game Touhou Mother really happened and Raimu, Marisa, Yuuka and Mima couldn’t stop him in time?” I asked barely keeping a lid on my rage.
Yukari nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“How many people did you save?” I asked.
“Less than a hundred. I estimate around seventy people were saved.” Yukari said sadly, and in an instant my rage became sorrow.
“Only seventy out of the thousands of people? What about the different realms connected to Gensokyo? What about the 'out side world'?” I asked.
“Gone.”
“That hast to be at least a few million people dead.” I said as tears began forming in my eyes as I thought about all the lives Porky ruined.
“They’re not dead, what happened to them is far worse. When Gensokyo’s fabric of reality became unstable enough they were erased from existence.” As Yukari spoke she also began to cry. “When I created Gensokyo, the thought of what would happen if Gensokyo was destroyed like this never crossed my mind. Porky made Gensokyo to much like earth. I made Gensokyo so it’s non-human residents would have a place to live when people on earth stopped believing in them. Their deaths are my fault as much as Porky’s.” When Yukari said this, she placed her head in her hands and began to weep. “I don’t even know where Ran and Chen are. I think they’re alive, but my connection to them was destroyed, when we were separated as Gensokyo was collapsing in on its self. You have to find them! They're the only family I have!”
Unsure what to I walked over to Yukari, even though there didn’t seem to be any solid ground between us, and place and arm around her. “Don’t worry Yukari-sama, I’ll do my best to find them! I promise.”
“Thank…thank you.” Yukari said as she opened another Gap and reached through, bringing her hand back I saw she had grabbed a tissue box. “Heh, this is not how I wanted this to go at all.” Yukari said as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
“Well…we all have days when we need to sit down a cry.” I said trying to comfort Yukari.
“Ture. Anyways if you’re going to do the job I require of you, you’re going to need something more…” Yukari said as she placed a finger on her chin.
“As far as I’m concerned, just teaching me Danmaku is more than enough,” I said.
Yukari suddenly snapped her fingers and said. “I’ve got it!” Before the top of my head, ears, and back began to burn. A full-length mirror appeared before me so I could see the large black feathery wings burst out of my back, ripping holes in my shirt, as a white fluffy tail did the same to my jeans. Reaching up I felt my where my ears were only to find smooth skin and instead were two wolf like ears on the top of my head. They had pitch black fur, the same color as my hair.
“I’m… I’m a Tengu, but I thought Tengu were either crow or wolf like. I’ve never heard of one with aspects of both.” I said after the burning sensation ended, “and did you have to make it burn?”
“That burning sensation was a small side effect of your DNA being altered, trust me when I say it could have be a lot worse. I don’t alter DNA often but when I do there are always a few side effects. Besides you can think of that burning as some growing pains. Hmmm since you’re no longer a human you need a new name. I got it! From now on you are Arashi.” Yukari said with a clap of her hands when she chose my new name. “So, with that out of the way it’s time for you to get to work. If you find anyone from Gensokyo just let them know I sent you and you should be juuuuust fine.” Yukari smiled before she pushed me through another Gap and I began falling again. “Oh, before I forgot you also know how to use your new wings! Have fun.” Yukari called before closing the Gap. “Hmm I can’t help but feel I forgot something” Yukari mused to herself. “Oh well It’ll come to me eventually.”
“DAMN YOU YUKARI!” I shouted before crashing into a lake and try as I might I couldn’t stop myself from sinking. My wings were waterlogged and too heavy for me to swim to the surface and my vision was beginning to fade when I felt a hand grab my arm and dragged me to the surface. Once we were in the air I began coughing.
When I was done coughing the water out of my lungs, I heard someone say, “That was close, you’re lucky I was nearby and saw you fall into the lake. What were you doing anyways?” When I looked up I saw a woman with blue hair tied into two pig tails one on each side of her head, a green hat, and a blue dress with many pouches near the hem with a key attached to black bands that kept a large and heavy looking backpack from falling off.
“Thank you Nitori. I owe you one.” I said between gasps for air.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before, so how do you know my name?” Nitori asked.
“I’m the one Yukari chose to find everyone from Gensokyo, it would be weird if I didn’t know everyone’s name.” I said with a small smile. “I’m Arashi.”
“It’s a bit weird that you do know everyone’s name but I guess it makes sense if Yukari sent you. I don’t really know her but she always did seem liked she always had some kind of plan.” Nitori said before nodding to herself. “Come on, lets head to town. You’ll need something to warm you up after that dip in the lake and I know just the place.”
“That’s going to be a bit difficult. My wings are still water logged and too heavy for me to move.” I said before frowning. “Getting use to them is going to be a giant pain.”
“Why do you say… wait you have a wolf’s ears and tail AND a crow’s wings? What kind of Tengu are you?” Nitori asked before she used her power’s over water to move most of the water that was in my wings to flow back to the lake.
“If I had to guess, one of a kind thanks to Yukari. I was just a normal human playing games based on Gensokyo not too long ago.” I said as I got to my feet.
Nitori looked annoyed at that. “So, she just turned up, opened a Gap to take you away from your home. and changed your species just so you can do a job for her?”
“That about sums it up.” I said.
“URG! First she uses her powers to steal sake and other items from people and now she is freaking kidnapped people.” Nitori fumed before motioning me to follow. “I’m going to give her a piece of my mind next time I see her!”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea but I won’t try to stop you.” I said as I walked behind her. “I’m sorry I didn’t say this before but thank you for saving me and It’s nice to meet you.”
“You’re welcome Arashi. I’m sorry this happened to you.” Nitori said.
“You don’t need to apologies Nitori.” I said as we walked into the town. “So, what’s this town called and where are we going?”
“Ponyville, personally I find the pun kinda annoying but what can you do?” Nitori said as we walked through the colorful town. “I’m taking you to the Carousel Boutique. It’s ran by a unicorn named Rarity.”
‘The world I’m in is Equestria huh? Wonder why Yukari sent everyone here.’ I thought, ‘I wonder how long it’s going to take for me to find more of Gensokyo’s residents.’
