"Hello and Welcome to the velvet room."

You open your eyes at the sound of Igor's voice. You find yourself in the same room as a few nights ago. Igor and Sonata are sitting in the booth in front of you again. You lean up in your chair to listen.

"Only those bound by a contract and have forged bonds may enter this room." Sonata adds, casually. "Congratulations, you have unlocked your hidden power. It is the power of the Wild Card." Sonata smiles as she continues to explain. "It's ability is like no other. Like the number zero, it's possibilities are endless."

"I am quite curious to see how you will use these new powers you have obtained. In the meantime, I would like you to have this." Igor presents you with a small key.

"This is the contractor's key." explains Sonata. "From here on out, you will be our guest here in the velvet room. You may visit anytime you want."

"Now, it is time for us to go, for now." says Igor, cracking another disturbing smile. "But do not worry. We will travel the road of your destiny together. Only one true destination lies ahead. That is for both of us to find out soon."

"Where we left off...in the dungeon of Spoiled Rich.

September 4th, Saturday
Noon

"Shade! Shade!! Wake up!"

Shade opened his eyes. Twilight and Starlight were standing over him. Shade groaned and rubbed his head. "What happened there? For a minute, I felt like I was somepony else."

"You kind of seemed like it." said Twilight. "Umm, quick question though. WHAT, IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WAS THAT 'THING' SUPPOSED TO BE?" Twilight's voice sounded so loud that the walls shook a little. Starlight and Shade had to cover their ears just to minimize the noise. Then, Twilight managed to calm herself. "Sorry, I've gotten into a habit of using the royal Canterlot voice at times like these. Enough time around Princess Luna will do that to you."

Shade stood up, brushing off some dirt on his jacket. The dungeon's floors were not exactly sanitary. "I don't know." he replied. "I just felt something and I guess I have this power now."

"What did you call that thing again?" asked Starlight. "A 'Persona'?" Shade nodded. "I've never heard of such a thing before. Twilight, do you have any clue what kind of magic that was?"

"Don't ask me! That wasn't a summoning spell or teleportation! I sensed a different kind of aura coming from it. Whatever it is, it's like nothing I've ever seen or heard of before." Starlight walked up closer to Shade, like she was about to interrogate him.

"So, do you mind telling us what's with this 'Persona' you have now?" asked Starlight. "What kind of magic is it?"

"I told you, I don't know." replied Shade. "I heard a voice calling my name and asking me whether I wanted it's power. It came to me when you guys were in danger." Shade felt around his face. The texture of the black mask was still there. "It must be because of the mask I got."

"Yes, but where did it come from?" asked Twilight. "It just came out of thin air? No teleportation or anything?"

"It looked like he had seen the mask before when he put it on." commented Starlight. "Have you been hiding it or something?" Starlight looked suspicious of Shade now. "If so, then who are you?! Tell us!"

"Starlight, please. He probably doesn't know."

"Then explain to me why he didn't seem too fazed when he summoned this 'persona'!" shouted Starlight. "You heard you moved here to find a normal life, but this is anything but normal! Who are you?!"

Shade was a little intimidated by Starlight advancing on him, but he kept cool. "I said, I don't know. I just heard a voice calling to me and I got this. I never had a mask like this before." Shade spoke calmly and firmly. "Yet, when I put the mask on and unleashed this power, something about it felt familiar to me."

Twilight looked at Shade. The look in his eyes told her he wasn't lying. "I believe you." she said. "But, I need answers. We need to find a way to get back home." Starlight backed off from him, the energy from her horn dying down. She still didn't seem fully intent on trusting Shade.

"Where are we now?" asked Shade. "We're not in the dungeon anymore."

"We managed to escape." said Twilight. "Spoiled forgot to lock the cell door when she left. We're now hiding inside a separate room. Thankfully, nopony's found us yet." Shade sighed a sigh of relief.

"I've visited the store before. It was never this big." said Starlight. "A lot of stuff here doesn't make sense."

"I think I might have a theory on that." said Twilight. "Spoiled is acting way too violent, the store has entirely separate rooms and floors, and the map was glowing red before we were sucked inside a portal." Twilight gasped. "This must mean that we're in another world now! It has to!"

"Another world?!" asked Starlight. "The map's never done that before. What could've happened?" Then she turned to face Shade directly, again. "It never did this until it called You! Doesn't that seem awfully strange?!"

"I've never even seen the map before. I have no clue why it transported us to wherever this place is. Maybe it was an accident."

"No, I know this has something to do with you!" yelled Starlight. "Back then, you were a problem when I was-" Starlight covered her mouth. "Sorry, ignore whatever I was about to say. My point is that there's something off about you and it's like you're hiding it from us! Tell us what it is!" Starlight's horn started spewing energy in response to her anger.

Shade was about to speak, but his headache came back. "Rrrrgh!! Not again!" He knelt down in pain. Another image flashed into his head and then a voice.

"Where were you last night?!!" yelled the voice, in a tone Shade could've sworn he'd heard before. "Answer me!!"

Shade felt like he was getting a faint flashback. But what was with these images and voices he kept getting? Why had he been able to control this new power so well? Starlight was practically right on top of him, waiting for him to answer. Shade didn't even know what to think. Starlight was acting like she was about to pass judgment on him. Yet, it felt like he had gone through a similar situation before. He braced himself for a blast of magic, but thankfully, it didn't come. Starlight took a few deep breaths.

"Sorry, it's just that you seem like you know something and you're keeping us in the dark about it." Starlight backed up a little. "Anyways, this isn't the right time to be asking you this."

"That's right." said Twilight. "We need to figure out a way to get out of this crazy place without running into any more guards."

"One thing puzzles me though." said Starlight. "Why have we been able to hide from them so long? We've been talking pretty loudly and still they haven't found us."

Shade took another glance at the room. The walls and floor were all colored blue. There was comfortable furniture laid out, giving the room a feeling of comfort and safety. "Just a guess, but maybe this room is like a safe point?"

Twilight and Starlight turned to him. "That's highly probable." said Twilight. "But it doesn't make sense. If those guards know we're here, why are none of them looking in here? It's like these rooms are designed to give intruders like us a chance to escape!"

Shade just shrugged in response. "So, any of you guys got a plan for escape? We can't just hide here forever."

"How should I know?" asked Twilight. "I've studied plenty of magic, but nothing about this kind! A good deus ex machina would actually come in handy now!" As soon as Twilight said the words, the table in the middle of the room began to glow. All three ponies rushed over to the table. Shade noticed something about it.

"It's glowing red."

"And that doesn't bother you?" asked Starlight. Shade could practically feel Starlight's doubtful eyes piercing through him. He wasn't hiding anything and yet he still felt uneasy. The map glowed an even brighter red and the image of a pony appeared on the table, like a spell recording. The image was blurred a little, but Twilight still knew who it was immediately.

"Starswirl?!!" exclaimed Twilight, like an excited child. "Is that you?!" The image nodded. Twilight began to jump around in excitement. Shade just stared at her, perplexed. Twilight calmed herself down and walked back over to the table. "How are you here?!" she asked. "And if you know, can you tell us where we really are?"

The image began to speak. "Twilight, I can#####I don't have####much time####but, I can####get you####back. Just stand######table####I'll#####.." Twilight couldn't make out what the pony was saying. Neither could Shade and Starlight.

