Shadows of a Silent Pony

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Romance Castle, Floor 1

Saturday March 7th, 1002 RC(Reign of Celestia)

Weather: Sunny

Night

Hundreds of Gallopers stood before the two Persona Users, both at the center of the fray. The red and blue pair barked out orders to their Personae as they swung their weapons at the Shadows. The platoons of eerie, dancing ponies let out warbling laughter as their horns lit up with the crackle of lightning. A flash of magic erupted from each one, and lightning shot down from the infinite expanse of the ceiling, striking at and around the earth pony and unicorn.

Mac shrugged off the damage, stabbing his blade through the viscous surface of the ink constructs. The seconds felt like hours as he responded to every attack from the carousel horrors. The rain of electricity settled, leaving only the two Persona Users. Mac huffed as he knelt down onto his haunches, his legs shaking all the while.

"Persona! Pixie!" He called forth from his sea of soul, a small, winged humanoid appearing before him. "Dia." The farmer let the order come out as a whisper, before standing up firmly. Refreshed from the Tartarus of combat, he had his Persona cast it upon Trixie as well.

He turned his head to the sixth door. No Pinkie Pie yet. He'd lost track of time in the comic book. Each scene, after the Shadows disappeared, was a giant room. Each one had a pair of constructs at the center, who acted out an old and tired cliche love triangle. Trixie's speculation was that they were in an older comic book. It didn't matter what kind they were in. All that mattered was getting Rarity and Pinkie Pie out safely. He wasn't about to let either of them be taken by the Shadows like Berry and Bulk.

He glanced back to Trixie, who trotted up to him after a few moments. "I'm picking up something beyond this door. It feels like magical static." She touched her hoof to the large door, before Mac joined her as well. Trixie nodded to him, both of them pushing forward to move the oaken doors. Inside, the two found a scene unlike any other.

On either side, there was a single Pinkie Pie. Cotton candy manes. Fluffy, twitchy tails. Eye-gouging bright pink fur. However, one could quickly notice the differences between the two. The one on the left appeared to be pronking in place happily, her smile bright and cheerful, and her eyes a bright, malicious golden color. On the right, the Pinkie watched the other, covering her mouth with the backside of her hoof. Her mane and tail were visibly starting to straighten, and tears started forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Come on now! Don't get sad! A real party pony always turns her frown upside-down! After all, how can you make others happy if you're the one getting sad or lonely or angry or tired? I'm just the real you! The pink party planner who makes everypony happy no matter what. The only thing I'm allowed to feel is joy. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't be sad. I'm the non-stop party machine that keeps Ponyville from being sad." The apparent Shadow spoke as she motioned toward Pinkie, slowly approaching the other mare.

"I'm not like that, you meanie-pants! I can feel sad if I want to." The real one tried to retort, only to get the Shadow's tail under her nose as a faux-mustache.

The obscenely happy, manic construct grinned even wider as she responded rather quickly to the statement, "But you can't. You're supposed to be the prime example of happiness and frivolity. Bearer of the Element of Laughter. Could you really live down being nothing like that?"

Pinkie Pie's mane and tail had deflated entirely, both completely straightened and drooping toward the floor. The earth pony mare was trying to hold back her tears, calling out to her Shadow, "Stop it! I don't think like that. You aren't me!"

Trixie and Mac tried to intervene, both silently dashing for Pinkie's doppleganger. The Shadow took note of them both, quickly stating to the real one, "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you."

"There's no way you're me!" Pinkie cried out as the ground began to shake.

The automatons at the center of the room slowly rattled into naught more than pieces upon the floor. The false Pinkie Pie laughed girlishly as a vile black mist billowed out around her, bursting into a dark haze that sent her two would-be-assailants flying back. "You're right. I'm not you! I'm me now."

ENCOUNTER

Comedy and Tragedy

"I am a Shadow, the True Self!" The golden eyed monstrosity called out in an unnerving, warbling dual voice as she revealed her form. Before the party stood a pair of ponies. A regular sized one sporting a top hat and a comedy theater mask, holding a chain in one hoof and firmly standing on the back of the other. The second was a giant, building-sized, dour looking pink pony, with a tragedy mask bearing helpless, hollow black eyes. Around her neck was a giant collar, held tightly by the chain leading to the smaller one's hoof.

Mac looked away from the Shadow, moving in front of Pinkie Pie's unconscious body to guard her after he clambered to his hooves. He held his sword in his teeth again, clamping down tightly on the handle. Perseus stood beside his User as he brandished his own blade. The pair stood tall as the Shadow soon struck.

