Fate/Reach Out
Chapter 9: Bad News Travels Fast
April 12th, 2011 - Samegawa Flood Plain
The walk past the floodplain was mostly quiet, much to Chie's irritation. No one was talking or making eye contact, just staring ahead at the road or gazing at the floodplain, in Yukiko and Emiya's cases, respectively. She expected this out of her friend Yukiko, the shy little thing, but not the new guy: Shirou Emiya managed to cast himself as an enigma upon arrival. He was a city boy like Yosuke, but wasn't at all what Morooka predicted or what Yosuke was when he first moved into town.
Now that she thought about it, he was everything Yosuke Hanamura wasn't: polite, quiet, attentive…? Not exactly a lot to go on, she needed to find out more. Thus, conversation!
"So, you ever heard of the Amagi Inn, Emiya?" she started simply.
"A few times," he replied amiably. He didn't elaborate how or when.
"Well, Yukiko's family runs it. It's been going on for generations. It's the pride of Inaba!"
"Mhm," Yukiko nodded.
"I see," Emiya followed.
Chie fought back a twitch; neither one of them were enthusiastic about this at all! She tried again: "…Amagi Inn has been in a lot of magazines as a hidden treasure. Yukiko's going to inherit it someday."
"Mhm."
"I see."
"…It attracts a lot of visitors in because of its natural hot springs?"
"Mhm."
"I see."
…This is getting ridiculous. It's like they were made for each other… maybe- A sly smile crossed the tomboy's face "…Emiya, Yukiko thinks you're cute."
"Mhm."
"I see."
A second passed after their automatic replies, leading Chie to wonder if they even heard her. Suddenly, they both stopped and exchanged wide-eyed glances and full-face flushes with each other. "What?!"
She couldn't help it; their faces were just too funny! "Hahahaha! FINALLY, a reaction!"
Yukiko pouted at her, the blush still fresh on her face. "Chie! That was mean!"
"Oh, come on, lighten up!" the kung-fu enthusiast smiled. "We have this big chance to talk to someone from a city and you're just clamming up! How do you expect to get a boyfriend at this rate?"
Turning to the transfer student, she leaned in with her hand beside her mouth to mock whisper. "She's really popular at school, but she's never oncehad a boyfriend. Can you believe it?"
"Hey! Stop it, Chie!" Yukiko cried. She quickly but gently pushed her friend aside so she could stand in front of Emiya. "Don't listen to her, Emiya-kun! She's lying, alright? I'm not popular and I never had a boyfriend! W-wait, no! I mean-"
"I-it's alright, calm down," he said, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. "Everyone takes their own time and pace for relationships, right? Waiting for someone to come along?"
Yukiko visibly relaxed. "Y-yes, of course! That's absolutely correct!" She glanced away briefly and let her voice trail off. "Just waiting for someone…"
Chie thought Yukiko looked rather glum for a moment after that statement, but wrote it off as her imagination. She knew her kind-hearted friend too well to believe she could be gloomy. Yukiko and glum just didn't mix.
"Besides," Emiya continued, having not noticed. "I'm not exactly the best person to ask for relationship advice. Have you asked Satonaka-san? She could help you better than me."
Wait, what did Emiya just say? "Uh, come again?" The other two glanced back at her, confusion abound in their gazes.
"You have a boyfriend don't you, Satonaka-san?" Emiya asked innocently. "I could be wrong, but you made it sound like you had one already."
How did he come up with THAT? Yukiko's the school idol, not me. They all don't even notice me half the time. To have a boyfriend before Yukiko… that might take a small miracle, but it might be nice as long as she's around and looking beautiful as ever-
Chie forced a laugh. "Hahahaha… you're such a kidder, Emiya! I'm afraid I'm just as single as Yukiko, but not because I couldn't find someone." Liar. "Most of the guys are well… intimidated by me." Liar. "I could find someone if I wanted to, though." Liar! "I just don't have the time, really." Liar, liar, LIAR!
"I see," Emiya nodded. Silence loomed over them and the trio resumed their walk, putting most of the awkward conversation behind them.
Chie opted to change the subject to draw her mind away from her earlier thoughts. "Soooo, Emiya, what made you decide to come all the way out from the big city to Inaba?"
