> The Equestrian Incident
>  by StrawberryGamer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Ordinary Magician and the Aspiring Musician
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

All was quiet in the land of Gensokyo. This mystical land, cut off from the rest of the world, was a haven for the forgotten and the fantastical. It was serene, though not peaceful, as the youkai and humans living here would constantly come into conflict. Nowadays most disputes and incidents were resolved without lasting harm, thanks in part to Gensokyo's guardian, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

One night however, something changed. A shift in the air, an unknown variable, a magical anomaly. It would've gone unnoticed by most. But for one, it was a challenge. And she was certainly not one to back down from a challenge.

She allowed herself a giggle of childlike glee. "This is certainly a new experience for us both. I can only wonder how you'll get yourself out of this one... Reimu~." 


 
Bored.

That is what the young witch felt every time she had to actually run her magic shop. Why she even opened such a place in the middle of nowhere eluded her sometimes, especially when she made most of her money elsewhere. Sure, sometimes an actual customer came in once in a while, but it was usually just a pity buy, some useless trinket or busted artifact she "found" while out hunting youkai. She swept her blonde hair out of her eyes and sighed. "And Reimu wonders why I take her jobs..."

Thinking about it, that sounded like a great idea. She needed a little excitement. The witch grabbed her broom and double-checked that her Mini-Hakkero was in her pocket before she ran out the door-

"Oof!"

-and fell flat on her back as she ran right into someone else who was on their way in. "Owowow... Felt like I hit a wall..." As she picked herself up, she got a good look at the horned girl in the doorway. "Suika? What are you doing here? Looking for something? I was... just about to close up shop. Heh."

Suika Ibuki, a normally cheerful oni, appeared distressed and judging by her cheeks, had been crying recently. Her usual bottle of sake was strangely absent. Seeing her like this sent a chill down the magician's spine. If she was looking for a fight, the shop would probably not survive. Luckily that didn't appear to be the case. "M-marisa," she sobbed, "have you seen R-reimu today?"

"Hmm? No, I was just about to visit her. Why, is she not home?" Marisa asked. The sullen look Suika gave her was enough of an answer.

"No. She's not in the mansion, she's not in the village, she's not anywhere! She's just vanished!" The oni screamed.

"What? Well, c'mon then! Hop on!" The young magician mounted her broom and motioned for Suika to join her. She then took off, heading straight for the Hakurei Shrine. There had to be some sort of clue as to where Reimu had gone there. No one challenged them as they flew over the forests of Gensokyo. Nearing the eastern border, Marisa felt something was off. She could usually spot the shrine's roof from the air. The only thing she could see however was a large patch of dark green where the shrine should be. "Are those... trees?"

Marisa landed just outside the edge of the patch of trees. They were much darker and thicker than anything else in Gensokyo, with canopies that completely blocked out the sun. The ground around them was filled with strange and unnatural plant life, so dense she didn't see any way through without severely scratching her legs. The thought made the witch wish for a pair of pants.

"Certainly a strange sight, isn't it Miss Kirisame?" Came a voice from nearby. Turning to face the source, Marisa was greeted by a nine-tailed fox youkai wearing a white dress. She gave the pair a polite bow.

Marisa returned the gesture with a tip of her hat. "Well if it isn't the gap hag's pet. It certainly is strange. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you Ran?" She asked as if she already knew the answer.

To her surprise however, the shikigami shook her head. "Lady Yukari is not responsible for this incident. She has tasked me with investigating the cause of the shrine's disappearance," she explained. "You are welcome to assist me in this, as I understand you have a personal attachment to Miss Hakurei."

Marisa scowled. "Like I'd help a youkai. No, I'll find Reimu myself! Then we'll find out who did this and give them a little taste of my Master Spark!" She turned on her heel and gave Suika a nudge. "C'mon, let's find a way inside. There's gotta be some kind of clue in there."

"Best of luck to you," Ran said as she too turned to depart.

When she left Marisa made a mouth with her hand. "I uNdErStAnD yOu HaVe A pErSoNaL aTtAcHmEnT tO mIsS hAkUrEi," she mocked in a poor imitation of Ran's voice. "Of course I do! We've been friends for years! Ugh, I swear she said that just to get under my skin." After a few minutes of skirting around the edge of the dark thicket, Marisa finally found an opening wide enough for her to fit through. "Okay Suika, you stay here. I'll yell if I need some muscle, kay?"

The oni nodded excitedly, her cheerful attitude returning, along with her bottle of sake. Somehow. "Okay! You find Reimu now, ya got that?"

"Yeah yeah, I know. We will find her," Marisa reassured her. She took a deep breath and stepped into the thicket. Immediately all her senses began screaming at her to stop, and she had to jump back out. These trees weren't just unnatural, they were wrong on a magical level. She tried to push through again, only for her body to protest every movement. It was like an assault of hundreds of needles all over, and it only got worse as she pushed deeper through the foliage. Soon it became so unbearable that she had to turn back or else she'd pass out. She made sure to give one of the trees a good punch on the way out. "Argh! What is wrong with this place? Stupid trees..."

"You okay?" Suika asked.

"Yeah, but we're not gonna be able to get in there right now. Gonna have to find a way to resist the... wrongness of this place." Marisa paced for a moment, trying to think of a plan. She almost failed to notice a low growling coming from the trees. "Hmm? You say something?"

"Nope!" The oni was sitting against a tree now, drinking out of her bottle. Marisa sighed. Sure the girl was among the strongest around, but realiability was not an oni's specialty. "The wood did though."

"The wood?" Before Marisa could inquire further, she noticed a pair of glowing green eyes peering through the underbrush. She couldn't get a good look at what those eyes belonged to, but she could clearly hear the growling now. "The heck are you?"

It howled, and the trees pounced.



The town of Ponyville had endured alot of disasters since Twilight Sparkle moved in. Being the princess' protoge and a good friend of much of the town, the townsponies couldn't exactly ask her to leave, even when she was the direct cause of that week's disaster. That didn't mean they weren't grateful when she fixed the problem and saved the world, but often they'd be the ones who had to clean up whatever mess was left behind.

This latest crisis left quite a mess behind, and while Twilight and her friends were off celebrating in Canterlot, Ponyville was once again left to clean up the mess. Discord was supposed to have helped, and he did for a while, but he got bored as soon as his friends left and quickly vanished. Even for the places he did help out with, he skipped the windows.

Lyra Heartstrings sighed as she cleared away the rotting plant matter around her friend's house. The two were also away in Canterlot on business, so they missed the whole thing. Lyra had volunteered to clean up their house, which thankfully wasn't hit too hard. "Hey Bonnie, you think Sugarcube Corner is open yet?"

Bon-Bon, her best friend and roommate, paused from sweeping up broken glass. "Considering how hard it was hit? No. Give it a couple days. Don't worry, I should still have some chocolate left from the last batch. That should keep you satiated until then."

"You're the best, Bons. You know that, right?" The mint green unicorn flashed her friend a grateful smile.

"Yeah yeah, just take this trash out already before I stuff you in it and do it myself," she threatened with a smile of her own.

With a flourish of her horn, Lyra picked up the cans of trash and debris and took them down to the usual drop-off point. On the way back, some movement by the edge of the Everfree caught her eye. Given the possibility of the forest coming back for another round, Lyra opted to check it out just to make sure it was nothing. What she wasn't expecting to see was an off-white earth pony mare come walking out of the forest as if it were the most normal thing in the world. She held a stick or staff of some kind in her mouth and wore a red and white outfit that obscured her cutie mark. She even had a cute red bow in her black mane.

The mare noticed Lyra and her brown eyes narrowed threateningly. She looked about ready to yell at Lyra about something, but her gaze suddenly softened and she sighed. She looked... sad. Lyra was about to approach her to ask what was wrong, but Bon-Bon's voice calling for her caught her attention. She turned to leave, sparing one last look at the mare, but she only saw her tail disappear back into the forest.

She wondered about the mare as she returned to Bon-Bon. Doesn't she know that forest is dangerous? Where'd she come from anyway? Maybe I should see if she's okay... She must have had that look on her face again, because the beige mare gave her a deadpan stare. "What are you planning now, Lyra?" She asked.

