Conversion Bureau: The return of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

by ClearlyNotTremor230

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Dark, Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, Persona
Length: 187293

Conversion Bureau storyline. When Celestia started her plans for Conversion, she could not imagine that a group of teens would have come to stop her, and by stealing what she could not defend: the Hearts of Equestria. The Phantom Thieves are Back!

Persona 5 / MLP Crossover.
(Now with a Tvtropes Page!🥳)

Her Majesty Princess Celestia, the Prideful self-styled Goddess of the Sun and mother of all sins who crossed the thin line between righteousness and self-righteousness.

You are the ruler who hides her hunger for power behind lies and facetious benevolence while condemning an entire race to extinction.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will take your distorted desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

When a huge chunk of Equestria appeared floating above Japan surrounded by a bright golden barrier, everybody panicked until Celestia appeared before them with promises of friendship and peace…

But then things changed.

The Barrier soon started growing, engulfing everything on its path and killing every human it touched while leaving behind everything else, albeit “Purified”.

Even Celestia changed, and what once were promises of camaraderie and brotherhood, became veiled threats:

“The Barrier cannot be stopped, we are sorry.”

“We cannot control it, but you can still be saved! Convert! Become a pony! Become one of us and the Barrier and the Magic of Equestria will no longer hurt you!”

But while some believed the words of this gentle mare, others felt mistrust and fought back, turning the offer of Conversion into an obligation:

Convert or Die.

All while still begging Humans to accept, even when Conversion showed dire downsides to the humans undergoing it.

But there is no longer time, if the humans can’t decide, the Ponies will decide for them: Conversion! Conversion at all cost!

And from the shadows of despair, a last spark of hope emerged!

A group of young forgotten heroes, called back in action by the Staff of the Velvet Room to enact the Greatest theft in history!

It’s time for the Phantom Thieves to return, and steal the purest hearts of them all before those too fall into Distortion!

Equestria will never see it coming.

Published 2018-12-16 10:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2024-06-11 13:54:47 UTC

Chapter 2: The Sin of Mollycoddling.

The return of the world’s greatest Thieves! Chapter 2: The Sin of Mollycoddling.

Soft-air Gun Shop “Untouchables” - Morning -

The group of teens once known as ‘Phantom Thieves’ were once again entering the shop from the secret passage hidden in its backroom while carrying with them several paper bags.

“Door still closed?” Ryuji asked while moving two of said bags on a near table.

“...Closed and obscured.” Ann answered with a low voice once checked it.

“And the cameras outside show nobody around.” Futaba confirmed while checking from her laptop.

“The ponies are taking over the place.” Akira said sighing while sorting out their resources.

“It is to be expected, enough time has passed since the Barrier’s passage to make them feel at ease about no humans being around, so now they only have to fix the damages, and they will have plenty infrastructures to use for themselves.” Yusuke answered simply.

“Once refitted them for pony use.” Morgana added while licking himself clean.

“Of course.”

“And this means that entering here will be even harder.” Ryuji said groaning.

“If life was easy it would have been boring!” Ann answered laughing.

“But I like boring!” the thug-looking boy countered, whining.

“Let’s focus on the matter at hand. We need to hold a meeting and decide how we will act.” Makoto said, cutting-in in the discussion with a determined expression.

“May as well.” Morgana conceded, and as one every member of the Phantom Thieves fished-out their phone to open the strange App Igor and the Velvet Room gifted them.

“We know for certain that the ultimate targets are the two Princesses: Luna and then Celestia.” Yusuke said scrolling down names from the ‘Hardest’ to the ‘Easiest’.

“Celestia will be our final target, we need to weaken whatever Darkness is clinging to her causing everybody around her to be Distorted by either their Dark Desires or their Distorted Ideals; if those ponies get a change of Heart then she won’t have extra source of power to fuel her own Corruption, making our stealing her Heart easier.” Makoto added, making the group nod in understanding.

“Until here this shit’s easy, but how do we actually do this?” Ryuji asked with furrowed brows.

“The greatest contribution to this ‘War’ against us comes from propaganda, and the words of certified Heroes swaying public opinion to support the Conversion plan.” Haru commented.

“So the first targets will be those Heroes! The six Elements of Harmony, then Four Generals, then Princess Cadence, Princess Luna and finally, Celestia.” Futaba answered with a scrunched nose.

“And those Generals?”

“They are not actually Generals, but simply highly influential ponies: Shining Armour for the ‘Soldiers’, Blueblood for the ‘Nobles’, Spitfire (and her Wonderbolts) for the ‘Common People’ and then Cadence herself overseeing them, or PrincessMi Amore Cadenza, if we have to be technical.” Akira answered.

“Shit, dude. I got diabetes just by reading her name. Is it Spanish?” Ryuji said with an exaggerated gagging noise.

“It looks more Italian than Spanish.” Yusuke answered.

“Oh!”

“Let’s go in order. First we should focus on those six mares.” Morgana said unsure while looking at the screen of Akira’s phone.

“Igor-san suggest we start from this Fluttershy, her conviction seems to be the weakest of them all, so it will also act as a starting training for us to recover our edge.” Yusuke said.

“The Element of Kindness, so she should be kindness personified?” Haru asked.

“Imponified.” Futaba corrected her, smirking.

“Not now, Futaba. But yes, surprising as it is, an adorable pony with the gift of Super Kindness is our first Target...I can’t help but feel a bit bad about this.” Ann admitted sighing.

“Just focus on the fact that she too helped turning all those innocent people into demented ponies against their will.” Ryuji answered unfazed.

“Truth be told, even Kindness can be harmful if used in excessive quantity, the wish to protect and take care of somebody to an extreme degree can push people (or ponies) into doing very dark things under the banner of worry or friendship.” Yusuke said.

“The road to Hell is paved in good intentions.” Akira commented.

“Precisely, good analogy.” the artist commented with a small, pleased smile.

“So first we steal this mare’s Treasure, watch her have a change of heart in front of everybody, and from there decide how to tackle the other targets?” Makoto asked.

“Yes, it will be just like the Palaces last time. First visit is recognition and mapping, with us trying to get as deep as possible and even locate the shapeless form of the Treasure.” Morgana explained.

“Then we will secure an escape route and send the Target our Calling Card as soon as we return to the Real World so to make the Treasure take a definite shape for us to steal in our next visit.” Ann finished saying.

“Exactly! I knew you would still remember everything, Lady Ann!” the cat answered, gushing over the girl.

“If we are lucky we should be able to do all this in just two visits...IF we feel up to it, contrary to last time, our deadline is not as demanding as it was in the past.” Makoto said with a thoughtful expression.

“That may be true, but while the deadline is only a generic one, we actually may not have a lot of time before the Barrier grows too big for Celestia to maintain, thing that will make that mare enact who-knows what strategy to speed-up Conversion before her lies are uncovered. So wasting time is a big no-no,” Morgana admitted.

“Then we will be ultra efficient and serious!” Futaba declared proud.

“Says the one that pretended us to buy a dozen box of instant ramen for her.” Ryuji commented, rolling his eyes.

“Exactly! Efficient! It’s food ready in three minutes, so there won’t be wasting time in eating.” she answered huffing annoyed.

“There is still a bit of shut-in inside her, be gentle.” Akira commented while patting the young girl’s head, making her giggle and lean on his touch with a happy smile.

“Okay, Team. First we’ll need to see where to find this Fluttershy mare, if they stay closed in Equestria we won’t have a chance.” Morgana said.

“Unlikely, if they are acting as part of Celestia’s propaganda for the Conversion of Humanity, at least once in a while they must come here, even just to make the soldiers believe they are doing the right thing.” Ann answered.

“Your modeling career made you an expert in this, now?” Ryuji asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s business! A perfect PR Strategy! In order to boast morale I would do this if I were Celestia!” the girl answered with a greatly annoyed tone.

“It is not too far-fetched, problem is, if it is just about short appearances, then we will need to learn beforehand when they are going to make their public appearance and attack them then.” Yusuke answered.

“And that would also make finding the place their Distortion changes into their Palace harder.” Akira added, equally worried.

“That too.”

“Then the first part will be looking for clues about the Elements involvement in this war, and this means spying both outside and here, inside the Barrier.” Morgana said.

“Outside is not a problem...Here though...They will attack us on sight if we are not careful.” Haru answered unease.

“Hehehehe! We do not need to go out. I remember you that I am a ‘Deus Ex Machina’-level Hacker! Now that there is nobody manning the system, I can hack everything I want this side of the Barrier. Traffic cameras and ATM cameras comprised.” Futaba declared in smug pride.

“...Ah, yes. We got a Hacker. No issues then.” Ryuji admitted chuckling.

“Good, we can focus on looking for clues outside the Barrier then.” Morgana decided with a more relaxed tone.

“Remember the plan, we will use this place as our Base, if we are discovered we will run to the secret passage and then inside the Mementos, even if they somehow manage to follow us there, we are more experienced than them in navigating there, especially since The Reaper is probably still stalking the place.” Akira said, making the others nod.

“Tae-san? Can you hear me?” Ann asked to the radio in her hand.

“Loud and clear, girl. What do you need?” the punk doctor at the other side answered.

“Help in spying on the ponies, we can’t easily come and go since they are starting to fix everything to move here, so we need somebody able to at least eavesdrop a few pony invaders.”

“About what?” this time the one talking was Iwai, the owner of the shop.

“We need to know if our Targets are around Tokyo somewhere or hiding in Equestria, because otherwise we won’t have an easy time in finding what place has become their Palace.” Ann asked.

“I am pretty sure a couple of those mares have actually moved here since AT LEAST that Twilight-whatever and Rainbow-stuff always appear on TV, the others I am not certain, but I know who to ask for help.” the man answered.

“Is there a pink one in your list? Like, completely pink?” Sojiro asked in the background.

“Pinkie Pie, you mean? No wings nor horns.” Futaba answered.

“That one. An old customer of mine said she saw her skipping around near the Akihabara as if she owned the place.” the barman answered.

“NUUUUOOOOOOO! MY MANGAAAAAAAAAAAAAS!” Futaba cried in horror.

“Please check if they are here to stay or were just making short appearances for Propaganda, the longer they stay, the easier will be for their Hearts to subconsciously choose a place to turn into their Palace.” Yusuke asked.

“Sure thing, kiddo. We will ask around and tell you if and who of them are trying to become residents here.” Iwai answered with a grunt.

“If we are lucky, if we have enough of them have a Change of Heart, the others too will come here to discover what happened. Their Friends suddenly changing idea should attract their attention, especially if the Phantom Thieves are forcing said change.” Morgana added.

“We have a plan then, we will contact you again in a few days, in the meantime we will help Futaba monitor this side of the Barrier to see if we discover something.” Akira said.

“Good, we will do the same here, be careful, kids.” Sojiro answered.

“You too, Boss. You others too please take care.” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves begged before closing the call.

A week later -

It was a long, boring week.

The group had been closed inside that shop without leaving, taking turns with Futaba to look at the monitor of her laptop that had been divided in four to show the live footage of four different cameras that were changed regularly to check as much different places at once as possible, especially when they saw group of ponies regroup there to talk.

At the same time, outside the Barrier things were not easy either, even with the appearance of Pro-Conversion Groups, it seemed like the ponies were smart enough to not let slip much, but both Sojiro and Iwai were unwavering in their conviction that the ‘Nosy Gossipers’ they knew would discover something, even just fragments caught by chance.

“Nothing on your side, onee-san?” Makoto asked while rubbing her eyes, she had been up for three hours checking the monitors and was starting to get tired.

“Very little, I managed to get in contact with some of my old colleagues of back when I was a detective, they are already overworked in combing-out the Pro Conversion nuts they have in their Staff, but there seem to be few sporadic appearances of two of your targets, but they can’t tell if it was a one-time-deal, or is in fact a habit. Yet.” the girl’s older sister answered sighing.

“Who are they?”

“By the screen-shot of your App you gave me, they should be Applejack and Rarity. Number 2 and number 5 of your target list.”

“Oh! What were they doing?”

“Applejack seem to be interested in the soldiers and their food, so MAYBE she is part of the ponies taking care of feeding the front-lines, but it is still a theory nobody feels able to fully confirm. As for Rarity...Nothing, it was a glimpse an agent happened to catch while helping few people escape, so we don’t even know where she was heading or why.” she answered.

“It’s still something. Just be careful.” Makoto said, thankful.

“You too, you all are in pony territory, use extra caution. I’ll call you if I discover something else.”

“Okay, onee-san.” the girl answered, closing the conversation and returning to the screen just in time to change the four cameras shown.

“...That Fluttershy mare...Freaks me...” a faint male voice weakly came from one of the screens, catching the girl’s attention immediately.

“Uh? Futaba?...Futaba!”

“AH! Who!? Where?!” the girl, still sleeping sprayed on the same table of the laptop, jerked awake.

“Where is this?” Makoto asked pointing at one of the screens.

“Uuh...An internet cafe...Wait, I should be able to use the microphone of the webcam in there.” the girl, once adjusted her slanted glasses, answered still sleepy while fumbling with the computer a little.

“Guys, we may have something!” Makoto called out, making the rest of the group join them in front of the screen.

“Some audio, finally?” Ryuji asked hopeful.

“Shh! Be quiet! I can’t hear a thing!” Morgana hissed with a low voice while the Phantom Thieves squished their face over each other as they got closer to the screen to better listen the faint voices coming from the speakers.

At the other side of the screen - “Happy Internet Cafe” -

The hastily abandoned internet cafe had still most of the computers on and running (a couple of them had been instead stolen by daring humans mid-escape from ponies), some of which still showing the screens of either MMOs or chat groups and forums; Futaba had in fact took control of several of those computers and their inbuilt webcams to look outside in the hope of catching a glimpse of one of their targets, but this looked like being the next best thing: somebody talking about them.

And what they luckily stumbled upon were two Unicorn stallions dressed in golden armour that had been walking in front of the broken windows used by the thieves to enter.

“So she took over the Zoo?” the broad, brown-furred one asked, curious.

“Yeah, until the after-effect of Conversion disappear, somepony has to look over them, so Miss Fluttershy offered her help. That place has been filled with New-Foals once the animals have been set free, now she is there 24/7 to look after them with few guards and medics helping her.” the other, a cream-coloured and thin stallion, answered sighing.

“Sounds complicated.”

“You would think that! But as of late that mare has been invaluable to keep everything in check...But...Between us...” he said while looking around to be sure nobody was listening.

“Yes?”

“She is starting to scare me, she is...Too Kind? I think? She takes way too much care of them, and now the guards with her are starting to do the same. The change is subtle, but I happened to know her before and...I don’t know, something feels off about how she acts. But to be honest, I am afraid to look deeper.” the thin pony explained with a small shudder.

“Afraid?” the other asked, snorting amused.

“I saw a familiar glint in her eyes. Remember what happened during the Grand Galoping Gala? Between her and the animals in the royal garden?”

“Yeah? Worse than that time?” the other asked shivering at the memories.

“I don’t know, it felt similar...But different, but not that bad...Yet. It’s hard to explain, but I am starting to feel nervous whenever I have to go check there if everything is alright.”

“Do you want me to accompany you, next time?” the stallion’s friend asked in concern.

“Do you mind? I would feel more at ease.” he asked with a weak smile.

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch your back and you will watch mine.”

“Thank you.” he said, and at that both stallions bumped hooves in clear camaraderie.

“Of course, if she starts talking about putting us in cages, the deal is off!” the broad stallion added smirking.

“Buck you, dude! She is still mopping about the plaque for that ‘Ping Ping’ Panda she saw near the entrance, I don’t want her to start thinking about a replacement!” thin pony answered huffing while marching away.

“Come on! I was joking! Hey! Come back here!” broad pony yelled while chasing his companion.

Back with the Phantom Thieves – Soft-Air Shop -

“So, we know for certain that Fluttershy has a base, in a zoo...But which one?” Morgana asked, confused.

“She is using a Zoo to house Converted people...It’s inhuman!” Ann gasped in shock.

“Those guys can’t look after themselves, I saw a few...You know? Lights on but nobody home. At least like that they won’t wander away and get hurt.” Ryuji answered.

“Even if half-catatonic and half zombie, being confined in a cage is just terrible, no matter how you put it.” Yusuke added with a pained expression.

“We’ll find a solution to that too, there must be one.” Haru answered, trying to console her boyfriend.

“Uhm...They talked about a Panda named Ping Ping...” Futaba in the meantime started a rapid internet search.

“Wasn’t it the star of Ueno Park?” Akira asked making the others turn to look at him.

“What? I like animals.” he answered shrugging.

“Here! After the death of Ping Ping (nephew of the even more famous Ling Ling) Ueno Zoo has issued a free-entrance day to commemorate the passing of the beloved hero of kids...It must be Ueno Zoo in Ueno Park! That Mare has moved there!” Futaba confirmed once red aloud the article in the Zoo’s web page.

“It’s our best guess at the moment...But how to reach that place? Shibuya may be starting now to have ponies hanging around, but there? It will be swarming in them.” Yusuke said, thoughtful.

“I say we go there through Mementos! They are the ‘Quasi-Palace’ of the entire Pony Race, right? Maybe we can use that labyrinth stuff to move around and get to where we need unseen! Let’s ask the App for an entrance near the zoo!” Ryuji said smirking.

“Yes, Mementos are the fusion of the Ponies’ Collective Subconscious, but using it as a shortcut?! Nonsense! Seriously, you can’t keep saying such stupid-”

“Mementos entrance located. Do you wish to use the fastest path or the shortest to reach your destination?” Ryuji’s phone answered with a metallic voice, silencing Morgana mid-rant.

“I take it back.” the cat conceded with a defeated expression.

“The shortest, thank you!” the blond boy asked smugly.

“Programming...” the App answered.

“By the map, it should be in the train station...From there, ten to twenty minutes for us to reach the Zoo. Depending on how much we can run without being discovered.” Makoto said once spied the map on Ryuji’s phone.

“Leave it to me! I will monitor the ares and alert you if guards are close to you!” Futaba said immediately.

“Okay, just remember to run into the secret passage if you hear somebody try to enter through the barricade we left behind the door.” Akira answered.

“Of course! If that happens I will be in the Mementos waiting for you in a flash!”

“Good. Now, let’s get ready.” Ann answered nodding.

The next day – Entrance of the Ueno Park Zoo -

Hiding in the numerous cherry trees adorning the park, the Phantom Thieves took out their binoculars to have a first look-out to the area.

“Lotsa guards.” Ryuji muttered grimacing.

“Yep.” Akira answered nodding.

“How are things on your side?” Ann asked to her radio.

“Me, Queen (Makoto) and Noir (Haru) are hiding by the boats in the artificial pond, here too is full of guards.” Yusuke answered.

“What are they doing?” Akira asked.

“Fixing, mostly. I can’t see our Target though.”

“I see. Navi (Futaba)?” Ann asked.

“Surveillance cameras are in a closed circuit so I can’t enter from here, but the free webcams they installed are still usable, Fluttershy is in the innermost area, the cages.” the Hacker answered.

“Then we have no other choice, we need to get closer, can you guide us?”

“I’ll do my best! In the meantime, I downloaded a small map of the zoo, I am sending it to you, is not much, but better than nothing.” the girl answered, soon making every phone of the thieves vibrate slightly from her message.

The plan was simple, break into two groups to enter the zoo from two different sides, communicating through radio and using their old code names as Phantom Thieves as an extra precaution.

“Thank you, Navi (Futaba).”

“Your best option seems to be pass by the area of the bison and the japanese birds and hide behind the pagoda, or even inside of it...If there are not guards in there too, it should be closed for restoration, but wit those ponies you can’t ever know.” Futaba instructed them.

“It’s okay, we’ll manage.” Akira answered.

“I miss my all seeing eyes in the Metaverse...” the girl muttered whining.

“Okay, we have a plan. we’ll meet behind the pagoda.” Makoto said.

“Be careful.”

“You too.”

Having finally decided on a path to follow, Akira, Ryuji and Ann dashed forward, keeping their eyes open for possible patrolling guards, and diving inside a temporary stall when they saw a lonely earth pony guard pass by.

“Good Celestia, it’s hot today...” they heard the mare moan in annoyance.

“Hoy! Gleamy!” another mare was heard as she descended from the sky like a bullet, and making the hiding trio of teens start sweating at the possibility of being caught.

“What’s wrong, Sparkling?” the first guard asked.

“Miss Fluttershy was looking for you, it’s almost bath time.” ‘Sparkling’ said excited.

“Oooh! They are so cute when they see the bubble bath! I am coming!” ‘Gleamy’ squealed happily as she hurried to follow her friend away, and both barely noticed the lonely stray black cat (Morgana) looking at the lazily from under a tree.

“...Coast is clear, let’s go.” the cat said once dropped the lazy attitude and checked nobody else was around, either in the sky or on the ground.

“Shit, I forgot those guys can fly too!” Ryuji admitted in panic.

“Me too...And were you touching my ass?!” Ann asked growling.

“No, thank you. I choose Life!” the blond boy answered immediately.

“That was me.” Akira admitted nonplussed.

“Even now?” she asked, shocked.

“I missed you.” he answered shrugging.

“I missed you too, idiot.” the girl answered swatting his arm while the group hurried forward in the same direction took by the two guards.

“Pantheeeeeeer (Ann)…” Morgana said whining in despair.

Twenty minutes later – Behind a giant Five Story Tall Pagoda -

The group finally met while hiding behind the tall antique construction to see every cage once used by the zoo to hold in their animals, been used to house New-Foals (Converted Humans) once re-fitted to be filled in cushions and other amenities to make them feel ‘comfortable’.

And right now the New-Foals were being corralled into ordinate rows so that the soldiers present, guided by a light-coloured Pegasus with pink mane, could help them wash into big bathtubs filled to the brim in fluffy foam.

“That must be Fluttershy.” Yusuke whispered while pointing at the Pegasus mare directing the whole operation.

“What are they doing?” Ryuji asked.

“Giving them a bath, it seems.” Morgana answered.

In the middle of the park -

“Come here, dears! That’s right! It’s bath time, and we want you all clean, so then we all will be having dinner together. isn’t it nice?” Fluttershy was heard saying sweetly to the waiting New-Foals, and getting dumb smiles in exchange.

“We brought new bibs for the babies! Aren’t they adorable?” a near stallion said happily as he showed the various crates floating behind him thanks to his magic.

“Oooh!” the assembled group cooed as one.

With the Phantom Thieves -

“...It’s kinda creepy.” Ann admitted.

“Look! One is trying to walk away!” Haru said pointing at an old-looking Mare New-Foal taking few steps out of line.

Fluttershy Group -

And as soon as Fluttershy herself noticed that, the air around the whole group froze as a sinister light appeared in her eyes.

“Where are you going, dear? Out there is dangerous! You may get hurt! Or worse, kidnapped!” the mare hissed with a motherly tone twisted by her manic glint.

“What should we do?” one of the guards asked worried once restrained the New-Foal.

“We must keep them safe until the after effect of Conversion fade away, the poor dears need our assistance! let’s just pretend nothing happened, so they won’t get scared.” Fluttershy answered, soon returning being all smiles and fixing an unruly strand on the mane of the old New-Foal.

“And what about once they get better? Will we really let them go?” a near mare asked, looking distraught.

“We...We will see what happens when the time comes, but until then, we have Bath Time to finish and then dinner to have all together. Who wants to read them a fairy-tale tonight?”

“ME!”

“NO! ME!”

“I’LL DO IT!”

One after the other, the guards there walked over each other with a zealous expression on their face.

With the Phantom Thieves -

“What the fuck?!” Ryuji asked shocked.

“So she is pretty much holding them prisoners here with the excuse of keeping them safe?” Ann asked.

“Apparently, she seems convinced that everything outside this Zoo (her Domain) will soon hurt them, so for their protection she is holding them here to feed and clean them, like they were her kids.” Makoto answered.

“And by the looks of it, should they ever recover their minds, she may not want to part from them all the same.” Akira added, shivering.

“So this must be the result of her Wicked Desires, the Distortion of her Heart is turning her caring personality in this possessive psycho.” Morgana concluded.

“So it turned her Kindness into Mollycoddling?” Yusuke asked.

“Molly-what?” the cat asked.

“Treating someone with more kindness and attention than is appropriate, treating them too nicely or gently to be considered mentally healthy.” Makoto supplied.

“Yes...Let’s go with that...” Morgana conceded unsure.

“Okay, so we have a Target and a Place. We now need the keywords for the App to bring us in her Palace.” Akira said taking out his phone.

“So...Let’s try with...Babies?” Makoto tried saying.

“No match found.” the App answered.

“Dammit.”

“Treasures.” Yusuke tried.

“No Match Found.”

“Family.”

“No Match Found.”

“What about Dears?” Ann proposed.

“Match Found!” the App answered with an affirmative chime.

“Okay! Now we only lack the ‘What’ Fluttershy mistakes this Zoo for, to enter her Palace.” Morgana said happily.

“So...Fluttershy...Dears...What can possibly be the Palace of somebody deadly afraid of her little dears to get hurt should they leave?” Haru asked unsure.

“A Nest?” Yusuke said.

“A Nursery.” Akira corrected him, making his phone vibrate slightly.

“Match Found! Beginning Navigation!” the App answered as Reality started melting all around them.

“Holy Shit! You did it!” Ryuji said amazed as he watched his clothes and the ones of his friends turn into their Phantom Thieves uniforms along Morgana become her alternate, cartoonish self.

“It was a lucky guess,” the young man answered as the entire zoo twisted on itself and the sky got dark and moonless.

“I...I don’t think that a nursery should look like that.” Makoto admitted while looking a bit unnerved.

They were now standing in front of an absurdly tall iron gate covered in thorns, leading to a path of gravel surrounded at both sides in withered bushes of half-dead roses leading to a giant Heart-shaped building painted bright pink and surrounded by a tall grey wall, the building though had thick bars at the windows and barbed wire everywhere on top of every wall.

There were even tall towers around it guarded by beings made of shadows dressed like guards that were using giant projectors to keep in check whatever happened outside the tall walls surrounding the Heart-shaped construction with their giant cones of light.

“Of course, high security so that nothing dangerous from outside can enter and hurt the ‘Poor Defenceless New-Foals.’. Distorted ideals alright!” Ryuji commented.

“But just like nothing can get in to hurt them, they too can’t get out.” Ann added with a sad expression.

“Exactly.” Akira confirmed while gently patting her back.

“How are we supposed to get in?” Makoto asked.

“From the Guard Towers of course!” Futaba’s voice came triumphant from their phones.

“Navi!?”

“Heheheee! As soon as you got in, I got pulled along!”

“Good to know, now...Joker? You okay?” Morgana asked.

“Uh? Yes, it’s just...Have you ever found our clothes here in the Metaverse to be...A bit too much edgy?” Joker (Akira) asked unsure while looking at his long coat, and Ryuji’s metallic skull mask, at Ann’s skin-tight leather suit and at the others’ clothes.

“Blame your heart, Joker (Akira). Those are the manifestation of your rebellious hearts, it is nobody’s fault if deep down you all are still ‘Edgy Cool Kids’ , I find them rather fitting for our group of dashing Thieves.” Morgana answered while crossing his tiny arms.

“Yeah, buddy! Speak for yourself, I love my uniform!” Ryuji said smirking as he started walking towards the right-most Guard Tower.

“This one?” he asked.

“Yup! There are vines on its walls, try using them to climb up to the top and then jump down from there, then you’ll be inside the inner perimeter and will be able to look for an entrance.” Futaba answered.

“Got it! You others comin’?” the skull-masked blond answered.

“Yeah, yeah.” Ann answered shrugging.

“...Would you look at that, last time the Shadows looked humanoid. Now they are featureless and pony-shaped.” Haru commented, fascinated.

“Maybe because the Palace belongs to a pony?” Yusuke suggested.

“It’s possible.” Morgana answered as the group started climbing the guard tower one at a time.

“Uh? Someone there?” the black mass of shadows shaped like a pony asked aloud as soon as it heard something scraping against the wall under the Tower it was guarding.

“Just me! Now show me your true form!” Akira answered as his hand darted forward to grab the mask acting as the Shadow’s face to tear it away, making its body swell like a balloon until it popped into a gooey mass of tar-like substance then re-compacting into a deathly-pale woman with long green hair and wearing a rich red dress.

“Ooh! A Silky! I always loved her dress!” Ann admitted as she and the other climbed up to help Akira fight the thing.

“Are you trying to hurt the beloved Dears of Momma Fluttershy?! You monsters!” the creature cried-out in a strange mixture of fear and anger.

“Momma Fluttershy? Give ma a break!” Ryuji answered annoyed while brandishing a sledge-hammer as his melee weapon.

“Persona!” next to him, Akira moved a hand in front of his face to tear away the white mask he was wearing to summon the towering form of a demon with giant black wings and dressed in formal red attire worthy of nobility.

“Welcome back, Partner.” the Persona said in pride.

“They are back into their starting form...Maaan, we have a lot of way to go to get back in shape.” Ryuji said dispirited as he summoned his own Persona: a Pirate-dressed skeleton riding a tiny galleon like a skateboard.

“I am sorry, but we are in a hurry, so either step aside or perish under our assault.” Yusuke asked kindly as he too, along the others, summoned his Persona.

“Ehm...Ehmmm...EEEEEK!” the poor Shadow babbled meekly, unsure what to do, until the others grew tired of waiting and jumped her all at once.

Meanwhile – Inside the Heart-shaped Nursery - Inner most Sanctum "The Children Room" -

“My little Dears, my precious children.” Fluttershy said with a distorted, almost demonic, voice as she neared the colourful cage holding several featureless humanoid shadows in it that had been dressed with diapers and had pacifiers sewed into their mouths.

The Pegasus mare herself was clearly a Distorted mockery of the real one, dressed with a pink apron with ‘Momma’ written on it with a sharp, uneven calligraphy and with curlers filled in sharp needles in her mane.

She kept showing a maniacal grin as her only expression and even her eyes were unnatural: black sclera and golden irises showing sick possessiveness whenever she looked inside the Cages/Baby-Pens holding her little dears.

“Momma Fluttershy?” A pony-shaped Shadow dressed like a nurse asked.

“WHAT?! I am spending time with my beautiful children! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” Shadow Fluttershy bellowed with a crazed roar, showing that sharp fangs filled her mouth as soon as she dropped her mad, “motherly” grin.

“W-W-We may have intruders!” the poor Shadow stuttered out.

“NO! NOT INTRUDERS! THEY WANT TO HURT MY CHILDREN! KILL THEM! DESTROY THEM! STOP THEEEEEM!” the Distorted version of the Element of Kindness bellowed furious, making the baby-dressed humanoid shadows around her agitate.

“No! Nonononononononononononononono! Mommy is not angry at you, please don’t cry! Nobody will take you or me away! We will stay together forever! I will protect you!” the mare immediately said with an even crazier expression on her face as she hugged the closer ‘child’ tightly no matter how much it tried to fight her off.

“See what you made me do?! Now they are scared!” she hissed furious.

“S-S-Sorry, Momma F-Fluttershy! W-We will stop the intruders at once!” the nurse-dressed Shadow answered while hurrying away in a mad trot.

“You better! Nopony will take my children away...Nopony...” Shadow Fluttershy whispered dangerously.

“My children are mine. Mine and Mine alone...Forever.” She muttered hugging one of her ‘dears’ even tighter, the madness in her eyes growing deeper at each passing moment.

So much that it started leaking into the Heart of the Real Fluttershy, slowly turning it blacker and blacker, so to one day match the putrid one of her Distorted Version.

Extra Scene (to lighten a bit the mood) – The ones trying to force their way into the Velvet Room show their face -

It was just another day inside the Velvet Room, Akira and the others had just left once asked to Igor for help in refining their Persona, and Lavenza had once again had the occasion of getting closer to her beloved ‘Trickster’all for Ann’s ire.

And now, the big nosed old man was sitting behind his desk drinking the tea Lavenza prepared for him as he observed how the Phantom Thieves tackled Mementos and Palaces to save the world.

“Indeed asking them for help has been the right choice.” Igor muttered pleased to himself as he elegantly sipped his tea.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Once again heavy noises filled the blue studio that was the Velvet Room, making Igor spill a little of his tea, something that apparently unnerved him as while his toothy grin remained unchanged, his eyes got just a bit more cold and sharp.

“This matter has become ridiculous, is time for the perpetrator of this travesty to show themselves.” Igor ordered making his Attendant snap close her book to join his side.

“At once, Master Igor.” Lavenza answered obediently.

As if actively listening to his words, the Velvet Room itself shifted and a bright pink door appeared on one of the walls, and somehow just by looking at it Igor and Lavenza felt strangely irked, almost personally offended.

“Finally you deigned to show yourself, you pale imitation!” the voice coming from beyond that door was high-pitched and patronizing...And a bit too flamboyant.

“Who are you?” Igor asked, and his tone seemed a bit too angry to Lavenza’s ears.

“I am Long Snout.” the pony on the other side said with a grandiose tone as he opened the door to show a pastel-pink copy of the Velvet room, and his being a pony with an overly long snout and wearing a flamboyant pink feather boa and bejeweled top hat.

“And this, is the Chiffon Room.” he then said in unbearable pride.

Crunch!

That Lavenza heard clearly, her Master Igor’s clenching his teeth hard enough to lightly crack them, along the more subtle noise of something snapping coming from inside his head.

“I am aware of Humanity’s concept of Comedy. But I am not amused.” Igor said while calmly walking towards the pink door, and once pushed inside the exaggerated pony version of himself, the old man closed the door behind them both and locked it.

What followed then was barely a minute of loud noises of things breaking followed by screams of pain and anguish that made Lavenza cringe and look away from the door.

Then Igor came out looking not even winded while cleaning his gloves with a handkerchief he then threw inside the now devastated pink room.

“I believe they won’t come anymore to bother us.” the long-nosed man declared once gently closed the door so to watch it melt away.

And true to his words, that door or the banging sounds never reappeared, and Igor even had a new gadget to keep on the top of his desk as a trophy for his victory, one made in small white marbles scarily similar to horse teeth.

The End.

A bit silly, I know, but I liked the idea.

Chapter 4: Shocking Change of Heart! Fluttershy’s Treasure stolen!

Tokyo – SIU Temporary HQ – Human side of the Barrier -

Sae, former detective and now prosecutor, sat in front of his former boss inside the old man’s office, her expression calm and unwavering as she looked straight at the man she once had been ready to do everything to get the approval of, and that she had subsequently abandoned once the truth about the entire ‘Phantom Thieves Incident’ and the deep, DEEP issues of corruption festering barely under the surface came out.

“I am surprised you are still holding office.” Sae didn’t waste time, and as soon as the two remained alone in the office, she gave her opening salvo to make the man flinch minutely.

“I was not supposed to, but unfortunately my successor did not last long, he was between the first victims of Conversion and is now somewhere beyond that Barrier looking like a pony.”

“And you are not in prison because of personal merits, I suppose.” Sae answered with a scrunched nose.

At that the old man simply took away his glasses to tiredly massage his eyes and sigh in self-deprecation.

“In my later years I have forgotten my values and got swooped-in in matters then turning out to be way bigger than anything I could imagine even in my wildest fantasies, no use in denying that. But I still am the man with righteous values I was when I first started this life-style so many years ago...We all can lose track of the right direction at least once, don’t we?” he said getting up to walk towards the giant window of his office and look at the empty streets under him with half-lidded eyes.

“Yes, but the fact remains that in this instance, there is a great difference in the ‘collateral damages’ left behind from that losing track of your direction. We are not talking about a simple mid-life crisis here.” the woman countered, drawing a bitter chuckle from her former boss.

“Don’t I know that. My daughter now refuses to even acknowledge my very existence, let alone let me see my niece even just in pictures...This was not what I envisioned my retirement to be, you know?”

“Regretting something?”

“I am regretting a lot of things. I planned to slowly drift away, becoming a full-time grandpa, buying a boat to go fishing...Playing chess with my daughter like I used to do when she was a girl. Small things, Happy things...And yet, if not for my being called back to try coordinate this whole pony mess, I would have nothing of that, it would be just me standing there waiting for my time to come.” the old man answered with a far-away look on his face.

“Why you wanted to see me? I am not coming back. I am pretty happy with my new career.” Sae said crossing her arms, and her demeanor still as cold as steel even after that revelation.

“I have nor the right, nor the wish to force you into anything, but I need your help...Are the Phantom Thieves really back?” the man asked, now turning around to look at her with fiery eyes.

“I too saw that livestream yesterday, I am just as surprised as you are.” she answered, nonplussed.

“Please, if you know something, you must tell me. It’s important! One of us got a letter and we did as they asked, we helped once already, but try as we might, we cannot find those guys.”

“Maybe because your old suspects never were the Phantom Thieves? Even then, not even I know who they really are, and the only one we managed to arrest was in that small prefecture that got covered by the Barrier, so he either is a pony now, or he died as a human.” Sae answered, talking about Akira and his past dealings with the police.

“The rest of the Team though may still be around,”

“And what if instead this is a new formation? Or even just somebody trying to emulate them?”

“Both chances are equally valid, that is why ever since we got that Calling Card we are destroying every evidence we have on them along making sure false leads are leaked every once in a while; if the Phantom Thieves are back, Celestia and her cronies MUST NOT know a thing about them besides what the population thinks to know.” the man said walking towards the door to open it for her.

“Follow me, I will show you.”

“You are destroying evidences?” Sae asked, mildly surprised.

“We are at war against unfathomable forces we have very little chances against, any means to achieve victory will be deemed acceptable.”

“STOP HIM! HE IS STEALING PART OF THE PT (Phantom Thieves) ARCHIVE!” A female voice yelled just outside the office.

“YOU WON’T STOP US! FOR HUMANITY’S REBIRTH! LONG LIVE EQUEST-”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The crazed man’s fanatical scream stopped abruptly when three sharp gunshots echoed inside the department, making him fall to the floor immobile.

“Any means, Sae.” the old man repeated unfazed as he holstered his gun and recovered the pen-drive in the traitor’s hand to throw it on the floor and smash that small USB pen into tiny fragments under his feet.

Sae could only swallow her nervousness down hard as she watched her former colleagues drag away the dead man without the smallest crease of guilt on their faces.

“Put him with the others, and tell his family he died as a hero while fighting against Equestria, at least like that his loved ones will remember him properly.”

“Yessir.”

“...I can’t help you, I am sorry.” the woman finally said sighing.

“I suspected it, but it was worth a try. Should you discover or just hear something though, please consider sharing it with me, this time the Police and the Phantom Thieves are on the same side. Thank you for your time, and please, keep this incident a secret, we don’t want to have people wonder if even the ones supposed to protect them have been ‘infected’ with pony sympathizers, we are trying to comb them out, but is not easy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, good day.” Sae answered with a small bow.

“To you too.” the old man answered with a similar gesture.

Several hours later – Pony Side of the Barrier – Floating Island number 1 (Holding Canterlot and the Princesses Castle) -

Inside the Throne room of Celestia and Luna’s Castle, a giant round table had been installed at the beginning of their war against humanity so to hold a giant map of Japan detailing the expanding of the Barrier and the current influence of the pony forces both in and outside the glowing, impenetrable wall of light.

And now, this very same table had been recently covered by several rolls of thickly-written notes Twilight had managed to accumulate in just the one single day Celestia gave her after the transmission of the Calling Card.

“What did I said about pulling an all-nighter, Twilight?” Spike the dragon said watching his Mother/Friend/Sister-figure with sad eyes.

“To not do that because it is bad for my health,” the purple alicorn answered rolling her blood-shot eyes while swaying a little on her hooves.

“I am actually sorry, dear Spike, but this time it was important for us to get as much information as possible on a short notice. I can assure you this won’t be the norm.” Celestia added with a small smile.

“Uh-hu.” the small dragon answered simply, and nobody seemed to catch the fact that he was not convinced in the slightest.

“S-So? W-Who are they?” Fluttershy, she too looking like she had not slept a minute since the incident, asked in apprehension.

“Eh! There comes the problem...Nopony knows.” Twilight answered with a helpless sigh.

“That’s not very helpful, Twi.” Dash answered rolling her eyes.

“What I mean is that nopony knows their identities! They thought they caught one, their Leader even, but apparently that human was just some random colt that had been framed to cover their escape,” the ‘Princess of Friendship’ answered annoyed.

“Okay, so we don’t know what they look like, anything else?” Luna asked impatiently.

“I asked around, or had some of our sympathizers do the asking for me...And looked through their ‘Internet’ thing, amazing invention that one! They managed to collect the entire spectrum of their Knowledge, the knowledge of an entire species and planet, in a single ethereal/non-physical place! Sure it’s all sandwiched between kitten videos, silly Fanfictions or kind-of-depraved (And yet strangely-fascinating) Pornograp-”

“The short answer, sugarcube. Please.” AJ interrupted her while chuckling.

“Ah, yes! I was going off track...They apparently posses Humanity’s own Elements of Harmony.” Twilight, chuckling and blushing a little, answered.

“...” For a moment, deeper silence could not be found anywhere, not even in the vacuum of space, as the mare’s words sank in.

“I beg you pardon?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow, masquerading well the inner horror that answer brought to her.

“Twilight, dear...You do know that such a thing would spell disaster for us, right?” Rarity asked, slowly.

“I was the one discovering this, my shock has waved off a long ago.” the other answered nonplussed, detached, and making Spike look at her in even greater apprehension.

“How can humans have Elements of Harmony? They have no Magic! I mean, they can do cool card tricks, but that is not Magic with capital ‘M’!” Pinkie said, looking confused.

“That is just my theory, but if that is not the case, how can anypony explain what they did otherwise?” Twilight answered shrugging.

“And they did?” Celestia prompted.

“Apparently they CAN steal people Hearts, and they did so several times in the past.”

“They cut open people for their hearts? That sounds nasty!” AJ answered gagging a little, and making her friends turn a bit green on their faces.

“No, it’s more a metaphorical thing, actually. Details are vague, but it seems like any time they target somepony, these people then come out clean and admit whatever sin they had been keeping hidden, asking for honest forgiveness and repent for their mistakes with all themselves. They call it a ‘Sudden Change of Heart’...But doesn’t this sound familiar already? Evil turning into good.” Twilight asked.

“Pretty much what you did with...Nightmare Moon...And many others.” Luna answered with a low voice, and shivering heavily when she talked about her Corrupted self.

“Exactly, they used to have a fan-site too! A board where everypony could ask for their help, they did not attack high-profile people only! Even everyday bullies, stalkers, thugs...Every darkened heart they could lay eyes on, or at least, what they considered ‘Twisted’.”

“And that Calling Card?” Fluttershy asked in apprehension.

“That usually happened when they deemed somepony to be especially worthy of their attention (AKA Seen as Evil). Whenever somepony received that card, after three days at best they would have a Change of Heart and confess everything bad they ever did.” Twilight answered.

“But I am not Evil! I am not Corrupted! I am just helping the New-Foals until they get better!” Fluttershy answered, mid-way between anger and despair.

“I know it, and everypony else knows it, Shy.” Dash answered.

“That got me thinking, exactly. Our Elements of Harmony work through the cleansing of the taint of Corruption or by re-establishing the right equilibrium inside everypony...If that is the case for us, wouldn’t that be the same for theirs? How can they be sure then that it will work on Fluttershy?” Twilight said, thoughtful.

“To be honest, from their point of view, we are evil. We are trying to turn them into a different species, sometimes by force...And Fluttershy holds them in cages, from their side of things, that is borderline evil. Heck! Even from OUR side of things that isn’t that a bit too much?” Spike said unsure.

“I-I-IT’S ONLY TEMPORARY, OKAY!? T-T-They will join us as soon as they get better...I-it’s just taking some time...I-I am just making sure they do not hurt themselves...N-N-Nothing more...” what started as a roar of the normally shy pony, soon died down into a weak whisper that was barely audible.

“Okay! Okay!” Spike answered while rising both claws in a non-threatening way.

“We are just helping them to not die from the Barrier...We are helping them.” AJ added while looking away.

“They will have lots of new friends! W-We will all laugh together once things settle down!” Pinkie said smiling, and her short stutter seemed to go unnoticed even by herself.

“Sure as Tartarus we are helping them! We are big darn heroes!” Dash said puffing-out her chest in utter pride.

“Yeah, heroes...” Spike repeated, uncertain.

“The problem then is if their ‘Elements’ work against Objective Evil like ours, or on ‘Perceived Evil’, Twilight?” Celestia asked, bringing the discussion back on track.

“Yes, Princess. I still have not enough proofs of it, but it may also be that they just brainwash their victims, both options are valid at the moment.” the purple neo-alicorn answered.

“That is even worse.” Rarity muttered with a disgusted expression.

“Exactly, so just to be sure, I think dear Fluttershy will need to stay here inside the Barrier, we cannot risk them really having something similar to the Elements of Harmony or just a really powerful Brainwashing Tool, I will even station more trusted guards to protect her, if she is really their target, we will catch them.” the Sun Princess declared.

“Thank you, Princess.” Fluttershy answered, immediately looking more calm.

“Just in case, why don’t you all spend the night here?” Luna proposed.

“B-But...Those poor dears...”

“I am sure these guards that have been helping you up until now will manage to keep everything under control for a night, tomorrow morning you’ll be free to return there, we still are organizing the new homes for those poor New-Foals, and until they snap out of their ‘Absence’ they will also need a caretaker, and all that requires time.” Celestia answered smiling warmly.

“O-Of course! Thank you, Princess!” the shy mare answered bowing a little.

“In the meantime, Twilight please see if you can discover something else on those humans, we need more details.”

“But...”

“Without all-nighters, of course.” Celestia added, cutting off Spike’s rebuttal with a wink.

“Of course, Princess!” the mare answered immediately.

Sigh! “I am coming too to help you.” the small dragon said while shaking his head and following Twilight out of the room.

Later that night – not too far away from Fluttershy’s zoo -

The group of teens forming the infamous Phantom Thieves were stealthily moving towards the gate to the abandoned zoo thanks to the full darkness of night.

“A nightly infiltration, is almost romantic.” Yusuke commented with a low voice.

“You sure you don’t want us to go to sleep, Mona? (Morgana)” Ryuji asked smirking.

“At the time I was just trying to help Joker (Akira) and you others maintain a normal schedule fit for school students, now instead we are having a guerrilla-like operation as a part to a full-fledged War against invaders, the setting is different!” Morgana, at the moment looking like a normal house-cat since outside the Metaverse, answered huffing annoyed.

“I can’t see Fluttershy anywhere, you think she went into hiding?” Haru asked curious.

“Who cares? Is not like we need her HERE to enter her Palace! As long as this place exist physically, we can enter her subconscious whenever we want to steal her Treasure, even should they move her to another planet!” Makoto answered.

“I know that, I was just curious.” the other girl answered pouting.

“Nobody should know the full details of what we do, so hiding her would be a good idea if we were normal thieves.” Akira muttered while taking-out his phone.

“Yep! A pity though we are Super Thieves instead!” Ryuji added smirking proud, he and the others too preparing their phones and the Metaverse App.

“All aboard! Next stop, Hell Nursery!” Ann declared as the worlds around all of them morphed into the Distorted representation of the zoo that was Fluttershy’s Palace.

- Inside the Metaverse -

“There it is!” Morgana, back into ‘anime Cat’ form, said proudly once the tall gates to the Prison-Nursery appeared before them.

“Can you feel it? She is waiting for us.” Yusuke said shivering a little.

“Yep! She is super mad alright!” Ryuji confirmed nodding, they all could feel the sensation of being observed and very much ‘unwanted’ envelop their bodies for a second before settling down to become just a faint prickling in the back of their heads.

“The whole place is on maximum alert, both Shadows and Fluttershy are out for blood, if you are discovered either run away or take them down fast, or you’ll be swarmed and that would mean Game Over.” Futaba’s voice resounded from Akira’s phone to warn the whole group.

“Certainly, thank you, Navi (Futaba).” Yusuke answered.

“Remember the plan: we enter the Main Building once sneaked inside the Entrance Hall, then we rush unseen to the third floor to take the treasure, then I will use my slingshot to shot a rope through the window at the third floor of the ‘Bath Room’ Tower, from there we go down to the first floor and jump out of the window there to reach the gardens, from there, it will be a mad dash towards the exit. All clear?” Morgana said.

“Yes.” the others answered as one.

“Let’s hope we won’t have to fight Fluttershy once stolen the Treasure, that was the worst part of every Palace.” Ryuji then begged groaning.

“Sometimes I wonder if they would have had a Change of Heart even without us fighting them.” Ann echoed, sighing.

“Technically speaking, taking a Treasure out of the Palace makes it crumble, and that too can trigger a Change of Heart...We were just unlucky to never see THAT happen.” Morgana admitted while showing a forced smile.

“So we will have to fight our Targets this time too?” Akira asked.

“Probably, if our track record is anything to go by.” Yusuke answered with a defeated tone.

At that every Phantom Thief let-out a long sigh as they could already tell what Fate had in store for them.

At the same time – Distorted Fluttershy – Toy Room in the Main Building -

“Something’s not right, I can feel it.” the Distorted version of the mare said scanning the room with her golden eyes.

“What do you mean, Momma?” a pony Shadow asked confused.

“I am sure we have visitors, tell everypony to keep their eyes open, my Dears MUST NOT BE TOUCHED!” she ordered in answer.

“Of course, Momma!” the Shadows present answered, and as one, the two dozen of them rushed out to patrol every corridor.

“Come if you dare! I will be waiting...” the mare hissed with a venomous tone while walking away.

With the Phantom Thieves – Entrance Hall -

“UGH-YAAAAAAAH!” the pony Shadow that had transformed into a duo of ‘half-horses’ made of algae shrieked in pain as the last of the two Kelpie went forced into running away and leave the Palace.

(Kelpie)

“Okay, this was the last one, how are things on your side, Fox? (Yusuke)” Akira asked.

“We too have just finished, ready to go in?” the other answered as the Jack Frost he and his Team were facing accepted to leave behind a small bottle before running away.

“Uuh! Health Boost! Nice!” Haru said happily.

