P3R50N4: Equestria Girls

When Sunset finally woke up, she could hear the slight sound of water dripping in the background and could smell the slight odor of decay. Once her vision finally came back into focus, she realized she was lying on a concrete floor and once she looked around, she also realized how big a predicament she and Rainbow were in now.

The two of them were currently locked in what Sunset had to guess was a dungeon, and if she had to further guess, she would assume this was the building they had seen before, the Metaverse’s version of Canterlot High. Sunset then noticed Rainbow was laying next to her, still unconscious. Wasting no time, she shook the cyan girl’s shoulder. “Hey Rainbow, wake up!”

“Ugh…my head…” Rainbow got up slowly as she put a hand to her forehead. As she opened her eyes and glanced around, she could only ask one question. “We got captured didn’t we?”

”What do you think?”

Rainbow groaned. “I knew this was a bad idea…but I think I’m starting to understand how this world is connected to ours.” She then got up and dusted off her pants. “So…guess its up to you to bust us out.”

“I could…if I knew how to get out of this place.”

“And you think I do?”

“Well…you should know this school better than I do.”

“Yeah…school…right…” Rainbow closed her eyes and tilted her head down slightly in thought. “Actually…I do know that CHS has a basement floor since me and some of the girls on the soccer team got in trouble loitering down there. Anyway, if you take out the prison setting, the layout of this area is kind of similar…so there should be stairs nearby and the main entrance should be nearby.”

“You do realize that’s based on the assumption that this building has the exact same layout as the school, right?”

“Sunset, I’ve played many games in my life and a lot of them have the whole light world/dark world type of set up and they always share the same characteristics.”

Glad to see you’re comparing this all to a game… Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well whatever, we’ll just have to-” She suddenly stopped. “Someone’s coming.”

It was faint, but the sound of steps nearby could be heard, as if walking down a flight of stairs. Well, it partly confirmed Rainbow’s theory anyway. The two of them kept quiet for a moment before they heard a whispered voice. “Sunset? Rainbow Dash? You two in here?”

“Spike!?” The two girls went up to the door. “How did you find us?” Rainbow asked.

“I think the better question is how did you get in here?” Sunset added.

“Well for the first question, I got a good nose, remember?” Spike said with a proud smirk. “As for the second, it wasn’t so simple…though this place does have its secret entrances. I can get us out but its not gonna be so simple…”

“So you got a key or something…?”

“Right here.” Spike reached behind where his tail was and grabbed a set of keys. “The sooner we get out of here the better,” he said as Sunset took the keys.

“Yeah I would agree based on the warm reception we got,” Sunset said as she unlocked the door.

“What you got is nothing compared to what’ll happen if we stay,” Spike said, shuddering slightly. “I don’t know the person in charge personally but…I hear she rules this place with an iron fist…around her, she’s known as the Queen.”

“What, of this whole world?” Rainbow said with an bemused look.

“Of this school…I’ll explain more later but we need to get out of here before the guards show up.”

“Alright Spike, you lead the way and I guess I’ll take care of any demons standing in our way,” Sunset said.

“Hey, I can handle myself in a fight too you know…” Rainbow snapped.

Sunset shrugged. “Be my guest…”

The three of them made their way up the stairs until they reached a door. Upon opening it and seeing what was on the other side, Rainbow realized something was very off. “Um…this doesn’t look anything like CHS…” In fact, it looked as if they had gone back in time about five hundred years.

“Never mind that, this place is a lot emptier than I expected,” Sunset said.

“Don’t let that fool you, they’re about and if we’re caught, they’ll only bring in more of them,” Spike explained. “Most of them are probably on the higher levels, protecting the queen and all that…”

“So is this queen like some big demon or something?” Rainbow asked.

“No it’s…again maybe I should explain later…” As the three of them made their way across the corridor, Spike suddenly stopped as his ears perked up. “Hide!” They found the closest door, opening it and closing it in front of them.

The three of them held their breath as they heard something approaching from outside until it was practically in front of the door itself. Sunset went for her gun in her belt but as she braced herself the sound of footsteps began to fade away from their location. “Too close,” Rainbow said, sighing in relief. “Guess you’re good for something Spike.”