Comedy grinned maliciously as she stomped on her partner's back, forcing the weeping giant to act. A howl of pain came from the crying pink pony's mouth while her hooves slammed on the ground, kicking up tiles at the two Persona Users. The smaller pony laughed madly at the scene. She rolled onto her back, held up only by the chain still held in her hoof.

Mac held up a hoof, trying to protect his face and head. He nodded to Perseus before running at the Shadow. He grew closer to the titan of an equine and gripped his blade to ready the impending strike. A laugh came from the side as he was struck onto his back. The wind was pushed from his lungs, the stallion struggling to breathe as he caught Comedy swinging away on the chain out of the corner of his eye.

Trixie's horn lit up as she and Circe began chanting several different spell names. Flames and ice tore across the giant pony's hide, visibly damaging the colossal mare. Mac managed to get back onto his hoove, guarded by Perseus as he did so. He gripped the sword in his mouth once more as he looked up to the Persona. The human nodded as he grabbed Mac by his barrel, spinning once before releasing the stallion.

Mac could really hardly believe that worked. He landed atop Tragedy's head, staring down Comedy. The mare in the top hat bowed for a moment after getting onto her hind legs. She took the top hat off with a hoof, tapping its edge with the chain.

"Garu!" She cooed out maliciously as a gust of wind poured out of the hat to send Mac sprawling backward. His sword fell to the ground as he caught the giant pony's mane with his mouth. He slowly climbed back up, missing his weapon.

Comedy hardly noticed the stallion as she tried to block Trixie's bombardment of spells. Mac panted for a moment, trying not to think of the taste of the hair he'd just had to deal with. After taking only a second or so to gather himself, he charged headlong at the smaller half. His body collided with hers readily, striking Comedy away from the chain that connected to Tragedy's neck.

The malicious pony in the top hat tried to regain her footing, but slowly fell off of the giant. Trixie grinned as she quickly yelled to Circe with a grin very few other ponies could match, "Agilao!"

In the moment that Comedy was incinerated, so too did Tragedy fade into little more than ash. All that remained was the now calmed Shadow, and Pinkie Pie in turn coming to. Mac panted as she recovered from the fray, downing several of the Medicines that he'd purchased. He tried to gather his thoughts and catch his breath as he approached the rather forlorn party pony.

Pinkie Pie rose from her haunches, looking between him and her Shadow. "I-It's not going to attack again, right?"

The shake of Mac's head assured her more than she thought it would. Mac simply stated to her, "Everypony's got somethin' like that in 'em. But it's not all there is to ya'."

Her golden eyed mirror stared at her, unblinking and unmoving. "I guess... I guess being Ponyville's bestest, most awesomest party pony ever makes me feel like that's what I should be. And the Element of Laughter always cements that idea. I know I'm more than just a party machine, but it takes somepony who isn't as super-happy about it to remind me that partying 'til I drop can be pretty not-fun."

The earth pony approached her double, wrapping her hooves around its neck. "You weren't trying to be a meanie pants on purpose. After all, you're a part of me." A few tears streamed down her cheeks, dripping to the floor. The Shadow reciprocated for just a moment before disappearing entirely. The blue, mystical light of the Persona's power manifested itself around Pinkie Pie, engulfing her in its splendor.

A figure appeared before her, rotund and rather humorous looking. It seemed to be a Neighponese styled raccoon-dog with a large gourd of alcohol in one hand and a walking stick in the other, with a bamboo hat on its head.

"My name is Tanuki, and henceforth, I'm your Persona! Care for a drink?" The humanoid creature held out its gourd and an oddly shaped cup, winking to the pony Persona User.

Mac and Trixie both exchanged a somewhat confused glance. By all accounts, the Neighponese creature was completely out of place with the Personae they'd seen thus far. Even Apsaras was closer to the 'human' Personae. The duo approached Pinkie who was eagerly conversing with the raccoon-dog.

"'Sup, Mac? Trix?" She grinned, her dour mood completely vanished after a few crude jokes from her Persona.

Trixie spoke up first as she halted, using a hoof to motion for Circe to patrol, "Pinkie, you should probably get out of here for now. You don't really have much experience fighting Shadows like me and Mac."

"Don't be silly, Trixie! I've fought tons of uglies like these party-poopers. Nightmare Moon, Discord, the changelings, Sombra, parasprites- though that was less of a fight and more of a musical number-," the Element of Laughter took a deep breath to continue, only to find a blue hoof shoved in her mouth.

