Persona: The Cognitive World (P3 Route)

Twilight's Room
4/11
Midnight
???

[BZKDNSZORJRRRRT!] went the TV. It turned on with a yellow-ish tint. Narukami-kun looked like he'd seen a ghost, and same goes with his team.

"Oh, God no." Amagi-chan muttered under her breath.

"The hell's goin' on?" Shinji asks, when...

"...p me! I'm trapped here! What's going on?"

"Wait, it's not the Midnight channel" Tatsumi-kun said. "Then the hell is this?"

"I know you want to know, whomever may see this, that monsters are here with me. Send help! Wait! NO! GHYAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Instincts kick in (because somepony is yelling for help and getting injured) and I jump into the TV.

"Yuki!" Narukami yelled.

"Holy shit!" was the last thing I heard, and I think Ken said that.

???
4/11
???
Thin Fog

I wake up in... Ponyville? I'm where the Castle should be, but it's not here. Neither is the school Dash-chan mentioned. And there's this eerie but thin fog everywhere. Hold on, do I still have... Good, I still have the Vel Vel Mungua. I see a standard Evoker in front of me. Wonderful. I'm a fortunate pony. I levitate it near me. I then hear the screams again. Right. Sparkle-shi's here. I chase after the screams, no matter where they'll lead me.

A little bit later, I find Sparkle-shi, gravely injured, surrounded by Shadows. One seems to have died by her hooves. It's go time. Two Cowardly Mayas. Weak to Agi, Zio, and Garu. Perfect. Simple enemies. But I don't have simple skills. Ah, well. I have some SP recovery items on me. It'll be okay.

"ORPHEUS! MARAGIDYNE!" Orpheus is summoned, and her red eyes glow. She pulls out the harp on her back and strums it, lighting up the Mayas with fire. Grabbing Vel Vel Mungua, I rush in, hacking and slashing as much as I can. Once it was all over, I look over to the Princess.

I pick her up and place her on my back. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll get you out of here." It was then when I realized it. How the hell am I gonna get out of the TV? Clearly, I can't leave they way I came. That's when I heard it.

"Ah, Twilight. Can't even help yourself. You must wait for somepony to come to rescue you. Just like the Princesses before you." A distorted voice rang out.

"N... no..." Twilight muttered, too tired to do much more.

"Who are you?! What do you want with the Princess?!" My magic grabs my Naginata and points it in front of me.

"Who am I? Why, I'm Twilight." What...? "See for yourself." A figure appeared, and around it, a denser fog than what I saw when I entered blinds my vision. The figure is about less than a meter from me when I can see it somewhat clearly. It looked just like the Princess on my back, but some details are different. It's hair is more messed up, like it woke up with a serious case of bedhead (I mean, I shouldn't be talking...), it's wearing a scientist's coat, and, most jarringly, it has piercing yellow eyes, almost like the Velvet Room Residents.

The Twilight on my back opened her eyes slightly. "W-what...?" she cried, tiredly. To be honest, same. Not now, Pico Orphie.

"What, you don't recognize your own face? Pah!" 'Twilight' looks disappointed. "You know, the Princesses in Canterlot shouldn't have given me this new power. Who knows? I might go crazy. Oh! I know! Let's go up to Canterlot, find Celestia and Luna, take this shank-" 'Twilight' levitates a knife "-and-"

"Why would I do that?" my Twilight asks, gaining a bit more energy. I think I heard something in the distance...

"Why? Well, they gave us this accursed power. Might as well use it to the max. Take over." 'Twilight' smirks an evil smirk. That sound is coming nearer...

Twilight lifts herself off my back, seeming to gain even more energy now, though she's wobbling. "Why say 'us'? You're not me."

"Oh, but I am you. I know all your little secrets. Like who you have a crush on..." Twilight blushes a bit on that... Wonder why? "...what you plan on doing with that pony-" she- no. It points at me. "...so on and so on. And, to be honest, you never wanted any of this. You just wanted to stay in that stupid tower and read. Even if the world ends and Nightmare Moon took over, you wouldn't have cared. Who needs friends when you have yourself, am I right?" I think I can feel that noise's presence. It's really close now...