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard, “Ayayayaya. Who’s that you’re with Nitori?” when I looked up I saw a woman with a white shirt with a gold cloth around her left arm, a red octagon hat, black tie, black skirt, black socks, and red shoes with a single piece of wood in the middle so it was the only part of the shoe to contact the floor.
“Hello Aya.” Nitori said obviously annoyed to see the reporter. “This is Arashi, he’s the one Yukari chose to find everyone.”
As soon as Nitori said this Aya was in my face holding a pencil and paper. “So, you’re the one she picked? Think I can ask you a few dozen questions?”
I gave Aya an amused look before replying, “You can ask two question, not a few dozen Aya. Make them count.”
Instead of being annoyed like I thought she was going to be Aya returned my amused look, “You heard, that did you? Not surprising given your wolf ears. So here are my questions, first where did Yukari find you and second why did she pick you?”
“She found me playing games based on Gensokyo and the reason she picked me was I ‘matched the criteria’ she was looking for. Well that’s your two questions, I’ll see you later Aya.” I said before turning back to Nitori.
After we Left Aya had a smirk on her face before she took to the sky’s murmuring. “Don’t think you’re going to get off that easily Arashi, I am going to get that interview. I just need to figure out how, time to come up with a plan.”
A shiver went down my spine. “I’m going to have to be careful around Aya aren’t I?” I asked.
“Yup. You caught her interest and now she’s not going to rest until she interviews you, but your safe for now. Ah, here we are this is the Carousel Boutique.” Nitori said before walking in, “Hey Rarity it’s Nitori. I bought someone who could use your help with something!”
“Bring them into my work area Nitori, we’re almost finished on this latest project.” Was the response.
I looked at Nitori, “Any ideas who she’s working with?”
“Probably Momiji. I never expected her to have sewing as a hobby.” Nitori said with a shrug.
“First you save me, then we meet Aya and now Momiji is working with Rarity. Is there anyone else from Gensokyo here in town I should know about and where are you guy’s living anyways?” I asked crossing my arms slightly annoyed.
“Well I live with a unicorn named Twilight in the town’s library, Aya lives with one of Twilight’s friends a Pegasus named Rainbow Dash in her cloud home and there are a few others living with Twilight’s other friends. Momiji lives here with Rarity who’s a unicorn. Kasen Ibara lives with the Pegasus Fluttershy outside of town. Shizuha Aki and her sister Minoriko Aki live with an earth pony named Applejack on her farm and Daiyousei lives with an earth pony named Pinkie Pie.” Nitori said as she led me to Rarity’s work room.
As we walked into the room I said. “Well that’s seven I don’t have to worry about finding but why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“You didn’t ask if there was anyone else from Gensokyo here.” Nitori replied causing me to face palm.
“Hello Nitori, who’s this and what…OH! You looked like you’ve fallen in a lake!” a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail said as she turned to look at us. Sitting on a chair next to her was a woman with curly silver hair, white wolf ears, a red hat identical to Aya’s, a white shirt with detached sleeves and two fluffy balls on the front of her shirt. She also wore a long black skirt with red trim this is the wolf tengu Momiji.
“That’s exactly what happened after Yukari pushed me out of a Gap.” I said.
“Why would she do that?” Momiji asked without turning to look because she was focused on whatever project she and Rarity were doing.
“Because I’m the one she chose to find everyone from Gensokyo, and she’s you know, Yukari? Even though that was the first time I ever met her I should have known I was going to leave the Gap in a similar way I entered.” I said.
“Well before we continue talking, YOU need to get out of those damp clothes before you catch a cold! Here is a robe I made after I met Momiji. I hope it fits but it’s better than nothing.” Rarity said as gave me a white bath robe and pushed me towards a small changing room stall.
“Alright! You didn’t need to push. Nitori can you fill them in on how I got here?” I said as I walked into the stall. Once I was inside I realized I didn’t know how to take my shirt off without ripping it so I began searching through the new information Yukari had given me.
“Just concentrate on your wings disappearing and you’re be fine.” Yukari said from a Gap that opened right in front of me causing me to yell in surprise and stumble backwards before falling on my ass.
“GAH! Yukari?!”
“Hello Arashi, I see you’ve learned that some of the residents of Gensokyo already. Good job! Seven down at least sixty-three more to go!” Yukari replied with a smile as she leaned on the edge of the Gap.
“Yukari! I have a few things I want to talk to you about!” Nitori said as she glared at the Yo-kai of Boundaries.
“Hello Nitori, Momiji it’s nice to see you again.” Yukari replied.
“Forget the pleasantries! How dare you kidnap someone just so they can find everyone! Did you even think about everyone he left behind?!” Nitori said furious that Yukari was acting like nothing was wrong.
“Of course, I did.” Yukari said rolling her eyes. “Which is why I left a perfect duplicate of him there. This way he can help us and no one gets hurt.”
“No one… NO ONE GETS HURT?! WHAT ABOUT HIM?!” Nitori yelled pointing at me. “WHILE THERE MAYBE A DUPLICATE THERE, ARASHI IS HERE! DID YOU EVEN GIVE HIM A CHOICE?! CAN HE EVEN GO BACK NOW?!”
What Nitori said made me realize how hasty I was when I promised to help, I was so deep in thought I didn’t even hear Yukari’s reply. “Nitori.”
“HOW CAN YOU BE SO THOUGHTLESS!”
“Nitori!” I said more firmly as I got to my feet.
“WHY NOT JUST SEND…”
“NITORI!” That got everyone attention. Rarity and Momiji had decide to stay out of the argument but even they were shocked when I yelled. Even Yukari and Nitori looked surprised. Taking a deep breath, I said “I already promised I’d help and I won’t go back on that! It’s true, I didn’t think about the consequences it was still my choice, but I’m going to have to live with that, and if you were about to asked about Reimu, Marisa, Ran, or Chen then I suggest you stop because we don’t know where they are. You didn’t see Yukari break down in tears as she told me what happened! Do you even know how many people got out of Gensokyo? If not I’ll tell you. Less than a hundred, and everyone who didn’t get out is gone. Not dead. Gone. Erased. We don’t even know WHO made it out. Yes, Yukari made a mistake but then again so did I. Don’t forget that Yukari is the one who MADE Gensokyo so Yo-kai wouldn’t disappear when the people of earth stopped believing in them. How do you think she feels not that everything she worked for is gone? That almost every single person she tried to protect is now erased from existence?”