"Stop!" Trixie stated a bit too eagerly, before giving a sheepish laugh as she slowly pulled her hoof back to the ground, "Trixie- I mean- I understand." She gave a forced laugh, trying to play it off, "But you don't know anything about Personae or what we're doing or-"

Pinkie quickly caught the unicorn with her hooves, holding the other mare by her shoulders, "We're saving Rarity! We won't stop until she's safe at home instead of- where are we anyway?"

Mac spoke this time instead, trying to interrupt the two, "In a comic." He saw Pinkie Pie's face light up brighter than Celestia's sun, "A cheap 980's romance comic."

The hope of fun left her eyes the moment he finished speaking. "Aww..." Pinkie groaned as she let her head tilt backward, "Why couldn't it have been something at least a teensy, tiny, itty-bitty bit less melodramatic?"

"Come on, Miss 'Funaholic'." Trixie's magical aura grabbed the earth pony by her tail, starting to drag her off toward the next door. "We only have one direction to move in: forward." The mare gestured toward the only door leading onward, which Mac was rapidly approaching with his steady gait.

Pinkie followed the two, pronking all the while through the eerily empty rooms. "So," she began, a wide grin on her lips, "Are you two an item now?"

'Item' seemed to be all that was needed to halt Trixie's steps. The normally boisterous magician had a rather firm blush on her face as she began speaking as quickly as possible hardly pausing for breath, "I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about-It's-not-like-I've-asked-Twilight-out-or-anything-Not-that-she'd-be-interested-Would-she-Don't-tell-her-I-asked-that-Unless-you-think-it'd-help-" A visible sheen of nervous sweat appeared on her face as the unicorn was visibly winded by her embarrassed rambling.

"She means us." Mac corrected, before turning his head slightly toward Pinkie Pie, "And nnnnnope." The stallion turned his head back forward, ignoring the complaints of not being able to throw Trixie a hypothetical 'You Were Straight All Along' party.

The scenes of the story played out quite clearly. The lover seemingly lost in travel, the longing, pining widow, the new lover who was both young and brash, the seduction, the return of the husband, and as they clearly observed from their walk through the comic, the duel for the mare's love. Mac ignored Pinkie Pie and Trixie, who were going over the basics of Personae and how to summon them, instead taking in the door before them. He could almost feel the darkness seeping from it.

A blue butterfly flitted about beside the door. He reached out to touch it, letting the creature land upon his hoof. He felt calm, at peace even. Mac knew what stood beyond the door. He turned to Trixie and Pinkie Pie, who had their respective Personae summoned. They both halted their conversation on the logistics of Pinkie using Tanuki for her parties. He motioned his head toward the door, both of the mares returning his expression with a pair of resolute nods.

He pressed on the door, shoving it open with both hooves. Inside, a grand stage stood before the audience of three. On it the three mannequines of the story were battered, broken and tossed to the side of the stage. Taking the center stage were two unicorn mares. One was dressed in a full set of carousel fashion, complete with all the harnesses, bit and bridle, saddle and even a tail wrap that held her tail up provocatively. The other stood tall without clothing, glaring down her counterpart with her steely blue eyes.

The carousel Rarity spoke up as she glared at the other one with her golden eyes, "Ooh! I see we have an audience now, dahling! I can hardly wait to have their eyes on me! Don't you know, I'll be just a worthless, aging unicorn spinster unless I put myself on display for all to see!"

"Shut up!" The real Rarity screamed as she looked between Pinkie Pie and the Shadow. "You can hardly be considered anything but a poor imitation of the real thing!"

"Oh? But I'm a 'Rarity Original'." The other unicorn stood on her hind hooves, reaching her forehooves behind her head. She pursed her lips and gave the original a wink, continuing with her statement, "I'm you, after all. All attention should be on me, and me alone! Look at me! Look at my clothes! Look at every little thing I do and give me your attention and undying adoration! Give me your bits, even! As long as you pay attention to me, I don't care what you give me!"

"I'm nothing like that!" Rarity lunged at her other self, trying to tackle the mare to the ground. The two collided in a tangle of legs, causing Mac to stop mid-stride toward the stage as he looked upon the scene with a visible blush even on his own red cheeks. The two mares struggled against each other's grip, the Shadow letting out amused, girlish giggles all the while. "Stop posing and acting like you're me! I don't look like that! I don't make those stupid, lewd faces! I'm not an attention whore! You can't be me! You most certainly aren't me!"

The Shadow Rarity stopped her movements entirely as the room shook. A single shove of her hoof pushed her host off of her, the golden eyed counterpart grinned with her tongue lolling out. "I suppose I'm me now, dahling." The typical petname from the fashionista came out with far more venom than any of the other three had heard before.