Lyra snapped out of her thoughts and fidgeted nervously. She'd been caught. "I, um, saw somepony go into the Everfree. Somepony I've never seen before."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "You weren't thinking of going in after them, were you? It's not safe, especially so soon after-"

"I know!" Lyra snapped, interrupting Bon. "That's exactly why we need to go after her. What if she gets hurt?"

"What if you get hurt?" Bon countered.

Lyra's voice softened. "I have you," she nuzzled her friend, "you can pull me out of there."

Bon-Bon looked like she wanted to argue, but they were interrupted by the distant sound of an explosion coming from the Everfree. They both turned to the forest, then back to each other. "Maybe we should go after all."
> The Case of the Missing Shrine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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

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

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

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

Suika gave a thumbs-up.

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

"Errands?" Suika asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I'll help." Sakuya said finally.

"Huh?" Marisa's eyes lit up.

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marisa threw open the doors to the mansion's library, a reluctant Sakuya in tow. Before her laid the largest collection of recorded knowledge in Gensokyo. A private collection, she had often been told and then subsequently ignored. But this time, rather than borrowing books, the sticky-fingered magician had her eyes set on their custodian, Patchouli Knowledge. An apt name, since Marisa would need to borrow that knowledge to find out what happened to Reimu.

"H-hey, treat those doors with respect!" A devil girl reprimanded, flying up to them. "What are you even doing here? And with Sakuya too? Don't tell me you've teamed up to take over the library!" Her hands started glowing with arcane energy. "I'll stop your mad plan here!"

Marisa shot Sakuya an incredulous look, and the maid stepped forward. "No one is taking over anything, Koakuma. We are here to see Lady Patchouli."

Koakuma stared down the maid for a few seconds before dismissing her magic and backing down. "Fine, but only because you scare me. Lady Patchouli is at her desk. Wait here, I'll wake her up," she said, flying off.

As Marisa waited, she started browsing a nearby shelf. Sakuya shot her a look and she shrugged. "What? I'm just looking," she said defensively. Though even as she said that, she grabbed a random book off the shelf and sat down at a table to read it. It turned out to be a book on avian flight.

Sakuya sighed. "If that's all you need, I'll return to my duties. Please try to behave yourself," she said, flashing a knife as if to say "or else." With that, she turned and disappeared.

After a few minutes of reading, another girl joined her at the table, this one dressed in a purple nightgown. A handful of spellbooks floated behind her. As she sat down, she let out a yawn which devolved into a short coughing fit. "Marisa," she greeted with no particular emotion, "this is an unexpected visit." She eyed the book Marisa was reading. "Thinking of going bird watching?"

The human magician quickly closed the book. "Ah, no. I was just waiting on you. You were sleeping?"

"Alice was here earlier. We were sharing notes on a project. She brought some new herbal tea she found, but it turned out one of those herbs was a sedative, so I dozed off," Patchouli explained. "It seems she's left already." Marisa suspected there was something more to it, but should she pry?

Maybe a little. "You were having a sleepover and didn't invite me? Why not?" She faux-whined.

"Because you're a rat," the librarian answered, "now why are you here?"

Well fine, be that way. Marisa set her elbows on the table and bridged her hands together, setting her chin down on them. "I'm conducting an investigation into a disturbance, and I figured the two of us together could crack this thing wide open."

Patchouli fixed her with a scrutinizing stare. "Is there an incident going on? Why are you here and not helping Reimu?"

Marisa sat up and crossed her arms. "Well that's the thing. She never asks me for help. Well now I've gotta save her sorry butt, and I need your help to do it."

That was enough to get her attention. "Save the Hakurei shrine maiden?" After getting a recap from Marisa, she seemed to think for a moment before pulling over one of the books to her. She started flipping through the pages. "This is highly unusual. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but... I can't imagine any youkai would attack the shrine directly and win. Even the Moriya Shrine didn't try that."

"Oh yeah, one more thing," Marisa interrupted. Time for the ace in the hole.~ She pulled out the stick she salvaged from the wolf. "I brought a sample from the wolf I exterminated. Dunno how much magic is left in it but you might be interested in studying it anyway."

Patchouli's expression didn't change, but her eyes were drawn to the stick. She held out a hand and Marisa gave her the stick. Her eyes lit up as she examined it. "Marisa, do you know what this is?"

"A stick?"

"A stick made of a wood not native to this world. I'm not just referring to Gensokyo, it's alien to this planet." She closed the book and snapped her fingers. Koakuma quickly came to collect the books. "You have impressed me for once. Very well. Because of your discovery, and for the sake of keeping you from hurting yourself, I shall assist in your investigation."

"Yes!" Marisa pumped her fist in the air and jumped out of her seat. "Come on then Patch! We don't have any time to lose!" She grabbed Patchouli by the arm and dragged her out the door, ignoring the youkai's protests. "Hey, I'm borrowing this!" She yelled on her way out, much to the dismay of Koakuma.



The inside of the shrine was very unlike the outside. It consisted of three small rooms, connected by a central hallway. In the first room, a small altar sat against the wall. Reimu's stick was propped up against it, and she placed her two orbs on it as she passed by it. There were some mats on the floor and a small bell hanging in the corner. The second room consisted of a living space with a table that used cushions as chairs and a kitchenette, along with a back door. The third room was her bedroom. There was also a storage shed out back.

Lyra and Bon-Bon took a seat at the table as Reimu prepared a kettle of tea. Or she tried to at least. Her movements were slow and clumsy, more than once she stumbled and nearly knocked something over, and she was constantly swearing under her breath. Lyra glanced at Bon-Bon, who tilted her head towards the other earth pony. Lyra took the hint and stood up. "Hey, uh... Reimu, was it? You need some help?" She asked, going over to her side.

"I'm fine!" She snapped. "Look, the tea is done, see?" She tried taking the kettle's handle in her mouth, but because it was made for hands, her head was tilted at such an angle that it made it difficult for her. Sure enough, she stumbled and nearly dropped the hot tea all over Bon-Bon. Lyra was quick on the draw however, and the kettle was enveloped in a golden glow, saving her friend from another trip to the hospital. Reimu sighed as she righted herself. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine."

"Have you suffered a head injury lately?" Bonnie asked, "I got a concussion about a year ago, messed me up for a while after."

Reimu shook her head. "No. I'm still getting used to this... Nevermind. It's not your fault." She took a seat and watched with curiosity as Lyra poured the tea. "Interesting magic. What kind of magician are you?"

The ponies shared a glance, then Lyra laughed. "Me? A magician? Ha! No, music is my specialty, not magic."

"I see..." Reimu went quiet, staring at her cup. The sudden silence from the mare made the other two ponies uncomfortable.

"Bon-Bon makes candy for a living," Lyra blurted out, "you haven't lived until you've had one of her New Moons."

"Candy?" Reimu looked up with a curious expression. "Can't say I've had any. Not very common where I'm from."

The two roommates shared a concerned look. "Okay, forget about sharing your batch with me. This mare needs an emergency sugar infusion, stat!" Lyra stood up, gulped down her tea, then threw open the door and bolted out of the shrine. 

"What was that about?" Reimu wondered as the unicorn left a literal smoke trail in her wake.

Bonnie merely watched her go with a bemused expression. "Three... Two... One..." 

She pointed back at the door as Lyra bolted back in. "Bonnie, where do you keep your keys?"

The candymaker gave a sly grin. "Nice try Lyra. I don't think her sugar deficency is that bad." She took a drink of tea and turned to Reimu. "If you'd like, you're welcome to come by our house tomorrow. I'll make lunch and we'll get some sweets in you."

"What's the big deal with sugar?" Reimu asked.

"Sugar is an important part of our diet," Bon-Bon explained, "I'd expect it to be the same for Neighponese ponies too. Which really begs the question..." She flashed Lyra a look, to which she nodded.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too. We just got through a disaster that came from this forest. Most ponies wouldn't dream of being near it after this. Even the shaman that lives in the Everfree had to flee. Yet here you are with a pristine Neighponese shrine smack in the middle of it. How?"

Reimu shrugged. "I have no idea. I just woke up in the middle of the forest a earlier today. I would have thought it was a certain youkai's doing, but I don't think that's the case anymore since the shrine came with me. There's also the matter of..." She sighed. "Nevermind."