That shocked both Nitori and Momiji and all the rage in Nitori’s face disappeared the moment I finished speaking. “I… I didn’t know.” Tears started flowing from her eyes. “I… I…”
Moving quickly, I embraced Nitori in a hug. “Don’t blame yourself for bringing this up. You didn’t know. How could you? I think the only other people who know are Ran and Chen, but even though I didn’t think things through properly I still thank you Nitori. Thank you for being concerned about someone you barely know.”
“How touching! I have tears in my eyes.” Yukari said as she wiped away a single tear from her right eye. “Anyways I forgot a few things before. First are these.” With that Yukari passed me two white wrist bands with maple leaves on them. “Put them on, and no matter how you turn them the pattern will always be pointed in the same direction, so it’s easy to identify which one’s which.”
Shrugging I put them on, once they were on Yukari said. “Good now here’s a question you should be able to answer easily. What kind of weapon does Momiji use?”
“A large sword that looks a little like a scimitar, and a large white shield with a red maple leaf on it.” I replied, and as I spoke I pictured the two items in my head and when I did the two wrist bands glowed white and turned into the exact items I had just describe, with the sword in my right hand and shield in my left.
“If you’re going to do this job I’m not going to send you out there empty handed, now focus on their wrist band forms to change them back. And they’ll only turn into the sword and shield when you WANT them to so no worries there. Next are your new tengu geta shoes and tabi socks, and before you ask I’m not making it that you can wear them without falling. You’re going to have to learn that on your own. I’m not going to hold your hand the entire time.” Yukari said as she reached below her and pulled a small cup out of the Gap. While a pair wooden T-shaped shoes and white socks fell out of a gap and landed next to my feet.
“Ok first you get rid of my fear of things flying at me which I’ve had since I was a kid, next you teach me Danmaku, then you turn me into a Tengu, then you give me a sword and shield and now the traditional Tengu foot wear. Is there anything else you’re going to give me? Because if this was a video game, I’m pretty sure this would count as an over powered start.” I said after returning my new sword and shield to their wrist band form.
“Depending on the game you’re talking about, it would undoubtedly be an over powered start. But considering the job ahead of you, all of this means you have what you need to start your journey, and the geta are mostly to complete your new look as a Tengu. So, in terms of power you’re near the bottom of the list. Besides do you know how many filler chapters it would take for you to learn how to use Danmaku, getting your weapons, and learning how to use your new wings would be? Yukari asked.
“Well this all but confirms my thought that I’m in a story and you stop trying to break the fourth wall? I don’t know how much more it can take!” I said crossing my arms.
“Oh, its fine, I’m the Yo-kai of Boundaries remember? Besides the ‘author’ who’s writing all this down is merely chronicling your adventure. No more, no less.” Yukari replied as she refilled her cup from a bottle that I was sure contained sake that she pulled from a second Gap. “Now that’s everything I planned to give you to start your journey. There are a few more things I want to tell you, but they can wait until you’re more use to your new abilities. I’ll just summon you when I think you’re ready. In the meantime, I’m going to go back to trying to fix Gensokyo. Ta-ta.” With that Yukari ducked back into the Gap and disappeared.
Once Yukari left I quickly went back into the changing booth and changed into the robe. When I came out Nitori had left. “So, Arashi how do you plan to find everyone?” Momiji asked.
“I’m thinking to just take it one day at a time. maybe when I’ve gotten more use to my wings I’ll take a few trips around Equestria. I’m sure some Gensokyens will be easier to find then others. Knowing Yuuka she’s going to make a new sunflower field if she’s here, and Kanako will probably make a new shrine somewhere, but considering how Kanako and Tenshi helped Porky I’m not going to let them go without some kind of punishment.” I said before I thought of something. “Hey Momiji, can you teach me how to use my sword and shield?”
“I’ll think about it, after our Danmaku battle.” Momiji replied.
“AH CRAP! I didn’t even think about that! I’m going to have to have a Danmaku match with everyone else from Gensokyo aren’t I?” I asked.
“Most likely. I remember the first time I saw a Danmaku battle. It was both beautiful and terrifying. So how much did Yukari teach you about Danmaku?” Rarity asked.
“Just the basics.” I replied burying my face in my hands. “This is going to suck!”
“Look at it this way. Marisa had to work hard to get where she is, so if she can do it, so can you. By the way Nitori wanted me to bring you to the Sugarcube Corner so you can meet everyone.” Momiji said.
“To be fair she was raised by Mima, but thanks, Momiji. That really helps.” I said. After my clothes dried, I put them back on but decide to go bare foot since I’m sure that if I wear the geta I wouldn’t be able to go two steps without falling on my face and fallowed them out of the boutique to a house that looked like a giant ginger bread house. As we walked in I wondered why the lights were off but then I realized two things. First is that my eyes adapted to the dim light much faster than before and second is that I could see everything in the room as with the same clarity as I could when the sun had almost finished setting, so I was able to see that the place was set up for a party with balloons and streamers all over the place.
“SURPRISE!!!” At this shout, the lights turned on dozens of ponies and six women jumped out from their hiding places. As I looked around I saw the rest of the ‘mane six’. The adorkable, master of magic Twilight Sparkle. The rainbow mane, blue coated, fastest flyer of Equestria, Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie party master and possible wielder of chaos magic. Honest and nurturing Applejack, and the adorable, animal whisperer Fluttershy. Seriously I barely kept myself from pulling an Elmyra from Tiny Toons.
I also not only saw Nitori and Aya but I also met the four others from Gensokyo who live in Ponyville. Shizuha Aki the Goddess of Turning Leaves has yellow eyes, shoulder length blond hair with a simple brown hair band that has two red leaves attached to it, a long red dress and its trim was light orange with cut-outs that look like leaves. She also wore simple white socks and black shoes.
