Chapter 4: Why are we still here? Just to suf-make Friends?
To say their initial reception by the locals of Ponyville was unique wouldn't be wrong. Upon heading out to their first destination they had an encounter of the pink kind when a bright pink mare nearly crashed into Twilight. Said mare then gasped for a concerning length before running off, leaving the trio befuddled.
"You wouldn't suppose that's how the locals greet newcomers?" asked Shirou with a wry smile.
"I very much doubt it, but I don't think it fair that we judge Ponyville for the interesting quirks of one of its residents," replied Twilight. "Spike, what's our first objective?"
"According to the Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist, our first task is to check on the banquet preparations being done at Sweet Apple Acres." Shirou found the name of the list a bit of a mouthful, but it seemed Spike was used to such things as he took it in stride. Now that I think about it, where did Spike get that list? Did Twilight make it when we weren't looking?
"You do know the way right?" Shirou couldn't help but ask as Twilight began leading their group. Twilight always prided herself in her checklist making skills so having prepared one on short notice while the others packed was a cinch.
"Of course Shirou, I made sure to study the layout of Ponyville while you Spike were getting ready. I even brought a map just in case," she replied showing the rolled up map poking out of her bags.
Satisfied with her response Shirou and Spike followed her lead. The trip was uneventful, although Shirou marveled at the homely atmosphere. It reminded him of a simpler time, of a home filled with friends enjoying food and company. I wonder how Rin is doing. Hopefully Zelretch hasn't driven her mad yet. Sakura and Taiga are probably worried, but they'll get over my loss with time. A wistful smile appeared on Shirou's face at these thoughts.
Soon they reached the gate to Sweet Apple Acres. It was quite the sight. Shirou wasn't all that familiar with farms due to his urban upbringing and as such was amazed by the sheer size of it all.
"Yeehaw!" a Stetson-wearing pony yelled as they rushed at an apple tree. They turned on a dime and bucked the tree. As all the apples on the tree fell into buckets, Shirou couldn't help but be impressed by the mare's skill and strength.
"Here we go, it's simple just about the preparations and move on." As Twilight tried to psyche herself up, she failed to notice that her fellow stallion was already on the move.
"Hey there! Sorry to interrupt your work, but I was impressed by both your skill and the quality of your apples." To Twilight's and Spike's surprise, Shirou had decided to take the initiative.
"Ah shucks partner, my skills ain't nothin' to write home 'bout. Am glad you appreciate a good apple harvest." Applejack was happy someone appreciated her dedication to her craft.
"I just find it fascinating to see someone so experienced in a craft. I also dabble in cooking so I can spot quality ingredients when I see them." A lack of kitchen access due to all that'd been going on might've been affecting Shirou a lot more than he thought. So when he saw such skill on display and witnessed the sheer quality of the apples he couldn't resist speaking up.
"Well if you're looking for ingredients, we have plenty to choose from here at Sweet Apple Acres! Uhhh, not to be rude, but what's your name and who're the other fellas?"
"Ah! Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Shirou Emiya, and the pe-er-ponies accompanying me are Twilight Sparkle and Spike." Shirou felt it was only right he at least introduced everyone else.
"Glad to meet y'all! My name's Applejack and I'm happy to welcome y'all to Sweet Apple Acres. We like to make new friends here! Now what can I do for ya?" Taking that as her queue, Twilight decided to address the matter at hand.
"I thank you for your welcome, and we were here to inspect the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration banquet."
"In that case, would ya'll care to sample some?"
"I suppose we have time…" Twilight looked at Shirou and Spike who just smiled and nodded at her. Shirou considered the possible recipes he could learn from tasting some of these dishes.
"Well then follow me ya'll!"
After being led to a table set outside, the trio were seated. They didn't have to wait long for Applejack to return with a musical triangle. Upon ringing the triangle they realized that maybe they had signed up for more than they could chew.
"Soup's on, everypony!"
With this declaration a plethora of ponies appeared, each with a dish of their own.
"Now, let me introduce y'all to the Apple family!"
"Thanks, but we really need to go-" Twilight's attempt to escape was thwarted as she realized they were practically penned in by the sheer number of Apple family members.
As if ignoring Twilight, Applejack began her introductions, "This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin. Red Gala-" She continued to rattle off names and each one presented a dish for the trio to taste. "-Big McIntosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith! Come on now Granny, we got guests."