"I think Starswirl's trying to tell us to get on the table." said Twilight. "I'm just guessing, but I guess you can blame weaker spell reception for that." Shade seemed to be pondering this possibility. Starlight didn't seem too convinced by this.

"Are you sure about this, Twilight?" asked Starlight. "You're unusually trusting of 'strangers' today."

"I've learned to develop my trust ever since my journey outside of Equestria." replied Twilight. "Besides, if we don't know any other way to get out, we should at least give my theory a try." Shade nodded.

"I agree. This is pretty much the only room in this place that I can trust now." He and Twilight climbed up on top of the table. Starlight let out a sigh and got on the table as well. A huge flash of light erupted from the table and a bell portal appeared above the table. The three braced themselves, as they were sucked into the light again.

With a loud thud, the three ponies landed on another table. Starlight stood up and took a look at the table. "It's the map!" she exclaimed. The three wanted to celebrate, but nopony was sure if they were in the right place.

"Thank goodness. I was worried you might not return." Twilight and the other two heard the voice and looked to see a pony standing in front of the map table.

"Princess Celestia!" exclaimed Twilight, jumping off the table. She flew into the white allicorn, embracing her, tearfully. Celestia comforted Twilight and patted her on the head. "I'm so glad to see you! We have so much to talk about!"

"It's okay, Twilight." said Celestia, "You're safe now." She turned to the others. "I got here as fast I could. Tell me everything that happened."

Shade, Twilight, and Starlight did their best to explain what happened. They had just assumed everything had taken place in another world, so they based their descriptions off of that. Celestia didn't even comment the whole way through. She listened attentively. "And that's pretty much the gist of it." said Shade, as he finished telling her.

Celestia stroked her chin, thinking about the story. "I see. It's just what Starswirl told me."

Twilight froze, as if she was a robot and she briefly lost connection. "You mean that image we saw in that world was Starswirl, in the flesh?!" Celestia simply nodded.

"Ooh, I have so many questions to ask him! If he knows about that place, it would be great chance to study under him and-"
The other ponies in the room just gave Twilight unimpressed stares. "And you know, find out more info about what we went through." said Twilight, awkwardly.

Shade couldn't help but crack a smile at this display. "Anyways, do you have any info on this strange world that we should know, your highness?" he asked as politely as he could. Ticking off one of Equestria's princesses was not high on his agenda.

"Starswirl only had time to contact me about some of the details." said Celestia. "But, I know some facts. Anypony here up for a quick story?" The three nodded.

Just then, Spike walked in the door. He noticed that Celestia was sitting down with three at the map table. "So, what did I miss?" asked Spike, taking a seat at his own throne. A worried look crossed Twilight's face.

"Actually, this is something private, Spike. Could you just go somewhere-" Celestia gestured to Twilight, saying that it was okay for Spike to listen. "Never mind then, you can sit down there." Spike seemed confused, but he took a seat anyway.

"Wait a minute." said Starlight. "Couldn't you just make a spell call to Starswirl and bring him up so he can explain to us?"

"I'm sorry, but he's a little busy now." said Celestia. "Ever since he heard about the incident you three ended up in, he's been working hard on deciphering it's hidden meanings. Now, is everypony and dragon ready to hear my info?"

"Yes, your highness."

Celestia cleared her throat and began telling the group what she knew. "The world you were all transported to was apparently a world reflecting the distorted mind of a pony. According to Starswirl, the map called you to that location because the Elements must have responded to a strong distortion or disturbance in the balance of magic." A serious expression crossed Celestia's face as she continued to talk. "Equestria is normally filled with light and hope, but if the map called you and transported you to a world like that, something has clearly gone wrong."

"How does that work?" asked Shade. "Is the map that powerful to be able to transport us to alternate worlds?"

"Unfortunately I have very little knowledge on how the map works." replied Celestia. "This is quite a mystery indeed."

"So, the Elements are sensing negative magic." said Starlight. "But doesn't Equestria have bad magic going around a lot these days?"

"Yes, it does." replied Celestia. "However, this new force of magic is something quite different. It's an ancient kind of chaos magic that even Discord himself isn't familiar with. Whatever it is, Starswirl told me that it was one of his early hidden studies. He even developed a spell that would allow him to detect the presence and disturbance of that magic."

"So that's how he knew where we were." said Twilight. "He really is amazing!"

Celestia just smiled and nodded at her excited student. "He most certainly is, but sadly, that is all I know. After all, it was a 'secret' project."

"It's kind of weird why Starswirl would keep this kind of information a secret." said Twilight. "You and Luna studied under him for a while. I wonder why he wouldn't even tell you two."

"That is unfortunately beyond my knowledge." said Celestia. "Starswirl didn't tell anypony about this study. Not even his closest supporters and friends. At least, not until now."

Starlight and Twilight seemed to be taking this in, but Spike didn't seem to have a clue what they were talking about. "So let me get this straight. You guys visited another world while I was out?!"

"Pretty much." replied Shade. "I know it sounds crazy Spike, but it's what really happened."

"No, no, I believe you." reassured Spike. "I'm just really surprised. Nothing like this has happened before. Except for that time Starlight opened a portal to the past and her actions ended up creating alternate timelines and worlds where Equestria was destroyed."

Starlight just eyed him. "You just have to bring that up over and over, huh? I know, I was evil back then. But, it's starting to get a little old."

"Sorry, it's just a little hard to forget."

"Clearly."

"Those facts aside," said Celestia. "It is likely that this will happen again. If that is the case, you must be prepared." She turned to Shade. "Because you seem to be the only pony capable of fighting in that world, Shade, I think that it is best for you to stay with Twilight in the castle."

Shade just nodded. "Yes, your highness. I'll do what I can."

"Glad to hear that." said Celestia. "I have already asked Starswirl to come to Canterlot so me and Luna can gather more information with him. We need to figure out the secrets of this supposed magic that the Elements detected."

"Until then, I think that's best for us to wait and see what happens." added Twilight, getting up from her throne. "I need to get cracking on researching this. We can never really tell when we may run into this world again."

"For once, I would not recommend studying Twilight." said Celestia. "Remember that this magic is secret and no other information about it has been recorded. Starswirl hasn't shared it with anypony."

"True, but I would like to do some referencing and see what kind of magic this might be." said Twilight. "Ever since Starswirl gave me access to more of his spells and older journals, I've been able to find even more secrets about magic that I never knew before. In fact, watch this! I only created this spell a day ago." Twilight got up and shot a blast of magic from her horn at a random vase on a counter. The smaller vase popped out of it. Then another one popped out. Then another. Soon, there were ten different sized vases lying out on the floor, all in different colors and with different patterns.

The other ponies were pretty impressed. "That must be Starswirl's early studies on chaos based magic." remarked Celestia. "Discord would be proud."

She turned to Shade. "I don't mean to put too much pressure on you, but I'm counting on you to protect Twilight and the others. Please, help them. You hold the only method of defeating the forces of evil in that world."

"I promise I will." said Shade. "I'm glad that you trust me with this."

"I'm just happy that these two are back safetly thanks to you." said Celestia. "I wouldn't put my trust in any other pony for this kind of situation now. But please be careful. Starswirl must have hid his studies on this new magic for a reason and I doubt it was just privacy. Celestia looked at the clock. "Forgive me, but I have to get back to work. My schedule is packed with meetings and local appearances. I only had time for a quick break."

