Shadows of a Silent Pony

Shin Megami Tensei Persona:

Shadows of a Silent Pony

Chapter 1: The Velvet Room

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Welcome to the Velvet Room. It has been quite the long while since we last had a visitor from this particular world. Not for well over a thousand years. You are but one of many guests I’ve had in the course of my time here in this room. You will soon enter a contract in the coming days to uncover a mystery. What you choose to do is entirely up to you. I, however, will assist you in your destiny, by providing the means you need to unlock your true potential. All that I ask in return is that you take responsibility for your actions...

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Tuesday March 3rd, 1002 RC(Reign of Celestia)

Weather: Sunny

Morning

You are Big Macintosh Apple. Co-owner of Sweet Apple Acres and the strongest pony in Ponyville. Between your masculine red coat, orange hair, and large stature, you are the embodiment of what all stallions want to be. Your interests include work, pretty mares, and being STRONG. You’re certainly cool. Almost as cool as the Elements of Harmony. You’d like to think you’re almost as cool as Rainbow Dash, even. Almost.

You are by far the most eligible bachelor in Ponyville, with many pretty mares infatuated with you from afar. Between your rippling muscles and your perfect, chiseled chin, no mare can possibly resist your perfect body.

Hey! That’s mah brother yer talkin’ about!

“... What in tarnation?” Big Macintosh opened his eyes, glancing over to the closet. The normally silent stallion hefted himself out of bed, pulling the quilts and blankets off of his body and kicking them back onto the bed. The behemoth of a workhorse opened the closet door across from his bed. He stared blankly at the scene before him. His sister and her two friends were sitting in his closet, the three of them looking up to him with expressions of absolute embarrassment.

Mac glanced down at the three, each trying to shuffle and hide wads of paper. From what he could make out, the three had hastily scribbled notes that looked similar to what they were saying. A shiver went down the stallion’s spine upon noticing the copious amount of hearts drawn on Sweetie Belle’s pages. He gave his sister a stern look, never breaking eye contact with her.

“I, uh, guess we’re not gettin’ a ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Life Narrator’ cutie mark then?” Apple Bloom tried to give her brother the cutest, most innocent grin she could.

He faltered. He berated himself as he sighed and walked away. The stallion readied himself for the day as the fillies quickly exited, with Apple Bloom shoving Sweetie Belle out rather forcefully. Mac gave his rough, orange mane a quick brush-over before he pulled his yoke off its nail on the wall and down onto his neck, prepared to face whatever may come. Despite that weird dream. Someone was monologuing to him about something related to contracts and taking responsibility for his actions.

He certainly wasn’t an immature little schoolcolt. He knew more than anypony else how to pony up and stick to his choices. He didn’t need some dream voice to remind him of that. The apple farmer went about his day the same as usual. The walk to town was quiet, as usual. There was little he loved more than his time to himself in the late morning. To hear the birds and smell the grass.

Mac walked at his normal, measured pace to Ponyville. Along the way, he saw his sister and her friends trying some new, surely hare-brained attempt to get their cutie marks. He smirked a bit at their tenacity. He did admire their perseverance. It’d help them later in life when they finally reached puberty. Celestia knew how hard that was for everypony.

The stallion glanced over an odd cart covered in stars and crescent moons, snorting a bit as he remembered that Trixie gal. She was a pain to deal with, all things considered. But he couldn’t stay too mad at someone driven insane by a magical artifact. It wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen to Ponyville, after all. That and the whole thing about Princess Twilight's doll Smarty Pants left him wondering if they were really all that different.

As he started reaching the town proper, he saw familiar faces left and right. Cheerilee was enjoying the day off from teaching, he guessed due to the holiday. Some old harvest day that never fell out of style. He gave Cheerilee a passing nod, the mare giving him a rather wide smile in response. His eyes turned skyward as a rainbow blur flew past overhead. He could clearly see that Rainbow Dash girl and miss Fluttershy were discussing something while flying toward the town library. He presumed they were going to go meet Princess Twilight for something.

He stopped for a moment as a single blue butterfly floated near his face. The odd little creature seemed to be completely translucent, and made up entirely of a shade of blue Mac could only describe as 'perfect'. He couldn't help but wonder why there was such a beautiful, odd insect like it so far away from the depths of the Everfree Forest. After circling his head a few times, the butterfly lazily flew away as Mac once more paid attention to the world around him. The town square seemed to be filled with ponies. Tuesdays always were busy.

He gave a grin at how lively things always were around town, even as his walk came to an end as finally reached the Ponyville marketplace to set up shop. The same indention in the grass from the cart still remained from so many other days of apple sales. He parked it in the exact same place as always, and waited for his customers to arrive.

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Tuesday March 3rd, 1002 RC(Reign of Celestia)

Weather: Sunny

Evening

Big MacIntosh packed up shop, being sure to put the bit till into the cart securely. He didn’t want any thieves coming around, though they were few and far between in Ponyville. He couldn’t fault a mare or stallion for needing money to feed their family, but he couldn’t just let it come from his family’s pockets either. The workhorse hitched himself to the cart, starting the evening walk back home.