“Security is not a joke, ready to go?” Morgana asked while pointing at the door.

“Ready!”

Once entered the first floor of the Main Building, they saw the place simply swarming in Shadows patrolling between the mountains of toys in groups in very tight patterns intersecting each other.

“Fuck! What now?” Ryuji asked with a low growl of annoyance.

“...This way.” Akira answered after a long pause of thought, having re-learned to use his old ‘Sixth Sense’ as a Phantom Thief the Velvet Room had gifted him in the past.

“Where?” Ann asked confused, and rising an eyebrow as she watched her boyfriend climb one of the giant teddy-bears so to stand on top of its hand.

“Ah.” a short grunt of exertion and the maskedteen leaped from that giant plushy to the next, and clinging to the long ears of that titanic bunny plush toy so to climb it.

“This is crazy...” Makoto commented as they watched their Leader then use the ropes holding the ‘Toy Room’ banner up to reach the other row of giant plush toys at the opposite side of the room, climb down from the last Toy Soldier and hide in the middle of the life-size town of dolls.

“Crazy it may be, but Joker (Akira) had the right idea for passing the first half of the room! Let’s Go!” Morgana answered as he too started climbing the giant toys to do the same.

“Sssh!” as soon as the rest of the group arrived, Akira signaled them to be quiet and to lie on the floor like him to hide under a toy car, what they saw then was Fluttershy herself come down from the second floor to scan the area herself.

“Found anything?” they heard her ask.

“Not yet, Momma Fluttershy.” a near Shadow answered obediently.

“Keep looking, I am sure we have intruders roaming about, if that is the case, I want them captured.” she ordered while returning up the stairs.

“Of course, Momma!” every Shadow answered in chorus.

“...”

“So she will probably protect the Treasure herself?” Haru asked, worried.

“I don’t know. Navi? (Futaba)” Ann asked unsure.

“...I can’t find her, I can’t see her from outside, she must be hiding somewhere.” their Navigator answered.

“We have no choice but continue, just keep your eyes open.” Morgana answered as he moved out of their hiding spot.

Traversing rapidly the city of dolls, running fast and ignoring the surprising cry of the few Shadows that caught them, the Phantom Thieves dove for the stairs and rapidly climbed them while behind them numerous hoofsteps clip-clopped deafeningly in great hurry.

“Split!” Akira ordered as soon as they entered the second floor.

“Where are they!?” the pony Shadow at the head of the group of pursuers said furious, seeing that now the intruders they were chasing had disappeared as soon as they reached the new area.

“Shh!” Akira whispered to Ann, making her nod and follow him deeper into the room.

“This way.” Makoto hissed, pulling Ryuji away by an ear before he could try to use the sledgehammer in his hand to bash-in the skull of the unaware Shadow in front of him.

“Over here.” Yusuke mouthed while pointing towards the heavily guarded door to the third and final floor.

“How?” Haru asked.

“That giant nutcracker soldier.” Morgana answered pointing at the enormous toy with its mouth slack open standing by the door.

“Are you serious?!”

“Just push, Skull! (Ryuji)” Ann growled while she and everybody else started pushing on the base of the giant toy.

WHA-BOOOOOM! With a deafening sound, the giant toy forced the pony Shadows to disperse and be confused enough for the Phantom Thieves to sneak past them and up the stairs using the chaos to cover their escape.

Third Floor – Distorted Fluttershy’s room -

“Let’s hope Fluttershy was down there, at least the ruckus will distract her too.” Ryuji said sighing while marching towards the giant bunny plush toy sitting on its hunches and holding the Treasure in its big front paws.

“So the Treasure is a bunny doll?” Ann asked confused.

“There is no mistake, I can feel it, that is Fluttershy’s Treasure!” Morgana said happily.

“Not every treasure is made out of precious materials.” Yusuke commented simply while they watched Akira climb the thing to recover the small bunny.

“I wonder what it does represent.” Haru asked.

“We’ll study its symbolism once back to the base! Now let’s go!” the talking cat answered in a hurry as he loaded a heavy-looking hook attached to a long length of rope to his giant slingshot.

“You are not going anywhere!” Distorted Fluttershy’s voice echoed in the room as she entered through the window, demolishing it in a shower of glass shards to slam against Akira’s body and recover the Treasure.

“You thought you could stop me?! I am doing a great service to those poor New-Foals! Without me they would be lost! Without a home! Without a Family!” she yelled, flying a bit higher just to look at the assembled Thieves from a vantage point.

“They have a family already!” Akira answered, glaring at her in anger.

“Not anymore! I am their Family! I am their Mother! And I will protect them FROM EVERYTHING!” Distorted Fluttershy answered.

“That is not protection, nor is it Love! You are just a sick mockery of what a real mother should be!” Yusuke countered.

“You ponies just came and turned everybody into puppets! Brain-dead zombies just to take away our world!” Ann added.

“Your world!? This is our world now! I will have the Family I always wanted! The Children I have been denied by Fate will finally be mine! And if Humans have to disappear, then so be it! I WILL BE EVERYPONY’S MOTHER!” the mare roared in clear madness.

“If this place is what you believe means being a Mother, then you do not deserve to be one!” Ryuji answered, just as furious as she was.

“HOW DARE YOU!? I AM GOING TO TEACH YOU TO RESPECT YOUR MOTHER! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” at hearing those words, the Distorted mare’s madness simply surpassed every conceivable level, making her mane elongate and her skin get covered in blisters while her body inflated and deformed rapidly.

“Guys? Can...Can you feel it?” Akira asked breathlessly.

“This feeling, you mean? Yeah, I remember it!” Makoto answered with wide eyes.

All of them had wide eyes, but it was not fear, it was excitement! It was the pure, absolute and intoxicating feeling of adrenaline pumping through their veins in industrial quantities! It was the deafening drumming of their hearts beating so strong in their ears to eclipse every other sound! They could finally feel their being the Phantom Thieves return only now, when finally faced with the life-or-death Battle against a Palace Owner! The final spark that ignited their true return!

“BRING IT!” Ryuji yelled with a wide smile as soon as Distort Fluttershy completed her monstrous transformation.

CRAAAASH!

The now six-meters-tall monstrosity landed heavily on the floor, completely demolishing it making her and the Phantom Thieves fall down, through even the second floor and finally landing on the ground of the first floor of the Toy Room.

“GRAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Now the outside is matching the inside, you monster!” Yusuke declared.

“Guooooh!...BaD KiDS muST be PuNisHeD!” Distorted Fluttershy gurgled with uneven and deep voice as her Real Form finally appeared in all its twisted glory: sicken grey skin covered in tumor-like blisters, some of which opening to show monstrous blood-shot golden eyes; her mane not only looking dirty and disheveled, but also long enough to drag on the floor and with flocks of long tentacles taking the place of her wings with extra eyes on their tips sprouting from her back.

“Yuck! Disgusting.” Makoto commented at seeing the yellowed teeth in the deformed maw now occupying most of Fluttershy’s mouth and the hundred eyes covering most of her body.

“pUniSHmeNt! PunIshMeNT! YoU AlL ArE GrOuNDeeEeD!” Distorted Fluttershy said with a deafening roar that made every Shadow present scatter and run away, and at the same time, a giant rolling pin in half-rotten wood appeared above her to be grabbed by one of her wing-tentacles to hold it in front of herself.

“GROUNDEEEEEEED!” she bellowed running forward, flattening whatever was in front of her in her unstoppable charge.

“SHIT!” Ryuji shrieked as he and the others could barely dodge in time, just to see her go straight through the opposite wall without problems.

“The Treasure is hanging from her neck! If we take it we can distract her enough to finish the fight!” Morgana yelled as Distorted Fluttershy came back into the room through the left wall, still dashing towards them with the giant rolling pin in front of her like a hellish steamroller.

“DODGE!” Akira yelled, pulling Ann and Morgana away from the mad mare trajectory so to let her harmlessly demolish the far left wall and disappear.

“...I can’t hear her.” Haru whispered.

“She is trying to catch us by surprise, be careful.” Makoto answered, and it was then that the floor started trembling again.

“Yusuke! The toys!” Akira yelled.

“I got it!”

BOOOOM!

“DIEEEEEE!”the Distorted mare bellowed as the last of the four walls went demolished as she re-entered the room with her charge attack.

“NOW!” Morgana yelled, and acting with perfect synchronicity, the two groups of Phantom Thieves pushed down the two giant Nutcracker Toy Soldiers that had not be touched by either crash-landing or charge just in time to have both fall on top of the Giant Fluttershy’s head to make her stumble and lose hold of her rolling pin.

“ARGH! Damn you!” the monster roared in fury as she failed to stand back up on her four deformed hooves.

“NOW! Attack with all you got!” Morgana yelled while summoning his Persona Zorroto attack Fluttershy with a storm of wind attacks.

“ARSENE! EIHA!” Akira intoned immediately after, making Fluttershy shriek in pain and close a dozen eyes by reflex.

“TOGETHER!” Ann said aiming with her gun, a stockless M1928A1 machine gun, at a cluster of eyes on the monster’s forehead.

“RIGHT BEHIND YOU!” Yusuke and Makoto echoed pointing their own weapons (an AK-74M and a Revolver) at similar targets.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The hail of bullets pelted Fluttershy’s head, making short blast of black smoke and tar-like ichor spurt out of the wounds at each bullet.

“YAAH!” Haru yelled as her weapon, a heavy battle-ax, hacked at one of the eyes on her tentacle-wings cleaving it in half.

“GOEMON!” Yusuke yelled summoning his samurai-dressed Persona, and together with it, both assaulted the Distorted Mare with sword slashes and the sharp blade hidden in the pipe the apparition was smoking from.

“ENOUGH! IF YOU KEEP DEFYING YOUR MOTHER, THEN I WILL TEACH YOU MANNERS!” Distorted Fluttershy roared as she finally mended her broken hoovesto return standing.

“YOU ARE GROUNDED!” she bellowed, making her remaining eyes light-up in ghostly light.

“Grah!” Akira and Ryuji growled in anger as they and Makoto felt an unnatural weight settle on their back almost paralyzing them completely.

“I-I can’t move!” Makoto gasped in shock.

“I GOT YOU!” the monster yelled in glee as she swatted the three teens away with one of her tentacles.

“CARMEN!” Ann bellowed, summoning her Persona and using its fire-based attacks to grab Fluttershy’s attention.

“Go help them, Mona! (Morgana)” Haru ordered while summoning her own Persona Milady that opened the front of its dress like an infernal maw to show an array of ranged weaponry to shame an army: including two Gatling guns, a bazooka, and a missile she then used to storm Fluttershy in attacks.

“Help’s coming! Drink this.” the talking cat said bringing three cans to his downed friends.

“R-Red B*ll?” Ryuji asked confused.

“Don’t you remember? The Metaverse is the world of Perception, everybody knows that Energy Drinks pump you up in energy if you feel down!” Morgana answered smirking.

“Right, so in here that can help against Slowing Spells.” Makoto answered rolling her eyes, but never denying that the drinks actually worked to return them to normal.

“INCOMING!” They all heard Futaba alarmed scream as Fluttershy’s mouth opened way more than it should have been possible, almost opening the entire front half her body, to let loose a giant stream of green liquid that melted everything it touched.

“Shit! That is acid!?” Ryuji, he and Ann having barely dodged the stream, yelled with wide eyes as he watched part of his hammer sizzle having been hit by few stray drops.

“You won’t escape your punishment!” Distorted Fluttershy yelled brandishing again her rolling pin with a tentacle, and waving it around in random patterns to squash them.

“That thing got even bigger!” Yusuke said, tackling Haru to the ground to save her from a particularly wild swing.

“Thank you.” she said elated.

“It’s not the rolling pin that got bigger! It’s Fluttershy that got smaller!” Futaba answered in surprise.

“Smaller? Why?” Ryuji asked confused.

“Can it be because she lost few of her eyes?” Akira answered.

“The eyes...That’s it! You know what they say: Mothers have eyes in the back of their heads! So those eyes must be her weak points!” Ann yelled, shocked.

“So if we destroy those eyes, Fluttershy will lose power, and we will be able to defeat her!” Morgana added.

“At least we have a target then.” Yusuke said nodding.

“ENOUGH! IT STOPS NOW! YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME...OR DIE!” Distorted Fluttershy bellowed having finally reached her breaking point.

Two of her tentacles grabbed both handles of her rolling pin and spun them in opposite directions, thing that produced a faint Click! Sound, soon followed by the wood of the thing exploding outwards to show that underneath a thin layer of wood were hidden hundreds of saw-blades tightly stacked together.

Clink! The sharp blades chimed dangerously as the giant mare (now reduced to ‘only’ five meters of height) slowly positioned it in front of herself as if to give the Phantom Thieves the last chance to surrender.

“Tha-That thing won’t just flatten you! It will shred you! BE CAREFUL!” Futaba shrieked.

“You don’t say...” Ryuji answered tensely.

“So? Your final answer? Will you stop actinglike spoiled colts and behave? Will you obey your New Mommy?!” Fluttershy asked growling.

BANG! In answer Akira whipped out his gun to shot and destroy the last eye on the mare’s face, making it explode it in a thick spurt of ichor and thus leaving only the ones on the rest of her body intact.

“GYAAAAAAAAH!” Distorted Fluttershy shrieked in agony, and also deflating of few extra inches the more ichor-blood she lost.

“Actions do speak louder than words.” Yusuke said approvingly.

“SPLIT!” Haru yelled as the crazed mare darted forward even faster than before, the saw-covered rolling pin now leaving behind a giant tail of sparks as it destroyed everything in front of her, even the floor.

Crash!

As if to show its now greater attack power, the giant mare destroyed the last remaining giant toy to dust before disappearing beyond the hole in the wall she produced earlier, contrary to before though she was coming and going from the four sides of the room in a random order and at double the speed, forcing the Phantom Thieves into daring dodges barely enough to avoid her charges.

“What now!? Gah! How do we stop her enough to attack?!” Ryuji asked in between dodges as the crazed mare didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Wooosh! Crash! Always faster, Distorted Fluttershy kept exiting from a hole to re-enter from another immediately after while holding the bladed rolling pin in front of herself in a never-ending charge.

“And if she gets any faster, we won’t be able to dodge!” Morgana added in alarm.

“Gyah!” Ann yelled as the tail end of Fluttershy’s overly-long dirty mane get tangled in her leg to drag her behind the mare.

“H-HELP!”

“ANN!” Akira yelled grabbing her hand to be dragged with her.

“JOKER! PANTHER!” Haru yelled with wide eyes as she saw them disappear inside the wall to return from the opposite side of the room, still dragged by the monster, now though with Akira hugging Ann to use his body to shield her from being dragged to death on the ground while she used his knife to cut her leg free.

“It’s like a bundle of steel cables!” Ann cried-out.

“NOIR! (Haru)” Akira begged.

“Ah!” the girl replied managing to cut both free as soon they passed near her.

“You okay?” Ryuji asked as he and Yusuke helped both to get up and dodge the new charge.

“Y-Yes, more or less.” Ann replied panting.

“I think I know how to stop her now!” Makoto declared.

“How?”

“I say we all grab her hair and make her trip.” she answered.

“She is like a damn speeding truck!” Ann yelled in answer.

“You have a better idea?”

“...Let’s go with the suicide plan...” Ann conceded in defeat.

“At worst we’ll get dragged a little, better than being shredded!” Ryuji added shrugging.

“HERE SHE COME! One...Two...THREE!” Yusuke counted, and on three every one of them grabbed a handful of mane, and as expected, all of them could not last a single second and got dragged behind the crazed mare for several meters before they could let go and tumble to safety away from her.

“T-Told you it was a bad idea!” Ann, looking ready to puke from the short and hectic trip, said whining.

“It was the first plan I could come up with!” Makoto answered huffing.

“WAIT! WHERE IS JOKER?!” Morgana yelled with wide eyes as their friend was nowhere to be seen.

“He is still climbing over Fluttershy’s back!” Futaba answered, shrieking in fear.

“WHAT?!” the others replied as they finally noticed their ‘Leader’ Akira stoically holding onto Fluttershy’s mane and slowly climbing his way up to her back.

“What does he plan to do?!” Ann yelled, horrified.

“I have no clue, but we must stop that thing at all cost, if his plan fails and he falls, she will kill him on the spot!” Yusuke answered, taking aim with his gun and shooting at the mare’s legs.

“DAMN YOU!” the Distorted Monster replied, lifting the pin up so to turn around and take aim for him.

“She can only move forward while charging with that thing! We can use it to our advantage!”

“One of us should focus on healing Joker (Akira) with their Persona, we others will instead try to wriggle-out as much damages we could until he has done.” Morgana ordered.

With Joker -

The masked teen was in the meantime finally reaching the back of Fluttershy, and finding there the rest of her wing-tentacles waiting for him, and between them, a giant golden eye glaring at him in hatred on par with a second giant one right behind of the mare’s heavily-deformed head.

“Eyes on the back alright...Jack Frost: Mabufu!” Akira commented dryly, and opening his own side of the battle by attacking the eye between the tentacles with a wide area ice attack of the Shadow he took along.

“Gyaaaah!” At the same time Fluttershy shrieked in pain, making her charge falter a little.

“Weak to ice, good to know.” Akira muttered as he dodged the wild swipes of the tentacles so to charge forward and thrust his knife deep into the eye behind the mare’s head.

“GET OFF!” Fluttershy bellowed in both pain and fury as she stopped her charge and tried to buck-off the intruder, all the while still trying to flatten the other Phantom Thieves around her that kept sneaking attacks on her whenever she passed close to them.

“GAH!” Joker groaned-out in pain as he felt one of the thick tentacles slam on his chest and push him away from the eye he was stabbing again and again.

“Joker! (Akira)”he heard Futaba cry out, soon followed by her own healing skill fixing his wounds.

“Thanks, Navi (Futaba)!” the young man answered grateful as he watched the almost-obliterated eye behind Fluttershy’s head close and get buried under her skin, along her body shrinking slightly under him.

“What are you trying to do!?” the girl asked.

“I want to take the Treasure away from her, she is holding it around her neck thanks to her hair, if I take it she should be more worried about recovering it than attacking us.” he answered.

“Like with Kamoshida? You said he went dispirited for a little as soon as you knocked off his crown.”

“Yes. How many eyes remain untouched?” he asked while diving to the side to dodge a whipping attack of the tentacles.

“A couple dozen...” Futaba answered unnerved.

“Shit. I am going to try all the same!” Akira declared.

“I’ll tell the others to focus their attacks on Fluttershy’s back to cover you! But for the love of God, be careful!”

“Thank you! ARSENE! Cleave!” he answered, summoning his Persona that physically attacked the giant eye between the tentacles in a flurry of black feathers, heavily damaging it.

“ENOUGH!” as the entire flock of tentacles on Fluttershy’s back, minus the ones holding the pin in front of her, moved to strike the teen down all at once, bullets of every kind, small bombs and even grenades intercepted those pushing them aside and shredding several of them, further diminishing the eyes the mare possessed.

“GO! GO! GO!” Ryuji yelled while he and the others, having climbed the tallest toys they could find, kept pelting the mares back in bullets.

Using the short opening the covering fire offered him, Akira ran forward, climbed Fluttershy’s head and dropped down under her chin thanks to her long mane and the various minor wounds on her neck acting as handholds.

“There it is...” the young man said elated as he could see the tiny bunny plush doll deeply buried in the make-shift ‘scarf’ of hair Fluttershy’s transformation created to keep the Treasure safe.

Holding tightly on the bundle of hair, especially since he was standing right above the spinning saws of the mare’s rolling pin, Akira started to wildly hack at the hair to free the Treasure and steal it...And Fluttershy obviously would have none of that even if her face had been previously blinded.

“NO! YOU WON’T TAKE MY BABY!” the crazed mare bellowed, stopping her charge to instead wildly bucking around, and spitting her acid attack everywhere, along madly waving around the bladed pin in her blind fury.

“NOW! She stopped running around! Destroy as many eyes you can before she manages to shock Joker off her!” Makoto ordered as her motorcycle-shaped Persona Johanna started attacking every eye she could reach in micro explosions.

“I GOT IT!” Akira yelled as he finally managed to cut a hole in her hair big enough for him to shove a fist in and pry the Treasure away and throw it at Ryuji.

“NO! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!” with a scream eerily similar to a scared baby, Fluttershy stopped thrashing around and focused on the blond boy.

“SHIT! WHY ME?!” Ryuji yelled as he started backpedaling away from her.

“No! My baby! Give it back! I’ll be good! I’ll be good!” the mare begged, looking like a drug addict being denied its dose, and ditching the bladed rolling pin to chase Ryuji.

“She is distracted! We can finally finish her off!” Morgana said excited.

“But how!? We still need to destroy the last eyes, and those are all on those infernal tentacles of hers! I ran-out of bullets hours ago!” Makoto answered.

“Me too...And I feel too drained to use the abilities of my Persona.” Haru added, looking at the empty grenade launcher in her hands in sadness.

“Me as well, the headache I have suggests that another skill from Goemon and my brain will be liquefied by the strain. But I may have a plan.” Yusuke answered.

“Then be quick, that thing is getting close to Skull (Ryuji).” Ann, once helped Akira get back up from being buckled-off by Fluttershy, said worried.

“Sorry about that, he was the closest.” Akira added with a sorry tone.

“No worries. Here is my idea: there are still puddles of that monster’s acid spit everywhere melting the floor, and she is still paying attention to not step on them while mindlessly chasing him, my guess is that while she can spit it out, her own body is not immune to it, if we can trick her into falling into one of those puddles, maybe the acid there will destroy the remaining eyes for us.” Fox (Yusuke) explained, while somehow ignoring the shrieks and requests of help from the still-fleeing Ryuji.

“May as well try! You up for it, Joker? (Akira)” Morgana asked.

“Of course.”

“Then let’s go!” Makoto urged them as she went first to save her own boyfriend.

With Ryuji -

“PLEASE, I BEG YOU! GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!” Distorted Fluttershy bellowed in tears, those too highly-corrosive apparently, while she chased Ryuji without stop.

“STOP CHASING ME, YOU DAMN PSYCHOTIC BASTARD!” Ryuji answered with a high-pitched scream himself, still holding onto the Treasure and begging the old wound on his leg to not act-up in that moment of all times when he needed to run away from death.

“SKULL (Ruiji)! OVER HERE! Throw me the Treasure!” Ann yelled as she came running from the opposite direction.

“THANK GOD!” the blond boy replied in relief as he threw the plushy at the girl, and watching Fluttershy skidding on the floor in her haste to follow her new target.

“NO, PLEASE! GIVE IT BACK!” the mare bellowed in desperate need.

“QUEEN! (Makoto)” Ann yelled, throwing the bunny plush toy at the other girl and making Fluttershy almost trip on her own hooves and mane to take the sharp turn needed to chase the stolen Treasure.

“Over here!” Yusuke yelled while hanging from the side of a black van with a set of very cat-eyes-like lights on the front.

“FOX! (Yusuke)” the girl yelled launching the Treasure to him just a second before Fluttershy could catch her.

“FLOOR IT, JOKER!” Morgana yelled as soon as Yusuke grabbed the bunny.

“Glad to see you can still turn into our van!” the teen replied starting the engine and pushing the ‘Morgana-Van’ forward at top speed.

“Be thankful Miyazaki’s works are still relevant enough for people to believe in cat-shaped cars!” Morgana answered above the roaring of his own engine.

“Please go faster! She is catching-up!” Yusuke asked as he still held onto the back of the van to be visible by Fluttershy.

“MY BABYYYYY!” the Distorted monster yelled in answer as she was rapidly catching up to the speeding van.

With Haru and Ryuji -

“You know? That looks identical from that scene of that dinosaur movie...” Ryuji said as he watched the van rapidly reaching their position.

“Please focus! We have not much time!” Haru answered with a tense voice.

“Noir! (Haru). Please tell me you are ready!” Futaba asked.

“We are! Tell them to hurry before the cover melts too!” Haru answered while she and Ryuji dove for cover so to not be seen.

“Incoming!” Futaba answered a second before the black Van reached them.

“NOW!” Akira yelled as soon as they were above the thin cover Haru and Ryuji had recovered and crafted from the broken giant toys around them.

At Akira’s signal, Morgana undid his transformation to return into being a cat, and propelling him together with Akira and Yusuke forward, avoiding by a hair the giant puddle of acid that had been barely hidden under pieces of broken toys under them.

“MY BAB-GYAAAAAAAAAAH!” Fluttershy screamed in agony as the cover broke under her titanic weight, making her fall into the melted floor to bathe in her own acidic spit, and luckily, as Yusuke guessed she was not immune to its corrosive power.

Finally dragging herself out of the slimy muck, Fluttershy finally lost the last remaining eyes (Along a lot of flesh together with them) and even one of her hooves, turning her into an ichor-drenched mess weakly whimpering in pain.

“It worked...” Haru commented with a low voice.

“It’s a miracle she didn’t die.” Ryuji added with a grimace.

“Look! She is turning back!” Ann yelled in answer.

In front of them, as soon as the very last eye disappeared, Fluttershy’s body deflated completely, with her tumor-covered skin becoming completely black and melting away so to leave the original mare lying in the middle of a giant puddle of tar-like black ichor, her butter-yellow fur and pink mane taking back their rightful place along the golden eyes of her being the Distorted version of the original Fluttershy.

“It’s over, Fluttershy.” Akira said calmly while training his gun between her eyes.

“I just...I just wanted to be a mother...” the mare admitted with tear-stained eyes, her voice weak and low as she simply lied there, defenceless.

“And you imprisoned people just for that?” Ann asked, she and the others too pointing their guns at the mare, and all of them hoping she didn’t know they all had empty clips in them.

“Yeah! Why not having some kid the normal way?” Ryuji added, snarling.

“I-I-I-I...I am sterile...” Distorted Fluttershy said with a pained expression.

“...” The Phantom Thieves could only stand there in silence at that, they really had no answer to that admission.

“It happened after our battle against Tirek...He...He attacked me and something happened that-that stole the ability to have foals from me...T-T-Then the Princess brought us here, and Discord had to turn Evil again before he could fix me! Nopony could fix me and the only one that could is now a Statue...I-I-I was desperate!” the mare said, by now her dam was broken, and she was unable to stop pouring-out her grievances.

“But this doesn’t-”

“I KNOW!” Fluttershy’s scream silenced Makoto instantly, and new tears started welling in her eyes.

“But I focused on helping humans into accepting Conversion so to not think about that...I hated the fact that they were reduced into those poor things...B-B-B-But then I started taking care of them...I saw their innocent smiles whenever they saw me...THEY RECOGNIZED ME! They saw in me somepony that was there to take care of them, to love them, to cherish and love everything about them...L-Like a baby with their mother...”

“And you found yourself unable to let them go.” Akira said sighing.

“They were filling that hole I knew I could never fill because of my infertility, and the more I continued, the more scared I was that I could lose them...And I left that fear make me close those cages...T-They were supposed to stay open, I first decided to use that park so to let them have a nice place to play in so to keep them occupied...But then one got hurt and...and...and...”

“And this nursery was born.” Yusuke finished for her, by now all of them had put away their guns.

“Y-Yes...I-I-I am sorry, b-b-but I just wanted to be a mommy! To hold a foal or a colt and feel them fall asleep in my embrace, to watch them sleep, to hear them call me ‘Mommy!’ and ask me to carry them on my back! W-Why can’t I have that?! Why me!?” the mare answered, finally breaking down into sorrowful, desperate sobbing.

“What about the bunny?” Akira asked, surprising the others with his taking the Treasure and walking closer to the mare.

“M-My mother gave me that when I moved to Ponyville, she said that I used to play with it all the time when I was little. She told me that when one day I would have had a foal myself, to give it to them as well...” Fluttershy answered between hiccups.

“Being a mother doesn’t mean keeping your children in cages so they won’t get hurt, it means be there for them along the way, watch them fall and fail and help them get back on their feet and learn from their mistakes; to be there when they have doubts and reassure them they can do it when they feel down, and be there with them to cheer at their successes. You can teach them how to face hardships, not forcefully protect them from everything.” Yusuke said.

“B-But!”

“You may not be able to have children the usual way, but you others have adoption too, right?” Ryuji interrupted her, sighing.

”I-I-I don’t know...”

“Nobody is born already knowing how to be a father or a mother, but you can ask your mother to help you, she did raise you.” Makoto answered.

“But I did all this...”

“You were Corrupted by something, this Distortion is just the result, you are the Element of Kindness, don’t you? You have the heart in the right place, you just need to learn when to jump-in and when to let your children do things by themselves.” Morgana answered with crossed arms.

“Do I still deserve to be a mother?” Fluttershy asked, hopeful.

“Yes, you do. Everybody deserves a second chance if they really want to change. You can and will be wonderful mother, one day.” Akira answered, handing her the Bunny plush and, once again shocking his friends, hugging the Distorted Mare.

“Thank you...” the Distorted mare answered with a small smile, briefly returning the hug and then fading away in a swarm of pure-white lights leaving the teen boy holding the Treasure in his hands.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

As soon as the last spark of light disappeared, the whole construction started to shake violently, making every wall crumble and the towers outside topple to the side by themselves.

“THE PALACE IS CRUMBLING! RUUUUUUN!” Morgana shrieked with wide eyes and turning into the black van to help the other Phantom Thieves leave before getting squashed by the self-destructing Palace.

The Next Day – Run-down shop ‘Untouchables’ -

The assembled Phantom Thieves were sitting at the table occupying the storage room on the shop’s back while watching the plush toy of a bunny the ended-up taking it from Fluttershy’s Palace as its Treasure.

“You know? All things considered, that mare was just desperate to be a mom, and she got Corrupted for it.” Ryuji admitted with a sigh.

“A deep sense of sorrow and helplessness that went used to have her become such twisted creature, in the end, she too was a victim in this.” Yusuke confirmed with a sorrowful expression.

“Igor compliments us for a job well done, he confirmed that part of the Darkness protecting Celestia’s heart gained few cracks, if we keep this up and go through the whole list, by the time it will be her turn there won’t be any extra defence stopping us from stealing her Treasure.” Akira said as soon as he walked out from the blue door to the Velvet Room that had opened in their secret base.

“And with the help of the Elements of Harmony, whatever Evil that came here with them and is bringing Ruin and Distortion everywhere too shall be destroyed.” Lavenza added while she stood by the door.

“Two unknown evil entities joining forces to destroy Equestria and Earth, this mess is too big.” Makoto answered groaning.

“Me and Master Igor know you can do this, we have faith in your capabilities.” the short girl answered with a gentle smile.

“How long do you think it will take for the results of Fluttershy’s Change of Heart to show up?” Haru asked.

“That is a good question, a week maybe? Or less?” Futaba answered humming thoughtful.”

“Results will show soon, we know that Fluttershy’s Heart has been stolen and purified from Distortion, you just have to be patient.” Lavenza answered.

“Nobody asked you.” Ann countered bitterly.

“Are you afraid of competition, perhaps?” Lavenza countered with narrowed eyes.

“Not from a doll-like bimbo.” the young girl answered growling.

“I am over a thousand years old. At best, I am the perfect ‘Legal Loli’, Miss Ann.” Lavenza countered haughtily.

“Tch!”

“Dude, you are not intervening?” Ryuji whispered.

“...” Akira simply shook his head in the negative as an answer.

“I believe he is indeed valuing his life more, I fear it will be detrimental to get between those two at this moment.” Yusuke supplied.

“Yes, what he said.” Akira confirmed nodding.

A week later – Human Side of the Barrier -

“Glad to see you are still alive.” Sojiro said sighing as he saw the Phantom Thieves enter the apartment Sae left them use to meet the teens.

“Always the positive guy. Let me check on them instead.” Tae, the punk back-alley doctor, answered shaking her head while moving to give a rapid check-up to the teens.

“Any news from the ponies?” Makoto asked.

“Not much as they keep everything close to their chests, and even if they catch some human supporters, the calm ones keep their mouths shut while the more zealous are perennially hyper, so telling when they are excited about something serious or not gets complicated.” her sister replied with a tired sigh as she sipped her coffee.

“The change in Fluttershy should happen any moment now, if it didn’t happen already.” Yusuke supplied helpful.

“And you are sure it will happen?” Sojiro asked, unconvinced.

“We did exactly the same thing we did in the past with our other targets, we are sure it will work this time too.” Ann answered, determined.

Driiiin! Driiiin! Driiin!

“Uh? Who’s now?” Makoto asked curious as the plain ringtone echoed in the room.

“Ah...It’s one of my old colleagues at the Police department...Yes?” the girl’s sister replied while finally answering to the call.

“...What do you mean ‘I knew I was right’? I said I have no connection to the Phantom Thieves! Why are you even using this number?!...Of course I would not have answered if I saw YOUR number...Yes...Yes, I will check it out. And no, I don’t know who the Phantom Thieves are, nor the old or the new formation, if there is one...No, I was not aware you saw our old suspect escape with his parents from the Pony raids, I seriously thought...No, I am not lying!...Good! Glad to see you finally believe me. Yes, yes, good day to you too.”

“Who was it?” Ryuji asked, curious.

“My old boss in the Police Department, apparently he expected me to not answer shold he call me with his own phone so he coaxed a friend of mine to lend him hers.”

“Okay, and?”

“And dear Akira should learn some subtly.”

“It was an unplanned daring escape.” Akira answered shrugging.

“We were more worried about me bleeding to death and the ponies chasing us.” the young man’s father added showing his bandaged stump.

“I’ll let the matter drop, this time. By the way, the reason that old man called me was that yesterday a group of fanatics managed to get in touch with that Fluttershy’s mare to interview her...You can guess how ‘Eye-Opening’ her words were.” Sae answered with a meaningful look on her face.

“Augh! We missed her confession? How did I miss it?! I scouted the internet ever since we did steal her Treasure!” Futaba said groaning.

“As far as I know those very same groups tried their best to cover it, but as anything that ever went online, it can’t be erased completely.”

“Internet never forgets!” the short girl said, smirking.

“Exactly, since it happened just yesterday, the thing still had not enough time to be divulged beyond the normal channels of those maniacs, but it will probably become public knowledge soon enough, especially if Police and politicians WANT that to be seen by as many people as possible so to destabilize Celestia and her plans. DO you want me to ask for a copy?”

“If you don’t mind.” Haru asked gently.

Sigh! “I’ll make a couple calls...”

Meanwhile – Pony Side of the Barrier – Twilight’s ‘Lab’ in the occupied human territories -

“...It is all a lie! I lived a lie and helped everypony spreading it! Conversion doesn’t get better, it never does! Those poor dears remain stuck like that a-a-and can barely fend for themselves! I-I-I was...I was just just so desperate to be a mother that I ignored the truth and kept those poor New-Foals prisoner so to be my “Dears”, my children, all because I cannot have foals anymore...I-I cannot do this anymore! I cannot lie to me, to you humans, or Equestria anymore! I only wish for you to forgive me, even if I do not deserve forgiv...”

Twilight and both Celestia and Luna were watching the recording of Fluttershy’s admission in one of the hundreds of monitors filling the neo-alicorn’s main lab, replaying again and again to record any possible change in Fluttershy’s mannerism that could suggest brainwashing or foul play.

“It’s the tenth time I watch this, and everything suggests that Fluttershy is saying this on her own volition...Those human ‘Elements’ worked like we suspected, they found what to them was Fluttershy’s ‘Inner Darkness’ and removed it, making her go through a Change of Heart that had her talk like this.” Twilight finally decreed while narrowing her eyes, still showing signs of lack of sleep.

“I would have preferred the truth about Conversion staying hidden until we found a solution.” Luna answered frowning.

“I am still working on it, but I have not enough data to find a cure for the dementia our potion causes to humans, even if the Tests I ran suggested that this should not have happened at all.” Twilight answered without moving her eyes away from the various monitors.

“I will ask Cadence to send here few more Nwe-Foals to help your experiments.” Luna supplied.

“Thank you, Princess. What will happen now to Fluttershy?”

“We have reports of Fluttershy’s releasing the New-Foals she had in her care back to the humans, along delivering herself to their authorities just one hour ago. We cannot locate her, so we guess they are keeping her hidden somewhere so to deprive us of one of the Elements of Harmony...IF she also told them about that.” Celestia explained, looking grimly at the video as soon as it started again from the beginning.

“No clue about who the hay those Phantom Thieves are?” Luna asked.

“Nothing, Princess Luna. The usual voices and rumors that lead to nowhere and even contradict each other, even their ‘Phantoms Aficionados Site’ returned online full-force and is swarming in old and new followers...Again, no traces about who manages it.” Twilight answered grimacing.

“So the humans posses magic, they could still steal Fluttershy’s Heart even while she was hiding behind the Barrier...I was not expecting this.” Celestia said with narrowed eyes.

“No, sister, they managed that while she was inside our very Castle.” Luna corrected her bitterly.

“WHAT?!” Twilight asked in shock.

“How can you tell?” Celestia instead asked more calmly, albeit with a chilling tone.

“Because I was personally guarding her Dream Realm just in case, and at a certain point I saw it ‘Shatter’ like glass and forcefully kick me out. It was not merely her waking-up, it was something BIGGER shocking her mind down to its core.”

“Something as big as a life-changing ‘Change of Heart’, perhaps?” Celestia asked rhetorically.

“Precisely.”

“H-How!? The Barrier is impervious to Magic and Human Weapons! The Royal Castle is extremely Magic-resistant and an Alicorn was personally on guard against intruders! How can this happen? Humans cannot survive even the smallest touch of the Barrier nor can they live inside it!” Twilight asked.

“I was also monitoring the castle, there were no intruders detected by the wards, and once interrogated the guards, I know we had not infiltrators helping them.” Celestia added.

“So it means that even we cannot stop them from Stealing the Hearts of everypony they darn well want?” Luna demanded, furious.

“Do not fret, sister. This time they managed a small Miracle, but there won’t be a second time, should they feel so bold as to try again, they will find us ready and waiting for them.” Celestia answered, unafraid.

“I cannot wait.” the moon Alicorn answered eager.

“Dear Twilight, please see if you can discover something about them or how they did it, we still cannot rule out that they are simply brainwashing their victims, we are racing against time before the Barrier covers this entire world, and I cannot live with the thought that our coming here by mistake may cause the extinction of an entire race. We cannot let fear mongers stop us from saving Humanity.” Celestia begged with a concerned tone.

“I will do my best, Princess! I will tell the others to be always on guard! And I will do everything in my power to know everything we need to help humanity!...I will know everything.” Twilight answered promptly, and the two Alicorn sisters missed the strange clouding of her eyes, especially since that came and went too fast even for them to see while they left her alone with her studies to return to the floating island holding Canterlot and their Castle.

And of course, none of them saw the small dragon stealthily leaving the room unnoticed by the three Alicorns, neither they saw his utterly worried expression about Twilight’s well-being and strange behavior.

A little extra to help my readers, and fill the void of my not-so-outstanding talent!

Akira and his Persona: Arsene

(Unfortunately I cannot add a picture of Carmen (Ann's Persona) because of her revealing dress making her slightly NSFW, if you are curious about her, I am afraid you will have to google her yourself, my apologies...

Captain Kidd (Ryuji's Persona)

Goemon (Yusuke's Persona)

Zorro (Morgana's Persona)

Makoto's Persona: Johanna

Haru's Persona: Milady (Normal)

Haru's Persona: Milady (Weapons Out)

Morgana Car Form

Fluttershy's Monster Form? Just imagine the unholy fusion of these two, their mind-scarring daughter

Plus this:

Charming, isn't she?...

Chapter 5: Next Target: Pinkamena “Party Maniac” Diane Pie!

Tokyo – SIU Temporary HQ – Human side of the Barrier -

The old man at the head of the SIU, and personally directing the ‘Equestria CounterattackOperation’, was silently reading through the thick folder that his assistant had handed to him containing everything the guys and girls interrogating Fluttershy could gather for him.

“It doesn’t look like she knows what we need.” the man muttered, and it was hard to tell if it was a question or not.

“From what we could gather, exception made for Twilight Sparkle herself being Celestia’s pupil, the other so-called ‘Elements of Harmony’ are pretty much just glorified civilians: barely a step above in importance, but not enough to know military secrets. They are just expected to act in place of their local Military Force whenever some Threat requiring their special Magic pops-up, other than that, they are not requested to do anything special. Their being good ‘Propaganda Material’ was discovered only now that the ponies are at war with us, and even then, they make very little public appearances and just when the Princesses need an extra kick to their approval rating, clearly Celestia must be afraid of Human sympathizers trying something.” the assistant answered all the same.

“There are Human sympathizers?”

“Yessir. By Fluttershy’s estimates, there are at least two pony groups loudly declaring that what Celestia is doing is immoral; a Griffin group rallying against ‘The mistreatment of another race just because they eat meat like us.’, among other things; and even an entire Zebra Tribe declaring that the spirits of our ancestors won’t like to see the destruction of the human race continue, and that if Celestia doesn’t stop, said spirits will make it their mission to punish Equestria.” the young woman answered.

“Glad to see that not all of them hate us. Can we get in touch with the Leaders of these groups?”

“I will pass down the word and see if we can contact them, as for now, we only know the name of the Pony Group Leaders: Lyra Heartstrings and Tempest Shadow.”

“...Their naming convention is atrocious...” the old man admitted.

“I know, sir.”

“Any news about the other Elements instead?”

“The one named Pinkie still uses Akihabara as her home, and lately she has been amassing candies and party amenities by the hundreds, unfortunately the advancing of the Barrier is making spying on her from distance harder as it increases the distance our men have to keep to not be pulverized. It looks like she is organizing some sort of party though, one agent recognized the LOUD music playing nonstop through the streets as the kind of background music used during parades, and this had been going for at least three days since Fluttershy’s Change of Heart, to our knowledge.”

“She is organizing a Parade? For what? Victory against Humanity?”

“...That is the strange thing, sir...Besides the few New-Foals she keeps around and has started dressing in full party regalia...She seems to be the only pony invited to such an event. Unless we missed her delivering the invitations, of course.” the woman answered, unsure.

“Those ponies are going mad.” the other commented sighing.

“If...If I can give my own theory, sir…”

“Go on.” the old man prompted her.

“Do you remember what happened to Takeshi? After he was told his wife had a spontaneous abortion?” she asked.

“Yes. We found him maniacally cleaning and ordering our evidence storage room and revising our entire paperwork backlog...You think she is busying herself nonstop so to not think about something?” he asked.

“It’s just my own theory, sir. But I saw the recordings, she had the same eyes of Takeshi during those two weeks. Probably Fluttershy’s Change of Heart has hit her hard.”

“And the others?”

“AJ, or Applejack as apparently that is just her nick-name, is taking a lot of interest in helping the new arrivals get acquainted with our world, either soldiers or civilians, other than that, she seems to be isolating herself as much as possible.”

“Guilt?”

“I would love for that to be the case, sir. She is trying to champion this entire Conversion as the right thing to do, almost maniacally so. She has sequestered the Koishikawa Botanical Garden in Bunkyo with the help of some soldiers and other ‘farm ponies’, and is trying to add a small farm to it where to keep growing her family apples.”

“Uhm.”

“As for Rainbow Dash...She is giving interviews left and right and has become the poster-child of the Army, she seems to be in love with her position as ‘Hero of Ponykind’. Fluttershy has confirmed the rumors of her even helping with few raids of the soldiers, but the exact number of raids she took part to still remains unconfirmed.”

“Interesting, so the guilt stops at AJ and Pinkie? Has that Dash mare took over a place too? They are treating our country like their toy!” the old man asked with a growl of annoyance.

“It seems like beside Fluttershy, only AJ and Pinkie are showing signs of regret, yes, even if we cannot track Rarity or Twilight’s whereabouts as of yet. As for Dash...Some agents saw her during a Conversion Raid in the Haneda International Airport in Ota, luckily between them and the army the last plane of fugitives managed to depart without the people there being turned into ponies, but that mare looked particularly attracted by the structure, to the point of turning furious if the fight with our forces damaged something.” the assistant answered.

“So it’s very likely that once the Barrier covers it, she will take over that place?” the old man asked.

“So it seems, sir...But why you are so interested in this?”

“Because I fear that they are planning something, and I want to know what structure they will use to try and have their forces sneak-in unseen if that is the case.”

“I understand, sir. I will tell everybody to keep the Elements under close watch, them and both Princesses and their close confidants, the Army is also offering their best men and equipment to help us in this endeavor, if the ponies have some secret plan, we will know immediately.”

“Good, thank you. You may go.” the old man answered with a pleased nod.

“Of course, sir.” she replied, leaving soon after.

“...”

Once waited several seconds to be sure he was really alone, the old man took out the cellphone he was holding under his desk to talk to the one at the other side.

“Did you hear everything?” he asked smirking.

“Y-Yeah...How did you get my number? Or discovered I am the one behind the ‘Phan-Site’?” the young man at the other side of the call answered with a weak voice.

“It had not been easy, but I still have a trick or two in my sleeves; have no fear, I personally covered the very scarce traces you left behind, Mishima-san. You are good in this, in a couple years, and once resolved this pony mess, think about joining us, internet-related scams are on the rise with the advancement of technology, so there is always a place for bright minds.”

“...”

“I am not coercing you, I stopped doing that long ago.”

“...What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing much, but I saw how much your site helped the Phantom Thieves finding small and big targets, and this means that you are either directly in contact with them, or that they listen to you enough for you to help me.”

“Help you?” Mishima Yuuki repeated, unsure.

“The Phantom Thieves have showed us that they are maybe the only thing besides a full-scale thermonuclear attack that can work on those damn ponies and force them to back-off. Unfortunately our past as ‘enemies’ understandably makes it hard for us to help them, especially so since they actually have very little reasons to trust us; still, we are in a position where we can offer information about possible targets, and since they attacked Fluttershy, it is clear they too understood the importance of removing those ‘Elements of Harmony’ from the picture before moving to bigger targets like Celestia and Luna...And here is where I hope you will enter the fray.”

“You want me to use the Phan-Site to anonymously give the Phantom Thieves tips and suggestions about their next Target in your stead?”

“Exactly. Very perceptive, Mishima-san.” the old man answered chuckling.

“...And if I refuse?”

“I will look elsewhere for a solution and will leave you play around with your small site, Humanity has a tight schedule and I cannot waste time in small vendettas, if that is what you fear. I will just forget you exist as soon as you refuse to help me, to put it simply.”

“...I am in, but just because I want to help the Phantom Thieves. Can I trust you to not lead them into a trap?”

“Put it like this: if forced to choose between Conversion and Death, I will gladly swallow the mouth of my gun and pull the trigger. Is it a good enough answer?”

“Yes.” the young boy answered with an unnerved tone.

“Perfect! You already have something about both AJ and Pinkie, and to be safe I will send you a message with a short reminder of what we know about them; and as soon as we know more about the other Elements, I will contact you again. Feel free to ask for information about other targets outside our list, as a personal favour for your help.”

“I will, thank you...” Mishima answered with a tense tone before closing the call.

The next day – Sae’s Apartment – Human side of the Barrier -

“Perfect! You already have something about both AJ and Pinkie, and to be safe I will send you a message with a short reminder of what we know about them; and as soon as we know more about the other Elements, I will contact you again. Feel free to ask for information about other targets outside our list, as a personal favour for your help.”

“I will, thank you...”

“...Interesting.” Yusuke commented as soon as the registration of the entire phone call Mishima sent them finished playing.

“What do you think?” Mishima asked from the other side of the heavily-encrypted video-call on Sae’s laptop.

“It seems like the old fool is determined on helping the Phantom Thieves, but I cannot tell how much he actually knows about you all.” Sae answered with a thoughtful expression.

“Can we trust him?” Sojiro asked.

“I have no idea, I can’t tell how far he is ready to go to stop the ponies, nor if once stopped Equestria he won’t just re-start his crusade against the guys for their past crimes.”

“Justified Crimes! Yaldabaoth needed to be stopped!” Morgana said, offended.

“Morgana said that we technically were justified by the whole Yaldabaoth mess.” Akira translated.

“To be fair, that came out later...At the beginning we were just ‘Rebelling’, and got caught in something bigger.” Makoto countered sighing.

“Considering the pieces of shit you ‘Attacked’ and forced to confess, I say you did some damn good community service.” Iwai, the gruff owner of the ‘Untouchable’ shop acting as the Phantom Thieves HQ inside the Barrier, answered huffing.

“Well-”

“Come on, Sae! We are talking about child-molesters, Corrupt Politicians, Mafia Bosses, Frauds and Assassins! They targeted Human Scum!” the man interrupted her with an annoyed grunt.

“...And that man was helping them as well, willingly or not, it changes nothing.” Sadayo Kawakami, the group’s former teacher, added with a sigh.

“Still, he may offer us some help. But we’ll need to find a way to discover if he is telling us the absolute truth, half of it, or if he is trying to trap us.” Sae admitted in defeat.

“Would he really compromise the only thing able to stop Celestia from conquering our world, just to finally arrest us?” Futaba asked in disbelief.

“To be honest? I am starting to believe him to be ready to do everything to have things go his way.” the woman answered sighing.

“For now let’s try to follow their suggestion, and at the same time, we will keep an eye open for traps, they can’t follow us inside the Barrier, so we have at least somewhere they can’t reach.” Ann suggested.

“Good enough for me!” Ryuji seconded her, nodding.

“What about your new hiding place?” Akira asked.

“Almost ready, if they somehow connect you to the Phantom Thieves, and us to you others, we can move there in a matter of minutes.” Iwai answered proudly.

“What now then?” Mishima asked.

“For now pretend you never told us what happened and pass along what they send you, in the meantime we will hide behind the Barrier to plan our attack on Pinkie Pie, number 2 on our App List. We will also look for another hiding place in case the first one is compromised.” Haru answered with an encouraging smile.

“Roger!”

“Did you get everything needed for that, dear?” Akira’s mother asked in concern.

“Of course, Miss Kurusu.” she answered.

“Feel free to use the Leblanc Cafe if you need, by now the ponies should think nobody is home, so if you need a last-minute hiding spot you can hide there. Just do not leave a mess.” Sojiro said with a small smile as he threw the keys to Akira.