"I understand princess." said Twilight, bowing to Celestia. "You and Luna must be lucky to get any breaks at all these days."

"Quite true." said Celestia, giving Twilight one more comforting hug with her left wing. "Good luck." In a burst of bright light, she was gone. Starlight waited for a little before speaking again.

"We should just go about our normal lives for now." she said. "If we stress about this weird, distorted world stuff, we might end up dragging other ponies into this mess."

"You make a valid point, Starlight." said Twilight. "I think we should just keep this a secret for now."

"Sounds good to me." said Spike. "Can I tell our friends about it?"

"No way!" cried Twilight. "I don't want anypony else getting involved. Even if we have Shade and his weird 'Persona' magic helping us out, we can't take any chances."

"Got it. I'll keep quiet about it." said Spike. "In the meantime, I'm gonna go out for a little. There's a sale on 'Ogres and Oubliettes' booster packs at the toy store today." With that, Spike left the room, leaving the three ponies to talk amongst each other.

"What time is it now, anyway?" asked Shade. "It felt like we'd been in that place for hours." Starlight looked up at the clock.

"It's two after noon."

Shade gasped. "I'm late for my new job!!!" He jumped up and ran out the door, his black coat streaming out behind him. Twilight and Starlight just stared at him. Starlight gave Twilight a smug and playful look.

"He seems to be taking after you a little Twilight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." said Starlight. "But I still think there's something weird about him. Why are you suddenly so trusting of him?"

"I guess my journey outside of Equestria taught me that every pony or creature deserves a chance to earn trust." replied Twilight. "Besides, he did save our lives in there. Celestia put her trust in him too. If she trusts him, so do I."

Starlight shrugged. "I guess so, but I need to know more. I feel like I've seen him before."

"How so?"

"He just looked a lot like somepony I knew when I was evil. He didn't seem to know me though, so I guess I was thinking of a different pony."

"We can think about his origins later." said Twilight. "We should be grateful he's even on our side. Imagine what would happen if he could use that power against us."

"That's a small possibility that I'm afraid of."

"Well, we shouldn't be. For now, let's take your advice and just go about our normal lives. I have less work on the weekend, so I'm going to the library to make the most of it."

"Alright, I'll be back later tonight. See you later!" The two ponies waved goodbye and headed off in different directions.

Shade could only hope that he was as laid back as the other two. Being late on the first day of work was not something to be proud of, at all. He dashed all over just looking for the store. Finally, he reached the store. Payload was waiting in front for him.

"Well, well. Look who finally decided to show up." said Payload, clearly unimpressed with Shade's arrival time.

"I'm so sorry!" gasped Shade, panting from exhaustion. "I ran into some...problems on the way here."

"Were you falling asleep a lot?"

"Ummmm...Yeah, but how did you know?"

"Lucky guess." replied Payload. "Trust me, a lot of workers love to sleep in."

"So I can still work here?" asked Shade.

Payload sadly shook his head. "I'm afraid not. My boss is pretty strict about being on time, let alone on your first day." Shade's ears drooped and his head hung.

"Sorry Shade, but it's not up to me. I would've been lax and said 'hey it's okay. Just don't be this late again.' But it isn't, so I can't really help you with it. Besides, this job gets boring after a while. It's just looking after the same old and dusty things day after day."

"I just wanted a job." said Shade, sadly. "Honestly, I just jumped at the first opportunity. There goes my luck."

"It's okay, Shade." said Payload. "I'm sure you'll find some other job here that's even more exciting." Payload then reached into a barrel he was packing. "But my boss has made a rule that all ponies who don't make it on the first day get one of these things." Payload handed Shade another small package. "My boss said that you need to open it and put it on as soon as you get back home."

"Why?"

"It's just a policy we have. If you're late on the first day, my boss orders me to give these out."

"How many ponies have this thing?"

"Only you so far." Shade groaned.

"Thanks, you just made my day."

"Look, I didn't mean to insult you or anything but these are just the rules. Please just put it on when you get back." said Payload. Shade didn't exactly know what to think about this. Why would Payload's boss care so much about him even after firing him? He just said his goodbyes and left to look for another job.

"Oh well, might as well see what it is." said Shade as he opened the box. Inside was a red and black watch. Shade was surprised. Watches were not cheap in Equestria but Payload's boss had just given him one for free without him even paying for it. Happy to at least get something out of his failure, Shade strapped on the watch. Suddenly, a holographic menu display popped out in front of him. In the middle was a button with the words "lock in" on it. Curious, Shade reached out to press it. Surprisingly, the hologram responded. A wave of transparent red light surrounded Shade. Shade took a look around. Everything looked the same, just if he were wearing red night vision goggles. Then, he jumped at what he saw.

Some buildings were beginning to turn an ominous purple. Something, which Shade could only describe as black ooze was leaking out of some of the buildings. Shade gasped in shock as some buildings began to disappear from his sight in a burst of flames. He watched as the whole world around him began to burn. Then, new buildings began to form around him. But, these were not the same simple yet comfortable structures Shade had been seeing for the past two days. The new structures were glamorous, overdone buildings with too many decorations and jewels. Shade was all for a little bit of style, but these were the same disgustingly gaudy buildings he had seen in the other world.

"..Wait a minute...The other world?" Shade's thoughts about this were interrupted as the terrible images around him vanished. With that, he was right back in the real Ponyville. Shade turned to look at his surroundings. Everything was just the same as before until he got the message from the watch. Or was it the watch? Shade decided to test this theory by pressing the button on the watch again. In a few seconds, he was surrounded by the flashy sculptures once again. Shade pushed it again. He returned to Ponyville. He didn't even know what to think now. He had pretty much seen another glimpse of the alternate world. Shade was confused on whether the watch actually transported him there or if it was just a hologram.

"I need to tell Twilight about this." he said as he turned toward the castle.

"Umm, are ya feeling okay there?" came the voice of an orange pony with a western pony hat. She was hauling a large wagon of apples. Shade shook his head back and forth, trying to get a grip.

"No? You're not okay?"

"Oh, sorry. I, um, just had something on my face." said Shade.

"Yeah, sure. I was just on my way to make some apple deliveries and I just caught you standing here with a shocked look on your face." Shade groaned. If only he could see the images, then it would make him look like a complete fool in front of other ponies.

"I was..just thinking thoughts." replied Shade, some sweat coming down his forehead. "What's your name?"

"Oh, my apologies. I never did introduce myself." said the orange pony. "I'm Applejack. You must be that new pony that's staying with Twilight now. Shade, was it?"

"Yup."

Applejack smiled. "Well, I know we didn't meet on the best terms, but let me just say, welcome to Ponyville." Applejack held out her hoof and Shade gladly shook it. "I'm sorry I never got to meet you earlier. Coincidentally, I had to head off to Appleloosa to work on something private."

Shade grinned a little. He was feeling unusually curious. "What was it?" Applejack just raised her eyebrow.

"If you recall, I said it was private."

"Just a guess, but did it have something to do with the map?"

Applejack's eyes seemed to pop open. "How did you know?"

"I've seen the map before." replied Shade. "Twilight and Starlight informed me about it earlier today."

"Alright then, you got me." said Applejack. "I went out to solve a 'friendship problem'. The map's been calling us one at a time more often now." She looked Shade over a little. "I'll just assume you know what that means, right?"