Shizuha’s sister Minoriko Aki a Goddess of the Harvest whose bare foot, has red eyes and shoulder length dark gold, a red had with a string of grapes on it, a poofy sleeved yellow blouse under a red apron with pictures of wheat near the bottom. Kasen Ibara has piercing red eyes pink hair with two white cloth buns on the sides of her head, a white shirt, with a knee length green skirt with a brown cloth with a thorny vine on it the made its way to a rose ornament just below her collar. Her right arm is completely covered in bandages and on her left wrist is a metal shackle with a broken chain.
The Greater Fairy Daiyousei has light green hair tied into a pony tail on the left side of her head with a yellow ribbon, a long blue dress with white sleeves and see through golden wings. Kasen approached saying. “You’re the one Yukari chose? Can’t say I’m impressed.”
Before I could reply, Nitori walked over and said. “You’ve only just met him Kasen, you really should get to know someone before you judge them. I made a similar mistake earlier and I’m in no rush to see someone make that same kind of mistake.”
Kasen gave Nitori a curious look before nodding and walking away. Nitori watched with a sad expression but Daiyousei placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry Nitori. I’m sure Kasen will take your advice to heart. She does tend to judge people quickly.”
“Thanks Daiyousei. I hope you’re right.” Nitori replied as Twilight joined us.
“It’s nice to meet you Arashi. I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
“Nice to meet ya Twilight, Momiji said that Nitori’s living with ya which leads me to ask. How often has her creations exploded?” I asked with a teasing grin.
“HEY! My creations don’t explode… that often.” Nitori exclaimed in mock indignation. “Besides the two of us have been working together on projects so that’s not a problem anymore.”
“Does that mean your optic camo doesn’t short circuit anymore?” I asked.
“We haven't manged to fix that yet but we’re close to figuring it out” Twilight replied.
“Well I know one thing. When you do complete it Marisa should NEVER get her hands on it. If she can sneak into the Scarlet Devil Mansion and get away with some of Patchouli’s books without it, she’ll be next to impossible to catch with it.” I said as Nitori’s face went pale.
“I never even considered that!” she gasped.
“Why don’t you make it that only people whose magical signature is programmed into it can use the camo? From what I know about her, Marisa doesn’t know anything about programming.” I suggested.
Nitori’s and Twilight’s eyes light up with excitement as the new idea. Nitori said. “Arashi you’re a genius! How did you think of that?”
I shrugged, “I’ve played video games with a similar concept. The first one that comes to mind is Metal Gear Solid Four which had almost every weapon on the planet connected to a single program so only people with the right kind of nano-machines could use them, but the program also extended to some equipment and vehicles. If you do make this kind of program, please be careful of who gets their hands on it. In the wrong hands in can become an incredibly powerful weapon of destruction.”
“Thanks for the advice Arashi. It might be tricky to implement into the camo, but we should be able to manage it to make the program rather quickly if we make it our main project.” Twilight said.
“Let’s get started first thing in the morning!” Nitori said as her eyes shined with excitement.
I looked at Daiyousei and we chuckled at Twilight’s and Nitori’s excitement. “Well I wish the two of you luck. I’m going to go meet the Aki sisters, it was nice to meet you Daiyousei.”
“Nice to meet you too Arashi.” Daiyousei replied with a friendly smile.
As I walked through the crowd I met the rest of the ‘mane six’. Rainbow wondered if I was as fast as Aya and was disappointed when I said no, but promised that she and Aya would help train me. Pinkie hoped over and welcomed me to town before handing me the best chocolate cupcake I’ve ever tasted. Much to my surprise Fluttershy came to me and was even more kind and adorable then she is in the show. When I found Shizuha and Minoriko they were talking with Applejack and Zecora.
Zecora is the first to notice my approach and much to my surprise she didn’t speak in rhyme. “Welcome Arashi. I’m Zecora, this is Applejack, and these are Shizuha and Minoriko Aki. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” As Zecora introduced them Applejack, Shizuha and Minoriko gave me a welcoming smile and small wave.
“It’s nice to meet the four of you, and if I may ask. How have the two of you been with gathering faith?” I asked.
Minoriko’s grin grew so it went from ear to ear. “We’ve been getting more faith then ever! God’s were practically unknown when we arrived so we don’t need to fight other gods over faith. Thanks to that we don’t even need shrines but they still pop up occasionally.”
“Congratulations you two!” I said.
“But people still tend to prefer to prey to Minoriko.” Shizuha complained. “Even though everyone loves seeing the leaves change, and there aren’t any other gods I still get the short end of the stick!”
I gave a reassuring smile. “At least you’re still here. We don’t even know how many people really got out of Gensokyo.”
Before Shizuha could respond Momiji tapped me on the shoulder and said. “I hope you’re ready because it’s time for out Danmaku battle.”
“I was hoping you forgot.” I said.
“Unfortunately, you’re not that lucky.” Momiji replied. “You’ll also have to do all seven in a row. As fun as this party is it’s getting late, so we’ll have to rush em.” I there was only one response suitable for this situation. “AW CRAP!”
It’s been two weeks since I came to Ponyville and so far, all i know is pain. I've practiced Danmaku with anyone willing to spend a few hours, my sword work with Momiji, and my speed/dodging skills with Aya and Rainbow, but something was bugging me. I knew the basics of their patters from the games but every time I had a Danmaku battle with someone I always got my ass handed to me on a silver platter. During my last battle with Daiyousei I barely managed to get ONE of her five barriers down. Just what was I doing wrong?
During my first week in Equestria s Momiji thought me how to walk in Geta *which was a pain as I kept falling on my face every five minutes until I got the hang of them*, before she starting to teach me how to use my sword and shield, and by ‘teach’ I mean making me, send a few Timber Wolves that would make their way onto Sweet Apple Acers daily, before sparing with her. Luckily Daiyousei is an expert in healing magic which she learned to help her friend Cirno, so no matter how banged up I got she would be there to get be back on my feet.