“Same for my clinic, our dear Joker by now knows my home-made medicines enough to recognize the ones he usually bought for you all, just give me a call if you need further help.” Tae added, throwing her own keys to Ann.

“Good, we will be going then, we’ll call you as soon as we get to the shop.” Ryuji declared with a thumbs-up.

“You just be careful, the raids are coming more often now.” Yusuke added sighing.

“We will, we will. Now go, and steal that Pink marshmallow’s Heart, ‘kay?” Sojiro answered chuckling and ruffling Futaba’s hair making her mewl in offense.

The next day – Pony Side of the Barrier – With Pinkie -

“Parties make life worth living~! Joy and balloons and confetti of the heart are the filling~!” Pinkie sang aloud on time with the loud party music she had on an endless ‘shuffle’ loop playing nonstop from the overly-complex system of speakers and sub-woofers she had jury-rigged in three days of hard work.

Too much brooding! Too much sadness! Clearly this silly fight with humans was affecting everybody and everypony too hard, even Fluttershy was all sad now! She could honestly not let this sadness go on! A big enough party and she was sure everypony will be friends!...Laughter...There was a real need for laughs here!…

Unaware of how sleek her mane was becoming through her days of hard work, Pinkie kept working non-stop to create a Party so MASSIVE and amazing that the whole Conversion War will stop and everybody will become friends; she was so sure of it that she also missed her new, strange obsession for smashing every mirror she found, because for some reason she was finding her reflection unsettling, especially since she felt the urge to cry whenever she crossed a mirror and saw herself.

What she didn’t know was that just like what was happening with every other pony, the Mixture of Corruption they brought along from Equestria and the few weak sparks of Ruin they found on Earth at their arrival, was influencing them deeper the more they failed to recognize the signs, but instead of going against their Elements/Talents, their innate inclinations were being exacerbated to worrying levels.

And the more time passed, the more evident the results of this Distortion became apparent.

“Uhmmm...I need more sparkles.” Pinkie said as she kept covering the streets in thick layers of sparkling dust, to the point her hooves left faint prints at each step.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! I almost forgot to add another banner! There must be banners! Otherwise nopony will get the message of this party!” the mare said with an excited smile as she threw away the bucket of sparkles and running away to prepare yet another banner.

Meanwhile this was happening, unseen by her, two pairs of human eyes kept spying her from right outside the Barrier.

“...You know? Had it not been done by a completely crazy mare, this parade she is organized would look amazing.” one of the agents sitting on the back of an anonymous van admitted impressed.

“I know, right? But she is overworking herself, I mean...Is she running on batteries? She has not slept a wink in days!” the woman with him admitted impressed.

“And yet she is still going strong, I only fear that once free of ponies, it will take ages to clean-up everything.” the other answered sighing.

“HEY! I see some movement!” the woman said abruptly.

“Movement?”

“A drone is flying around, is it one of ours?” she answered while passing him the binoculars.

“Not to my knowledge...You think HQ is trying to see if they can use drones to spy on the ponies? How did they made one pass through the Barrier though?”

“Uhm, I think it was already inside.”

“How do you know that?”

“It has an Hatsune Mikupaint-job, like the ones normally sold there. No military group I know would do that, so I think they managed to take control of one already inside.”

“Ooh! Ingenious!”

Inside the Barrier – With the Phantom Thieves – Abandoned Maid Cafe -

“It’s working, I knew we could take one with us through Mementoes.” Futaba said grinning, she was the one controlling the big drone through her laptop and while wearing a VR visor, the others simply followed the image from the screen.

“Do we have to sit on the floor? My ass is falling asleep.” Ryuji said grumbling.

“There are New-Foals and Pinkie running about on the street AND several police agents and soldiers patrolling outside the Barrier and spying inside, we can’t be seen yet, they would start asking how we passed the Barrier otherwise.” Yusuke answered sighing.

“This is pointless, she doesn’t look like having a base at all!” Makoto said with a grumbling tone of annoyance.

“She must have one! There must be a place she sleeps in at least!” Ann answered, groaning.

“Considering she looks like only eating candies and other sweets, by now she is running on sugar-high only...” Akira added.

“And that means that sooner or later she will collapse and need to sleep.” Haru finished saying.

“I am getting dizzy just by looking at her...” Morgana admitted.

“...Hey...” Ryuji muttered out of the blue.

“Uh-hu?” Futaba answered.

“I am pulling this straight out of my ass...”

“Spit it out.” Ann replied.

“...What if the entire Akihabara is her base, her Palace?” Ryuji asked, unsure.

“Too big.” Akira answered.

“Not exactly. Palaces in their Real Form reside in the Metaverse, the world of Perceptions, and they reflect the Distortion and Desires of their owner...Being relegated to ‘mundane things’ like Size, Location or even just Laws of Physics is the last of their issues” Mogana answered.

“So it’s possible?” Ryuji asked.

“Unlikely, but not impossible. Even if I would prefer having a single place.” the cat answered, sighing.

“Another problem is that we don’t know what her Palace is about. And without that, we can’t even get inside it.” Yusuke added.

“Are we even sure she has one?” Futaba asked.

“Her name is in the Metaverse App, she has to.” Ann answered while fiddling with her phone to check that App.

“Then we’ll have to keep spying on her, sooner or later we’ll stumble on something.” Makoto said in annoyance.

“...I am hungry.” Haru admitted with a low voice.

“The stuff in the fridge here should still be good...If you are not too picky.” Ryuji answered.

“I can try cook something.” Akira added shrugging.

“You better not, they will see us.” Morgana countered while shaking his head.

“...Just pass me one of those ration bars then...” Haru answered, sighing.

“The ones that taste like cardboard?”

Sigh! “Those...” she answered, grimacing.

Meanwhile – With Pinkie Pie -

“Pinkie? What the hay are you doing?” to the surprise of the humans spying on the party maniac, a rainbow-coloured blur came down from the sky at high speed.

The mare in question was Rainbow Dash, and she was covered in faint bruises and yet sporting a satisfied smile.

“Organizing The Ultimate Party, what do you think?” Pinkie answered huffing.

“Aren’t you overdoing?”

“Of course not! On the contrary! I am taking Laughs back! Seriously, you all are fighting between each other when instead everypony could be friends.” the pink mare answered with crossed hooves.

“Pinks...” Dash said, slowly.

“Hu-uh?”

“We are trying to save them from themselves, parties can wait until we are done. You cannot distract everypony from our Mission, we first need to SAVE Humanity.” the other finished saying while shaking her head.

“That is why you are wearing a cape like a super hero?” Pinkie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“W-W-W-What cape?” the mare replied while hastily throwing away said accessory.

“I bet you were playing Super Hero and forgot Twily had asked you something, like to come collecting me, and when you finally remembered it was already late and rushed here without taking away your silly costume.” Pinkie said with narrowed eyes.

“...Nnnooo?” Dash tried saying with a weak smile.

“Spot on.” every single one of the spying humans unknowingly thought in chorus.

“Dashie! I still have to bake fifty thousand cupcakes! I am on a tight schedule.” Pinkie said whining.

“I know, I know! It will take a minute, I promise.”

“Okay...Can you help me put up another banner?” the mare said, pouting.

“Pinkie, there is a banner every two meters. This place is a covered in banners!” Dash answered.

“Just another one! Pleaaaaaase! Just another one and I will stop!” Pinkie begged.

“Later, let’s just go now, we are already late.”

“Okie-Dokie! Let’s go!” the pink mare said running forward and leaving behind a long trail of sparkling dust at each step.

“Yeah, yeah.” the other answered, rolling her eyes and stealthily recovering the discarded cape once checked nobody saw her, besides the New-Foals wandering around.

With the Phantom Thieves -

“Okay, now that both ponies left, I think we can try to see if Pinkie does have a ‘base’ or something similar here.” Futaba declared, momentarily lifting the VR visor from her face to look at the others.

“She must be storing all that stuff somewhere, I say we start by first finding that place.” Makoto suggested.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Ryuji asked.

“There is a method to all this, she is moving through this street while gradually organizing her parade and who knows what else, I think that we should try go in reverse and find the starting point.” Yusuke answered while dragging a finger on the map of Akihabara he had downloaded on his phone.

“Well, we do have to start from somewhere...” the girl answered shrugging and piloting the drone through the street and slowly scanning everywhere.

“...Where do you think she took all those streamers, balloons and clown costumes for the New-Foals?” Ann asked, curious.

“No idea. Why the broken mirrors though?” Akira asked back.

“Dunno.”

“She is planning to throw a party, right in the middle of a War. It must be the result of her Distortion. What does the App say about her?” Morgana said.

“Let’s see...Pinkamena ‘Diane’ Pie. Element of Harmony: Laughter.” Makoto answered while reading aloud.

“...And?”

“That’s it, I think we are supposed to discover more by ourselves.”

“It doesn’t help at all!” Ryuji roared annoyed.

“Laughter...Her power is about bringing laughs and happiness, then?” Yusuke asked.

“I guess!” the thug boy answered angrily.

“Kind of useless as a superpower, what is she supposed to do? Tell jokes until the enemy is dead of laughter?” Makoto said scoffing.

“We are talking about ponies coming from a magical land, maybe for them it works like that.” Akira countered.

“I still find it silly. Next to hugging an enemy until they become friends. At least we destroy the Dark Side of our targets, we intervene directly!”

“And we look cool while doing that!” Ryuji added, smirking.

“Just drop it, look! I think we should go that way!” Morgana cut in, interrupting the discussion.

“Were they renovating?” Futaba said in surprise as now they could see several buildings covered by scaffolds, and even the New-Foals under them were wearing hard-hats over their clown costumes.

“I don’t think it was the doing of workers, at least not human ones, there are signs and other warnings that have been painted too crudely for that.” Yusuke answered.

“That mare did it?!” Ann said, shocked.

“This is bigger than a simple parade, maybe we are close to her Base.” Akira muttered.

“Those graffiti...Always wear a hat and a smile, for safe working conditions!...She is fixating on smiles.” Haru commented.

“Considering she has drawn smiles everywhere, I don’t find it hard to believe.” Makoto answered.

“There!” Akira said loudly once the drone’s camera panned in front of a particular sign.

“Where?” Futaba asked.

“Move back a bit.”

“A bit back...Opening soon: ‘Friendshipolis Pinkie Land: the Land of Smiles and Friendship’. The first name has been erased in a second moment, you can see she used another colour for the new one.” Futaba red aloud the sign that was propped against a wall and pointing at the crude erasing done to change the name with a thick stroke of angry-red paint.

“She is planning to turn the entire Akihabara in her own Theme Park.” Yusuke commented with both eyebrows high up to his hairline.

“One centered around smiles and friendship, probably.” Haru added.

“But why putting her own name in there then?” Ann asked.

“The way she wrote the second name is uneven and less ‘Clean’ compared to the rest, just like the way she has been drawing smiles everywhere with.” Morgana added with a thoughtful tone.

“Okay, so maybe we have one or two Code Words: ‘Theme Park’ and ‘Parade’.” Akira said.

“We still need to see which is the right one and where to use it though.” Yusuke answered.

“I spy a spy with my little eye~!” a voice sing-sang from the monitor, making the Phantom Thieves almost jump out of their skin.

“SHIT!” Ryuji eloquently summed it up just as Futaba whipped around the drone to see Pinkie and Dash look right at them.

“Spies?” Dash asked with narrowed eyes.

“Uh-hu! My Pinkie Sense tells me that maybe I am the neeext~!” Pinkie answered greatly amused, making Morgana shiver in dread.

“Pinkie Sense?” Ann whispered.

“No idea.” Maoto answered, she too whispered, as if all of them were afraid of being heard.

“You should not spy! My surprise Super Party is not ready yet! And neither is my next Ultra Huge New Super Secret Project!” Pinkie said while jumping around excited.

“It’s one of those flying spy thingies, I’ll go tell Twilight! You find the owner!” Dash yelled, ready to zoom away at her fastest speed.

“Find the owner? How, Dashie? They could be anywhere! Like in a gift shop, an arcade or a Maid Cafe!” Pinkie answered whining, and making the teens watching her grow paler.

“How would I know? You are Pinkie, come up with something!” the Pegasus mare answered rolling her eyes and then flying away.

“Okay! Ready or not, Here I come! Ready to become Friends?” Pinkie said with a happy smile.

And as if to answer her, the Drone simply dropped down as the human girl piloting it at the opposite side of the monitor ran away with her friends as they hastily abandoned their hiding spot.

“Awww! Don’t run away! I want us to be friends! Everypony is my friend!” Pinkie said with a pout.

With the Phantom Thieves - ‘Untouchables’ Shop – one hour later -

In the absolutely empty and abandoned shop there was a sealed room in the back acting as its storage room, and connected through a secret tunnel to the city’s sewers that could be used both as an entrance and as an emergency exit.

And from the entrance to said tunnel, a small mirror slowly peaked out from a trapdoor to check the room for possible intruders, especially Pink Ones.

“...Coast clear, I guess.” Ryuji whispered as he first blindly pointed the (real) gun he had been given by Iwai around the room, and then personally looking inside with his own eyes.

“Be careful.” Makoto answered as one at a time, they all entered the storage room while pointing their weapons in random directions.

“The barricade on both doors is still up and untouched,” Yusuke declared.

“...God, that mare was looking straight at us, I swear she could see us!” Ann said, letting go of the breath she was holding, just like everyone did as they finally relaxed.

“It was creepy, yes. But it confirmed us that we were close to her Base, close to that sign there must be the entrance to her Palace.” Morgana declared, sighing.

“Yes, but they might also suspect we are coming, she said ‘I guess I am next’, as if she knew the ones spying her were the Phantom Thieves.” Akira said, thoughtful.

“And how does she know that?” Makoto asked.

“I have no idea, maybe she just guessed it.”

“They know that somewhere out there, outside the Barrier, there is a group called Phantom Thieves that forced one of them to confess her crimes, so they know that besides soldiers, now we too can be spying on them at all times.” Haru said.

“She didn’t look scared of it.” Ryuji answered, looking almost offended from the lack of worry on Pinkie’s face.

“Contrary to Fluttershy, she knows we are coming, or suspects so, and has already alerted both her friends and Celestia; maybe she believes that we won’t be able to reach her.” Yusuke answered.

“We still need to pin-point the exact location of the Entrance to her Palace, and we will need to be there in person to try the passwords; and while we have few guesses, we will need time to try all of them.” Morgana said with a defeated tone.

“I don’t get it, didn’t she leave? Why were she and Dash back?” Ryuji asked with an utterly confused expression on his face.

“I have no idea...” Yusuke answered, sighing.

At the same time - With the Elements of Harmony – Akihabara -

“Nothing?” Twilight asked while watching several soldiers scout everywhere.

“Nothing, no trace whatsoever. As we suspected, it was not done from the inside.” Shining Armour answered with narrowed eyes.

“This still can’t rule out either Lyra or Tempest, any news about them?” the neo-Alicorn asked.

“Nothing, we just know they are hiding in the human side of the Barrier, other than that, we have no clue...The lack of help from the humans too is not helping us finding them.” her brother answered.

“What if the spies were those Phantom whatever?” Dash asked annoyed.

“Phantom Thieves, Dash. I admit the name of their group is quite poetic, a pity though that they are still ruffians.” Rarity corrected her while trying to see her reflection in the small mountain of shards of broken mirrors she found in a corner.

“So we’ve been spied on, eh? Ah found som’thin strange in mah new barn, you said t’was a recorder?” AJ added huffing.

“Yes, and while I wouldn’t rule out the Human Army completely, as for now the Phantom Thieves are the most likely culprits, especially after going for Fluttershy. They might be trying to select a new Target.” Shining answered.

“Good thing I came looking for you two because you were late.” Twilight said sighing elated.

“Yup! Who knows what would they have done otherwise! My Super Secret Plan must remain a surprise!” Pinkie answered.

“I know, I know! We won’t look, promise.” Twilight answered.

“Pinkie Promise?” the pink mare countered smirking.

“Yeah. Yeah.” the other mares answered rolling their eyes, making Shining chuckle amused.

“Any news of Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.

“Still with the humans, she is hiding somewhere and I can’t find out where she is.” the stallion answered, grimacing.

“We will save her too!” Dash said with fiery eyes.

“No. You all will stay inside the Barrier!” Shining said with a stern tone.

“We still don’t know who the next victim will be, so anypony high profile enough must remain inside the Barrier, the humans can spy all they want, but they cannot pass through it nor survive once inside. We will minimize as much as we can the chances of success of whoever is attacking us until we have caught them.” he then said.

“Any help from the Human groups that are Pro Conversion?” Rarity asked.

“They are willing, but even the humans do not know who may be after us, is not like any soldier will openly declare what they are ordered to do! And we do not even know if the Phantom Thieves are humans THIS TIME, for all we know, there may be a ‘new formation’ made up of ponies. That is why I want you to be careful around whoever you think may be involved and to stay the hay away from the Barrier’s border.” Shining answered in concern.

“We will be careful, but now, I need a favour from Pinkie,” Twilight answered.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! You mean what you were about to ask before we caught somepony spying on me?” Pinkie asked back excited.

“Yes, I need to borrow few of your New-Foal friends, I still can’t understand why the humans are reacting like that to Conversion. By my estimates, they should not be reduced like that, nowhere I saw those downsides pop-up, even in my wildest estimates!” she answered.

“Oookay! But no mad-scientist experiments!” Pinkie answered nodding.

“Why you said that?”

“Just because.”

“Hey, Pinkie...Can I ask you where did you get all this?” Shining asked curious while pointing at all the stuff the mare was using for her Theme Park and Parade.

“Ooh! That’s easy! Princess Celestia herself is helping me! She even promised me she will personally take care of the balloons! When the time comes, I will be able to throw a Legendary Super Parade to celebrate our new New-Foal friends! Everypony will be able to party together!” Pinkie answered with a giant smile.

“Your Talent and infinite resources...Good Faust I can’t wait!” Dash answered eager.

“Yep! Ah will have enough cider tha fill a river, Ah promise yah!” AJ added proudly.

“Let’s wait for after this is over to think about celebrations, okay?” Shining asked, smiling.

Meanwhile – right outside the Barrier – nondescript van -

“You heard them?” the woman sitting on the back of the anonymous van whispered.

“Yep! They are on high alert, and the Phantom Thieves too were apparently spying on the pink mare.” her partner said while both kept pointing their directional microphone towards the Elements of Harmony.

“Should we alert the Director?” the woman asked.

“Probably, maybe they’ll want us to help those guys...What do you think were they looking for?”

“Beats me.” she answered, sighing, not at all thrilled at the idea of helping the Phantom Thieves, especially since she and her partner were part of the old Team that tried to arrest them all not too long ago.

“Hey! As long as it works and those ponies stop Converting us, I don’t mind...” the man said, shrugging.

With the Phantom Thieves - ‘Untouchables’ -

The group of teens were silently watching as a fuming Futaba tried to connect to another drone to keep spying on Pinkie.

“I say we continue spying like this, once sure were to go, we will try infiltrate there personally.” Haru suggested.

“Without a damn big diversion though, we will have a hard time doing that. They are on the look-out for us.” Makoto answered.

“How big should that diversion be?” Akira asked, curious.

“...I don’t know...Maybe big enough to draw away all those guards and leave only Pinkie and those New-Foals roaming about, at least like that distracting Pinkie long enough for us to try enter her Palace will be easier.” Makoto answered, unsure.

“What about burning down one of those Conversion Bureaus they opened?” Ryuji offered.

“You should also need to have a revolt happen at the same time, and that would put a lot of people in danger for the guards retaliation.” Yusuke answered.

“A challenge.” Futaba said with narrowed eyes.

“Uh?” the group uttered as one.

“I say we directly challenge Celestia to capture and Convert us. We will openly declare an attack somewhere and while they look there, we enter Pinkie’s Palace.”

“We will be on a very strict time limit if we do that.” Ann said.

“When did we ever had not a super-tight time limit before? We always had a deadline hanging over our heads before a job! At least this time we will be the ones deciding it!” the young girl replied.

“So: We issue a Challenge, and while the bulk of the guards are there waiting for us, we look for the Entrance of Pinkie’s Palace?” Akira asked.

“Yup! We only need to physically be there once to enter the Palace the first time, after that, the App will create a short-cut to the Palace so that we will be able to enter there from any point in the Metaverse whenever we want until we steal the Treasure. We only need them to lower their guard once.” Futaba answered.

“Well...I say we try like that.” Ryuji answered, sighing.

“We’ll need to plan to perfection both time needed to look for the Entrance and the right area to issue the Challenge, we must have enough time to look for it, but it must not be too far to be obvious we just want Pinkie to be defenceless.” Morgana said.

“I’ll try to guess a good starting point, and if I manage to have another drone working, the better. At worst we will drop one there through the Mementoes like we did the first time.” Futaba answered nodding.

“Okay, guys! Brainstorming! We have a ruse to plan and not a lot of time to do it!” Ann declared, making the others nod in determination.

Extra Scene – Persona Fusion -

Velvet Room -

“I must compliment you for another job well done, any Heart you manage to steal from a Palace, or purify before they can even form one, brings us a step closer to open a path to our main target: Celestia’s Heart.” Igor said with a calm tone, and yet, the others could feel he was very pleased with them.

“It was not easy, those ponies make for way stronger Distortions.” Yusuke admitted.

“Yeah, they hit very hard.” Ryuji confirmed, twisting around his right arm with a groan at every popping sound of his bones.

“You must persevere, me and Master Igor know you all can do it.” Lavenza answered.

“Do you have do hold his hand every time we get here?” Ann asked with narrowed eyes.

“My beloved Trickster doesn’t mind.” the tiny girl replied huffing.

“I-”

“Shh!” Makoto immediately stopped Akira from answering, knowing well that there was not a right answer in that situation.

“I got it. Since we are here, I wanted to fuse a new Persona for the next Palace, can I?” the young man asked.

“Huhuhu. Of course, let it never be said I am not open to help whoever has a contract with the Velvet Room.” Igor, chilling the blood of the Phantom Thieves with a low grating chuckle, answered simply.

“Oooh! I always wanted to see how you do that!” Futaba answered, excited.

Snap! CLANG!

With a simple snap of Igor’s fingers, the imposing guillotines used for the fusion of Personas appeared slamming down heavily on the floor.

“D-D-Dude! Those are...” Ryuji asked, paling.

“Guillotines...” Yusuke finished saying.

“Ehm, if you feel faint, please do look away.” Morgana advised grimacing.

“Everything is ready, have you selected the Persona you need and th ones you need to sacrifice?” Lavenza asked while handing Akira the thick compendium she was holding in her hands.

“Uhm...This one please, Lavenza.” the young man answered once pointed at a particular name.

“At once,” the tiny girl answered, and swiftly covering both ‘ingredients’ with the blue robe covering their body completely and turning them into shapeless squirming bundles.

“...She is not going to...” Haru begged, looking particularly blue on her face.

“So it seems.” Makoto answered, scared by Igor’s unmoving smile.

“Why there is a picture of my face taped on the head of one of those things?!” Ann asked roaring, only making Lavenza’s smile grow a couple inch in width.

Tac! Swoooooooooosh! CLAAAANG!

“Kyaaaaah!” Haru jumped in fright as soon as the blade fell down decapitating the two bundles, especially scared by the high pitched girlish scream of fear Ryuji let-out at the same time.

“…Sorry.” the blond boy said in embarrassment as soon as everybody in the room looked at him in surprise.

“Akira, you are looking bored, how many times did you do this?” Yusuke asked, a bit disturbed by the untroubled expression of their ‘Leader’ that simply thanked Lavenza and fused the new Persona to his Phantom Thief Mask.

“A couple dozen times.” Akira answered with a shrug.

“The exact amount of Fusions is 1237.” Igor supplied, evidently amused by the horrified expressions he got in answer.

“...Sometimes it’s hard to decide what Persona to bring with us in a Palace...Other times is just a matter of ‘Freeing Space’ in my inventory just in case we meet a new Persona.” Akira explained.

“THAT. WAS. AWESOOOOME!” Futaba declared amazed.

“Want to try making a Fusion yourself?” Lavenza asked.

“OOOH! CAN I?! CAN I?!” Futaba asked back, almost salivating.

“...Fifty Yen say she will work here as an Intern once we have done with Celestia...” Morgana said sighing.

“No bet.” everybody else answered.

Chapter finally over! Thank you for reading this one too!

Chapter 6: In the Land of Smiles...

Mementos -

“No...I will...I will change!...I-I can change!” a pony with golden armor, and golden eyes, said tiredly gasping for air.

“You can? Really? You can drop this crusade against humans and help stop Conversion?” Yusuke asked with narrowed eyes.

“I-If we really are just killing you all...Then yes. I-I didn’t join the army to hurt civilians! I just wanted to help them survive the Barrier.”the pony soldier answered with a weak voice still dripping determination.

“We will believe you, this time. Do not make us regret giving you a chance.” Ryuji answered sneering.

“You won’t, you won’t. On my honor...” the Shadow Self of one of their ‘secondary targets’ list answered before fading away in small sparks of light.

- Sigh! - “...How many?” Makoto asked as soon as she was sure the pony disappeared, and making everybody drop the thug attitude in a second.

“With this one, we got seven of them from the Army.” Morgana answered.

“At least we are being productive.” Haru answered, sighing.

It had been almost two weeks since their first try at finding the entrance of Pinkie’s Palace, and since they still could not find a proper place the mare was attached enough to turn it into the entrance to her Palace, the Phantom Thieves decided to occupy their time by going through the list of secondary targets Igor had suggested them through the Metaverse App, detailing a lot of ponies that were still good targets even without a Palace of their own.

All to still advance their destabilizing of Celestia’s forces while waiting for Futaba’s research on Pinkie to be done.

“Let’s get back, we spent even too much time here, and we had to dodge The Reaper for an hour at least, we have done our part today too.” Ann said while stretching lazily.

“...Do you think there is still something deep in here?” Akira asked out of the blue.

“The room maybe, but I believe that it will also remain empty for a long time.” Morgana answered.

“It was a close one, eh? We really put our bacon at risk that time...” Ryuji admitted shivering.

“Do not remember me. Please.” Yusuke begged with a full-body shudder of dread at the mere memory.

Two days later – Human side of the Barrier – Run-down car factory -

In the dusty and empty main building still housing the abandoned carcasses of half-built cars, a hooded pony figure hurried towards the very back of the building while looking everywhere just in case they were being followed.

“Of all the places you had to choose...You pick this one?!” a new voice asked, making the first pony almost die on the spot in fright.”

“SSSSSH! Not so loud!” she answered with a loud hissing whisper.

“The fact remains that you choose very poorly.” the other answered calmly.

“Yes, you are the expert in covert operations, yeah-yeah. But I remember you that I have a friend that is a ‘secret agent’. Do you have any idea how hard is to sneak past a spy?!” the startled unicorn mare answered, pulling back her hood to show her mint-green fur and matching mane.

“Lyra...Do you have to remember me my past affiliation with the Storm King every time we argue?” the other, a wine-red Unicorn with a broken horn, answered, hurt and disappointed at the same time.

“Sorry, Tempest. But I have good news and didn’t want to wait for you to go through your usual paranoid ways to tell you.” Lyra answered with a low voice.

“It’s okay. What is it that had you organize a meeting here all of a sudden?” Tempest Shadow asked.

“I got in touch with Thorax, he and the other reformed Changelings are ready to help us smuggle the New-Foals back here in the Human Side, they all are in position to switch place with several guards.” Lyra answered.

“My old acquaintances are also up to this, they recovered several airships just for that, sure they wanted to simply storm the guards and forcefully recover those Converted...But the sentiment is still there.” Tempest answered.

“You mean those cat guys?”

“Abyssinians, yes, ‘Those Cat Guys’.” the other replied rolling her eyes.

“Cool! Also-”

“HEY YOU!”

“Darn it! RUN!” Tempest yelled at seeing the human cop point at them with his torchlight.

“WAIT We are not...FUCK!” the man called-out at seeing both mares escape from the back.

“I am agent Fuyuki! I need assistance! I think I saw the two mares the Director was looking for, I’ll try to chase them!” the young man yelled at the radio on his lapel while madly chasing the two.

“You want to run behind two horses?!” the woman at the other side asked in disbelief.

“Not for long if you hurry up and send somebody to intercept them! They are fast!”

“Your position?” the other answered while already preparing to call reinforcement.

At the same time - ‘Untouchables’ - Pony Side -

Futaba, the smallest and most unassuming-looking member of the Phantom Thieves, was at the moment cursing-up a storm with the vehemence of a drunken sailor as she glued her face so close to the screen to almost look like about to phase through it while rabidly tapping on her keyboard.

“...I think I saw our toilet blush...” Ryuji admitted impressed.

“Does Sojiro know you have such vocabulary?” Haru, looking almost ill from the stream of curses, asked horrified.

“No, and if you all don’t want me to plaster on the entire internet any humiliating pictures, this will remain a secret!” Futaba answered waving her off and without looking away from the screen.

“I don’t have...”

“Photoshop exists for this kind of things too.” the girl answered with vitriolic annoyance, making Yusuke snap his mouth shut immediately.

“So you found nothing?” Akira, ever the unperturbed one, asked calmly.

“I am almost there! I can almost smell it!” Futaba answered with a growl.

“The drone we dropped there is working?” Ann, tentatively, asked with a low voice.

“Yes, I have to use it sparingly because the batteries are not eternal, but I am looking everywhere I can whenever the extra guards are not in sight.”

“Where are you looking?” Morgana asked.

“Close to where we first were caught spying, she said that her super secret project must remain a secret...I was hoping it meant I was close...” the girl replied with a soft whine following her words.

“...But you found nothing.” Ryuji finished for her, making her drop her head to whine again, albeit way louder.

“Nyeeeeeeeeeeeeegh!” the super hacker wailed with her face buried in her keyboard.

“What are the most likely places? we’ll check them all.” Akira proposed while rubbing her head until she started purring.

“Dude, there are dozens of guards in there.” Ryuji said, unsure.

“We have no other choice, we are wasting time as it is. We have to steal the Hearts of all those Targets if we want to stop this Conversion War, we can’t stop just at the second name on the list.” Morgana answered gravely.

“Yeah...” Makoto admitted with a tired sigh.

“These are the three places I think can be a good enough start. Out of every place in a one hundred meters radius, they are the only ones where Pinkie Pie took great effort in stopping everybody from seeing what’s inside.” Futaba said while opening three pictures on her laptop showing the front of three stores of Akihabara.

“A Manga store, a Maid cafe and a Sailor Moon-themed Sushi Bar. Why those?” Haru asked.

“The manga store has a very big storage room on the back, the Maid Cafe is on the third floor of the building and has a nice view of the entire strip, and the Sailor Moon Sushi Bar is a new construction, it was supposed to open in a couple months so I guess inside is still empty of furniture...Lotsa space to plan and store stuff for her ‘Secret Project’, AKA her personal Theme Park.” Futaba answered.

“But?” Akira prompted.

“But I still can’t enter and look, that mare has bolted the windows of all three and the guards are standing right outside their doors, they never leave.” she answered, depressed.

“So two are decoys and one is the real one?” Yusuke asked.

“Or one is her main base and the other two are being used just for storage.” Ann countered.

“That too is quite possible, yes.

“...The Manga Store.” Akira muttered once looked at the three pictures.

“Uh?” Makoto uttered in surprise.

“She is fixating on smiles, manga are supposed to entertain...” the young man answered shrugging.

“Is a bit of a stretch, Joker.” Morgana admitted grimacing.

“We are shooting in the dark, it’s either right and we find the proper Entrance, or we just need to check the other two places, with a 33% chance of success, a guess is good as any other.” Yusuke commented.

“How close do you need to be to try and see if the App takes you into the Palace?” Futaba asked.

“Uhm...The closer, the better. We can try from few meters away, but not too much in this case.” Morgana answered.

“What do you have in mind?” Ann asked, somehow feeling the cold grasp of dread strangle her spine.

“Sewers.” the girl answered smirking.

“NO!” Haru, Ann and Makoto yelled as one.

“Choose: Lots of Pony guards with spears and Conversion serum, or some bad smelling sewage?” Futaba asked with a truly evil smirk.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” Ann answered with a petulant cry.

“Lady Ann! Even should you smell of feces and rotten food, Nothing will change for me!” Morgana said immediately.

“THAT IS NOT HELPING, MONA!” the girl shrieked.

“We have no other choice. If you want, me, Ryuji and Yusuke will go there first. Then you others will be able to follow us from here through the App.” Akira proposed.

“Really?! You would do this for me?” Ann asked hopeful, happy to see him nod.

“There is no way you three are going alone, it’s too dangerous. We are coming too.” Makoto interrupted both.

“No, please Makoto!”

“She is right, Ann, we can’t leave our friends alone just because of some bad smell.” Haru added.

“But! But! But!” the blond girl said, almost in tears.

“Don’t be an idiot, Showers have been invented for this too. Let’s go.” Ryuji answered annoyed, and both he and Makoto grabbed an arm each to drag the girl away screaming and kicking.

“Noooooooo!”

“We will inform you as soon as we are in position, Futaba.” Yusuke, skillfully ignoring Ann’s crying fit, offered with a gentle smile.

“’Kay! Tell me when to enter the Metaverse and I’ll join you.” the girl answered nodding.

One hour later – Akihabara -

The group of teens were silently stalking closer to the entrance to the famous street while half-dragging a still angry Ann behind them.

“The node you need to look for is not too far, it’s all about few small tunnels normally used for renovating and maintenance.” Futaba instructed from Akira’s phone.

“Okay, thanks.” focusing on his ‘Phantom Thieves Senses’, the young man guided the others behind a near shop towards the manhole they had been pointed towards by their friend.

“I hate this...I hate this, I hate this, I hate this,” Ann muttered sniffling.

“We hate this too, but sacrifices must be made.” Yusuke answered.

“I promise you we all will take a very long bath after this, okay?” Haru offered with a kind smile.

“Okay.”

“Get ready.” Akira said pulling the thing open with a crowbar.

“Shit! It smells too much!” Ryuji admitted gagging.

“As a cat I can smell it even worse than you, now enough talking!” Morgana answered, and one by one, all of them went down into the darkness and horrible smell of the maintenance tunnels running under Akihabara.

“...”

“...Light?” Makoto asked.

“Here.” Akira said turning on the torchlight he took with him.

“Now then, by the small map Futaba drew for us...We need to go that way.” Haru declared while looking at the crude drawing in her hand.

“How are you holding up, Lady Ann?” Morgana asked in concern.

“Let’s just hurry up, please.” the girl, now sporting a ‘lovely’ green face, begged with a strained tone.

“This way, it is not that far away.”

“Beware of the rats.” Ryuji cautioned.

“RATS!?”

“Sssssh!”

“Sorry,” Makoto whispered with a chastised expression.

“R-R-Rats?” Ann asked with a moan of despair.

“No rats in sight, don’t worry.” Akira answered with a calm tone, and stealthily shooing away the cat-sized rodent that was spying on them, and even Morgana looked unnerved at the rat that was almost as big as he was.

“It’s hard to tell how much we walked, every tunnel looks the same.” Yusuke admitted while shining around the torchlight in his hands.

“Then be happy that we are dealing with just three tunnels, had this been a movie or a game, we would be seeing a sewer big as a city.” Ryuji answered sighing.

“We should be above that Manga Store.” Haru finally declared after twenty minutes of endless wandering.

“And there is a manhole right there...Can we risk a peek?” Makoto answered.

“Wait...” Akira said while climbing the short stair right under the manhole until the top of his head touched the cold metal of the cover.

“Futaba? Can you hear me?...Futaba?”

“...Signal is too weak.” he then said aloud as only static noises answered him.

“Open the thing slightly, just enough to see the building, then try to see if we can guess the Key Words to enter from here.” Morgana suggested.

“So?” Pinkie’s voice cut through their discussion, almost making Akira fall from his hiding spot.

“Nopony out of us was around. But Princess Celestia insists that you come with us to the Royal Palace, you will be free to finish...Whatever you are doing once resolved this Phantom Thieves issue; we already chased away several spying humans and that means you are at risk of being the next target.” the soldier mare answered, annoyed.

“I am the next target! My Pinkie Sense is never wrong!” Pinkie answered giggling.

“Your what?...Whatever, this is no laughing matter, you must come with us!” the soldier said.

“No laughing matter? You silly, there is hardly a place where a smile is not needed! It will be fine! No humans can pass the Barrier! Unless they have some strange powers that can bypass it by going through some scary dark place!”

“...Her ability to describe with uncanny details what we do without knowing it before hand is starting to get on my nerves..” Yusuke admitted with a low whisper.

“Yeah, it’s freaky as hell.” Ryuji confirmed.

“Well, we cannot rule out that PONIES are now the Phantom Thives every human apparently know everything and nothing about! So gather your things and follow us, or so help me, I will drag your sorry plot there myself!” the mare roared.

“...You are too angry, it is unhealthy for your blood pressure. Try to smile a lit-”

“NOW!” the other barked loudly.

“I am going! I am going! You look like AJ when she has cider withdrawals...You are no fun.” Pinkie answered pouting, but doing as requested and following them, and even walking over the manhole under which Akira was hiding.

“At least I hope nopony will enter there while I am away, all my Super Duper Secret Projects are in there! I hate to have my surprise spoiled!” the pink mare said whining.

“No. Nopony will enter. I promise.” the soldier said with a growl.

“Pinkie Promise?”

ROAR!

“...No need to roar like that...I was just making sure…” Pinkie muttered, mollified.

Once waited several minutes just to be sure, Akira once again lifted the cover of a couple inches until he could see the front of the Store Pinkie had commandeered and turned into an air-tight bunker by closing every entrance and obscuring every window.

“...They should be gone.” the young man declared.

“Good, I think we can start then.” Makoto declared nodding.

“Any idea what to use?” Ryuji asked.

“I would start with Carnival.” Haru suggested.

“Match not found.” Akira’s phone answered.

“Festival?” Ann asked.

“Match not found.”

“Pinkieland?” Ryuji tried saying.

“Match not Found.”

“...Silly for us to not try this immediately. Theme Park.” Yusuke offered with a soft chuckle, and as soon as the world around them started melting, everybody else too developed a sheepish expression.

“Well yeah...It was pretty obvious...” Ryuji admitted.

“We even saw the first draft of the place’s name.” Haru admitted embarrassed.

Metaverse -

The sewer system broke down and 'melted' all around them, just like everything else, soon leaving them right outside the tall gates of a giant Theme Park worthy of an horror movie; even the sky was dark-red with black clouds slowly hanging above them.

“For once I would love to see a Palace all bright and cheerful.” Haru said sighing.

“Palaces are made of the hidden darkness inside the Owner’s Heart, cheerful is not possible.” Morgana answered shaking his head.

“Let’s just take a ticket and get in...” Ryuji answered with shrug, walking towards the empty ticket booth and breaking its glass to grab a ticket for himself and one for each of the Phantom Thieves.

“Skull!” Ann said, appalled.

“What? We are here to steal the Treasure and need to enter without making a fuss.” the blond young man answered uninterested.

“Whatever.” Makoto commented as the group showed their ticket to the gate, making it flung open by itself with a loud cry of untreated hinges.

“Creepy Theme Parks, I thought this cliché was dead.” Yusuke commented unsure as the group watched humanoid and pony-shaped shades walk around with bright balloons and only unnaturally-large smiles on their otherwise featureless faces.

“Okay, I still can’t see Shadows, only the projections of what Pinkie sees everybody else as.” Makoto said looking around the bustling park, the various stalls and the huge number of ‘people’ waiting in line for each ride.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!WELCOME EVERYPONY TO MY LAND OF FRIENDSHIP AND FANTASTICATION! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” a distorted voice blared from the various speakers as two simply GIGANTICblimps painted bright pink and sporting ‘PINKIELAND’ painted on the side in blinding yellow, came into view while keeping afloat a huge platform covered in binding neon lights where shades kept dancing and partying.

In their middle, standing proud on a platform keeping her above the shadows around her, stood the manifestation of Pinkie’s Distortion, dressed in a white jester outfit and smiling way too widely to be not only healthy, but also possible.

“Hide!” Akira yelled, prompting the PT to scramble and hide at the best of their abilities.

“Come one and come all to the promised land of fun and friendship! Fill your stomachs in joy and happiness! And in candies full of artificial sugar too! Here in Pinkieland parties never stop! Happiness never stop! You only have one rule! SMILE! SMILE ALWAYS! ONLY SMILES ALLOWED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Distorted Pinkie declared with wide golden eyes and fanged slasher smile.

“Have fun! Take pictures! Smile and party! And at midnight, join me for the Super Special Show in the main building! ‘Pinkie’s Fortress of Friendship’! There we will party together FOREVEEEEEEEER! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” the mare yelled in ecstasy while flying away with her giant floating dance floor.

With the Phantom Thieves -

“Okay, she told us where to find her, where do you think is the Treasure? On that platform or inside that Fortress of hers?” Haru asked.

“Fortress first, even just because it will be hard to reach that flying dance floor.” Morgana answered, unsure.

“It’s a start, let’s go!” Ryuji declared as the group hurried towards the giant stone building covered in neon signs and with huge light projector shooting dozens of immense cones of light upward towards the night sky.

Dodging the featureless thousands of guests filling the Theme Park, the group of teens rapidly reached the tall doors of Pinkies’ Fortress, only to find them closed shut and not bulging at all.

“Of course it’s closed! Heaven forbid things are easy!” Makoto growled annoyed.

“Then we can just climb and enter from somewhere else.” Ann offered.

“Unfortunately every window you see are fakes, the only entrance is that gate. Unless you fly inside with that platform Pinkie was riding, and that lifts and descends only from inside the fortress itself.” Futaba answered from the group’s phones.

“Ah...Thank you, Navi.” Ann answered with a depressed tone.

“What now?” Akira asked.

“Here says we need a ‘Wonder Ticket’ to enter.” Haru answered, reading from a tall plaque near the tall doors.

“And where do we find one?” Yusuke asked.

“I have no idea.” Haru answered sighing.

“Let’s look around, maybe there is an info booth somewhere.” Ryuji answered shrugging.

“We also have to be careful and do not run into Shadows, Skull.” Ann added, annoyed.

“Yep!”

“Let’s split: Me, Joker, Mona and Panther will go left while you others go right, we will split the Park in two and keep in contact with our phones.” Yusuke proposed.

“Okay, should one of us find something or be in trouble the others will come to help.” Haru answered nodding, soon taking charge herself of the second group.

With Akira and his group -

Walking discreetly through the immense river of shadowy people and ponies enjoying the various games and boots, the teens marveled at how ‘natural’ everybody acted, as if the place was a real Theme Park in the real world.

“This one looks like a proper Palace.” Ann commented.

“Yes. It’s as we thought, Fluttershy’s Palace had just the time to form before we attacked it. Here is properly formed: everybody is acting following Pinkie’s delusions and there are protections keeping intruders away from the probable location of the Treasure.” Morgana said while looking around them with critical eyes.

“Wouldn’t that mean that the ticket we need may be in the Real World then?” Akira asked, making the others stumble a little in their steps.

“I really hope not, recovering it would be way beyond our abilities if we won’t to remain discreet.” Yusuke answered with a troubled expression.

“No shit, Sherlock!” Ryuji answered from Ann’s phone.

“Found anything?” she asked, annoyed.

“Not yet, we checked the Ferris Wheel and the roller coaster, and we just met Shadows acting as both guards and Staff, we are actually escaping from the two Shadows that were manning the bumper cars!” Makoto answered huffing.

“...Right, Shadows...” Ann answered slowly as she saw the masked ‘Face’ of a pony Shadow dressed like a security guard and the one in a bright striped suit from the ‘House of Mirrors’ slowly walking threateningly towards them.

“Deal with them, before Pinkie knows we are here!” Morgana ordered, prompting their own Shadows to jump them, and transforming mid-pounce in their true form.

The guard turned into a pair of Inugami:canine creatures with elongated body and a mark on their forehead, while the one owning the House of Mirrors turned into a single Bugbear.

Inugami

“Oh, God...Inugami...” Ann muttered in dismay.

“The dislike is mutual!” Inugami 1 said, sneering.

“Only Pinkie’s friends can enter here! If you are not friends, you must be removed!” Inugami 2 answered.

“You mean you will kick us out?” Morgana asked, curious.

“No. We will kill you and use your skin to make a bathroom carpet we will then gift to our friend Pinkie.” the Bugbear answered with a ferocious smirk.

“Why I am not surprised...Goemon!” Yusuke hissed while summoning his Persona.

“Pulimpa!” Inugami 1answered by cursing Yusuke with its confusion skill.

“Do we change our desires following the change in the outlook of our life...Or do we change our outlook in life following the change in our desires?” Yusuke declare with a very thoughtful expression.

“Giant Slice!” Inugami 2 added insult to the injury by attacking Morgana and launching the small cat way back with the powerful attack.

“Lucky Punch!” Bugbear added, triumphant.

“...That is why I hate those two Shadows...” Ann moaned in despair, while watching her boyfriend fly away from the tiny punch of the monstrous teddy-bear landing a ‘critical hit’ on his sternum.

Meanwhile – With Pinkie – inside the ‘Fortress of Friendship’- Main Hall -

The Distorted version of Pinkie was at the moment at the head of a giant table of ludicrous length and stuffing her face with lethal quantities of sweets, so many that any other stomach would have already burst open and killed any normal human or pony, and yet she kept going.

“Let’s party agaaaaaain! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Distorted!Pinkie called-out happily as yet another giant birthday cake went carted to the table so that she and her guests (Both human and pony shaped) could keep feasting in a never-ending stream of Parties and laughs.

In fact, the entire place echoes in laughs, always happy, never faltering laughs, coming from the room completely packed in tables with people eating and partying.

“I want more friends! MORE! Hahaha! Do you know why? Because if we are all friends, Wars can’t happen! TO FRIENDSHIP!” the Distorted mare intoned happily, face plastered in dozen of different colors of icing, and rising her cup so that everybody in the room could answer to her call in similar cheerful screams.

“And once everybody will be my friend...Twilight and the others too will return to me! We won’t be separated anymore!” Pinkie added while looking with a deranged smile to the five empty seats next to her with ‘Reserved’ written on them.

“Miss Pinkie?” A guard dressed Shadow asked with a low voice once neared her.

“Yes?”

“We added the opening mechanism for the ‘Wonder Tickets’ as you wished...But isn’t the price of one too high?” the guard asked, curious.

“Too high?...Too high...Naaaah! We have lots of games and attractions here! I am sure our new friends will take no time to collect the one-hundred-and-sixty thousand points (160.000) needed to buy one!” Distorted!Pinkie answered, cheerful.

“Even if the games and attractions only give one per ride/game?”

“Mine is a never-ending party! What a better excuse to play with your friends over and over then?” the mare answered with a pleased smile.

“Oooh! That’s brilliant!” the Shadow, ever the simpering sycophant like any other member of its kind, answered in pure amazement.

“Yup! That is why I made sure a Wonder Ticket only gives entrance to ONE person, so a group of friends will have the perfect excuse to play together again and again while collecting enough tickets for all of them to enter!...And we will also buy enough time for more cakes and sweets to be ready for everypony.”

“Yeah, we really need to enlarge the kitchen.”

“It’s in the ‘To Do’ List. But Ooooh! I can’t wait to hear the first round of happy laughs as soon as the first guest see what they have to do to get a Wonder Ticket! Hahahaha!” Pinkie said, happily.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!” yelled in answer the Phantom Thieves in a chorus of horrified voices.

Extra Scene – Caroline and Justine -

Velvet Room -

“I still don’t get how can you stomach a Persona Fusion...” Ryuji asked with a green face as he and the others watched once again the guillotines do their gruesome work to summon a new Persona.

“You get used to it, eventually.” Akira answered shrugging.

“So...Inmate...” A familiar voice said mockingly, making Akira’s eyes bulge out.

“We finally meet again.” another, way softer, added more calmly.

“I asked to Master Igor if Caroline and Justine could return, he graciously accepted my small, selfish request.” Lavenza explained as the two young warden Twins appeared behind her.

“We knew you could not do a thing without us, you are just so helpless.” the bun-haired girl Caroline said with a smirk as she grabbed Akira’s hand to force him to kneel so to look at him in the eyes.

“What she is trying to say is...That we missed you, Inmate. Dearly.” Justine admitted with a tiny smile as she too neared the young man.

“Y-Y-Y-You are not supposed to say that!” her twin bellowed, ashamed.

“Why are they back?” Ann asked, growling.

“Safety in numbers, and I know that more than once my beloved Trickster enjoyed their company. So I wanted to relive that once again.” Lavenza answered, huffing.

“...”

“...”

“...” A tense silence fell in the Velvet Room at that.

“...Isn’t that illegal?” Ryuji muttered unsure.

“They are ageless beings from a different plane of existence, I don’t know if we can judge with our own laws.” Yusuke answered uncertain.

“YOU BITCH!”

“She means in the platonic sense. Head pats, compliments and kisses on the forehead.” Akira answered with a calm tone, calmer than usual even.

“She is still a bitch!” Ann countered hissing.

“What does he see in you, I wonder. Whatever ‘Goods’ you have, we can offer the same, but better. In triple.” Caroline said with a smug expression.

“THAT’S IT! MISTER IGOR!...Eh?” Ann bellowed in fury, only to notice that the seat behind the desk was empty.

Out for Lunch – I’ll be back in 5 minutes.

Was written on the small sign attached to the seat.

“FUCK IT! COME HERE!” the blond woman roared as she jumped the two twins plus Lavenza.

“Ann, I don’t think...” Futaba started saying unsure.

“SHUT UP AND PLAY ‘RIVERS IN THE DESERT’! I am going to Solo those three Bitches!” Ann replied with blazing eyes and Carmen already summoned behind her.

“Okay, okay...” the young Hacker answered, sighing.

- Meanwhile -

“So you never...” Haru asked, curious.

“I did, but it was before me and Ann got together, so please, keep it a secret.”

“Our lips are sealed, man! We don’t want you dead.” Ryuji answered shaking his head.