“I’m just gonna go ahead and ignore that snide remark until we’re out of this place…” Spike growled.

It wasn’t long before they came across a waterway that led into a rather dark tunnel. “Oh man, it smells horrible in there…” Rainbow said, almost turning a shade of green.

“Well yeah, it’s a sewer,” Spike pointed out. “It’s also our only way out of this place undetected.”

Suddenly, a bell rang out throughout the castle. “I guess they finally figured out we’re missing,” Sunset said as she dropped into the ankle deep water. “Come on, we gotta make a run for it!”

“You serious?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow, if you don’t get in here, smelly wet shoes are going to be the least of your problems,” Sunset threatened her.

“Fine…fine…!” Rainbow jumped in and flinched as she could feel her socks being drenched. “Aw man…!”

“Um…one of you is willing to carry me right?” Spike asked with a sheepish look.

“Come here…” Sunset said, opening up her arms as Spike jumped into them. “Now let’s hurry!”

The three of them made their way deeper into the tunnel, trying their best to ignore the foul smell along with the water going in and out of their shoes. Sunset couldn’t shake this feeling of uneasiness, and it wasn’t from their almost pitch black surroundings. “Hold on Rainbow!” she suddenly said.

“Seriously, you were just telling me a minute ago to get a move on it,” Rainbow said sourly.

“I know but…something’s here, in front of us.”

“You sure?”

“One way to find out…” Sunset then summoned Phoenix as it shot a ball of fire down the waterway…only for it to stop, or perhaps it ran into something. The fire suddenly grew brighter as another suddenly appeared.

“Okay…yeah that’s not good,” Rainbow said. “Your Persona won’t be able to do jack against them.”

“Here, hold onto Spike for a moment will you?” Sunset asked, practically forcing the dog into Rainbow’s arms.

“Wait, what are you-?”

“I got this,” Sunset said as she pulled out her gun. The two demons were approaching them quickly but they were also approaching in a straight line. Sunset squeezed off three shots on the first before quickly aiming for the second and squeezing another three shots as her magazine went empty. Both demons fell into the water dead as the fire around them was extinguished.

“Holy shit…” Rainbow said.

“Yeah no kidding…” Spike added.

“…What? I just have experience at the shooting that’s all,” Sunset said as she emptied her mag and put in a new clip. “I’m running low on ammo though, so now we-” She was caught off as she could voices behind her. The search party was now on their tail. “Damn it…at this rate we won’t make it out in time…” She paused for a moment. “I can hold them off for a little bit but you need to take Spike and run, Rainbow.”

“What!? The hell I am! I’m not leaving you behind!” Rainbow argued.

“If you don’t, we’ll either both be captured or we die!” Sunset snapped. “Don’t worry about me…I’ve had my experience of bad situations and managed to get out of them. I don’t…I don’t want to drag you into this too…”

For a moment, Rainbow was ready to do as she said, to run away and escape and go back to her regular life, for she couldn’t squander this opportunity her newest friend gave her. However, that wasn’t how Rainbow Dash rolled. “You know…you obviously don’t know me very well,” Rainbow said as she turned back to Sunset. “Yeah, maybe we’re completely fucked now, but I’m not leaving you behind because, as cheesy as it sounds, friends stick together to the bitter end. Besides, Rainbow Dash doesn’t run from anything.” She then noticed Sunset was staring at her. “…What?”

“I don’t know how else to say this but…you’re glowing.”

“What?” Rainbow looked down and indeed she was covered in a cyan aura. “Um…is this good or bad?”

“Wait…it’s just like with Sunset,” Spike said. “Rainbow I think this means…”

Rainbow’s eyes suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oh my gosh…do I get to say it?”

“Might as well,” Sunset said. “Just hurry up, those demons-”

“Persona!” The aura around Rainbow practically exploded as a form took shape above her. It was a humanoid shape that was cast in electricity and resembled something of a comic book character. “This is so AWESOME! Godspeed huh? Alright, let’s kick some ass then!”

“Not like we have a choice now,” Sunset said. “But what about-”

“Hey don’t worry about me,” Spike said as he hopped onto her shoulder. “Just let me handle the analysis stuff.”
It wasn’t long before the search party finally arrived and there were six of them in total. “Looks like we got some Jack Frosts and a couple Pixies,” Spike said. “Those Pixies are weak to electric attacks.”