"Well, I don't know if I'd call Fuyuki a big city, but I was invited over by some relatives. My uncle and cousin live here," he answered, seeming more open after Chie had all but pried his mouth open earlier. "I'm visiting them for a year and have transferred to school here in the meantime."
"A year?" Yukiko blinked. "That's a rather long visit with relatives. Do your parents mind?"
When Emiya didn't answer right away, Chie had a sinking feeling Emiya's visit to Inaba was something serious, maybe about recent lost family members or something. Coming over to visit their uncle in a rural town would easily be the one kind of relative most people would hate having to see. She didn't get a chance to ask or probe too deeply though or ask why. The commotion up at the crossroads was answer enough. Police cars had pulled in, traffic cones and barricades redirected traffic, cops worked throughout the scene, and a small crowd of pedestrians stood as close as they could, watching and gossiping.
"So that high schooler left early and came down this street?" one housewife asked another in hushed tones, but far from quietly enough to avoid being overheard.
"That's what I heard," the other woman nodded. "But to think something like THAT was hanging by an antenna…"
"I know! I wanted to see it too."
"You're a bit late then; the police and fire department both brought it down just a few minutes ago."
"Still, it sounds terrifying, that a dead body was found up there…"
A wave of terror washed over the three students. "Di-did she say… dead body?" Chie stuttered."As in… a real dead body?"
"Hanging from an antenna?" Yukiko added with a mixture of horror and morbid curiosity.
Emiya frowned, his expression tightening as he scanned the crowd. "Was that what the announcement and the sirens were about?" His heroic tendencies welled up, and the desire to vault the barricade and have a look himself was almost overwhelming. Heck, he might very well have done just that if a familiar voice didn't catch his attention.
"Shirou?"
The trio was snapped from their thoughts and fears when a rugged, black haired cop, his jacket slung over his shoulder passed the barricade in front of them. "Dojima-san!" Emiya identified the man with a start.
"What are you doing here?" the detective asked with a slight edge in his voice. Whatever had happened, the redhead was obviously not meant to see it.
"We were just heading back from school," Emiya answered. "The announcement didn't tell us what happened, just to head home."
The cop sighed to himself, face scowling. "I told that damned principal not to let anyone through here…"
Chie had glanced between the two of them as they talked before her curiosity got the better of her. "Hang on, you two know each other?"
"Ah, well, he's my uncle," Emiya answered while scratching his head sheepishly. "Dojima-san, this is Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi: they're classmates of mine."
"Pleased to meet you," Yukiko nodded. Chie followed her example slightly hastily, flummoxed as she was.
"Likewise," Dojima grunted back. "Well… how should I say this? I hope you both get along with him."
Chie and Yukiko exchanged perplexed glances, and saw that even his nephew was confused of what he meant. It wasn't like the man was being sarcastic or crude, but he seemed… awkward about it. The moment passed as another officer in a blue suit rushed by, his cheeks green and a hand over his mouth. He barely made it past the students and behind a guard rail before he lost control of his bowels, noisily vomiting into the grass. Whatever happened to the body was not meant for the faint of heart.
Dojima's expression darkened. "Goddammit, Adachi! If you can't be professional about this, you're going to be sent back to central office!" he snapped.
"S-sorry," the now-identified Adachi whimpered, attempting to cover his mouth and push down his nausea. He was having minimal success.
The hard-boiled detective sighed, muttering to himself along the lines of "rookies" and "unfit for the job" before returning his attention to the students. "As you can see, we still have work to do here, so you three need to head straight back home and not wander around. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the trio agreed. It came out slightly delayed in Shirou's case, something that did not escape Dojima's sharp eye.
"And Shirou? Think you can take care of Nanako for tonight? I have a feeling this is going to be an all-nighter." He sounded resigned with the situation, and from what the redhead had gathered it probably was a pretty regular thing.
Emiya's face twitched to a slight frown for a second at the thought, but he nodded all the same. "Understood, Dojima-san."
Satisfied, Dojima walked off and called to the rest of the officers in the area, his commanding tone visibly motivating the officers into action. "All right, boys! We got a lot on our plate, so everyone get moving! Start with the one who found the victim and any known relatives and get us a list of contacts! We're not calling it a night until we find the sick bastard who did this!"
Hurrying past the scene, the trio of students parted ways at the edge of the floodplain. Once the girls were out of sight, Shirou took off for the shopping district. He had lost track of time at the crime scene, and he still had to make a stop by MOEL before he went back to the Dojima house.