While Granny Smith made her way over to the group, Shirou took his time looking over all the food. They might have all been apple based, but the sheer variety still astounded him. Twilight on the other hand was overwhelmed and hoped they didn't expect them to eat all of it.
"Haha, now that we've seen that the food is being handled well I think we should be off," Twilight nervously addressed the large crowd trying not to be rude.
"Aren't you gonna stay for brunch?" asked the small filly Apple Bloom.
"Twilight, I think it'd be best if we stayed to eat. We have a long day ahead of us still and hunger is the enemy." Shirou saw Twilight's hesitation and decided it was best to accept the offer of food. It would be rude after all to leave so soon, and it definitely had nothing to do with his search for new recipes.
"Shirou, are you sure? We really have a long list of preparations to check on."
"Of course Twilight, after all, wouldn't Celestia want us to ensure the quality of the food with a taste test?"
"Fine," Twilight sighed in acceptance. In turn, the crowd of ponies exclaimed in jubilation.
-{/}-
"Ah, what a wonderful meal, I really need to try out some of those recipes. You think there's a kitchen where we'll be staying?" Shirou was content with the food. Thankfully between the three of them no one ended up bloated due to overeating.
"I'd rather not think about food right now Shirou. Spike, what's next on the list?" Twilight still felt too full to even consider future meals lest she end up feeling sick.
"Next on the list is the weather. It says that the Pegasus in charge of keeping the sky clear is Rainbow Dash."
"Guess they're doing a poor job about it," commented Twilight as she gazed at the cloud filled sky. Distracted as she was, she didn't notice the incoming multi-colored missile. Fortunately another did and acted.
"Twilight watch out!" yelled Shirou as he rushed to push Twilight out of the way. He barely managed to get her out of the way as Pegasus flew where she had been.
"Woah! Sorry about that, didn't see you there." The Pegasus looked at the group sheepishly.
Twilight picked herself up from where Shirou had pushed her before turning to address the Pegasus.
"Thankfully your reckless flying didn't hurt anyone. Now that I think about it, you wouldn't happen to be Rainbow Dash?" Twilight was still quite cross, if it weren't for Shirou she would very much have suffered from a crash..
"The one and only! Why, you a fan of mine?"
"I heard you were in charge of clearing the skies for the Summer Sun Celebration. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Spike is the baby dragon, and Shirou is the stallion. Celestia sent us to check on the weather preparations. Yet all we've seen is some reckless flying and plenty of clouds."
"Those silly little things?" replied Rainbow Dash as she pointed to the clouds above. "I can get it done in 10 seconds flat. I'd rather finish practicing first."
"Practicing?" asked Shirou now that he felt no more wayward high speed Pegasi were near.
"Yeah for the Wonderbolts! They'll be performing for the Celebration tomorrow, and I'm gonna show 'em my skills!"
"Wonderbolts?" Upon seeing Shirou's puzzled expression, Rainbow Dash sputtered in surprise.
"How do you not know the Wonderbolts?! They're the coolest and most talented fliers in all of Equestria! Aside from me that is."
"Humble aren't we. Well if you're willing to compare yourself to these Wonderbolts then you wouldn't be opposed to showing me how good you really are?" Shirou couldn't help but rib at Rainbow Dash's ego.
"Just you watch buster!" Rainbow Dash flew into the skies and much to Shirou's chagrin she proceeded to clear in the 10 seconds she promised.
"Well, I can't doubt you after that display. How you did all that in 10 seconds is beyond me." Aside from Shirou, Twilight and Spike were also impressed with Rainbow Dash. To the point that their mouths hung open.
"Ha," Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh at the look of shocked surprise on the group. "See, I told ya it was easy. You're all pretty entertaining. Also, your reaction time was pretty fast Shirou, we should hang out sometime. See ya!"
As Rainbow Dash flew off, Shirou turned to Twilight who still held a surprised face. "Twilight are you alright?"
"Huh? Yeah, I've just never really seen somepony clear the sky so quickly before."
"Seeing as the skies are clear we should continue with the list, right Spike?"
"Yeah Shirou, next it says to check on the decorations in Town Hall."
The trio made their way to the Town Hall. It would be quite a walk, so Shirou figured he had some time to satisfy his curiosity.
"Hey Twilight, I've noticed that everypony we've met has a different symbol on their flanks. I also saw that I had one when Celestia cast her spell on me. Do they have some kind of significance?"