Shade just nodded. "Well, that's good. I wouldn't want this situation becoming anymore awkward than it already is."

"I'm relieved." said Shade in a playful manner. "But why keep it a secret?"

"If any random pony knew about the map we'd have to deal with even more fan attention." Applejack shuddered just thinking about the old experience. "I could honestly do without that for a while."

"So, where are you headed off to now? I'm kind of bored and just poking around town for fun."

"Just heading back to Sweet Apple Acres once I finish these here deliveries." replied Applejack. "You can stop by if you want. Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine."

"Thanks Applejack." said Shade. He looked at his watch. It was already afternoon. "Oh, that's right. I have to go talk to Twilight about something." He ran off back to Twilight's castle. Applejack just watched him head off. She scratched her chin.

"He seems like an interesting guy." she remarked as she headed off with her wagon. "There's something about that pony that feels weird though."

Shade burst in through the door. "Twilight? Where are you? I need to show you something!"

Twilight flew down to meet Shade. "What is it?" Shade presented her with the watch.

"I got it from Payload. He just said to wear it because of his boss' policy." explained Shade. "But when I put it on, I saw images of that world we were in before."

Curious, Twilight took the watch and observed it. It looked like just an ordinary wrist watch. "I know what I saw." said Shade. "After the events this morning, I'm sure that this might have a connection to the mystery of this alternate world.

"Don't worry. I believe you." said Twilight. "I just don't know how this works."

"Me neither." said Shade. "All I know is that it seems to only work for me." He pressed the button a few times. Nothing happened. "I passed Applejack on the way back here and she didn't see anything weird."

"Interesting." commented Twilight. "Could you let me borrow the watch for a little? I'll need to run some analysis on it."

"You have an analysis lab?" asked Shade.

"You bet." replied Twilight. "I don't use it that often these days. Science can't explain everything in this world. Besides, the library is where I do most of my research."

"Makes sense." Shade thought to himself. "Sure." He handed Twilight the watch. "I'm gonna head out again." said Shade. "I need to find a new job to pass the time."

"Got it. Good luck!" called Twilight from upstairs. She had just teleported. Shade sauntered off to find a job, again.

Shade looked around but he couldn't find any jobs that might need his assistance. He saw Payload stacking some more boxes and then dropping a few. He looked pretty busy and stressed out. Then, Shade remembered what Rainbow Dash had told him yesterday. "Well, I might as well go check out the school and see what they can offer me." Shade said, talking to himself.

Shade reached the school. It was a pretty small building, at least, compared to some of the schools he'd seen it the city. Shade couldn't remember where he had received his education, but that wasn't important to him now. Shade knew the school was closed, but if he could leave a note in the mail, maybe he would get lucky with a job. Fortunately, he made sure to carry around some paper and a pencil in his jacket pockets. Shade levitated a piece of paper out with his magic and wrote a message. He folded it up into an envelope he had brought with him and dropped it in the mailbox in front of the school.

"Worth a shot, I guess." He headed back into town. As he was walking, he saw a little filly leaning against a corner. She had light pink fur and a violet mane with streaks of white. Shade could see her whimpering. Standing in front of her were three other fillies. One of them was Sweetie Belle. The other two were an earth pony and a pegasus. One was orange and had a purple mane The other one was yellow, had a red mane, and a big red bow that seemed to be her defining feature. They were talking to her. Shade knew it wasn't the best idea to listen in on a conversation, but he couldn't help himself. He hid behind a wall right next to them.

"C'mon Diamond Tiara. You don't need to hide anything from us." said the yellow one.

"Yeah, we're here to help you. You can tell us whatever's going on with you." said the orange one.

"We won't judge. Helping other ponies is our job." said Sweetie Belle, leaning in a little closer to Diamond Tiara. The violet earth pony just shook her head.

"I'm fine. Just have a lot of work to do these days." she mumbled. The three fillies in front of her just shook their heads.

"We know you're upset Diamond, but hiding your problems won't solve them." said Sweetie Belle. At this, Diamond Tiara just stood up and ran.

"I told you I'm fine!" she cried out. "You guys should just leave me alone!" Shade saw her running away crying. He could've sworn he saw a bruise on her head. Suddenly, he was caught off guard by a turqoise aura of magic pulling on his tail. Before he knew it, he was dragged into the street corner, right in front of the three. Sweetie Belle looked suspicious at first but then her expression changed.

"Oh, it's only you." she said. "Nice to see you again Shade! These are my friends." She pointed to the others to introduce them.

"Howdy! I'm Applebloom." said the yellow one.

"Nice to meet you! My name's Scootaloo." said the orange one. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"So I've heard from Sweetie Belle." said Shade. "You guys apparently help other ponies?"

"Yep." replied Applebloom. "Did you see us?"

"Of course he did Applebloom!" said Sweetie Belle. "I knew he was there the whole time!"

"Wait, how?" asked Shade, a little startled at Sweetie's observational skills. The white filly just grinned in response.

"No offense, but I heard your hoofsteps. You were a little loud." Shade chuckled a little at his own incompetence.

"So, I heard you guys talking to that filly. What happened?"

"That was Diamond Tiara." replied Scootaloo. "She seemed pretty sad today. It started today at school."

"That's right." said Sweetie Belle. "I noticed that she looks a little droopy these days. But today, she just didn't look well at all."

"How so?" asked Shade. "What's she usually like?"

"Well, she used to be a real bully." replied Applebloom, turning her head a little. "But, she's really changed since then. Now, she's a good friend and does a lot to help our school." Shade stroked his chin, taking in the information he was receiving. Some ponies noticed them and started to whisper. Shade could tell this wasn't the right environment for this kind of conversation. The alleyway just screamed, "scheming."

"Mind if we take this conversation somewhere else?" asked Shade.

"Not at all." replied Scootaloo. "We can show you our clubhouse if you want."

"Sounds good to me."

"Well, here we are!" announced Applebloom. Shade was impressed with the structure of the tree house. It was definitely professional.

"You guys build this entire thing on your own?" asked Shade. Applebloom nodded. Shade hesitated a little, taken back by the filly's talent for building. He found a comfortable seat labeled, "clients chair." He straightened himself up "So, could you guys please continue? You were on Diamond Tiara acting a little off lately."

"Oh, right." said Applebloom. "Well, yeah, her behavior has seemed weird these days. It's not like she's being mean all over again. She just seems way too gloomy nowadays and we have no idea what it could be."

Shade took a mint from the jar. "When did this first begin?" he said, sucking on the piece of candy.

Scootaloo shrugged. "We don't really know what goes on in her personal life. It's hard to tell when this first started." She stretched out her wings a little. "We started talking to her yesterday, cause that's when we knew something was wrong with her."

"Only problem is that she refuses to tell us anything!" added Applebloom. "We don't know what to do now. Forcing her isn't gonna help!" She paused and her eyes grew a little wider. "If our life's purpose is helping other ponies, what does that mean if we can't help her?" Shade felt a sharp pain in his heart. He barely knew Applebloom, but seeing her sad face wasn't pleasant. He stood up from the chair and walked over to Applebloom and the other two.

"What if I go and talk to her?" he suggested. Applebloom looked up in surprise.

"You would do that for us?" she asked, excitedly.

