It was a normal day in Ponyville. The sun was bright, the birds were singing, there was a red mist... wait a second, red mist? Red mist was definitely NOT normal for Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was the first to see the mist, and went to see Twilight to see if she knew anything about it. She flew down as fast as she could towards the library, and inevitably crashed in through the window. "You know, you COULD use the door..." "Yeah, sorry about that... Anyway, there's a strange red mist enveloping all of Ponyville!" "What? Dash, go get the rest of our friends, I'll go check my books to see if there's anything on weird mists." "You can count on me, Twilight!" Dash zoomed out the broken window as fast as she could, while Twilight Sparkle began searching through all of her books to find any information on this red mist. Despite going through what seemed like a hundred books, none of them had any information on this mist. "Ugh, this is useless, there's nothing on strange red mists..." Twenty minutes later, Rainbow Dash arrived with the rest of the gang. "Hey Twi, found any information on that mist yet?" "I'm afraid none of my books have anything on it... sorry." "Ah, don't worry about it, sugarcube." Applejack comforted. "'sides, we could always go look for the source of this mist stuff." "Yeah, we could, Dash, did you see where the mist was coming from?" "Not really, I saw it come from somewhere past the Everfree forest." "Oh gee, something strange from the Everfree forest, like that hasn't been done before." Pinkie said, slightly annoyed. "Why can't those fanfic writers come up with better places to put these things, I mean..." "Pinkie Pie?" "Oh right, sorry." "Anyway, ah reckon we should start on our way before it gets dark." The six ponies began on their way through the Everfree Forest, but something seemed off about the area, even more so than usual. "Hang on, was that path always there?" Rainbow Dash pointed to rough path that they were fairly certain wasn't there on any of their other treks. "Ah don't think so, you think we should follow it?" "The less tredding through the mud, the better." Rarity said, as she started on the path. The rest of the ponies followed suit. "Uhm, girls, I think there may be, uh, something following us." The others turned to where Fluttershy was looking around. "Don't worry Fluttershy, if anythings following us, I can just give a quick one-two!" "Is that so~?"
The six ponies turned around and saw a black pegasus with blonde hair floating with her wings streched out to the sides. Applejack was the first to speak up. "Who in the hay are you?" "Well, I was a Youkai, but now I think I'm a winged horse-thing." "Ah meant a name, missy." "Oh, my name's Rumia!" Now Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Alright, Rumia, what are you doing in the Everfree forest anyway?" "Everfree forest? What's that? I was just looking for something to eat." "Like what, ah've got some apples in mah bags here..." "No thanks, I prefer meat." "Oh my..." Fluttershy whimpered, "Wh-what type of meat, Rumia?" "Human, but right now I feel like horse meat." A playful, yet hungering smile creeped up onto Rumia's face. She lunged towards Fluttershy, but was interrupted by a swift kick from Rainbow Dash. "What's the big idea, chump? We're not a snack for anypony, you got that?" "Is that so~?" 'Yeah, it is so! Now move it!" "Not unless you beat in a spellcard duel!" "No pro- wait, a what duel?" "Spellcard duel." "Hang on, that's not fair, only Twilight and Rarity can cast spells!" "Then I guess you won't be lasting to long then." Rumia began was about to start one of her spellcards, when Pinkie Pie interrupted. "OOH! TWICTHY TAIL! TWICTHY TAIL!" Shortly after, a book fell onto Rumia and took her down. "What's this? Spellcard rules: Danmaku basics?" Twilight turned her attention to the note and blank spellcards attached to the book. "Try not to die too early. Signed, Yukari? Well that explains a whole lot of nothing." Twilight looked back at Rumia, who was now out cold. "Aw, that was way too easy, I mean, we didn't even get to hear her boss theme, and..." "Pinkie Pie, your doing it again." "Oops, sorry! I think the writer's having some trouble writing me. I mean, he even had to go back and add my Pinkie sense." "Rriiight... Anyway, ah reckon we head over to that lake over there." "There's a lake here?" "Apperantly." "Well, what are we waiting for, let's get moving everypony!"