"You mean your cutie mark? Everypony gets theirs when they discover their innate talent. Although I don't remember you having one as a human unless you had it hidden under your clothes?"
"No, I can assure you humans don't have cutie marks. If they represent our innate talents then I suppose mine makes sense." Shirou chuckled bitterly at seeing his cutie mark resembled his Reality Marble. It served to remind him even now how his path and Archer's own were one in the same. "Yet these hands will never hold anything," he mumbled to himself.
Twilight managed to hear his soft-spoken words and grew concerned with him. She wanted to believe that meeting new Ponies was helping Shirou. Celestia might've had the right idea to ask us to make friends. If anything it might help Shirou. Although, I think I am starting to enjoy having Shirou as a friend. Maybe it isn't so bad to make friends. Still! I need to focus on what to do about Nightmare Moon. No point in friends if Nightmare Moon ruins everything.
-{/}-
The preparations were nearly done when the group arrived. There were ribbons and flowers set all around. They all agreed it was quite the beautiful set-up, but some found beauty elsewhere as well.
"Wow, so beautiful," Spike sighed wistfully as he looked at the mare decorating the place.
"Yup, with the decorations nearly all in place this shouldn't take long." Twilight smiled at the thought of nearly being done so she could head to the library.
"Twilight, I don't think Spike was talking about the decorations." Shirou smirked at the poor lovestruck dragon.
"How do I look? Are my spines straight?" Spike frantically tried to fix his appearance.
"Spike, calm down, you look fine." Shirou reassured the poor dragon as he saw him begin to lose his cool. "Now we should introduce ourselves first. So don't get too ahead of yourself."
"Oh right!"
"Hello, we're here to check in on the decorations. I'm Twilight Sparkle and my companions are Shirou and Spike, he's the baby dragon."
"Hm, no no no, that simply won't do." The mare seemed lost in her own world as she decided between ribbons.
Shirou took some more time to admire the work so far, even casting Structural Analysis to understand how ponies were able to construct such buildings and decor. It was still strange to him having to use a horn as a foci. He hoped he wouldn't be forced to use his Projections while in this form, it'd be difficult to wield a sword without hands. He could always fire them off, but he didn't want a pony getting caught in the crossfire. These thoughts occupied his mind as Twilight tried to speak with the mare.
"Excuse us, not to break your focus but can you please tell us how things are going here?" Twilight was a bit nervous trying to interrupt somepony so clearly engrossed in their work.
"A moment please! I am 'in the zone', and I do not want to break it so close to completion. Ah yes! A brilliant shine just brings out the beauty and lights up the room. Wonderfully done Rarity, your eye for beauty never fails. Now then, how may I help you?"
"To begin, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are Shirou and Spike," she answered while pointing out her companions. "We just wanted to make sure the decorations are going well."
"But of course dear, everything is going splendidly. I have done the utmost to ensure the decorations are worthy of hosting her highness Princess Celestia. I do apologize for the delayed introduction, my name is Rarity, it is a pleasure to meet you all darlings."
"That's fantastic, we'll be off then. It was nice meeting you as well." Twilight smiled and prepared to leave only to be stopped by the mare.
"Now dear, don't be in such a rush. I believe I can spare a few minutes, especially with the flash of inspiration I've just gotten now that I've gotten a better view of you darling." Rarity immediately pushed a confused Twilight towards her boutique. "Oh darling you'll absolutely adore the dresses I have in mind. In fact, I do think I can find a matching outfit for your Stallion friend as well."
"Wait! Where are you taking me?! Shirou! Spike! Anyone! Help!"
Shirou's strained smile showed he saw no harm in letting Rarity indulge a little, but more importantly he wasn't willing to earn her scorn. He knew better than to cross a woman, in this case a mare. Rin and Luvia had made certain of that; he even winced at the memory of Rin's Gandrs. Spike on the other hand, followed them out, still enamored by Rarity.
"Spike, you are gonna make a fool out of yourself at this rate." Upon hearing this Spike did refocus and looked at Shirou sheepishly.
"Whoops, sorry about that. It's just, I've never seen somepony so beautiful, surely you understand Shirou?"
"I can admit she's pretty, but when you've seen a literal Goddess known for her beauty it's kind of hard to compete."
"Huh?" Spike's confusion distracted him from his swooning as he processed Shirou's words.