Even with the school and Dojima telling him to head straight home, he had already given his word that he would start as soon as possible. At least he was only looking for a part-time job, even if it would mean that he would have to settle for late meals. He couldn't afford to be gone all the time and leave Nanako alone, especially with Dojima himself working long hours.
He hustled through across the floodplain and rushed north. The incident had closed off one of the main routes that led to the shopping district, forcing him to take a longer route than he expected.
MOEL Gas Station
When Shirou arrived, Nami was the first to notice. He waved him over while he continued wiping the windows on a green delivery truck. "Shirou-chan! Welcome back! I almost thought you weren't going to show!"
"Sorry about the delay," Shirou smiled sheepishly. "A bit of an accident happened further down the road."
"Ah yes," Nami nodded. "About the dead body being seen suspended by a TV antenna? Man, murder cases get so complicated these days."
Shirou couldn't keep the surprise from showing on his face. "You heard about it already?"
"In a small town like this, word of mouth is the best source of information," Nami explained before waving goodbye to the green-clothed customer returning to his truck. "The people of Inaba share gossip all the time whenever something comes up; considering how quiet it is around here, any real news is gossiped over pretty much the instant it happens and it gets wilder with each telling. It's practically Inaba's official pastime. You should have heard half the stuff they came up when the Junes department store was first built here! Gets me nostalgic just thinking about then. Wasn't even a whole year ago…"
Sighing whimsically, the attendant gave Shirou a good once-over from head to toe. "Hmm… you look a bit short compared to most boys your age, but you should still fit. You might be more balanced with your weight as well. Can you do manual labor?"
Shirou nodded. "I'm also very good with my hands; repair work, mostly. I occasionally fixed motorcycles in my spare time for some family friends." Raiga Fujimura would occasionally ask him to fix his favorite bikes and paid him well for the service rather than risk going to a black market dealer or give his personal information to a legal repair shop. Nice guy or not, he was still yakuza. For that reason, Shirou made sure not to give away too much about the Fujimuras, especially near Ryotaro Dojima.
Nami whistled. "You keep on surprising me, Shirou-chan! We actually have a motorcycle out back that's been on quota to get fixed by tomorrow. Think you can handle it?"
"Sounds simple enough," Shirou nodded. "Sure, I'll do it."
"Great! But first you better go see the boss inside. I told him you were helping, and he wants to go through all the official 'paperwork' of your application. He also has a spare uniform you'll need to change into." Nami offered a lopsided smile. The redhead was pretty much already hired anyway; anything resembling official procedure was just an affectation.
"Thanks. I'll get right on it." Like Nami had said, the station was looking for part-time workers and was alright with anyone willing to come in at least once a week at any time interval. In Shirou's case, the manager asked him to work at least three hours a shift, seeing as he was a student and thus had limited availability. A small town with so little could afford to be flexible like that, a perk Shirou wasn't sure he would take advantage of all that much.
It wasn't long before Shirou reappeared outside wearing a MOEL uniform that matched Nami's. Sharing a brief cap salute with his senior worker, they made their way to the back of the station and the small garage/shed that held the marked motorcycle.
"One of our older workers started working on it some time ago," Nami explained. "But he got sick and isn't likely to recover in time to work on it before the pick-up date. Kind of a rough initiation test I'm sure, but do you think you can pick up where he left off?"
Shirou nodded, his eyes only leaving the motorcycle to check the toolbox and confirming it had everything he might need. "I got it. Just give some time and a little privacy, please. You can check back on me in an hour if you want."
"You sound quite sure of yourself. Alright, I'll time ya for an hour; got some work up front to take care of anyway. Good luck, Shirou-chan!" Nami gave a quick wave before returning to the front, leaving Shirou alone.
Shirou let out a sigh of relief. Nami-san probably assumes I'm going to do something delicate. Well, it is delicate, but…
After one final check to make sure no one was watching him and that there were no security cameras facing his way, Shirou placed his hand on the helm of the motorcycle. He had no idea what was wrong with it at just glance and Nami didn't elaborate, possibly unsure himself. Normally it would take a person some time to figure out the exact problem with so little information, but Shirou had his own personal cheat for that. "Trace On."