"What is a youkai?" Bon-Bon asked. "Are they a kind of creature, or a monster, or..."

"I know," Lyra spoke up, "youkai are like evil spirits, right?"

The shrine maiden shook her head. "That's a common misconception. Youkai are spirits, yes, but that's not all they are, and they aren't all evil too. A lot of youkai are based on and created by our fears and beliefs, but there are many more that are just representations of natural or supernatural forces. And there are plenty more that are just creatures given supernatural power. Youkai is a very broad term, really."

"So like Timberwolves or Windigos then," Bon-Bon deduced.

"Or Discord," Lyra jokingly added. Bon-Bon nodded in agreement anyway.

"I... don't know what those are," Reimu said, looking lost.

"Timberwolves are vengeful forest spirits who reside in the Everfree," Bon-Bon explained. "They are ambush predators who attack anything that disturbs their territory. It's said anypony killed by a Timberwolf becomes one. It's also said they reproduce by 'infecting' other trees. Thankfully they usually keep to their own territory. Windigos... You'll hear more about them around Hearths Warming."

"And Discord is the spirit of chaos and disharmony," Lyra added. "He's been a real pain, even after his 'reformation.'" She made air quotes with her hooves.

"Ah, so those wooden creatures that I saw earlier were youkai?" Reimu wondered. "I saw them lurking around the shrine, so I might have scared them off."

Well that explained a few things. "How'd you do that?" Lyra asked, "with those orbs of yours?"

"Yep. Youkai hate them. As the Hakurei shrine maiden, they are attuned to me, so I'm the only one who can use them," she said proudly.

"That's pretty sweet. So, where are ya from? Must be pretty magical." Lyra asked, but Bon-Bon nudged her. "Yeah, what's up Bons?"

"Lyra, as pleasant as this has been, we really should get back before the sun sets. We still have to finish cleaning Tavi's house, remember?"

Lyra jumped up as she did in fact remember. "Oh hay, you're right. Sorry Reimu, we have to cut this visit short. Feel free to stop by tomorrow. We're the only confectionery in town, so it's hard to miss us."

The two said their goodbyes and left the shrine, each tossing an extra bit in the offering box on their way out. Reimu watched them disappear into the trees, a ton of unanswered questions on her mind. They were nice and all, but I still don't know where I am, how I got here, or what I'm supposed to do next. Maybe I should visit the Pony Village. I might get some answers. Hell, they might even be accepting of me. She shook her head to clear that last though. She shouldn't get so attached to that idea, not when she needed to find a way back to Gensokyo.

She let a smile cross her still unfamiliar lips as she collected their donations. Oh well, at least the money is good.
> Timberwolves
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Marisa had gotten Patchouli out of the mansion, they hopped on the human's broom and flew right back to the incident site. After Marisa made a quick side-stop for some food, at least. Once dinner had been acquired and the rat was satisfied with her cheese, the reclusive librarian got her first look at what had become of the Hakurei Shrine. The human hadn't been making it up, the Shrine really was gone. The divine aura that was supposed to repel youkai, weak and ineffective as it was, which normally permeated the area was completely absent. Instead the feeling here was... foreboding, almost hostile. This patch of trees did not want them here. It didn't stop Suika though, who was passed out against a tree. Marisa was quick to wake her up and send the oni on her way with an assurance that she had things covered.

Feeling weak on her feet after the flight here, Patchouli took a seat under a nearby cherry tree as she considered her options. "I see why you needed my assistance with this. The energy permeating this forest is certainly unlike anything in Gensokyo."

Marisa however wasn't so patient. "Yep, and I would really like to get started soon. The longer we take, the higher the chance that something bad could happen to Reimu."

"Reimu may be human, but she's also the Hakurei shrine maiden," Patchouli reminded her, "it's entirely possible she'll find the culprit herself and be back by morning." Of course, it was equally possible that whoever was responsible for this had already overpowered her. That was a worst-case scenario, but in a situation filled with unknowns, anything was possible. So it was time to gather some data.

Calling on her magic, she cast a simple spell to study the magical energies of this mini forest. At the surface level, there wasn't much to take from it that she couldn't have inferred from just looking at them. The trees were of a type not native to Earth, and they were infused with magic. The magic was strange and foreign, but at the same time she felt something familiar. That feeling... Could it be?. Unfortunately any attempts to view deeper inside were met with a fog of raw magical energy that seemed to push back against her probing. She didn't dare risk her anemia acting up by pushing more power into her search, but what did found out at least corroborated Marisa's findings.

The youkai magician allowed herself a smile. She had a baseline. She had a hypothesis. She could work with this. "Okay, if we're going to resolve this, we need to do it right. I need samples to take back to the library for testing."

"Testing?" Marisa inquired.

Patchouli nodded. "Yes. If we're to overcome this barrier, we need to understand it first. In situations like these, with no books to turn to for information, we turn to the tried and true method of learning: experimentation." She stood up, fighting the feeling in her head that wanted her to sit back down. "Unfortunately, I am in no shape to extract those samples today. We will have to wait until a good day to begin experimenting." 

Marisa looked like she wanted to argue, but she just sighed. She was the one who asked for help anyway. "Fine. Is there anything more we can do while we're here?"

"Grab those branches there," she pointed to a few low-hanging branches on the nearest tree, then pointed at the tree above her, "and a couple branches from this tree. I have an idea for something I can try in the meantime."

Marisa nodded and grabbed a particularly large branch, putting her feet up against the tree to use as leverage to break it off. She was rewarded with a snap as the branch was torn off, but as she tossed the branch down to grab another that same growl as before was heard again. Having learned from earlier, she jumped back as a tree-wolf leapt out of the vandalized tree. 

"Ha! Looks like I'm too smart for ya," the witch taunted, summoning an orb of light to her side. "Don't like it when I bust up your- oof!" A solid blow to her side knocked her to the ground again. A second wolf had pounced while she was distracted by the first, and a third was emerging from the trees as well.

In hindsight, she should've seen that coming. These creatures already proved they don't play by the rules. Marisa needed to shoot first, boast later. The orb at her side unleashed a barrage of stars, shattering the wolf who had blindsided her before it could further damage her clothes. The other two backed off, snarling as their would-be prey picked herself off the ground. Their eyes shifted from the human to the youkai a short distance away who had her back against a tree. The lead wolf howled, summoning a fourth wolf out of the trees. This one ran straight for Patchouli.

"Patch! Heads up!" Marisa called out. Patchouli's head turned to face the wolf charging her and her eyes widened. She just barely managed to float up to a branch above her, the wolf's claw ripping a ribbon off her dress. It didn't give up after the failed attack and clawed at the trunk, trying to reach the ill magician.

Marisa turned to fire at the more distant foe, but the two flanking wolves snapped at her legs, forcing her to jump back and redirect her focus back to the more immediate threat. She swore under her breath as she realized what they were doing. Still, her resolve hardened. No two-bit youkai was going to outsmart Marisa Kirisame! "Clever doggies, ain't ya? You haven't beaten me yet!" She boasted as she channeled her magic into a familiar spellcard.

"Love Sign 'Non-Directional Laser!'" Her cry seemed to echo through the air as she cast the spell. Multiple colorful orbs appeared and orbited around her, unleashing a dazzling barrage of lasers in all directions. Accompanying the lasers was a spinning stream of colorful stars, making for a breathtaking display of power and beauty. 

Caught at point-blank range, the flanking wolves had no chance to dodge and were blown away. The wolf trying to attack Patchouli didn't fare much better. In a matter of seconds, the wolves were all reduced to ash and Marisa cancelled the spell. "And that's what you get when you mess with the best!" She turned back to her fellow magician. "Hey Patch, you holding up okay?"

Patchouli gave a simple thumbs up as she floated down from the tree, hovering just above the ground. "So those were the wolves," she spoke softly, placing a hand on her chest. "Those were youkai, for sure. But..."

"They aren't from our world?" Marisa guessed. She picked up her broom, taking the silence for a yes. "Come on, let's get outta here. Not much point in sticking around."

Patchouli nodded, joining the witch as she mounted her broom. "Yes, just please fly slower this time."

As the two left, both failed to notice the ghostly green spirits of the wolves float away into the forests of Gensokyo, darkening the grass in their path.