"It's a long story, maybe another time. Plus it looks like we've arrived."
The building they'd arrived at was designed to resemble a carousel and had plenty of outfits on display by the windows. Shirou was amazed by the quality of the work as he briefly used Structural Analysis on a few of them while they entered.
"Now then darling, we simply must find an outfit to suit you perfectly!" Twilight accepted her fate as Rarity began to dress her in all sorts of outfits while redoing her hair.
"I don't know where to be impressed by the selection or the speed at which she keeps changing Twilight." Shirou thought of how skilled one would have to be with telekinesis to create so many high quality dresses. He couldn't imagine forging swords with just magic, much less sewing all these outfits.
"I'm just impressed by her beauty," replied Spike.
"Alright buddy, no need to start drooling though." That broke Spike out of his trance.
"Now then darling, you were telling me where you and your friends are from, correct?" Rarity questioned Twilight as she chose between outfits.
"Well we've come from Canterlot."
"Oh my! How marvelous, Canterlot is simply the capital of all fashion, the level of glamor and sophistication is phenomenal. I'd be ecstatic to call you a friend my dear! You two as well darlings!" Rarity finally settled on a jewel encrusted corset-like outfit for Twilight. "Now then, I do believe rubies would be far more your style instead of these gaudy emeralds. I must also find a suit for your friend to match your outfit."
Seeing that Rarity had finally given her some breathing room, Twilight looked for Shirou and Spike. Seeing them waiting by the entrance she quickly made her way over.
"Let's go, now! Before she decides to restyle my mane.!"
"It's not all that bad Twilight, plus the outfit she gave you does suit you."
"Then I'm certain you'd enjoy playing dress up for her the rest of the day, right Shirou?" A strained smile made it clear to Shirou this was no empty threat. Yet he couldn't resist poking some more fun at her.
"I apologize my dear Master, I didn't mean to offend," cracked back Shirou.
"Oh stuff it and let's go already. As funny as it would be to see you getting dressed up, Celestia knows she'd keep us here the whole day till we'd be wearing more gems than we weigh." Twilight chuckled at the thought and even Shirou found such a thing amusing.
"Do we have to leave already?" whined Spike.
"Yes Spike, we can't stay here just for you to gawk at Rarity the whole day. Now, what's next on the list?"
"Hmph, the list says we need to check on the preparations for the music. Neat, it's the last task on the list."
"Let's hurry then, there is still enough time to look into the Elements of Harmony if we can get this done quickly."
With a spring in her step, Twilight hurried forward with Spike and Shirou trailing along.
-{/}-
The group found it strange that the music was being practiced in such a remote location. All around them were trees and other greenery. They heard birds singing nearby, it was a wonderful melody.
"Seems we've found the place," commented Shirou as they approached the music. They heard another pony talking when the music died down.
"Oh, um, please excuse me everyone, but please stop." They spotted a yellow Pegasus approaching a bird that had been singing out of tune. "Sorry sir, but you were just a teeny bit off tune. Now, let's all try again. A-one, a-two, a-one two three."
The birds resumed singing, this time in far better harmony. Only for them to be interrupted as Twilight went up to introduce herself.
"Hello!" At this the birds dispersed in fright. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare your birds off like that. I just wanted to introduce us. We're here to check on how the music preparations are going. My name is Twilight Sparkle and these are Shirou and Spike." Seeing how nervous the Pegasus looked, Twilight decided to ease her with a simple question. "What is your name?"
"Um, I'm Fluttershy," answered the Pegasus, her voice barely audible as she spoke far too softly. Fortunately Shirou's trained ears managed to hear her well enough.
"Hello Fluttershy, as Twilight mentioned I'm Shirou. It's a pleasure to meet you." Shirou did his best to help Fluttershy relax.
"H-hello." Shirou smiled as she seemed to settle down.
"Well, we've seen that you are handling the music well. I think we can go now." Just as Twilight turned to leave, Fluttershy finally noticed the last member of their group.
"Oh my Celestia! A baby dragon!" In a complete 180, Fluttershy bolted towards Spike, her nervousness forgotten. "I've never seen one before. He is so adorable!"
Spike couldn't help but gloat at the attention he was getting. He stood proudly as Fluttershy praised his cuteness.
"Now Fluttershy, let's not stroke Spike's ego too much." Shirou decided to step in as he could see this might prolong their stay here.
