Harmony in Gensokyo

An average day in Gensokyo. So very average. It is always average. Nothing ever happens anymore, and that is why we find this creature sleeping on the job. This is the one and only Scarlet Devil Mansion. This here is Hong Meiling, and it is her job to guard the gate to the mansion. However, she doesn't seem to be very reliable. Always sleeping on the job. She is a tall, bipedal female with long red hair, a green sleeveless top with a whit, short sleeve top underneath, along with a matching green skirt that is cut at the sides. She also has a green hat with a star on it. She is certainly not a pony of any kind.

She is sleeping peacefully, leaned up against the wall be the gate, when she hears a noise coming from the forest. "Huh..?" She looks up and off into the forest. As she does, a purple pony with a horn and wings comes galloping out of the forest. Finally, somepony we know. Twilight stops running to catch her breath, then looks back at the forest. "That...little...creature...is...insane." She quickly hits the ground when she sees a foot swinging toward her head. "WAH!!"

Meiling brings her foot down and gets into a fighting pose. "Hey! Weird...thing! What's your business here!?"

Twilight quickly backs away. "Why is everything here out to kill me?! I-I'm not here to cause trouble or anything! I'm just lost, I have no idea what this place is, or who you are, or even WHAT you are!"

Meiling drops her fighting stance and scratches her head. "No idea..? Seriously?" Twilight quickly shakes her head.

"Excuse me..."

Both Twilight and Meiling nearly jump out of their skins when they finally notice another presence near them. This one is slightly shorter than Meiling. She appears young but she has grey hair, with two braids on either side of her face and green bows at the ends of them. She is also wearing your typical maid outfit and has a seemingly calm look on her face, though by her tone of voice you can tell she is annoyed by the amount of noise.

"S-Sakuya-sama..! Uh..um.." the gate guard stutters nervously, trying to think of what to say.

The maid, known as Sakuya Izayoi, holds her hand up to silence her. She then looks down at Twilight in confusion. "What is this thing..?"

Twilight sighs and gets back onto her hooves. "My..My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am not a thing...I'm a pony. Now please...PLEASE tell me where I am. One moment I was practicing a spell and the next moment I end up in that forest being chased by some creepy little..thing..trying to eat me!" She exhales after saying all that in one breath.

Meiling laughs at this. "Rumia huh? Please, she's harmless....mostly."

Sakuya thinks for a moment before responding. "I have a feeling you're not from around here." Twilight shakes her head. "Very well...Meiling. Back to your post....AND NO SLEEPING DAMN IT!!!" she yells.

Meiling quickly moves back to her spot next to the gate. "YES MA'AM!!!"

Sakuya nods to Twilight and leads the way into the mansion. Twilight looks around for a moment, slightly shocked at the size of the place, then speaks up. "So...Sakuya right? If you don't mind me asking, what are you??"

Without even turning her head she responds. "I am the head maid of this mansion."

"I mean your species...you certainly aren't a pony." Twilight responds as she face-hoofs at the maid's slightly obvious answer.

Sakuya stops at this and raises her eyebrow at her. "...You really don't know..?" She sighs when Twilight shakes her head. "Hmmm...well, I am a human. It is completely different from a pony. It is more like...a monkey, but with less hair and much more intelligent."

Twilight's eyes begin to sparkle with interest. "Ooooh...a new species. Oh this is exciting!"

Sakuya stares at her for a moment. "...Maybe I should take you to Patchouli-sama...She can help you with anything you wish to know. First however.." They stop when they reach a large door at the end of the hall. "...We must speak with the mistress."

Twilight tilts her head. "The owner of this mansion? Is she a human like you are?"

Sakuya shakes her head in response. "She is a vampire."

Twilight gasps. "B-But..vampires are just myths..! Stories to scare children!" Slight panic is evident on her face. Vampires? To her, such a thing being real was impossible.

Sakuya chuckles at her reaction. "I am afraid they are as real as you or me. Don't worry though. Remilia-sama only drinks blood when absolutely necessary." Sakuya pushes open the doors and they step into the large room with a chair against the back wall. Seated in the chair is a little human-looking female in a frilly pink dress and matching hat. She also has bat wings and light blue-ish hair. She is nearly about to fall asleep when Sakuya clears her throat. "Remilia-sama. We have a visitor."

The adorable vampire rubs the sleep out of her eyes, then looks at Sakuya. "Visitor? ..." She finally spots Twilight, who shivers a bit when she looks at her with her piercing red eyes. Remilia grins like a girl on her birthday. "Ooooh a pony! ..." Sakuya holds back a giggle at her reaction and Remilia blushes and quickly pushes back her child-like behavior. "...Sakuya. You know very well I am to old to be playing with ponies. Send it into the basement. I am sure my sister would like a little snack."

Twilight's eyes widen. "S-Snack..?!" She begins to panic again.

Sakuya quickly steps forward. "Remilia-sama. This pony is intelligent. It can talk, and it is very lost. I would like to help it, if you would allow it."

"Ah..." She takes a moment to think. She stands up and flies over to Twilight and inspects her from all sides. "..What's your name?"

"M-My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm a Uni-...I mean, Alicorn." she corrects herself. She still has yet to get used to being a whole other race of pony, let alone an Alicorn of all things.

After another moment, and a quick fly-around, Remilia makes her decision. "Very well, you may stay on one condition." Twilight sighs in relief, but again looks up at her, a bit scared. "You must serve me for as long as you are here. Usually a job at my wonderful mansion is not one you may simply quit, but I shall make an exception for you considering you are not from this world. Tell me Miss Twilight. What can you do?"

Twilight is slightly surprised at this deal. She takes a moment to think about her situation. Try and survive the wilderness that is home to creatures that want to have her for dinner, or safely stay at a creepy yet adorably childish vampire's mansion in exchange for work. "Well...I guess that is a fair deal. Well I'm really good at using magic, and I absolutely LOVE reading. I'm a librarian back home."

Sakuya speaks up at this. "In that case, I believe it would be a good idea to have her assist Patchouli-sama and Koakuma in the library." she says.

Remilia smiles and nods. "Good idea. Take her to the library. She will be assisting Patchouli and will be working alongside Koa." Sakuya nods and she and Twilight turn to leave, until Remilia stops them. "Wait..!" They turn back to her and she flies over to Twilight again.

"Yes..?"

"...Can I pet your mane?"