The dark vapor that Shadows seemed to be made from coalesced around Rarity's other self, wreathing her in its glory. The vapor extended to the walls and floor and ceiling, covering them entirely as they seamlessly connected to Shadow Rarity's hooves. Rarity panted as she tried to stay awake, glaring up as the mare stood on her hind hooves. The Shadow grasped a pole that jutted forth from the floor, now looking like little more than adult dancer. The Element of Generosity collapsed just as the three Persona Users clambered up onto the stage.

ENCOUNTER

Eye Candy

Only moments after the Shadow's body was wrapped in darkness like macabre, skin-tight clothing, the room's black decor slowly changed. Pursed lines grew on every surface, slowly opening. Inside each and every pore that made itself known, was white, slick flesh. All of them quickly rotated, revealing that the entire room was covered in an innumerable amount of eyes, all directed on Shadow Rarity and the three Persona Users.

"Whoa! This is completely uber-creepy! It's like one of those horror movies where the funny pony dies fir-" Pinkie started rambling excitedly before realizing the implications of her statement.

Trixie stepped forward as she pulled her staff out of her hammer space, levitating it in front of Pinkie. "Don't worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie will protect you." The mare grinned for a few moments before focusing on the threat ahead of them. "Mac. I can't get a reading from Circe on this one's weakness."

Pinkie Pie glanced to the magician for a moment before speaking up, "Wait, what? You can do that?"

"Mildly. Trixie can only detect immediately visible weaknesses."

"Oh, cool! What's mine?"

"Garu spells." Trixie cringed for a moment at the question, watching the Shadow Rarity start to monologue.

"Neat!" Without hesitation, Pinkie Pie pulled her Party Cannon from her mane, setting it on the ground with a loud bang. The room began writhing and moving on its own, walls and pillars jutting up from the floor. "Let's rock this party!" The mare exclaimed happily as she pulled her cannon's cord, blasting through the nearest wall with a blast of confetti.

Mac barreled through the obstacles, thrusting his shoulder first at anything in his path. The room shrieked in pain, the Eye Candy herself letting out a twisted, lewd moan. The stallion tripped on his hooves as it reached his ears, slamming into one of the shifting walls.

"It seems this one needs a mare's touch." Trixie sighed as she gestured toward Pinkie Pie, reading her Persona. "Circe! Agilao!"

The mare in question did the same, cracking the card with only her bare hoof. "Tanuki! Mazio!"

A torrent of fire and lightning flooded the room, bursting at every last eye that covered the ceiling and floor. The core Shadow pulled the darkness that covered the room closer to her, wreathing it around her body as a dress. The unicorn pointed to Trixie, striking a pose before calling out, "Zio!"

The bolt launched from the Eye Candy's hand struck true, knocking Trixie off of her hooves and onto the ground. The mare could only conclude that her own weakness were spells from the Zio family of magics. The magician attempted to climb to her hooves, unable to do much more than watch her last standing ally.

Pinkie Pie continued her gallop toward her friend's twisted dark side, leaping, bounding, and even cartwheeling over her attacks with a smile. She lightly hummed an unknown tune (surely one of her own making) while she pulled her Party Cannon from her mane. With the mouth of the barrel just inches from the not-Rarity's face, the party pony pulled the cord.

The Shadow reeled in pain as the barrel's combustive force shot into her face and mane. She shook her head angrily, trying to dislodge any remnants of confetti and party favors from her hair. Pinkie Pie skidded on her hooves as she started pulling items from her tail to fill the cannon once more, cautiously looking back between the Eye Candy and what she was loading.

Mac stood up once more, shaking any remaining pain from his face. The stallion charged at the monstrosity as she regained her footing, knocking her off of her pole. He wrapped his hooves around her midsection, glancing to Pinkie Pie. He motioned with his head when she noticed him grappling with the Shadow, nodding for an unspoken plan.

Pinkie nodded back, bounding over to the squirming monster as her clothing lashed out toward them both. She pressed the barrel flat against the Eye Candy's stomach, covering one of the eyes on her dress. Mac pushed away from Rarity's Shadow just as Pinkie Pie shot her cannon against the fashionista's dark side.

The black miasma of the Shadow faded into nothingness as the now blankly staring mare faced toward her host. Mac and Pinkie Pie panted, the two earth ponies bumping hooves together once they were able to stand. Trixie soon joined them, keeping closer to Rarity. Each of them let out a relieved sigh, catching their breath from the battle.