S.M.I.L.E. Report #4219
Filed by Former Special Agent Sweetie Drops
Classified - for Royal eyes only

Dear Princess Celestia,
I know the organization was disbanded, and this doesn't technically involve monsters, but I felt I needed to write this in the hopes that you allow me or an authorized agent to conduct a further investigation. This might just be a coincidence, but if it's connected to the incident that occurred on the Summer Sun Celebration, another attack on Ponyville may be imminent. The following report contains a detailed firsthoof account of my initial contact with VIP#364. I await your response.

Your loyal subject,
Sweetie Drops



Princess Celestia read the letter she had just recieved, a smile gracing her muzzle. Sometimes it felt like S.M.I.L.E. had never been disbanded with how often she recieved reports over every little thing. She considered just sending a grateful but noncommittal reply, but the events of the last day went through her head and she hesitated. Maybe she should send somepony to check it out...

"Hey Princess!" She was stirred from her thoughts by the call of her faithful student and newly crowned princess, Twilight Sparkle. "There you are. I just wanted to thank you again for letting me participate in the celebration. My friends and I will be returning home soon."

Celestia leaned down to give the smaller alicorn a nuzzle. "Anytime, Twilight. Travel safe." She gave the report she recieved one more glance. Maybe she already had the perfect pony for the job. She was a Royal now, if only technically. "Actually, if you have a moment to spare, I have an assignment for you..."
> The Boundary Between Day and Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Hmm? Wonder what?"

Pinkie turned her head towards her purple friend. "What kind of cake she'd like, of course."
> Welcome to Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The duo of Lyra and Bon Bon always tended to be early risers. They'd get up in the morning, Lyra would help her roommate with getting the shop open, then she'd run off and do whatever it is Lyras do in their natural habitat. Usually either play music in the park or just go back to bed. Lately Lyra had found herself doing the latter more as she started becoming more active at night.

Today was different though. Lyra had actually gotten a good night's sleep in preparation for lunch with Reimu. She even offered to help Bon Bon with cooking. To keep her sanity intact, Bon Bon sent her roommate outside to keep watch for the newcomer. Of course, this was assuming she'd even come over at all. Lyra was confident she would, at least. Bon Bon was a bit more skeptical, but that was more due to concern about how Princess Celestia would react to her message. She made sure to give as unbiased a report as possible and hoped it would be enough.

A couple hours passed. Lyra sat outside, watching the roads, hoping to see that striking red and white outfit in the crowd. She couldn't escape the nagging thought in the back of her mind though. Did we come on too strongly? Is she not interested in making friends? Maybe she got lost. Lunchtime was getting closer, and there was still no sign of her. She didn't get lost, did she? The directions weren't very good...

Her train of thought was interrupted by Ponyville's resident librarian and one of Lyra's old friends, Twilight Sparkle. "Hey Lyra. Fancy meeting you here..." She greeted, giving an awkward laugh.

Lyra gave a friendly wave. "I live here, Twilight. It's good to see you regardless though. How was the Summer Sun Celebration?" She asked, holding back a giggle. Some things never change. Sure, she was a heroine who saved Equestria and a newly crowned princess, but Twilight never really stopped being the awkward nerd from Canterlot. A pair of wings wasn't going to change that.

"It was great! My part went off without a hitch," Twilight answered with a hint of pride.

"Sweet. Now I regret missing it. Maybe next year we can get through it without a world-ending threat?" Lyra playfully nudged Twilight.

She gave a cheerful laugh. "I can only hope." She suddenly got a look like she just remembered something, and levitated a colorful paper bag over to Lyra. "Oh yeah, I picked this up at the festival. I figured you might get a kick out of it."

Lyra accepted the bag and peeked in. She gasped when she saw what was inside and her eyes sparkled with joy. "Oh my goodness! You remembered! Wait... Is this...?" She pulled out a small plush replica of the alicorn in front of her and gave Twilight a very amused smirk.

The awkward laugh returned. "Aha, yeah. It was a gift from Twinkleshine. I didn't want to be rude, but it's not really my thing. I figured you'd appreciate it more."

"Thanks Twi. I'm sure you will make a fine addition to my collection." Lyra giggled to herself before putting the plush Twilight back in the bag. 

"Ookay... Is the shop open?" Twilight asked, eager to change the subject.

"We're closed for lunch right now, but feel free to stop by later. We've got a good batch today, and since Sugarcube Corner is still closed for repairs, I expect we'll sell out soon."

"I'll be sure to do that. I've gotta clean up the library, then Princess Celestia asked me to check on something in the Everfree, so would you mind saving something for me?"

A quick thought ran through Lyra's head. They know about the shrine? Or is she just double-checking to make sure the Everfree won't attack us again? "We'll see. Even if you are a princess now, don't expect any special treatment from me."

Twilight giggled. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll talk to you later, Lyra."

"See ya." Lyra waved as she watched Twilight clumsily fly away. She idly wondered if Twilight and her friends were aware of Reimu's presence in the Everfree. If so, Princess Celestia must have told them. That meant everything was fine and Reimu was welcome in Equestria, right? It wasn't really her place to worry, but part of her wanted to be the one who welcomed somepony to Ponyville instead of Pinkie. It was a unique chance to make a new friend, and she didn't want Pinkie to spoil that by throwing a huge party. At least not right away. Maybe once Reimu has gotten settled in...



"Urgh..." Reimu groaned as she woke, the painfully unfamiliar body reminding her of the previous day's events. How she was dumped with her shrine in the middle of someplace called the Everfree Forest. The Timberwolves that she shooed off with excessive force. The discovery of the Pony Village and the subsequent meeting with two of its inhabitants. They were surprisingly welcoming, even inviting her to their home for lunch. She hadn't recieved that kind of treatment from anyone besides Marisa since she became the Hakurei shrine maiden. The humans of Gensokyo were too set in their ways, too scared of things different from them, be they youkai or even their own guardian.

Reimu rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. Thinking of Gensokyo reminded her of how urgently she needed to get back. It was her shrine that kept the barrier between her home and the Outside World stable. There was a chance it was still connected somehow, but if it wasn't, would there even be a home to go back to? Would the Barrier crumble without her? 

She tried her usual approach to solving incidents, but somehow this form forbade her from flight. Like, the power was still there, she could feel it, but it just wouldn't work. It was a further annoyance to add to the pile, and one that severely slowed progress. Not having an aerial view of this alien land meant she had to navigate the old fashioned way. It was only really luck that she found the village. She should have tried investigating, but based on what she saw and heard, they were cleaning up their own incident. Better for her that she didn't add to the mess by just shooting first before knowing the land.

Now she had a reason to go back. She had an 'in,' as Marisa would say. She could go into town, get a good look around, and investigate any leads she found that might lead to the culprit. Then she'd start shooting. The perfect place to start that investigation would be by accepting the invitation to lunch. Plus based on what her cupboards looked like, she was in no position to make her own lunch.

She hoped four coins were enough for at least a snack, or she'd soon be very hungry.

So after forming a rough outline of a plan for the day, Reimu finally got up and started getting herself in order. Getting dressed was a major pain, but she managed. As she did, her eyes lingered on the Yin-Yang symbols on her rear and her mind wandered back to the other ponies she met. They had symbols too. Did they have some kind of spiritual significance? Maybe a sign of fate or destiny? A brief shudder overtook her as she imagined the damage the elder Scarlet sister could do to a society that wore their fate so openly. But hey, that was her job, right? To slap troublesome youkai around when they mess with the balance of the world. Even when it's more trouble than it's worth.

Once she was dressed, Reimu made sure the shrine was clean, grabbed a stack of talismans and hid them up her sleeve, picked up her purification rod and tucked it in a loop on her clothes, then started the walk to the Pony Village. Timberwolves stared at her from within the forest, but none openly approached the shrine and they also steered clear of her ofuda-marked trail leading to the village. That suited her fine. As long as they stayed away from her, she wouldn't need to take any further proactive measures.

Once she was out of the forest, she finally got her first look at how ponies lived their daily lives. It wasn't too different from the Human Village, if she was being honest. She spotted a schoolhouse on the outskirts with a bunch of very small pony children playing outside, watched over by what she guessed was their schoolteacher. She's probably a good person to talk to, at least if she's anything like Keine I can ask her a few questions.