"But he's so amazing. I wasn't even aware dragons could talk. Oh, can I ask you a question, Spike?"
"Sure, what do you wanna know?"
"Oh, I'd love to know everything about you!"
"In that case, I'll start from the day I was hatched." At this Twilight felt it best to place Spike on her back so they could begin heading to the library. This didn't dissuade Fluttershy from following them as Spike answered her question with a lengthy recounting of his life. Shirou followed behind, listening as Spike told his story. He'd been a bit curious how Twilight had come to raise a dragon considering how powerful they are as Phantasmal Beasts.
-{/}-
The walk to the library was somehow long enough for Spike to finish recounting his life story. Shirou wasn't gonna question the timing considering some of the outlandish things he'd already seen today. It was interesting to note that his recounting lined up with the bits of Twilight's past he'd seen in his dreams.
Unfortunately for Spike and Fluttershy, Twilight didn't have time to continue indulging them. "Alright you've had your fun Spike, and as happy as I am that you've made a new friend we have business to handle."
"But Twilight I still haven't told her about today."
"Please Twilight, I really want to hear what he has to say," Fluttershy pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but we really are busy, maybe another time?" Twilight did feel a bit guilty at causing someone as innocent as Fluttershy distress. "I'm sure I could make time for Spike to visit you. Shirou could probably handle his responsibilities now so he'd have some time off."
"Hey! I didn't say I wanted to give up my spot as your assistant!"
"Calm down Spike, Shirou isn't going to replace you. You are still my number one assistant and I just want you to be able to rest every once in a while. As a growing baby dragon you still need plenty of rest and it'd be good for you to have some fun as well."
"Being Twilight's servant does mean she can order me to help her out with menial tasks, but I wouldn't dream of replacing you Spike. I don't think my life could ever replace anypony else."
"Stop that Shirou, I can see that melancholy smile on your face." Twilight wasn't having more of this self-deprecation Shirou seemed so fond of. I knew this was going to be a challenge, but why does he insist on devaluing himself. I can't let him continue like this, no point helping him find a new path if he keeps thinking like this.
"Sorry Twilight, I didn't mean to get you worried." Shirou winced a bit at her tone. I know I promised her to find a better path, but I wasn't expecting her to take it so seriously. Hopefully this will be over soon, it is getting difficult to avoid my usual thought patterns. His thoughts were mostly in agreement. Yet a small fraction of him, that had only gotten louder the longer he stayed in this peaceful place, refused. So why do I feel sad at the prospect of leaving Twilight behind?
Unaware of the deeper ongoings of the others, Fluttershy had mainly stuck to the sidelines. Her excitement at meeting Spike had subdued and now she felt very self-aware. She didn't want to intrude on their conversation so she made a quick getaway instead. She still needed to take care of a few things before she could attend the party Pinkie was throwing.
"Hey, where'd Fluttershy go?" A confused Spike looked around, "I didn't even get to say goodbye."
"I suppose she had to get back to her birds. No matter, we're finally here. Golden Oaks Library, hopefully we can find something to help us here. Just think of all the new books to be found." Twilight excitedly opened the doors ushering the others in as well.
Once inside, the trio found themselves enveloped in darkness. Shirou tried to look for a light switch of some sort by reinforcing his eyesight, but instead noticed the various Ponies hiding in the dark.
"Ah! Twilight we're surrounded!" Before he could do anything rash fortunately, the lights switched on. As his eyes adjusted to the bright lights he finally realized this wasn't an ambush, it was a surprise of a different kind.
"Surprise!" exclaimed all the ponies who'd been waiting in the room.
"Welcome to Ponyville!" followed up an incredibly excited pink pony. It was then Shirou and Twilight realized it was the same pony that'd nearly collided with them when they arrived in Ponyville. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Are you excited?! I saw you three earlier and realized I didn't know you! And I know everypony in Ponyville so that meant you weren't from here. So I thought it'd be fantastic if I threw you a party to welcome you here! Besides, I always make sure to throw new ponies a welcoming party."
"As much as I appreciate the sentiment," interrupted Twilight, "I was really looking forward to some peace and quiet."
"Why that's silly! How could you want it to be quiet? Parties aren't supposed to be quiet." Pinkie giggled to herself as Twilight made her way towards her room. She just wanted to read in peace. "Hey! Where're you going? Don't you want to party with everyone? I did invite all of Ponyville over after all. It felt wrong to let you all be lonely new ponies. So how about you make new friends at this party!"