"Yeah, sure." replied Shade. "I don't know you guys that well, but I can't just sit by and watch you try to work this out alone. Lending you guys a helping hoof just..feels like the right thing to do." Applebloom gave Shade a hug.

"Thanks a lot Shade! I'm just so happy that you care!" she cried out, tears of joy falling down her cheeks. Then, she broke away. "Er, I mean, thanks for helping." Shade just smiled and gave her a pat on the head.

"It's okay. I won't let you guys down." he said, reassuringly. "Now, where does she live?"

"Oh, she lives in the Rich's house next to the jewelry shop." said Sweetie Belle. "Good luck with talking to her."

"Yeah." added Scootaloo. "She may be reformed but she can still be pretty stubborn sometimes."

Shade said his thanks and headed out. The route from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville was long on hoof, but Shade was able to make it back on his own. As he walked back, his mind seemed to fill up with thoughts and theories. Shade often talked to himself aloud to get some ideas off his chest. "Diamond Tiara lives in the Rich's house, huh?" he said to himself. "Doesn't that mean her mother is-" He stopped walking for just a little. It was already 6:50 PM and he was just in the town square of Ponyville. "Spoiled Rich." Shade pondered. "Is she having issues with her parents?" The words escaped his mouth but thankfully, nopony seemed to be listening. "No, come on. I can't just jump to conclusions." said Shade. "I mean, the Spoiled Rich I know was the one in the alternate world. The two can't be completely the same."

"The world you were transported to was apparently a world reflecting the distorted mind of a pony."

"Wait a minute." said Shade. "I remember what Celestia told me. A world reflecting a pony's 'distorted mind'? What's that supposed to mean?" Shade looked at a nearby street clock. "I should at least grab a bite to eat. It's about that time again." He walked over to the nearest restaurant he could see, ordered a salad and some chips, and just ate on his own while thinking about the details of his conversation with Celestia. His day had been all over the place. He had gone from one task to another.

"So much for a relaxing environment." Shade thought to himself. "Now I see what Twilight and the others meant." He took a few more bites and paid the bill with the few bits he had in his jacket pockets. "Distorted mind." Shade was still thinking about this odd statement. What did it mean? Shade did a little more thinking as he walked back. He tended to do a lot of thinking as he walked. He reached the castle and knocked on the door. Spike opened it for him.

"Hey Shade, Twilight needs to talk to you about something." said Spike. "She's in the throne room." Shade let Spike lead the way. There, he found Twilight waiting for him. She was levitating some books and the watch he'd given her.

"You're here. Thank goodness." said Twilight. "I've been digging for answers and I think I might have got a few."

"What did you find out?" asked Shade, coming a little closer. Twilight handed him his watch.

"I analyzed it thoroughly and I got almost nothing." said Twilight. "It just seems like a regular watch." Shade slapped his forehead. "Although, I did find one weird thing about it." said Twilight. "Take a look at this." She levitated a paper in front of Shade. He read through it.

"What's so strange about it?"

"Do you notice that the analysis shows one unidentified material?"

"Uh, no I didn't." replied Shade. He looked over it again. "Wait, I see it! I don't know what it means though."

"Exactly." said Twilight. "I analyzed the watch multiple times to get the most accurate results and that popped up in the scanner every time. Whatever this watch has in it, my scanner can't properly identify it."

Shade looked closely at the watch. He just strapped it back on. As soon as he did, a flash of red light came out. The two ponies stumbled back, rubbing their eyes. "What was that?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know. When I put it on, it just flashed." Twilight thought about it. "It activated as soon as you put it on?"

"I guess so, but what could it mean?" asked Shade. His thoughts were cut off as he and Twilight found themselves in Ponyville's town square. Shade and Twilight watched in shock as the buildings began to burst into flames one by one. The same brash and showy structures that they had seen in the alternate world took the place of the buildings. Above them, the sky turned darker and a feminine voice called out to them.

"20 days left." it droned. In a few seconds, the two were right back in the castle room. Twilight was shocked about what had just happened. Shade wasn't too surprised but he was puzzled by the fact he had gotten the same images from the watch as before. He knew they were images and not the alternate world itself because he had ended up in the exact same place as he had the last time he saw the image.

"What, in the name of Celestia just happened!?" yelled Twilight. Spike ran over in an attempt to calm her down, but to no avail. Shade just stared at the watch. He bumped it a few times with his horn. The watch seemed to respond to his tapping.

"You Have 20 Days Remaining Till Collapse Begins." came the mechanical voice. Shade froze at this. That was a disturbing statement. Then, the map began to flash again. Twilight and Shade's cutie marks hovered above it, flashing as well. The map began to turn a dark shade of red again. Twilight stopped her rapid pacing and ran over to look at the map.

"It's happening again!" yelled Twilight. "It's just like before! What should we do? Shade stepped back and watched as the blood red energy from the map floated up. The energy formed the shape of a huge bell, right above the map. Shade felt his watch vibrate. When he looked at it, several signs appeared in front of his face.

One of them said, "Your nightly raid is now open. Proceed?" The "proceed" button appeared below the first one. Shade knew something was different than before. For some reason, the bell portal from last time wasn't forcefully sucking the two in anymore. It was just hovering there, waiting for a response. Twilight noticed as well. Her mind cooled down a little. She was still understandably confused, but she wasn't shouting and jumping around anymore.

"That's strange. It seems like it's waiting for us to do something or step within its range." she remarked. Shade saw some more holographic signs appear below the "proceed" button, like a miniature pop-up menu. They were labeled, skip for today and return to previous landmark. Shade didn't know what these meant. Was this watch connected to the magic he had experienced? Twilight teleported over to Shade. "Did your watch cause this?"

"I have no clue." replied Shade. "But it seems like we should go in. If these are the same signs as last time, we don't have much of a reason to skip it. Our goal was to find more information on this place and we have a free passage there right in front of us." Shade swallowed hard. "I hope."

"You hope?" asked Twilight, who was getting a little shaky. "Well, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Me too." replied Shade. "By the way Twilight, what were you going to say before we were interrupted?"

"Huh, oh right." mumbled Twilight. "I saw something else before you got here."

"Yeah? What was it?" asked Shade. Twilight sat down on a cushion to explain. Spike had already exited the room. He wasn't gonna hang around a massive portal above the map. Not after the last time that had happened when Starlight had done it.

"Before you came here, I could've sworn I heard some voices calling to me. I looked around and heard the noise coming from the map. What's even weirder is that the sounds were coming from Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres, on the map. It's like the map was literally calling to me. I couldn't make heads or tails of it through just hearing so I used a translation spell. Here's what I got back. 'Help, help us please! She's the reason for our suffering!' The rest is a blur." Twilight sighed. "Some help I am. It's like this new magic is designed to troll with the magic I've been studying and refining for years!" Shade gave her a pat on the back.

"You've been trying your best Twilight." he said, trying to make her feel a little better. "I've been thinking about the details of this world for most of the day. I just can't completely put it together though." Then, his expression became serious. "Look, we made it in there once and this was what happened before. Now that there seems to be some control over the way we can enter, we should go in." He held out his hoof. "Come on."

Twilight wiped her face off a little. "Okay, let's give it a try." She took Shade's hoof and the two climbed up onto the map table. Shade's watch buzzed again and another message came out.