It was an average night at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Well, almost. A week ago, Flandre Scarlet finished watching the first season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on her "slightly" burnt computer, and now she couldn't get enough. Over the week she was browsing pictures and fanfics, until today... "...You want to what?" Remilia asked her younger sister. "Visit Equestria! I wanna see those ponies in person!" "Alright, but where is it, It's obviously not in Gensokyo." "It's, um..." "I doubt it's even beyond the Hakurei Border." "Well, maybe we should ask Sakuya to find out about it. Sakuya!" In an instant, Sakuya appeared before the vampire sisters. "Yes, My ladies?" "We need you to find out where Equestria is." "Equestria? Is that a world apart from ours?" "Not sure, but yeah, we think so." "Well, if it's another world, maybe Yukari might know more. I'll go pay her a visit." "No need." A voice boomed from seemingly nowhere. A purple portal with red ribbons, known as one of Yukari's "Gaps", opened up above Flandre and Yukari jumped out. "So, you wanted to know about Equestria, right?" Remilia spoke up. "Yes, my little sister wants to go there and see the ponies, as she roughly put it." Yukari chuckled. "Well, if that's what you all want, I suppose I could move the mansion there for a week." "Why a week?" "Want to be there longer? I can set my alarm clock to a month later if you want." "A week will do, Yukari." Flandre cheered. "Yay! We're going to Equestria!" Yukari began doing her thing, and soon everyone's vision began to fade and their forms changed. Soon, everyone was unconscious... well, except for Yukari. "Fufufufu. I guess I better head towards my nap now..." The now alicorn raised a hoof and opened one of her gaps. She lightly laughed as the gap closed behind her.
Remilia was the first to awaken, confused and disoriented. She looked at where her hands used to be, and instead saw red-pink hooves. "What.. WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?!" Remilia's scream woke the other newly-transformed ponies. "My lady, what's wrong?" "What's worng! I've turned into a... a..." "A Pony! YAY!" Flandre was giddy with excitement. She bounced around twice before tripping over herself. "Ouch... guess it'll take a little practice to get this whole four legs thing down." "Ok, so what am I supposed to do for a week while we're here?" "Oh, I know! You can come with to visit the ponies!" "Sure, I'll just walk outside in the middle of the day. Last I checked, hooves aren't good for holding things!" "My lady, I could hold your parasol... with my mouth I guess." "No, that won't do... Sakuya." "Yes?" "Prepare the scarlet mist." "Yes, my lady."
Twilight was busy reading the book that clonked Rumia on the head while they were making their way to the lake. "Okay, it says here that spellcard duels, a.k.a. Danmaku, are played by trying to hit the opponent with projectiles that form beautiful, intense patterns." "Well, I'm sure I could make some delightful patterns for us all. Pass the book over here, Twilight." "Sure, Rarity." Twilight levitated the book over to Rarity, who stopped and began skimming through the book. "Ugh, we have to hurry and find out what's causing that red mist!" "Hold on, Rainbow Dash, we might need some of these spellcards incase somepony like that Rumia ruffian comes after us. Fluttershy, can you come over here please, I want to start with your cards first." "Oh, that's okay, you can somepony else go first..." "In that case, do me first!" "Slow down there, Dash, I already have an idea for Fluttershy anyway. You can go after, if it's that important to you." "Fine, I guess I'll go around the lake then." "Wait!" Twilight interrupted before Dash could take off. "Now what!" "Not all of us can fly, so we need to find a way to get across the lake." "Okay, you can worry about that, and I'll go check out the lake, see ya!" And with that, Rainbow Dash bolted off to the lake.
The lake was chilly and rather empty, and Dash was getting bored fast. She was just about to turn around and head back when she saw a blue pegasus floating in the middle of the lake. Dash cautiously approached, incase this pony was crazy like Rumia was. "Hey there, what are you doing all-" "AHA! ANOTHER IDIOT WHO THINKS THEY CAN BEAT THE STRONGEST!" "THe Strongest?" "Yes! Eye, Cirno, am the Strongest! "The strongest at what, exactly?" "Everything! For Eye am-" "The strongest, yeah yeah, I got that. Geez, saying the same thing over and over makes you sound like an idiot." Cirno's face grew sour fast. "EYE AM NOT AN IDIOT!" "Woah, hey, take it easy!" "CIRNO SMASH PUNY PONY!" Rainbow Dash immediately turned tail and flew back to where Twilight and the others were as fast as she could, with a now very angry Cirno chasing her, firing ice bullets everywhere.