It’s half an hour after noon which means it’s Rainbow’s and Aya’s turn to ‘teach’. “Don’t slow down now Arashi. Your only half way done!” Aya yelled as I flew through an obstacle course with two, hundred-pound weights tied to each of my limbs while frantically trying to dodge the Danmaku bullets Aya shot at me and Rainbow's lightning bolts as trails of smoke flowing off areas on my back which Aya hit. Thank the Hakurei god that I've managed to dodge the lightning.
“Are you two trying to help me, or kill me?!” I yelled as I barely dodged another lightning bolt with it barely missing my right wing.
“Help you of course! Besides Aya gave me a similar workout and now I’m faster than ever! Now quit complaining and keep flying!” Rainbow called before sending more lightning bolts at me.
When we finished, I collapsed panting and cursing up a storm much to Aya’s and Rainbow’s unending amusement. “You know we could bring down the difficulty on your training.” Aya said wish a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“What’s the catch?” I asked as I began taking off the weights.
“All you have to do is let me interview you for next week’s paper!” Aya said happily as Rainbow snickered.
I groaned, “Of COURSE you’d pull something like this! Throw me head first into this training when I’m new to flying, then offer to ease up, but only if you can get an interview for your paper. Did you pull Momiji into this plan as well? Is that why she’s making me fight those beasts?”
“NOPE!” Rainbow exclaimed, “That’s all her, but it does pair up nicely with Aya’s plan. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Aya’s a bad influence on you Dash.” I deadpanned as I got to my feet.
“Perhaps, but life’s been more interesting since she showed up.” Rainbow shrugged.
“Now about my offer?” Aya asked as she placed the weights in a black duffle bag.
“I’ll think about it, alright?” I replied.
“I’ll be expecting your reply tomorrow! See you then!” Aya said as she and Rainbow flew of fist/hoof bumping each other.
After they left Kasen approached and handed me a water bottle. “Why do you continue to let them torment you with these ‘training’ regiments?”
“Because I made a promise to Yukari to help and the way I see it. If I can’t handle this training then how can I keep my promise? Yukari’s counting on me to find everyone from Gensokyo, and after what happened to Gensokyo I don’t want to let her or anyone down. That’s why I won’t quit. Complain? Hell yes, but quit? Never.” I explained after taking a few gulps of water.
Kasen looked calculating at me before nodding, “Thank you for enlightening me, but that is not the only reason I’ve come to see you today. Earlier a robin told me he heard rumors of Gensokyen activity at the Misty Mountain. I already told the others so you don’t need to worry about that.” As Kasen spoke she pointed at a large mounted in the distance.
I blinked in surprise for a moment before saying. “Thanks for letting me know Kasen.”
Kasen nodded before heading back to town as I took to the air. As I approached the mountain my thoughts drifted to Danmaku again. (What if I’m approaching Danmaku the wrong way? Perhaps I’ve been so focused on what I saw in the games I haven’t been able to adapt to the real thing.) When I arrived at the mountain I saw a tall woman with white hair and wearing red robes humming to herself with a pleasant smile as she took in the area. “Well, well I never expected to meet you here Lady Shinki.”
When Shinki spoke, it was in a warm and incredibly motherly kind of voice, but her melancholy smile was slightly off putting. “And I never expected to meet someone who knows of me in this land. May I know your name? And you don’t have to call me ‘Lady Shinki’. After all, Makai no longer exists.”
“If that’s what you want, I’m Arashi. Yukari’s ‘chosen hero’ for lack of a better word. Handpicked to find the residents of Gensokyo who she sent to this world when it became unstable, but I’m feeling less like a hero and more like a sack of potatoes right now.” I said as I massaged my left shoulder.
“Whys that?” Shinki replied trying her best to keep her sadness out of her voice.
“All the training Momiji and Aya are putting me through. Apparently Momiji’s idea of teaching me how to use my new sword and shield is making me fight not only her but ferocious beasts, and Aya’s making me faster by having me do an obstacle course while wearing a total of eight hundred pounds of weight while she shoots me with Danmaku bullets as our friend Rainbow Dash tries to turn me into fried Tengu with lightning. While these are effective, I still want to do a few revenge pranks when this is done. Mostly on Aya though considering one main reason she’s pushing me this hard is just so she can interview me for her newspaper.” I explained.
Shinki turned and gave me a warm smile. “Perhaps you should humor her, but in a way that she gets as little information as possible, before you do your pranks.”
“Why Shinki I shocked! I never thought you’d come up with such an idea. I love it. Perhaps I should bring some of the others in on this plan.” I said grinning myself.
“Well one does need to have hobbies.” Shinki replied.
“True.” I agreed. “What are you planning to do now?”
“Don’t know.” Shinki shrugged. “What can you tell me about this world?” After giving Shinki a quick summarization on the different races and what I knew of the different kingdoms, Shinki thought for a moment before a large smile appeared. “I think I’ll introduce myself to the princesses. It’ll be interesting to see how they react to a Goddess of Makai.”
I gave a bark of laughter as I imagined their faces. “I wish I could see it but I’ve got to get back to Ponyville, but I have one more question. Did you teach Byakuren one of your spell cards? Because when she fought Reimu and Marisa she used one that looked a lot like one of yours.”
“Yup! While she was trapped in Makai we became friends.” Shinki explained as she put her hands behind her back. “I taught her one of my attacks and she thought me one of hers.”
“Thanks for clearing that up.” I said before spreading my wings. “It was nice to meet you. I’ll be sure to keep an ear out for the Celestia’s or one of the other nobles annoyed screams.”
“I hope you do! That way it’s break my record.” Shinki said with a very mischievous glint in her eyes.
“…I’m not going to ask. See you later Shinki.” I said but before I could take to the sky again Shinki said.
“Aren’t you forgetting our Danmaku battle?”
“After all of my previous battles I’m doubt I’ll give you a good challenge but with the mood I’m in now. Bring. It. On.” I challenged as we both took to the air and hovered above the forest. Our battle started when Shinki raised a hand and hundreds of white energy spheres appeared around her before being sent flying in all directions. I weaved through the spheres, but one clipped my left wing before a second hit me in the chest and exploded sending me heralding towards the forest but I managed to pull up before I hit any trees.