He closed his eyes and focused only on the bike, his magic building a model piece by piece in his mind's eye. Soon, the imperfections that hindered its smooth functioning came together. "…The starter relay's worn out and needs to be replaced… the battery is still good, as long as it's recharged… front tire is flat, but the back one is pumped full…" I'll need some spare tools in the shop to fix this…
With a slow breath, Shirou brought himself from his mild trance and closed his Circuit. When he opened his eyes, they were filled with a knowing glint. "All right, let's begin." Reaching for his tools, Shirou dove into the machine with a measure of enthusiasm, knowing exactly what to do. He couldn't keep a wry smirk from crossing his face at that. "At least that skill still works outside of dreams… Man, this really is the only thing I'm any good at."
As much as he loved his adoptive father, sometimes he wished Kiritsugu had managed to teach even a few more spells, or that he had a greater knack for magic in general. As it stood, what few abilities he had were more suited for a handyman than a hero. While his three spells did in theory have the potential for combat as his dream proved, he just didn't have the talent to make it all come together reliably.
Kiritsugu told him as much while he was still alive; quite bluntly in fact. Other magi didn't need to rely on chance or knowing something so completely to bring about their mysteries. They could focus on the center, the prize: to change the intensity and focus as fast as possible before another could stop them. Anything else was pointless.
That being said, Shirou still found good use with what little he had in fixing things. If he could use his magecraft, no matter how useless, to better improve, help, or even save the lives of others around him, he would be content with being a two-bit hack for as long as he had to.
An hour of tinkering and tool changes later, the older MOEL attendant was walking back up to greet him. "So, how go the repairs?" Nami asked, looking intrigued.
"I think I got it. Let's see if I'm right," Shirou smiled, showing him the starter key and turned the ignition. He was rewarded with the sound of a rumbling, roaring engine and the vibrating handle bar in one of his steady arms.
Nami gawked for a second before giving Shirou a thumbs-up. "That was fast! You really know what to do with motorcycles, huh?"
"It helps that I've done jobs like this before," Shirou half-admitted.
"I can see that. I knew I made the right choice recruiting you! Come out to the front when you've cleaned up here. We'll start with the main building next." The two spent the next hour with simple clean-up around the lot and the building, Shirou taking to the simple tasks with ease.
"So, I got the name of the person that was found dead up on that antenna earlier," Nami suddenly mentioned as he mopped the storefront while Shirou cleaned to drink rack's glass. "Some people passing by said it was the TV announcer, Mayumi Yamano."
The red-haired teen stopped mid-wipe and blinked in surprise. "Yamano-san is dead?"
"I know! What a story! After the alleged love triangle with Namatame and Hiiragi, she ends up fleeing to our own little country town, and is found dead no later than she was found here! It's only a matter of time before the news channel starts sharing what they know!"
"A story?" Shirou seethed, his clenching fist wringing water from the rag in his hand. "No one's even upset that she's dead? They care more about the story?!"
"Of course they care that she's dead," Nami assured him, though he looked a little taken aback by the younger man's reaction. "The police are looking into it, of course. People would want to know what this means for the Yamano scandal they've been covering the last few days. The people in Inaba are just getting a little excited that something's happening so close to home."
"But someone's dead!" Shirou snapped. "How can anyone find that exciting?!"
"It's an abnormal murder mystery in a town that has constant rain and fog, and inn tourism gets boring after a while. It's as exciting as one would expect to get in this town with not a whole lot to do…" Nami turned to stare fully at Shirou, his expression suddenly neutral. "Although… this murder happened just after you arrived here new to the town. What's to say that you weren't the one who killed that person today?"
Shirou all but froze on the spot, a myriad of emotions vying for dominance, with outrage and confusion weighing the most strongly, though horror was right behind them. Nami's eyes looked almost red beneath the brim of his cap, cold and piercing. The normally friendly man could have bored a hole in him with his flinty stare. Shirou could only stare back at him wide eyed and gaping, fighting to make his objection heard and failing. "I… I…!"
Without any warning, Nami's façade cracked, and he all but doubled over with laughter. "Hahahahahaha! Oh, Shirou-chan, you're so easy! Of course you can't be a killer. I don't believe in coincidences, mind you, but you're too sweet and hopeful of a guy to even think of that!" Nami calmed himself for a moment, wiping a tear from his eye. "Though I do fear the kind of man you would become if you ever lost that limitation."