"And.... Finished. There you go, Fluttershy." Rarity had just finished making Fluttershy's spellcard. "Oh my, it's so pretty, but, if it's not too much trouble, how do I use it?" "Well, according to the book, it says to use it, you must hold it up and say the card's name out loud." "Oh dear... I don't think I could say it that loud, especially with everypony watching me." "Don't worry, sugarcube, Ah'm sure you do fine." "OOH! OOH! I hear the boss music! I hear the boss music!" "Boss music? Pinkie Pie, what are you talking about?" "You know when going through a game, and then you get to the boss, and then the awesome music plays? Well, it's kinda like that except the music is less evil sounding and more upbeat and I think the song's called 'Beloved Tomboyish Girl', but that's a silly name for a boss music, but then again Rum-" "Pinkie Pie, I think we get it." "GANG WAY! CRAZY PONY CHASING ME!" Rainbow Dash flew right past Pinkie and Twilight, and Cirno followed closely. "Hold it right there! Who are you?" Cirno stopped and faced Twilight. "Why, Eye am Cirno, the strongest! And Eye'm trying to beat that rainbow idiot for calling me an idiot!" "I never called you an idiot, I just said you sounded like an idiot!" "SHUT UP, IDIOT!" Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, your the only one of us with a spellcard right now, you're the only one who can stop that crazy pony!" "Oh, I couldn't. Really, I'm not brave enough to even face her." "But you're the only one of us who can!" "Oh, a-alright, I'll t-try." Fluttershy tried to summon up all of her courage to face down the crazy pegasus. "Hey y-you, stop chasing my friend!" "Oh, do you think you can beat the strongest?" "Eep!" "Eye'll cryofreeze you all together! Icicle Fall: Easy!" Cirno launched several pieces of ice that seemed to cover everywhere. Everywhere but right in front of her. Where Fluttershy was. "C'mon, Fluttershy, use your spellcard!" "A-alright... uhm... K-Kindness Sign: B-Butterfly Barrage!" Fluttershy's spellcard lit up and a crazy amount of multi-coloured butterfly-shaped bullets flew out in divine, flowery patterns. Cirno was too close to the center of the attack and was overwhelmed by bullets, quickly collapsing onto the ground. "But... Eye'm the Strongest..." Cirno managed to mutter before falling unconscious. "You did it Fluttershy! That was amazing!" "Oh... it was nothing really... the card did all the work..." "Hate to cut the celebration short," Dash interuppted, "but we still need to get all of us over the lake." Cirno suddenly popped back up. "Eye can help with that! You beat the strongest, so now Eye'll help you!" "Oh... th-thank you, Cirno..." Cirno began freezing a path across the lake. "Ah guess she's not a bad pony after all." The group of ponies began crossing the lake. It ended up taking not as long as everyone had thought.
The six ponies finished crossing the lake and waved goodbye to Cirno, who flew back to the center of the lake. In the distance was a red mansion that appeared to be releasing the red mist. "Well, it looks like we're getting close to the root fo this problem." "Ya'll think anypony lives in there?" "For sure, I mean, somepony has to be making this mist in the first place." "Ok, Rainbow Dash, but why would they need it at all? What does the mist even do?" "I don't know, I just say it darkening the skies, that's all." The mansion loomed in the distance, and it was going to be a while before they go there. It was going to be a long trip.
Meanwhile, at the mansion gates, a green earth pony with long red hair was waking up from one of her naps. Except two things were different. One was that she wasn't woken up by a knife to the head, as she normally would be. Second was... "Well, time to water the garden and- and I have hooves. Ok, this is probably a dream. No wait, why would I dream I'm a pony... maybe I've taken one too many knives from Sakuya over the years." She was about to shrug it off and water the flowers, when she saw in the distance a group of ponies coming towards the mansion. "Well, dream or no dream, I gotta guard the mansion gates, or my name isn't Hong Meiling!" With a powerful, yet somewhat silly battlecry, she charged forward towards the potential intruders.