“You’re up Rainbow!” Sunset yelled.

“Don’t mind if I do!” Rainbow said. “Let’s do this Godspeed!” Godspeed then zoomed around both pixies as lightning suddenly struck, knocking them down.

“Nice hit Rainbow!” Spike commented.

Sunset then summoned Phoenix and as it spread it’s wings, fire rained down and and struck the Jack Frosts down as well.
“Now you can do an All-Out Attack!” Spike said.

“A what?” Rainbow asked.

“If you knock them all down…pretty much you get to beat the crap outta them.”

“Sounds good to me,” Rainbow said. “Let’s show em how we repay favors in Canterlot!” The two of them rushed in and began their assault, showing no mercy to the downed enemies. After the initial beatdown, the demons suddenly disappeared.

“We did it!” Rainbow said.

“I guess we did…” Sunset said. “I…don’t think I could’ve done that without you Rainbow, especially without your Persona…”

“Yeah…I’m kind of a big deal,” Rainbow said with a big grin. Her grin soon filtered slightly. “But uh…hey, I meant what I said before…and you know, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be, okay? So don’t start acting like you’re gonna be a burden to anyone or you gotta do things on your own.”

“Yeah…noted. Let’s get outta here, okay?”

It wasn’t long before they had finally escaped the castle and made sure to get a considerable distance away from it. “Aw crap, I just realized when I get back I’m gonna have to be running around with wet shoes,” Rainbow said sourly.

“I…actually forgot about that. Sorry…”

“Nah, don’t be. I’ll just say some prick pulled a prank on me or something. Hey Spike, wasn’t there something you wanted to explain to us before?”

“Oh right, almost forgot,” Spike said. “I’ll try to keep this brief and simplify it as best I can. When you asked before about the queen, no she isn’t a demon. She’s actually a human just like yourself.”

“A human? So they can travel here just like us?” Sunset asked.

“Not exactly…Shadows more or less are stuck in this world, regardless if they’re demon or human in nature. Shadows are a representation of a soul, kind of like your Personas, but while Personas can be linked to a strong will, Shadows are often the opposite, they represent an individual’s desires, weaknesses, things like that. I’ve never met the queen in that castle but she’s from your world.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t run into her,” Rainbow said.

“You know, now that I think about it, it did seem really easy for us to escape,” Sunset pointed out. “You think she let us escape?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Spike said. “Like I said, never met her but I know her reputation and she’s ruthless. Be glad we got out when we did…”

“So now what?” Rainbow said. “You wanted our help to his this place of Shadows right? I don’t think the two of us by ourselves can get the job done.”

Spike sighed. “No I guess you’re right,” he said. “Over time your Personas will get stronger but two won’t be enough.”

“Let’s just sleep on it, okay?” Sunset suggested. “Both of us need to rest after all that and of course there’s other things we need to worry about…”

“So this is goodbye for now huh?” Spike asked.

Sunset hesitated. “Listen Spike, you do have a place to stay around here, right?”

“Of course I do. I mean it’s abandoned but its got enough food to hold me for weeks…though I guess technically I don’t need food. I appreciate what you’re asking and I’ll be fine…not like I can come with you guys anyway.”

“Well, alright, if you say so.” Sunset looked at Rainbow. “Shall we head back?”

“Yeah…just sucks I got two hours of practice after all this…”

After returning to the real world, Sunset and Rainbow said their goodbyes. Despite Rainbow’s complaints, she seemed to be in good cheer as she ran off back towards the school. As Sunset made her way back home, she thought back to what Spike said and more importantly the mission they were currently working on. Shadows are the basic desires of people…and what happens to the individual if that Shadow is destroyed?

Once she got back, the first thing Sunset did was take a shower. To no surprise, her shoes were still wet and she left them on her window sill to let the sun dry them off as best it could. On more than one occasion did her thoughts return to the events that took place before. As much as she hated to admit it, there was no way she and Dash could take on all of that by themselves. So how were they going to find more recruits?

Rainbow Dash - Chariot
Persona: Godspeed
Skills: Zio, Mazio, Garu