"That will never happen, Nami-san, I'll always be an Ally of Justice!" Shirou chided playfully. While in his head Shirou was dead serious in his vow, he had long learned that such a dream would only earn him ridicule if he made too much of it.
"I'm sure you will," Nami smiled cheekily. "Ah, the wonders of youth and their dreams…" Shirou blushed, but said nothing else, moving on to sweeping behind the counter.
After a few more minutes, Nami broke the silence again. "On a lighter topic… have you heard about the Midnight Channel yet?"
Shirou stopped, curious. "The what?"
Nami looked around the store and beckoned Shirou closer. Holding his hand to his mouth, he whispered, "Apparently there's this rumor going around about a special channel you can only see when you meet a specific list of conditions. If you stare at a turned off TV screen alone, in a dark room, on a rainy night you'll see your soulmate."
Shirou stared and blinked at the attendant. What he told him was so surreal and almost beyond belief. And yet… he believes it?
"Is it like… magic?" he tested. If he was a fellow magus, he would correct him on the term, albeit subtly.
"Magic?" Nami chuckled. "Nah, only kids believe in that stuff. Though I guess a little magic would be needed to believe and try this out. Most people these days don't have that in them anymore."
"You mean you believe the rumor?" he asked again.
"I kind of want to try it myself just to see," Nami admitted. "It was raining so hard last night so it might have been possible to see who my soulmate was… But I missed it; had an early morning shift today so I slept in. I meant to tell you about it yesterday too but I wasn't sure you'd even come back, honestly. Unless, of course, you saw what happened last night? Can you tell me what it's like?"
Shirou shook his head. "Sorry, can't say that I have." I was too busy getting lost in a foggy world and trying to fight off a Ghoul.
"I see," he nodded. "Well, I guess I could check the weather report and see the next time when it'll rain. I think it's coming up tomorrow, actually…"
Shirou focused back to sweeping, trying to get his mind off of things. He tried to think on finishing his work and going back home to check on Nanako. He tried thinking what to make her for dinner when he would get back. He tried thinking back on the school day he had.
But try as he might, his mind kept wandering back to the Midnight Channel.
Dojima Residence, Evening
Since it was only his first day, the manager had him work a short shift before having him sign off. It was getting close to dinner anyway, so Shirou thought this was fitting to end his first day at work before going back to the Dojima residence. He had never told him about his job there, actually.
Now that he was back in the house, Shirou was almost shoulder-deep in the fridge in search of ingredients for the nth time, and for the nth time frowned at the same results. I guess I can't be too hard on them; Dojima-san always works and Nanako's only six. They probably do take out a lot whenever he does stay home…
Still, the lack of food made it unlikely for Shirou to cook anything pleasant for tonight. He had wanted to try his hand at tonkatsu again, but he lacked the pork cutlet itself. He kept trying to think of alternate meals to go for, but most of what he found was suited for western breakfasts or snacks. There was a bit of white miso in the back, but there was nowhere near enough to do anything with it for two people. Wait, that's supposed to be red miso…!
Perhaps he was a little spoiled from cooking big meals all the time, but he felt very unused to having so few options. He wasn't sure what he could possibly put together with what he found, if anything. Fuji-nee herself would probably see that as her worst nightmare if she ever heard those words from him. Speaking of whom, he needed to give her and Sakura a call to let them know that he was settling in after dinner.
Wait… aha! There they were! Hiding in a corner of the pantry! "Do you like yakisoba, Nanako? I think there's enough for the both of us tonight!"
"…they're fine," she sighed, not even looking in his direction. Shirou turned to her and felt more than a little sympathy for the poor girl. Nanako sat lonely and dejected at the low table, switching her focus between the table and the TV in front of her. She took the news of her dad working late as well as Shirou would have expected her to: not so well.
For the sake of the food, he momentarily ignored her and focused his work on the kitchen, though a twinge of guilt still stuck with him. The minutes ticking away were long and quiet, almost painfully so. There was no Sakura Matou to help him cook or Taiga Fujimura to egg him to do it. There was just a little girl watching TV, too shy to bring up her own opinion half the time. The small family home felt cold.
It was such a stark contrast with how the Dojima Residence felt in comparison to his estate back at Fuyuki, in more ways than one.
"Dinner's ready," he announced, bringing over two hot bowls of noodles to the table. Nanako was still upset, but accepted her bowl and chopsticks offered to her.