Twilight and her friends were getting pretty close to the mansion now, although Rarity was having some difficulties thinking of more spellcards. Then suddenly they heard something strange bellow through the air. "JAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everyone froze and stood ready, except for Pinkie who nearly burst out laughing. "Pinkie, something just roared or growled and your laughing at it?" "Well, YEAH, of course, it's a silly battlecry. JAAOOOO! Hahaha!" "Did you say battlecry?" "Sheesh, after this, I have GOT to show you-" Pinkie was cut off as a red earth pony known sometimes as China jumped in. "Aha! Intruders! Go home, there's nothing here for you!" "Sorry, whoever you are, but need to stop the red mist from... well, we're not sure." "We're doing the scarlet mist again? I thought Reimu came and- wait... are we still in Gensokyo?" "Where?" "Ah ok, we're not. Either way, I can't let you past." China took an offensive stance and was ready to repel the invaders. "Looks like we're gonna have to fight. Rarity, ya'll got anymore spell cards ready?" "I'm afraid not, Applejack, these cards are harder than I first thought." "Oh don't worry, looks like this is gonna be settled Hisoutensoku style." "What are you-" Before Rainbow Dash could finish, she found herself getting kicked away by China. "Nothing personal, just doing my job." China fired a few rainbow bullets that kept the other five at bay. Eventaully, Applejack dashed through the bullets and bucked Meiling in the face. Pinkie, who had somehow obtained a microphone, began commentating on the sidelines. "Hello, Fillies and Gentlecolts, right now we have a Unthinkable Natural Law battle right here between Applejack and China!" "MY NAME'S NOT CHINA!" "Oh, sorry, Applejack vs Hong Meiling." "Better." The battle between Meiling and Applejack resumed, both of them trading blows. "Uh, Pinkie, two things. One, how did you know that pony's name?" "Easy, I just looked at name that appeared when she showed up." "Name that- Nevermind. Two, how did you know this wouldn't be a spellcard duel." "Also easy, like easy modo easy. China..." "MEILING!" "Right, Meiling is better at martial arts than Danmaku." "And how did you know that?" "Yeah, after we finish this, I REALLY have to show you-" Pinkie was cut off again, this time by Applejack knocking Meiling down. "Alright folks, and now the score is 1 point for Applejack, and no points for Meiling." Pinkie already lost her first train of thought, and was instantly focused on the fight again. Meiling picked herself up. "Well, you're better than I thought." "Heh, not so tough without ya'll spellcards, are yah?" "Don't think you've won yet!" Meiling dashed and kicked Applejack in the legs, causing her to tumble. Before Applejack could get back up, Meiling blasted her with a wave of energy, sending her skyward. Applejack recovered in midair and charged towards Meiling with a powerful kick. Just before she got in range, Meiling pulled out a spellcard. "Attack Sign: Roc Fist!" Meiling threw a powerful upwards punch, right into Applejack, sending her back into the air, only this time, she didn't recover soon enough and landed down hard. "Ooooh, and it's 1 point for Meiling now, the next knockout will win this match!" Applejack eventually picked herself up, though she was still reeling from that last attack. "Now hold up here, aren't we not allowed to use spellcards for this?" Meiling just blinked. "We're not? Every other time it was allowed." "Really, girls, after this I REALLY REALLY have to show you..." Pinkie waited to be cut off again. "Oh, no more cut off, phew. Anyway I have GOT to show you girls about Touhou after this." "Now that's fine and dandy, sugarcube, but right now Ah have to beat this pony or we'll never get past." "Okie Dokie Loki! Final Round! FIGHT!" Pinkie rung a bell and Meiling and Applejack went back at it. After a few attacks, Meiling felt she needed to end it now, or she might lose. "Time to end this, Ultimate Color: Mad-" "Oh no you don't!" Applejack gave one last powerful kick right Meiling's face and sent her flying. Meiling fell down hard, and couldn't move much. "Argh... forgive me, mistress." "Well now, the way's cleared, so I reckon we should head into that mansion." Twilight and the rest of the group nodded and proceeded inside.