"Sorry Pinkie Pie, but we really do have matters to attend to, but I bet Spike would love to party with you some more." Twilight knew Spike wasn't fond of her study sessions so she felt it would be fine to let him enjoy the festivities.
"In that case, it's time to party! Come on Pinkie Pie, those two are too busy looking at books anyways." Spike was happy to party if it meant he didn't have to stare at books for the rest of the day. Pinkie was just excited to have someone new to party with.
"Okie dokie lokie, just remember you're all welcome to join us at any time!" With that final exclamation Pinkie left with Spike. Twilight took this time to lead Shirou up the stairs to their room so they could get to work.
"Phew, I didn't think we'd ever get away from all those ponies. I get that trying to make friends is good, but I don't know if I have the energy for this much friend making." Twilight felt a bit tuckered out by the events of the day. She did get a burst of energy realizing she finally had time to look through some books in the areas not being occupied by the party. It's not much but maybe there'll be something useful in here.
Shirou wasn't afraid to admit the party had frayed his nerves a bit, after the events of the day he needed a break. Fearing they'd been ambushed had done little to ease his nerves as well. I can't even make a light dinner considering how occupied the library has become.
"Shirou, do you mind helping me out? I could really use your assistance getting some of the books in this room."
"Sure Twilight, I'm not sure the selection is up to par considering that most of the library is being used."
"That's fine, I just want to unwind a bit and reading always helped me." Twilight sighed, content as she opened a nearby book and began to read. She got a few pages in before her curiosity drew her away from the book. "Hey, Shirou? I've been wondering. You mentioned that you were a magus. That means you know some spells, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm only a third rate magus at best so I can only really show you some basic magecraft. It's not self-deprecation by the way, just reality back from where I'm from. My level of expertise is pretty abysmal due to my circumstances. I do have a kind of unique magecraft in return."
"While I'd love to learn even some basics, would you mind sharing your specialization with me?"
"I guess it would also be nice to test and see how this new world affects my projections. Alright then, I still wanna mention the other basics that make my unique magecraft possible. I will warn you that I'm not the best at explaining magecraft. Usually my friend Rin would be far better at this sort of thing"
"That's fine," replied Twilight, giddy with anticipation.
"To start, there's Structural Analysis. This spell allows me to understand the construction of any object I apply it to. For example, if I cast it on this book," Shirou chose a random book lying nearby, "I can tell the overall composition of the pages, the materials used for the cover, and the history of its creation. It lets me understand an object to a greater degree, but the more complex the object the harder it is to process that information. The mind can only take in so much information before it's overloaded."
"Wow! So you could use that to determine if an article is a fake or illusion then. Or you could also replicate a lost style of creation if it's not too complicated. Is it possible to learn these spells?" Twilight's excitement had only increased as Shirou spoke of the spells he knew.
"I'm not sure, while magecraft can only be used by those with open magical circuits it seems having a horn might be the equivalent here. I could try to teach you but it'd be difficult since I'm not much for lecturing."
"I'd still love to try, and it'd let us get to know each other better since I could try to teach you some of our own spells."
"I'm not sure I'd be able to use those spells unfortunately, Twilight. Like I said earlier, its near impossible for me to grasp more than the basics due to my specialization."
"Oh, well we could still try."
"If you're willing then I won't stop you. Now the next spell I want to cover is Reinforcement. Structural Analysis lets me gain lots of information on an object which I can then use to find its flaws and gaps. These gaps can be filled with magical energy to increase aspects of the object. Each object can only handle so much magical energy before exploding. So it's dangerous to do on volatile objects or on an organic subject." Shirou took a nearby quill this time for his example. "See this quill? The point has dulled with use, but if I were to reinforce it, the point would become sharper than ever. That's not the only way to reinforce an object though. For example, when cooking I can reinforce the flavor of the ingredients or the heat dispersal of a pan. Reinforcement can be applied to nearly any aspect of an object so long as it has space for the magical energy being pumped in."
"If these are the basics, I can only imagine how complex magecraft really is."
"It can get pretty out there from what I've seen. Unfortunately I understand so little of it, I'd never be able to teach anything more than I know." At this remark Twilight's mood dipped a little, but she quickly recovered remembering Shirou still hadn't talked about his own spell.
