Chapter 1: A Fate Diverted
The light of the moon only served to illuminate the devastation that had taken place in a small rural town. Moonlight glinted off his black body armor, a red shroud covered his shoulders, and his black pants were stained with soot and blood wherever his red open skirt had failed to cover them. Collapsed buildings littered with corpses of their former occupants, each one a life he had failed to save. Even the Enforcers that had accompanied him had succumbed to the enemy's well-executed trap; the last of their number was nothing more than a red stain on the town square. Though he had already been on a few Dead Apostle hunts, this one had certainly turned into a disaster Shirou wasn't sure he could leave alive. But even then, defeating the Dead Apostle that had brought hell unto this small town took priority over staying alive. He couldn't let this monster destroy anymore lives, each one lost here already added to the many other lives he had failed to save. Their weight was a constant reminder that he only existed to save as many lives as he could, for that is what a Hero of Justice must do.
How long had it been since you'd taken up that dream? How many more lives would you fail to save? He could almost hear Archer's admonishing voice reminding him of the futility of it all. Ever since that day I failed to stand up to Archer on my own; to deny his nihilistic view on the ideals we inherited. I can't help but think that perhaps he was right and this is simply the fate of all Emiya Shirous. Even then I can't let this monster go, I have to stop him if only to prevent further deaths.
He gripped the married blades Kanshou and Bakuya, ready to face down the monster standing at the center of this atrocity. He could replicate Archer's innumerable years of experience with the blades, but being merely human he was still held back from reaching the same level of skills. What he had was still more than enough to deal with monsters like this Dead Apostle.
"How annoying, I truly believed my crimson fireworks would've made quick work of you lot. Unfortunately, it seems you share more in common with a roach than I anticipated" A voice cut through the crackle of flames as the Dead Apostle calmly stepped into the light of a flickering lamp post still partially functional. He was garbed in a fine dark red and black aristocratic suit which contrasted greatly with the carnage that laid around him. His pale skin was illuminated by the moon as his red eyes glared in Shirou's direction.
Shirou merely responded with silence, knowing his opponent could strike at any moment. He did briefly consider how this situation had devolved to this point. A tip had been sent of a Dead Apostle possibly residing in this town. It had seemed quite suspect for a tip to appear after they hadn't had much success in locating the Dead Apostle, especially when they didn't even know its name. Only rumors of a vampire with the occasional husk of a victim being found had led any credence to the possibility of an actual Dead Apostle being present.
Though they had thought themselves well prepared for any tricks, they had not been ready for the entire village to have been converted into living explosives. Apparently their prey had been doing research into a route to the Root with possible connection to the Blue who was infamous for her ability to level mountains. This had the consequence of allowing said Dead Apostle to convert the mana charged blood within living beings into improvised bombs. As such when they had arrived at the village to start their investigation they quickly found half their number obliterated along with a fair portion of the town square. From there the situation quickly devolved as the remaining Enforcers tried to rally and dispose of the townspeople before they could go off as well. Unfortunately they hadn't been quick enough, the sheer number of townspeople present for a celebration taking place at the town square meant there were too many to clear. Shirou only survived due to how sturdy his armor had become through a combination of trying to recreate Archer's own armor and a solid application of reinforcement, one of the few magecrafts available to Shirou Emiya.
From there he had utilized his specialized magecraft, Tracing, to Trace copies of the Noble Phantasms Kanshou and Bakuya. His preference for the Married Blades being a hold over from his encounter with Archer from the Holy Grail War. Though he loathed the man for being a twisted version of himself who hated the very ideals they shared, he knew all too well how likely it was he'd become just like him. This was his only path after all.
"Hmm, quiet I see, certainly an improvement from the usual screeching vermin, yet you must die all the same."
Shirou continued to stare unyielding in the direction of his foe, ready to jump into action at any sign of attack.
"Let this be a final reminder of your inferiority as a wretched bug, Enforcer," snarled the Dead Apostle as he moved to strike. He launched a crimson projectile from his right hand at Shirou before following up with a clawed strike at Shirou's side with his other hand.
Shirou responded by launching Kanshou at the projectile and parrying the claw with Bakuya. Upon meeting the projectile an explosion occurred launching Kanshou further into the air. Quickly tracing another copy of Kanshou, Shirou struck at the Dead Apostle who had been brought to a halt by Bakuya.
Quickly raising his right hand, now coated with a thin film of blood, the Dead Apostle caught Kanshou with his right hand, the thin film proving to be stronger armor than Shirou expected. Even with Kanshou's anti-monster properties, being a Traced copy of a C- ranked Noble Phantasm meant it lacked the full strength of the original. Yet cracks did appear on the hardened blood upon catching Kanshou.
With both of his blades caught, Shirou opted to let go and re-Trace them instead. This cost him more Prana, but his instincts told him that being too close to this Dead Apostle for longer than necessary would lead to a gory end.
"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm," Shirou followed up by launching these new copies knowing he had to end this quickly so his only choice was to use the Married Blades' exquisite technique. As the Dead Apostle tossed away the copies he still held in order to deflect the new ones, Shirou traced a new pair.