The inside of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, aside from very big and opulent, was rather dark. Up the grand staircase, they saw where red mist pouring out through the cracks of the double door. "Alright, let's charge in there and stop this mess!" Rainbow Dash started towards the source, but was yanked back by Applejack. "Hold up, sugarcube, we don't know what's behind that door." "Yes, and we still only have one spellcard. I say we hold out until I can make us some more." "But that'll take all day!" Twilight pointed over towards a open door on the left. "Not if we get some more information." Through the door, Twilight and the gang could see several rows of books. Rainbow groaned. "Of course. The first thing she heads for is the library." "Hold on, Rainbow Dash, this could be just what we need. Maybe one or two of those books will help me make more spellcards." "Ugh, Fine."
The library was much bigger than the six ponies first thought. Rows of bookshelves could be seen throughout the room. The group slowly skimmed through the library until they came upon a row entitled "Spellbooks". "Well, that wasn't too difficult. Twilight, dear, could you help me grab some of these books?" Twilight nodded and started levitating some books off the shelves and laying them open on the floor for Rarity. Rarity was quickly back at work creating more spellcards, making two for Applejack, another for Fluttershy, and two for Twilight. "Ok, now Pinkie, dear, would you like me to make your spellcards now?" "No thanks, I'm fine." "Are you sure?" "Yep!" "Alright, if you say so. Rainbow Dash, would you-" "YES, FINALLY! Twilight left to explore the library a bit, mostly from curiosity, and started browsing through the catagories. Suddenly, she heard a slightly sickly voice behind her. "What are you doing in my library?" Twilight turned around and saw a unicorn that looked similar to her, except for a lighter coat, and ribbons instead of streaks in her hair. "Oh, I was, uh, just looking around. There's a lot of really nice books in here." "Well, thank you, but how did you get in here?" "Uh... the front door?" "...So the Gatekeeper failed at her job. Again." "...Right, so, this is your library?" "It's really the mistress's, but I watch over it for her." "Oh, well, me and my friends need to speak with her about the mist that's pouring out." "Remilia's doing that again?" "Look, we just want her to stop the mist, it's a bit of a nuiscanse." "You sound just like that shrine maiden who stopped her... Well, I'm afraid I can't let you see her." "Please, Miss... uh..." "Knowledge. Patchouli Knowledge." "Miss Knowledge, please reconsider." "I'm afraid my answer stands as it is." "What if I beat you in a spellcard duel?" "I suppose so." Patchouli pulled out a spellcard and held it up high. "Earth Sign [Trilithon Shake]" Several yellow bullets shot out from Patchouli, and then turned, moving in spiral patterns. Most of the bullets were now approaching Twilight from the sides, rather then head-on. She dodged the bullets mostly, but a few came far too close for comfort. "My turn! Magic Sign [Unicorn's Thoughts]" Purple bullets shot out in relatively simple ring patterns, followed by a bullet that shot out lines of bullets. However, it didn't seem to be very effective, as Patchouli dodged it with ease. "Not bad, but still too easy. Water Metal Sign [Mercury Poison]" The old yellow bullets faded out and now yellow and purple rings of bullets were flying towards Twilight at a alarming rate, and it was getting faster as time went on. "Better try my next card, Magic Sign [Arcane Nova]" Purple and white bullets started flowing out, purple bullets going clockwise, and white bullets going the opposite direction. It seemed to knock Patchouli off tempo a bit, but none of the bullets had connected yet. Patchouli's bullets were getting pretty rapid now, and Twilight was finding it harder and harder to keep dodging the waves. Her own bullets eventually stopped turning and started in the other direction, creating a wall of bullets. Patchouli nearly dodged that wall, but one the bullets hit her right in the back legs, cancelling her spellcard. "Ouch... very well, you won, so you can go on ahead. Gather your friends and continue on." Twilight nodded, and galloped back to where her friends were.
"There we go, that should be plenty of spellcards for everypony." "Wait a tic, where in the hay did Twilight run off to?" "Oh, she went off and fought Patchouli." "How did- Nevermind, why didn't you tell us earlier, Pinkie Pie?" "You never asked. Oh! Look! Twilight's back, see?" Twilight had returned to her friends location. "Oh, Twilight, I'm so glad you're safe. Where were you?" "Sorry, I was a bit busy, but we can move on now." "Perfect! I have another spellcard for you, dear." "Thanks, Rarity. Now let's move out!" Twilight Sparkle and her friends left the library and entered the foyer.