"You Have 20 Days Till Collapse Begins." said the voice again. "Do You Wish To Proceed?" The watch suddenly began to morph into a miniature screen. It showed the time in digital numbers above and revealed two buttons asking yes and no.
Shade didn't know what to make of this, but his gut told him that he should just go along with it. He pressed the "yes" button. The screen then displayed, "restart at last landmark?". Shade pressed yes on that one as well. As soon as he did, the portal began to buzz and vibrate. The two ponies cried out as the portal pulled them into the unknown.

----(Red waves)

Shade and Twilight stood up and looked around. They were in a blue room with comfortable furniture. Twilight recognized the place. "This is the same room we hid in last time."

Shade noticed as well. "Yeah, it is. And I think I know why we ended up here. It must be a landmark."

Twilight looked at him. "You mean that thing that the weird 'watch' asked you about? If that's the case, this is our safe zone and we must have warped back to it."

"Seems like that." said Shade. "We're here now though which means it worked."

"I don't know if that's entirely a relief or a bad thing." said Twilight. "I'm glad our hopes about traveling back here are confirmed, but a dangerous place like this is not somewhere anypony would want to end up in."

"We need to dig around here for some clues and info." said Shade. "Let's just be careful though." He walked to the door.

"We wanted to come to find out more." said Twilight. "I'll just stay behind you. My magic couldn't do anything to those monsters when we came here before and I'm not risking another near death scenario like that again." Shade nodded and slowly cracked the door open.

He poked his head out and glanced around the outside space. No enemies were in sight. "The coast is clear." he whispered to Twilight. The two ponies slowly crept out of the room and across the dark hallway. Faint creaks and screeching noises were starting to become detectable. Twilight huddled up close to Shade, trying to avoid even the slightest chance of getting herself caught. Another loud screech echoed in the hallways. Shade and Twilight turned around quickly to see where the noise could've come from. The two began to continue their descent down the long corridor of jail cells.

Shade and Twilight could see ponies inside on their knees, grasping at the bars, begging for freedom or something to eat. "Please, let me out!" screamed an earth pony in one of the cells. "I'll give you all I have! Just please let me out!!"

"Help me!" screamed another one. "I don't belong here! Help!!!" Shade and Twilight looked around in horror at the endless hallway of screams and pleading. Just as they thought the imprisoned ponies were terrible enough, a guard leaped out in front of them, his weapon raised.

"You don't belong here! On your knees, intruders!" yelled the guard, levitating his spear. Shade grabbed Twilight and pushed her out of the way of the spear. He ducked and rolled away to keep his distance. The guard's eyes turned red and his body burned away to reveal a shadowy figure with a sword and shield.

"Oh no!" cried Twilight as the monster raised its weapons, ready to crush her and Shade. Shade focused and a wave of black energy swirled around him blocking the blow of the sword. The same fragmented black mask formed above him.

"It's here." said Shade, sighing in relief. He grabbed the mask out of the air and slammed it to his face. "PERSONA!" he called out. Mordred appeared right in front of him and swung his sword at Shade's command. With an unpleasant chunk noise, the monster's body split in half and burst in a mess of splattered black goo.

Shade gestured and Mordred lifted his sword. The weapon split in half and two long gun barrels emerged from the center. He was just in time because a group of monsters were charging down the hallway. Mordred fired several shots at the monsters. They screamed in pain as the dark flames engulfed them. They dragged themselves towards Shade, fully intent on killing him. Mordred unfurled his huge black wing and sent a huge gust of black wind across the room. Twilight had to hold on to the prison bars to keep her balance. The wind sent the creatures flying away. Their bodies shattered against the hard walls. "Let's go!" yelled Shade. "I can take you guys on!" He ran down the hall, Mordred at his side still firing some shots from his gun sword.

"Hey, wait up!" called Twilight as she flew after the two figures in black.

"Sorry, it's kind of hard to control this power."

"I'll say. Just don't go too overboard or you might collapse like last time!"

"I'll try, but no guarantees!" Shade ran at a speed to which Twilight could keep pace with him. The hallway of ponies seemed to go on forever. Finally, the two reached a long winding staircase. Shade and Twilight stopped to catch their breath, but Shade kept his persona out. He wasn't taking any chances with security until they found a room they could rest in like the last one.

"I know this isn't the real world, but this is insane." remarked Shade, pointing down the long hall of cells.

"Please don't talk about it!" cried Twilight. "It's terrible just to think about it! All of these ponies are trapped here and we couldn't even save one of them! I made a promise to look out for my subjects and my friends."

"I'm sure we can come back for them later, Twilight." said Shade, grabbing her hoof again. "For now, we need to find a new safe zone!" He ran up the long flight of stairs, Twilight running right behind him. With a crash, Mordred broke down the huge door blocking their path.

"Well, hello there, my lovely little intruders!" came a familiar voice. Shade and Twilight angrily turned towards the voice. It was Spoiled Rich. She was sitting on a large throne, hoisted by other ponies, wearing a long flowing purple dress, and eating small morsels from a bowl. "So, you fools have come back." snorted the arrogant pony. "I didn't think you'd actually return. Lucky for me, because you peasants owe me something from last time."

"And what is that, exactly?" asked Shade, defiantly.

Spoiled grimaced at the rebellious pony standing before her. "Your lives." she growled. "Any who dare to oppose me must be eliminated. I only have room for servants and upper class."

"Just try it."

"Guards!" commanded Spoiled. "Kill him now!" The guards shed their skin and turned into their monster forms. They charged at Shade with their swords outstretched, but Mordred simply aimed his gun sword at their knees and blew them apart. The guards lost their balance, giving Mordred enough time to blast the ground with an energy shot. The guards were propelled upward by the force and Mordred delivered a few kicks and sword slashes to his prey. In an instant, the monsters exploded into black slime.

"I came here to investigate, not to play around with your servants."

"Whoever said that was all I had?" sneered Spoiled. She clapped her hooves and a large bulky pegasus soared down in front of her. The pegasus roared and shed its' skin. A towering behemoth appeared right before Shade and Twilight's eyes. It was carrying a huge club. A steel helmet with spikes covered its' head and plates of armor covered its' right arm. It took a huge swing at Shade and Mordred. Mordred blocked the blow with his sword and unloaded a few blasts of dark magic on the giant. The giant didn't flinch and swung at Mordred again. This time, it knocked Mordred back with a solid punch. Mordred went flying into a wall and Shade felt the same pain.

"Agggh!!"

"Shade, no!" cried Twilight. She turned to face the monster and fired a few blasts of magic at it but the blasts just harmlessly bounced off it. Shade motioned with his hoof and Mordred leaped towards the giant. Mordred swung his sword and slashed at the giant's body. He managed to leave a few scars and slash marks. Unfortunately, the giant powered through Mordred's attacks and slammed him into the floor. Shade groaned in pain. It felt like his body was pinned to the ground by an invisible hand.

"I'm not done yet!" yelled Shade, trying to motion to his persona. The giant only strengthened its grip on Mordred. Shade cried out in pain. All Twilight could do was fire a few more shots at the giant, but her magic was helpless against it. Spoiled let out a 'toxic' laugh.

"Not so powerful anymore, are you?" she asked in a mocking tone. "You've had your fun, but this is over." She turned to face Twilight. "As for you, I want you to savor the last moments of your poor, pathetic friend."