"No. You're wrong. My friends are what keep me afloat. You'll never understand how I fell because... Because..." Twilight's regaining her footing.

"Come now, me. Say it." 'Twilight's' face contorts into an evil shit-eating grin.

"Because..." She stands up straight, looks it in the eyes, and shouts, "YOU'RE NOT ME!"

"Yuki!" I turn around and Narukami slaps my face. The others're here as well. "What the hell were you thinking?! You're lucky that Teddie, Rise-chan, and Yamagishi-chan were here! Otherwise-"

'Twilight' starts laughing maniacally. "Yeah. That's right. I'm not you. I'm my own self now!" Dark masses start flowing into 'Twilight'.

What happens next will confuse me until the day Erberus meets Nyx and kills us all. The 'Twilight' is now a 10-meter grotesque demon. It was bipedal, with claws. It's skin is sorta like Twilight's fur, but much more desaturated (like this). It's dress looks like something straight out of a B rated horror film or a cheesy game like RE4. A tattered white dress with tattered purple sections everywhere. It's wearing a golden crown, in which it lies a painted smile in blue. The crown also has the number '0' below the smile. "The Fool" arcana. It's mane was the same color as the skin, and all ragged, with random strains of hair coiling up and out of place. Light make-up was on the almost-unrecognizable face, minus the yellow eyes. Those... breasts, I think they were called...? Whatever. They're massive. Like no joke. Each are like a meter in diameter. It has some shoe-like thing on its hind legs. I overheard this crazy mare talking about 'humans' and how the females like to wear 'high-heels' and such. I think that's the shoes the creature's wearing.

"I am the Shadow of your True Inner Self! Now, let me show you who I truly am!" the Shadow yells.

"Yamagishi-chan, analyze that Shadow!" I barked.

Yamagishi-chan nods, and summons Juno and scans it.

Naru grabs Sparkle-shi and drags her off to near Yamagishi-chan and Juno. "Rise, can you fight?"

As if to answer, Rise pulls out a microphone and stand out of nowhere. I don't understand why she'd classify that as a weapon, but I consider this spear with a rainbow feather a naginata, so whatever. "Kouzeon may not be able to fight, but I am!"

"Wonderful. Let's take it out!" Naru and I charge ahead.

"It repels Light and Dark. No weaknesses detected." Yamagishi-chan yells.

Everyone wails at it with everything they got. The Shadow just sits there. And then, that's when it happens. The hair on the Shadow stretches out and grabs everyone (including the navigators) and mutters "Back to Basics, children." We fall.

Mikata Yuki - Level 1
Orpheus (Locked in)
Yukari Takeba - Level 1
Io
Akihiko Sanada - Level 1
Polydeuces
Ken Amada - Level 1
Nemesis
Koromaru - Level 1
Cerberus
Shinjiro Aragaki - Level 1
Castor
Aigis - Level 1
Palladion
Fuuka Yamagishi - Level 1
Lucia

Yu Narukami - Level 1
Izanagi (Locked in)
Yosuke Hanamura - Level 1
Jiraiya
Chie Satonaka - Level 1
Tomoe
Yukiko Amagi - Level 1
Konohana Sakuya
Kanji Tatsumi - Level 1
Take-Mikazuchi
Teddie - Level 1
Kintoki-Douji
Naoto Shirogame - Level 1
Sukuna-Hikona
Rise Kujikawa - Level 1
Himiko

I shake off the strange feeling and summon Orpheus. "Light 'em up!" Instead, Orpheus goes and Bashes it, knocking the Fool down.

I was about to ponder on that, but thought better. "Everyone! It's time for an All-Out Attack!" Everyone (including Rise) nodded and we all rushed at the Fool (I don't know when Yukari got her bow, Aki got his brass knuckles, Shinji got his ax, Koro got his knives, or Ken got his spear, but whatever). We beat the ever-living shit out of it, and yet it looks like we barely went through half of its health.

"Insolent fools! Let me rule over you! Why plan ahead when you can live the moment?"

"It truly is the reverse Fool." I mutter before attempting to summon Jack Frost to freeze it alive (which fails for whatever reason), while also trying to tell Twilight what the hell is going on, along with Naru.