"Our strength rips the mountains," he then charged forward, aiming to slash at the Dead Apostle who was still distracted by the launched pair. Caught unprepared, the Dead Apostle could only rely on a layer of blood he had previously prepared as armor for this confrontation to catch the blow. Though it fractured and nearly broke it managed to mitigate enough damage to leave the Dead Apostle still standing and mostly unharmed. That was until the pair flying in an arc returned to meet their respective pairs by striking the Dead Apostles exposed back.
"Our swords split the water," continued Shirou as he noted the Dead Apostle suffered major damage from the attack.
Snarling the Dead Apostle prepared to retaliate as he grit out, "is that all the Hound of the Clocktower can do!? This pain is but an inconvenience, how about I show you what a real Magus is capable of when their research is unhindered by the Clocktower's laws in return!"
Shirou knew the Dead Apostle was about to unleash a massive attack with the thrum of mana in the air and spike in the pungent scent of copper and iron mixed with ash acting as more than a sufficient warning. Even then he knew he simply had to be faster, there was no other way to end this as the attack would likely be unavoidable at this distance.
"Our names reach the Imperial Villa," Shirou traced the final pair and immediately reinforcing them to reach Overedge, "The two of us cannot hold the Heaven's together."
"Sanguis vitae accende et conbure omnia," shouted out the Dead Apostle as he accumulated all the nearby blood into a sphere surrounding both combatants. "Wretched mutt! Even if you strike me down you won't escape with your life!" Upon finishing the accumulation of all nearby blood the mystery activated and the world ignited in an explosion of furious flames.
An instance later the Traced and reinforced copies of Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge cleaved into the Dead Apostle, tearing him apart. Shirou knew the blow was fatal, but there was also no way to escape the oncoming explosion. He quickly realized this would be the end for him and simply made peace with the fact he was at least able to strike down this monster. So this is how I become another dog of Alaya's. I'm sorry Illya, your little brother was too stubborn to avoid fate. As the flames reached him, almost welcoming him into a fiery embrace, he heard a voice.
Time froze as Shirou realized someone was calling for him. At first he suspected Alaya had come to collect her favored Hound, but it didn't quite feel like a being as powerful as Alaya was reaching for him. Though he did feel a presence he suspected to be hers not so far away as well.
"If you heed the call of Harmony and obey my will and reason, then answer me," familiar lines he hadn't heard in what felt like ages, "Guardian of Harmony and Friendship!" Wait that wasn't quite right, why were the verses changed? Before he could question it any further he felt a great pull through what he had to assume was reality and time due to the sheer strength of the force pulling him. His final view on this world was a slighted Alaya who realized too late someone had been attempting to snatch her hound right under her nose. He sure hoped whoever had summoned him had better intentions than Alaya at least. Yet he couldn't help but feel a headache coming along that wasn't caused by the array of sights and sounds assaulting his senses.
-{/}-
It was another wonderful day at Canterlot, and while normally Twilight Sparkle would've loved to just use this day to continue her studies under Princess Celestia, she had a self appointed mission to complete. She had been recently diving into older texts on the legends and myths of Equestria when she came across the worrying story of the Mare in the Moon. Though her search had been less fruitful than she'd desired. All she'd found were vague references to the supposed Elements of Harmony or retellings of the story of the Mare in the Moon with her best source thus far being a book called Predictions and Prophecies.
She had made sure to wake up bright and early to continue her search through the Canterlot Library. As Twilight poured over books, her trusty assistant Spike, the baby dragon, aided her by keeping track of any books that may be of use. Yet their efforts seemed to yield no further progress as the day wore on and night was quickly approaching.
"Spike, don't forget to check the section under the letter 'S' for any spell books that might present a solution," said Twilight as she continued to pour over a book on old bedtime stories for fillies.
"You got it Twilight!" replied Spike as he tried to keep his balance on the ladder he was on while reaching out for a strange spell book labeled Summoning Circles and Ancient Rites. "Gotcha!" exclaimed Spike as he finally pulled the book out, only for his celebration to be short-lived as the book was far heavier than it seemed causing his grip to waver until the book slipped out of his claw and plummeted prompting him to shout "Oh no!"
The loud bang that followed shook Twilight out of her reading and left her quite startled as she looked for the source of the noise, "Spike! What was that?!"
"Sorry Twilight! It's just that book you wanted weighed a ton and I kinda let it slip," Spike remarked sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, hey Twilight this page fell out of the book, you don't think I caused a page to tear out do you?" stated Spike with concern as he noticed that there was a separate page lying near the fallen book.