Rarity soon roused from unconsciousness, her eyes fluttering open to see the three Persona Users. She opened her mouth to speak, but pushed herself away from them as she noticed her doppleganger. The mare angrily ground her teeth as she nervously took several steps back.

Mac started his approach, only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie. She turned to him and gave a sympathetic smile while she shook her head.

"Rarity," she began softly while walking toward her friend, "It's hard to think that we've all got nasty, dark parts inside that we can't admit to." She stopped as she thought over her very recent encounter with Comedy and Tragedy. "I had to face those kinds of icky things that were inside me on the way here." Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but she was shushed by her friend. "But remember that you've got friends like me and Fluttershy and Twilight and Rainbow and Applejack! Even if those parts you don't like are there, you're still you. You're still one of my best friends."

Rarity's expression softened as she let out a sob, trying to collect herself. She held tightly to Pinkie Pie, before finally letting go. "I'm terribly sorry, darling. I-" She turned her head to the Shadow as she swallowed hard, "I don't ever want an attention whore to be all that I am." She stood tall as she approached her other self. "But it's not all of me, is it? You are a part of me, even if I don't like you."

The Shadow nodded before the blue fire burst around Rarity's hooves and body, a globe of glass encasing her. A tall, spindly humanoid grasped at its edges with four blackened arms, two others held outward. Between the two outstretched hands, fine strands of silk hung loosely. "Thou art I. I am thou. I will be your protector. My name is Arachne." The body of the human was clothed in a fine, pitch black dress, whose bustle bore a vibrant red hourglass on the rear. Her face was covered in a mask made of spider webs, with a pair of black holes for her eyes to peer through.

The Persona disappeared into nothingness as Rarity fell to the floor for a moment. She tried to recover with her hooves, barely doing more than kneeling. "Rarity!" Pinkie Pie called out, trying to assist her friend.

"It's fine, Pinkie. I'm just feeling a tad fatigued." The white unicorn assured, before the earth pony hefted her onto her strong back.

The party pony snorted as she carried her friend, "I'm not having any of that. We need to get you home and in bed, super duper quick."

Mac and Trixie shrugged as they watched the Pinkie Pie march off in a huff, both of them catching up to the other two. "Trix- I'm terribly sorry you had to get involved with this whole thing."

"Trixie? How is it you've come to my rescue? I can understand Pinkie," the alabaster mare glanced to Mac, her eyes fluttering a bit more, "And- ahem- most certainly Big Macintosh." The blush on her cheeks made no attempt to hide her thoughts on the matter. "But you coming to my assistance is bewildering."

"There is nothing bewildering about it!" Trixie defended quickly, before gaining a quick, measured expression from the only stallion among them. "Th-that is to say, the Humble and Pious Trixie came to your rescue out of sympathy. Trixie was recently rescued from her Shadow self as well."

Pinkie Pie continued walking toward the door to exit the comic, opening it quickly with a single hoof. The four were ejected from the comic the moment the door swung, each one landing among Rarity's many mannequines. Safely back in the Carousel Boutique, Mac picked up the comic and shoved it into his hammer space.

"As exciting as all this adventure was, I need my beauty sleep before I can process any of it." Rarity trudged toward her stairs, climbing them slowly to her bedroom. She called down, "And Pinkie, be a dear and take care of the door." The tone was surprisingly calm, though clearly frustrated.

Mac shrugged at the exchange, not questioning the two mares. He made his way to the exit, Trixie following closely. The moment they were out of the building, the door slammed back into its hinge behind them. "SCORE! Knocked it in on the first try!" The two could clearly hear Pinkie Pie cheer, both of them exchanging a worried glance before walking away from the dress shop.

"That makes four then." Trixie laughed dryly to herself as the two parted ways on the dirt road to Sweet Apple Acres. "We should go talk to them both tomorrow about everything that's going on."

Mac nodded back to her as he continued to drag himself to the farmhouse. He looked through the window at the stairs up to his room. He silenced the groan in his throat. He laid himself against one of the hay bales outside. Damning the world for the sake of his slumber, he was out like a light in a matter of moments.

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Save Data?

>Yes

-No

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Player: Big Macintosh Apple

Current stats:

3/10 Understanding

1/10 Knowledge

4/10 Courage

2/10 Expression

2/10 Diligence

Key Items:

Velvet Key

Rarity's Romantic Comic

Trixie's Questionable Comic

Power Ponies Vol. 4

Equipment:

Weapon: n/a

Armor: n/a

Accessory: Work Yoke

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