As she approached the school, several children stopped what they were doing and stared at her. It wasn't the usual nervous or aggressive looks she got back home, these more resembled curiosity. Was a newcomer really worth so much attention? Three of them in particular were brave enough to run up to her, colored yellow, orange, and white. The white one had a horn like Lyra and the other two didn't, though the orange one was sporting a pair of wings. She was the first one to speak up. "Hey, what's with the weird outfit?" She asked, earning a slap on the head from the yellow pony. "Ow! What? We were all thinkin' it!" As if to prove her point a few other children nodded.

If I knew I'd be dealing with children, I'd have prepared some charms... Reimu tried to keep a straight face as they crowded around her. "It's my uniform. I am a shrine maiden," she said, stepping around the students to talk to the teacher. "Excuse me, I'm new around here."

The teacher giggled. "I can tell. Have you met Pinkie Pie yet? She likes to know every newcomer to Ponyville." She held out a hoof. "Welcome. I'm Cheerilee, Ponyville's schoolteacher."

Ponyville? Well it was a step up from "Human Village" at least. She awkwardly bumped her hoof with Cheerilee's. "Reimu Hakurei, Shrine Maiden of Paradise. And no, I haven't met anyone besides Lyra and Bon Bon. I was actually hoping to find their house."

"Paradise, eh?" Cheerilee asked with a sly expression. "Sounds like someplace I'd love to spend summer break in."

"No it isn't," Reimu replied immediately, her expression suddenly turning dead serious. "Trust me on this."

Cheerilee flinched, unsure how to respond. "Okay..." She quickly decided to change the topic. "Well, Bon Bon's shop is right down that road there," she pointed down a dirt road that deeper into town, "just look for the sign with candies on it. If you hit the market stalls, you've gone too far."

"Thanks," Reimu smiled and gave a slight bow, then turned and left, ignoring the curious faces of the children still watching.

As she started walking through the streets of Ponyville, she couldn't help but take in the strange alien society she found herself in the middle of. She gathered that clothes seemed to be optional, likely due to the fur coats. Perhaps they were a status symbol? Ponies seemed to greet each other with hoofbumps or nuzzles. Looking up, she saw more of those winged ponies flying about. Some were even pushing actual clouds around. Clouds! They could affect the weather, and they weren't even youkai.

One thing she definitely noticed was the looks ponies around her gave. Some emulated the curiosity the children had. Others seemed more suspicious, like the look a youkai walking around the Human Village would get. Was it a percieved status based on her clothing os was it just that she was new? Cheerilee mentioned someone named Pinkie Pie. Perhaps she was an arbiter of sorts who was supposed to judge newcomers, and Reimu just came on her day off?

She sighed. She was never gonna get anywhere asking herself these questions. She needed a local to help her figure this out. And as her luck would have it, she spotted a familiar mint green pony standing right outside a two-story building with the sign Cheerilee described out front.

Lyra noticed her first and gave a wave as she approached. "Hey, you made it! Just in time too, I think Bonnie's almost done."

Reimu allowed herself a smile, despite her conflicted mood. "Good. We can continue our talk while we eat. After seeing more of this place, I might have a few questions of my own."

"I'd be glad to answer what I can. Maybe we can swap stories too. I've got some wild tales about my time in school," Lyra gave a cheerful grin as she led Reimu inside. "Food first though. I'm starving."
> Morning with the Scarlet Devil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remilia Scarlet liked to consider herself an unflinching embodiment of grace. Unwavering in her elegance. An unstoppable force of beauty. And pretty damn ferocious when she wanted to be. All this to say that she cultivated a very regal image for herself among the residents of Gensokyo. The youkai learned to respect her. The humans feared her. 

Well... Most of them did.

The biggest exception to those rules, aside from Patchy, was the Hakurei shrine maiden and her little thief friend. She liked to think of Reimu as a rival to her power, even if that feeling wasn't reciprocated. Marisa on the other hand was more a nuisance than anything else. Barging in every other day like she owned the place...

So as she was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, it wasn't really a surprise to see the black and white magician once again loitering around her home, digging through her kitchen. What was a surprise was the person accompanying her. "Patchy? What's going on here?"

Patchouli was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. "Ah, good morning Remi. You're up early."

"Blame Gensokyo," Remilia groaned, silenly cursing her ever-shifting circadian rythym since she arrived in this land, "the interesting stuff only ever seems to happen during the day."

"Yeah, that is kinda weird," Marisa said, voice muffled as half of her was inside a cupboard. "It's like they do it on purpose just to get our attention."

"What are you two even doing here?" Remilia asked impatiently, trying to steer the conversation back on what she wanted.

"Getting some coffee," Patchy replied. "We had a long night."

"Aww, you were playing without me?"

The youkai magician shook her head. "No, it was more like a study night."

Remilia huffed. "Study night? What could you possibly have to gain from working with that pathetic excuse for a witch?"

"Hey, I resent that remark!" Marisa yelled indignantly. She tried getting out of the cupboard to face Remilia directly, but she banged her head on the way out. "Ow!"

As Marisa rubbed the fresh bump on her head, Patchouli sighed. "Well, she happened to approach me to ask for help resolving an incident. I only said yes because she brought me something new to study."

"You said yes because you can't resist my charm,~" Marisa teased, putting an arm around her. A quick blast of water knocked her away and left her clothes soaked. "You know I'm right!"

"Could you not make a mess in my kitchen?" Remilia asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "And where is Sakuya?"

"Basement, I think." Marisa pulled out her Mini-Hakkero and used it to quickly dry her clothes. "Finishing up some business with Flan."

"What kind of business?"

As if to answer her question, a loud crash was heard coming from down the hall. With a sigh, Remilia peeked out the door just in time to get a rush of wind to the face as a tengu sped past. "Finally! Freedom!" She cheered.

Following close behind was Remilia's younger sister, Flandre. She waved as her playmate fled out the window. "Come back soon, Aya! I had lots of fun!" She paused when she noticed her older sister watching. "Oh, hi big sis! Wanna play?"

Slightly taken aback by the commotion and more than a little annoyed, it took Remilia a second to respond. "Not right now, Flan. Maybe later. Just return to your room and I'll bring you your breakfast."

"Can do. Don't take too long!" Flan giggled as she flew back to her room.

Remilia watched her go before turning back to the others. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she shouted for her maid. "Sakuya!"

"Yes, Mistress?" Sakuya asked, standing beside Marisa as if she hadn't just appeared there and startled the witch half to death.

"Why was Flan playing with the papergirl?" She kept her tone calm, which was easy given her years of practice. The occasional twitch of her wings were a tell of her actual mood though. "More importantly, why did you invite her without my permission?"

Sakuya bowed low. "My sincerest apologies. I had the best of intentions, but I went over your head when I shouldn't have."

Remilia thought for a moment before responding. "Well it kept Flan entertained at least. As long as this doesn't affect our reputation, I suppose I can let you off with a light punishment." She then turned to Patchouli. "Oh, Patchy. I have an idea I'd like your imput on after you're done messing around with the human."

"I have a name, you know," Marisa grumbled, crossing her arms.

She was merely waved off by the vampire. "Yeah yeah, now beat it before I throw you out."

"Can I at least stay for breakfast?"

"...Fine."



After Marisa had her fill, she and Patchouli left to once again investigate the incident site. She flew slower this time so the anemic youkai would actually feel well enough to contribute. Touching down outside the thicket, a chill went down Marisa's spine. The trees around the site were noticably darker, and despite there being plenty of open sky, the canopies seemed to actively absorb the light around them, making it seem more like dusk than late morning. On top of that, the plantlife around them had grown considerably since yesterday. Dark ferns, black vines, and thorny bushes grew scattered wherever the light was at its dimmest.

"Woah," Marisa breathed, "what happened here?"

"The magic originating from the incident site is spreading," Patchouli replied. "It's influencing the plant growth in the surrounding areas."

"So how do we stop it? Surely there's someone we can beat to stop this."

"It may not be as easy to reverse as winning a spell card duel," Patchouli said as she started to collect samples of the surrounding plantlife. "We may have to solve this the hard way."

Marisa groaned. "Aw man, so there's no culprit?"

"I didn't say that."

A rustling sound caught their attention, and they turned to see Ran approaching. "Hello again, Marisa. Have you solved the incident yet?" She asked with a smug grin.