About 3 minutes in, we're really tired. I pop a Soma, maxing out all of our SP and HP, but we're not as strong as we used to be. We also realized that our Personas have reversed to their original state, making this fight ever so harder. Naru-kun and I also can't summon other Personas, so we're fuck in that regard. It's almost down, so I use the last of my strength to use Bash, getting a crit, and knocking it down. We didn't even need to say anything, for we just bum-rushed it.

"Graah... Reaa.. RA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It screamed in pain when it finally died. Everyone is now to level 12 from that fight alone. We still don't have our Ultimate Personas (some new revelation must occur, I think), but we're getting there.

'Twilight' lays on the ground where the reverse Fool shadow once stood. I lifted the Naginata, ready to strike it down, but Naru stopped me. "No. Twilight must face her Shadow for this to not happen again." My face must clearly show confusion, because he adds "The Shadow is a facet of a pony that we don't wish to admit exists. By accepting it, she'll essentially become whole."

Sparkle-shi walks up to 'Shadow Twilight' and starts talking. "*Sigh* Yes. I... see where you're coming from. I never asked for any of this. I just wanted to graduate and likely work in that school as a librarian or something. But... I truly love my friends. Even when I just want to be alone, they know just what to do to push me back into the right path." As she's talking, I subconsciously grab one of the tarot cards I always have in my pocket. I actually grabbed two. The Fool, in the Upright position, and the Hierophant, in the upright position. I look between the Fool card and Twilight. 'So she's the new Wild Card?' Seems like it, mate. Also looks like she's the Hierophant Social Link, maybe.

"When I first obtained the status of Alicorn, I was scared. For more than just the responsibilities. I was scared that the new powers will consume my being, making me into the power-hungry creatures and ponies I fought against. I was scared that I would become like the princesses in dire situations: relegated to the backdrop while somepony else saves the day. I was scared that my friends'll die, but I'll live on. And I still am scared. But that doesn't mean I should just ignore all of this and just live as if I wasn't immortal. I have to face that head on, and to reveal my true self. And you are a part of that. You are me, and I am you, so let's face the future. Together."

Shadow Twilight smiles, then fazes into a white mass. It then manifests into a new form. The elements of the Shadow demon that stays is the bipedal form, white dress and purple overcoat, and crown. The claws are less claw-like and look soft. The right hand holds a sword connected to a bag as the counter-weight, and in the left is a white rose. The skin is more like Sparkle-shi's, but a bit on the brown side (like this). She's also wearing (what I presume to be) brown pants beneath. The mane is more full, reaching the shoulders, and is purple-blue in color. The smile and "0" on the crown is gone, and in its place, a six-pointed purple star. She isn't as large as most Personas I've seen. It seems a bit smaller than 4 meters. At least it isn't Shirogame's Persona.

"Isabella Bird..." Sparkle-shi muttered before passing out. 'Isabella' phased out of existence. Naru picks her up and says "Never come here on your own. If you do, I can't guarantee you'll survive." I nod. I'm just too tired now.

This feeling...

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

"Hi, Igor."

"It would seem you have found another of the Wild Card. Twilight Sparkle, is her name not?" I nod. "Wonderful. Now, she is unique as she has already formed many bonds. I shall talk to her about that later. But what's important is this new world you have found. Call it what you'd like, but this has some similarities to Tartarus. And some uniqueness to it. You can go in whenever you'd like, but it's best to find a safe place to enter always. Now, wake up."

Home
4/11
Morning
Mostly Clear

I woke up on the couch to see my friends looking worried. With a hoarse voice, I """"""comically"""""" said "Snappin' back to reality. Welp, there goes gravity." I levitated a fork. Dude, that was shit. And you should feel like it. 'Yeah, yeah. Zip it Pico Orphie, or else I'll play Justin Bieber.' Alright, alright. Calm down. The Evoker from last night wasn't here.

"Oh, thank God you're alright" I heard Shinji mutter behind me. I sit up.

Yawning, I ask "What time is it?"

"10:25 A.M." Aigis states, like an alarm clock (again). I love that toaster. "Did you see him?"