"Itadakimatsu," they announced and started eating. The atmosphere of the day was not unlike last night's dreariness. In the background, the news anchor droned quietly before a familiar news story drew both Shirou and Nanako's attention.
"Our top story this evening concerns a bizarre case in a quiet suburb. Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa River in Inaba."
Shirou frowned, being reminded of Nami's words back at the gas station, and decided to listen for once to find out what was going on. The television showed the same image for the last few days; one of a smiling young woman with full makeup and in a white blouse "The deceased has been identified as Ms. Mayumi Yamano, a 27-year old announcer from a local television station."
Shirou frown grew. Mayumi Yamano… Nami-san was right. But shouldn't they show more concern of losing their TV announcer instead of discussing it like it was, well, the weather?
"The initial results of the Inaba Police Department's investigation have revealed-" Nanako's breath hitched slightly at the reminder that her father was involved in this. "-that the body was found hanging from a large television antenna atop a local resident's roof. Authorities are uncertain as to why the body was in such a state. With the cause of death also uncertain, police continue to investigate whether the death is an accident or a homicide. A thick fog common to the area has slowed their progress, and plans to fully canvas the area are delayed until tomorrow."
Nanako frowned as well. "They found her body on a roof? That's scary."
"Yeah," Shirou agreed. If only I knew about this sooner, maybe I might have stopped it from happening all together… I just hope Dojima-san can find who did this soon. The later parts of the new story were mostly recaps of the scandal again, particularly on theories of Hiiragi's retribution and Namatame's unlikely lucky break from an otherwise unwanted situation and the alibis of the prime suspects. More shameless journalism attempted to keep the story relevant, but all it did was annoy Shirou. I guess the boredom of the town is also alleviated by news media…
"This is getting boring again," Nanako frowned.
Shirou was glad that Nanako was mature enough not to fall for the propaganda, though it didn't explain why she would watch it in the first place. The news was normally not something kids her age cared about. He couldn't keep himself from asking.
"My dad and I always watch the news together. It's the only thing we can watch together." Nanako explained.
Shirou sensed something about her stressed tone, but said nothing on it. "Well, right now they seem more interested in talking about a dead body and that overdone love scandal story, so it doesn't sound like something a little girl should be hearing, right?"
"I guess not," Nanako agreed slowly, curious.
"Also, your father told me he was going to do an all-nighter on this case. He's not going to be back for a while, so why not watch something else in the meantime?"
Nanako's eyes widened slightly, and turned her head to the clock. She looked slightly anxious for something, but in an instant her gloom returned. "Well… there is one show that's coming on soon. But…"
The young teen tilted his head in concern. "But what?"
"You might not like it…" she said sadly. "It's not a show the boys at school like, either."
"Nonsense," Shirou smiled. "It's your house, and you have seniority rights over me. As long as you're happy, I'm happy. And your father won't even need to know."
Nanako looked unsure of herself, cutely fiddling with the helm of her dress for a few moments before meekly looking back up at Shirou "…You promise?"
"I promise."
And just like that, the little girl started to smile again. She reached for the remote and changed the channel. They caught near the beginning of the Junes commercial playing there.
"-ry day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products! Every day's great at your Junes~!"
Nanako smiled brighter, and sang the familiar words again. "Every day's great at your Junes~!"
"You're a good singer, Nanako," Shirou grinned back, happy that her mood was improving so much over these little things.
Nanako giggled. "Yeah! I'm the best one in the class!"
"Is that so?"
The commercial break ended, and Nanako's attention was back to the TV, almost bouncing in her seat. "Oh! It's starting!"
The show was a foreign cartoon, dubbed over in Japanese. The show's bright colors and cutesy animation went well with the opening tune, and Shirou found it easy to see why Nanako would like the show already. It was definitely aimed at young girls in every sense. The title appeared on screen and Shirou couldn't keep from raising a dubious eyebrow.
…My Little Pony?
A/N: If nothing else, this is a nod to "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" licensed for a Japanese dubbing last week. Plus, it seemed too good of a funny idea to pass up. Rest assured: MLP is just a show here and won't play any big part in distracting from the already established story.
Speaking of which, one of my favorite scenes had to be MOEL. People that played through both the game and the visual novel could probably tell the subtle hints left around. Since Shirou is playing as protagonist, he already is going off the rails and finding hints earlier than usual. And that's just one diverting part of many more to come.