"Maybe one day I could visit your homeland somehow and learn there?"
"Please don't, I mean this for your own safety. Earth is a very dangerous place, especially for a Phantasmal like you. The magi are ruthless and they're the least problematic group to encounter there. Promise me to never look into traveling to Earth." Shirou's seriousness threw Twilight for a bit of a loop. She did understand that he really did want her to keep out of harm's way so she had to accept his plea.
"I promise you Shirou, I will never try to travel to Earth."
"Thank you Twilight. How about I talk about my specialization then? Since you now have a rundown on Structural Analysis and Reinforcement, I can talk about Gradation Air. Gradation Air is a common magecraft that has little use to most magi, it can only create hollow objects with magical energy. This means the object will quickly disappear as the world rejects its false existence. It isn't creating matter from nothing and only simple objects can be made. Hence the reason most magi find it a useless spell." As Twilight processed this information, Shirou began to Trace a sword. It was a nameless blade, but it would be a good test run in this world. "Trace On."
"Normally those would be the limit of Gradation Air, but I managed to use my stubbornness to go further. As you can see I have created a simple sword from magical energy. Unlike objects made by Gradation Air, my blades are fakes nearly identical to the originals. I call this Projection, or Tracing since my aria when invoking it is Trace On." Twilight inspected his blade, she was amazed by how real it felt.
"The difference between Gradation Air and Projection is how the objects are created. My spirit and origin influence this as well. I'd compare them to your cutie marks, but a human's spirit and origin are set from birth and will almost never change. Mine just happens to be Sword for both. So when I use Projection I can only make bladed weapons and to an extent shields. This does allow me to better understand blades with Structural Analysis, to a point I can understand any blade I see at a glance."
"Wait, so just by looking at a sword you can understand its composition and materials?"
"More than that actually, I have an innate understanding of swords. To be honest you could say I'm more of a sword than human, haha. That's why I can also see the way they were forged and the accumulated years of experience of a sword's wielders." Twilight was even more impressed at learning how in-depth Shirou's specialization went.
"Projection has 7 steps when creating a projected object: Judging the concept of creation, hypothesizing the basic structure, duplicating the composition of material, imitating the skill of its making, sympathizing with the experience of its growth, reproducing the accumulated years, and excelling every manufacturing process."
"Wow," Twilight was a bit dumb founded at how many steps it took for Shirou to make a sword. It was impressive all the same. "You said you can't teach me Projection right? I assume it's because no normal pony could replicate all those steps."
"You'd be correct. Projection requires a deep understanding of a sword from its creation to its history. Most people wouldn't even be able to process half the information I gain at a glance. This also means I have no affinity for most other magecraft so I never tried to branch out when these are all the spells I need to help people. Well there is alteration, which as the name implies is the act of altering the properties of an object. I tend to use it to make swords into arrows." Shirou took a break. He'd never had to explain all of this to anyone before and it was quite a mouthful.
"I'm glad you were willing to share anyways, Shirou." Twilight smiled at Shirou, and he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at her sheer sincerity.
It's been a while since I've seen such a sincere smile. Maybe I should just enjoy my time here a little, it seems so peaceful. I may not be here long, but I can relax. It's what you'd want, right Illya? While Shirou was absorbed in his thoughts, Twilight decided to return to her research feeling better at getting a deeper understanding of Shirou.
With the sounds of the party as a backdrop the duo just silently read, enjoying each other's company. Eventually the call of sleep won and Twilight began to doze off.
"Hey now, you should sleep in your bed, Twilight." Shirou carefully helped Twilight to bed. As he turned to find a spot to sleep on he was stopped.
"Shirou, could you stay here with me. I'm afraid of what I'll see tonight and it'd be nice to have someone nearby to just feel safe."
"Alright Twilight, I'll stay with you. I don't think anything should be as bad as the Fuyuki Fire, but I know my past can be a mess." Shirou made his way over to Twilight and lay down near her.
"Thanks Shirou, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Twilight."
Twilight felt tranquil, Shirou's presence reminded her of her brother when he comforted her after a nightmare. It was nice, he felt warm and his fur was so soft.
Soon both of them fell asleep. When the moon rose to its apex they were fast asleep and unable to spot the change. The once prominent fixture of the Mare on the Moon vanished from its face. Soon they'd all know how fleeting their peace really was.