“Aren’t you going to try counter-attacking?” Shinki asked.
“I haven’t mastered the trick of shooting and moving at the same time.” I replied.
Shinki nodded, “That is a rather difficult skill to learn, so let’s continue our battle. Besides this is the first Danmaku battle I’ve had in years and I’m having too much fun to stop now! Why don’t you go on the attack for a bit?”
I gave a small smile before raising a hand and firing a stream of emerald green bullets at Shinki who easily dodged. I replied with five waves of bullets. The formations weren’t pretty or very creative being just lines of bullets, but they did the trick of guiding Shinki to where a bullet hidden under the fifth wave was aimed. Right before it hit Shinki expression changed from a calm, yet focused one to a surprised one. As the smoke cleared Shinki burst out laughing. “My, my. That’s certainly an interesting strategy.”
“Thanks. On my way, here I realized I’ve been too focused on what I’ve learned from the games based on Gensokyo. From now on I’m going to treat each battle as its own thing.” I replied. “Now I just need to figure out how to attack while moving and make my own spell cards.”
“Well I can’t wait to see what… hmmm?” Shinki said before something caught her attention. When I looked I saw a plume of crimson smoke far to the north. “Looks like you’ve got more work ahead of you so we’ll continue this later. Feel free to find me if you ever need some advice.”
“Thanks, I’m sure I’ll need it, I know the others would have seen that by now but can you go to Ponyville and let the others now anyways? It’s that town in the distance.” I asked.
Shinki nodded, “I’ll be happy to let them know. Apart from Aya and Momiji who else is there?”
“Kasen, Nitori, the Aki sisters, and Daiyousei. Is it safe to assume you met them at one of the many parties that was thrown at the Hakurei Shrine?” I asked.
“Of course. They were the only times I ever left Makai. I was so happy to see Alice had found some good friends.” Shinki sighed as she remembered happier times.
“Thanks again Shinki. I’ll see you later.” With that we went our separate ways. (I can’t believe that both Shinki and Remilia turned up on… the… same… day… OH SHIT! I just remembered that since Remilia and her sister are vampires they need human blood, and some of the other Yokai from Gensokyo also eat humans… but there aren’t any humans here apart from those from Gensokyo. I’m sure no one wants to know if Ponies can be a good substitute. I need to think of a solution to this problem. One where they don’t have to kidnap anyone so they can survive. Should I try to contact Yukari? I know she’ll be able to help, but considering how bad Gensokyo’s messed up… I don’t know if I should. Argh this is so frustrating! Damn it, I don’t know what I should do.)
After my internal monolog, I managed to force my thoughts to calm down so I could try to rationally think about this problem. I felt like I knew of someone who could help but It couldn’t shake the feeling I was missing that one piece that would solve this puzzle. As I flew closer to the mist I saw it was billowing out of three chimney stacks of a large mansion with scarlet colored windows, a tall clock tower with roman numerals to represent numbers, a large garden surrounded the path that with a fountain in the middle of the path and it was all walled off with a single iron gate leading into the grounds. As I landed dismissed my wings and said. “God damn! Yukari sent the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion to Equestria! Now where is the gatekeeper?”
As soon as I finished I felt two fingers on the back of my neck as someone said. “Right here. Now what are tell me your business before I beat it out of you.”
“I’m the one Yukari chose to find everyone from Gensokyo. After I saw the mist I came to meet Remilia although I wasn’t expecting her entire mansion to be here.” I replied.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? For all I know you could be working with Porky!”
In a flash, I turned around as a strong wind quickly started and small cracks earth underneath us appeared but in my fury, I wasn’t paying attention to any of this. All I was focused on was the tall woman with long red hair that went past her waist and braided strands that were tied with small black bows one on each side of her head. a dark green with a gold star on it, aqua blue eyes, a long green dress with short white sleeves that had cuts in the sides so she could move unhindered.
“Listing and listen well Meiling. I will never, EVER work for him! All you know about him is what he’s done to Gensokyo but I promise you that what he did doesn’t even come CLOSE to the evil he’s capable of. He destroyed Gensokyo by accident but he is fully capable of doing that on purpose along with turning a young boy against into his loyal servant and making said boy try to kill his family. So, don’t you EVER think of insinuating I work for that evil basterd!” As I spoke I slowly got louder and louder in till I was yelling at her as loud as I could and with I finished the roaring wind died down almost immediately and the air stood still as I panted for breath and felt as if I was about to pass out at any moment.
During my rant Meiling first looked surprised before changing to a more neutral look even if the edged of her mouth kept twitching as if she was holding back a smile. Once it ended she said. “Sorry about thinking you worked for him. After what happened I’ve been angry with myself for not doing my job of protecting the mansion and allowing him inside, and when you suddenly showed up... By the way I’m impressed with the amount of magic you just unleashed even if you had no control over it.”
“I did what now? Is that why I’m feeling like I’m about to pass out?” I said gasping for breath.
“You unleashed a rather violent wind and if you’d look down you’d see that you also created cracks in the ground. It seems like you have an affinity with both air and earth magic, which is somewhat uncommon for Tengu but you appear to be one of a kind.” Turning around I saw a woman slightly shorter than me and Meiling. She’s wearing a blue maid outfit which even I had to admit worked well with her silver hair and red shoes. I also saw the points of three daggers jutting out from underneath the hem of her dress. “The Mistress has been expecting you. Please fallow me.” Sheesh, show a little emotion Sakuya you don’t need to do the whole ‘I’m the head maid so I need to be professional all the time’ thing.
“So, the mist was more like an invitation then her causing an incident? That’s good to know… shit. I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Arashi. It’s nice to meet the two of you and I’m sorry for yelling at you Meiling.” I said after managed I caught my breath. Sakuya just nodded at motioned for me to fallow.
“Nice to meet you too, and once again I’m sorry for thinking you worked for Porky.” Meiling called after us.
As the two of us walked through the mansion in silences I noticed many fairies in black maid outfits and small green goblins with white bandanna's around their necks and short red pants. “Hey Sakuya, how many of the mansions residents made it here?”