“How was it?” Yusuke asked.

“Don’t…Just...Don’t.” Morgana answered with a begging tone.

“PERSONA! TITANOMACHIA!”

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

“...This is going to take a while...” Makoto muttered with a sigh of defeat while she and the others watched Ann’s helpless fight against the three monstrous Powerhouses.

Chapter 7: the Fortress of Friendship

-Pinkie Pie’s Palace: “Pinkieland” - Mexican restaurant -

The group of Teens, the infamous ‘Phantom Thieves’, were the only ones sitting in the deserted restaurant in a corner of the Palace outside area, deserted because the group had just finished forcing every Shadow there to run away.

“One hundred and sixty thousand points for a single Wonder Ticket...and each Ticket is only valid for a single person, the door does not open if there is even just one guest without a ticket, and sneaking inside too is not possible...” Ryuji muttered with a defeated sigh.

“And each ride only gives one point, with the shortest one lasting at least one hour.” Yusuke added.

“That not considering the crowd of people standing in line everywhere making it impossible to skip ahead.” Makoto also added, groaning in frustration.

“I am sorry, there is no other way to enter the Fortress, you have no choice but get a Wonder Ticket each.” Futaba confirmed with an apologetic tone.

“...”

“What’s wrong, Skull?” Ann asked, curious.

“...” the punk boy just stood in silence as he kept looking at the fortress with narrowed eyes.

“You have a plan.” Akira said with the tone of somebody already knowing the answer.

“Maybe.” the blond said.

“Is it a stupid idea?” Morgana asked, groaning.

“Very.” Ryuji answered simply.

“Are you at least sure it will work?” Yusuke begged.

“Nope, but is not like we have other options. Unless you want to spend MONTHS here playing Pinkie’s games.”

“I would say no for two reasons: we have not all this time to waste, and I do not trust Pinkie not ending up knowing we are here if we spend too much time hanging around.” Haru answered with an adorable scrunched nose.

“Fine! Let’s try it your way! What is your plan?” Ann asked, frustrated.

“Cool! Let’s get out of here then, I need to make a call.” Ryuji said while walking away.

Few minutes later – Real World - ‘Untouchable’ - Pony said of the Barrier -

Having finally returned to their small base in the abandoned shop, the Phantom Thieves watched Ryuji skim through the numbers inside Akira’s phone until he found the one he needed.

“That is a breach of privacy.” Yusuke said.

“I watched inside his numbers, not his pictures.” Ryuji answered, showing a savage smile once found who he was looking for.

“...Hello?”

“Iwai-san?” Ryuji asked.

“It’s my number, boy! Of course it’s me! What do you want? Make it quick, I am trying to collect some stuff for our own base, so I can’t stay long.” the owner of the shop answered.

“Okay! I’ll be quick: I need a bomb!” Ryuji said, smirking.

“Eeeeeeeh?!” the other teens with him yelled as one.

“...Why? And what kind of bomb?” Iwai answered, nonplussed.

“At least show some surprise, dammit!” Ann shrieked.

“And what does it mean ‘What kind’?” Futaba added, just as shocked.

“The kind of bomb that takes down a door.”

“You can’t take down the doors of Pinkie’s Fortress! The Metaverse doesn’t work like that!” Morgana said with an angry frown.

“I want to blow-up the door here, not the one of the Palace.” Ryuji answered, rolling his eyes.

“...You want to replicate what you others did with Madarame, perhaps?” Yusuke asked.

“Exactly! I want to see if seeing the doors of her ‘super secret project’ being blasted open means that she will believe the doors of her Fortress too are open, or broken. Stuff like that, at least.” Ryuji answered, proud of himself.

“So you hope that the building itself is the real body of the Fortress that is the heart of her Palace? Just like Akihabara is the real form of the Theme Park around the Fortress?” Morgana asked.

“...Maybe it will work...” Ryuji answered, shrugging.

“Let’s try it, maybe it will work like that, or ever just change her perception of things enough for us to enter the Fortress another way.” Haru suggested.

“The whole ‘Perception’ thing you tried to explain to us was overly-complicated, guys, but something as mundane as demolishing a door, that I understand! Come visit us tomorrow and I will have the right tool for you.” Iwai answered.

“Tomorrow already?” Ann asked.

“I am going to meet a guy I know, adding a small demolition charge to the shopping list is not a problem.” the man answered.

“Oh! Thank you then!” the girl replied.

Two days later – Akihabara – sewers under Pinkie’s secret base -

“Distraction in place?” Akira asked.

“Futaba is piloting the drone with the speakers, when we are ready she will fly it in front of them and hopefully distract those two guards far enough for us to demolish the door.” Yusuke answered.

“Are they the flying ones?” Makoto asked.

“Pegasi? Yes, no horn in sight.” Haru answered once spied from the manhole cover she had raised of an inch to watch.

“Good, at least they’ll have to chase it instead of just blast it away.” Ryuji answered while he and Akira kept tinkering with the small charge between them.

“Do not blow us up!” Morgana hissed in worry.

“Iwai taught us, have no fear.”

“We know some very strange people...” Ann muttered sighing.

“Okay! We are ready!” Ryuji said, triumphant.

“It should work.” Akira added with a more calm tone.

“I will go call Futaba and tell her to start, you get ready.” Yusuke then declared as he walked away to exit the sewers in a safer area.

“The adhesive is ready, just dash there, put it on the door and come back here!” Makoto hissed with narrowed eyes.

“I get it! I get it!” Ryuji answered.

“WAKE UP! CONVERSION IS A LIE! THEY ARE KILLING OUR INDIVIDUALITY! DESTROYING OUR SOUL!...WAKE UP! CONVERSION IS A LIE!...” the recording of the text red by a voice synthesizer blared at a deafening volume even down underground in the sewers.

“Stop that thing!” one of the guards yelled as both immediately took air to stop the noisy drone.

“Gogogogogo!” Morgana ordered with an urgent tone.

Immediately Ryuji came out from the manhole to sprint as fast as he could while clutching the tiny bomb to his chest, once there he glued it to the center of the blocked door and armed it, watching the tiny red light on top of it turn green.

“Click it! Click it!” the punk boy hissed to Akira while running back underground.

The very small demolition charge was a homemade bomb programmed to explode five seconds after the button on the remote detonator went pressed, and that was barely enough time for Ryuji to literally dive inside the hole for Akira to catch him and drag him away with the others as they took distance just in case…

KRATABOOOOOOOOM!

And yet, the explosion was strong enough to have that manhole collapse, covering them in dust and dirt.

“Iwai-san miscalculated the power...” Haru moaned pitifully.

“I wonder if the Palace will still be standing after this,” Morgana muttered.

“Noooo! What happened!?” as expected, they heard Pinkie yell in horror and rage barely a minute later.

“One...Two...Three...Four...” Akira counted.

“WHO DID THIS?! WHO DID THIS?! WHO DID THIS?!” the mare kept asking to every pony she met.

“...Ten! Let’s go! If this worked, her Perception of her Palace must have changed by now!” Makoto said, and just like they had practiced, every member of the Phantom Thieves waited those ten second and then used their Metaverse App to enter Pinkie’s Palace, Futaba and Yusuke doing the same once they counted to ten themselves.

Inside Pinkie’s Palace -

“...”

“...”

“...Okay...It seems like it worked...” Morgana said with wide eyes.

“A bit too much…” Haru added.

Utter devastation, the entire place looked like an air-raid had just passed above the theme park to bombard it to ruins, with still-smoking craters and fire everywhere, the worrying thing was that the Shadows present and the shades acting as visitors still went through their supposed jobs and roles as if nothing strange happened.

“It is her delusion, not even this can put a dent in her conviction that everybody enjoy her parties.” Yusuke commented.

“The rides are self-repairing fast. Run!” Akira informed them as he dashed forward while watching a near house of mirrors rapidly call back its pieces to rebuild itself.

“It means she saw that only the door of her secret storage was destroyed while whatever was inside remained untouched by the bomb, and the faster she calms down, the faster this place will Heal Itself in answer to her recognizing her Palace is safe. We must hurry!” Morgana answered as the others too hurried to follow Akira.

“Hopefully there will be a hole in that fortress’ wall big enough for us to crawl through!” Makoto said with a hopeful tone.

“Shadows!” Haru cried-out as dozens of Shadows dressed as guards started chasing them.

“Just ignore them!” Ann answered.

“There is a hole! GO!” Ryuji yelled as he saw a hole big enough for them to pass through right in the middle of the Fortress’ wall, and it was closing rapidly a brick at a time.

“JUMP!” Morgana yelled, and before the Shadows chasing them could grab his tail, all of them managed to jump through an instant before the last bricks could fly up to repair the damages.

“We...We did it!” Ann exclaimed while gasping for air from her mad running.

“Please tell me we won’t be forced to do this every time we need to enter.” Makoto commented, sighing.

“Safe Rooms are connected to each other, I am confident that if we find one inside the Fortress then we will be able to come and go from here to the one in the bathroom stall outside.” Yusuke answered.

“I hope so.” Akira added.

“What is important is that we are in, let’s go!” Haru said, nodding.

“...”

“...”

“...Wait! Where’s Mona?” Ryuji asked, confused.

“Mona? I can’t see him.” Haru asked while looking around.

“I am pretty sure he jumped through right behind us,” Yusuke answered, sounding a bit uncertain.

“Maybe he went forward to scout the area?” Akira guessed.

“...Guys?...Help?” Morgana finally moaned in answer, his voice full of humiliation.

“What do you...Bwahahahahaha!”

“Stop laughing, Skull! This is humiliating!” the talking cat shrieked with a red face.

Apparently Morgana, as the last one to jump inside, had not been fast enough and was now hanging upside-down at a feet from the ground and with the tip of his tail deeply stuck inside the wall of the fortress.

“What’s important is that you are here and safe, I’ll help you get free now.” Akira said while grabbing the base of the cat’s tail.

“J-J-Joker?!” Morgana stuttered, worried.

“Please bite onto something.” Yusuke added, he too grabbing the cat’s tail.

“Guys?!”

“It will be over soon, Mona. Trust me.” Ann said with an overly-gentle tone that gave the finishing blow to Morgana’s nerves.

“Don’t you dare!” the cat roared in terror.

“Pull on three!” Ryuji instructed once joined the other two boys and even propped a foot against the wall for extra leverage.

“Nononononononono!”

“One...Two...”

“I’ll hold your paw, Mona.” Haru offered.

“NO! I FORBID YOU TO PULL ON THREE!”

“THREEEEEEE!” Ryuji yelled.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOW!” the deafening yowl of Morgana echoed in the entire Palace, almost scaring the Shadows inside the fortress out of their skin and exploding several windows.

Inside the ‘Fortress of Friendship’ - Several minutes later -

The area they entered was built like a single, giant corridor circling around the entire complex of the fortress forming a ring, full of doors and acting as entrance for the inner plaza of the Palace and several other rooms; the plaza itself housed few extra food stalls, a small garden with enormous trees of cotton candy and grass of licorice, and out to the side, a wide empty space clearly used as landing area of the giant floating dance floor, all of this leading to the heart of the construction: The biggest theater the Phantom Thieves had ever seen.

“I didn’t know Pinkie was one for a theater...” Haru admitted, impressed.

“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” Morgana in the meantime hissed at every step while walking bowlegged.

“At least it worked!”

“Jump down a cliff, Skull!” the cat answered, growling.

“It will pass soon, don’t worry.” Akira answered.

“Or do you want Panther to kiss the Boo-Boo away?” Ryuji asked with a smirk.

“No thank you.” Ann answered with a scrunched nose, dashing the cute hopeful expression on Morgana’s face and turning it into gloom depression.

“Lady Panther...” the cat said, whining.

“That’s not important, besides...Isn’t this place too much...Pink?” Makoto said, frowning in distaste.

“I don’t know, it sure is the most cheerful Palace we have seen.” Haru answered unsure.

The main corridor was painted bright pink and with white cupcake silhouettes put in random positions all over it, the floor was covered with an extremely-thick pink fur carpet and streamers were everywhere along hundreds of balloons with ‘It’s Party Time!’ written in yellow on them floating freely everywhere.

And paintings, giant paintings of either Clowns or birthday party scenes one after another on both sides, and each painting bigger than an adult human, and twice wide.

“...”

“You okay, buddy?” Ryuji asked, worried.

“I don’t like clowns,” Akira admitted, grimacing at each painting, especially since every eye of the people inside the paintings was actually turning to follow them.

“I am here.” Ann offered with a kind smile, grabbing his hand as a show of comfort that made him show a small smile.

“Why you don’t like them?” Haru asked.

“It’s the red nose...And the chalk-white face.” he answered.

“Then get ready, I see a Shadows dressed as a clown in front of us.” Ryuji said with a forced smile, and already expecting the full-body shiver Akira gave in answer.

“It saw us!” Morgana alerted them as the thing ran to intercept them.

“Intruders! You have not a ticket! I can tell!” the clown-dressed Shadow yelled angrily as it charged them.

Sigh! “Show me your true face...” Akira said with zero enthusiasm.

“Dude, that’s your catch-phrase, say it with some conviction.” Ryuji said while shaking his head.

“It’s the clown costume, I guess.” Yusuke suggested as the Shadow went unmasked, turning into a duo of child-like beings with big round heads and hair covering their eyes.

Obariyon

“A duo of Obariyon, could have been worse.” Haru commented.

“Sukunda!” Obariyon 1 intoned, making Makoto growl as she felt her body become heavy.

“Well said! Sukunda!” Obariyon 2 copied its partner with a happy, shrilly laugh, and casting the same agility debuff on Ryuji.

“You were saying?” both teens asked, annoyed.

“Just shoot them.” Akira answered as his knife created a nice big bald spot on Obariyon 1’s head because the Shadow managed to dodge at the last second with a shrieking ‘Eeep!’ accompanying his movement.

“’kay!” Ryuji accepted gladly, happily showering both monsters in bullets together with his girlfriend Makoto.

“Zorro!” Morgana in the meantime summoned his Persona, covering the Obariyon in front of him in hundreds of cuts with a blurry assault of its rapier.

“IT HUUUURRTS!” the Shadow yelled in pain.

“It is just the beginning, Goemon!” Yusuke answered, barely dodging the monster’s ‘Lucky Punch’ while summoning his own Persona.

GOOOOONG!

With a heavy and dull sound, the Samurai-dressed manifestation followed its summoner’s plan and slammed the flat side of its giant bladed-pipe on the Shadow’s head, surprising the Phantom Thieves with the great amount of teeth flying everywhere at the impact.

“Puh! I didn’t...Even feel it...” The Shadow squeaked-out while still spitting out white fragments of teeth.

“That is a lie and you know it...” Haru said with a terrifyingly calm tone from behind the monster.

“...Momma...” the Shadow whimpered, turning just in time to see the grenade the girl shoot touch its nose.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Noir, you sometimes worry me. You enjoy this a bit too much.” Makoto commented as all of them watched the Shadow fly away and crash painfully against the wall, sliding then down boneless in a dead faint.

“Hihihi! I am sorry.” Haru answered while giggling cutely and shoulder her grenade launcher.

“...Ehm...Ehm...” Obairyon 2 felt uneasy as now every single Phantom Thief present SLOWLY turned to look at its face, and the atmosphere surrounding the group was simply ominous.

“...Cupcake?” the monster tried saying, pulling out said little sweet from God knows where.

Meanwhile – with Shadow Pinkie – Theater -

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

“Hu? Was that a scream of ungodly pain and suffering?”

“...”

“Nothing?...Bah! Must have imagined it.” the Distorted version of Pinkie Pie asked aloud, before shrugging her shoulders and dropping the issue, taking less than a second to forget she even heard anything.

“Yeah, Pinkie! This party is awesome!” a life-size Marionette of Rainbow Dash said from the middle of the stage, her voice badly-imitated by Pinkie herself.

“I-I-I am happy we are finally back together!” Marionette-Fluttershy stuttered shyly immediately after, the strings holding that puppet up making sure to have the fake mare look down at her hooves in pure shyness.

“I am glad I dropped my Super-Boring Research to come here! We are friends! We must always stay together!” Marionette-Twilight added, flapping her wooden wings for added measure.

“Enough boring tripe, Darling! We are celebrating today, let’s just enjoy ourselves!” Marionette-Rarity countered while tossing back the coif of fake mane on her head with a flourish, the Marionette of AJ nodding along behind her at the same time.

“YEAH!” all of them, Marionette-Pinkie comprised, yelled as one.

“...Soon. Soon we will be together again, we will be together FOREVER, we will be surrounded by friends and will be able to party all we want...” the Distorted mare muttered with a deranged smile as she stopped controlling the puppets, making them flop down on the floor haphazardly.

The Theater’s main room was simply enormous, with hundreds of thousands seats all facing a stage no real world counterpart could hope to match in size standing tall and proud in its elevated position, at the moment only Pinkie was there, watching in silence the unmoving puppets she personally created with even too much care to be as much similar to the mare’s friends as possible; the Treasure securely locked into the stage’s biggest piece of background representing a sun, with its formless shape casting light on the entire scene under it.

You can do it…

You can have your Friends back…

Help the Conversion, create the greatest Party ever seen...And they will be yours...Only yours...FOREVER yours...Nopony else needs to see them, to touch them, to play with them...

Only you.

They BELONG to you.

The shadows themselves of the Palace talked directly to the jester-dressed Distorted mare’s Heart and Soul, so that she could not hear them, and yet be guided by them all the same.

“Balloons, I need more Balloons. Time to ask Princess Celestia for more balloons, she said I just needed to ask and she will deliver them already filled...My Super Party needs more, otherwise my friends will never come back! I want my friends, I don’t want to be alone, I want to party, forever...” Distorted Pinkie muttered with a thoughtful expression while moving towards the kitchens, she was in pie withdrawal again, and at the same time, the Pinkie in the real world got the same idea, already writing the letter to Celestia to request more balloons for her Party-Parade.

One hour later – with the Phantom Thieves – Safe Room -

“We finally found a Safe Room inside the fortress, like this we will be able to pass the walls without a ticket.” Ann said with an elated sigh.

“What is our main goal now?” Akira asked while all of them sat at the small table in the middle of the room.

“We still have to find the Treasure, and plan an escape route for when we will steal it.” Morgana answered.

“Escape won’t be easy, the gates open only for a possessor of a Wonder Ticket, so without one, escaping won’t be possible.” Yusuke added.

“Ehm...Apparently the doors only open for people entering, once inside, nobody can get out.” Futaba alerted them.

“You sure?” Akira asked.

“I am, I just saw the doors melt into the inner wall every time they close,”

“That is bad news, what now?” Yusuke asked.

“For your escape I would suggest to hijack the flying dance-floor, it comes down every hour to deposit Guests and wait for others. The best option would be to steal the Treasure while the thing is landing and fly it outside once took it, and of course leave that behind once outside the fortress, it’s too slow to use it to fly away from the Palace.” Futaba suggested.

“...You do know we’ll have to fight Pinkie Pie for the Treasure, yeah?” Makoto asked with a self-deprecating sigh.

“Just because it happened every single time when we started and we had to fight Fluttershy now that we are back, it doesn’t mean we will have to fight with every name on our list once again.” Haru tried saying.

“Look at me in the eyes and tell me you seriously believe that.”

“...”

“...”

“I thought so.”

“Sooo...” Ryuji said, unsure.

“So we will act as if we will manage to escape without having to fight Pinkie, and at the same time get ready to face her for the Treasure, as always.” Akira answered, sighing.

“Wouldn’t then be easier to just hunt down Pinkie, defeat her and take the Treasure? After sending our Calling Card I mean.” Ryuji answered with an annoyed frown.

“That would make us the ‘Phantom Brutes’, not the ‘Phantom THIEVES’, and contrary to you, Skull, I have an image to maintain.” Morgana answered huffing.

“Fine! Fine! We’ll do things all neat and proper...Stupid cat.”

“Thank you.”

“For now let’s just map out as much of the Palace we can, especially to find the Treasure. Any idea?” Ann asked.

“The Theater is the main building inside this ‘Fortress of Friendship’, thus making it the most likely place. But Pinkie leaves it only for two occasions: During a ‘Cake Party’ and once every three flights of the Dance- Floor. The Cake Party takes places every day at midnight (Palace Time) while the ‘Special Pinkie’s Dance-off Fly’ every three hours.” Futaba answered.

“How do you know all this?” Yusuke asked.

“I stole a leaflet from the Gift Shop.” the hacker answered with a proud voice.

“So we have to synchronize our watches with this place?” Makoto asked.

“Yes and no; Here apparently a day lasts twelve hours, with an hour lasting like a ‘Normal’ Minute. Meaning that every twelve minutes Pinkie leaves the Theater for a Cake Party that lasts six minutes, while every flight of the platform lasts three minutes. This means that our best option is stealing the Treasure in those six minutes it takes her to leave, have a Cake Party and come back.”

“A bit too tight for a schedule, is it possible for the flight and the Party to happen one after another?” Haru asked.

“It’s possible, but it will mean waiting here as Time flows differently between the Palace and the Real World.”

“We’ll make it do with the six minutes window, then.” Akira answered.

“If you are sure, dude, we’ll do as you say.” Ryuji answered.

“No Pain, No Gain, Skull. Be a man and face this challenge with your head held high.” Morgana answered.

“I get it, I get it. What will be our first step?” the young man answered with a huff.

“I say we split in two squads, one will map the Theater itself while Pinkie is away, while the other group will try to understand the path and time Pinkie needs to come and go from the Theater, even just a second more stolen from her will make our job easier.” Yusuke suggested.

“Sounds good to me, we will keep in touch with our walkies-talkies.” Ann answered.

“All okay with this?” Morgana asked, soon watching every Phantom Thief there nod.

“Good! Where is Pinkie now, Navi?” the cat asked.

“Pinkie is just now leaving the Theater, I am watching her lock the main doors, so you’ll have to climb the side and force a window open, I suggest the one on the second floor and on the right-most side, it’s the girl’s bathroom window.” the girl answered immediately.

“You heard her, Let’s go!” Akira ordered, making all of them bolt outside in great hurry.

“Help us monitor how long she takes, Navi!” Makoto asked.

“Of course!”

With Squad 1 (Akira, Ann, Haru and Morgana.) - Theater – Girl’s Bathroom window -

Clink! Clink! Clunk! Clink!

“Hurry up, Mona!” Ann hissed, she and the others barely able to hang onto the wall of the theater.

“I am trying, Lady Panther! it’s harder than I thought!” Morgana, sitting on top of Akira’s head so to have both hands free, answered apologetic while still fumbling with the window.

“Sssh!” the young man hissed as a Shadow had just in that moment walked under them and stopped to talk with a second one.

“No trace of the intruders?” they heard it ask.

“Nope! Even if we saw them enter through the wall, we can’t find them.” the other answered with a helpless shrug.

“And Pinkie? You know she hates having uninvited guests, she wants everypony to have their fair share of sweets, without unplanned mouths hanging around.”

“She calmed down, so I guess the intruders left, but to be safe, let’s just keep our eyes...”

It was then that some dust fell on the Shadow’s head following a faint CLUNK! Noise, but when the two looked upward to see from where that came from, they could not see anything out of ordinary from the walls and windows of the theater, making the two Shadows shrug and return to their duties.

“We are in.” Haru finally transmitted to Squad 2.

With Squad 2 (Ryuji, Makoto and Yusuke) - Giant ring corridor -

“Got it! We just entered the corridor following Pinkie.” Ryuji answered.

“And the place is swarming in Shadows, we can’t fully tail her or we will be discovered.” Makoto added.

“We just got in...The place is a maze...” Ann said, sighing.

“How can a theater be a maze?” Yusuke asked curious.

“Lots of stairs and corridors, I never visited a theater so I have no idea how to navigate one.” she answered, grumbling.

“Have no fear, I will guide them, I have experience in operas.” Haru proposed, smugly.

“...”

“...”

“...Must you all always make it a point to fault my being from a slightly-higher social status than you?” Haru finally asked with a childish whine as the silence mounted on and on.

“Nobody of us talked, my dear.” Yusuke answered.

“But you all were thinking it!”

“Just try to see if you can understand how much time we have before Pinkie returns, we need a precise time limit.” Akira cut-in, stopping the discussion from even beginning.

“...Okay.” Haru finally accepted, dropping the issue to just sulk in silence.

“Let’s just focus on that mare.” Ryuji said, having never stopped checking his watch every once in a while while following Pinkie’s movement.

“There is a window to the Cake Party Room, I can check on her from here for you.” Futaba offered.

“Thank you, Navi.”

Back to Squad 1 -

“Let’s see...This way, we should be able to get to the main entrance from here.” Haru instructed once found the main path.

“This place is enormous.” Morgana muttered in awe.

“And very rich too, I don’t think there is a theater this richly furnished in the real world.”

“I see a big staircase.” Akira said as soon as they turned the corner.

“Good! That should lead to the entrance, meaning that there must be several doors leading to the ground level and the stage.” Haru answered, elated.

“And there are Shadows too.” Morgana added with a cat hiss.

“Then let’s choose a door and simply fight the one guarding it.” Ann answered.

Squatting down and moving stealthily, Squad 1 lead by Akira descended the first half of the giant staircase and then jumped down to the ground floor right behind the Shadow closer to the door they needed, and just as the black living silhouette turned around in surprise, Joker’s hand grabbed its mask to tear it away, turning the Shadow into a medieval knight wearing blood-red heavy armour and riding a horse.

“Shit! A Eligor...” Ann growled in anger as the knight rushed towards them to try trample them to death under its ride’s hooves.

Eligor

“Dirty intruders, I will stop you from sullying Pinkie’s beloved Theater! Nobody will survive my wrath! Double Fangs!” the Shadow roared while thrusting forward with its lance as the horse charged forward again.

“JOKER!” Haru yelled in fear as their friend didn’t seem about to dodge the wild charge like they all did.

“...NOW!” Akira yelled, diving to the side at the last possible moment to let the Knight’s lance get stuck on the wall, right where his head was a mere instant before.

“NOW! Shoot it!” he then ordered while shooting at the unprotected back of the horse’s legs.

“Carmen!” Ann yelled, using her Persona to pelt the knight in Fire attacks.

“Graaah!” the Shadows roared in defiance as its being fused with the horse meant that as the beast toppled down, the one riding it too had to helplessly fall down.

“Milady! PSYO!” Haru yelled, summoning her own Persona to use its psychic attack.

“ARGH!” the Eligor screamed in agony while holding its head, feeling as if a blender had been showed right inside its skull.

“Arsene!” Akira added, assaulting the Shadow in a flurry of attacks and falling black feathers.

“I-I won’t be defeated!” the Eligor answered, both soldier and horse finally returning to their feet to stand tall above the teens.

“You are forgetting about me!” Morgana yelled, shooting right at the thing’s eyes with his giant slingshot.

“MY EYEEEEEE!” the Shadow shrieked in agony as it reared back, unfortunately dragging the horse head back too, making it fall on its haunches.

“Hold up!” Haru ordered while she and the others circled the Shadow while pointing their guns at it.

“Why are you opposing Pinkie? She is working so hard to make sure everybody will sit together as friends! She is working towards Peace and Justice!” the Shadow asked hissing in contempt.

“Peace and Justice are not something you can achieve by enslaving people and ponies in a utopia where one’s Self and Individuality is oppressed. Conversion is killing people minds, leaving behind empty husks, true Justice and Peace are where everybody willingly join hands towards a common goal,” Akira answered.

“And what if Conversion just helps along by speeding-up the process?” the Eligor asked.

“It may speed-up the final result, but would it really be right for a single guy to decide for everybody else? What gives Pinkie or Celestia the right to decide for everybody? And doing this by brainwashing the naysayers into compliance at that? Wouldn’t that defeat the core purpose of this idea of Peace and cooperation? Where is Justice if nobody is free to choose for themselves? That’s a dictatorship!”

“And you are offering pure Anarchy! Where everybody does whatever they damn well want!”

“No, I no longer are a rebellious kid doing this to ‘stick it to the adults’. I am a Phantom Thief trying to save my people from a fate worse than Death by opening the Invaders’ eyes to the fact that they are not Saving Humanity, they are killing us, all to blindly follow the twisted sense of Justice of a mad mare.” Akira answered nonplussed.

“...Eh! Well said, kid! Offering a helping hand is fine and dandy, but if the options are ‘Obey or Die’, then every good intention jumps out of the window. Are you working towards co-existence with ponies?”

“As long as the Converted return to normal and both sides are open to collaborate and live in peace, I don’t mind having ponies stick around.”

“Good, now, before we move on, Partner...” the Eligor answered, returning its horse to a standing position and clearing his throat.

“INTRUDERS! THEY ARE RUNNING AWAY! CATCH THEM!” the entity yelled pointing up the stairs with his sword.

“CATCH THEM!” the Other Shadows in the room answered immediately after with a furious roar, rushing up the stairs towards the corridors and soon leaving the Phantom Thieves and the Eligor alone.

“Good! This should give you some time once inside, Partner. Let’s go.” the Shadow said with a pleased tone before breaking-down into sparks of light and entering Akira’s mask.

“And so another Persona joined us,” Morgana declared with a smirk.

“With this we have six.” Akira answered, opening the door towards the main room inside.

“...Wow.”

“...It’s immense...” Haru exclaimed in awe at the absurd size of the stage itself, let alone the crazy amount of seats and the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“THE TREASURE!” Morgana yelled in excitement while pointing at the huge sun-shaped prop.

“We found the Treasure.” Ann said to their radio.

“That’s good news.” Yusuke answered.

“But it is at at least a couple hundred meters up in the air and we don’t know how to get to it.” she then added.

“...That is not good news.” the artist admitted.

“Pinkie?” Haru asked.

“Stuffing her face, we’ll alert you as soon as she gets out.” Ryuji answered.

“Thank you.”

“Okay, Team! There must be a way to pull it down! We just need to find it!” Morgana declared while jumping on the empty stage right under the giant sun.

“Split-up.” Akira suggested.

“Okay!”

“...”

“...Ehm...Where do we start? We don’t have a lot of time and this place is immense...” Ann asked, unsure.

“Maybe this will help!” Haru called-out from behind the scene.

“Uh?” the others uttered in confusion.

“It seems to be some sort of control mechanism...” the young girl explained, pulling a random lever and making a Giant cut-out of a fairy-tale castle pop out of the floor to act as background.

“Uhm! They are only labeled with numbers, see if you can find the one controlling that sun!” Morgana asked.

“Okay!”

Thunk!

“No, that’s a forest.” Akira answered, shaking his head.

Thunk!

“Try again, that looks like that Luna Princess of our List...Only done as a scarily life-like puppet.” Ann answered.

Thunk!

“Again, that was a cut-out of a bunch of bug-like Ponies...” Morgana answered, sighing.

“We are wasting time, pull them all.” Akira said.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!…

One hundred levers later and the sun was still up there, unmoving, while the entire stage was filled in props, puppets, water effects, light effects, fake mist, a full moon with an angry mare face on it, a fake town background, a fake hive background, a fake castle inside background and way too many more…

“Nothing! Can it be that it is fixed up there?” Haru asked in dread.

“I can see one end of a lowering mechanism from here, but I can’t tell where the other end of the rope goes.” Morgana answered.

“Let’s look around, there must be a clue somewhere.” Ann proposed.

“Me and Mona will control the main room.” Akira said.

“Me and Panther will check behind the scenes, then.” Haru answered.

“Guys! Not to be a bother, but the pies and pastries are almost all gone! Pinkie will finish eating soon!” Ryuji alerted them with a worried tone.

“Hurry! Hurry! Pull all that stuff up! We can’t leave behind proofs of our coming!” Morgana ordered with an urgent tone.

Once the stage returned being empty, the Phantom Thieves hurried to look in every nook and cranny for anything that could help them lower the Treasure enough for them to then cut the rope holding it up.

“Maybe I found it!” Morgana yelled elated while carrying a giant book above his head.

“What’s this?” Akira asked while carrying the book with some difficulty to its stand nearby, close to the alcove housing the musical instruments right under the stage.

“It seems to be a collection of operas, maybe one of them will tell us how to pull down that sun.” the talking cat said.

“Let’s see...’When the Changelings attacked’, ‘The Crystal Empire’, ‘When the Changelings attacked AGAIN’...’Too many Pinkie Pies’…’The Revenge of Trixie’...Are those all those pieces we saw appear once pulled the levers?” Ann red aloud with a scrunched nose.

“THERE! ‘The Elements of Harmony: the Magical Beginning’!” Haru exclaimed.

“Most of the pages are gone though, torn away...only the last page remains: ‘...And everypony lived happily ever after, with the Sun of Friendship now forever shining on the group of friends, all of them promising to never separate, but to be together forever...” The girl quoted while jamming a finger on the last paragraph.

“…‘The Sun of Friendship’...So there must be a specific combination of levers we need to pull to lower the Sun. That must be why the pages are missing, Pinkie likely knows the story by memory since this is her Palace, so she doesn’t need others to learn how to steal her Treasure.” Akira said with narrowed eyes.

“This seems to also be the most important story, the first page is way too decorated compared to the other stories.” Haru said, thoughtful.

“We only know it starts with ‘There once was a poor Pink Filly in a Stone Farm, sad because she could feel something was missing in her life in the plain grey of her days, but her destiny changed when a magical Sonic Rainboom signaled that a new adventure was about to start...Then the rest of the pages are missing until the Sun shining is mentioned in the last one.” Ann added.

“We saw the doll of a small pink horse and the background of a farm between rocks...But what is a Sonic Rainboom?” Akira asked.

“I have no idea, and discovering this and the rest of the story is the key to pull down that sun.” Morgana answered.

“Maybe-”

“ABORT! ABORT! Pinkie is moving back towards the Theater!” Makoto screamed urgently, almost scaring her friends to death.

“Damnit! We have no time for this! Let’s leave, it’s still too soon to be found!” Haru hissed while dropping the book and pulling her friends away through the door they used before and all the way back to the women’s bathroom to leave the Theater.

“Maybe she has hidden those missing pages somewhere!” Ann tried saying while they sneaked down the wall to stealthily return to the Safe Room.

“Have you noticed, though? Every story had as Main Characters Pinkie and the other Element Bearers. Their Puppets were the ones that had been created with the most care, everybody else except Luna and Celestia were only cut-outs or part of the background. She and her friends were ALWAYS the center of attention.” Morgana said.

“Over here!” they saw Makoto hiss loudly towards them while keeping the door to the Safe Room open for them, so that they could dive inside to catch their breath.

“Ah!...W-We are safe!” Ann moaned in relief as soon as the door closed.

“That was close, we too almost went discovered.” Ryuji confirmed as he sat down on a chair with a groan.

“But it was not useless: We now have the location of the Treasure and an escape route, we only lack a proper strategy to steal it.” Yusuke confirmed with a more calm expression.

“Do we also have a time frame to work with?” Akira asked.

“Yes, even if a very strict one. If we stand by Navi and our calculation, we have between seven to eight minutes to steal the Treasure once Pinkie locks the Theater door to go having her Pie Party before she returns and unlocks it. The unlocking of the door is our deadline as we need time to leave the theater’s main room, escape through the girl’s bathroom window, hijack the flying platform and leave the Fortress.” Yusuke answered.

“All this before Pinkie notices we stole her Treasure.” Makoto added.

“Precisely.”

“That is good to know, but we have a problem: If we guessed right, in order for us to Reach the Treasure we must go through an entire puppet show so that the Sun prompt, holding inside the Treasure, is automatically lowered to ‘Shine’ on the stage. And the book telling the story lacks the pages detailing the exact order of props we have to use to properly play the story.” Haru explained with a defeated sigh.

“Shit! What now?!” Ryuji growled-out, kicking a near chair in anger.

“Seven minutes are clearly not enough to play it properly, meaning that we also have to hope that just pulling them in order will suffice.” Yusuke added, massaging his temples with a tired sigh.

“But this becomes a moot point if we don’t even know which lever to pull, there are hundreds of them!” Morgana said.

“Should we try to guess it?” Futaba suggested unsure.

“We can’t waste time coming and going to try every possible combination, even without the added issue that every day the Barrier advances more and the ponies are getting always more daring in their Conversion Raids, it may take us YEARS to find it just by trial and error.” Haru answered.

“...Fluttershy.” Akira said out of the blue.

“EH?” the others replied, unsure.

“What do you mean, Joker?” Futaba asked.

“We should try ask her for help, she is Pinkie’s friend and may know something.”

“And tell her what? ‘Hello, we are the Phantom Thieves and we need your help to steal your best friend’s Heart?” Makoto asked mockingly.

“...”

“...”

“...Why are you looking at me like that?” Makoto asked as everybody was now looking at her rather intensely.

“...No! We are NOT asking my sister for help!” she finally said, with wide eyes.

“She is good t interrogation.” Ryuji explained, shrugging.

“She interrogated me, she was good.” Akira added.

“That because you had been drugged and beaten a minute before she started asking you.” Makoto answered.

“But she acted nicely...Most of the times.”

“I can make a tiny microphone plus camera for her to wear, like that we can hear what Fluttershy says, we’ll just give her a list of questions and hear what she has to say.” Futaba said.

“The fact remains that we don’t know what and how to ask it, how is Fluttershy supposed to know what the correct order of levels to pull?” Haru asked, unsure.

“Well, she was sitting next to some puppets during her cake party. One for each of our Targets, so maybe they are very good friends...Or Pinkie wishes them to be.” Ryuji said.

“And the entire premise of this Palace is ‘Playing together with Friends’, so something must have happened between Pinkie and the others to have her Distorted Self be so focused on Friendship, Playing and Partying together and even have multiple sets of puppets made to be as much similar to her best friends as possible, with unhealthy obsession to details.” Yusuke added.

“I say we show this to her, and see what she can tell us about it.” Morgana said with a smirk as he showed the others the two pages he took from Pinkie’s book of stories.

“You stole those two pages?!” Ann asked, shocked.

“I say we copy them down and show them to Fluttershy, maybe she can tell us what they mean and help us understand if we have to look for the pages somewhere, or if it’s just a story every pony of Equestria knows, maybe Pinkie is just role-playing with herself and her friends as Main Characters in it.” the cat answered with a smug expression.

“Let’s try like this, in a way or the other we may get enough details to understand how to tackle this job.”

“Thank you for the trust, Lady Panther.”

“I just hope Pinkie won’t notice you tok those two pages.” Yusuke muttered while looking towards the door of the Safe Room.

“Naah! I am sure she wo-”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

A deafening howl of anguish echoed inside the room making the walls tremble, and causing a violent shiver to climb the spine of every Phantom Thief present.

“We’ll copy those pages in the Safe Room outside the Fortress! Gogogogogo!” Ryuji yelled as he hastily opened the trapdoor connecting that room to the one in the Theme Park area of the Palace.

“She shouldn’t be able to break in here, but better safe than sorry.” Akira answered as the group rapidly switched Safe Room, just in case.

Several Days later – Secret Location – Fluttershy’s holding cell -

The butter-coloured mare was trying to sleep on the small bed that had been installed inside her tiny cubicle, even if thanks to how tightly her wings had been tied to her body to stop her from opening them, breathing in itself was hard, let alone sleep.

Buuuuuzz! A high-pitch, electronic sound cut through the deep silence of the secret location, waking-up the lone occupant of the entire place abruptly.

“Rise and shine, My Little Pony! You got visitors.” one of the two guards in front of her door said with a mocking tone from the intercom, he and his partner waving at her with the combat riffle in their hands.

“There is no need for that...” Fluttershy answered with a small voice while walking towards them with her head held low.

“There was no need for Conversion either, but here we are!” the second guard answered, her voice still sounding incredibly angry even with the statics of the intercom.

“I am sorry...” the mare whispered, already ready to burst to tears once again.

“Spare us the whining.” the first guard answered once opened the door to let her out.

“The director wants to-”

BOOOOM!

It was while the female guard was talking that a near wall exploded, throwing both humans to the ground and scaring the mare to her core.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Lyra yelled from outside the hole.

“OVER HERE!” Tempest Shadow added.

“W-W-W-What?”

“Come with us, hurry!” Lyra hurried her, pulling on her with her Magic.

“I-I-I am coming!” she answered, still scared, while hurrying to join the two unicorns.

“Jump in! Jump in!” Tempest instructed as she and Lyra jumped on the back of a van.

“O-Okay! B-But who is driving this?”

“We guys of the SIU, darling. It was time for us to switch location for you to stay at since this was leaked, and doing this with a fake attack was a nice way to murky the waters enough to hide your relocation.” the old man at the head of the SIU answered from the front seat while showing a knowing smirk as he rapidly drove the van away.

“A-A-And those two poor dears?” Fluttershy, now squeezed between Lyra and Tempest as her personal guards for the day, asked in dread.

“Considering they were the ones that leaked your position to several Pony-Friendly groups, I hope they at least broke a leg or an arm. Your new jailers will hopefully be more on our side than the pony one.”

“O-O-Okay.” the mare answered, trembling heavily in fear.

“Good! Now, let me make a call, we may need to make a small detour before that.” the old man said before pulling out a nondescript flip phone.

“...Hello, dear! I just finished shopping and was taking the long way home, want to meet?” he asked as soon as the other side picked-up.

“...Of course I will take Fluttershy with me, you wanted to meet her, yes? I guess our dear friends the PT contacted you in the end.”

“...OF COURSE you are not admitting anything! I know that! I taught you well...But remember what you promised: I will be there with you while you ask your questions, and in exchange you can ask everything you want.”

“How did they even contact you to ask for this small favour?...That Phan-Site of theirs, of course. And what you got in exchange?...They’ll steal my Heart? I thought you believed I didn’t not posses one to begin with!...Even if said as a joke, that was in terrible taste…Your father never used such foul language, dear, I know I made mistakes, LOTS of mistakes, but this does not justify...”

“...I’ll shut up, I get it. But remember: we are on the same side, IF you and the PT are working together, we can also help, you can trust me...Hello?...Hello?...” the old man called out as the call was subtly interrupted.

“Why she doesn’t trust me?” he asked aloud while snapping the phone in half and burning the sim card with a lighter.

“After what you told me about the last time you faced the PT and your involvement in it, you can’t blame her.” Tempest answered, shaking her head.

“A man can change,” the other answered.

“I know that, but unless you give her some darn solid proofs, it will just be your words against your past sins.” Tempest answered.

“Maybe you are right...”

“W-W-Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked.

“Before delivering you to your new prison cell, you are going to meet a former colleague of mine, the Phantom Thieves need some information to Steal the Heart of your friends, and you WILL answer.” the old man answered.

“O-O-Or else?”

Skrieeeee!

At that the van stopped abruptly and the old man marched to the back of the van to open its doors.

Click!

And gently push the mouth of his gun against the mare’s forehead, making her gulp loudly in fear.

“In a way or the other, we will make sure the Elements of Harmony won’t be a threat.”

“E-E-E-Eeep!”

“Glad to see you understand.” the man answered with a pleased smile while closing the doors and returning to drive the van away.

“I was just asking...” she muttered with a small voice.

“I have no idea what the Phantom Thieves do, but whenever they act, their victim spit out everything bad they ever did and came clean, a complete 180 in attitude and becoming model citizens immediately after.

Madarame for example started doing community service left and right, while dear Kamoshida wrote several books uncovering the rotten side of the sport world! Last thing I heard was that many former super stars of sport wanted him dead, and all this after a single visit of those guys!

And the fact that they got you even through that magical Barrier means that they can get the others too, and make you all come out clean and turn yourselves in! And many of us would prefer this to just slaughter your lot, there are still people out there that believe in Justice.”

“...I-I-If I help you...P-Promise me m-my friends won’t be hurt. I-If they confess like I did, n-n-nopony must hurt them.” Fluttershy asked.

“Help us give the Phantom Thieves enough information to get to our targets, and I will pull enough strings to get you and your precious friends under the same protection detail we offer to human informants, nor humans ponies will hurt you. But you have to make it worth the effort.” the old man answered with a predatory smile.

“O-O-Okay.” Fluttershy answered with a weak nod, only she noticing the winks both Lyra and Tempest sent her.

“Consider this, the Phantom Thieves are Humanity last try at using ‘non-lethal’ methods to stop this war, if even them fail, then our race as a whole will take away the kid gloves, and we will declared open season on Equestria. It’s a good incentive to hope those guys will succeed.”

“That is not comforting...” Fluttershy admitted.

“Ops!” the old man countered, clearly not sorry at all.

End of Chapter 7.

Writing intermediary chapters is awfully hard!

Next Chapter will be about the delivery of the Calling Card and the Stealing of Pinkie’s Treasure: meaning a short part will be dedicated to Fluttershy’s interrogation, then a rapid cut to the Phantom Thieves trying to discover the correct order of the levers and THEN the delivery and Stealing of the Treasure.

And the Boss Battle against Pinkie.

Boss battle that will have two phases, two phases inspired by two things….

This lovely guy

And this "Lovely" Toy

With a dash of this for extra flair:

Thank you for reading this story, I hope you will continue enjoying it.

Chapter 8: Heartfelt confession, Pinkieland close forever!

Secret Location -

Still looking pristine and proper in her formal tailleur, Sae (Sister of Makoto) was silently cursing-up a storm as she sat on an uncomfortable chair in the middle of the abandoned parking lot she knew Fluttershy was about to be delivered to her for interrogation.

“I hate this plan...I hate it.” she muttered.

“It is necessary, I fear. Our apologies.” Yusuke answered from the hidden microphone inside the woman’s ear.

Iwai was apparently not joking when he offered ‘spy equipment’ to the Phantom Thieves.

“I can see him, how’s the audio quality?” she asked as she saw the nondescript van holding inside Fluttershy making its way towards her.

“Decent, for now it will suffice.” Futaba answered.

“Everything’s ready.”

Skriee! With a subtle scratching of brakes, the van went parked at barely two feet from her, so that she could already see the unnerving smile on her old boss’ face from the driver’s seat.

“Finally meeting again! You are avoiding me like the plague nowadays!” the old man said with a cheerful smile as he got down from the van to greet the woman.

“And of course you answer this by surrounding my apartment in badly-hidden agents and filling it in microphones and cameras.” Sae answered bitterly.

“Not in the bathroom though! Only microphones there.” the man answered with a smug expression.

“It is still a breach of my privacy!” she barked back in answer.

“Not if you are a possible lead to the Phantom Thieves.” he answered simply, chuckling at her fuming expression while unlocking the back of the van.

“Just because they contacted me once?! I was called because I was a link to you! The boss of the guys that have access to Fluttershy! It wasn’t even me to decide we had to meet here!” Sae said with a perfect mixture of anger and scandal.

“Fair enough, but what about dear Kurusu-san?” the man said.

“Akira? For fuck sake! I clearly demonstrated that he had been coerced into acting as decoy! You saw the proofs I offered in court! Not a soul could refute them, the entire SIU had to apologize publicly for the mistake!”

“Proofs?...”

“You actually don’t remember? It was a two-hundred-pages-long stack of proofs, witnesses’ records and...and...It took me WEEKS to prepare it!” Sae asked in disbelief.

“Yes, yes, I do remember reading the reports now, sorry about that...Please do forgive an old man for starting to lose his edge, I am no longer a kid. I am the ‘Wise old Teacher’ now, not hot stuff like you youngsters.” the man replied with a self-deprecating sigh following his words.

“That is why you faked your death? Was it your secret escape plan?” she growled with a low voice.

“I prefer to describe it as ‘Safe Retirement Plan’, dear.” he answered.

“It also helped your crusade against the Phantom Thieves.”

“OUR crusade against the Phantom Thieves.” he countered with a patronizing ‘tut-tut’ added to his words.

“Tch!”

“But we are not here for that...We are here for this!” the man said, making Fluttershy descend from the van closely followed by Lyra and Tempest.

“Two new recruits?” Sae asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, not yet at least. Those two are at the head of two Pro-Humanity groups, I needed their help to enact Fluttershy’s evasion to cover our moving her to a new location. In exchange of us providing them with a base of operation for their groups.”

“You two know you made a deal with the Devil, right?” Sae said, sighing.

“I am technically still here...” the old man muttered with a low, defeated voice.

“It was necessary, we needed a safe base otherwise Celestia and her attack dogs, first of all Shining Armour, would have been able to round us up whenever they wanted.” Tempest Shadow answered.

“It’s your choice, in the end, it doesn’t matter to me...” Sae answered while walking towards Fluttershy.

“H-H-Hi.” the poor mare whispered weakly.

“It’s okay, differently from that old man, I have nothing against you, I just need you to answer some questions...Can you help me?” she asked.

“Questions?”

“Simple ones, it will take at best five minutes.”

“O-Okay...”

“I won’t hurt you.” she added with a gentle smile while patting the mare’s head.

“Hu-uh.”

“Very well, let’s begin...I want you to answer truthfully, with as much details you can give me. You understand?” Sae asked while returning to sit on her small chair, three feet away from the ponies.

“Y-Yes.” Fluttershy answered with a shaken nod.

“You remember how you were treated in your old cell, yes?” the old man asked, making the mare shiver violently.

“Yes, you do. Consider this: I can either make it so that you are treated like a Princess in the next one...Or make things so much worse you will look back and wish you were never born...It all depends on how much you help us.” he added with a cold chuckle.

“Good job, now she will really help us...” Sae muttered in bitter sarcasm.

“I-I-I will answer...I-I will...” Fluttershy said with a very scared tone.

“Good. Then let’s start: Your friends, Where are they now? How can we track-down the other Elements of Harmony?” the woman asked.

“What kind of question is that?!” the old man hissed, furious.

“I am just following the script those Phantom Thieves gave me, here, read this, I found it pinned on my apartment’s door.” she answered, showing him a simple piece of paper.

“Let me read that!” he answered, snatching the thing away.

“...What!? We already know the answers to these Quest-”

KABOOOOOOOOM!

As soon as the old man started arguing with the woman, several abandoned cars around them exploded, throwing both him and Sae down the ground.

“NOW!” a new voice yelled as cannonballs rained around them, demolishing most of the parking lot and rising an immense cloud of dust.