Tears dripped down Twilight's face. "No, stop!!" she cried again. "Why are you doing this?! We have no reason to keep fighting!! We don't even mean any harm!"

"Do you really think that is an excuse for lowly commoners like you to just waltz into my kingdom?" asked Spoiled. "I am now a ruler in my own right. All must submit to me here!"

"This isn't real! Nothing here is real! It's all a fantasy!"

"Oh, I beg to differ. I was given the power over this world by Him. HE is the reason why my dreams can and will come true!"

"Who?!" asked Twilight. "Answer me!" Spoiled just gave her opposition an uninterested look.

"Even if I told you, a common pony like you would never understand what HE can do!" crowed Spoiled, puffing out her chest to show her superiority. "I didn't have enough power before, but HE granted me my wish! Now, even if this world isn't the real one, both will be one and the same in a matter of time!" Spoiled let out another laugh. Shade had managed to get Mordred to push the giant's hand off. He was still struggling to hold off the colossal beast.

"What's that last line supposed to mean?!" yelled Shade.

"Hmph, since you're all going to die anyway, I might as well tell you what I mean by that." said Spoiled. "This is an alternate world where all my desires can be granted. Thanks to HIM, I was able to gain control of this world. Now, my thoughts and wishes are all stored in this grand palace of my creation. Soon, my visions and desires will become a part of the real world!" Spoiled's malicious grin grew even larger. "I serve HIM now, in gratitude for the gift he gave me. And soon, the miserable town of Ponyville and many other areas of Equestria will come to serve me in your reality!"

"But how?!" asked Twilight. "What kind of insanity is that? No magic is powerful enough to let your fantasies become real!"

"HE has the power to do it! HE can do anything with the world of Fantasia!" Shade and Twilight were dumbstruck. Neither of them had ever heard of this kind of magic.

"There's no way magic that powerful doesn't have a catch." said Twilight, shooting at the giant over and over. "Think about what you're doing!"

"I already made up my mind a long time ago." replied Spoiled. "Too bad your student hasn't made up her own."

"Leave Starlight out of this!" demanded Twilight.

"Oh, but it's true. I know all about your student's refusal to leave or change herself. She's merely content with staying to rot in this slum of a village!" Twilight began to burn with anger. "She could be so much more if she went to a beautiful place like Canterlot!" continued Spoiled, now marching around Twilight. "But no, she insists on wasting her potential, just like you."

"Don't let her get to you Twilight!" called Shade, prying himself from the giant's grip. "I know you can fight it!"

"No she can't." replied Spoiled. "I jumped at an opportunity for more power. This 'princess' here lives in a castle surrounded by good for nothing commoners! She's no princess at all! She's a mockery of what elite standards should be! If anything, the royal sisters don't deserve to be called princesses either! They waste their time interacting with common ponies, when royalty should only care about the very best quality!"

"Shut up, you little witch!!"

Spoiled turned her attention to Twilight, who was no longer shooting magic. She was standing completely upright, her eyes burning with rage and her wings completely unfurled. "How dare you insult my home, my friends, and my teacher!"

"Pffft, you too?" said Spoiled, in as snooty a tone as she could muster. "You aren't strong enough to defeat me! I am ruler of this world!"

"No, I don't think so." said Twilight, coldly. "All you care about are your own selfish interests. You're just a cold hearted tyrant." Twilight grimaced and energy began to swirl around her. "Don't ever speak about royalty like you're an expert on it and never insult my best friends! Those are my single words of advice to you." Magical energy spewed from her horn. "But if you think you can get away with any of this, I won't let you! Not now! Not ever!"

Twilight had never been so angry in her life. It was even more than the time Tirek had destroyed her old home. Then, she heard a voice.

"I've been waiting for you to make your decision."

Twilight felt a sharp pain in her head. It felt like her head was going to explode. She knelt down and screamed in pain. The voice continued to speak to her.

"Your name and friends have been sullied already. This is truly an unjust situation. If that is the case, why not open a new chapter of knowledge in your life? True power is knowledge and wisdom. Your 'other self' desires to be free of fame and glory. It seeks only to be with the ones you love and to find the right path. Now, let us form a pact.I am Thou. Thou art I.It has been decided. You're are ready to pursue your true path! All that's left to do is to break the obstacles holding you down!"

Twilight grinned. "I hear you and I'm ready." A purple mask with a six pointed star in the center appeared above Twilight. She levitated the mask onto her face.

"COME, MINERVA!!"

In a flash of white light, a beautiful lady appeared before Twilight. She was clad in purple and dark blue garments. She was carrying a vase with a small tree growing from it. A large brown owl was perched atop the branches of the tree. In her other hand, she was carrying a long spear with a six pointed star symbol at the spear's end. The handle was decorated with rings and purple feathers. Beside her was a rectangular case with a collection of thick books. Her long, dark brown hair flowed behind her. She wore a silver helmet with streaks of pink and purple across it.

"Now I'm not so helpless anymore." said Twilight. "Let's go, Minerva!" Twilight raised her hoof and Minerva shot a blast of purple energy at the giant. This time, the blast knocked the giant off balance. Mordred took advantage of this and lifted the giant's hand completely off of him. Shade got up and signalled to Mordred. The warrior took aim and pinned a good shot right between the giant's eyes. Crying out, the gigantic beast collapsed. Spoiled had to jump out of the way to avoid getting crushed. Twilight and Shade stood next to each other. "I'm ready now." said Twilight. "I don't know how I did it, but I have a persona too."

"I'm proud of you,Twilight." said Shade. "Let's save the compliments for later though. We have some monsters to crush."

"You bet." said Twilight, smiling in excitement at her first real time at using a persona. Minerva flew across the hall and fired off multicolored shots from her spear. The giant seemed to be weak to the shots because it was crouching down, using its shielded arm to attempt to block. Shade saw his chance.

"Go!" Mordred swooped down and slashed the giant right in the eyes. The beast stumbled backwards, blinded. Minerva held out her vase. Several beams of light emerged from the vase and penetrated the monster. Some more guards were entering the room, but they were no match for Minerva's ranged attacks. Mordred slashed his way through three our four more guards and aimed another charged shot from his gun sword at the giant.

"Twilight, now!" yelled Shade. Twilight saw her friend's gestures and stepped next to him again.

"PERSONA!" both of them yelled. Minerva and Mordred both extended their weapons and raised them up. Dark clouds and flames followed by rainbow colored light surrounded the giant. Both personas brought their weapons down. The light and darkness consumed the giant, burning its body away for good. Spoiled just stood there, gaping at her beast's demise.

"You...Now there's two of you who can use it?!" she sputtered, angry that her enemies were getting stronger.

"You'd better believe it." said Twilight. "I won't give up until I find out the truth about this place and you're brought to justice!" At this, Spoiled just chuckled. "What's wrong now?"

"Oh, it's just that you think you can stop me?" she snickered. "Finding info about this place is one thing but you will never defeat me! I control this world! Just like I control my husband and daughter!"

Shade paused. "You mean Diamond Tiara?!" he shouted.

"That's right!" sneered Spoiled. "They are my property and nopony else's!"

"You think of your own family as toys?!" yelled Twilight. "How could you?"

"What's it matter to you?" asked Spoiled. "You can't stop me! Nopony can!"

"Hello there Darling. Are these lowlifes troubling you with something?" came a stallion's voice.