While he loved the time he got alone, it was boring after a while. His sister always had her shenanigans to tend to thanks to her friends, but those weekly misadventures almost never involved him in any major way. The closest times he’d had to anything like that was when he had to repair the gazebo (for which he was frustrated at Apple Bloom for an entire week after), the time the family nearly lost the farm to those two unicorn con-ponies, and the whole debacle with the love poison.

He halted in place at the memory of those few short days. Even though it was forced, that short-lived relationship was about as close as he’d gotten to having a special somepony. While what the Crusaders said that morning was for the most part true, barring the rather embarrassing admission from Rarity’s sister, he honestly had never had anypony approach him about something like that. None had proposed a date in school, nor asked him if he were free. He wasn’t quite sure what it was. Perhaps acknowledgement of his obligation to his family? Intimidation by his stature and musculature? His own inability to pick up on something subtle?

He let the line of thought go, continuing his walk back home. He knew better than to fret about 'what ifs' when it came to love. It simply wasn't his thing, he guessed. He halted for a moment as he looked at the barn, a lit lantern near the hay loft telling him everything he needed to know. His sister was using it for a party of some sort. Mac grinned as he parked the cart by the barn, picking up the bit till with his teeth and carrying it inside the house.

He set the metal container down gently on the kitchen table, stretching his shoulders and rear legs out after the long day. He couldn't seem to tell why, but he felt more tired than usual for a Tuesday. All he did was check up on the barn and sell some apples. Most sales days left him restless from the small amount of work involved. He reached his room after heaving his way up the stairs, unable to care enough to take his yoke off as he reached his room. It wasn't worth the effort to take off.

The stallion flopped down onto the mattress, creating an audible creak as he fell dead asleep against the worn out piece of furniture. His dreams were blank for a time. Dark nothingness. A wonderful void that only gave rest to his weary bones. He stirred after a few moments. His ears perked up as the beautiful singing voice of a mare sang out to him, with a beautiful piano accompaniment. He couldn't rightly say what the words were, given the style of music, but he could appreciate the beauty of the composition.

His eyes slowly opened, soothed by the calm glow of some odd blue light. This was a first for his dreams. Usually they involved apples or apple trees in some way. Not plush couches, a large table, an assortment of fine wines in a cooler nearby, and Princess Luna, dressed in an outfit that screamed 'flight attendant' while standing next to a rather large sitting room chair, all in what appeared to be a giant train car instead of a room. Wait. Princess Luna?

Mac had heard of the Princess of the Night appearing in dreams to aid her subjects in some manner regarding their fears. But given the nature of the soft couch, the large, blue themed room, and the beautiful music, he had to guess she was a figment of his imagination. Or rather, a construct of the dream.

She spoke plainly to the apple farmer, "Welcome to the Velvet Room. I am indeed Princess Luna, my fair paramour. Your kindness has not been forgotten from the festival of months past. However, I am not here to speak with you of the past."

The lunar princess adjusted her dress with her magic, the solid blue outfit accented by various arcane symbols drawn on it in black. She took a moment to take a deep breath, as if to calm herself. Mac didn't even know that royalty like her needed to calm down. He'd always assumed that they were in control of themselves all the time. His eyes felt wide open as he looked around the room, finding no one but her as she continued.

"I am here to assist you in an oncoming journey. I am a subordinate to another servant of my Lord, Philemon."

Mac opened his mouth to speak, but remained silent as she raised a hoof.

"It is not important for you to know of him or his works, proud stallion of the Apple Family. Instead, you must know what my Lord has decided to give unto you. I cannot inform you of this. Instead, my companion may fill in the gaps," motioned toward a door near the back of the room.

A nearly hairless, bipedal thing dressed in a dark blue suit slowly walked to the chair directly across from Big Macintosh, taking his seat while the Princess stood. His nose was rather large, almost protruding from his face, and his hair on his head was surely balding on the top. His eyes appeared bloodshot and bulging from his skull, while his ears appeared to be pointed like those of a bat. He set his hands down on the table, fingers interlaced as he looked at the stallion.

"I see. Welcome to the Velvet Room. My companion Luna has told me much of your world. It has been ever so long since I've had a guest that was conscious of their time here after only the first contact. My name is Igor."

The odd creature bowed to the earth pony, taking a moment before speaking further, "I am here to assist you in your journey. A great tragedy is to befall your land of Equestria.  I needn't explain for now, but soon, you shall enter into a contract, and you will be granted the power to overcome life's hardships. When the time has come, we will meet again. Until then, pleasant dreams."

The odd room faded to darkness as Mac shot up in his bed. Glancing down at the sheets, a glimmering object caught his attention. Picking it up gingerly with a hoof, he stared at the small glass key. It glowed a vibrant blue, as it it were meant to be part of that dream world he'd just awoken from. The groggy stallion's eyes shot even wider open as the object disappeared in his grasp, as if evaporating into a series of sparkles.

"Uh..." Mac tried to process what had happened, coming up short with every explanation for the item.