“IT WORKED, BUT YOU ARE LATE, SUNSET!” Tempest screamed as a humanoid cat jumped down from the equestrian flying ship to free Fluttershy from her bindings.

“The flying ship we needed was better guarded than expected, now let’s go!” Sunset Shimmer answered from the helm of the ship that was already preparing to depart.

“NO!” the old man, only he still awake as Sae lied unconscious next to him, yelled in anger.

“As if we would have accepted your deal! We would have just treated an evil for another, at least like this, we got Fluttershy.” Lyra answered, jumping aboard.

“We are set! Go before they catch us! Go! Go! Go!” Tempest ordered, making the crew of cat people answer with a roar of approval and rapidly pulling the ship away and high in the sky.

“No! No! NO! I need Fluttershy and what she knows!...Sorry, Sae, this is more important!” the old man said as he ran away without sparing even a glance at the unconscious woman.

“Here’s the director! It was a trap of the ponies! The ponies tricked me and Sae into bringing Fluttershy here with a fake letter! It was not the Phantom Thieves! I repeat: it was not the Phantom Thieves! Switch tactic, we have a flying ship to catch! Every man abandon your positions and chase that damn thing! I want my Element of Harmony back this instant!” the old man ordered to his radio, making several hidden cars flare their lights to life and their engines roar awake.

And once one of them collected the old man, the six cars sprinted away to chase the flying ship...And all this mess was the signal for Sae to open her eyes.

“...”

“...Too much noise.” she said with a groan once sure she was alone.

“But unfortunately it was a needed sacrifice for this operation to work flawlessly.” Yusuke answered from the radio.

“Are you okay, nee-san?” Makoto asked in concern.

“Yes, yes, I am. Their aim was damn good, me and that old cretin were just blasted away unharmed while the cannonballs rained around us far away enough to just rise dust...Not even a shrapnel.”

“I was confident my men had the good aim needed to make this possible.” Tempest answered, sounding very proud of her Abyssinian helpers.

“Have you already ditched the ship?” Sae asked.

“Yep! Thorax and the other changelings with him have already left it crash-land far enough from your position, they are just now switching from mimicking us and Sunset to turn into some Equestrian royal guards, it should stop those cops from looking too deep into the thing to give us non-flyers enough time to escape.” Lyra answered.

“Good. And Fluttershy?”

“I-I-I am okay...But why you did all this?” the mare asked.

“As I suspected, my old Boss has not forgotten his past dislike for the Phantom Thieves, so I planned accordingly once discovered he recently rigged my entire apartment to spy on me. He must have thought that their insisting on me to bring you in this specific parking lot was part of a plan to kidnap you...So we just gave him what he wanted, only with ponies being the perpetrators.” Sae explained.

“Those two guards that were guarding your cell were very helpful in organizing this, as we speak, the real Sunset Shimmer is treating their wounds.” Tempest added.

“Thank goodness they are okay! They were so gentle with me, they were forced to be so mean just to make their boss happy...” Fluttershy said in elation.

“I will make sure you will be able to contact them later, for now just move to your new home, the guys are waiting there for you.”

“B-B-But the Barrier will-”

“To put it simple: Lies. There are many things you need to know, and they will tell you everything as soon as you meet them.” Sae answered.

“...I will instead go into hiding with the other Confidants in our new Base as soon as I ditch the agents that old bastard left behind to follow me just in case.” she added with an annoyed tone as soon as she caught a glimpse of a solitary van parked not too far away.

“Oh, have no fear, Iwai-san and Sojiro will take care of that, just tell them where to strike.” Futaba answered.

“Tell them to hurry up, soon I will have to ‘stagger’ my way out of here like a proper dazed victim so to make my alibi believable, and I don’t want to be dragged away just in case they have some questions for me.”

“Do not sweat it, sweetie, we are coming.” Iwai answered chuckling.

With Fluttershy - One hour later – Shujin Academy – Music club classroom -

“Over here.” Tempest said as she and Lyra accompanied Fluttershy inside the abandoned classroom.

“H-Hello?” the poor Pegasus said with a meek voice while entering.

“Hi!” Ryuji answered, grinning.

“Why the masks?” Lyra asked.

“We are finally meeting in person, but anonymity is still necessary.” Yusuke answered with an apologetic tone.

All of them were wearing simple clothes, with the hoods of their hoodies pulled up and a 3D-Printed copy of their Phantom Thieves masks covering their faces, making it impossible to tell what their true faces looked like.

“You are the Phantom Thieves?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, sorry about that, but it was needed to save you, many humans are not…‘Friendly’ towards ponies lately, so we preferred to help Lyra and Tempest save you in exchange of their help.” Ann answered.

“That Sae woman helped us escape those cops when they found us the first time, helping her back was the least we could do.” Lyra answered with a small smile.

“I-It’s okay, as long as nopony got hurt.” the shy mare added.

“You said you needed her help to get to Pinkie Pie, what kind of help?” Lyra asked.

“P-Pinkie?!”

“Remember what happened with you? After you received our Calling Card?” Haru asked.

“After t-that?...I...I remember feeling normal...T-Then something inside me...b-broke, and then it was as if my head was being split in two…T-Then the memories of what I did came up but-but-but they felt awful! W-Wrong!”

Meeeow! Morgana offered with a drawn-out meow.

“That was your Change of Heart, it coincided with our stealing your Treasure, triggering your return to normal.” Yusuke explained as he showed her the bunny plushy they got from her Palace.

“Th-That is...B-But I left it in Ponyville! Why you have that? How?”

“This is a copy, so to speak, it represent your true self, call it a manifestation of it.” Makoto answered.

“...It even has the same patch of when my mother fixed its ear for me...” Fluttershy muttered in disbelief once checked the thing herself.

“From what I could understand, you are basically like the Elements of Harmony: you intervene on Corrupted hearts to remove what is corrupting them, isn’t it?” Tempest asked.

“Basically, yes, only we physically enter the Heart of our Target instead of shooting them with a light-show, we actually use the same method to also pass through the Barrier. There are two stages to Distortion,Mementoes: where the victim’s heart is overcome by their darkest desires and delusions, and the Palaces: where the heart is completely swallowed by said Darkness.

In the former case, we just need to help the victim snap out of it and see the error of their ways, in the latter we have to infiltrate the Palace itself to steal their Treasure (that is basically their Heart and the last spark of their True Self), saving their Heart from the clutches of their Distorted Form, which is the embodiment of their inner Darkness.” Yusuke explained.

“Everybody can have a Memento, but if the Memento is not fixed soon, it can become a Palace.” Haru added.

“So the path is: Normal – Memento – Palace. Like a virus getting worse if not treated. That is why a lot of ponies are ditching Celestia’s plans to join our ranks, those were all Palaces!” Tempest asked in surprise.

“Not exactly, those were more likely Mementos, since we did go fixing those in-between trips to Fluttershy and Pinkie’s Palaces, it’s way easier to fix Mementoes than Palaces because there is not a Treasure that needs to be stolen or a Calling Card to be sent.”

“For a Memento you just have to find and beat the crap out of the Target’s Distorted form before that thing can hide inside a Palace, they just return to normal after a good ass-wooping.” Ryuji added with a smirk.

“It’s a bit crude for an explanation, but it is also strangely fitting.” Yusuke admitted unsure.

“But Pinkie is in the Palace stage instead?” Fluttershy asked, worried.

“You all are: the Elements of Harmony, Shining Armour, Cadence, Blueblood, Spitfire, Luna and even Celestia.” Akira answered.

“Then why nopony noticed? Corruption is...is clearly evil!”

“Corruption may be, but Distortion isn’t.” Ryuji answered.

“When it comes to Distortion you can have clean cases like Kamoshida, acting like a bastard with delusions of grandeur.” Ann said with acidic scorn.

“And then you have the ones like Madarame...That from outside appear normal...gentle...Caring...But that are not so, deep inside, where nobody can see.” Yusuke added, with a more sad demeanor.

“Oh.” Fluttershy muttered in answer, clearly saddened by Yusuke depressed voice.

“Have you not noticed anything strange? About the others.” Haru asked.

“We...We have grown distant ever since we came here...Pinkie only thinks about her new super party, Dash spends all her time with the soldiers, AJ has closed herself in her family farm and Twilight never leaves her new Library here behind the Barrier...Rarity is a mystery as nopony of us has seen mane or tail of her ever since we landed here. We rarely meet nowadays.” Fluttershy answered unsure.

Meeeow.

“Correct, that is practically the result of them falling under the power of Distortion, it is clouding their judgment with the weight of their desires, but it is not an out-right ‘Turning Evil’ for everybody to see, but a more sinister corruption of their true self, a sick mockery of it.” Makoto said.

“Did she translate what the cat said?” Lyra muttered.

“I have no idea.” Tempest admitted.

“And since we are the Elements of Harmony, we cannot use them to help ourselves since we cannot tell anything is wrong with us.” Fluttershy said, dejected.

“Yes, that is why we are here, if we can enter Pinkie’s Palace and find what we need to do to reach her Treasure, we can return her to normal. And then do the same with your friends and the others.” Akira explained.

“Y-You won’t hurt them?”

“Nope! We are Heroes-”

Meooow!

“Gallant Heroes...Stupid cat.” Ryuji answered, rolling his eyes at Morgana’s hissed correction.

“...” The mare simply took in a huge breath at that, keeping her eyes tight close in a clear session of solo brain-storming.

“I-I will believe you. What do you need from me?” she finally said, with a more determined expression compared to when she entered.

“Easy. The heart of Pinkie’s Palace is a huge theater where her Distorted Self maniacally relives over and over the tales of her adventures with you others, or so we believe, she is obsessing about playing together with you...Probably forever.” Futaba explained.

“Oh, dear...Pinkie must be suffering so much! She already thought she lost us as friends once and she...she didn’t take it well...What is the problem?”

“It seems like one of the props on the stage contains the Treasure, but there is no lever that lowers it to the point of becoming reachable, we believe that the only story missing from her collection of operas is both the main one AND the correct order of levers to pull to lower the Treasure, problem is, the pages are missing save for these two.” Yusuke answered while showing her the copies of the pages they took from the Palace.

“...It seems to be about when we all discovered our Cutie Marks, we once talked about it. Twilight said that she believes we all happened to discover our Talents at the same time thanks to Rainbow Dash performing her first Sonic Rainboom, she also believes we probably became the chosen Element Bearers that same day as well.” Fluttershy explained.

“Dash, Sonic Rainboom and a Start of their adventures as friends, it fits the two pages!” Futaba said in great excitement.

“Can you tell us more, please?” Akira asked.

“O-Of course! Just please, be careful yourself and do not hurt Pinkie!” the mare answered.

“We will do our best, promise.” Haru answered.

Two days later – Floating Island 2 – Ponyville -

A solitary flying ship, stolen from the fleet of royal ships normally under control of Celestia and carrying under it a giant screen with huge sound amplifiers, was seen slowly and silently move to hover just over the main plaza of the small town, catching the attention of every single pony there.

“Here’s Thorax! We are in position!” the Leader of the ‘Converted’ Changelings said as soon as they stopped moving.

At the same time - Floating Island 1 – Canterlot and Royal Castle -

“Here’s Meowser, we are in position too!” the Abyssinian girl governing the second flying ship said as soon as they too stopped flying to just hover over the giant city.

“Here is Persianeus, we stopped right in front of the windows of the Throne Room, Celestia looks very pissed, Ah!” a second cat-man said in great amusement as the ship he was commanding stopped as well.

Akihabara -

“Tempest Shadow and Lyra, we are in position. Every Monitor ready?” Tempest asked with a pleased tone from the flying ship she herself was commanding.

Shop ‘Untouchable’ -

“AYE!” everybody taking part to the operation answered as one.

“Perfect, turn them on! I’ll start the Live-Streaming myself!” Futaba instructed with a wide, malevolent grin.

“Two days of trial-and-error to find the right combination of levers…We are ready. Can you help us again, Lavenza?” Akira asked.

“Of course.” the small girl answered while adjusting the mike in front of her.

“So this is the human world...” Igor, standing on the door to the Velvet Room, muttered with a curious tone.

“Bitch...” Ann muttered in distaste.

“You lost against her and the Twins, you know what it means...” Makoto answered, rolling her eyes.

“Tch!”

“Be quiet! Pinkie has now noticed the screens! Ready to transmit our Calling Card to both humans and ponies in Three!...Two!...One!...Go, girl!” Futaba ordered.

To Pinkamena Diane Pie, the deranged Jester slave of her bottomless greed, gorging non-stop in endless parties to futilely try to fill an empty stomach and even emptier heart, escaping Reality in favour of the fake friendship created by her Twisted Delusions.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who aides in the destruction of humanity so to appease her sick hunger for friendship.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will take your distorted desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Said that, the monitors held by the various ships turned off to show a static image of the Phantom Thieves’ Logo.

“Oh, Crab-baskets! Celestia is furious! Abandon ship!” one of the ships reported with a worried scream.

“Attention to all ships: go through the escape plans we planned, don’t get caught!” Yusuke instructed, getting in answer several frightened ‘Roger!’ by the various ships accompanied by the angry screams of guards and Alicorn Princess assaulting their vessels.

“Don’t worry, we trained as well for this, they won’t get caught.” Tempest promptly reassured them while she too closed the call to make her escape.

“You were perfect, Lavenza.” Akira said with a small smile.

“Uh-hu...” the girl replied while moving her hair aside.

Sigh! “Just get this over with.” Ann uttered, snarling.

Chu! “Thank you.” Lavenza said with a happy smile as soon as Akira gave a peck to her cheek.

“Pinkie is reacting!” Haru said while pointing at the screen.

When everybody looked at Futaba’s laptop, they could see the hyper-ventilating pink pony go wide-eyed in shock…

Immediately followed by everything around the teens going black so that only the Phantom Thieves and the mare’s Distorted Self remained in that bottomless void.

“PHANTOM THIEVES! You won’t take away my friends! They are mine! MINE! MINE!” the jester-dressed mare spat with a deranged light in her eyes.

“I Hate you! Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!Hate you!”

“Come if you dare! You will become my new friends! MINE FOREVER!” after that madness-filled raving was over, everything returned to normal, just in time to see the now horrified Pinkie run away screaming ‘TWILIIIIIIIIIGHT!’ at the top of her lungs with a high-pitched tone.

“It worked, the Treasure has now took a physical form, is now time for you to steal it. Good Luck. Come, Lavenza.” Igor said before returning inside the Velvet Room.

“At once, Master Igor. Please be careful, My Trickster.” Lavenza answered, giving a last kiss to Akira’s cheek and then returning inside the room herself.

“Phones’ up, guys! We’re going in!” Ryuji said, and moving as one, they all took out their phones…

“MMMMMMMMH!”

“Ann?” Makoto asked, rolling her eyes.

“A minute!”

“Ann, you will be free to mouth-rape and devour Akira’s tonsils all you want after we steal this Treasure.”

“But I am cleaning away that bitch’s Taint!”

“Just get the fucking phone out and open the App.” Ryuji answered, grumbling.

“Hn! Okay, fine!”

Inside Pinkie’s Palace – Theater – Safe room -

“Okay, we arrived. Futaba?” Ann asked.

“I am ready, the Alert Level is all the up to 99.9%, Pinkie is supremely pissed so do NOT get caught!” the hacker girl answered.

“Don’t worry, Navi, we’ll be careful.”

“Remember, guys! As soon as we activate the last prop the Treasure will be lowered down, after that we have to hurry and leave from the window of the women’s bathroom and hijack the flying dance-floor.” Morgana instructed.

“We know, we know.” Ryuji answered, rolling his eyes.

“Get ready, I will alert you as soon as the flying platform departs,” Futaba said.

“And I’ll be on the look-out for Pinkie, we have to go as soon as she locks the main doors.” Haru added as she left the Safe Room to go towards the woman’s bathroom, their exit point.

One hour later -

“...Where is she?” Yusuke finally asked once he too grew too tired to wait.

“I can’t see her.” Futaba answered.

“Me neither.” Haru added once asked by Ann.

“Maybe we should-”

“Pinkie is leaving the Theater! Pinkie is leaving the theater!” Haru called-out urgently.

“Dammit! The platform is already half-way through its tour, you will have to get to the Treasure fast!” Futaba added, cursing vehemently under her breath.

“She must be extremely paranoid now! She won’t go through her normal routine, keep us informed if she returns, Navi!” Morgana ordered while running outside the Safe Room with a mad dash, closely followed by the Phantom Thieves, Haru comprised.

Theater – Stage area -

The place completely empty, not even a Shadow outside or inside, and the complete lack of any noise this time was making the teens feel restless compared to their previous visits.

“There it is, let’s hurry!” Makoto said as soon as they entered.

“We will need to work together, we need to pull sixty levers to lower the sun, with the very last one being the cheering crowd, labeled ‘Lever 89’.” Morgana instructed while flipping through the pages of their notes.

“Okay! Let’s start, lever number 1...the Rock Farm.” Ann said as she pulled the level to make the background pop-up.

“And right after that, number 20: Pinkie Pie.” Akira muttered immediately after.

“...Long time ago, there was a young filly that didn’t know about the joys of parties...” Pinkie’s disembodied voice commenced telling with a gentle tone as soon as the puppet and background appeared on the stage.

“We started the right story! Now! Pull all the levers we need!” Haru ordered, making the others hurry-up to follow her in pulling the levers in the correct order.

Rainbow Dash…

The Power of Friendship…

Rarity…

Friends…

Together…

Cutie Mark…

Pinkie Pie...

The voice recording struggled and jumped with continuous stutters as it could barely keep-up with the lowering and rising of levers and the resulting appearance and disappearance of props, characters and switching of backgrounds.

“Guys! Pinkie is coming back! Hurry up!” Futaba alerted them with a scared voice.

“We have almost done! We only need another minute!” Ann answered.

“You don’t have a minute!”

“DONE! Cut that down, Mona!” Ryuji yelled as the sun was finally lowered enough for the cat to jump on top of hit and rapidly cut the rope holding it up.

“Is that...A rock?” Makoto asked in disbelief as soon as the sun prop came crashing down, shattering into thousands of pieces making the Treasure roll out free.

“Pinkie tricked us!” Ann added in both anger and horror.

“No, it’s the real deal, I can ‘Smell it’, this is Pinkie’s Treasure.” Morgana answered as soon as he took the fist-sized stone to examine it.

“A simple rock?!”

“We will analyze the philosophical meaning and symbolism behind that rock once out of here and in the safety of a Palace-less Pinkie. Now just think about running!” Yusuke rebutted him as the rest of the group hurried out of the room at top speed.

“WAIT FOR MEEEE!” Ryuji yelled as he instantly started running behind his friends.

“Pinkie is opening the theater doors!”

“And we are almost to the bathroom window! Where is that flying platform?!” Ann answered.

“It has now started the landing procedures!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“SHIT!” Ryuji yelled at hearing Pinkie’s madness filled scream of rage come from downstairs.

“We will board it before it even lands!” Akira said as he jumped through the window without breaking his running stride.

“JUMP!” Ann yelled as she followed her boyfriend down the same window.

“I don’t think-”

“CATCH THEEEEEEM!” Pinkie Pie roarer in fury, cutting-off Haru’s words.

“I AM JUMPING!” the girl switched gear and jumped down herself, prompting Yusuke and the others to hurry-up and follow her.

As the flying platform was about to land, the two Shadows guarding it only felt somebody grab their hind hooves before both Akira and Ryuji pulled them off the platform, all the while the rest of the Phantom Thieves boarded the thing to force the shades on it to jump down as well.

“How do I pilot this?!” Makoto asked.

“Pull the lever upward, there is written ‘Up’ for a reason, Queen!” Futaba answered growling.

“I saw that! I saw that!” the young woman answered annoyed while rapidly forcing the thing to raise upward.

THUNK!

“You are not going anywhere!” Distorted Pinkie growled as she landed heavily on the platform before it could completely take-off.

“SHIT!”

“You won’t steal my Treasure! You’ll have to fight me for-” WHAM!

“...”

“...”

“What?” Ryuji asked.

“Did you really Drop-kick Pinkie off the platform, Skull?” Morgana asked.

“Hey, it worked...” the punk boy answered, unsure, while pointing at the dazed Distorted Pinkie all the way down, the mare looking up at them with crossed eyes and several teeth missing.

“Hold tight, I am pushing this!” Makoto yelled as she finally got the thing to raise high enough to pass above the walls around the fortress.

“We did it! We did it!” Ann said happily.

“We only need to reach the exit gate of the Theme Park and we will successfully steal the Treasure.” Yusuke said, elated.

“And without fighting Pinkie!” Ryuji added, smiling smugly.

Bang!

It was then that a giant clawed hand grabbed the base of the flying platform, stopping it abruptly and almost making the Phantom Thieves fall down with the whiplash of the sudden stop.

“FUUUUUUCK!”

“YOU JINXED IT, SKULL!” Morgana shrieked angrily.

“You really think I will lose my chance at being the Boss Fight?! Valiant Heroes must face the Big Bad Guy before the story reaches its happy ending! HIHIHI-HAHAHA-HEHEHEEEEE!” a deep voice filled to the brim in madness declared as two giant balloons with ‘let’s Party!’ written in melting and very blood-like paint on it slowly rose to the sky to carry upward a giant and overly-ornate cubic wooden box with a half-rusted crank to the side, and from its slightly opened lid that same giant clawed puppet hand came out to hold back the platform once again.

“I will also take this, THANK YOU!” a second hand then came out to snatch the small rock.

“No!” Morgana yelled in answer, sneaking between the giant fingers to save the rock.

“FINE! Then I will just kill you all and recover my rock from the wreckage!” Distorted Pinkie bellowed furious, fully coming-out of the box so to show her true form…

In all its disturbing glory.

It looked like somebody tried to sew human skin to cover a puppet, uncaring that the thing will then rot and decay, and without even the faintest clue about how to sew to begin with, if one saw the sloppy patching holding everything together; Pinkie’s own face was an uneven mixture of rotten flesh, rusted metal and rotten wood haphazardly put together and with one of her eyes being made of glass and heavily cracked, neither of the two eyes were standing still but kept moving nonstop in random directions.

Half steam-punk-like and half rotten corpse, the humanoid pony puppet abomination dripping viscous fluids of different coloursfrom every joint showed a Glasgow smile of sharp yellow fangswhile adjusting the tattered red jester hat on her head; the monstrosity proudly displaying both rotten organs and rusted cogwheels spinning wildly from the holes everywhere on her body as she wobbled back and forth once rose to her full height out the box, all thiswhile laughing maniacally every few seconds.

“The show is about to start!” Pinkie declared with her eyes rolling madly in her sockets in different directions while the crank at the side of her box started spinning without control, mixing the resulting nursery-rhyme music with loud and harsh cracking sounds of unkempt cogs.

“Fight formation, guys! We’ll have to fight to escape with the Treasure!” Morgana ordered while both Pinkie’s hands moved to hang high above the Phantom Thieves.

“I’ll block the controls, so we will hover in place.” Makoto added.

“Our tale of friendship and heroism starts with Equestria’s fastest flier! RAINBOW DASH! HAHAHAHA-HEHEHEHE-HIHIHIIIIII!” the monstrous creature declared with her mad laugh as a puppet copy of Rainbow Dash appeared in her left hand, along hair-thin threads connecting each giant finger of Pinkie to it so to maneuver the puppet.

“BOOOYAH!” the Puppet yelled in Pinkie’s voice as it went into a nose-dive towards Akira.

“Arsene! Cleave!” the young man answered, using his Persona to deflect the thing while also beheading it at the same time.

“Hey! It took me weeks to build that!” Pinkie roared while recalling the thing to make it just fly around above the group, even if without head.

“How do we attack something this big?” Yusuke whispered to Morgana.

“She must have a weak spot, we just have to find it,” the cat answered with narrowed eyes.

“In case like this, when faced with unfunny sticks in the mud like you, enemies of parties, the only solution is using the Power of Friendship!” Pinkie, once fixed the Dash puppet with a new head she took from God know where, said with a proud voice as now the puppets of the other Elements of Harmony appeared on the flying platform, right next to Dash.

“Let’s see how much you like it when you no longer have superiority in numbers!” the monster said with a mocking tone as the puppet version of Pinkie too joined the scene.

“Ready to be destroyed, darling?” Puppet-Rarity asked with a haughty laugh.

“Navi...” Akira muttered.

“Yes, Joker?”

“Do you think you can study Pinkie’s body to look for some weak spot?”

“I can try, but I can’t promise you anything.”

“Still try to, please.”

“Okay.”

“ENOUGH CHIT-CHAT! This is not turn-based combat! This is Real Life! Attack, my friends! let’s show them how strong is our friendship!”

“SPLIT! I will take on AJ!” Yusuke said as he tackled the puppet farm mare to push her away.

“EEEYUP! Yah want a buckin’? Ah will happily give it to ya!” Puppet AJ answered, headbutting the young man in the abdomen as soon as she got back on her hooves.

“Goemon!”

Ann vs Rarity -

“I loove your bodysuit! The whip though is a very bad choice for an accessory!” P-Rarity said as her horn went shot towards the girl like a missile.

“Do shut up! You would not recognize good fashion even if it hits you on the head!” Ann answered while using her whip to grab around the puppet’s throat to slam her on the ground.

“HOW DARE YOU!” the wooden toy replied as a new firework poppet-out of her forehead ready to be shot.

Ryuji vs Pinkie -

“JUST STAND STILL, GODDAMNIT! I JUST WANT TO SHOOT YOU!” the punk boy bellowed furious as he tried to shot Puppet Pinkie to pieces with his shotgun.

“Then shot faster!” the toy replied giggling, merrily jumping around the platform as if on a sugar rush.

“At least I am shooting!”

“I can shoot too! PARTY CANNON!” P-Pinkie answered, uncorking her own head to show the mouth of a cannon hidden inside her belly.

“FUUUCK!” the poor Phantom Thief yelled in answer as he was forced to dodge a barrage of party amenities the thing was using as ammunition.

Makoto vs Dash -

WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

“FASTER! FASTER! FASTER!” P-Dash yelled with a deranged smile as she chased Makoto, randomly diving down to try catch the girl off-guard.

“Johanna!” Makoto would then reply by clamping down on the brakes, raise the back of her bike-shaped Persona and use the momentum to spin around to hit the puppet’s side with the Persona’s abilities, knocking the toy back and re-starting the cycle of hit-and-run.

“Not enough! Youìll need to be 20% cooler to defeat me!”

“Once I am done with you, you’ll be 20% more Dead!”

“Bring it!”

Haru vs Fluttershy -

WHAM!

“I-I-I thought you were the classy one!” P-Fluttershy cried in shock at the second close-call between her head and Haru’s giant battle-ax that just managed to cut away a big chunk of the toy’s fake mane.

“I am! But I also like the real Fluttershy, and watching Pinkie make a mockery of such a cute pony makes me MAD!” Haru replied, switching from the ax into her granade-launcher.

“T-Then Bring it! I-I am not afraid of you!” the toy answered with her own version of Fluttershy’s ‘Stare’.

“And that should scare me?! Come here, you cheap toy! You will fear ME!” unfortunately it seemed to only make Haru angrier as she started shooting the puppet with absolutely zero mercy.

Akira and Morgana vs Twilight -

“Stop moving!” Puppet Twilight ordered as she both flew around and attacked the two with long streams of sparks of her horn acting like a flame-thrower.

“Zorro!” Morgana yelled, using his Persona’s attack to intercept the firework horn shot from the toy’s forehead so to make it explode away from them.

“Arsene!” Akira then added, managing to cut away one of P-Twilight wings, unfortunately this didn’t stop Distorted Pinkie from keeping it airborne.

“Of course, it is still a puppet, so it can fly with just one wing.” Joker muttered, grimacing.

“It is not working, those toys are not part of Pinkie, even if we destroy them, she won’t get damaged.” Morgana hissed while shouldering his sword to dodge a new stream of sparks.

“It’s time for the Special Attaaaaack!” Pinkie alerted them with a cruel smile.

“Special attack!?” Ryuji repeated in dread.

“Yep! The Elements of Harmony will attack all together! And I will personally supply the special effects!” the giant monstrosity answered opening her mouth wide, then opening it some more so that the mouth of the biggest cannon the Phantom Thieves had even seen could come out towards them.

“T-That’s a three-meters-wide cannon mouth!” Makoto shrieked with wide eyes.

“Prepare yourself! I am going to shoot you with pure Friendship!...In the form of a nuclear warhead, but it’s the thought that matters.” Pinkie answered colloquially, even with her mouth stretched to its limits around the cannon’s base.

“Can we jump down this thing?” Akira asked with a faint voice as they saw the Puppets being called to safety on Distorted Pinkie’s shoulders while energy started mounting inside the cannon.

“You are too high in the sky! Attack her body! There must be some place she is weaker! She is a toy corpse, for heaven’s sake! BREAK HER BEFORE SHE KILLS YOU!” Futaba cried-out in answer.

“SHOT HER! ATTACK HER! DO SOMETHING!” Makoto yelled as her own Persona started pelting everywhere on Pinkie’s body in attacks with all its power.

“Jack Frost: Mabufu! Arsene: Cleave! Inugami!” Akira at the same time used every Persona he had bought along, while also shooting with his gun at every boil he could see on the monster’s rotten skin and wood parts.

“TOO LATE! FAREWELL, ENEMY OF PARTIES! HAHAHA-HEHEHE-HIHIHIIII!”

“Captain Kidd!” it was when the Cannon was about to shoot that Ryuji’s Persona rammed its entire body against the wooden box that the crank at the side stopped spinning, making Pinkie’s giant body deflate boneless on the platform and turning off the cannon at the same time.

“Good Job, Skull!” Morgana declared happily.

“Attack her now that she is down!” Akira ordered while he himself started wildly slashing at the puppet face with his knife, making the thing jerk slightly from the onslaught and several stitches on its face break apart.

“THAT’S IT! SHE IS A GIANT JACK-IN-THE-BOX! She needs that crank’s spinning to move!” Ann said with wide eyes while her Persona Carmen pelted both monster’s eyes with fire attacks, finally shattering the glass one in a thick explosion of black tar-like ichor.

“Yep! At least now we know how to attack her! GO! ALL-OUT ATTACK!” Futaba answered.

“...Move dammit...” a faint voice reached them from inside the giant monster’s head.

“Uh!?” Ryuji muttered in confusion.

“...Should have gone with the Toy Robot plan instead...” the same faint voice muttered again, all the while subtle hammering noises also came out from the puppet’s box.

“Keep attacking!” Makoto yelled as one of Pinkie’s giant hands finally moved to spin the crank, soon making it return to spin at high speed by itself.

“That’s better!” Pinkie said as her body returned to move and stand upright.

“You got lucky, now the cannon is over-heated and I will have to wait for it to cool-down before using it again!...How convenient...” she said with a vitriolic tone of anger.

“There is something strange about her.” Ryuji said with narrowed eyes.

“I think the same, I believe we should focus our attacks on that lever, her secret must be behind it.” Yusuke answered.

“AS IF I WILL LET YOU! Destroy them, my friends!” the giant Monster replied as the six puppets jumped down to attack them again.

“Fox!” Akira said.

“Yes, Joker?”

“Me, Mona and Lady will take care of those puppets! You others attack the crank! Destroy it, whatever it takes!”

“As you wish! Come, Goemon!” Yusuke answered, personally charging the crank with his Persona, happy to see his friends shot down P-Fluttershy as soon as the toy tried to stop him.

“Wait for me!” Ryuji added, preparing the sledgehammer in his hand for an over-head bash with his full strength.

“Noo!”

“MILADY!” Haru, once seen the scared expression on Pinkie’s face, used her Persona to bombard the Puppet-version of the six Elements of Harmony as soon as they turned around.

“You need both hands to maneuver all those dolls, so choose who to focus on!” Morgana said smirking as his sword went plunged deep inside P-AJ’s back, making the puppet start kicking around to dislodge the cat on its back like in a rodeo.

“They are not dolls! They are puppets, you ignorant cat! And soon I will have the real version here with me, and we will have endless parties together, FOREVEEEER!” Pinkie roared in fury.

“Dolls, Puppets, it’s the same.” the cat answered, smirking.

“IT ISN’T!” the Monster shrieked hysterically.

“IT. IS.”

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Mona, do not anger the psycho.” Ann chided him while summoning Carmen.

“Sorry, Lady Panther.”

“I am not a Psycho! I am a Party Maker.”

“Well, unfortunately I am not having fun...” Yusuke muttered.

“W-W-What?!...HOW DARE YOU!”

“FOX!”

“MY APOLOGIES! I WAS NOT THINKING!” the young man replied, ashamed, as both puppets and giant monster now turned rabid and blood-thirsty in their attacks.

“That is my job usually!” Ryuji answered while wildly hammering the wood around the crank, making it crack and splinter heavily at each blow.

“That’s it! I don’t care if it explodes! I am using the cannon again before it cools down!” Pinkie roared as she once again spat out the cannon’s mouth, further loosening the stitches holding her giant face together.

“Get ready! I’ll boost your attack as much as I can!” Futaba alerted the teens as she moved to buff her friends at the best of her abilities.

“Damn it.” Akira growled as he hurried towards the cannon.

“JOKER!” Ann yelled in fear.

“First to die? OKIE-DOKIE-LOKIE!” Pinkie said with a cruel laugh as energy finished mounting inside the cannon.

“ELIGOR! DOUBLE FANG!” Running up the cannon’s length, to Pinkie’s surprise, Akira summoned the horse-riding red soldier to let it charge at top speed towards the Distorted Mare’s sane eye.

“You traitor! YOU BETRAY YOUR BEST FRIEND LIKE THIS!?”

“I serve Justice, so at best I only betrayed a monster! KYY-HIAAAA!” the Eligor answered while plunging its spear deep inside the mare’s eye, making it explode and forcing her to throw her head back to howl in pain…

Just an instant before she could fire her cannon.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion was terrifying, turning the entire sky over the Theme Park in a sea of fire, and from right inside its core, a giant fireball could be seen fall down like a meteor.

“HOLD ON! I CAN’T CONTROL IT!” Makoto, just like the others looking not too worse for wear, yelled while holding on the platform’s half-broken steering wheel for dear life.

“Joker, you okay!?” Ann in the meantime asked worried, both she and her boyfriend helped by Yusuke and Ryuji to hold on on the railings so to not fall down.

“I think I broke an arm.” Akira answered grimacing.

“I have some healing items, what about you, Navi?” Morgana answered while going through their reserves of medicines without reserves.

“I am pumping him with as much Healing Skills I can. Don’t worry, Panther! We’ll fix him in no time!” Futaba answered.

“I just hope we’ll manage to land safely, or even healing him will be pointless.” Yusuke added, looking at the rapidly burning blimps that by now were no longer able to hold them up.

“Then start praying! We are going to crash!” Makoto answered with wide eyes.

The falling platform crashed through a ferris wheel, cut in half the roller coaster course and created a deep groove on the terrain as the thing kept skidding on the ground even after landing, crushing every Shadows and shades unfortunate enough to be on its path until it slammed heavily against the high walls surrounding the Theme Park delimiting the exit point of Pinkie’s Palace.

BOOOOOM!

“...”

“…”

“...I-I-I-Is everybody alright?” Ryuji asked with a shaken voice as he managed with some difficulties to get back to his feet.

“My goodness...We have had a lot of close-calls, but this is going to be worthy of our Top 10...” Yusuke muttered as an answer while helping Haru to descend from the burning wreckage of the platform.

“And we could do this only because of me...” Morgana added, looking especially dizzy as he stumbled around with spinning eyes.

“Your Van Form can bash walls down and doors open, so I hoped it was durable enough to cushion us from the impact.” Makoto admitted while cracking her back with a half-moan of pleasure.

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t feel it...Lady Panther...Can you please hand me one of those empty pop-corn bags?” the cat replied.

“Hu? Okay...But why?” Ann replied while handing him the small thing as asked.

“Just a little...BLUUUUUAAAAAARGH!”

“Eew.” Ryuji muttered with a grimace at seeing their mascot emptying his stomach inside the bag.

“But you all survived, that’s a plus. How’s your arm, Joker?” Futaba asked in concern.

“The arm is good as new, but I still feel like a giant bruise.” the young man answered, groaning.

“We all feel the same, but at least we can say it is a good thing...Feeling pain means we are still alive.” Yusuke said with a small smile.

“If you say so.” Ryuji commented sighing.

“And if the Palace is still standing, it means that Pinkie is alive too, even if she was the source of the explosion.” Haru commented while watching the Theme Park already self-repairing.

“Then I say we take this opportunity to escape the Palace, hopefully the explosion weakened her enough!” Yusuke suggested.

“All okay?” Morgana asked.

“Fuck yeah!” Ryuji answered as he grabbed Makoto’s hand so that both could run towards the far-away gate.

“You...are not going...ANYWHERE!” a furious, and at the same time exhausted, voice roared in defiance as a giant puppet hand slammed down in front of both teens to stop them.

“Damn it!” Makoto hissed in annoyance while she dragged Ryuji away.

“So she fell close to us.” Ann muttered with narrowed eyes.

“But not without taking damage.” Akira added.

Most of Pinkie’s giant Jack-in-the-box body had been burned away, leaving only a mutilated headless torso and a badly-damaged right arm coming out of the heavily-cracked wooden box; from every hole and crack of the puppet now there was an endless stream of black sludge, same going for the box as the same sludge had pooled out enough to form four ‘legs’ to slowly drag box and puppet forward.

“Something tells me the Puppet is not your real form, you Monster! You actually reside inside the box itself, isn’t it?! Show yourself!” Yusuke ordered with a frown.

“Uh?” the other Phantom Thieves asked as one, confused.

“I had my doubts the first time we stopped the crank’s spinning, if it was true that she needed that to move at all, its stopping would have meant our victory, but instead one arm moved by itself to spin it, that was a contradiction in itself, but the biggest clue was that the only time she actually showed any reaction to pain from our attacks was when Joker blew away her real eye, otherwise I never saw her bleed from any wound we opened. And more important, the box itself didn’t sound empty while you were striking it, Skull.” the artist explained.

“...Eh! Now that you mention it, it didn’t.” Ryuji admitted.

“You were controlling the puppet from inside, isn’t it?” Yusuke asked with an accusing tone.

“...You are awfully perceptive, isn’t it?!” Pinkie answered while trying to squash him with her remaining hand.

“Goemon!”

“Johanna!”

“Milady!”

“Zorro!”

“Arsene!”

“Carmen!”

“Captain Kidd!”

The Phantom Thieves answered in chorus as soon as they dodged the enraged puppet’s fist, hitting at the same time the thing’s wrist with their combined abilities and severing the entire hand away at the wrist in a shower of splinters, but no ichor came out from the stump.

“DAMN YOU! WHY YOU WANT MY PARTIES TO END!? WHY DO YOU HATE FRIENDSHIP SO MUCH?!” Pinkie shrieked as the wooden box gave a heavy shudder before a giant geyser of black sludge exploded upwards demolishing the remains of the puppet completely, forming a long tentacle of barely-solid black tar covered in mouths, the biggest of which at the head of the bulbous shapeless mass.

“There she is, the real Pinkie.” Morgana hissed with barred teeth.

“I just want to have fun! FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!FUN!” the thing repeated over and over like a deranged mantra, every one of its hundreds of mouths speaking with a different voice, but all sharing the same madness behind every word.

“Fun? What fun?! This is not having fun! This is creepy possessiveness!” Ann answered.

“You don’t understand! I will have my friends back! THEY ARE MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!” As she said this, the tentacle retracted inside the box so that Pinkie’s real body broke free from inside it, showing herself as a shapeless blob of pitch-black sludge covered in mouths, mouths either crying hysterically or laughing without control, while the main one (big enough to swallow an adult human whole) in the middle of the shapeless body kept snapping open and close while drooling uncontrollably.

“She has been weakened a lot from the explosion, and she cannot fight without the protection of her giant puppet, it’s your chance to close the fight and weaken her enough to make her see reason! GO!” Futaba instructed.

“Over here!” Akira yelled while pelting Pinkie in bullets.

“No! Here!” Ann countered, moving in the opposite direction while shooting the various mouths.

“Where are ya looking? I’m right here!” Ryuji said smirking while happily hammering one of Pinkie’s smaller mouths to dust in a shower of teeth fragments.

“ENOUGH!” the monster roared in fury as every mouth snapped forward on top of their own small tentacle to try bite them to pieces.

“Now I get it why you are covered in mouths!” Haru answered, cutting away a mouth with her battle ax.

“Uh? There is a reason?” Ryuji asked while smashing another mouth to pieces.

“Seriously, Skull! Does the concept of ‘Symbolism’ escape you!?” Morgana, using Zorro to cut three mouths at once to ribbons, said rolling his eyes.

“Morgana...” Akira whispered.

“Uh?”

“Come with me...”

“I know what Symbolism is! I just don’t get why everything must have a secret meaning!” Ryuji said, whining.

“Skull, dear...She is Hungry for friendship/company, that is why she is covered in mouths! She can’t think about anything else.” Makoto explained while using Johanna to debuff Pinkie’s extra mouths.

“...It does make sense in hindsight...” he muttered in answer.

“That’s it! I am eating you all!” Pinkie bellowed, recalling every small mouth inside her body so to enlarge her main one to huge proportions while jumping forward like a toad to swallow them.

“Would you look at that! We were waiting for you to do just that!” Ann yelled with a smirk as she dodged the mad charge.

“Eh?”

BEEP! BEEEP!

SLAM!

As soon as Pinkie landed from her jump forward, from her new blind side Joker came crashing against her while driving Morgana’s Van form, launching the giant living mass of sludge on top of the still-burning wreckage of the dance-floor.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the Distorted Mare bellowed in agony as her entire body got completelyenveloped in flames in an instant.

“Nice move! You could have told us too, though.” Makoto commented, huffing.

“Sorry, me and Joker noticed that she was weak to Fire thanks to Carmen’s attacks and had no time to alert you others too.” Ann admitted, sheepish.

“That is not being weak to fire, she is damn flammable.” Ryuji answered with an impressed whistle.

“Yuck! I am covered in Pinkie slime...” Morgana groaned in disgust while starting his own brushes to clean his windshield.

“I am not...Defeated...Yet...” Pinkie said with a weak voice while she dragged herself away from the fire, although she was rapidly deflating and returning to look like a pony dressed in a tattered jester costume.

“Pinkie, please, that’s enough.” Haru asked with a gentle smile, setting down on her bent knees so to meet the mare’s eyes.

“No...I have...To get my friends back...I-I just need a party big enough!” Pinkie answered stubbornly.

“Is not about the party, Pinkie. And deep inside, you know it.” Ann answered, she too moving closer to take away her jester hat so to caress her head gently.

“We drifted apart! S-Something broke our friendship! But I can fix it!” the mare said as the first tears started falling from her eyes.

“True friendship is unbreakable, not even distance can dent it.” Yusuke answered.

“Sure is sad that we can’t always be together, but that just makes the times we can meet all the sweeter, yeah?” Ryuji added, bumping fist with a smiling Akira and sharing a chuckle together.

“You just worried too much about the party itself, instead of meeting your friends to try mend the bridge, but it is not too late.” Makoto said.

“I-I-It isn’t?” Pinkie asked with a hopeful voice.

“Aren’t you everypony’s friend? You are the expert in Friendship, you should tell us.” Akira answered, showing a small smile.

“Technically Twilight is the ‘Princess of Friendship’...But I recon I am no slouch either.” Pinkie answered, blushing a little in embarrassment.

“Then I guess the party is over, it’s time for you to get back to work and making friends, old and new.” Morgana said, smirking.

“I guess...Can I at least say farewell to Boulder before that?”

“Who?”

“The Treasure! That is my sister Maud’s pet rock, Boulder!” Pinkie answered.

“...A Pet Rock...” Haru muttered, unsure.

“I-I guess!” Yusuke, unnerved a little by the thing, answered while showing her the small rock.

“There he is! Mommy and Daddy weren’t happy with my involvement with this Conversion War, neither my three sisters were...But Maud...She never gave-up on me like them, she said that she knew I would have seen reason and stopped helping Converting the humans soon enough, that is why she gave me Boulder when I came here with the others, to never forget where I come from and who I am...But I guess I still forgot who I was for a little, even if my ‘Pinkie Sense’ tried to warn me whenever I looked at myself in a mirror...” Pinkie said with a small, sad smile while giving a small kiss to the small rock.

“Yeah...Pinkie Sense...” Ryuji muttered, unsure.

“I am glad to see you got better.” Akira answered her.

“I am glad too. Once this is over...Can we be friends? Me and you all?”

“We would be honored.” Haru answered, skillfully ignoring the surprised (and a bit scared) looks the other Phantom Thieves gave her.

“Awesome! See you after my heart-felt confession and ‘Change of Heart’! Bye-Bye!” Pinkie said with a beaming smile before fading away into a swarm of tiny lights.

“...”

“...”

“...Okay, she creeps the shit out of me.” Ryuji admitted, not surprised to see the others give a small shudder he took as their silent confirmation.

“The Palace is crumbling, is time to go home, guys.” Futaba said with a tone sounding a bit saddened as the Palace was slowly rusting and crumbling to pieces all around them.

“Yes, let’s go home.” Akira answered as the group gave a last farewell to the Theme Park before calmly making their way towards the exit gate, this time close enough to not need them to run for their lives.

Just like with Fluttershy’s Palace, none of them saw a mysterious figure of black smoke leave the wreckage of the Palace only to dissipate while screaming in agony for the lost of its Host and cursing the Phantom Thieves in its last throes of misery before dying.

Two days later – Ponyville -

“Another Monitor?” A mare said in surprise as a big monitor was seen in the middle of the biggest park of the small town.

“Hundreds of them, all around Ponyville...” her friend corrected her while pointing with a hoof at the hundreds of monitors littering the entire floating island.

And to their surprise all of them turned-on to show an image of Pinkie Pie, mane completely smooth and the signs of her having spent the last two days crying nonstop clearly visible on her face.

Canterlot – at the same time -

Thousand of monitors, everywhere, in every corner, no matter where one looked, the total number was simply mind-blowing...And all showed Pinkie’s face.

“TURN THEM OFF! TURN THEM OFF NOW!” Shining Armour shrieked in hysterics as he already understood what was about to happen.

“W-W-We have not enough soldiers!” one of the guards said in apprehension at the absurd amount of monitors all around them.

“YOU ARE A UNICORN! START SHOOTING!” the Guard Captain answered, almost foaming at the mouth.

When Pinkie Pie wanted something to happen...That thing would happen, no matter if she had to break the Laws of Physic and Nature for that.

Pie Family’s Rock Farm -

“Daughter?” Igneous Rock said in surprise at the GIANT projection of his daughter Pinkie’s face covering the entire side of his house.

It was then, while Celestia herself was bellowing orders to do EVERYTHING to stop her confession from happening, that the recorded message Pinkie left started playing.

“...H-Hi! I-I will take just a minute of your time...So please, do listen to me...”

“Pinkie!” Twilight gasped in shock, just like the other Elements of Harmony that still had not been visited by the Phantom Thieves did.

I took part to a crime against everything I believe in, against everything EQUESTRIA as a whole is supposed to be build on…

I helped, encouraged...And sometimes even caused...The Conversion of humans into ponies…But...But...

We are not helping them.

We are not saving them.

We are not becoming friends…

We are the Bad Guys, we are killing them in all but name.

Conversion never gets better, the New-Foals just stand there, lifeless, like dolls.

I...I...I…

At this point it was clear the dam broke and Pinkie started crying for real, babbling and hiccuping without control, forcing her to repeat what she was trying to say again and again to be understood.

“I AM SORRY!

I just wanted to have my friends back, to make this War stop and to see everypony be friends!

Instead I simply helped Breaking an entire race and enslave them!

I was unaware of this at first, they talked me into helping heralding the New-Foals in Canterlot so that they could be looked after, never questioning what happened to them,

I never questioned the requests of helping Conversion along, I just went blinded by the idea of having new friends...And after a while I...I...I stopped worrying altogether, swept away by this Madness! I became a Monster myself! But I can no longer ignore the disgust I feel whenever I see myself in the mirror...

Please! If any human is seeing this, please…

I AM SORRY!...I am sorry! I can Change!

I WILL CHANGE! I will pay for my mistakes, for my Sin!

Just give me a chance!

I am sorry!

I am sorry!

I am sorry!

I am sorry!

I am sorry!”

The crying at that point became so intense that her words became incomprehensible, with hiccups and sobs shocking heavily the mare’s body, prompting the message to play again from the beginning, over and over.

“My daughter...My beloved ray of sunshine...Is thy heart finally free of its Madness?” Igneous muttered in disbelief.

“It seems like the miracle we prayed for has finally come, husband.” the stallion’s wife answered in relief.

“Boulder and the Phantom Thieves finally fixed her. Good.” Maud said with a tiny smile of satisfaction.

“It was about time!” Limestone added, huffing, and yet failing miserably in hiding her own relief.

“Phantom Thieves...I am indebted to you, for bringing back my daughter and saving her from her madness, mine gratitude shall never fade.” Igneous muttered while closing his eyes, sending a thankful prayer to the strangers that saved his beloved kid.

Rambunctious she may be, but she was still his beloved daughter, that will never change.

At the same time - Shujin Academy – Music club classroom -

“Over here,” Tempest said with a gentle tone as she opened the classroom door.

“Here?” Pinkie Pie said unsure as she got in.

“PINKIE!”

“F-F-Fluttershy!?” the mare gasped in shock.

“Uh-hu!” the shy Pegasus answered with a gentle, maternal smile while opening her fore hooves wide.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Pinkie howled as she dove for the offered hug, burying her face on the Pegasus mane so to freely cry her eyes out.

“I am sorry!...I am sorry! I am sorry!” she repeated over and over.

“It’s okay, I am sorry too. We got Corrupted and lost control, but we are free now, everything is going to be okay!” Fluttershy answered while caressing Pinkie’s back and rocking her a little.

“A-A-Are we,” Sniffle! “Are we still friends?” Pinkie asked with very red eyes.