"While I wouldn't be surprised if the fall caused damage, and I would greatly appreciate it if you were more careful in the future, I do not believe this was your doing," replied Twilight finally recovering from her shock, "in fact the page seems older than even the book with how aged it is." Twilight continued to inspect the page as she placed the book on a table with the others they had collected so far. She noticed that the page was quite old with various parts of it nearly illegible and parts of the paper felt as if they were on the verge of crumbling. It was a miracle the page was even intact after accompanying that book on the way down. "Upon closer inspection, I do think we should handle this page with care considering how brittle it is," mentioned Twilight as she held the page in a delicate telekinetic grip and finally found a portion of the page that was legible, "let's see here, the page has lots of missing texts, but this bit here seems quite interesting."
"It reads 'Should the time arise for aid against the force that descends from the celestial body as foretold, perform these rites granted upon Ponykind to summon a Champion of Harmony' and then proceeds to list both the requirements and steps for a strange sounding ritual," Twilight mulled over this information. Perhaps this was the breakthrough she had been looking for, no other text had offered a solution beyond the Elements of Harmony and even those did little more than simply mention them.
"Well if you wanna try it out Twilight, I'd say better start now since we don't have much time before the Summer Sun Celebration. Maybe if we're lucky this will be what you were looking for and we can go to Moon Dancer's party tomorrow as well!" exclaimed Spike as he came down from the ladder.
"While you're right about starting now, I very much doubt we'll have time for any parties Spike, there is still much to prepare aside from this prophecy of the Mare in the Moon," replied Twilight as she continued to look at the odd instructions. "Most of this seems to be just setting up a summoning circle, which should be simple enough with the materials I carry around in my bags. Aside from that there is this weird chant I have to recite. I'm not sure if I completely trust it but I did notice that further down the page it credits Starswirl the Bearded and another name that cuts off after just the K."
"Spike please send a report to Princess Celestia that we've found a possible solution for the Mare in the Moon problem," Twilight started. "Also, ask her if we can have permission to use this library tonight to perform the ritual as it recommends a large open indoor area for the summoning," continued Twilight. She then began dictating a letter for Spike to send as she cleared the area.
"Oh… sure Twilight," responded Spiked as he pulled out paper and a quill. "'My dearest teacher, we have discovered a new spell made by Starswirl the Bearded and would like permission to try it out in the open space of the library' and done," said Spike as he finished and rolled up the letter before using his innate magic fire to send the letter directly to Princess Celestia by burning it. "Are you sure she'll let you perform a new spell in a place like this Twilight? Seems a bit dangerous if you ask me," remarked Spike with some worry as Twilight continued to make space.
"Of course she will Spike, I have proven to her that I can be trusted with this much at least, plus she knows I would never allow harm to come to a place of learning such as this," retorted Twilight confidently as she began to draw the summoning circle with great care. Just then a return letter appeared before Spike, "see Spike, she's already sent back a response."
"'My dearest, most faithful student Twilight, I am glad to hear you have continued your studies and have even found a new spell by Starswirl the Bearded. I have approved your use of the library for this spell and I trust you will ensure no danger comes to pass while performing this spell as well as reporting the results at your earliest convenience. I would also like to remind you that you should not forget to take some time to rest as I have a major task for you to undertake tomorrow.' Wow Twilight seems you were right, not just on the permission but on how busy we're gonna be tomorrow," remarked Spike as he finished reading out the letter.
"Being the Princess' student does come with its upsides after all Spike, now I just gotta finish the last details of this circle and we should be good to go," responded Twilight as she finished up. At this point, day was quickly giving way to night as the Sun dipped over the horizon casting its final rays of light through the large library windows. With the circle complete all that was left was to pour magical energy into it and recite the incantation from the page. Twilight gave it a final read to commit it to memory before beginning the ritual.
"For the elements silver and iron, the foundation stone and the Archduke of Pacts, and for my Great Master Starswirl," began Twilight, the circle began to glow as it filled with her magic. "Close the four gates, come forth from the crown, and follow the forked road leading to the kingdom," the circle now glowed a brilliant pink. "Fill,fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat five times, but when each is filled, destroy it. Set," as Twilight continued the circle's glow intensified to the point Spike had to look away. "Heed my words. My will creates your body and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the call of Harmony and obey my will and reason, then answer me." A light wind began to originate from the circle now, it rustled the loose notes on the nearby desks. "I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world," a gust of wind blasted out from the circle, yet Twilight carried on, unfazed. "That I shall defeat all evil in the world. Seventh Heaven clad in the great words of power From the binding circle thou Guardian of Harmony and Friendship!" With a final exclamation the power held within the circle unleashed a powerful blast of air upon the surroundings and a blinding light engulfed the circle.
As the wind abated and the light cleared, Twilight reopened her eyes and looked upon a strange bipedal outline. Getting a better look, she began to make out details of the figure. They appeared well built with defined musculature accentuated by black armor and a red clothlike material covered several areas of their body. But what drew her attention the most was their face, their hair was a crimson red with a few streaks of white throughout, and their eyes were a strange bronze like faded gold. Their confusion was apparent from their searching view as they tried to make sense of what lay before them. Soon they focused upon her form, their confusion giving way to resolution. A single question demanded to be spoken as the figure opened their mouth to speak.
"I ask of thee, are thou my Master?"