“All residents are accounted for, including the three-hundred fairy maids and two-hundred hobgoblin assistances.” Sakuya replied.
I blinked surprised. “Well I’m glad to know more than seventy people made it out of Gensokyo but I think that for now the hobgoblins stay within the mansion grounds. After all we don’t know how the rest of Equestria will react, but now I’m curious if the Eientei was also sent here.”
For the first time since I’ve met her Sakuya broke the image of a ‘no nonsense maid’ and laughed. “Who knows but I’m sure that if she did then you’re have to deal with Kaguya’s and Mokou’s constant battles to the death.”
I sighed as I was not looking forward to getting in the middle of one of those fights to get the two of them to stop. “Yeah, I probably will although right now I feel like I’d prefer to piss off stuck up nobles by trolling them… no wait, I already wanted to do that, but you get what I mean.”
Sakuya chuckled. “Yeah I do. I remember when Reimu, Marisa and I had to stop one of their fights. The three of us were bed ridden from our injuries for weeks, but enough about that here’s the dining room, Milady is waiting for you inside.” Sakuya said as we arrived at two large doors painted a dark red with golden vines painted along the edges. “And Arashi, thank you. I’ve been needing to laugh after what happened.”
“You’re welcome Sakuya.” I replied. When I approached, the doors opened without even the faintest whisper of sound. As I entered I looked around. The room beautiful! The walls had been painted a deep red that gave off feelings both ominous and noble, wild yet calm. While high in the walls near the ceiling large windows that were covered in red velvet drapes. In the center of the room was a long table with an ornate white table cloth with several silver candelabra placed along the table. At the head of the table behind a wooden throne is a large tapestry of silver dragons swimming in a lake and basking in the moonlight as a larger golden dragon seemed to be melting on the lakes edge.
Sitting in the throne is Remilia Scarlet, in a white dress with red trim and matching hat that has a large red bow tied on its right side, her short blue hair was neatly combed around her head to fame her young face. In her left hand is a wine glass filled with red liquid as her piercing red eyes seemed to look directly into my soul.
“You must be the one Yukari chose. Welcome. I’m sure you must know already but I am Remilia Scarlet, Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion” Remilia said before she took a small sip from her drink.
“How did…” I started.
Remilia grinned showing a single fang that gleamed in the candlelight. “Patchouli easily figured out what happened as the mansion was floating in Yukari’s Gap. When we arrived in this land yesterday, Patchouli and I went to work recreating the scarlet mist to let any other Gensokyens know where we are, but you still haven’t told me your name.”
A small blush of embarrassment spread over my face which made Remilia snicker. “I’m Arashi.”
As I said my name three fairy maids each with bright green hair placed a high backed wooden chair in front of Remilia. “Well don’t just stand there Arashi. Please sit.” After doing so Sakuya walked in pushing a white food cart, she stopped next to Remilia and began placing many plates down on the table each one covered by a metal dome. “I hope you’re hungry because it’s time for lunch.” As Sakuya removed the domes I saw mac-and-cheese, a few salads, a large bowl of soup, and various forms of cooked meat.
“Lady Patchouli and Mistress Flandre are a working on a new spell at the moment so they’ll be here shortly.” Sakuya said.
Remilia shrugged and said. “That’s fine, Patchouli and Flan can join us when their ready. Itadakimasu.” before digging into her food.
As Remilia said this I was examining the tapestry last word my head shot down to look at her. “Wait! What did you just say?!”
Surprised Remilia said. “I said that Patchouli and Flan..”
“NO! After that!” At this point both Remilia and Sakuya had confused expressions.
“Itadakimasu?” Remilia asked. At this point my mind was racing. (Itadakimasu… The anime Toriko… Gourmet Revivers… Yosaku…) “THAT’S IT!” I shouted as I jumped to my feet, “Remilia you’re a freaking genius!”
“I know…. How am I a genius again?” Remilia asked.
“Because you just gave me an idea that might solve one of the biggest problems we have right now, and if it works you and Flandre will have a near infinite amount of blood so you’ll never have to kill anyone ever again!” I said excitedly before realization hit. “But how am I going to get to the correct universe!”
“You know all you have to do is ask for help, right?” Yukari said as she appeared upside-down from a Gap appeared above the table. “In fact, I was wondering when you would get curious about visiting other universes, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly! Ah well guess I lost that bet.”
“Who did…” Sakuya started.
“I’m sure you’ll all meet him eventually, but for now. It’s time for another lesson Arashi!” Yukari said as a Gap opened underneath me.
As I fell I yelled not noticing two women entering the room behind me. “GOD DAMN IT YUKARI!” This time the feeling of falling faded quickly and I glared at Yukari. “Are you ever going to let me just walk into a Gap or are you just going to make me fall into one every time?”
“Perhaps but after today you’ll have the ability to enter the Gap whenever you want, but like everything else you’ll have to train this ability.” Yukari replied with a small grin as she reached through a Gap with her left hand and pulled out a small clay bottle which I assumed was full of saké and reaching through again, she brought out cup.
“Wait a moment. Are you really going to give me the ability to make Gaps?” I gasped shocked.
“You wouldn’t be the first I taught how to make Gaps. How do you think Ran and Chen got to town when I was asleep during the winter?” Yukari asked before taking a sip from her drink.
I just stared at her for a moment before shaking my head. “That makes sense I guess, so how am I going to do this?”
“We’ll have to do it in a roundabout way since you’re not my Shikigami. So, here’s how we’re going to do this, first bring out your sword.” Yukari said and in a small flash of light my sword was in my hand. “Good next try to feel the magic of the Gap while focusing on your sword, let it enter both you and your sword.”
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I tried to feel magic for the first time while at the same time keeping the image of my sword at the fore-front of my mind. I felt like that for what felt like hours before giving a sad sigh and opening my eyes. “I’m not feeling any magic in this place, heck I don’t even know the first thing about sensing magic. I’ve been too busy training with Momiji and Aya to learn anything about magic. I mean apart from using Danmaku the only time I used magic was when I accidently made a gust of wind and broke the earth underneath me when I got mad at Meiling.”