“Of course! We are friends, and we will always be. Nothing will ever change that, silly.” Fluttershy answered, giving her forehead a small kiss for extra measure.

“Flu...Flut...Flutt...W-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” giving-in to happiness and relief, the party mare finally collapsed in a full nervous breakdown, and yet, still loving the warm hug of her friend, there to finally make all her sorrow melt away.

Two Hours later – Royal Castle -

“We finally managed to remove every single monitor, your Highness, but the damage is done...We fear there is not a single Pony here that has not seen Pinkie’s confession...” Shining Armour said with an utterly ashamed expression.

“And soon everypony still back home too will know about that...And of course every Human too knows of this.” Luna finished saying for him with a growling undertone to her words.

“I am afraid that just like she did with us, Pinkie made sure the Humans too heard her.” the Captain admitted, lowering his head just a little bit more.

“Gh!” in the meantime Celestia was shaking heavily while gritting her teeth as she watched the giant banner that some daring (or suicidal) intruder had the audacity to fix above her very own throne, so that not a single pony could miss it.

Another Element of Harmony lost her Heart to us, with four still to go!

We will steal every Heart of Equestria, big or small! We will force you all to admit your Sins with your own mouth publicly and stop Conversion!

You can’t stop us! You can’t Convert us!

You have been warned,

From

THE PHANTOM THIEVES OF HEARTS.

“AAAAAAAAARGH!” Finally, in a short blast of Magic the giant banner went incinerated, all under the scared eyes of Luna and the others as they saw that blast leave the Sun Alicorn’s horn without mercy.

“I WANT EVERY SINGLE GUARD OUT THERE! GO FIND THE PHANTOM THIEVES! FIND THEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!” Celestia roared furious.

A fury no pony had ever witnessed, hotter than her own sun as her Magic lashed-out without control and created a burning crater on the floor and turned the glass of the near windows into a fine dust.

“Y-Y-YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!” Shining and every single guard present scurried away in fear, ready to do everything in their power to catch the Phantom Thieves so that THEY will be the sole target of Celestia’s wrath.

“We’ll catch them, Sister. Have no fear.” Luna, strangely unaffected by the blood-thirsty fury of the Alicorn, said calmly.

“Yes, we will. And I will personally force-feed them the Conversion Potion, human or Ponies, I will make them chug that down myself...” she answered with a dark tone.

“Your move now, Phantom Thieves! I really want to know who will be your next target, because we will be there waiting to catch you!”

“...Not if I can help them...” Spike, the very author of that banner and secret observer well-hidden in the shadows, muttered with narrowed eyes as he stealthily left the room, unseen by every pony there.

It was clear now that the Phantom Thieves were the only way for this madness to end, and if they needed a spy inside the enemy camp to finally save his friends (Especially his beloved Rarity and Twilight), then he will do the dirty work himself!

“Celestia expects either them to spy on the other Elements themselves or for some pony to do it for them...Nopony will suspect a Dragon!” the young dragon thought in determination.

Now he only had a certain mare to get in contact with if he wanted his plan to start on the right foot…

I suck at fighting scenes...Damnit I wish I had the proper talent to write this story…
Thank you all for reading this chapter as well. Few extras down here, as usual...

Talking Measure:
The Box is 4 meters tall.
The Jack in the box puppet was 10 meters tall.
the Puppet copies of the Elements of Harmony are life sized, exact copies of the originals

Pinkie Pie Real DIstorted Form (just add few hudreds extra mouths)

The giant Puppet Pinkie was controlling from inside (Imagine it as a giant Jack in the Box, connected to a giant overly-ornate wooden box by a spring made of flesh and metal forcefully mixed together.)

Chapter 9: Enter Number 3: Applejack, The Furious Guardian of Truth!

Chapter 9: Enter “Number 3”: Applejack, The Furious Guardian of Truth!

Floating Island holding Canterlot and the Royal Palace – Throne Room -

“Fluttershy is gone, and so is Pinkie! TWO! IN A ROW!” Celestia, having barely recovered from her recent (and mysterious even to herself) bout of anger, hissed while walking in circles in the middle of the room.

“Sister, it’s three days in a row that you fail to sleep, when was the last time you managed to rest?” Luna asked in concern as she could actually see the bags under her sister’s eyes turn blacker every day more.

“I’ll rest once resolved this.” she answered sharply.

“What I don’t get is...How do they do it?” Cadence asked, having been hastily called full-time to the human world so to coordinate the final details for the arrival of the third floating island (That will hold the Crystal Empire on it) that was scheduled to join the others already there above Japan in a dozen days.

“Beats me, niece! I scout the dreams of humans to great effort as they are magically ‘Dead’, and not even I can influence them that much! I can add suggestions and the like...But give them an ‘180 degreechange’ in world-view? That is beyond even my powers!” Luna answered, looking scandalized.

“Why have you tried adding suggestions to the dreams of humans?” Cadence asked, confused.

“I asked her. To my shame, we are meeting way too much resistance, even after Twilight swore again and again that she will find a way to fix the down-sides of Conversion. Ever since it was revealed that the ‘zombification’ as they call it happens 100% of the times, humans are getting...restless...Whenever faced with one of us.” Celestia admitted.

“Restless? You are underplaying it too much, sister! It is a miracle our Unicorn soldiers can shield themselves and the others from their bullets, if we still have not had people and pony dying by the thousands daily is all a mere stroke of luck I don’t want to challenge further...” Luna added.

“Luna is trying to make humans more open to the idea by mellowing their fears, but it is not easy.” Celestia finished saying with a tired sigh.

“And the Phantom Thieves?” Cadence asked.

“We have absolutely nothing on them, except for the few, sparse, and near-mythical anecdotes about them...Although we must consider that we are in fact losing support at a rate of one-to-three ponies a day and that twice we got their Calling Card and immediately after saw their targets admitting their part in this ‘Conversion War’ before going into hiding...And both cases seem to suggest the Phantom Thieves are behind it all. I-I-I am baffled, I don’t understand how this keeps happening!” Celestia admitted in shock.

“Have you tried guarding both Fluttershy and Pinkie?” Cadence asked, unsure.

“Yes...” the mare’s husband, Shining, answered while dramatically collapsing on the floor with a whimper of shame.

“Ever since the Fluttershy incident, I had three dozen guards paired randomly follow Pinkie night and day, same for Dash and Twilight and Rarity...AJ kept refusing, so I tried having the soldiers keep an eye out from afar...” the stallion said.

“But you failed.” Cadence said with zero mercy, albeit with a gentle undertone.

“Ye-heeeeeee-sh!” he answered with a howl of shame.

“Even guarding both Pinkie and Fluttershy’s dreams is useless against them, and after they had that ‘Change of Heart’...Their Dreamscape became inaccessible to me.” Luna added, sneering.

“...That is new.” Celestia said with a raised eyebrow.

“Indeed, and it is always the same: if I try entering the dreams of Fluttershy and Pinkie I now find only a deep-blue, ornate wooden door with an elegant ‘V’ in its middle blocking me, I can’t even pin-point their location...I am completely cut-off from them.” Luna explained.

And unknown to them, inside the Velvet room, Igor proudly served Tea to his Master ‘Lord Philemon’, the entity that personally sealed off the two mares’ Dram Realm and location so that not even Luna or Celestia could find them.

“So this means we are in trouble?” Cadence asked.

“Not yet, I believe. While losing two of the six Elements of Harmony is indeed bad (along having minor ‘Changes of Heart’ happening everyday), We are still on schedule. We have in fact located a perfect place for the Crystal Empire to be teleported on...Floating, we are still far from preparing the terrain to have the various islands land...But we are getting there.” Celestia answered.

“Do you need my help? I don’t like the Hostility I can sense in the air ever since I arrived, it makes me feel queasy. Even the Crystal Heart is getting hard to control nowadays.” the Princess of Love asked.

“I can bet, tension between us and the humans is at an all-time high these days.” Luna muttered with a tired sigh.

Tok! Tok! Tok!

It was then that a subtle, faint knocking interrupted their discussion.

“Enter.” Celestia ordered, making the giant doors creak open enough for a guard to pop his head in.

“Ehm...Ehm...I-I am sorry to disturb...But we may have a problem...We can no longer guard Miss AJ.”

“Eh? Why?” Shining asked.

“The Phantom Thieves got her?! Where is the Calling Card!?” Celestia asked (roared) at the same time with blood-shot eyes destroyed by a sparkling-new heavy tick.

“I-It was not the Phantom Thieves...To our knowledge at least...It was all Miss AJ’s decision.” the poor guard answered, sweating profusely.

“Her decision? Why? What has happened?” Cadence asked with her head slightly reclining to the side.

“Weeell...”

The next day - ‘Untouchable’ -

“...A Cult?” Ann asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Or at least something darn close to being one...This is how my contact inside Celestia’s own territory tried to describe it as, more or less. It seems like AJ finally snapped, for Harmony-knows what reason, and once closed herself inside her new ‘Farm’, she started collecting ponies of every kind...And now they finally chased away the guards around the perimeter to fortify the thing and turning it into their Main Base.” Tempest Shadow answered from the heavily-encrypted call on Futaba’s laptop.

“This is troubling.” Yusuke commented, unsure.

“Master Igor wants you to know he was worried this would have happened.” Lavenza, accompanied by the Twins, informed them as soon as the door to the Velvet Room appeared in their hideout.

“Uh?”

“The Elements of Harmony inside those mares are reacting badly with the Distortion power of the Entity behind all this. Even if submerged under the weight of that and the resulting Corruption it also brings along, the Elements are still trying to fight it, causing the Distortion to happen with unpredictable speed and gravity.”

“So while they are losing the battle, the process is not as ‘smooth’ as it was with our old targets or the other names on the List, correct?” Makoto asked.

“Yes, the souls of those six mares are being battered by the Elements inside them acting-out by themselves in Self-Preservation and the mixture of Distortion and Corruption trying to take over them and those Magical Artifacts.” Caroline answered.

“And this means that if their minds are not strong enough, a bit of their Distorted Self might slip through and influence their real self.” Justine added.

“So...If her Distorted self inside the Palace is some kind of Cult Leader...” Ryuji said, unsure.

“Then there is a chance the real AJ too might act like that, to an extent, because her Element of Harmony is making Distortion act unstably.” Akira finished saying for him.

“Precisely, Inmate! I am glad to see you have not lost your edge.” Justine answered with a proud smirk.

“In a sense, it makes our job easier, because we can discover how to enter their Palace easier.” Ann said, thoughtful.

“But also harder at the same time, if their Distorted Self gets eyes on the real world too, attacking with the element of surprise will get even harder.” Makoto countered while biting her lips in anger.

“We cannot tell if that can also happen, at the moment we can only tell that part of their Distorted Self might influence them a bit, the fact that AJ is at this stage means that this alteration has hit her especially hard, contrary to Pinkie that merely found her love for Parties being exacerbated.” Lavenza answered while shaking her head a little.

“Her Element is called ‘Honesty’...” Futaba muttered while looking at the short Bio she had built about their various targets.

“Honesty. In other words, Truth?” Yusuke said, holding his eyes closed while deep in thought.

“If that is the case, she will of course be hit the hardest, her Element must be feeling that something is wrong in this Conversion affair, it must have sensed the truth behind all this and its fighting Distortion and Corruption the hardest.” Morgana said.

“Correct, cat.” Justine said with a pleased smirk.

“I have a name, you know…”

“There are other two names on that list that are being afflicted just as hard. Three if we count Celestia as well, albeit laterally.” Caroline added.

“Who?” Ryuji asked.

“The ones named Twilight Sparkle and Cadence. The former because as the ‘Element of Magic’ her own powers are being corrupted heavily by the alien power that is Distortion; while Cadence, as ‘Princess of Love’, is an easy victim of the inner Darkness of Distortion.” Lavenza answered.

“And what about Celestia?”

“That is easier, the more names on your list of Main Targets you strike down, the weaker the protection of Ruin around her heart weakens, and the Entity that is behind this whole mess will FEEL each Heart being stolen and be removed from their sphere of influence, they will know that they are losing that source of further protection. Their anger at losing that layer of protection/influence will probably cause them to lose their cool, meaning a high risk of their facade faltering and for their Darkness to spill over and influence Celestia herself.” Justine explained.

“For now they are staying hidden, unseen even by their own host Celestia, but you will soon force them to come out personally, as soon as every other Heart will be stolen. They will have no choice but showing themselves.” Caroline added.

“Oh, nice! I can already smell the trouble.” Ryuji admitted sighing.

“Is not like we expected anything else to happen.” Haru answered.

“Yeah, I know...But is still a pain in the ass!”

The next day – Koishikawa Botanical Garden – Future Location of AJ’s Farm -

The entire giant botanical garden had been recently ‘cut-off’ from the rest of the world thanks to the absurdly high walls of crude-looking wood planks that AJ and the various ponies with her had hastily raised so to remain completely unseen by the whoever stood outside, forcing both Equestrian soldiers and human spies to try keep watching from afar and above, either by unarmed drones sent inside or Pegasi armed with binoculars.

The only entrance was the main gate, guarded day and night by several young unicorn stallions and mares glaring daggers to whoever dared coming too close...Except for a small dragon that instead found AJ in person waiting for him at the entrance.

“AJ!” Spike yelled in elation as he ran towards her.

“Heya, Spike! What’cha doin’ here? Ya asked ta see me so darn much, Ah was startin’ ta get worried!” the farm mare answered with a smirk, gladly accepting the tight hug from the small dragon before letting him climb on her back.

“They were not letting me in, so I kept coming here to see you.” he answered, sighing.

“That ya did! Where’s Twi? She’s not with ya?”

“Twilight...Is not okay, she just...She is starting to scare me.” Spike admitted.

“How’s so? Ya can tell me.” AJ asked in concern while accompanying him inside while the gate went closed and locked.

“She keeps experimenting on the New-Foals and the Potion! She doesn’t sleep and she doesn’t eat, sure, she used to do this in the past too, but then I would just bring her a plate and a pillow and she would return to normal, but it is not working this time.”

“I see, this whole Conversion mess is gettin’ worse by tha day, that’s-a why I created this farm.” AJ answered.

“Uh?”

“Ah decided to wash mah hooves of this thing, me and the farmers of Ponyville will wait here until this whole thing is ovah. We’re tired of all these lies flyin’ round and round. There’ll be only truth here, no stinkin’ lies to be seen.” the mare explained as she moved towards a giant barn that had been built in the middle of the park, sticking out like sore thumb in the normal ‘feng shui’ of the place.

“That’s a big barn...” Spike muttered in apprehension.

“Eeyup! Modeled after the one I had back home...Only five times biggah!” AJ said with a sing-song tone full of pride while she watched that strange mix of a Barn and a Cathedral.

“So...Truth?” Spike asked.

“Truth, only Truth, ALWAYS Truth!” AJ and every pony within earshot answered as one in a creepy chorus.

“Hehehe! That’s our motto.” the farm mare explained with a sheepish laugh.

“Nice one.” the small dragon answered with a dry tone while he was accompanied inside, to see rows after rows of bales of hay act as seats for the audience to sit on and watch the small, raised platform at the opposite end.

“Is almost time, sit here, you’ll see.” AJ instructed, depositing Spike right next to her on the podium while the mare took the center of the stage to admire the rapid flow of ponies coming to take their seats.

When the giant barn was filled by every pony in the park eagerly waiting for their meeting to start, AJ cleared her throat and started addressing them.

“Brothers and sisters! Finally tha wall separatin’ us from this Conversion War is completed!” she declared with a giant, happy smile.

“AYEEEEE!” the ponies present howled as one in happiness, stomping on the ground or clapping their hooves.

“This’ just tha first step, though! We may have took distance from their lies, but out there there are still ponies victim of them!” she then said.

“BOOOO! DOWN WITH THE LIES!” a freckled red-maned mare yelled from the back.

“ONLY TRUTH! ALWAYS TRUTH!” a stallion echoed from the opposite side.

“Ah know how ya all feel ‘bout this! It pains me too ta see everypony, human and pony, fall for the lies of Conversion! Both us and them are sufferin’ because of this, as we are bein’ accused of just mercilessly tryin’ to kill innocents!”

“BOOO! BOOO!” the crowd booed angrily, but rapidly calming down at the gentle motion of one of AJ’s hooves.

“That was tha First Lie:Tha Barrier is just a bubble of light that was just meant to help us come here! But what are they sayin’ instead?“The Barrier is eating everythin’, like a dog not letting go of tha bone.”! That is why we are here! We’ll welcome everypony that doesn’t want to fight and protect them! Celestia says the Barrier will go away soon, that means that even a war can start when that happens! And we are here to stop it! We must make sure we all become a family before that!” AJ explained.

“YES!”

“Tha Second Lie was the Potion itself: promising to unite all of us into a single family, but is instead killin’ the poor Hoomans inside their head! Ah knew this was wrong, but Celestia opened mah eyes! Yah know what she said? That this’ problem will soon be resolved! But Still, there are ponies and hoomans spreadin’ the Lie about this never gettin’ fixed!And now, I learned that my poor friend Twilight is fightin’ alone against that lie! Ah say, let’s pray for Twilight! So that tha Light of Truth will help her defeat the lies!”

“DOWN WITH THE LIES!”

“HOORAY FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT!”

“...Oh, god...” Spike muttered, unease.

“And then, tha Third Lie: The soldiers and the ‘Nobles’ are pushin’ for Conversion to happen faster to help everypony have time ta adjust! But still, there are foals uncarin’ for tha pain Humans and the common pony are goin’ through! Spreading lies about New-Foals being treated as objects! We all know why their doin’ this instead, isn’t it?” AJ asked with narrowed eyes.

“They are blind! They are blind!” an old mare answered from the first row.

“Exactly! They’re blind to Truth! Conversion is the only way to save humans from getting sick from Equestria Magic! We are welcoming all of them between us as a family, not as owners and pets! There areFoals like those Phantom Thieves spreadin’ lies everywhere, but Ah say nay!I saw tha Truth of this world! Tha Truth hidden behind their Lies! And if yah all are here with me, it means yah all can see it too! And if yah see it, just like me, yah want everypony ta see it too!” AJ declared with wide eyes.

“YEEEEAH!” the crowd answered as one with a deafening roar.

“Celestia herself understands our fear! She accepted to let us live here and Ah got word that she will soon send here seeds and fertilizer to help us finally start growing our crops!”

“HURRAY! LONG LIVE CELESTIA!” the crowd answered.

“But our work is not ovah! As we grow our crops, we’ll also need to grow the future generations! That’s why Ah say we need to enlarge our family! We need to convince everypony ta join us here! Safe from Lies and senseless wars! And once we’ll be numerous enough, we’ll be the ones marchin’! Because remember! The more we’ll save, the more will open their eyes to Truth! What do you say?!” AJ asked.

“YEEEEESSSSS!” the giant barn trembled heavily under that unanimous scream, almost blowing back Spike with its sheer volume.

“We’re almost there! Soon we will be enough to force the ones behind those lies to back down!”

“YEEEEEES!”

“WE WILL HELP THEM!”

“YEEEES!”

“WE WILL HELP CELESTIA IN HER QUEST FOR A PEACEFUL CONVERSION!”

“YEEEES!”

“WE WILL DEFEAT THE ONES USING LIES TO USE CONVERSION FOR THEIR ENDS!”

“TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH!”

“Nice isn’t it? A bit noisy, but yah get used ta it after a while, Ah promise the rest of the meeting will be quieter, just some minor stuff about our work here, how do yah call it? Management stuff or something like that.” AJ said with a low voice, looking amused by the overwhelmed expression on the dragon’s face.

“Okay...” Spike answered with a weak voice, still perturbed by his ringing ears.

Later that night -

“You sure? I can easily walk back home by myself.” Spike said.

“Nonsense, Ah won’t let a friend of mine walk home alone at night, lately things out there are hella dangerous, tomorrow morning Ah will ask to one of the pegasi guards outside to take you home, otherwise Twi will have mah flank mounted on her wall!” AJ answered, laughing.

“You know she will! And it will mounted right next to mine!” finally letting out an honest laugh, Spike entered the small guest room in AJ’s own personal house.

“Eeeyup! Ah’ll be just right next door if yah need anythin’! Just call me and Ah will come trotting to tha rescue.” she answered with a joking wink as she watched him climb onto the small bed and fall asleep in a matter of seconds.

“...Ah’ll be darned, he was dead tired...Musta be his worryin’ for Twilight. Have no fear, Ah will protect yah and Mah Friends, Ah won’t let the Lies of this Conversion sweep you all away.” AJ muttered to herself before blowing-off the candle next to her so that complete darkness could fall inside the room.

“...”

“...”

It was deep into the night, when AJ’s snoring signaled that she was dead asleep next door that Spike gave a short cough.

“...Good, You are alone?” a voice said inside the dragon’s left ear.

A single cough followed.

“I see, I will call the PT, so you will talk with them.” The male voice at the other side of the radio answered as the changelling in charge switched channel.

“...Hello? Can you hear me?” Futaba asked barely a minute later.

Once again, the small dragon coughed once, moving to the side so to cover his ear holding the small radio with the pillow.

“Okay, ‘I think I am alone, but I am not certain’, I understand. Grunt from now own, same codes.” Yusuke instructed, he and the others talking with a low voice just in case.

“Hrrrn.” Spike answered.

“Good, We are going to ask you few questions about entrances, guards and the like, you ready? We need only the bare basics, tomorrow we will meet at the hideout with P and F and talk properly.” Makoto said.

“...Hrrn.” Spike answered.

The next Day – Pony side of the Barrier – Shujin Academy – Classroom -

The group of rebellious teens known as the Phantom Thieves where calmly sitting on the desks while listening to Spike’s retelling of what had transpired inside Aj’s ‘Farm’, all of them still wearing hoodies and masks to cover their identities while Fluttershy and Pikie sat with them, or better, on them as both seemed to need some physical contact to help them recover from their Change of Heart.

“And apparently in a week Celestia will start sending barrels of both seeds and fertilizer, after that, they will start demolishing the place to turn it into a giant farm.” Spike finished saying with a sight.

“Barbaric, destroying such a paradise just for that!” Yusuke hissed with narrowed eyes.

“I am more worried about that fanatic attitude they seem to have towards Truth and Celestia herself.” Ann countered, mindlessly petting Fluttershy as she sat on her lap, Pinkie was instead sitting on Akira’s.

“She is the Element of Honesty, her Distorted Self has transformed her innate Power into an obsession, so much that her real self is being swayed as well, slowly turning her into a mockery of herself; the belief that Princess Celestia is pure and innocent is instead not as surprising, with that Alicorn being the host of the one responsible of all this, of course AJ and the ones around her will never put the Princess in their list of enemies.” Makoto answered.

“What’s worse is that her obsession for Truth is spreading, she is mounting a freaking army!” Ryuji added, shivering.

“Just like it was with me, isn’t? My own...C-C-Corruption was influencing those soldiers to act like me...” Fluttershy asked with an ashamed expression.

“It was not your fault, you know?” Ann answered, patting her head.

“Thank you, Miss Panther...” the mare answered with a very low voice.

“Yes, its is happening again, and that is not normal! Distortion is not supposed to be contagious! It is not something you ‘catch’ by standing too close to somebody suffering from it. Otherwise the school would have been overflowing in Palaces by the time me and Joker arrived here.” Morgana said unsure, thing that Haru then translated for the ponies and dragon to hear.

“You said that behind all this there is Somebody or Somepony using Distortion the same way that Yaldabaoth guy did here in the past, then maybe whoever is behind this wants Distortion to spread, so they are actively making sure this happens?” Spike asked.

“Then the problem would be...Why? What would they gather by having everybody getting a Palace? Because the greater the influence of Distortion is, the higher are the Chances of a Palace to be born, and those ponies are being almost ‘drown’ in Distortion, just to be sure their twisted desires are nurtured enough to form a Palace.” Makoto countered.

“The Memenotes are getting absurdly spacious too, meaning that more and more ponies are being swept in. What can they be after?” Haru added.

“Maybe-” What Ryuji was about to say went interrupted by Akira’s phone ringing.

“Yes?” the taciturn young man asked as soon as he picked-up.

“Boy! There is something you have to see! I had recently sent a couple guys to scout around Akihabara, and they saw something nasty! I sent a video to your friend’s laptop, I think there is something ugly going on here, and even the ponies may be a target after all!” Iwai said in alarm.

“What kind of bad? And don’t use names, I put you on speakers.” Akira asked while Futaba turned-on her laptop.

“Remember the balloons that Pink mare had prepared by the thousands? They were filled by a gas version of Conversion Serum! And worst still: that stuff works on ponies too!”

“WHAT?!” Fluttershy, Pinkie and Spike yelled as one.

“It’s like he said! They were spying on the guards while they dismantled everything, and look! One of those balloons pops and immediately six Ponies start acting like New-Foals!” Futaba said as the short video showed the scene of normal ponies gaining the same dumb smile of New-Foals as soon as one of the balloons popped, covering them in a dense purple cloud of smoke.

“It makes no sense, why would that work on ponies too?” Yusuke asked.

“More importantly, why was that shit used to fill balloons?!” Ryuji countered him.

“That is what I hoped you could tell us, those men said that then Shining Armour appeared on the scene with several guards to hide everything and take away the balloons, sweeping everything under the rug.” Iwai explained.

“Probably under Celestia’s own orders, to hide everything or just deny her involvement.” Makoto tried guessing.

“We’ll see what we can discover and then call you.” Ann answered.

“Good, and be quick, the total number of balloons is up to several thousands, and I don’t like the idea of those ponies having that Conversion stuff ready to be used like some damn mustard gas!” the gruff man answered before cutting the call.

“I-I-It wasn’t me! I-I swear! I would never have done that!” Pinkie said immediately, looking extremely unnerved by the thing.

“Are you sure?” Akira asked.

“I-I-I-I think so...It’s all so confused...B-But I know I didn’t want to harm anypony!”

“Wait! When we were spying on you, you said Celestia was sending you the balloons already filled, isn’t it?” Futaba asked, making the mare go wide-eyed.

“Y-Yes! I think I remember that! She said she was happy I was organizing such a party so that everypony could celebrate together after Conversion was over!”

“If she knew the party was for after every human was Converted...Then why sending balloons filled with Conversion Gas?” Fluttershy asked.

“...What if she knew that the Potion worked the same way with either Humans and Ponies?” Spike asked in dread.

“Then things would look even worse, whatever is influencing Celestia has such a deep control over her that they can use her to advance an agenda of total submission; one that requires Humanity to be Converted into Ponies, the resulting mass of ponies then to gain Palaces and at the same time have their real bodies become extremely pliable and susceptible by erasing any form of resistance...The Conversion Serum would then be just another precaution.” Morgana muttered with a heavy shiver.

“So maybe they want to control both collective subconscious and conscience of everybody?” Ryuji asked.

“In a sense, but that is the worst possible scenario.” the cat answered.

“It would mean Yaldabaoth, Chapter 2.” Makoto hissed angrily.

“Unfortunately yes. That is why we must stop them.”

“AJ said that Celestia will send them seeds and fertilizer to start their farm...Do you think she will try sneaking the Conversion Serum in there too?” Spike asked.

“We cannot say for certain, but having ‘poisoned’ food go around would speed-up Total Conversion even more, we cannot exclude it.” Yusuke answered.

“Then it means we have at best six days to get inside AJ’s Palace and steal her Treasure, like that she will make sure those seeds and fertilizer are destroyed.” Haru said with narrowed eyes.

“I will help you! Whoever is behind this is using my friends like pawns! Tell me what I have to do!” Spike said immediately.

“You should keep spying on AJ for us. Can you join her ‘Family’ for us? I already have an idea about what is the physical form of her Palace, but we need to be able to get in and out as we please at least once to enter her Palace the first time.” Futaba asked.

“That I can do! I will join her immediately and look for a good, isolated place to dig a tunnel for you to use, then I will memorize the guards patrol so that I can help you get in and out.” the small dragon answered.

“Thank you, you should also stick to AJ like glue and alert us should something happen.”

“Of course!”

“Okay team! We have a plan! We have seven days before AJ starts destroying that garden, it means that we have at best three days to enter the Palace for our scouting, past that, we either steal the Treasure in the next four or we will add another way for Celestia to destroy this world!” Morgana said.

“Yes!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one.

“You have a plan already? Then I may have a way to further help you.” Tempest Shadow said as she entered the room.

“Miss Tempest!” Ann said in surprise.

“Good evening, I guess you already know of the balloons?”

“Yes, you too?” Akira asked.

“Yes, me and Lyra were keeping tabs on the Royal Guards, so I saw the incident myself. Our best guess is that soon the full blame will fall on Pinkie alone, especially since Shining Armour was there personally and discovered the altered balloons, his will be an iron-clad testimony.”

“And since I was the one organizing the parade...” Pinkie tried saying with downcast eyes.

“You will be the first suspect, especially since Celestia (and whoever is controlling her) needs to look beyond reproach.” the horn-less Unicorn answered.

“Once stolen Celestia’s heart, she will admit her part in that too, just be patient.” Haru offered with a kind smile.

“Okay...”

“Why are you here, Tempest?” Ryuji asked.

“I prepared a flying ship for you to use as HQ, soon your first base will be overrun as Shining Armour has issued the order to several squadrons of guards to help clean and prepare this place to be inhabited by ponies since they have started moving civilians here. By flying nonstop, you will be less likely to be caught. Thorax and the changellings will take care of piloting it and act as normal soldiers, nopony will suspect a thing.” the mare explained.

“Thank you, Tempest.” Akira answered.

“No problem, we are fighting a war here, so we must do everything in our power to win. In the meantime, Sunset Shimmer managed to get in contact with Sunburst, he will be our spy on Twilight and Starlight Glimmer, and if you can get to Starlight too, with those two as Spies we will have more chances against Twilight and Cadence as those two pass most of the time together nowadays, Sunburst in particular will be perfect to spy on them since he is Cadence’s favourite foalsitter for her daughter.”

“We’ll look into the Mementoes for Starlight then, as soon as her Distorted form appears there, we’ll strike.” Ryuji answered.

“Good. I already had your stuff moved on the ship, now follow me, I’ll show you.” Tempest said, immediately moving out.

“We’ll come too, soon they will take over this school too, it won’t be safe to remain here.” Pinkie added.

“Y-Yes! We’ll help you!” Fluttershy added.

“Thank you.” Ann answered with a grateful smile.

Two days later – AJ’s Farm – night -

“You sure you wanna keep bein’ in the night round? Ah got tha idea yah liked yer sleep!” AJ asked amused.

“Now, now! I am not that lazy!” Spike said with a pout.

“Oh, really?” the mare asked with a knowing smirk.

“...Not always at least! I can be professional when I want to!” he then added with reddening cheeks.

“Ah will trust ya this one time, but this’ the last night, yer a new recruit, so you’ll start slow.”

“...Nepotism?”

“Lotsa and lotsa.” AJ answered with a smirk, giving him a small kiss on his forehead before walking away.

“...Don’t worry, AJ. We’ll save you...” Spike muttered with a determined tone as he calmly moved into an isolated corner of the wall around the farm, and once sure not a soul was around, he knocked on it twice.

Immediately after that, two knocks came from the other side, meaning that both dragon and Phantom Thieves were ready to start digging their hole under the barricade, and in barely ten minutes, a passage big enough for the teens to pass through was open.

“We are inside, Navi.” Ryuji, he and the others still wearing the copies of their Phantom Thieves masks, said to his radio.

“Yes, I can see you! I just now landed a drone on top of the giant barn, I have a nice-enough coverage of the area.” Futaba answered immediately.

“Perfect. Can you please take us there, Claws?” Yusuke asked.

“Claws?”

“Eh! You others are official Phantom Thieves now, you need a codename too!” Ann answered smirking.

“Oh!...Cool!” Spike admitted with a small smile.

“A-A-Angel in position, I-I can’t see anypony around you, you are clean.” Fluttershy alerted them from the sky, hidden in the scarce clouds up there.

“Heeey! Confetti Here! The royal guards outside are about to go through the ‘Change of the guards’ with the night rounds! You have to hurry as the new ones will be here soon!” Pinkie added from her position at the opposite side of the garden.

“Good, let’s move then.” Akira asked, making Spike nod and signal them to follow him.

“This way, this is my own patrol route, we should not cross too many ponies, just be careful.”

“Have no fear, we are used to this by now.” Makoto answered with a low voice.

“I don’t think that ‘Breaking and entering’ is something we should be proud about...” Haru commented as the group slowly made their way towards AJ’s gigantic barn.

“Almost there.”

“AH! Young Spike, good evening!” a mare said with a big smile as she trotted towards him.

“Darn it! Hid...Wha?!” Spike tried saying, but as soon as he turned, the Phantom Thieves had already found several hiding spots, disappearing from the scene.

“...Yeah, definitely professionals.” the small dragon thought in wonder as he chatted a little with the young mare.

“I am happy to have you here.” the mare said with a smile.

“Really? Hehehe! Thank you!” Spike admitted with a shy laugh.

“Yup! The more, the merrier! AJ has a big heart and just wants everypony to be safe from Conversion, with her help and Celestia’s guidance we will be safe! Our hammer of Truth will destroy their Lies once and for all!”

“Celestia? Hammer?”

“Of course! She is helping us build all this! I heard she is helping Rarity find the wandering new-foals to corral them into Equestria, and is organizing with the Wonderbolts a series of aerial shows to welcome those dears as new ponies! Your Friend Dash is even helping soldiers securing the wounded of both parties following Celestia’s orders! With her as our Leader, we have nothing to fear!”

“And the Hammer thing?”

“Huhuhu. Lies will never go away if we do not destroy them completely! And there is no fiercest enemy of Lies than AJ! You should see her every time we meet a Liar, they always run away crying with their tail between the legs like a dog!”

“You sure? It doesn’t...It doesn’t look like the AJ I know...” the dragon asked, worried.

“Aah! That is because she knows we others and you are not blinded by Lies, she can rest when with us all because she knows we are not in danger! She too is a victim of the lies of Conversion, after all! She knows that the Barrier will soon go away, and she knows that if not for those Lies about the Potion, Conversion would have happened in peace! Soon the New-Foals will return to normal as Celestia promised, and we all must be ready to welcome them in our big family, that’s why she is helping all of us in this battle against Lies! If we work together, we will fix this mess and save both humans and ponies!”

“Hurray for Celestia and AJ, then!” Spike answered, trying desperately to sound convincing.

“Hurray for Celestia and AJ indeed! Hihihi! Have no fears, We’ll do our best to help your friend Twilight in defeating the Lie of the Potion, we will give her all the support she needs!” the mare said with a giggle before walking away.

“...This is what I was talking you about...” Spike muttered sighing, watching the Phantom Thieves get out of their hiding spots once sure nobody was around.

“It’s very unnerving.” Yusuke admitted.

“I know, Fox. But is just like I told you during these two days...AJ is...She is ‘Normal’, you know? She is still the AJ I know, she just is determined to save her friends, only sometimes she gets this...This Heat about lies and stuff that lasts for a few seconds...It’s the others that are...Strange...Like...Like...” The small dragon tried saying, struggling with his words.

“Like ‘Out of their fucking minds’, you mean?” Ryuji asked while scratching his head in thought.

“In a sense...”

“Do you think AJ is aware that the Farm she has built is becoming a cult?” Ann asked.

“By how she acts, I fear she is unaware of it to some extent, even if by that pony admission, she herself is tackling this situation with zero mercy whenever faced with something she sees as a ‘Lie’. She still tries to smooth things here and calm her followers down when they get too intense in their act, but she doesn’t seem to get the real meaning of what this place is, or the full impact of what she is doing.” Makoto answered.

“Either willingly or not.” Akira added.

“Precisely.”

“Everybody is a liar...Except AJ and the Elements of Harmony...And Celestia, of course.” Haru added.

“Celestia is the host of whoever is behind this, OF COURSE she is good and a saint.” Spike answered with a grimace as they resumed walking towards the barn.

“And she gets utterly pissed when she meets a Liar, that must be her Corrupted Self slipping through whenever that happens, inside her there must be one damn nutjob!” Ryuji added.

“If that is the case...Then I must wonder...Is it possible for everybody being wrong except for one single Pony? Everything clearly points towards Conversion being an unstoppable catastrophe that is trying to erase humanity instead of being of any help, but then why is a single Mare sure this is all false? That everything is just propaganda from agitators? We know the truth behind all this because Mister Igor called us to steal the Hearts of Equestria...But what is giving AJ a similar, albeit totally wrong, intuition about something Evil being hidden behind everything?” Yusuke asked.

“She is shooting in the dark.” Akira answered, unsure.

“Probably. But who is the bad guy then? If she is innocent, the Elements are innocent and Celestia is innocent...Who is AJ fighting against?” Ryuji asked.

“...” Nobody of the group knew how to answer to that as they fell into a long silence.

“Everypony, maybe?” Fluttershy tried saying.

“So...’Lies! Lies everywhere! I must destroy the Lies’?” Ryuji asked while imitating AJ’s voice at the best of his abilities and giving it a maniacal tone.

“That is pretty much a form of psychosis.” Makoto answered.

“Since when the owners of Palaces were normal people?” Akira asked.

“Well...My sister...I mean...Okay, you win.” Makoto tried saying something against that, so to at least keep her own sister out of the group of Psychos they met last time, before admitting defeat.

“Do not look the outside only, we deal with our Targets’ innermost, darkest self, something usually kept deeply buried in their subconscious, either willingly or not. This time we are admittedly seeing a more evident reaction to Distortion compared to last time, but just because apparently the ponies of Equestria are really susceptible to corrupting powers.” Morgana reminded her.

“You have no idea.” Spike admitted with a shiver of dread.

“Even Rarity got Corrupted once, it was not nice. It was super awful actually.” Pinkie confirmed, and the Phantom Thieves could literally hear that Capital C in corrupted.

“And somebody/something is mixing together Corruption and Distortion, God only knows what this will mean for its victims.” Futaba confirmed.

“We are seeing it already, Navi! Everypony is going crazy.” Spike answered with a low voice.

“We’ll stop it, okay? We will save your friends.” Ann offered with a small, encouraging smile.

“Thank you, Panther.” the small dragon answered, grateful.

“Here we are.” Yusuke said as they arrived at the back of the giant barn.

“As always, I am sure things will make sense once inside. How do we do this?” Makoto asked.

“Let’s start with some Key Words, any suggestion?” Morgana asked.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! I say apples!” Pinkie offered.

“Apples?” Akira asked.

“Match not found.” the App answered.

“Oh, poo!” the party maniac answered, pouting.

“Family?” Fluttershy tried next.

“Match found.”

“Y-Yay.”

“Hey! Good job!” Ryuji answered.

“Thank you.” the pegasus mare answered with a shy smile.

“Now the next one.”

“Try ‘Farm’, AJ always calls this place like that.” Spike suggested.

“Uhm...Farm?” Haru tried saying to her phone.

“Match Found. Location found, Beginning Navigation!” the App declared.

“We’ll be going then, be careful, Claws!” Ann said as the human teens rapidly faded-away.

“O-Okay!” Spike answered, a bit unnerved by their disappearance.

“Ponies incoming! Act natural!” a very scared Fluttershy alerted him.

“YIKES!” the small dragon yelped in surprise.

“...”

“...What are you doing?” the poor stallion asked at seeing Spike’s outrageous, and clearly uncomfortable, pose.

“YOGA! JUST DOING YOGA! NOTHING STRANGE OR SUSPECT!”

“Yoga...At 4 AM?” the second stallion asked.

“Y-Y-Yes?” he answered, sweating profusely.

“Oh!...Can we join?”

“O-O-Of course!”

“...Not even I saw that coming...” Pinkie admitted, impressed.

Meanwhile – Inside AJ’s Palace -

“GUAAAAH!” Ryuji shrieked in annoyance as he and the others finally managed to get out of the thick plantation of wheat they had landed in.

“God, there was barely enough room to breath in there!” Makoto admitted.

“I thought we would have found only apple trees.” Haru admitted.

“To be fair, even AJ must know a pony can’t live on apples alone.” Yusuke answered.

“That may be true...But I can’t see fruits or other stuff here.”

“Everything is dead...” Haru commented, as everything around them was either rotten or just desiccated, as if nothing had ever been watered, every crop had just been left there, abandoned to itself.

“The ground is so arid, it’s basically hard soil unfit to life.” Yusuke confirmed once patted the terrain.

“It explains the hard landing.” Makoto said.

“Hard landing?! I landed on top of the scarecrow, you at least landed on something...Especially Joker.” Morgana said, bitterly.

“Panther’s chest is indeed soft.” Joker answered, nonplussed.

“Yeah, I saved you from breaking your neck, but at least do not boast about that face-full in public!” Ann countered with a red face.

“Sorry.”

“Returning to the matter at hand, here we are, finally.” Ryuji said while looking at the enormous, heavily fortified farm on top of a giant hill not too far from where they landed.

“A bit old fashioned.” Haru added.

“Yep!” Makoto conceded.

It looked like an amalgamation of a farm and a medieval village, perched lonely on top of a hill surrounded by endless fields of every possible crops, from fruits to vegetables; and right in the middle of the village, a giant, enormous church, but just like the small village-farm around it, every building looked unkempt, dreary and austere.

The church in itself, while very Gothic-like in style, had a very unwelcoming feeling to it with its walls darkened by either the remains of a dead climbing plant or mere abandonment, it had a dozen of black-and-white stained glass panels and almost one hundred of pointed spires, the gate itself was enormous, made in dark wood and covered entirely in engravings.

Cleng! Cleng! Cleng!

When the giant bell on top of the tallest spire rang, the darkest, lowest chime the Phantom Thieves had ever heard echoed everywhere, it was even heavily off-key, as if the bell itself was cracked.

“Well, I believe we found what influenced AJ while drawing the blue-print for her barn in the real world.” Yusuke admitted.

“The Palaces are getting creepier, or is it me?” Haru asked.

“Yes, I think so too...”

The sky was...Black, there was no other way to describe it as there was simply nothing up there, neither sun or moon or stars or clouds, just flat blackness,and between that and the unnatural silence and the total absence of wind giving everything a sense of ‘stillness’, the atmosphere of this Palace was so unnatural to make one’s skin crawl.

“The Treasure must be inside that cathedral, problem is...That thing is simply enormous! It will take days to map every room and find the Treasure one!” Futaba alerted them with a distraught tone.

“And we have not much time to explore.” Akira answered.

“Then we must hurry! We have no time to waste!” Morgana declared as he moved forward, chased immediately by the other Phantom Thieves towards the entrance of the village.

“That place will be swarming in Shadows, we must be careful too!” Makoto added.

“Yes!”

They all knew what was at stake and what their Mission was, and especially how little time they had to scout, plan and finally steal AJ’s Heart.

“There she is!” Ryuji said while pointing at what was clearly AJ’s Distorted Form, dressed in purple hooded robes with a golden lining, she was addressing the monks-dressed Shadows acting as villagers the bell’s chiming had summoned around her; AJ, the Shadows and the shades acting as villagers wore a similar strip of cloth over their eyes, blinding them completely.

“LIARS! DO YOU SEE!? THIS IS HOW YOU MUST DEAL WITH THEM!”having clearly been in the middle of a speech when the PT arrived, the mare finished talking with a furious tugging of a rope to uncover the two squirming bundles behind her that had been tied thigh in chains.

One was a humanoid shadow, the other pony-shaped, both had been gagged and neither of the two had the cloth covering their eyes.

“They are culprit of refusing the Truth I bestowed on them! They preferred to feed on the lies going against us!”

“Liars! Liars! Liars! Liars!” the crowd of Shadows and shades roared with just as much fury as Distorted AJ.

“Yes! They are Liars! And what do you have to say for yourselves, eh!?” the corrupted Element of Harmony roared, roughly pulling away the gag from the humanoid shade.

“Please! Open your eyes! This is no promised land! Everything is in ruin! There is no Sun, no Moon, no rain nor does the wind blow!”

“LIAR! You are blinded to Truth! Our land is prosperous and our people happy! WHY MUST YOU TRY TO DESTROY OUR PARADISE?!” AJ answered with a snarl, bucking the shade in the stomach before putting back the gag.

“And you?” she the asked to the pony one.

“Please! You must snap out of this! The crops are rotten! The land is barren! There is only death around us! Please! Just open your eyes!” the pony-shaped black silhouette begged with a mare voice scarily similar to the one of the real AJ back in the real world.

“WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! YOU ARE LYING! WE HAVE PLENTIFUL CROPS! OUR LAND IS PROSPEROUS AND RICH! YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO DESTROY OUR PEACE!” Distorted AJ looked apoplectic in rage now, putting back the gag and ordering two near Shadows dressed in black robes and holding torches in their mouth to step forward.

“THOSE MISCREANTS ARE DOUBTING ME! THEY ARE DOUBTING US, THE GUARDIANS OF TRUTH! AND THEY DESERVE NO MERCY!” the Distorted Mare bellowed in fury.

“LIARS! LIARS! LIARS!” the crowd chanted.

“I will defeat the Lies! I will burn the Liars! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!” Distorted AJ ordered as behind them the two shades that had been tied to a stake went burned alive.

“Oh, god...” Ann muttered in horror.

“She is crazy, a fucking psycho!” Ryuji added in disbelief.

“We must stop her at all cost, if her influence on AJ grows any stronger, I fear scenes like this will repeat in the real world too.” Yusuke said with a tone of disgust.

Cleng! Cleng! Cleng!

As the bell of the church rang again, the crowd dispersed and the Distorted version of AJ calmly returned inside the church, soon slamming the door closed behind herself…

And to the Phantom Thieves’s Horror, the two shades tied to the stake slowly regenerated as if nothing happened, soon to be covered again by the same white cloth of before, it was clear that it was a scene bound to be repeated over and over and over again, until the Palace was finally destroyed.

It was clear they had to hurry-up in stealing the Treasure, it was imperative that the Distorted version of AJ ceased to exist as soon as possible, before real victims of that endless rage against ‘Lies’ started appearing in the real world too.

Mission: Stealing AJ’s Heart. Avoid destruction of the Garden.

Deadline: Celestia’s Delivery of Seeds and Fertilizer (Probably enriched by Conversion Potion).

Total time before Deadline: 7 Days.

Time remaining before Deadline: 5 days.

The Village, what inspired it.

Chapter 10: The Cathedral of Wrath.

The return of the world’s greatest Thieves! Chapter 10: The Cathedral of Wrath.

Inside AJ’s Palace – small medieval village – Safe room -

After yet another ‘Show’ of the mare’s Distorted Self burning alive two dissidents in a public execution reminding them of the witch hunts that used to happen in the real world and a long, cautious round of scouting of the small village of farmers surrounding the main body of AJ’s Palace, the members of the Phantom Thieves organization had just entered and secured a lonely, dilapidated house; once closed the door all of them left out a sigh of relief since the windows themselves were obscured by the accumulated grime from the place's abandonment, this actually made sure nobody outside would see them; it also came with a Safe Room in its basement, as an added benefit.

“Okay, with a Safe Room this close we can plan accordingly our next move.” Yusuke declared while all of them sat at the same big table in the middle of the dusty room.

“Yes, and we need to come up with something good, this Distorted is not joking around.” Makoto answered with a sigh.

“That sicko keeps burning the same two people alive, ‘Joking Around’ is not in her damn vocabulary.” Ryuji countered.

“That is actually curious.” Haru said with a curious tone.

“Please enlighten us...” Ryuji asked, while also taking a bit of a distance from her, just in case.

“I don’t mean that I wish to imitate her, Skull...” Haru answered rolling her eyes.

“Uh-hu.”

“I mean that twice we saw her do that, and two times she did the exact same thing and said the exact same words, even the crowd answered the same way. As if somebody pressed the replay button in a video.” she explained.

“Now that you mention it...” Ann admitted.

“Could it be a chance?” Morgana asked.

“Admittedly, it may very well be, but what if it isn’t?” Yusuke answered.

“A mantra maybe?” Akira suggested.

“We are inside the subconscious of a pony, what we are seeing is the physical manifestation of her mind...So her Distorted Self repeating over and over the same action can be the representation of what the real AJ repeats over and over to herself in the privacy of her head.” Makoto said.

“…‘Everybody is lying, I am saving everypony with my farm.’ and ‘Everybody is lying, Conversion will save the world.’...And from there, her endless anger against the Liars.” Morgana concluded, imitating a little Distorted AJ’s mad ramblings.

“AJ just did it again: Same dialogue and same reactions.” Futaba alerted the group through their phones.

“Hn! Okay, that may very well confirm our suspicion of this being some sort of Mantra made real.” Ryuji answered with a thoughtful expression.

“That is something, anything else to add, Navi?” Akira asked.

“Yes. The entire process follows a precise schedule: every hour (Real World time) AJ comes out for her little show of punishment of the two wrongdoers, the entire process of speech plus burning takes five minutes. And I suspect that it would also be our only chance to get inside since whenever AJ reenters the Cathedral I can hear the distinct sound of something heavy sliding in place to lock those massive doors closed.” Futaba answered promptly.

“I get it, so we’ll need to sneak inside from the front door while she talks?” Ann asked.

“Yes, I can’t see broken windows anywhere, nor good enough points to try and climb the thing to try and enter from anywhere else, The good news is that with how fervent AJ gets in her talk, she will catch the eye of every Shadow present, between screams of the prisoners and her own loud voice, you should be able to sneak inside mostly-unseen...But you will need to be very careful once inside, maybe even run straight for a hiding spot to avoid eventual Shadow guards.” the Hacker instructed.

“We only need to manage this once, if we find a Safe Room in there as well, we’ll be able to come and go from here and inside the Cathedral at our leisure thanks to the tunnels and/or ventilation connecting them.” Yusuke commented.

“Well, this time we can follow our own watches instead of a wacky giant clock in a psychotic Amusement Park. It will be easier to plan this instead of following the Palace’s owner’s sense of time.” Ryuji added.

“Let’s take position then, as soon as AJ starts her little witch hunt, we will sneak inside.” Haru declared.

“Roger!” the other Phantom Thieves answered as one.

