Ponysona
The Midnight Statue
Previous Chapter"THE STATUE TRIED TO EAT ME!" You can hardly believe the words coming out of your mouth, despite your knowing how true they are.
Rainbow stares at you as though you grew another head. "Are you serious? You must have just... fainted for a few seconds. That happens, right? Wouldn't surprise me at this point!"
"It's true! Here, let me show you!" Against your better judgment, you find yourself putting your hands up against the statue's base again. Nothing happens, aside from mildly scratching your palm.
"See, I told y-"
*VWMMMM8
"Wh-what...???" For the first time since the image showed up on the statue, Fluttershy speaks, in a whisper.
"Holy crap... see if you can put more in there!" Rainbow shouts at you.
You oblige, sticking your face into the statue. It goes through, albeit with some resistance, like your hands did.
What you see is... strange. The best comparison you can think of is if you were inside a giant lava lamp. All the colors of the rainbow surround you, against a pink "sky".
In the background, you can vaguely hear Fluttershy panicking, thinking this could hurt you, or worse, kill you. Rainbow, fed up, changes the subject, saying something along the lines of "Whatever! I just wanna see if I can do that too."
Rainbow starts (seemingly, you're not sure since you still have your face in the statue) pushing her hands against the statue, trying to do what you're doing. She seems unable to, until her arm brushes against the back of your head. But, as it turns out, she'd been applying too much force, and she falls into the statue. Fluttershy screams and dives after her, bringing you with her.
As the two of you fall into the abyss, the colors start to spiral. You feel as though you're spinning into a whirlpool, with all the uncomfortable dizzyness that comes with it. Worse yet, you can feel your body trying to contort, as though your human body just doesn't belong.
The disturbing sensations come to a sudden halt as you hear three thumps against a surface. Given the pain that comes with the third, you can guess it's you and your friends finally "landing".
"DAMMIT! What the hell?!" Rainbow shouts. You and your friends all look around, panicked, and confused.
The are around you seems to resemble a town, albeit one in shambles. The buildings seem almost like the ruins of a medieval civilization, albeit, one with a rather strange fixation on hearts... and probably pink, but the paint's so faded you can't tell.
You begin to notice a strange red fog that had somehow escaped your notice. When you focus, you can tell that it's clouding the entire world around you, yet you can still see fine.
"Wh-what is this place...?" Fluttershy says, as confused as you are.
"Who cares? It's creepy as hell!" Rainbow yells, clearly panicked and scared, despite her apparent anger. "Let's get out of this place. There's gotta be an exit somewhere..."
You nod, and the three of you decide to wander around. You think you see something lurking in the distance. It's short, but it clearly has claws. You gulp and continue walking along, until the three of you come to a tree-looking thing. It has an opening at the front, comprised of red and white swirls.
The three of you give each other anxious looks, before you step in, quickly followed by the other two. What's inside seems to be a bizarre mixture of a library and a forest, leaning on the forest. Shelves line the walls, but trees grow from the ground, bearing many fruits that form a veritable rainbow consisting of ten shades of brown and fifty shades of grey.
Just as you're about to venture further, you hear footsteps behind you. You freeze up, then slowly turn around to find...
What appears to be a lizard. It's a little less than half your height. it's bright purple with green hair (scales?), and a tail with a spade shape at the end. It also appears to be a little on the chubby side.
Fluttershy squeals, running over to the lizard-thing and scooping it up in her arms. "Ooh, you're so adorable!"
Rainbow is not amused. "Fluttershy! That thing could have, like, rabies or something!"
"Wh-what?! I do not have any rabbits!" The lizard-thing, to your shock, speaks, with the voice of a 10-year-old boy.
"IT TALKS?!" exclaims Fluttershy, with a tone of joy, and Rainbow, with a tone of shock.
"I'm not an 'it!' I'm a he! I'm Spike the Dragon!"
You clear your throat, intending to ask the "dragon" a few questions. "So, Spike, where are we?"
"I don't know."
Huh. "What are you exactly?"
"Beats me."
"What was the name of this town before it was wrecked apart?"
"How would I know...? Wait. I think it might be... ville?"
"Just 'ville'?"
"Hm... I don't think so. But that's all I got."
"UGH! This thing's as useless as a rock. Let's ditch it." Rainbow complains.
"WAIT! I don't know what you guys are doing here... but you'd better leave before the Shadows come!
"What are the 'Shadows'?" You ask.
"It's hard to explain... but they're bad news! At the very least, take this and go!" Spike says, handing you a Fake Sword.
All of a sudden, you hear a strange noise, almost like a growl, and Spike runs in fear. "Run!" You shout to your friends, making a beeline for the exit. You pass through, but when you find yourselves in the town, it's overrun by strange beasts. Spike is in front of you, quivering, trying to escape from a slime-like monster. With the sword in hand, you slice it apart, with it exploding in red smoke. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" Spike grabs on to your leg, sniveling and crying. Rainbow pulls him off.
You find yourselves surrounded by the Shadows. You begin slicing some away, but more just keep on coming. Fluttershy faints, and even Rainbow is visibly panicking. It seems hopeless, until...
You feel a sudden surge in power, and a feeling overtakes you, as if your very soul is being strengthened.
Blue flames begin to surround you, but everything within you tells you this is nothing to be worried about.
"Per..."
The flames get stronger, and wind feels as though it's billowing beneath your feet.
"So..."
Nothing feels more right than this. It's as though you've been waiting your whole life to let this free...
"NA!"
The flames roar stronger then suddenly extinguish. You hear the sound of glass breaking, and what appears to be crystal shards spiral around you. An imposing figure floats above your head...
I AM THOU
THOU ART I
FROM THE SEAS OF THY SOUL I COME
I AM THE MASTER OF STRINGS, ORPHEUS
"Holy shit..." Rainbow gasps.
But your mind is elsewhere. As you begin slicing away at Shadows with your sword, Orpheus plays his lyre, surrounding the Shadows in fire. He even uses his instrument as a weapon, bashing some Shadows with it.
{ATTACK}{AGI}{BASH}
The shadows are incapable of attacking from behind. You can tell, you can feel, what is happening around you, even if you can't see it yourself.
However, a particularly strong attack from one gets you, knocking you down.
{ATTACK} -Critical!-
Yet, as you lay there, unable to fight back, a miracle occurs, and you feel a change occuring within you...
"PERSONA!"
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[/img]
Orpheus transforms, and what's left is what appears to be a statue.
{MEGIDOLAON}
With one flick of its finger, the new Persona summons three spheres of pure energy, leaving no shadows remaining.
And with that, Orpheus regains its original form.
And then you fainted.