Yukari looked at me with a small frown. “Very well, I guess we can add basic magic to this lesson. Let’s start with finding the magic. Look deep inside you’re self, try to find something you’ve never felt before. Since you’ll connected with both the Wind and Earth elements it could feel like either a strong wind bound into a small ball or as if the only thing between you and a rockslide is a thin sheet of glass.”
Once again closing my eyes I focused at looking within myself to try to find anything that might feel like what Yukari described, but much to my surprise I felt both. They felt like two completely different powers but at the same time they were one in the same. “Once you’ve found it, try to nudge it as if you’re slowly opening a door or poking a small hole in something.”
“What is this Eragon? Because the way you’re describing this is very similar.” I asked as I cracked an eye open to look at Yukari
“Nope. This is simply how I chose to get you used to the feeling of magic. Once you’re done with the basics you’ll never have to access magic like this again. You’ll be able to use magic just by willing it to happen, but you’ll also never get the same feeling as the magic fills you so be sure to remember it.” Yukari said, before getting a faraway look in her eyes and spoke more to herself then to me. “How many millennia has it been since I last walked along the paths of Ellesméra or Tronjheim? If only I could go back but many of the universes I once knew have been ‘rebooted’ and even if they hadn’t I wouldn’t even think of going without know where my daughters are and if they’re alright.”
Upon hearing the last bit my eyes flew open. “RAN AND CHEN ARE YOUR DAUGHTERS?!” I yelled surprised.
Yukari looked surprised before realizing she had said that aloud. After calming down she looked at me with small smile on her face. “Yes, they are. I adopted Ran when she was a child after her parents were slain by humans who were tricked by a wicked Yokai who wanted to destroy the village they had been guarding for decades. As for Chen, Ran’s the one who found her and brought her home when Chen had a very high fever and she’s been with us ever since. As I said before they’re more than just Shikigami, they’re my family.”
I simply nodded as I tried to process the new information as I once again felt for my magic but one thought kept bouncing around my mind. (Well this might make the first meeting even more awkward) Once I found it I hesitantly ‘tapped’ on the power of Wind as if trying to poke a small hole in the barrier that’s preventing me from using its. As power slowly spread through me feeling as if a gentle breeze was resting within every fiber of my being as my hair rose slightly and swayed slightly from the ‘breeze’.
“Ah! I see you’ve found you’re magic! And faster than I anticipated too! I was expecting a week and a half but you found it, in six days!” Yukari said clapping her hands.
“Sometimes when I was bored I used to try to look for some kind of power within… did you say it’s already been six days?” I asked as what she said distracted me and as if someone snuffed out a candle the feeling of the ‘breeze’ vanished.
“Yup. You’ve been standing there for six days, during which I’ve spent some time talking to Shinki and I finally managed to make a little progress with Gensokyo!”
“Then how come it feels like it’s only been half an hour and how long has it been since you’ve made progress?” I asked.
“When I said it’s been ‘six days’ I mean six Gensokyen days. When in the Gap your perception of time is taken into account. Just like how you thought you were falling when you first entered a Gap. I haven’t truly left the Gap since Gensokyo was destroyed so I’m still working with Gensokyen time. As for how long Its been since I made some progress… I believe it’s been over ten thousand years, but a good portion of that time was used to find a new home for everyone.” Yukari explained. “But enough about the past, now that you know how to access your magic it’s time to learn how to use it.” Yukari snapped her fingers and a wooden target dummy wearing a large black top hat popped into existence. “Let’s start with something easy, try to knock the hat of the dummy. How you do so is up to you.”
Nodding I once again reach for the magic again, this time I chose Earth and felt as if I was covered head to toe in a thin layer of stone that moved as if it was my skin. I pointed a finger at the hat before pausing, how the heck was I going to knock the hat off of the dummy? I mean it’s not like I can just create a small pebble and shoot it at the hat. Much to my surprise at the thought of shooting pebble at the dummy small shards of stone piled off my hand and gathered at the tip of my finger, melting into each other to create a small pebble before shooting like a bullet at the dummy. As the hat fell of the dummy I began panting but nowhere near as bad as when I was outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Yukari clapper her hands, a huge grin on her face. “Six days to find your magic and a month to cast your first real spell! If I didn’t know better I’d say you’ve had magic you’re entire life! I knew I made the right choice when I found you!”
“How long… has it been… for Equestria? I kinda lost track of time.”
“For Equestria it’s only been about two and a half days, but either way you’ve made AMAZING progress!” Yukari said. “Once you get back to Remilia’s be sure to ask Patchouli to teach you more about magic, but now that we’re done with the basic, we can return to the original reason you’re here. Now the first thing you need to do is…”
*Eventually*
As I brought down my sword a Gap opened and I could see the Scarlet Devil Mansion in the distance. “Congrats on making your first Gap. You’re lucky I made it so when you go back it would be within moments of when you left. Otherwise you’d have been gone for ten years, and yes I am talking about Equestria time. How you managed to grasp the basics so easily but have so much trouble with this I have no idea.” Yukari said shaking her head. “Now then, you had somewhere you wanted to go?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah! I want to go to the Toriko Universe to see Yosaku and see if he knows of a way so no one from Gensokyo has to hunt anyone from Equestria for blood or meat.” I explained. “But I have no idea how to navigate in the Gap.”
“Just focus on where you want to go and your sword will lead you to the best spot to go there.” Yukari said.
“Thanks for everything Yukari.” I said.
“You’re welcome, and when you get back to Equestria spend some more time with the Ponies. The only one you really know at this point is Rainbow and that’s only because she’s helping Aya train you.” Yukari said with a slightly annoyed look on her face. “Don’t forget you’re going to need to help them AND look for everyone from Gensokyo.”
“I won’t forget again and, should I get to know them before or after I ask Patchouli to teach me magic?” I asked chuckling.
Yukari rolled her eyes. “Just get out of here Arashi.” Nodding I flew off sword in hand. Once I was out of sight and earshot Yukari clicked her fingers and summoned a cell phone. “Hello Ichiryu… yes it has been to long my friend, but the reason I’m calling you is….”