One hour later – on the rooftop of the house closest to the Cathedral -

“There she is...” Akira muttered with narrowed eyes as soon as AJ strutted out of the main giant doors of the Cathedral for a new reply of the burning.

He and the others were all waiting for the thing to start while lying belly-down on the rooftop of one of the houses, each one of them never missing a single movement of the Distorted mare.

“She left the doors open too, good! At least like that we won’t have to risk making noise opening them again.

“Sssh! She is about to start!” Makoto hissed, silencing them all.

“Brothers and Sisters! Please do come to me! I have an announcement to make!” the mare yelled with a booming voice, soon gathering every villager right under the platform she had prepared for her speech.

“Now! Now! Now!” Futaba told them in great alarm.

With barely a grunt of acknowledgment, the entire group of teens jumped down at the same time and run towards the door while sticking to the shadows of the nearby buildings, careful to not attract too much attention on themselves.

“Almost there!” Yusuke muttered.

“Shh!” Haru answered, all of them now crouching down and sticking to one of the walls of the cathedral.

“One at a time. Panther, you first.” Akira muttered, signaling the girl to go first.

“Okay.” Ann answered with a short nod as she hurriedly crawled her way towards the door.

“Liars have no place in our family!” in the meantime AJ kept arousing the crowd for the burning to come.

“Go.”

“Okay!”

“The Lies must be destroyed!”

“Fox and Mona.”

“Roger!”

“We caught two Liars in our own Family! Two traitors!”

“Booooo!”

“Go, Skull.”

“Yeah.”

“HERE THEY ARE!”

“Queen!”

“Yes!”

“LIARS! LIARS IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY!”

“Joker, hurry up!” Ann hissed.

“Hn!” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves answered as he too ran for the door, just as the fire started burning alive the two poor Shades.

When all of them finally went inside, the group had to hurriedly hide as several robed Shadows were patrolling the main area of the place; especially on the opposite end of the first, GIANT room where the cathedral altar was, right under a huge creepy statue of a decrepit woman tied to a pole with barbed wire, so skinny to almost look like a skeleton and blindfolded, although at a closer look, the Phantom Thieves saw that said ‘Woman’ was actually a mare forced to stand on her hind hooves because her front ones were forced upward and tied as well to the pole.

“What is that supposed to represent?” Haru asked in dread.

“Our Lady of The Naked Truth. That is what is written under it.” Futaba answered for her.

“AJ believes in that? That fucked-up!” Ryuji admitted.

“She is blind herself, Skull. To her this is a utopia, so that statue too must be the one of a beautiful goddess from her point of view.” Yusuke answered.

The room was indeed big, with countless archways and hundreds of highly-decorated pillars, numerous candles were bringing some light to the place, either on the various giant chandeliers forming an ordinate line cutting the room in two or on small candle holders on walls and the pillars, but compared to the thick veil of darkness and the eerie cold inside the place, those tiny lights were actually not helping at all.

(Just add a line of giant chandeliers in the middle)

“Let’s hide on the rafts.” Akira suggested while using one of the tall tapestry pieces adorning the walls to climb up to the balcony on the second level running along the room and then climb one chandelier, so to see the entire room under them and avoid the Shadows patrolling the four spiral staircases at the four corners of the room actually connecting the first floor to the second.

“Coming!” Makoto answered, she and the others joining their Leader on top of the same chandelier, this one actually so big to easily accommodate all of them sitting on top of it.

“Okay, we are in, what do we do now?” Ryuji asked, looking down from the slightly moving thing.

“Do not move too much, Skull, let’s not make it clear somebody is up here.” Haru asked.

“Don’t worry.”

“As usual we should map as much of this Palace as we can while looking for the Treasure.” Morgana said.

“This Palace is straightforward enough to resemble the cathedrals of the Real World, meaning that beside few rooms here and there, we won’t have many rooms to search, this time.” Yusuke answered.

“So?” Ann asked.

“So I fear that most of our searching will take place underground.” the artist answered.

“Why underground?” Akira asked.

“Don’t tell me...” Haru said in dread.

“Catacombs.” Makoto answered, she too talking with a tense tone.

“Noooope! I am not going grave-robbing.” Ryuji added.

“I fear we have no choice, Skull.” Morgana answered with downcast eyes.

“Let’s start with the upper floor, it looks like the one with the lesser amount of Shadows.” Yusuke suggested.

“Okay. Should we separate in two squads as usual?” Makoto asked.

“That would be better, the more ground we can cover, the sooner we will find the Treasure.” Morgana answered with a nod.

“Very well. Me, Skull, Mona and Panther will go to the right wing then.” Haru proposed.

“Fine to me, we others will take care of the left one.” Yusuke answered.

“Same here.” Makoto added, Akira just nodded in understanding.

“Get ready...NOW!” Ryuji whispered loudly, signaling them to get down as soon as the nearest Shadows moved far away enough from that chandelier for them to jump down.

Dashing in two separate direction, the two teams of Phantom Thieves managed to sneak through their respective doors without a Shadow noticing.

Team 1 - ( Ann, Ryuji, Haru and Morgana) – right wing – Library -

“Okay, this is a damn well-furnished library.” Ryuji admitted.

“There are desks equipped with feathers and quills too, like the copy room in a monastery.” Haru answered.

“Like in ‘The name of the Rose?’” Ann asked.

“Pretty much.”

“Then do not touch those books.” the blond girl said.

“Of course.”

“Let’s look for clues about the Treasure all the same.” Morgana proposed.

“Just remember to wash your hands after we are done.” Haru asked.

“Yeah, yeah...Hey...They are not copying down books here.” Ryuji said rolling his eyes, only to stop once noticed one of the books that had been left open on one of the tables.

“They are writing right above the text already there, see? The red text is the one they are adding while the black text was the original one.” Ann added.

“And what they are adding goes in direct contrast with what it is written, it’s the total opposite.” Morgana said, surprised.

“In the end though everything looks like an unreadable mess.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll tell the others.” Futaba said.

“Thank you, Navi!”

“HEY! Stop where you are!” two Shadows yelled in anger, their bodies bloating like balloons and exploding into black ichor that then compacted in two red-skinned thin creatures, each with a metallic black crescent moon as their head.

“SHIT! Two Sandman!” Ryuji hissed furious, he and the others immediately preparing for battle.

Sandman

At the same time - Team 2 – (Akira, Yusuke and Makoto) – left wing – Organ Room -

“...I get it, Thanks, Navi.” Akira answered as soon as Futaba finished relying them what the others saw.

“No problem, Joker! You others be careful, the first team is already fighting against a couple Shadows.” the Hacker answered before closing the call.

“Will they be okay?” Yusuke wondered in worry.

“Morgana is with them, and this is not the first time we do this, they’ll be okay.” Makoto answered.

“We should trust them. This way.” Akira added as he signaled the others to follow him in yet another room, this one with a door locked.

“There was just the organ here, maybe we’ll find some clue about the Treasure in that room?” the girl asked.

“I hope so, even if the room itself would be too small to contain it, compared to the other instances we met.” Yusuke answered.

“Almost done.” Akira declared while still mid-unlocking as he was ‘fighting’ against the lock on the door with several lock-picks laying broken at his feet.

Click!

Finally the lock conceded defeat and went opened, making Akira flash a small satisfied smirk before silently opening the door to a rather big room cramped in beds.

“Some sort of dormitory, there is even a shard closet with spare robes.” Yusuke commented, showing them the long row of identical hooded robes used by the Shadows patrolling the inside of the cathedral.

“There is not much here beside those beds and few trunks...Where is the Treasure then?” Makoto hissed angrily.

“...Underground?” Akira tried saying.

“I was thinking the same. I fear that in the end, we will need to look for the entrance to some catacombs.” Yusuke answered with a pained sigh.

“I don’t like this.” Makoto added.

“None of us do.” Akira conceded.

“Intruders, You should not be here...” A voice said from behind them, and even if the Shadow spoke with a calm tone, in its posture one would see only Anger, and once transformed the creature took the semblance of a feminine being with azure skin and wearing a dancer outfit.

Apsaras.

“Such a delicate presence and demeanor! I need to remind myself to dedicate to few Persona we met a painting or two, it’s a pity not everybody can witness the same exotic views we meet in our travels in the subconscious of humanity.” Yusuke admitted.

“Why, Thank you! You too are not half bad yourself!” the Shadow answered as an aura of ice mounted around its body.

“Scatter!” Makoto yelled in alarm.

“But you will look even better as an ice sculpture decorating our beautiful church! MABUFU!” the woman declared with an imperious gesture, and creating an explosion of ice in the middle middle of the trio.

“ARGH!” Akira growled as he was sent flying back from the attack, contrary to the other two Teens with him he had not reacted fast enough to dodge.

“JOKER!” Makoto yelled in worry.

“Goemon! I’ll keep this monster occupied, you go help him.” Yusuke said while summoning his Persona, having noticed the frost covering their friend’s body and his heavy shivers.

“C-Cold...”

“Yeah, I can tell. Here, drink this.” Makoto answered while using the few supplies they had brought along to try fixing him, especially to stop his body from literally turn into an ice statue.

“I can warm you up myself if you need!Zio!” the Apsaras said with a mocking tone while summoning a lightning bolt in her hand and tossing it at the two.

“EIHA!” Akira countered, enveloping one of the Shadows in a blood-chilling aura of darkness making it shriek in pain from the powerful curse attacking its entire being.

“As you can see, we are far from being helpless! Please do not believe that a lucky shot means your victory. Goemon: Giant Slice!” Yusuke added, with his Persona using the bladed-pipe it was holding to cut away one of the Shadow’s arms (although no blood came out from the stump).

“Kyaaaaaah!” shrieking in pain, the thing rapidly tried to reach for its missing arm so to reattach it.

Brooom!

An instant before its hand could actually grab it though, a bike wheel stomped down on it, making the Shadow take a step back by reflex.

“I am here too, you know?” Makoto said with a mocking smirk while revving-up her Persona Johanna handle, making its engine roar like a fierce beast.

“Oh...” the thing uttered in dread.

“FREI!” Makoto yelled as a microscopic nuclear-element explosion shoot the Shadow against the wall at high speed, embedding the thing there in a deep imprint.

“Vajra Blast!” not fully satisfied, the young woman drove her motorcycle Persona in a full-speed ramming that almost sent the Shadow all the way through the wall (Makoto also revved the bike so to push the thing just a bit deeper into the wall).

“Do you admit defeat?” Akira asked while pointing his gun at the Apsaras.

“...DIE!” having played possum long enough, the Shadow sprang to life abruptly to try a last surprise attack.

In answer Akira dropped down and rolled to the side to dodge the attack, and without even giving the Apsaras time to adjust or even turn around, summoned his Persona to cut off the monster’s other arm.

“It’s over.” Joker said.

“NEVER!” the Apsaras bellowed, turning around to feel the barrels of three guns pointed straight at its forehead, at a mere millimeter from actually touching it.

“I knew you would answer like that.” Akira said with a calm smile.

BANG!

The three guns shoot as one, and the Apsaras’ head simply went erased into tiny shreds, making the headless body run away and leave behind its cut arms that just faded away by themselves.

“What a pity to see this Palace corrupt whoever enters here, such rage is unfitting of such lovely appearances…” Yusuke admitted saddened.

“I am more surprised that they don’t actually die, but just run away to regenerate.” Akira added.

“They are basically spirits or physical manifestations of concepts and myths, there is not a body to kill or wound since ideas do not de facto bleed.” the artist countered.

“True.” their Leader admitted.

“Details aside, I think we are good now.” Makoto declared once sure the battle was really over and no other Shadow was around to join the fun.

“The fact remains that I’ll have to rectify my earlier statement; there seem to be more rooms than anticipated in this Palace. This is not just a cathedral.” Yusuke declared, showing the second door on an isolated corner of the room leading to a steep ramp of stairs.

“What do you think is up there?” Akira asked.

“Mona and the others found a similar door on their side, it may lead to either storage rooms, other libraries or just more dormitories (AJ own private quarters included). And considering we still need to find a Safe Room inside this place, we may also be able to find it up there. So unless the Treasure is hidden somewhere near the bells of this Cathedral, we won’t find much up there.” Futaba answered.

“It won’t hurt to check everywhere.” Akira answered.

Sigh! “I guess so...”

“This Palace then is both a monastery and a church then?” Makoto asked.

“It’s possible, Palaces are not bound to the customs of the Real World: this is merely what AJ sees her Farm as: a home AND the core of her beliefs fused into a singular place. Everybody has a place here if they need, hence, the beds.” Yusuke answered.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” a new voice came from their phones.

“Loud and clear, Skull.” Makoto said.

“We are upstairs, and we got good and bad news.”

“The good news first, please.” Yusuke asked.

“As for rooms, here there are mostly dormitories and storage rooms. Along a Safe Room cozy and isolated.”

“Okay. The bad news?” Akira asked.

“...There are other two ramps of stairs still to climb, bringing the number of rooms we’ll have to check to at least one hundred before actually reaching the area of the bells. And any of them could actually contain the Treasure...Mona says we’ll have to check each one of them.” Ann added.

“Oh, God...” Makoto answered with a whimper.

“Do we have any other option?” Akira asked.

“No, buddy. I fear we’ll have to do as the Cat said...” Ryuji answered with a tone of misery.

“Amazing, and we don’t have much time to actually go through each one of them with a fine comb.” Yusuke added between clenched teeth.

“The bell room first, then we’ll go downward.” Akira suggested.

“You wanna follow the ‘Theatrical Boss Fight’ Route?” Ryuji asked, chuckling.

“That usually works.” Joker answered.

“Yes, it would indubitably be the most suitable place to have a showdown with a Palace Owner, fighting between ringing bells does bring a sense of beauty after all...” Yusuke conceded, thoughtful.

“Then it’s decided, we’ll meet in the Safe Room up here and move towards the very top of the Palace; should the Treasure not be there, we’ll move downwards.” Haru declared.

“...We are all okay with that plan.” Makoto answered once seen her two companions nod.

“Same here.” Ann answered on her own side.

Three Days Later – Flying ship Phantom Thieves hideout - Days before deadline: 2 days

The group of teens, as always masked with copies of their PT masks and hoodies, were sitting around a big table in the belly of the flying ship in complete silence, all of them just showing their exasperation in their own style: either ‘Boneless Human Wreck Style’ like Ryuji or ‘Annoyed Noble Lady Style’ like Haru, depending on who you looked at.

“I get from your state that yesterday too was fruitless?” Tempest Shadow asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Is it so evident?” Ann, sitting with her forehead glued to the table surface and her arms hanging limp at her sides to touch the ground, asked in sarcasm.

“Pretty much.” Lyra answered with a weak smile.

“We looked everywhere on the upper floors, and beside learning that Miss AJ has some rather tasteful (albeit macabre) notion of furniture and décor (The ‘dancing skeletons’ engraved on the bells were a sight to behold), we could not find much.” Yusuke answered, he instead still sitting straight and properly, even if with downcast head and crossed arms.

“Not even a clue about where AJ’s Treasure could be?” Fluttershy asked while idly petting Akira’s head to try cheer him up.

“That we found. In every book we found in the top-most libraries, AJ talked about a ‘Sacred Land’ hidden where ‘Lies cannot reach’. Problem is, while the books seem to imply that this Sacred Land is a real place and not just a metaphor...We can’t actually find it.” Futaba explained.

“And this Sacred Land place hides the Treasure?” Pinkie asked while lightly poking Ann’s forehead to force her to rise her head from the table, and only getting half-hearted grumblings in answer.

“It is not in the houses around the Cathedral, nor inside the building proper. That would leave the area around it, and with acres upon acres of land to check, that would be a colossal problem.” Makoto answered.

“What about under the church? You said that the place has catacombs.” Lyra asked.

“We said that the Palace probably has catacombs, an idea we both have no way to confirm and are actually dreading.” Yusuke answered.

“Can I please know why?” Tempest asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“Would you like to go grave-robbing? To go uncovering caskets or whatnot?” Ryuji shoot back, just as annoyed as she was.

“...No, to be fair, not anypony would like that.” the ‘broken horn’ Unicorn answered, grimacing.

“I-I understand how unappealing that would be...B-But let’s say that the Treasure is hidden under the cathedral, where would be the entrance then?” Fluttershy asked.

“That is actually the problem: the ground level is occupied in its entirety by the main altar and giant statue of a creepy skeletal blindfolded mare, the room is then divided in three with a series of archways creating two smaller areas at both sides, but they are still filled in seats all facing the giant altar at the opposite end. Then there are the usual religious portraits and tapestry at the walls, and then the boot for the confessions in a side alcove to give the penitent some ‘privacy’, and with Shadows patrolling the place, looking for some hidden entrance is not easy.” Yusuke explained.

“There is a small room there though...” Ryuji muttered, unsure.

“You mean that ‘office’ we saw all the way back, hidden behind the altar? We are talking about a room how big? Three meters for three meters? There is barely room for a single bookshelf and a desk in there.” Haru asked, confused.

“We found no clue in the upper floors, and this leaves only the ground floor that has only one room that is kept separated from the rest, if there is indeed an entrance to a dungeon underground, we better check there too before declaring this a lost cause.” Makoto said with a sigh.

“Do you need Spike to let you in again?” Pinkie asked.

“We can warn him, if you want.” Fluttershy added.

“Don’t worry, we need to get close to the physical manifestation of the Palace only the first time, after that we can freely enter our Target’s Palace directly from our hideout at our leisure.” Ryuji answered.

“I say we go now.” Akira proposed.

“Yes, we have not much time before our deadline expires.” Ann answered.

“Be careful, please.” Fluttershy begged as she watched all of them take out their phones.

“You others too, do not get caught by either Celestia or the human soldiers.” Haru answered.

“We have several safe landing spots, have no fear.” Tempest answered.

And said that, the ponies present watched their masked friends fade away to reach AJ’s Palace.

“Gosh, that’s kinda creepy...” Lyra admitted.

Inside AJ’s Palace – Safe Room on the 4th floor -

“...Here we are! All ready?” Morgana asked as soon as they traveled from the Safe Room in the Village to the one inside the Cathedral, and how the two were supposed to be connected was something neither of them wanted to think about.

“Yes.” Akira answered with a nod.

“And I hope this works, because otherwise we’ll be in deep trouble.” Ann added.

“If not for the threat of poisoned food being produced here, I would have said to leave AJ’s Palace aside for later so to focus on another Target.” Makoto muttered, dejected.

“Unfortunately we have not such luxury. Let’s go!” Yusuke answered while keeping the door of the Safe Room open for the others.

Twenty minutes later – Ground Floor – AJ’s ‘Office’ behind the main altar -

Click!

“Okay, this is the place, what now?” Skull asked while mounting guard at the door, holding it just a smudge open to look outside.

“What do we have here...A desk...A Bookcase...a giant window to the outside covered in thick iron bars and dirty curtains...And a carpet.” Haru listed as she studied the place.

“You forgot the giant creepy painting of people and ponies burning at the stakes behind the desk titled ‘Heretics’.” Makoto added.

“I did not forget that, I was just doing my best to ignore it.” the other girl answered.

“Gory it’s gory, that’s for sure...WAY too many details on the burning flesh.” Ryuji added, gagging once peeked towards it for a moment.

“Maybe the entrance is hidden behind that? She seems to love burning Liars alive, having a giant reproduction of it occupying an entire wall may be the right choice to hide a door to a Sacred Land where heretics can’t enter.” Yusuke tried saying.

“You and your symbolism.” Ann answered, rolling her eyes.

“Was it not the case our first time and now? Everything we saw having some hidden psychological/philosophical meaning?” the artist countered.

“...Touche.” she conceded, annoyed.

Tok! Tok! Tok!

“It does not sound empty behind it.” Makoto said once knocked randomly on the canvas.

“...No, just an ugly painting, there is nothing behind.” Haru added as she managed to raise the painting a little from the wall to look behind it.

“What now?”

“...”

“...Joker?” Yusuke asked.

“Help me.” their Leader asked back while grabbing a corner of the carpet covering the middle of the room to roll it up.

“Under that? I got it.” Fox replied with a nod, and between the two of them, the thick, heavy and ancient-looking thing went moved aside enough to show a big slab of rock cut in a perfect square shape and colored differently from the rest of the floor, actually looking fairly darker, as if a different kind of stone had been used to create it.

“We found something, finally.” Akira said with a smirk.

“Okay, this can very well be the entrance to the catacombs, but how do we open it?” Morgana answered.

“I can’t see handles.” Makoto observed.

“AJ’s coming!” Ryuji hissed in alarm from the door.

“HIDE!” Yusuke said with wide eyes.

“Where?!”

“The curtains!”

“You can’t be serious!” Haru cried-out.

“Do you have any other idea?!” Makoto hissed back in answer.

“...No...”

Once hastily hidden behind the thick curtains in the room, the Phantom Thieves watched as the Distorted Version of AJ moved aside the carpet herself to uncover the trapdoor.

“What now?” Ryuji whispered, making Ann shove her elbow as deep as she could in his side to silence him.

“Hu? I thought I heard something...”

“...” the Distorted Mare stood in silence while looking around, carefully listening to any possible noise and making the hidden Phantom Thieves sweat buckets in dread.

“...Whatever, I have no time to waste.” finally the mare conceded after having waited long enough to be satisfied of the silence surrounding her.

Once checked that the door was properly closed, she grabbed a book from the lone bookcase to swing open the entire thing like a door to reveal the entrance to a secret compartment hidden behind it, and once entered and fumbled a little with something in there producing faint clicking noises, the mare made the stone trapdoor slowly open upward by itself to access the staircase under it.

“Is time for me to purify myself once again...” the mare muttered while walking down that secret staircase.

As soon as the trapdoor closed and the library swung back in place, Akira walked out first soon followed by the other Phantom Thieves.

“Okay, we found the secret switch, what now?” Ryuji asked.

“I think we should wait for her to come out for the burning, as soon as she starts we will open that and go underground, from what we saw, this entire cathedral is just part of the ‘background’, which means that the “Real” Palace is whatever is hidden down there.” Makoto suggested.

“Going by her schedule: she stays down there for an hour and then leaves for five minutes...If the Treasure is down there, it will leave us with a very small window of time to escape.” Morgana said.

“...”

“...What?” the cat asked as soon as he noticed how everybody was looking at him with a blank expression.

“Just admit it, Mona, we’ll have to fight AJ.” Ann said with a tired sigh.

“No, because we will steal the Treasure and leave triumphantly without being seen!”

“None of us believe that, Mona. And deep inside, neither do you.” Futaba answered with an overly gentle tone.

“B-B-But! But...But we are the Phantom Thieves!” Morgana said with a whine and tearing eyes.

“If they ask, we will say that we were dashing and untouchable, okay? That we came and left without anybody noticing.” Haru answered, patting his head while showing a motherly smile.

“Promise?” the cat begged.

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll even paint you as the main hero of the whole thing. Just stop mopping around.” Ryuji added, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Shut up, Skull...” Morgana muttered with a low and shy voice.

When they saw AJ finally come out from underground and leave the room, Akira and the others rapidly entered and pulled out the same book from the bookcase as soon as the mare opened the main doors, thus showing them the hidden mechanism to open the trapdoor.

“...Seems pretty straightforward, we must move the tassels until they form the proper image.” Yusuke said with a thoughtful expression while moving to stand in front of the lone panel that was the only thing inside the small secret alcove.

It was a big picture carved in wood that had been separated in forty square tassels big as a human palm that had moved in a way that the original picture could not be recognized, the tassel in the lower right corner was missing, just left to the side ready to be put back in place once the others had been slid in the right position.

“For being a pony fixating on truth, hiding a secret panel behind a bookcase sounds kind of hypocrite.” Ann admitted.

“Hypocrisy seems to be built-in with a Palace, like a package deal.” Makoto answered.

“True.”

“Please be quiet, I am trying to resolve this enigma.” Yusuke chided them softly while randomly moving tassels around.

“...Move that one to the right.” Ryuji suggested with narrowed eyes.

“Not that, the other.” Akira added.

“Please.” Yusuke begged.

“I say that those two should go up in the corner.” Ann said with an adorable scrunched nose.

“I am trying to resolve this...”

“That’s the middle of the picture, not the corner.” Haru suggested.

“Do you mind?” the artist asked with a cold hiss.

“Jeez, Fox. We were just trying to help.” Morgana answered, huffing.

“This is a forty tassels sliding puzzle, is not something easy to do.” Yusuke answered.

“The final picture is a family portrait of AJ with other two ponies I am fairly certain are her older brother and younger sister. I’ll send you a step-by-step guide about how to resolve it, Fox. Just close and re-open the bookcase to reset the puzzle and then follow my solution.” Futaba said with a bored tone.

“...”

“What? Joker sent me a picture of it and asked me to resolve it.” she explained.

“Tu quoque, my Leader?” Yusuke asked with a way-too-hurt expression.

“You were taking too long...AJ will be here in two minutes.” Akira answered with a shrug.

“Okay...It makes sense.” The artist answered with a defeated tone, closing and re-opening the secret door and following the video their friend sent him on his phone.

“...I am supposed to be the Art Expert of our Team...” the young man muttered, dejected, as soon as the trapdoor opened again.

“Good Lord, now he’s depressed.” Ryuji commented, sighing.

“If it helps, Fox, I just used a program easily found online to turn the image into a similar puzzle, then went backwards from there by having it automatically generate possible combination until I found the solution and then I run it again properly.” Futaba explained.

“It doesn’t help.” he answered in childish bitterness.

“Oh, well! Sorry then!”

“Isn’t that considered ‘Cheating’?” Ann whispered.

“I don’t know.” Akira answered.

While they talked, the group descended more and more down the narrowest spiral staircase they had ever seen, claustrophobic and dark as no candles were burning, forcing them to use the torch of their phones to have enough light to see where the steps were...Then they finally arrived to the end of the staircase, and felt as if ice-cold water went thrown in the pit of their stomach.

“Jesus...” Ryuji hissed with a low voice.

Every. Single. Wall. Was covered in pony and human skulls! The floor and ceiling as well, everything was covered in bones, and there was not a single candle that has been lit, everything was dark, damp and damn silent, the only sound in fact was the cracking of bones under their feet.

“Why...Oh why this Palace could not be another outrageously-luxurious cruise or a giant casino...” Ann said with a whine while holding onto Akira’s arm with both of hers hard enough to almost cut-off his blood-flow there.

“Ugh! Ugh! I-It’s crunchy! And a couple sound wet!” Makoto added with a similar whine as she took very long steps to try and walk on the least amount of skulls possible.

“You keep talking about symbolism, so what about this mess?” Haru asked with a green face.

“I would prefer to not actually look too deep into this, if possible.” Yusuke admitted.

“Well, at least we can tell where we came from and which tunnel we already visited since we have to manually light-up every candle we meet.” Ryuji added.

“Come on, guys! We have to do this, if we don’t, our world will be gone.” Morgana said with a sigh.

The tunnels were unfortunately pony-sized, meaning that beside the entrance, the rest of the way they had to half-crawl their way forward, every now and then gagging as the smell of dust and desiccated bones that filled the entire place.

The entire place was also a giant maze, more than once forcing them to get back as the kept walking into dead-ends, each time coming face-to-face with smaller versions of the same statue of the bound skeletal mare that had been left there on small altars.

“If we meet a Shadow now, fighting it will be a pain.” Haru said.

“Be strong, the path is growing larger.” Morgana, as the only one able to walk normally due to his smaller size, answered her as the tunnels were slowly becoming larger the lower they went.

“We keep going down, I don’t like this.” Akira admitted.

“We must be getting close to...to...to...” Yusuke tried saying until words failed him as they finally walked into a giant room with a very high ceiling, that too made completely out of bones…

Pillars made of dozens of intertwining spinal cords, chandeliers of pony skulls hanging from the ceiling thanks to chains of femurs and with dozens human skulls holding a candle on top of them.

Walls entirely made of human and pony rib-cages positioned on ordinate and alternate rows to create ‘patterns’ similar to mosaic, there were two giant stairways at the opposite end of the room made of long bones creating each step, all leading to an enormous door framed by a giant rib-cage with the keystone of its archway being a dragon skull.

The only thing missing was the floor: there was none to be found, only a bottomless pit of darkness that would clearly mean death to whoever fell down, if it actually had a bottom, considering that a Palace could actually have a literal bottomlesspit for somebody to fall down forever.

“How are we supposed to pass this now!?” Ann asked, cautiously leaning forward with Akira’s help from the very last step signaling the end of the tunnel they came from and the beginning of the giant pit.

“Any of you can jump good?” Futaba asked rhetorically.

“That’s a twenty meters long jump at the very least, Navi. We are not Olympic athletes.” Ryuji answered, annoyed.

“I was joking, Skull.” the hacker answered, grumbling.

“We must punish the Liars, otherwise they will destroy our paradise!” they heard the faint echo of AJ’s voice come from way behind them.

“Yes, Saint AJ!” numerous Shadows answered in chorus.

“SHIT! What now?!” Ryuji yelled with wide eyes.

“I have a plan.” Akira answered.

Two minutes later -

“If there is something that truly angers me, is Lies! I cannot stand them! I try to give people the absolute, purest Truth and they still prefer to gorge themselves in Lies! What did I do wrong?” AJ said with a tone similar to a whine, and yet enriched by a growl.

“We have faith in you, Mother of the Truthful!” the Shadows answered, their tone full of utter devotion.

Unseen by them, in a dark alcove where the light of the sparse torches did not reach, thus creating a very tiny cone of shadows, a rope had been tied to a small rock and leading down, deep inside the bottomless gorge.

“Do not move, for the love of God.” Makoto begged with a low voice while holding her eyes close tight to not look down.

“Sssssh!” Morgana hissed in answer.

At least four meters down, the Phantom Thieves were all hanging from that same rope in silence, hoping fervently to not be found as the current situation was the only solution they had to stay hidden from the rapidly approaching people.

“Of course you have faith in me! Who else can save us all?! You just have faith in me and I will guide you!” the mare answered snarling, and to the Phantom Thieves’ shock, she and the other Shadows calmly walked on the void as if there was a floor under their hooves, until they reached the other end of the room and traversed the giant door.

Clunk! The bone-made giant thing rumbled ominously as it closed.

“How did they do that?!” Ann asked, incredulous, as soon as they all climbed again to stand on solid ground.

“Maybe there is a hidden path?” Haru guessed.

“Uhm...” in answer Yusuke grabbed several handfuls of dust and bone shards and threw them in front of them, right above the hole.

“...If there was a secret path, by now some detritus would have remained floating in the air.” the artist finally said after several handfuls disappeared down the void.

“None of them have wings either, so they were not flying.” Morgana answered.

“How are we supposed to pass this?” Ann asked.

“They did it, so it stands to reason that it can be done...” Haru answered.

“...”

“You okay, buddy?” Ryuji asked, curious about Akira’s thoughtful expression.

“Are you having a brainwave?” Futaba asked.

“There is that plaque.” the guys’ Leader said, pointing at the crude plaque of rusted metal hanging above the giant bone door.

“What’s written on it?” Haru asked while squinting to try reading it from that far.

“I have a pair of binoculars with me if you need.” Morgana offered.

“Don’t mind if I do borrow those then.” Yusuke answered.

“There you go, Fox.”

“Thank you. Let’s see...Only the Blind won’t see the path to Truth, only the Believers will walk the path to Freedom.” the artist red aloud once put the thing into focus.

“I am blind alright! Because I can’t see any bloody path here!” Ryuji answered in bitter anger.

“Thing is that they apparently can see one and walk on it.” Yusuke answered.

“Then they have good eyes, because they can see stuff even if blindfolded.” Morgana commented with a suffering sigh.

“Even if...THAT’S IT! The blindfold!” Ann exclaimed.

“Uh?”

“What if we blindfold us?” the girl explained.

“So you want to see...By covering your eyes?” Haru asked, confused.

“Hey! AJ says that those two she keeps burning are ‘blind to the Truth’, and they were the only ones without blindfolds...Maybe things work on reverse here?” Ann asked, shrugging.

“I’ll try.” Akira answered.

“Here.” Morgana offered him a piece of cloth with an unsure expression.

“...Oh...” they heard him mutter in shock immediately after.

“What? It worked?” Ann asked.

“...Very.” Akira answered dryly, surprising his friends.

“Well, let’s try! Do you have enough blindfolds, Mona?” Ryuji asked.

“I don’t. I never thought that the spare parts for my clothes would have been useful like this instead of simple maintenance.” the cat admitted, sounding almost ashamed.

“There is that room we saw with the beds and the spare uniforms, we can use them to create enough blindfolds for all of us.” Makoto offered.

“We still need to wait for AJ to come out for her usual Burning of the Heretics, we can’t risk entering there and face her and who knows how many Shadows without first sending our Calling Card. So going back to the main floor and get those blindfolds is our best option at the moment.”

“Me, Skull and Milady will go then, no sense for all of us going together and risk being seen, you wait for us in one of the dead-end tunnels and we’ll bring them to you.” Yusuke offered.

“I am coming too, just in case you’ll need back-up. I am the stealthier one among all of us.” Morgana answered.

“Thank you, Mona.”

“We’ll wait for you, just be careful.” Ann asked, worried.

“Don’t worry, Lady Panther! We’ll be back soon.” Morgana answered while he and the others rapidly left the area.

Meanwhile – real world – Outside AJ’s ‘Farm’ -

“Do you think they will be okay?” Fluttershy asked, worried.

“Of course they are! They are professionals! They did this before and helped the two of us! They’ll be fine!” Pinkie answered.

“I really hope so.” Spike added, having sneaked-out to join the two mares in the parking lot near the gardens to hide between the abandoned cars and observe the place just in case.

“Hey! Isn’t that Shining Armour? And Princess Luna?” Pinkie asked, confused.

“Yeah, and they brought a lot of soldiers with them.” Spike answered, shocked by the sheer number of day and night guards accompanying the two ponies.

“Yes?” they heard one of AJ’s ‘acolytes’ ask with a bit of dread in her voice.

“Call Miss Applejack. It is time for her to open these doors so that some proper soldiers can act as guards of this place. This little game of hers has gone on long enough for my tastes, but now I am putting my hoof down: I won’t leave those Phantom Thieves have an easy target just because somepony was too stubborn and wanted to do things her way.” Luna declared with a booming voice.

“I thought we made it clear that-”

“WE. ARE. NOT. ASKING.” the moon Alicorn boomed with both her eyes and horn shining in badly-restrained power, each word exploding out of her mouth loud enough to have the walls around the farm gain cracks and rattle the bones of whoever was within earshot (Roughly a 30 meter radius in this case) as she momentarily fell-back into her old speech pattern.

“I-I-I-I’ll go call her, your Highness!” the poor mare whimpered in answer, ears pinned to her head and eyes wide while she scampered inside to call AJ so that she could answer to the Alicorn’s summon.

“...I hate doing things this way.” Shining admitted with a sigh.

“It’s for the best, Captain. The other Elements understood the seriousness of the situation, even Rarity Belle accepted begrudgingly to let soldiers protect her...Sure she asked for only stallions, but I can’t exactly blame her either. It was time Miss AJ too accepted our help, the Phantom Thieves have already sunk their claws in Miss Fluttershy and Miss Pinkamena, the Elements of Harmony cannot be gutted further, even just to protect them from who knows what absurd power those people posses.” Luna answered simply.

“They won’t put their hooves on Twilight, that’s for sure.” the stallion replied.

“Good, that’s the spirit.” the Princess answered with a proud voice.

With the spying ponies and dragon -

“Ooh, this is bad news!” Spike hissed in dread.

“You heard them, they can come and go freely from a Palace.”

“Even after it ceases to exist after stealing a Treasure?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh!” the small dragon uttered in horror, they actually never asked about that.

“W-W-We need to help them somehow!” Fluttershy answered, already hyperventilating in worry for her new friends.

“For now we need to keep mounting guard, they still have to deliver a Calling Card so for now there is no danger of them being caught, as soon as we meet again we’ll tell them about the extra guards and together we will come up with an escape plan for when they will steal AJ’s Treasure.” Pinkie answered.

“Okay.” Spike accepted with a small nod, he and Fluttershy already looking calmer than before.

With the Phantom Thieves – AJ’s Palace – Catacomb tunnels -

The group of teens were waiting while hiding in the darkness of one of the many tunnels towards the Palace’s Inner Sanctum when they heard new steps coming their way.

“Please let it be the others,” Ann begged with a hiss.

“Hey! Hey, Guys! Get out!” they heard Ryuji whisper.

“Thank God! Why it took you so long?!” Ann asked.

“We ran into a couple of Shadows and had to run away and hide. But here are the blindfolds, are you ready?” Morgana answered.

“Yes.” Akira answered himself.

“Good, let’s see how different this place gets when we have our eyes covered.” Makoto said as the group returned to the bottomless room.

“I don’t think things will change much, I think that ‘Seeing’ in this case is more of a philosophical thing, instead of literal.” Haru answered while she ans everybody else wore their blindfolds…

And the effect was instantaneous.

“HOLY SHIT!” Ryuji yelled with bulged-out eyes as the room completely transformed in front of their (Blindfolded) eyes.

“I take back my assumption.” Haru muttered with a low, awed voice.

Gone were the bones and the bottomless pit, in its place the room now looked like the entrance to a palace; every wall now was covered and finely decorated in gold leaves and gems of amber, now crystal chandeliers hanged from a ceiling decorated by a breath-taking affresco of heaven with beautiful clouds and both human and pony angels welcoming whoever entered with open arms, and more importantly, now the place had a floor: blinding-white marble with delicate brown veins forming mesmerizing patterns, even the stairways were made of gold, with melon-sized gems decorating the handrail and a giant diamond acting as keystone of the door frame.

“The total opposite.” Akira muttered.

“We are seeing what AJ sees, she has ‘blinded’ herself to Truth in order to only see the world as SHE perceives it, fully believing THIS to be the truth.” Yusuke added, looking in wonder the giant painting acting as the roof mimicking the one of churches back in the real world.

“And she is perpetually angry because people don’t want to see things the way she wants?” Ann asked, confused.

“Or maybe she is angry because she knows this is all a lie and is trying to have things become like this, only to lose her temper whenever somebody tries to burst her bubble before she is done turning Lie into Truth.” Makoto answered.

“We’ll ask her. Let’s go now.” Akira answered, taking a tentative step forward.

“JOKER! NO!” Morgana yelled in fear.

“Uh?”

“L-Let me do this first.” the cat, still a bit shaken by their friend’s daredevil moment, rapidly tied a rope around his chest.

“Skull and Fox will hold the rope, so if you fall down you won’t...You know...Die.” Morgana muttered with a shiver.

“Thank you.” the young man answered while patting his small friend’s head.

“Ready whenever you are, buddy.” Ryuji confirmed as soon as he and Yusuke grabbed the rope, even Makoto and Ann grabbed it along Haru.

“Okay.” Akira nodded as he carefully took a step forward...And both him and the others could hear his shoes produce a faint tac! Noise as he walked on the new illusory floor.

“Okay...It’s working...Somehow...” Makoto admitted, still absolutely unsure of the whole thing.

“Whatever! Let’s go before AJ comes out and sees us trying to enter!” Haru said, running forward herself just to not spend too much time walking on top of an illusion, just in case.

The other Phantom Thieves openly shared the sentiment as they all hurried towards the door while fervently shutting-up that tiny voice on the back of their brain doing its worst to remember them that technically THERE WASN’T ANY FLOOR UNDER THEIR FEET, until they heard the giant door close behind them, making them let-out a sigh of relief and remove the blindfolds.

“Okay, we are inside AJ’s Sancta Sanctorum, the Treasure must be close.” Yusuke declared as they saw the ruins of yet another, and abandoned, Garden in front of them.

“AJ’s what?”

“AJ’s most sacred room, Skull.” Makoto explained.

"Ssh! AJ is still in here! Until she comes out we can't let our guard down!" Morgana hissed.

"Right! Let's go!" Akira answered, prompting the others too to follow him deep inside the new location.

The Place was a massive cave that had been clearly artificially carved out of the pure rock of the hill the village had been built on, the entire place was occupied by a thick mass of trees surrounding an old-style farm house with right next to it a giant barn.

What the Phantom Thieves did not know was that the Heart of the Palace was indeed a perfect replica of AJ’s home back in Equestria, but just like everything inside the Palace, all was rotten and decaying; rotten fruits were hanging from dead and naked trees while the house looked dilapidated, with the paint peeling-off by itself and several holes on the walls thanks to rotten wood planks, this along every window being broken and with very scarce dirty shards of glass still precariously hanging from their frames.

Everything in there was in a state of dead stillness and the only light, albeit extremely faint, came from few blue crystals jutting-out from the rock around the entire compound in random places, no wind blew there and no Shadow made a sound, making silence there truly absolute.

“What kind of garden is this?” Ann asked.

“By the shape of the trees...This looks like an Apple Orchard, and that a small house with barn annexed.” Makoto answered.

“The Treasure must be inside that house then,” Morgana said.

“The place is swarming in Shadows, we must be careful.”

“I can see a light.” Akira said while pointing at one of the windows on the upper floor of the house.

“THERE IT IS!” Morgana said with wide eyes.

“Good, let’s get in and map the house too...We still have to think about an escape route.” Ann answered.

“We obviously can’t get out of the main door, too risky.” Haru answered.

“And there is only a path from the outside to here...How do we do this?” Makoto asked, grumbling.

“...This way...” Akira muttered, stealthily moving towards the house and then to the wall behind it, at the opposite end of the cave.

“Uh?” Morgana uttered.

“I saw something, and now I can hear water too.” Joker answered.

“Water? Here?” Ryuji asked.

“Considering how down underground you all are, either an underground river, or sewers.” Futaba answered.

“Isn’t this place a medieval village?”

“Skull, please revise your history lessons...Sewer systems existed already at the time of the Romans and before Nobunaga Oda himself was even alive, they were crude, but had the same function of the ones we have nowadays. (around 800 BC circa)” Haru answered, sighing.

“Oh, right, yes.”

“Sssh!...Here.” Akira hushed them and pointed at a small opening in the wall of the giant cave the apple farm had been built into, said hole was just a few half-rotten bricks that had come loose by themselves from a hastily-built small wall they had apparently built to patch a section of the cave wall that had caved-in.

From there they could hear the flowing of water and, unfortunately, the stench of rancid matter.

“They tried to close the hole into the wall to avoid this smell once built this place. Maybe the wall gave-in during construction.” Akira said, grimacing.

“Bleagh! The water is polluted, of course! It doesn’t matter if it’s a sewer system or not, it is still dead like everything else here. But this still confirms that there is water...But does this lead outside?” Yusuke asked.

“Only one way to discover it! We need to make the hole bigger and explore the tunnel, luckily the bricks look loose enough to try and remove a few without making too much noise.” Ryuji answered.

“We also need to see if there is a Safe Room close to here, just in case.” Ann added.

“Right...Sooo...DIBS ON LOOKING FOR THE SAFE ROOM!” Haru said immediately.

“Me too!” Makoto and Ann said at the same time.

“Fuck!” Ryuji cursed.

“I guess we’ll have to be the ones looking for an exit...We are the men here after all...” Morgana admitted with a miserable expression.

“I was checking the outside just in case and I can confirm that there is a grate of sort on the back and at the base of the hill the village has been built on that keeps spewing outdirty water, we just need to hope the source is that small river of filth you found since the hole seems big enough for you to crawl out of it.” Futaba confirmed.

“Very well. Be careful, Ann.” Akira said.

“You too, okay?” she answered.

“Yes.”

“Good, you girls alert us if you find the Safe room, we will meet there as soon as we find the exit point, once done we will plan to steal the Treasure.” Morgana declared.

“Yes!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one.

Having finally located the shapeless form of the Treasure, all that remained to do was finding a close-enough Safe Room and prepare an escape route...Even if deep inside their heart every member of the Phantom Thieves knew they will very likely be forced to face the wrath of AJ’s Distorted self in direct combat before escaping, and considering how furious the mare was by default, none of them was eager to see how angry she will get once committed what she will obviously consider the greatest of Sin against her person.

As I said already, AJ’s Palace to me is the hardest one to write, every other Palace had been very easy to plan instead.

I am sorry if this chapter was not up to the standards you expected.

My sincerest apologies.

Extra File – Date with Mister Reaper -

“CATCH THEM!” A Unicorn night guard yelled as he and his two buddies were chasing the Phantom Thieves.

“RUUUN!” Ryuji yelled as he and the others tried avoiding the colourful bullets of paralyzing magic the ponies were shooting at them.

“I told you it was a bad idea to try spy on Shining! They were in a damn military outpost, for God’s sake!” Ann bellowed.

“I know! I know! But I thought there won’t be too many guards!” Ryuji answered.

“Just run, there is an entrance to Memento near here.” Akira chastised them both.

“OKAY! But this is not over.” Ann conceded as they all dove for the entrance to the world of Subconscious.

“...”

“Where did they go?!” the Mare at the head of the trio yelled, furious, as soon as she saw the deserted entrance to the subway.

“We were right behind them, they can’t have gone far.” her pal answered.

“Don’t worry. I managed to hit the blond female with a tagging spell, we can teleport to them in a jiff.” the third mare Unicorn answered with a smug smirk.

“Ooh! That’s why I love you, Sister! Let’s go find Captain Shining, he will be happy of this!”

“Why wait? I say we capture them ourselves, like that nopony will steal our thunder!” the mare that used the spell on Ann countered.

“What the hay! May as well! Last time that foal of Storm Ruler got promoted in my place, like Tartarus I will let that happen again! Let’s go!” the leader of the trio of unicorns said after barely a second of thought.

Joining their horns at the tips, the three ponies disappeared in a flash of light to follow the Phantom Thieves wherever they were.

Inside Memento – Two minutes later -

“FLOOR IT! FLOOOOR IT!” Haru yelled with wide eyes.

“I am trying!” Akira answered as the ‘Morgana Car’ he was driving pushed its engine to its limits.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Right behind them, The Reaper was flaying his ridiculously-long guns around while shooting wildly in every direction while chasing them.

The Reaper, instead of carrying a gigantic scythe like the name suggested, wielded two long-barrel revolvers; Its face was shrouded in a blood-stained cloth sack, with only one ominous white eye to see its surroundings and two long chains across its left and right shoulders, forming a cross.

“This day keeps getting worse...” Yusuke admitted with a defeated sigh as a new bullet wheezed past them, making the transformed Morgana shriek in surprise.

“First we almost get caught by ponies, then the Reaper chases us, I wanna go home!” Ann whined, sounding extremely stressed.

“STOP WHERE YOU ARE, PHANTOM-” the three ponies yelled as soon as they appeared in front of the speeding car, forcing Akira to lean the car heavily to the side to enact a death-defying ‘Two-Wheels’ run right next to them so to not slow-down at all.

“Thieves...” the mare finished saying with a shiver, unnerved by how close the car’s tire had come to actually touch her face.

“Let’s chase them!” the other mare yelled immediately.

“Ehmm...girls?” the only stallion of the three muttered with pin-prick pupils.

“What?” both asked while turning around to look at him, and growing pale at seeing the titanic height of The Reaper towering over them.

“What’s that?” he asked with a high-pitch voice as the thing looked them up and down in great curiosity.

“...Grrrr- GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” in the end the entity decided ponies too were NOT welcomed into the land of Memento, and with a blood-curling roar it jumped the three new targets.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Those three reached us here!” Makoto said, she too like the others shivering at the absolute fear filling the scream of agony let out by the three ponies.

“I don’t give a fuck! It’s their fault for following us here, they reap what they sow! Now let’s get out of here!” Ryuji answered, all this while Akira still pushed the Morgana Car at top speed through the deserted tunnels of Memento.

“We will pay a visit to the Velvet Room, and ask Igor if he knows how they tracked us and how to avoid it again.” Akira proposed, simply.

“One day, Joker, you’ll tell me how you can stay always this calm...” Futaba commented.

“Okay.”

“I think it was meant as a joke, dude.” Ryuji commented.

“Oh.”

Unfortunately nobody and nopony ever saw those three unfortunate ponies ever again, and the Phantom Thieves learned to pass by the Velvet Room after each hit to make sure that they had not other Tracking Spells on them, and get them removed thanks to Igor.

End of the extra file.

The Reaper

Chapter 11: Open your eyes! AJ's Rage subsides!

Flying ship housing the Phantom Thieves Hideout – Two days before the Deadline Expires -

The Phantom Thieves were all checking the random assortment of papers covering the entire table in the middle of their meeting room as they went, once again, through their plan with a fine comb, and trusting the ponies with them about finding any mistake they may have missed.

“S.S This is just an innocent ship...Aren’t we pushing our luck with a ship named like this as our secret base?” Ryuji asked aloud with an unsure tone.

“Please focus, Skull. We know for certain that we don’t have a Safe Room inside the Treasure Room of AJ’s Palace, meaning that we have to pass over that illusory pavement once again once inside.” Makoto said with a sigh.

“Thing that I don’t like.” Ann answered sighing.

“Yeah, I marked that up.” Lyra answered, showing the tiny note on the map of the Palace detailing the catacombs where she jokingly added ‘Panther doesn’t like this!’ on a corner and with an arrow pointing at the bottomless hole.

“Hardy-har-har!” the girl answered with a fake laugh.

“Are you sure that tunnel leads outside? We need to be certain, otherwise you will have to traverse the entire Palace and Village to get out, and between AJ’s Distorted Form and every Shadow in there, that is suicide.” Tempest Shadow asked, once again, while looking at the teens in apprehension.

“Meow!” Morgana answered with a long mewing.

“We opened a hole in that wall and let Mona crawl in and follow it, it’s pretty long and the smell is awful, but it does lead outside, once sure we enlarged it further and then positioned the bricks back in place. Once stolen the Treasure the thing will come undone with a mere push, letting all of us free to enter.” Yusuke answered.

“Me and Skull opened the grate at the other end too.” Akira added.

“Yes, that too has been loosened enough to come down at the moment’s notice.” Haru confirmed.

“So we have a plan: We send the Calling Card, get inside the Palace and once stolen the Treasure, we defeat AJ’s monster form and escape through that tunnel.” Futaba declared while still with he face glued to the screen of her laptop.