Marisa gave the shikigami a harsh glare. "No. Haven't you got better things to do than waste our time? Like rubbing Yukari's back or something?"

Ran huffed. "How rude. I was merely passing by on my way home from Youkai Mountain, and I thought I'd check up on you."

"Must be taking the scenic route if you're passing by here," Patchouli quipped. "Have you learned anything in your investigation?"

"Not yet. Perhaps we may change that if we were to combine our efforts."

"This again?" Marisa groaned. "I already told you no."

"You won't help me, but you'll work with another youkai?" Ran asked, casting a glance at Patchouli. "Didn't you say, and I quote, 'like I'd help a youkai. No, I'll find Reimu myself. Then we'll find out who did this and give them a little taste of my Master Spark!'?"

"That-it's different," she grumbled, "we have similar skillsets. It made sense to ask for her help."

"Well you know where to find me if you change your mind," Ran said, continuing her walk home. "I wonder how long it will take before this spreads to the Human Village, or even to the Forest of Magic. Will the creatures that spawn from these woods even be containable by then? I wonder..."

Marisa sighed as she watched Ran leave. "She loves to do that, doesn't she?"

"Hmm?" Patchouli paused. "Do what?"

"Send her little pet to keep me off the right path!" She knew that was Yukari's plan. Afraid of the magic getting out of control, she would redirect her attention to containing it and completely miss her chance to beat Ran and Yukari at finding Reimu. Then Yukari would get dibs on resolving the incident. That just wouldn't sit well with her.

"She isn't wrong, however. This magic could permanently disrupt Gensokyo's balance if left unchecked."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"As you said, find the one responsible and make them reverse it." Patchouli stuffed all the plant material she gathered into a basket. "I'm going back to the library to perform some experiments. If you run into more of those wolves, bring me as many samples from them as you can. A live specimen would be optimal. Good luck."

Marisa sighed as Patchouli left. "That was for the youkai comment, wasn't it?" Off in the distance, the sound of howling told her the wolves were active. "Fine then, I guess the hunt is on."



Her children were hungry.

The spirit knew she should have reigned them in after their new home was disturbed. They were promised safety after all, and have so far only been met with vandalism by a girl much braver than any pony who tresspassed in her old home. And since her Eldest had stayed behind, the pack had no leader. So they continued acting on his last orders. "Protect the Mother. Restore her strength." Well by Aether, she was strong enough to manifest again, so she could restore her own strength.

She considered just returning home and trying out a different place, but it wasn't as if another stranger from a different world would stumble upon her again. Plus she still had some pride left. She could fix this, no problem. The spirit just needed to leave her grove, reign in her unruly children, and clean up the mess they made. Easy, right?

First she had to deal with that girl...
> Equestrian Alien
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite the initial idea of continuing their discussion during lunch, Lyra and Bon Bon barely managed to get a word in with Reimu at first. Once the shrine maiden got a taste of Bon Bon's casserole, she couldn't get enough. The chef didn't seem to mind, gladly offering seconds when her plate was emptied. Soon Reimu settled down enough to talk, so Bon Bon went to fetch dessert.

That left Lyra to break the ice. Again. "So Reimu, what brought you to Ponyville? Not everyday we get a visitor from across the sea."

Reimu shrugged. "Dunno, I was just dropped here yesterday. No warning. If anyone had been at the shrine with me, they'd have probably gotten dropped here with me."

Lyra laughed. "Wouldn't be the first time somepony found themselves dropped into Ponyville. First time they brought their home with them though. Jokes aside, what do you think of Ponyville so far?"

"I can't say I dislike it," Reimu answered. "Reminds me a bit of the village back home, though the people are friendlier."

"We take pride in being the friendliest town in Equestria."

Reimu paused. Another new word. "Equestria?"

"Yeah, we-you don't know about Equestria?" Lyra asked, suddenly concerned. "We're smack in the middle of it!"

"Give me a break, I just got here. Still working on the why and how of it."

"Well, where're you from? Maybe we can help you get back."

Reimu took a drink of water. "I doubt it. I'm pretty far from Gensokyo. Probably a whole world away."

Lyra paused at Reimu's choice of words. "A world away? Are you...?"

"I'm not from this world, no. Not even supposed to be a pony."

"So you're really an alien?"

"Hey, you're aliens to me too. With all this fur and these hooves, it's a wonder how these things work!" Reimu ranted, waving her forelegs about.

Lyra leaned back in her seat, sitting in a strangely human manner. "Magic," she smugly stated, levitating her cup to emphasize her point, "though seriously, you're really not from our world? You look just like any other pony though!"

Reimu shrugged. "Magic," she countered. "That seems to be the answer to everything."

"Touché." Lyra leaned forward, returning to a normal sitting posture. "So what kind of creature were you before?" An image of some kind of squid creature wearing a shrine maiden outfit popped into her head and she suppressed a giggle.

"I was-" Reimu stopped, eyeing Lyra suspiciously, "you're taking this oddly in stride."

"An alien isn't the strangest thing to show up in Ponyville, Lyra said with a grin. "Nah, you should have seen Discord last year. Came into town like he owned the place, turned all of reality upside down. I don't mean that figuratively either. I'm pretty sure I slept on the ceiling that night."

"Discord is one of those spirits you mentioned, right? Is he going to be a problem?" Reimu asked. This place didn't run by Gensokyo's rules, so taking on such a powerful youkai... It wouldn't end well, that's for sure.

Lyra shook her head. "Twilight and her friends took care of him. They're kinda Equestria's heroes now. Whenever something big and scary comes along, everypony looks to them to save us."

Reimu slumped in her seat, deep in thought. "I see..." So Equestria was more like Gensokyo then she first thought. If these ponies had their own incident resolvers, maybe she would be better off talking to one of them. With their help, a way back to Gensokyo could be possible...

She quickly straightened up when noticed Bon Bon return with a tray of assorted chocolates and tea. "Here we go, a little bit of everything," the candymaker said, setting the tray down. "Reimu, you get first pick." She cast a stern look at Lyra, who stopped her horn.

"Hmph. Fine," Lyra relented, crossing her forelegs. "Go on then, help yourself. I promise you it'll be the best thing you've ever tasted."

After a few seconds, Reimu settled on a star-shaped piece of chocolate speckled with bits of white. Lyra watched Reimu take the candy with an almost disturbing anticipation. Even Bon Bon couldn't help but stare. Rather than draw it out, the shrine maiden quickly popped the candy into her mouth. She instantly froze for several seconds as the taste overwhelmed her. "...Wow..."

"That a good wow?" Lyra asked, grinning. "Or is it a great wow?"

"It's amazing! You made this yourself?"

Bon Bon beamed with pride. "Yep! That one isn't even for sale yet. Still working on getting it just right. It also needs a name."

"What, the name I offered isn't good enough?" Lyra asked.

"Little Dipper is a terrible name," Bon Bon shot back.

An image of Marisa's flashy magic came to mind. "How about Stardust Reverie?" Reimu suggested.

Bon Bon paused. "I-yeah, that one is pretty good. I'll consider it."

"Soooo..." Trying to get back on topic, Lyra slid on over to her new friend's side. "You gonna tell her or what?"

"Hmm?" Bon Bon wondered. "Tell me what?"



Bon Bon considered herself a pretty experienced mare. Her old job was mostly to blame for that. Due to that, she'd seen a great many things. Some of them were quite dangerous, and it was only due to her cautious instincts that she made it through those encounters. While her intuition tolde her to trust Lyra, those old instincts surfaced once again when she first met Reimu. She seemed pleasant, but everything surrounding her circumstances was suspicious. She just happened to appear in the Everfree right after Ponyville was hit with another crisis? She appeared to be a visitor from Neighpon, but spoke perfect Equestrian without even a hint of an accent? It was enough to justify sending a message to the princess, but still she trusted Lyra enough to try and get to know Reimu better. Maybe she had a good explanation.

Her being an alien that was just unceremoniously dropped here was certainly not what she expected that explanation to be. That didn't mean she would accept it though.

"Prove it."

"Huh?" Reimu and Lyra asked simultaneously.

"I said prove it," Bon Bon repeated, crossing her forelegs. "If you're really an alien, you can prove it, right?"