Twilight and Shade turned to see another pony entering the room. He was a tall white unicorn with a blonde mane and a fancy outfit. "Prince Blueblood?" gasped Twilight. "He's here too?"

"Why yes I am, your 'highness'." said Blueblood, putting an especially vile lisp on the last word. "My sweetheart has been complaining to me about intruders earlier today. I never could've thought you would sink even lower than you already are Twilight."

"You have no authority or power over her." replied Shade, keeping his cool.

"Soon I will." replied Blueblood, a disgustingly smug grin creeping up his face. "Oh correction. We will control a great deal of Equestria, thanks to HIS gift."

"There it is again." thought Shade. "Both of those ponies have mentioned a certain pony but they haven't revealed his name. Who could it be?"

"I knew you were spoiled and bratty but taking over Equestria because of your own selfish greed is sickening." said Twilight. "We won't let you two do this." Shade nodded and stepped beside her. Both persona wielders were ready for combat.

"Darling, shall we leave these two sorry folksponies out here and call maximum security?" requested Blueblood.

"Of course. I could use a good spa treatment after dealing with these filthy common ponies." replied Spoiled. The two left the room together.

"Hey, come back!" yelled Twilight. "We aren't-"

"Save it for later, Twilight." said Shade. "We've already burned through a lot of energy fighting off monsters. "We need to find a safe room and review our info."

"Good point." said Twilight. "Lead the way." The two ran for the nearest door.

"Heh, they'll be back." said Blueblood.

"Yes and we won't let them escape next time." said Spoiled Rich, giggling a little.

"Whew, we actually made it." said Twilight, gasping for air. "That was too close."

"Tell me about it." commented Shade. "We barely escaped those monsters." He plopped down on the sofa. Twilight sat on the opposite side.

"Man, this place is more dangerous than any of us could've thought." said Twilight. "We had another close call with death there." She looked at her hooves. "I still can't believe I was able to summon a persona."

"Well, you did. I'm glad you can fight alongside me now Twilight."

Twilight blushed. "Oh, stop it. I just got lucky."

"Or it seems like you awakened your persona when you were provoked enough."

["That seems logical, but I wonder if other ponies could do what we did. It would be cool if my friends could help us out with this."

"We can't risk putting them in danger. We need to keep this a secret from other ponies until it's the right time."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAk32g5bcAM&list=PLkEWWbyS3nIgFIryf0moadIgDYu7Q05pe&index=21)

"I guess so. Now what do we do?"

"I don't know. We know how to get in from now on, but not how to get out, without Starswirl's help." Shade was about to say more, but he was interrupted by the table in the middle of the room glowing light blue. Another bell portal appeared above the table. Shade's watch lit up and displayed more buttons. This time they read, "return home and save" and "refuel".
Shade just went with his gut and pressed the first one. The two braced themselves again as the huge portal sucked them in for the fourth time that day.

Crash!

Twilight and Shade landed on the hard map again. "We should cover the map with pillows from now on." commented Shade, rubbing his side.

"Oh, thank goodness it's you guys!" exclaimed Spike, who was sitting in front of the map. "I was worried that you guys weren't gonna make it back!"

"Well, we're back and we're still alive." said Shade. "No need to worry now Spike."

"That's good." said Spike. "Cause I was about to ask the rest of Twilight's friends to come over and help."

"You what?!" exclaimed Twilight. "Even if you didn't tell them, we said to keep it a secret between us, Starlight, Celestia, and Starswirl! If you told the others, they would be put in danger!"

"Sorry Twilight." said Spike, hanging his head. "I was just worried."

Twilight felt sorry for yelling at Spike. "Sorry Spike, but you know how important this is. We can't involve the others until the right time." Twilight sat down next to the little dragon and put a wing around him. "I appreciate your concern though." Spike felt better after hearing his owner's reassuring words.

Shade and Twilight sat down in his room to talk. Shade gazed over at the clock. "Yikes, it's already 9:48 PM! We were in there for even longer than I thought."

"I've had to stay up later, but I know what you mean." said Twilight. "Anyway, we have some stuff to talk about. Spoiled kept mentioning something about a pony giving her power over that world. Now we know Blueblood is with her on this."

"Who is Blueblood anyway?" asked Shade.

Twilight sighed in frustration. "He's been a pain the flank ever since I got promoted to a princess. He's arrogant and snotty and doesn't care about equality or rights. He doesn't do anything except sit down and indulge himself."

Shade rolled his eyes. "Sounds even 'better' than Spoiled." he said sarcastically.

"Actually, they're both pretty rotten in that world." said Twilight. "It's like they belong together."

"Because they're both rich snobs." said Shade. Twilight nodded and just laughed. The two laughed together for some time.
"Thanks for having my back Shade." said Twilight. "Princess Celestia was right about you."

Now it was Shade's turn to blush. "You're welcome Twilight. I'm just here to help."

"Alright, let's get back on topic." said Twilight. "Our original job was to gather info, but this has become bigger than just that. If what Spoiled and Blueblood said is true, then our town and more of Equestria will suffer."

"Yeah, I heard what they said in there." said Shade. "I'm still not entirely convinced. An alternate world is one thing, but fantasies becoming reality just doesn't seem believable."

"I agree. No villain I've faced has had that kind of power. Then again, I doubt they'd be bluffing about something like that."

"Now that we know how to get in and out, through lucky guesses nonetheless, our mission just got a whole lot more interesting."

" It sure has and I know that with you by my side, this problem won't be nearly as hard to fix." said Twilight. "Are you with me?" She held out her hoof.

"Absolutely." replied Shade, shaking hooves with her. Somehow, Shade felt like he had developed something a little deeper with Twilight. Before, he wasn't really sure whether to call her a friend or not. She had let him stay in her home, but that didn't feel like an equal deal. Now, he wouldn't know what else to call her.

"Good night Shade. See you tomorrow!" said Twilight as she was walking out.

"Good night Twilight." Shade fell upon his bed, exhausted but also feeling content that he had a friend.

I Am Thou. Thou Art I.
Thou Hast Established a New Bond.
It Shall become the Wings of Rebellion That Shall Break Thy Chains of Captivity.
With the Birth of the "Magician" Persona, Thou Hast Awakened Thineself to New Power.

MAGICIAN ARCANA: RANK UP!
RANK ONE.

To be continued.

Author's Note

I've been working hard on this story. With my schoolwork and homework, it takes me some time to get these in. Still, I finished earlier than I expected. I originally thought that it would take me another month to get the next chapter out. Glad that I could give you guys what you wanted sooner.

By the way, I have some things to say on the social links/confidants. I made Twilight represent the magician arcana because I see her as the secondary protagonist in this story. Rule of thumb in the Persona series is that the secondary protagonist's social link is the magician. It represents power, skill, talent, and resourcefulness. Twilight is known for her intelligence and skill in magic, so this made sense to me. I was considering making her social link, the fool, but it just didn't seem to fit when I had tons of other characters who could fit other social links. Expect some odd characters to pop up later in the story.

I chose Minerva as Twilight's persona, because the goddess of wisdom and crafting just felt right for somepony like Twilight. You can always visit Minerva on Wikipedia if you want more answers. I'll try to post some fanart on Deviantart with more details on possible symbolism for each persona. I hope I can get the next episode out in the two weeks to a month. Key word is, "I hope." These things take a lot of time and effort.