Big MacIntosh had always hated Tuesdays in Ponyville. Something weird always showed up on Tuesday. Fashion shows, Princess Twilight going insane over deadlines, Cerberus showing up to wreak havoc, Pinkie Pie babysitting... The list went on. He wasn't too terribly surprised when he found out Pinkie Pie's date of birth was indeed on a Tuesday as well.

Hefting himself up from the bed, he groggily made his way over to his dresser. He stared into the mirror on top, his reflection staring back. A quick glance at the clock revealed that it was 11:50 PM. Well beyond the usual time he went to sleep. He didn't seem all that different after that magical key disappeared. At least, he guessed it as magical. What other explanation was there? Aside from the obvious guess that he was slowly going crazy. It had to be magic.

However, he heard a girlish scream coming from the barn. A thousand thoughts rushed through his mind as he barreled past his bed room door and down the stairs. A single conclusion came to mind: it had to be something from the Everfree Forest. As he thought it over, reaching the barn doors, he realized that the voice had to be Spike. With a quick glance upward, he saw no lantern in the loft. The party was well over, and from the yelling coming from the house, he knew Applejack was definitely not in the barn.

"Damn it." He cursed as he pushed the doors open with both hooves.

He grew stock-still as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He counted no less than a dozen stallions inside. In the moonlight, he could plainly see each of them. All of them had black coats, with a porcelain blue half-mask over their eyes and snout. Each of them looked as if they were made of ink. The moment the doors slammed against the walls, each and every one turned toward him. Their bodies shimmered as they moved, every motion altering their bodies.

As their hooves lifted up and came back down as they walked, the tips and edges of the skin appeared to be blank paper until they settled. Once they did, they seemed to gain several deep pencil lines and then massive ink outlines. Whatever they were, they weren't equine. The screams had lowered in volume, but were coming from whatever the ink stallions were standing around. Whatever they were, they charged at him, galloping at full speed.

Mac grabbed the hatchet he and Applejack kept on one of the nearby support beams using his teeth. He kicked at the nearest non-pony thing to send it flying at the wall. His head turned quickly to lodge hatchet's blade into the mask of one of the intruders. The beast disintegrated, his body becoming a fine mist of ink and magic embers. The other that had hit the wall had done the same. Mac could only guess that these things truly were magic constructs of ink.

Since they weren't ponies, he didn't have to worry about hurting them too badly. He steeled himself as he ran at another with the blade, slicing it its mask as well. The remaining ponies hesitated, each one wailing unnervingly as they retreated to the item they were standing around. As each approached it, they were sucked into some sort of void. Mac followed, reaching the spot on the barn floor he'd found them.

He paused as he glanced it over. There was only a broken flashlight and an open comic book. He tentatively poked the book, only to feel an odd suction against his hoof. As he tried to pull away, his entire leg was pulled in. The more he struggled, the more of his body was pulled inside the paper. Once his head was in, he found himself falling through a deep void of dancing colors. His vision went black once more as he landed on something hard.

Maretropolis

He tapped his hoof against the ground as he settled. It was concrete. He worriedly glanced around as he found a giant urban environment around him. A city of some kind? It looked just like Manehatten, but all the signs read 'Maretropolis'. As he regained his bearings, his eyes went wide. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of the Ink Stallions from the barn stood around him. With only the hatchet in his mouth, the farmpony readied himself for the oncoming fray.

Mac felt nauseous as he waited for his foes to move. His entire body felt like it was on fire, every fiber of his being crying out in pain. The hatchet fell from his teeth to the ground, clattering against the pavement. He glared up at the Ink Stallions, as he decided to call them, trying to muster what strength he could. His ears perked up as a chime rang out. His eyes glanced up toward the unrealistically full moon, catching sight of the blue butterfly from the market. A single word echoed in his mind.

"Per... so... na-" He sounded out each syllable as his hooves were wreathed in blue flames. The Earth Pony stomped on the ground as he screamed once more, "Perseus!"

The flames erupted around Mac, a large, bipedal figure standing behind him. "Thou art I. I am thou. Thou hast called upon thine inner strength to form me. Mine name is Perseus, son of Zeus, King of the Gods!" The creature appeared to be much like Igor, only bare of any clothing, save for a winged helmet upon his head, and a loincloth. In his hands he held a sword and a shield, the latter covered in the face of some hideous creature.

Mac stared at this being, awe inspired by the powerful presence of the beast. He could only watch as it moved with the utmost agility to slash its blade down upon the heads of the nearest Ink Stallions.

"Wh-What are ya'?" The bewildered pony asked as the giant continued to decimate the ink ponies.

Perseus halted as he sheathed his blade into one of the being's skulls, "I am your Persona, MacIntosh Apple."

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Save Data?

>Yes

-No

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Player: Big Macintosh Apple

Current stats:

1/10 Understanding

1/10 Knowledge

2/10 Courage

1/10 Expression

1/10 Diligence

Key Items:

Velvet Key

Equipment:

Weapon: n/a

Armor: n/a

Accessory: Work Yoke

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