Reimu sat there for a few moments, mulling it over. "...Well, I might still have an issue of Bunbunmaru lying around somewhere. Failing that, I can show you a spell card."

"Spell card?" Lyra asked, her head tilting in that innocent way Bon Bon always found cute.

"It's a kind of duel system," Reimu explained. "They're magical attacks created as a sort of representation of our personality. In a spell card battle, two people try to dodge the other's attacks. The winner isn't decided by who's the strongest, but by who is the most beautiful. It's as much of a mental contest as it is a physical one."

Lyra's eyes lit up. "That sounds awesome! Who came up with that?"

"I did, actually," Reimu replied with no small amount of pride. "I was tired of the existing system in Gensokyo where the strongest ruled and youkai preyed on others without restraint, so I came up with this new system to make things fairer. Now anyone can fight on an equal level without any bloodshed."

"And anypony can make one of these spell cards?" Bon Bon asked.

Reimu nodded. "All you need is something to use as an attack and your imagination." She pulled out her stack of paper amulets. "For example, one of the things I use in my spell cards is my ofuda."

Bon Bon nodded along with her explanation, but wasn't convinced. "I'm no magic expert, but you aren't a unicorn. How can you actively use magic like that?"

Reimu just shrugged. "I just can. Comes with being the Hakurei shrine maiden. But anyone with even a little magic can use spell cards. Doesn't even have to be innate magic."

Lyra gave her roommate a friendly nudge. "Hear that? Even you might be able to do it."

Bon Bon chuckled nervously. If she was right, that would be a dangerous road for her to go down. Best if she avoids that path. "Thanks, but I'm good. I'd still like to see it though. If you really can perform magic like you say, I'll believe you."

"Works for me," Reimu said, standing up from her seat, "come on, let's go back to the shrine. Plenty of open space there."

"Why not the field outside town?" Bon Bon suggested, not really feeling safe going back into the Everfree. "It's right next to the Everfree, where your little path is."

Reimu shot that idea down with a shake of her head. "Too close to the town. I don't need to attract an audience."

"Alright," Bon Bon relented, "just let me grab something real quick."
> The Troublesome Wind Priestess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You know, I had my doubts, but this plan turned out even better than expected," Marisa commented at the display in front of her, "though you might want to work on your aim."

In the center of a clearing, Marisa had set a trap in the form of a decoy fairy. Well, it was an actual fairy that she had tricked into being a decoy. She had noticed the wolves liked hunting fairies, though their success was very limited. So using one particularly feisty ice fairy as bait to lure the wolves in then freezing them solid turned out to be a much better plan than trying to capture them the old-fashioned way. Of course, the fairy was perhaps too feisty as she not only froze the wolves, but several trees around her as well, almost even catching Marisa in the blast.

"Hey cold stuff, got another round in you? Or are you all spent yet?" Marisa challenged the fairy as a second pack emerged from the trees.

The fairy thumped her chest proudly. "Who do you think you're talking to? I'll freeze this whole forest if I have to!" 

"Great, you do that." Marisa had more power in her hat than most fairies would be able to muster against her. Still, they could put up a good fight against the wolves if properly motivated and the witch had plenty of motivation to offer them, mostly in the form of old trinkets she picked up from Kourindou.

Once the second pack was frozen as well, Marisa turned to Sakuya, who had been patiently waiting a safe(ish) distance from the manic ice fairy. With a nod, she disappeared, taking the frozen wolves with her. "Alright shorty, that should be good. Here's your payment." She pulled a little trinket from her pocket, a plastic wheel with a string wrapped around it, and tossed it to the fairy. "Go nuts."

As the fairy flew away, Marisa considered her next steps. Her usual methods of incident resolution were not useful here. There was no one she could just beat up to learn where the culprit was, because none of these stupid wolves could talk. And every other youkai she talked to was as clueless as she was or actively trying to help contain this gods-forsaken curse. At least she was pretty sure it was a curse. Maybe she should find a god to bless this forest or something.

"Why'd you just give that fairy a yo-yo?" Asked a girl's voice from above. Caught off-guard, Marisa looked up to see the voice belonged to the blue and white shrine maiden from the Moriya Shrine. It took Marisa a second to remember her name. Sanae, that was it. That weird Outside girl with the green hair and two patron goddesses that her and Reimu beat last month.

Marisa shrugged. "Is that what that thing was? It wasn't magical, so it's not like she can do any damage with it." When Sanae had no rebuttal for that, she continued. "Anyway, what are you doing down here? Looking for a rematch?"

"What? No. Well, maybe later. But I wanted to know what you were up to." Sanae landed in the clearing, taking a look around. "And what's up with this forest? It's giving off a spooky vibe. Like something out of Castlevania. Or Scooby-Doo."

Marisa didn't quite know what she was talking about, more odd Outside World speak, most likely. But the spooky part, she had to agree with. The underbrush was starting to get worse, ferns and thorn bushes were growing almost up to her height, and she was starting to get concerned that if this spread any further into the neighboring Forest of Magic that the already hazardous plant life might get out of control. However the unfamiliar plant life also presented a possible opportunity...

"Right... Well, I wish I knew. It just sorta appeared and started spreading. Wait, what makes you think I was up to anything?"

"Well I heard that fox youkai talk with Lady Kanako and your name came up. It sounded serious so I thought maybe it was one of your... Incidents."

"Okay, first off I resolve Incidents, I don't cause them. Mostly."

Sanae raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment further.

"Second, whether this is an Incident or not has nothing to do with you, so beat it. Unless you wanna become target practice." Marisa reached under her skirt, where she stored a few concoctions she had prepared earlier in the day. She'd been spending the last couple days dealing with wolves who couldn't even use danmaku, a good proper duel was way overdue.

Rather than fly up and prepare her own spells, Sanae landed softly and started walking up to her. Then to Marisa's utter bafflement (and slight disappointment) the girl dropped to her knees and started begging. "Please let me help! I've been wanting a chance to get out and help collect faith for the shrine, but we've been so busy dealing with Tengu politics Lady Kanako hasn't let me go out yet. Not after my blunder with Reimu's shrine. And you looked like you were having so much fun fighting Lady Kanako, I wanted to try my hand at it too. Resolving Incidents, I mean, not fighting Lady Kanako. I'm three seasons and a movie too early to fight her."

Taken aback by the unusual show of honesty, it took Marisa a moment to get her thoughts together. "You really wanna join us? Reimu really won't appreciate you muscling in on her turf like this."

"It's fine. It's not like that dingy old shrine of hers ever attracts any faith anyway. Besides, from what I gather, she's in no position to complain if I tag in on this one, riiight?" She gave Marisa a knowing grin that explained all she needed to know. Sanae knew Reimu was missing, or at least that she was unable to resolve this herself.

No sense in denying it then, Marisa wouldn't be able to lie her way out of this one. "...Yeah, you're right there." She just needed to turn her away. Dealing with Sanae and her own shrine's agenda would only get in her way. "Wait, you said that your Goddess hasn't let you down the mountain? So what are you doing here?"

Suddenly the green-haired girl turned a shade of red as she looked away meekly. "Yeah, Lady Kanako has been rather busy lately so I sorta took the time to... sneak away."

...

"You mean you're defying your god's orders like a child defies their parent, just to learn how to kick some ass?" 

"...Yes?"

Despite her previous misgivings, Marisa found herself bursting into laughter. "Hahaha! You know what? We might make a proper youkai hunter out of you after all!"

Sanae jumped to her feet, a hopeful smile on her face. "Really? So you'll let me join you?"

"Yeah sure, why not? Stick with me, kid. Together, we'll blow the mastermind behind this mess away no problem." And if needed, Marisa now had an eager distraction to throw at the youkai. Win-win.



"So what are you gonna do about your patrons when you go back home?" Marisa asked as they walked up the stairs to the grove where this all started. Reimu had once expressed worry to Marisa that the path to the Hakurei Shrine was not well-lit enough, that it would repel worshippers. Well now, among these mutated trees that seemed to actively repel sunlight from their canopies, there was no doubt about that anymore.

Sanae seemed to have lost her earlier excitement and confidence, now looking at every shadow like those goddesses of hers could jump out at her at any moment. "I don't know... You think they'll be mad that I snuck out?"

The witch just shrugged. "Probably."