"Who?" Satonaka-chan asks. I nod in response. I look over to Naru-kun. He also nods.

"Sparkle Twilight is in your room right now."

"Alright. Now to talk about Narukami and his friends." I look over to them. "I'm guessing you all are staying?"

"We talked about it, and we've made our conclusions." Shirogame-chan starts. "I contacted the agency in Tokyo and told them that there's a case of kidnappings here in Equestria. They allowed me to stay and do the job." As she talks, I can feel the coin purse I have start to get heavier. The funds of the last battle are now flowing in. I think I just got about 75 bits from the Maya battle and the Shadow Twilight fight combined.

"My father can still run the Junes store back in Inaba" Hanamura-kun continues.

"We have quite a few part-timers at the Inn. I'm covered" Amagi-chan says.

"Rise's staying because she contacted the agency so that she'll be able to put on quite a few more shows here in Equestria, and it'll be much easier to stay than to continuously go back and forth." Narukami looks like he wants to end this quick. "Teddie doesn't have much in Inaba to begin with, Chie is able to move out of her house with no regrets, and Kanji could easily call in sick. As for me, I just go wherever. I also have a more... personal investigation to do in Equestria. So, our situation is fine and open. What about yours?"

I explain that we're staying here, and Junpei's returning soon. As I say this, I type on my phone a message to Junpei telling him to bring all of our Evokers. I look to the map of Ponyville, and apparently there's an Arms Salespony somewhere in town. That's... oddly fortunate.

"Alright, so" Ken starts. "We need to coordinate a leader between the two teams we have and, if she wants to join, Sparkle-sama."

"How long have you been fighting Shadows?" Naru-kun asks.

"We started the big fight since 2009. Aki and Shinji have been fighting since 2007, and Aigis, who is a Shadow-Hunting 'Weapon', has been fighting for 17 years now. however. I just happen to be the strongest of the squad, so I'm the leader. Since I'm the Wild Card and all."

"Yeah. So, who'd like Mikata Yuki to be the leader of the combined forces?" Everyone rose their hoof (or claw) in acceptance. "Alright. Yuki-senpai, I'll be counting on you."

"I don't like it when you call her senpai, Senpai." Risette mutters under her breath.

[GLASS BREAK SFX]

I am thou, Thou art I
Thou has forged a new bond

It shall guide thee closer to the Truth
And shall assist in dispelling Falsehood and Death

We grant thee the power of the Fool
Use this power wisely

"Now, let's leave Twilight to rest" Naru-kun states. "She deserves it after what just went down." We all nod.

"Let's go tell Dash-chan about our success, then we can hit the festival" I suggest.

"...Dash-chan?" Yukari mutters under her breath.

After everyone agrees on the plan, we leave the house.

Festival Grounds
4/11
Evening
Clear

We had a lot of fun messing around at the festival. I heard from a little birdie (meaning I eavesdropped on the Mayor again) that the Princess of the Sun and Moon are visiting, along with the rulers of the Crystal Empire. This should be interesting.

Spa- I mean Twilight is starting to recover. Seems like she'll wake up tomorrow. So starting tomorrow, I'll have my own bed. But for tonight, I'll just sleep with Shinji. Tha- ...Sh-shut up! Baka! (*///3///*) The fuck, mate?

A-Anyways, I'm currently balls-deep in food (You don't have balls.) and everyone's having fun. Naru and I have a running gag of quoting random things for the sake of a joke. No one gets it, exactly. Neither do we. We just... kinda did it randomly one moment. One of my favorites is when I told Naru-kun "Please take care of me," in which he responds "Me eat you whole." It was fun.

I received a text from Junpei saying that he sent the other's evokers and clothes, and should be arriving by the 20th, and he should be arriving two weeks after, on the 4th of May.

We were closing into midnight, so we went back to the house. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a streamer. Strange. No pony brought any party supplies. Whatever. I'm tired. I went with Shinji into his room. I told him what I planned to do that night, and all he said was "Do anything funny, and you're sleeping on the couch." I promised to be tolerable and I could just imagine Shinji seeing a halo over my head.

I fell asleep quickly. Starting tomorrow, SEES is back in action.