"Maybe this was a mistake. What if they strip my power away?"

"Can they even do that? Aren't you like, half-god yourself?"

"That just fuels my miracles. Most of my regular magic comes from Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako. Could they keep me grounded? Like how you'd pluck a bird's feathers to keep them from flying away?"

"You aren't a bird though. How'd that even work?"

"I dunno, you tell me," Sanae said with a shrug.

"What do I look like, a tengu? I don't have wings, nor do I want them."

"I dunno, wings sound pretty cool to me. I can fly pretty good already, but imagine if I had wings like a tengu. I might even be able to keep up with you!"

Marisa laughed. "Hah, in your dreams maybe. No one can keep up with me!"

"What about that papergirl, Aya? I'm pretty sure I've seen her go supersonic once."

"...Almost no one can keep up with me!"

Sanae giggled at Marisa's awkward boast, her earlier nerves gone. "You know, if Lady Kanako doesn't ground me for life for this, we should hang out sometime. I brought a bunch of manga over from outside, we could read them together."

Marisa clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. If they try to punish ya, we'll tag-team them." She'd have to consider the whole "hanging out" thing later.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Marisa noticed that the vegetation around the grove had gotten thicker, and a ring of bright blue flowers had grown around it all. They looked unfamiliar to her, so Marisa quickly picked a few and stored them in an empty jar for later. Perhaps they had useful properties for her magic.

"What's up with these flowers?" Sanae asked, having stepped into the flower patch and picked one herself. She twirled it around in her fingers, inspecting it. "It's all blue. Even the stem. That's weird."

"It seems weird, but I've seen mushrooms with similar colors. These flowers probably have some interesting magical qualities." Marisa commented. "I'm taking some of these flowers for my concoctions. These I bet will give me something with a big kick."

"Yeah, but... aren't these flowers part of the Incident? You really wanna go messing with these?"

"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?"

"Did you really just-"

"Weeeeeeeee!" Came a girl's cry from above, and a brunette girl with cat ears, two tails, and a red dress flew right into the patch of flowers, burying her face in it. "Hey, you gotta try this!"

"Huh?" Sanae turned to the newcomer. "Is that a bakaneko? Who is she?" 

Marisa groaned. It was trouble. "That would be-"

"Chen!" On cue, Ran floated down, hovering above the flowers. She glowered down at the bakaneko girl. "Don't go rushing off like that!"

"Sorry Miss Ran." Chen sat up, still patting the flower bed beneath her. "But look, they're so pretty and soft!"

"Chen." Ran repeated, her tone calm but hard. "Here. Now."

"Awwww... fine." Chen dejectedly floated back up to rejoin Ran. It was only then she noticed Marisa and Sanae staring at her. "Oh, hi humans! Are you playing in the flowers too?"

"Sanae Kochiya..." Ran's stern gaze turned to fix itself on the wind priestess. Magic power clearly radiated from her, enough to even give Marisa pause. "I thought I made it clear to your patrons that Lady Yukari would not tolerate-"

"They didn't have anything to do with me being here!" Sanae shouted defiantly. "I wanted to help of my own volition. They don't even know I'm here, probably. Please, don't blame them."

The magic aura faded as Ran's glare became a sigh. "You overheard then? Very well. I hope you can bare with the consequences of defying your patrons. You may not be a shikigami, but I imagine your punishment will be similar to what Lady Yukari gives me."

"I... don't think they're quite like you and the gap hag..." Marisa hadn't seen what punishment Yukari gave Ran, but to hear her describe it rather nonchalantly, it was quite violent. "But what are you doing back here?"

"My business here is my own. Lady Yukari has a vested interest in seeing the shrine returned, I am just doing my part in that. We've made a lot of progress in that regard and are close to breaching the barrier protecting this grove." Ran looked off to the side, an inhuman, almost predatory grin emerging. "I'm sure your gallivanting around hasn't gotten you anywhere closer to that. Looks like Lady Yukari will win~" Marisa didn't seem to notice, but Sanae did. Ran was egging her on for some reason. 

And to Sanae's disappointment, it was working. "Oh yeah!? We'll see about that!" Then before she knew it, Marisa had flown up to engage Ran in a danmaku duel and left her alone with the bakaneko, Chen.

"Miss Ran is gonna get in trouble again." Chen said, startling the Outsider. "She wasn't supposed to fight anyone."

"She wasn't?" Sanae asked. "Then what was with all that? Goading her into attacking?" She motioned up at the duel. 

Chen shrugged, floating back down to lay on her back in the flowers. "Dunno. Miss Yukari just told her to make sure the black-white one was still on-track, whatever that means. But you aren't black-white. You're blue-white. What's up with that?"

"...Wh-what?" Sanae stammered, confused by the question. "I'm a wind priestess, the link between the human and divine for the Moriya Shrine." 

"Uh huh. Well Miss Ran will probably need my help soon. I should get up... Maybe five more minutes..." And with that, Chen was out cold, evidenced by the ever so soft snoring of this admittedly adorable cat girl. Is this really one of Gensokyo's feared youkai? She seems like any other catgirl I'd find in an anime or such...

So Sanae turned her attention back to the duel. Marisa's attacks were much like she had witnessed in her previous battles the month prior. She was fast, powerful, and incredibly flashy. But the fox... She almost looked like she was toying with Marisa, flinging out intricate patterns while dodging every star and beam the witch threw her way. Her aura was incredible, almost as great as her own goddesses. "So this is what a bonus level boss looks like..." And Marisa was not only keeping up with her, but she was also having fun doing it. She had a lot of work to do to match either of them.

Ran's pattern then suddenly shifted; a new spell card being called. Rather than flying into it directly, Marisa flew up and over Ran, trying to get a clear shot at her. Ran seems to have expected this, and readied another attack, but paused. Sanae could tell something wasn't right. Ran barely got time to turn to look directly at her and Chen before Marisa capitalized on the situation. A massive rainbow laser shot from Marisa, striking Ran directly in the back and sending her plummeting to the forest below. Marisa's signature Master Spark; Sanae had watched it nearly put a hole through her shrine once before. Seeing it here however, it felt even stronger. Just how much did that witch hold back? 

But Sanae's train of thought was interrupted as the laser kept going, right for her! She barely grazed past the prismatic death ray as it cleaved through the earth, tore up the flower bed, and continued on, right into the thick grove of trees. When the attack ended, Sanae had a clear view through the trees, into what looked like a clearing with a tiny pristine spring in the center. Beside it sat an old tree stump, gnarled and mossy, yet still somehow alive. And sitting on that stump-

"Whoo! That felt good!" Marisa hollered, startling Sanae away from the scene. Whoever was on that stump disappeared from view, like they were never even there. She floated on down, hopping off her broom to take in the damage she caused. "Might have gone a bit overboard, but I'd gone this whole Incident without a proper fight. I needed that. Plus teaching that gap hag's pet a thing or two always feels good."

"I don't know how you do it. The magic you throw out like that should be impossible for any normal human. You sure you're not like, half-youkai or something?" Sanae questioned, motioning at all the damage that blast caused.

"Nope, human as the day I was born!" Marisa thumped her chest proudly. "I'm just the number two in Gensokyo! You couldn't have picked a better teacher to show you the ropes of Incident solving than me." Then she finally noticed the gap in the trees. "Oh! The barrier is down! It's finally time to see who's behind all this, come on!"

Marisa started walking towards the gap, but as Sanae turned to follow, she stumbled. A sudden extreme feeling of vertigo overcame her and she grasped at Marisa's shoulder to keep herself upright. Her stomach twisted and everything felt heavy. "Wait! Something... Urp, I don't feel right. I need a rest."

"What? But we're so close, I- woah!" Marisa quickly moved to catch Sanae as she nearly fell. "Dammit, what happened? Sanae!? Get up! Or I'll leave you here and resolve this myself!" When the rapidly weakening girl didn't respond, she cast one last look towards the opening. There was the undeniable feeling that someone was in there, watching her, waiting for her. But then she hefted Sanae up and got her arm around her, and that feeling vanished. "Dammit, fine... My house is closer, just hang on."

With that, Marisa helped the nearly unconscious Sanae onto her broom and carefully took off for her home in the Forest of Magic. The mastermind could wait another day, hopefully.