“Why you even bother with an escape plan if you know already that you will have to fight against the Palace’s owner?” Spike asked, utterly confused.

“...”

“...We don’t want to lose hope, okay? Maybe one day we will steal a Treasure without having to go through a Boss battle.” Ryuji answered, his tone filled to the brim in longing.

At that every Phantom Thief left-out a long sigh, prompting Fluttershy to give each one of them a comforting hug as that sound had triggered her motherly side fiercely.

“It gets tiring after a while, eh?” Pinkie asked.

“It got tiring after the second time, Pinkie, and yet it kept happening.” Makoto answered with a low, suffering sigh.

“Just once...To see how it feels.” Akira admitted, gladly accepting having Ann’s sitting on his lap to hug his depression away.

“Hem-Hem!” A very young voice cleared her throat, making the ponies present jump in horror.

“INTRUDER!” Tempest roared as her broken horn got covered in uncontrolled Magic acting like sparks of electricity.

“What’s wrong, Lavenza?” Akira asked with a calmer tone.

“Master Igor wants you to know that NOW is the best moment to send the Calling Card as AJ will be escorted by force away from her Farm in two days, and while this won’t stop your from stealing her Treasure, nobody will be able to see and hear her confession if Celestia holds her isolated as she plans to do.” the small girl answered, still glaring at Ann with her eyes reduced to two slits.

“Won’t she do the same as soon as the Card is delivered?” Yusuke asked.

“Exactly, but you posses a Secret Weapon that can help her escape Celestia’s clutches long enough for the Confession to happen.” Lavenza answered while turning to look at Spike.

“M-M-Me?!” the small dragon said, shocked.

“Yes. You will have a very important Mission: as soon as the Calling Card is delivered Celestia will speed-up her plans and hurriedly come to collect AJ, you must act fast and help her escape and bring her somewhere safe to hide until the Phantom Thieves have done stealing the Treasure.” the tiny girl answered.

“B-B-But where?!” Spike asked.

“Leave the location to me, I will ask Thorax and our Changelings friends to organize a room filled in hidden cameras, so when she will tell YOU the truth, everypony as well will listen and see.” Tempest answered.

“We will also be there to wait for her, so she won’t be alone.” Fluttershy added.

“No!” Haru said, scared.

“Nu-uh! We will help! You are our friends so we’ll give you a hoof!...Or a hand and stuff. You helped us when we needed it the most, and now we will do the same!” Pinkie answered with a wide smile.

“Just be careful, please.” Akira asked.

“Okey-dokey-lokie!” the pink mare replied.

“Y-You too, please. Be careful!” Fluttershy added.

“Have no fear, the Phantom Thieves will come out victorious.” Lavenza said with a serene smile.

“EEEEK!” Ann yelped as the tiny girl grabbed her wrist and easily threw her away from Akira’s lap so to sit there herself.

“My beloved Trickster won’t let a bad thing happen to his friend, right?” Lavenza declared.

“...Yes.” Akira answered, sounding a bit unsure of the situation.

“Bitch.” Ann growled from the floor, watching Lavenza get up from her boyfriend’s legs so to calmly march towards the newly-added blue door on the ship’s belly and disappear behind it.

“Was that door always there?” Lyra asked.

“...Apparently not.” Tempest answered as soon as that door evaporated, leaving just smooth wood behind.

“Let’s just organize the Calling Card and its delivery. Panther and Lavenza are a situation not worthy of the headache.” Futaba said with a sigh.

“But I am in the middle of it...” Akira muttered.

“That’s why you should have chosen me back in the days, you wouldn’t be in this mess now.” the Hacker answered.

“Why? You would have shared with her and those Twins?” Ann asked with a challenging tone.

“Everybody like threesomes/fivesome.”

“NAVI!” Haru yelled in scandal.

“And you others?! Shouldn’t you deny those words?!” Makoto asked to the other boys, unfortunately all of them opted to just not look towards her at all.

“Unbelievable!” she hissed in anger.

“What’s their problem with a herd?” Lyra whispered.

“Must be a human thing.” Tempest answered, unsure.

Two hours later – AJ’s “Farm” -

The Element of Honesty was at the moment scowling in annoyance at the royal soldiers doing their rounds around her farm together with the members of her small ‘family’, she didn't dislike them per se, but she could not help feeling a strange sense of coldness set in her stomach whenever she looked at them, as if something inside her was telling her to not trust any pony coming from “outside”. And she could tell that this voice was getting everyday louder.

“You seem stressed, AJ.” a near mare said with a sad expression.

“Eeyup, Ah don’t feel good lately, musta be the new guards roaming ‘round the place.” she admitted with a sigh.

“I too was unsure, but they seem like nice ponies, they even camp outside!” the mare answered.

“They do?” AJ asked, surprised.

“Uh-hu! They just get in for the rounds, but when they change, they get out so that new ones can get in.”

“Oh! Ah did not know that!” AJ admitted.

“I gotta go, soon we will need to start preparing the fields.” the mare said while walking away.

“That ya do.” AJ answered with a pleased smile.

“She is a Liar! She will betray you! Those soldiers will bring lies here! Lies are everywhere! Kick them all out!” the same voice growled inside AJ’s skull, making her wince and deepen her scowl.

“Musta get some sleep, Ah’m starting to hear voices too now.” the Elelemnt Bearer whispered while shaking her head wildly, unaware that that voice was her own Distorted Self’s twisted thoughts bleeding through into her real self’s subconscious because of the battle between the Element of Harmony inside her and the power of Ruin trying to corrupt her.

The thin “mental barrier” separating AJ from Shadow AJ was getting thinner every day more, soon it will be impossible to tell the two apart, unless the Phantom Thieves manage to steal her Treasure…

With the other mare -

The young mare was just walking towards the outer wall of the farm when she heard a faint knocking coming from next to her, and once checked nobody was around, she replied with a similar knocking.

“So?” the voice from the other side asked.

“I seem to have infiltrated the place successfully, captain Shining, they no longer are wary of me.” she answered.

“Good! Keep us informed at all times, Blunt Force. We need to have a pair of trusted eyes in there to keep those civilians safe, we must not let those Phantom Thieves or anypony else have free reign.” Shining Armour answered, tone strict and fierce.

“Yes, Captain! But I have to report that AJ is getting restless, I fear that her sister’s continue refusal to come here is not helping her nervousness. She seems in a constant state of suppressed anger lately.”

“I can understand that she wants her close so to keep her safe, but until this Conversion War is on-going, this world is not a safe enough place for colts and fillies. Keep us informed and continue your mission.” Shining answered.

“Yes, Captain!” Blunt Force answered before trotting away to re-join the groups of farming ponies she had managed to infiltrate into.

“...”

“...So the soldiers infiltrated the place too, this is not good news.” Spike muttered once exited from his hiding spot.

“That was to be expected, that farm and its ‘No Outsiders’ mentality is a giant security risk so Celestia will do everything in her power to make sure no other Element of Harmony will fall into enemy hands. They have been Gutted too much for her to feel comfortable.” Yusuke answered, his voice ringing quietly in the tiny radio transmitter in the dragon’s ear.

“The projector Confetti gave me is in position, when do I have to transmit the Calling Card?” he asked

“Ten minutes, we are organizing the streaming of the same video in the human side of the barrier too, like that in a way or another everybody will learn of this, either because both sides keep spying on each other, or because the soldiers there will report to Celestia and those farmers to everybody within earshot. I will send you a Beep when it’s time to turn it on.” Futaba answered.

“Yes.”

“Also, remember to talk AJ into running away as soon as she hears the Calling Card, if Shining Armor is there already, he may try to drag AJ away immediately without waiting for Celestia’s direct order.” the Hacker said.

“That would be hard...But I can use that undercover mare as a justification...I can play on her fear of Lies to follow me. Or fear of Truth, if you are right about the meaning of her Palace.” Spike answered.

“We are almost sure of that, not that it really matters.” Ryuji answered.

“Okay, I’ll get ready then.”

With the Phantom Thieves – Memento -

“There, that is the exit towards AJ’s Farm, everything ready?” Ann asked.

“Ready, as soon as we get out we will stream the Calling Card to AJ and everybody else.” Makoto replied.

“Things will get harder from now on.” Akira admitted with a sigh.

“It depends, Rarity seems to have gone under the Radar, not one of them apparently know where she is while Dash is literally too into her own hype as a Hero to be held down by the soldiers, but the other targets after the Elements are a mystery: Twilight is Celestia’s pupil so she will be the hardest to reach without the Princess noticing, while the others are public figures that need to be seen so they can’t go into hiding without severely hurting the Propaganda Machine Equestria needs to promote a super-fast Conversion.” Yusuke answered.

“So they will soon get ‘Easy to find, but hard to reach’?” Haru asked.

“Precisely.”

“We’ll find a way, we always do.” Morgana answered.

“Everything Ready, I am transmitting the Calling Card, you get out of Memento and get near AJ’s farm.” Futaba alerted them as soon as she sent the message.

“It’s time! Gogogogogogo!” Ryuji yelled making every other member of the group hurry out of Memento.

With AJ -

The poor mare was helping few ponies going through the last touches of the plans for the upcoming ‘Refitting’ of the botanical garden into a full-fledged farm when a gasp of a near stallion caught her attention.

“What?” She asked.

“That...That Logo!” the stallion answered, stammering in surprise.

“What Lo...WHAT IN TARNATION IS THAT THING DOING HERE?!” AJ yelled as she saw the giant hat and mask symbol of the Phantom Thieves that was being projected on the whole side of her giant barn/church, just like every other pony, either guard or farmer, was looking at it in utter shock.

“Oh...Nononono! How did they get in here too!? How? HOW?!” Shining, eyes too wide to be healthy, yelled in horror as soon as Lavenza started once again to read the message the Phantom Thieves prepared for their victim.

And as usual, the target of said Calling Card was inexplicably unable to ignore or look away from it, without even imagining that it was her own Shadow Self making it impossible to look away from it since that was a direct attack to the Treasure hidden deep inside the Palace, something her Distorted Self was simply unable to ignore.

To Applejack of the Apple Family, the Frenzied Beast of Wrath slave of her unending Fury and blindly attacking everybody around her in fear of Truth! A blind mare preferring to escape Reality and hide behind the Lies created by her Twisted Delusions in her sick image of the perfect Utopia.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who aides in the destruction of humanity so to quench her burning rage against herself and the world.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will remind you what real Honesty is.

And we will take your distorted desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

As soon as the transmission ended, just to restart again into a loop, utter bedlam exploded inside and outside the Farm as there was not a single pony not reacting to the outrageous message of the mysterious teens, especially AJ that got extremely pale in complexion.

“L-L-Lies? I-I am not a liar! I am not Corrupted! I-”

Bang!

“Okay! Nopony moves! This is an official order from the Royal Guards: we are taking over!” Shining Armour ordered as soon as Blunt Force unlocked the main doors from inside while ignoring the rest of the farmers telling her not to, giving to Shining the chance to blast the tall thing open and tear it off from its hinges with an over-charged kinetic push from his horn.

“Ro-Rosemary Leaf?” AJ asked, incredulous.

“Sorry, Miss AJ. But this is a security matter, you have to come with us.” Blunt Force replied unfazed as she donned again her armor while Shining and many other soldiers flooded the place.

“NO!” AJ yelled.

“It is for the best, AJ. You are the next target of the Phantom Thieves, we are going to protect you.” Shining answered.

“What about the others!? What about mah farm!?” she asked, slowly walking backwards and eyeing every pony around her in distrust.

“This place is compromised, if they managed to deliver here their message right under our nose, it means somepony here is an accomplice. We’ll need to question all of you.” Shining answered, and while moving as one every Unicorn soldier started immobilizing every farm pony they came across.

“You betrayed me, Rose-”

“My name is Blunt Force, Miss AJ. Now quit being unreasonable and please come with us, do not make this difficult. We won’t hesitate to use brute strength otherwise.” the mare soldier answered with a cold tone.

BOOF! BOOF! BOOF!

At once, several smoke bombs rained between AJ and everybody else, obscuring her in a thick smoke-screen.

“This way!” Spike whispered while pulling on AJ’s hoof.

“Spike?!”

“Sssh! Follow me!” the small dragon answered, pulling again on her hoof before running away.

“GRAB HER!” hearing Shining bark that order with zero mercy, AJ had no choice but trusting him and watching him as he scampered to hide behind a cart so to not be seen by the guards.

“To where?” she asked once seen where he was hiding, and barely missing a grabbing attempt from a pair of Pegasus soldiers trying to assault her from the sky.

“T-There is a warehouse not too far away, we’ll hide there until night...T-Then we ill figure-out something.” the small dragon answered, hoping nervously that she will believe him.

“Works for me! Hold on, gonna go fast naw, they’re not Dash, so Ah’m gonna teach them how slow they’re!” the Farm Mare answered in determination, and demolishing a side wall to leave the Farm without losing her momentum she grabbed Spike’s tail in her mouth to swing the small dragon on her back.

Unknown to her, a Changeling under Thorax’ orders mimicked her and moved in the opposite direction once grabbed the attention of every guard, just like the PT and Tempest had planned for, luckily also making sure nobody could link Spike to AJ’s escape yet.

“Did Twilight send you?” AJ asked.

“Nope! This was my idea! The guards are keeping a close eye on Twi too, and I don’t really trust them.” he admitted.

“Ah can’t blame yah! Looks like one can’t trust anypony nowadays!” AJ answered between gritted teeth, turning furious at the mere wondering about how many members of her ‘Family’ could actually be soldiers in disguise.

“What’s yer plan?”

“Hide until this madness stops and everybody turn their brain back on!”

“Ah’m not one for hiding!”

“And being closed in a damp dungeon unable to see anybody?”

“...Ah don’t like that either.” she admitted.

“Listen, let’s lay low until things calm down...T-Then we’ll think about something!”

“That Ah can do, we’ll think about something together, like friends!”

“Like family, AJ.” Spike corrected her.

“Well said.” the mare answered with a small smile.

“To where, Partner?”

“To the left!”

“Okay!”

With the Phantom Thieves – At the same time -

“SO THE LIARS DARE OPPOSE ME!? COME IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS! I WILL BURN YOU AT THE STAKE LIKE THE HERETICS YOU ALL ARE!” the Distorted Form of AJ had just finished roaring her answer to the teens’ challenge when they saw Shining Armor force his way into the Farm and the explosion of the smoke bombs they have given to Spike.

“Angel here! T-The Target is running away! I repeat, the Target is running away!” Fluttershy alerted them from her radio as she stealthily followed the real AJ from the sky.

“Good, we are going in then, you and Confetti be careful and keep us informed, we’ll tell you to start recording her confession as soon as we did steal the Treasure.” Makoto answered.

“Okay! You too be careful, and score many Criticals!” Pinkie answered.

“Easier to say than do...” Haru answered sighing, and with a well-practiced maneuver, all of them pulled their phone out to enter the Metaverse and AJ’s Palace while skillfully ignoring the screams of apoplectic rage tearing their way out of Shining’s foaming mouth; they’ll get him soon enough...Or an aneurysm will do the dirty work for them, whichever happened first.

Inside AJ’s Palace – under the hill housing the Village -

“Everybody here?” Akira asked.

“Yes!” the other answered.

“Good.”

“You sure we cannot use the escape tunnel to get in?” Ryuji asked.

“We can’t risk blowing our way out, Skull. Even if I admit that it would make things way more easy.” Morgana answered with a sigh.

“Even if we will-”

“YES! EVEN IF WE WILL STILL FIGHT AJ, SKULL!” Morgana answered with a roar worthy of a wild beast.

“Okay! Okay! Jeez, I was just asking, you stupid cat!”

“You sure you are a cat? I would pin you for a very small tiger.” Akira asked, utterly serious.

“Stuff it, Joker!” the cat answered with an annoyed hiss.

“Let’s just go, AJ is already super pissed, so she’ll be personally hunting us down.” Ann said with a sigh as the group slowly made their way towards the village.

“LOOK FOR THEM! FIND THEM! KILL THEM!” and already they could hear the mad rambling of the mare’s Shadow Self barking orders nonstop.

“She is angry all right...” Makoto admitted, secretly impressed by how badly the mare took their Calling Card.

“Ready to run for the Safe Room? I fear we’ll need to dash our way through towards the Treasure the whole time.” Yusuke said.

“Hooray...” Haru answered with a desperate sigh.

A LONG chase later – Catacombs -

As Yusuke had predicted, the Phantom Thieves had been forced to run towards the Safe Room inside the Village and dive inside it so to not be jumped by Shadow AJ and her servants, making the door of the room shook and whine under the stress of keeping all of those monsters outside, thing that worried the teens fiercely no matter how many times Morgana reassured them that no Shadow was permitted entrance there as per the Rules of the Metaverse. Even if the small cat himself kept stealing glances at the door in apprehension while saying that.

And once reached the inside of the Cathedral through the connections between Safe Rooms, from there to the entrance to the Catacombs was another daring escape...Until they reached the ground floor, where they found the place empty and utterly silent, along the hidden trapdoor to the underground labyrinth already opened.

“She is waiting for us.” Haru said.

“Probably she thinks we’ll have to leave from the front door once stolen the Treasure.” Akira answered.

“I can confirm that, there is a HUGE crowd waiting for you just outside the cathedral, all of them with torches and pitchforks, as you can imagine.” Futaba confirmed for them.

“AJ?” Ryuji asked.

“I can’t tell, too many ponies amassed together.” she answered with an unsure tone.

“And the tunnel?” Akira asked.

“The exit point is safe, no pony in sight.”

“Then maybe we’ll be lucky, she doesn’t seem to know about the collapsed wall.” Makoto said with a relieved sigh.

“Let’s hope things will work then, ready?” Ann asked.

“Yes!” everybody else answered.

“Then prepare the blindfolds, we have a fake pavement to walk on...” Yusuke said.

The eerie silence both inside the bottomless chamber and the inner sanctum of AJ’s Palace was making their skin crawl as they neared the abandoned farm house, opening the door with a light push that gave the finishing blow to its utterly-rusted hinges that turned to dust making the old thing fall to the floor with a loud THUD! Soon followed by the sound of hundreds of splinters of wood clattering on the floor as the thing broke into fragments as soon as it touched the ground.

“Completely rotten...” Akira muttered.

“Like everything in here.” Ryuji answered while the group slowly walked inside the house.

“Dust and cobwebs everywhere...I wonder how long ago it was since anybody entered this place.” Yusuke asked, amazed by the thick layer of dust covering everything.

“This place looks very homely, you think it represent some place dear to AJ?” Ann asked, looking with sad eyes at the abandoned rocking chair lying onto its side in front of a fireplace.

“Listening to Angel and Confetti, along Claws...This place should be very similar to AJ’s house back in Ponyville, they say she lives in a farm.” Akira answered.

“It does give a very cliche-esque Farm feeling, after all.” Yusuke admitted.

“So the very heart of this Palace is AJ’s childhood house fallen into abandonment, hidden deep under an entire village of lies...An house buried under the manifestation of all the Lies she is telling herself and everybody else for so long that she pretty much forgot who she really was. Is as much literal as you can make it.” Makoto commented while studying the dilapidated kitchen and shaking her head.

“This way, I found the stairs to the upper floor.” Haru alerted the others from a corridor.

“Or what remains of them. Most of the steps have fallen down by themselves, we’ll have to climb our way up.” Ryuji added with a sigh.

“Better than nothing, let’s go.” Morgana answered, prompting the others to climb up the step-less staircase to reach the upper floor and the abandoned bedroom holding the Treasure.

“A family photo of AJ and other ponies...” Haru said.

“They must be her big brother, little sister and Grandmother.” Akira confirmed while grabbing the thing.

“A memory of happier times with her family, there isn’t any bigger Treasure than this.” Yusuke commented while they all hurried out of the house and towards the fake wall separating them from their escape tunnel.

“Here it is, let’s remove the bricks and get out of here.” Ann hissed while looking at the only entrance to the secret cave in utter paranoia.

“Yes-”

“LOOK OUT!” Akira’s answer went cut abruptly by Futaba barely a second before the wall itself exploded inward due to two hooves bucking backwards through it and nailing Joker in the chest blowing him back to be caught by Ryuji that barely managed to stop both from falling to the ground.

“Now I see why I could not find AJ! She was waiting for you behind the wall!” the hacker growled in fury, angry at herself for missing that possible outcome.

“So I was right! You all want to steal my Treasure! You all want to commit this outrageous Sin against me! I will take care of you sinners personally!” looking apoplectic in rage, Shadow AJ called to herself the small framed picture to hide it under her robes.

“Sinners? Us? You go around preaching your Lies as the only possible Truth! YOU are the one pretending everybody to start thinking like you!” Makoto answered.

“I am saving everypony! Giving them Hope in a land of misery! I SEE THE REALITY OF THE WORLD! I AM THE ONE DEFENDING TRUTH!”

“That is not truth, that is your own delusion you are trying to spread like an illness. You cover everything written with your own version, you force everybody to wear blindfolds so that they can only see things the way you want, and you punish harshly and mercilessly whoever dares calling you out on it. You are the worst kind of Liar, one that refuses to acknowledge Truth even when it is clearly presented right for everybody to see.” Yusuke answered.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I won’t hear all that rubbish coming out of some Sinner’s mouth!” ShadowAJ yelled madly in answer, her body already transforming into her grotesque True Form and shredding her once pristine robes and turning them into beggars’ rags due to her body expanding exponentially.

“Get ready!” Morgana hissed in alarm.

“I WILL FORCE YOU TO OPEN YOUR EYES, EVEN IF I WILL HAVE TO GOUGE THEM OUT MYSELF!” The now monstrous mare roared as her body shifted into an erect position with clawed hands taking place of her frontal hooves and gaining long claw-like nails.

Her spine and limbs loudly popped as her bones grew rapidly and unevenly, her spine especially transformed without control to the point of almost bursting out of her back with spikes protruding through her flesh in random points while giving her a hunchback stance, her skin itself was turning faintly green and sick-looking while the rest of her body thinned to the point of almost turning her into a walking skeleton.

Her nuzzle enlarged and elongated to match her now towering height of three meters, and her mouth filled in yellow fangs unfitting of a former herbivore; when an iron mask with no eye holes closed around the faun monster’s head and heavy shackles bounded her wrists together the Phantom Thieves knew she was finally ready to battle, especially when a giant rusty dull-looking sword covered in brownish dried blood appeared in her hands.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” throwing back her head, Shadow AJ let out a bestial roar barely muffled by her mask, a scream so loud that it blow back the teen Thieves and utterly destroyed the few glowing stones around the cave providing light in there, making the entire farm and dead orchard fall into complete darkness to the point NOTHING was visible, even one’s own feet.

“I can’t see her-GAH!” Ryuji yelled, gasping in agony as the monstrous Mare tackled him with a shoulder charge that threw him to the ground.

“Maybe she can just hear-EEEK!” Makoto tried saying with a whisper, only for a sword swipe to catch her side and made her tumble boneless on the floor, and if she didn’t get torn in half was only because the sword was utterly dull, acting more like a club than a blade, but it still hit her with the strength of a speeding car, and that hurt her A LOT.

“Nope! She sees and hear just fine!” Morgana answered, and as a cat, he could actually see the monster Faun just enough to manage to dodge AJ’s attack, even if by a hair.

“How are we supposed to fight her?” Akira asked.

“The blindfolds! Maybe we can us them to see like we did before!” Yusuke tried saying, groaning in pain as his own weapon (held in a defensive stance) almost snapped in two when the Shadow Mare’s blade collided with it before pushing him back.

“Really!?” Ryuji answered while blindly shooting in front of himself to try using his shotgun’s muzzle flash as an improvised light source, and hopefully put a bullet or two into AJ’s liver through luck alone.

“We are already blind without light sources and underground! A blindfold will hardly make a difference if it doesn't work!” Haru answered, shrieking as she managed to dodge AJ’s shoulder tackle by mere luck.

“May as well try!” Akira answered, grabbing and wearing the same blindfold he used to pass over the bottomless pit.

“IT WORKS!” he then finally said, gaining in answer a chorus of elated sighs as the others as well covered their eyes.

Not only now they could see clearly, they actually saw how the entire cave looked through AJ’s own eyes, luscious green grass and abundant fruits on the trees bathed in the warm rays of the sun comprised; the entire place was a heavenly garden of absolute peace and beauty out of some religious text about the Garden of Eden, even the house was pristine clean and new, and the Phantom Thieves could swear they could actually smell the fresh paint used to paint the building in bright red and hear the cheery music coming from a gramophone somewhere inside.

And then they got a full view at how Shadow AJ saw herself as...

A vengeful horse-woman-angel being with wings of fire and a mane of raging flames, only a pure-white strip of cloth covering her eyes in place of the rusty, crude mask covering the entire head of her real self; her body instead was covered by a fierce-looking golden armor over white priestess robes and golden gauntlets on her hands; no shackles were on her delicate hands while the sword had become a glorious giant sword covered in holy flames.

“She sees herself as a goddess? What a surprise.” Yusuke commented with a frown of distaste and his voice overflowing in irony.

“She even wears a crown of thorns on her forehead like a circlet...Made of gold of course, God forbid a Palace owner shows some humility.” Haru added, equally mocking in attitude.

“It changes nothing, we need to get through her if we want the Treasure!” Makoto answered as the monster mare jumped high in the air to assault them with an overhead slash of the flaming sword.

BOOM!

The thing hit the floor with enough force to cause a small explosion soon followed by a column of fire rising high in the air, surprising the Phantom Thieves that had barely enough time to dodge the attack.

“Is the fire real?” Akira asked.

“Sorry, dude! I don’t want to know! Captain Kid!” Ryuji answered while summoning his Persona.

“Ram her!” he then ordered, and the spirit lunged forward towards the Shadow.

“Guhh!” Shadow AJ groaned as she tried grabbing the ship as soon as that painfully slammed on her chest, but getting pushed back of few feet all the same from the power of the charge as she failed to stop the charge.

“Persona: Sandman!” in the meantime, Akira had summoned the moon-headed spirit to attack AJ.

“ARGH!” the angel of wrath growled as she felt herself get sleepy, and even if she could not fall fully asleep, her blurry vision offered the right opening for the others to attack her.

“JOHANNA!” Makoto yelled, jumping on her bike Persona to bombard the mare in ‘small’ nuclear explosions.

“I shall not be left behind. Goemon!” summoning his own Persona, Yusuke guided it to assault the monster with the bladed pipe it held in its hands so that both beings could cross blades in a chorus of clanging sounds.

“I will defend this holy land with my life!” even AJ’s voice had turned into a melodious, angelic voice, the direct opposite of the animalistic, uneven growling tone of her real self.

“What holy land!? What Truth!? You are just a mad mare biting everybody around you! Milady: Psio!” Haru, looking particularly tired of the mare’s ramblings, answered with a tone of finality, and her Persona reflected said anger with a stronger-than-normal psyonic attack that made the monster double over while clinging her head.

“Found the weak point!” Ryuji said with a wide smile as he happily hammered her with zero mercy while the dazed mare had troubles defending herself using the flat side of her sword as an improvised shield against the young man’s wide hammer swings.

“She is in a constant state of stress and anger, of course psy attacks are effective! Her mental health must be a mess!” Morgana added while pelting the monster’s back in bombs from his giant cartoonish slingshot.

“Good to know! Milady: Triple Down!” Haru answered as a storm of bullets, rockets and grenades went shoot from under her Persona’s dress to rain on AJ, unfortunately only dazing her further.

“Is she damn invincible?!” Makoto bellowed furious as she tried running AJ over only for the mare’s ‘armor’ to make her bounce away.

“We are fighting her own delusion. She sees herself as the invincible defender of Truth.” Akira answered with narrowed eyes, he too failing to scratch that armor either with his knife or Arsene (and other Personas at his disposal) attacking in tandem with him.

“So we either get lucky and hit her real self without being able to see her or we see her and just fight a fake Shadow AJ we cannot hurt because her own perception make her untouchable? This is hardly fair.” Yusuke commented.

“We need a miracle then?” Ryuji asked with a worried voice.

“A Miracle?! We hardly get miracles when fighting Shadows, Sku-CLANG!” Morgana’s answer went interrupted by his own Persona’s blade managing to land a clear hit on AJ’s cheek producing a loud Clang! Sound and various sparks.

“EEEEK!” the surprised, and scared, shriek of AJ soon following as well caught everybody’s attention.

“...You heard that?” Makoto asked, unsure.

“That sounded like AJ’s mask getting hit! She is dressed in rags but the armor still sound metal when hit, but a mere blindfold still sounded like the metal mask it is in reality!” Futaba, having just moved to heal Morgana from the wounds of the heavy counter of AJ, said in surprise.

“Found the miracle!” Ryuji said, laughing in victory as his Persona Captain Kidd gave the mare a heavy headbutt making her flinch.

“We are in a Palace built on lies...Lies twisting reality into its exact opposite, so clothes became armor and a decrepit catacomb become a mansion!” Haru said in realization.

“But lies never last long.” Ann answered, smirking.

“So if we force her eyes free, we’ll shatter her idea of invincibility?” Ryuji asked, hopeful.

“Either forever, or for long enough for us to do some damage, we must drag her into the ‘Real’ Palace, the shock of seeing how things really are should distract her enough...Or turn her into a raging beast.” Yusuke answered.

“GET OVER HEREEEE!” AJ roared as she charged them in blind fury, waving her giant sword left and right in wide swipes leaving behind giant tongues of fire at every movement.

“Zio!” Ryuji answered, and watching dismay as the lightning attack wash over the armor doing no damage.

“IMMUNE TO LIGHTNING! IMMUNE TO LIGHTNING!” the blond young man shrieked as he saw the blade hit a near tree doing no damage, and yet almost incinirating him with the fire following the attack.

“Jack Frost: Mabufu!” Akira ordered to one of his Persona, covering AJ in frost long enough to help his friend escape from her grasp.

“Ice doesn’t work well either.” Joker added with a hiss as both boys hurriedly moved away.

“She is covered in fire, it was a given.” Skull answered smirking.

“OVER HERE!” Makoto called-out, soon having the other Phantom Thieves regroup around her.

“This is getting annoying, how are we going to break that mask? That psycho never stays put enough for us to land a clear hit!” Ann asked with an annoyed growl.

“I have an idea.”

“You do, Joker?” Haru asked back.

“Maybe. Mona?” Akira answered while kneeling down and patting his back with one hand.

“Oooh, I don’t like that!” Ryuji admitted.

“...I’ll trust you, Joker.” Morgana answered, jumping on the young man’s shoulder so that he could charge AJ head-on with the cat riding him.

“Let’s go.” Akira said as he ran forward as fast as he could.

“COVER THOSE TWO!” Futaba, eyes way too wide to be healthy, yelled in fear as their Leader faced the monster alone, unafraid of the raging, wide swipes of flaming sword raining on him.

“STAY STILL, INFIDEL!” AJ unknowingly bellowed in answer as she breathed-out a long stream of fire to try incinerate the Phantom Thieves’ Wild Card and Mascot in a single swoop.

“That’s my boyfriend you are trying to roast, you flaming bitch! CARMEN!” Ann roared as she emptied her gun on the mad mare while her Persona kept summoning fire columns around AJ, even if those were not hurting her.

“That thing is fire-proof, Panther!” Makoto yelled while riding her Persona to circle around AJ and shoot her from every possible angle.

“It’s all about distraction more than damage! I want to blind her!” Ann countered.

“With Joker -

“WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!” AJ yelled, by now angry beyond belief, as he flaming sword kept missing its target by a hair until it slammed on the ground, and to her surprise, the teen she was trying to kill used it as a springboard to jump on her back instead of simply dodging it.

“Your turn, Mona!” he ordered before letting go to roll a bit away.

“MEEEEOW!” letting-out a scared yowl, the small cat held for dear life as he dangled from the back of AJ’s neck with one paw while whacking nonstop on the back of the mare’s head with Akira’s knife held in his other, right where the iron mask hiding her face was in reality.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

“LET GO OF MEEEEEE!” AJ screamed and screamed while wildly flaying her free arm behind her to try and grab Morgana.

“Eligor: Double Fang!” Akira in the meantime summoned the crimson horse-riding knight Persona to charge the Shadow Mare.

“KI-HYAAAAA!” the knight bellowed with a mighty cry as its steed rammed AJ’s raised sword, pushing her back at the same time as its lance tried piercing AJ’s head with a loud CRACK! Soon coming from the point of impact on her forehead.

“We are getting there, finally!” Yusuke said in victory, timing his own sword strike with the disappearance of the summoned knight Persona so to have a free shot himself on the mare’s head, and as expected, a tiny fragment of metal briefly fell from her face before disappearing as his sword drew a line on the side of her jaw.

“NO!” AJ answered with a horrified scream as she finally managed to grab Morgana’s tail to throw him away, and in the arms of Akira that managed to intercept the cat’s fly.

“Thanks, Joker.” Morgana said as soon as the young man let him go to walk by himself.

“We are friends.” he answered, smiling.

“Of course!” the cat replied with a beaming smile himself.

“...Friends?” in a surprising turn of events, AJ repeated that word as if it was an alien concept to her, a voice sounding similar to the one of an extremely defenceless kid.

“Sounds strange, eh? Guess what, you crazy bitch, we humans can have friends too!” Ryuji answered with a sarcastic tone and a snarl as the Phantom Thieves regrouped.

“You make that word dirty! Liars are not friends! Liars cannot have friends! Lies destroy Friendship!” AJ answered.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” the punk boy replied, snorting in ridicule.

“Together, guys?” Ann said.

“We’ll go all out!” Makoto answered, smirking.

“Surround that psycho! The mask must be close at breaking, we have almost done!” Futaba instructed them.

“You won’t stop me! I will protect my family and friends from the Lies of Conversion! You are finished!” AJ answered by plunging her sword deep in the ground to summon several giant towers of fire all around her.

“Scatter!” Morgana ordered, making the Phantom Thieves disperse to surround AJ once dodged the fire attack.

“GRAAAAH!” looking left and right unsure who to attack first, Aj’s angelic face twisted into the mad scowl of a rabid animal as she glared at the Phantom Thieves around her.

“You are wide open!” Makoto yelled first as her riffle pelted the back of AJ’s head in bullets.

“COME HERE!” the monster hissed while moving to grab her in retaliation.

“She is not alone!” as soon as the mare turned around, Yusuke jumped in the air to give to the monster’s head a diagonal slash of his blade that made her head snap back from the whiplash, and made another tiny fragment of metal fall from her head.

“Peek-a-boo, you idiot!” using the opening of AJ’s launching a flaming crescent moon of fire from her blade towards Fox as a counter, Haru gave a wide swing of her battle-ax right on AJ’e eyes that almost had the mare topple over backwards from the sudden impact that messed with her balance.

“Zorro!” not to be left behind, the moment Morgana saw Akira help Haru dodge the mare’s counter (A right hook punch that once covered in fire looked like a meteor) the cat’s Persona went summoned to unleash a flurry of thrusts of its rapier right on AJ’s cheek.

“Captain Kidd!”

“Johanna!”

Immediately after that assault ended, both Ryuji and Makoto used their Persona in a double attack on the mare’s back that forced her on her knees, making it easier for the two of them to hit her face with their own weapons.

“STOP!” having enough of the assault, AJ ordered with a demonic roar as fire erupted like a supernova from all around her in an explosion that FINALLY managed to give her some space as it forced the Phantom Thieves to enact a desperate dodging maneuver, not without Akira getting caught in the tail-end of the explosion covering his back in fire.

“Hang in there, buddy!” seeing his best friend covered in flames, Ryuji hurried to save him and heal him as soon as he stopped rolling on the floor to put-out the fire.

“We are...Almost there.” Akira muttered with a tired voice.

“Yeah, a good blow and that thing should come off now...” the punk boy answered with a thoughtful expression.

“What are you thinking?”

“Can you others throw me? I am the one with the heavy hammer as a weapon, I can bash that thing extra hard if you throw me at her hard enough.” Ryuji answered.

“Throw you?!” Makoto answered, shocked.

“Yeah!”

“...Leave it to me then. Johanna!” the girl said, summoning her Persona.

“We’ll distract AJ, you just worry about taking Skull to her as fast as you can, we need as much speed you can give him for maximum impact.” Yusuke instructed her.

“Okay!” she answered, sprinting at the end of the apple orchard as soon as Ryuji mounted behind her on Johanna.

“That Persona is faster than my car form, she can do this. You others are ready?” Morgana answered.

“Yes!”

“I am buffing you all as much as I can, give her your best shot!” Futaba added.

“SEE!? You are no friends! Two of you left in fear already! And now, you others will die!” AJ said in triumph as she jumped high in the air to reach them with a fierce attack as the fire around her blade turned it into a towering giant blade of condensed flames of colossal sizes.

“Show-off.” Akira answered, and the remaining Phantom Thieves once again scattered to dodge the attack that curiously did not damage a single tree in the orchard, no matter the ocean of fire that surged from the blade on impact.

“Lucky for us, trees are acting as a perfect defense against fire!” Ann commented, amused.

“And as I expected, that attack moved on a straight line instead of all around her.” Yusuke commented as he summoned Goemon.

“Goemon: Giant Slice!”

“GUH!” AJ groaned in fatigue as the attack forced her knees to bend a little under the weight behind the vertical slice she had barely time to defend against.

“No time to dwindle, darling!” Haru said as she gave a wide swing behind AJ’s knees, finally forcing the mare to fall kneeling on the floor on both knees.

“Arsene: Cleave!”

“Goemon: Giant Slice!” Akira and Yusuke said at the same time, and the combined attack of their Persona made AJ’s head snap back heavily accompanied by a loud whining of strained metal.

“Incoming!” Futaba alerted them, making the teens jump back to give AJ some room.

“Uh?” the monster Mare had barely the time to return looking in front of herself to see Makoto’s evil smirk fill her vision as she came sprinting towards her.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Johanna’s engine roared at full speed as the two teens riding her came into view at ludicrous speed.

“NOW! GRAB HER!” Ann yelled as she and Haru latched to one of AJ’s arm, just like Akira and Yusuke did with her other.

“Let go of me!”

“NOPE LOOK IN FRONT!” Morgana, having climbed the mare’s back, used his whole body to hold her head in place and make her look towards Makoto.

“JUST BREAK, GODDAMNIT!” Ryuji roared, jumping forward and away from the Persona bike as soon as Makoto clamped on the brakes with all her strength so that he could use the full momentum to propel himself towards AJ.

DOOOOOONG!

The metallic sound was LOUD, and accompanied by the complete shattering of the mare’s mask in a wide rose of fragmentsas the strength behind the attack almost sent AJ herself flying.

“WHOA!” Ann shrieked as she and the others fell to the floor since still holding down on the mare, the only one unaffected was Morgana tat had instead let go of the Mare an instant before Ryuji’s hammer landed on her.

“We did it...” Akira said while helping her to stand.

“Yeah.”

“What...What have you done? What is this place? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FARM?!” AJ asked as her Fake appearances melted away to let her rag-covered real self appear in that heavenly landscape.

“We did nothing, you are just seeing the real form of this Palace, we have forced you to face the truth of your actions!” Makoto answered.

“No! NO! NO! NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!” AJ yelled in utter madness, spitting and raving without control and slamming the rusted blade on the ground again and again in fury, and to the Phantom Thieves’ shock, the sparks that kept erupting at every hit managed to have the trees around her catch fire even when her illusory flaming sword couldn’t.

“We should have a light source now, I believe it’s time to finish this fight once and for all.” Yusuke suggested as more and more trees went covered in flames.

“FINALLY!” Ryuji answered, and as one, all of them removed their blindfolds to return the Palace to its real appearances.

The orchard was already turning into a sea of fire as the flames were easily going from a tree to the other thanks to the abundance of dead wood in the place, all the while AJ, now having descended into full madness, kept attacking everything in sight with her dull blade.

“THIS IS A LIE! A LIE! MY ORCHARD IS FULL OF LIFE! MY FAMILY IS SAFE! THIS IS ALL A LIE!” AJ shrieked in fury as she was now destroying the house itself once got tired of destroying the trees surrounding her.

“Well, she snapped.” Ryuji conceded, sounding sorry for her.

“We just shattered an illusion that represented her entire life, it was a given.” Haru said with a sigh.

“Then we’ll save her from that madness, by kicking her ass!” Ann answered.

“Let’s go.” Akira said as Arsene immediately appeared behind him.

“YOU! YOU BROUGHT LIES HERE! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” AJ screamed with wide unblinking eyes, her droll dripping to the ground like a river.

“Arsene: Cleave!” Akira answered by using his Persona to open a wide gash on AJ’s belly as soon as he slipped under the savage attack of the mare.

“That’s it! We can hurt her now!” Makoto said in victory as she happily emptied the last clip of her gun on the mare to enlarge the thick flow of ichor escaping nonstop from her wounds.

“Halleluja!” Ryuji answered as he made Captain Kidd charge AJ once again, forcing her to try and push back so to not be throw to the ground.

“Kyaaaa!” seeing the monster occupied, Haru assaulted her with her ax, and managing to cut one of her arms clear off with two swings.

“AAAAAAH!” AJ bellowed in agony as her remaining hand let go of the sword to desperately held the bleeding stump while ignoring the cut arm still dangling from the manacles at her wrist.

“You are surprisingly frail for somebody believing herself to be a goddess.” Yusuke said with an icy tone as he delicately poked the mare’s throat with his sword.

“DAMN YOU!” furious at the rebuttal, AJ tried grabbing the young man.

“Oouuoooh!” in answer his Persona Goemon appeared with a fierce cry to use its bladed pipe and cut away her remaining hand at the wrist, right under the manacles.

“Ahh...Ahh...W-Why? I-I did all this...For the sake of my family...” AJ said with a groan as she watched the heavily bleeding wound on her chest and the stump that used to be her arms with dispirited eyes, and yet her anger was still there, simmering under the surface.

“You all did. Fluttershy kept Converted prisoners for their sake and Pinkie tried creating an insane super-party for the sake of her friends...You all want what’s best for your loved ones...Too bad you are trying to do this in the worst possible way.” Haru answered.

“You don’t understand! You will NEVER understand! If I do this, it was to protect everypony from the Lies of Conversion! I will create a safe farm for everypony! Bloom will be safe here! everypony will be safe here! YOU WON’T STOP MEEEEEE!” opening her equine maw wide, AJ lunged forward to try and bite Makoto’s head clean off.

“STAY BACK!” Ryuji countered with his very last shotgun blast that turned the mare’s mouth into a mass of broken flesh and teeth as he caught her mid-jump.

“NOW! SHE IS DAZED! GO FOR AN ALL-OUT ATTACK!” Futaba yelled as soon as AJ fell sitting on the floor dazed and with her low jaw hanging precariously from few strands of flesh once unhinged by the close-range blast.

“Together!”

What followed, for AJ, was then a chaotic mess of movement and sounds as multiple hits kept raining on her body from all sides in a cacophony of tearing flesh and breaking bones, until she tumbled on the floor like a rag-doll as soon as the Phantom Thieves’ assault came to an end, leaving the monstrous mare lying face-down on the floor, immobile.

“...Is she okay?” Akira asked.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

“...W-W-Why?!...Why you want to live a giant lie?” AJ asked between hiccups, still lying there and crying softly.

“We should be asking you that. Why you are trying to force your version of things on everybody?”

“...”

“AJ? Why are you doing this?” Ann asked again, by now the Phantom Thieves had neared the downed mare with a more relaxed posture.

“...You want...You want me to admit that nothing is right? That this mess makes no sense? T-That my friends are going crazy?! Ever since we came here, everypony has started acting strange!” AJ answered.

“Define strange, please, because I think we have a different idea of what ‘Strange’ is.” Ryuji asked, rolling his eyes.

“Strange, ‘kay?! T-that Barrier was supposed to pop away as soon as we arrived! It was a way to ‘Make room for the island’. Like...Like making room, kay? You move stuff aside so you can put something down...And instead it keeps growing! And-And then Celestia starts talking about humans needing Conversion to survive...And Twilight first is all ‘No, no’, but then she starts saying the same and even makes the Potion for that...And then everypony else starts going crazy and do their thing, like Pinkie or Shy...I-I-I was scared, okay!?” AJ answered.

“And then you got angry?” Yusuke asked.

“...Yeah. I-I was just so angry all the time. I wanted things to make sense...And then one day I got this idea of creating my Farm, to protect everypony and trying understand what’s wrong, but the more time passed, the more angry I got...W-W-Why?!”AJ asked with a scared voice.

“It’s called Distortion, AJ.” Akira answered, kneeling in front of the mare.

“Distortion? Like-Like Corruption? Bu-But the Elements...”

“The Elements don’t work if their users are Corrupted themselves.” Morgana answered.

“And the others?”

“The others too are under the effects of Distortion, we are trying to help them, but to do this we need your Treasure as well.” Haru answered with a gentle smile.

“M-My Treasure?” AJ asked, scared, while her monster form slowly melted away to let her return into being her old orange earth pony self.

“Please, AJ.” Akira asked, presenting his empty hand to her.

“...A-Ah don’ wanna...” the mare answered, taking a little step back.

“AJ, please. We need your help...Your friends need your help.” Haru asked.

“M-My friends?”

“We are trying to save the Elements of Harmony, we will need their help to stop this Madness.” Yusuke answered.

“Please don’t hurt them.” AJ begged in tears.

“We want to help them, we are on the same side.” Akira answered.

“...I-I-I’m going to trust you, ‘kay?...Please, just help my friends.” AJ finally relented and fished-out the family picture from under her ruined robes to hand it to Morgana.

“...Your family?”

“My brother BigMac...And my lil’ sister Applebloom...She was against me doin’ this, ya know? She said she’d a bad feelin’ about the whole thing...What will happen now?” AJ asked while her body started fading into small lights.

“Once taken the Treasure away the Palace will disappear. And so will the anger you feel. You will be free.” Morgana answered.

“No more anger?...Thank goodness...Ah want mah life back...” the mare said as the Palace started to tremble heavily.

“We’ll do our best.” Ryuji promised with a thumbs-up.

“Ah’ll trust yah. Friends?”

“Friends.” Haru answered.

“Nice!” AJ answered happily before finally fading away completely.

RUUUUUMBLE!

“The Palace is crumbling! Run!” Morgana yelled with wide eyes as the ceiling of the cave started giving-in to the point the outside could be clearly seen, and when entire houses as well started falling down inside the place, the teens understood that they had to leave fast.

“THE ESCAPE ROUTE! NOW!” Ann yelled while pointing at the hole in the wall towards their exit point while desperately dodging the downpour of debris.

When they finally exited the tunnel and ran through the fields, they looked back to see the entire hill where the village stood collapse on itself and disappear in a giant cloud of dust similar to a volcano erupting.

BOOOOOOOM!

“It’s over.” Akira muttered as he walked away, towards the very edge of the Palace so to leave the Metaverse.

“Another one down, and many more to go.” Morgana confirmed with a sigh, all of them finally relaxing completely as they left the place.

“...”

“...”

“Nooo! NOOO! This can’t be happening! I CURSE YOU! I CURSE YOU! I CURSE YOU!” for the third time, as soon as the last piece of the Palace crumbled to dust, and right before that entire alternate dimension inside the Metaverse was about to cease to exist, a shadowy figure erupted from under the ruins to give a last demonic roar of defiance towards the mysterious intruders that destroyed the Palace, before ‘dying’ and fading away together with the entire area until absolutely nothing remained.

Real World – Outside AJ’s Farm – Once escaped her Palace

“Aaah! Aah! Aaaah! W-We did it!” Haru exclaimed in relief while gasping for breath as soon as they all returned to the real world.

“No time to rest, we must leave before somebody finds-out we are inside the Barrier.” Yusuke answered.

“Right! Let’s get back into Mementos and then back to our hideout.” Makoto added.

“Navi? Please alert Claws and the others that we did it, so they can organize everything for AJ’s confession.” Akira asked.

“Leave it to me, Joker!” the hacker answered promptly.

Several days later – Floating Island housing Canterlot and the Royal Castle – Throne Room

Crash!

“Grah!”

Boom!

“Raaaaah!”

BOOM!

“GOSH-DARNIT!”

“Sister, please get a hold of yourself, this rage won’t help.” Luna asked with a calm, unfazed expression as she watched Celestia smash everything inside the room with bolts of Magic, even uprooting sections of the walls she then threw outside the giant holes that used to be the windows.

“AJ IS GONE TOO! HOW CAN I STAY CALM?!” Celestia answered back with a roar of near-madness.

“We have no idea about who helped her, we had surrounded the entire place and got inside to grab her as soon as we heard the Calling Card being delivered! We even had several soldiers in there under alias spying on her 24/7! She should not have managed to escape!” Shining Armor, scared down to his core, answered talking rapidly while behind the safety of a small barrier erected by his wife Cadence.

“She built the place, she knows the layout of the area like the back of her hoof, OF COURSE SHE KNEW HOW TO ESCAPE!” Celestia hissed back in answer, making the poor stallion shrink a little under her furious gaze.

“My husband did his best, Auntie! Please do not put the full blame on him! Everypony did everything to take AJ back to safety here.” Cadence, she too looking not scared of the Alicorn’s rage, countered with narrowed eyes.

“What did Spike say when asked?” Celestia tried asking.

“He apparently tried chasing AJ for a while but then lost her, he has no idea where she is.” Shining answered.

“It’s okay, the poor dear loves his friends, he will help us as much as he can.” Cadence answered with a small smile.

“At least there is somepony I can trust in here, you all are the only thing stopping me from going bald in anger.” Celestia answered with a small sigh, finally calming down from her moment of blind fury.

“...Is it a bad moment?” an orange stallion asked timidly from the busted door.

“Please, do come in, Sunburst. Justignore our sister’s lack of manners.” Luna answered.

“Luna...” Celestia muttered with an embarrassed tone.

“Problems with our little angel?” Cadence asked, already worried.

“What? Nono! She is still sleeping. I just got delivered this letter...It’s addressed to her Majesty, but there is no sender...Just this strange Hat logo on it...” Sunburst answered, unsure.

“H-Hat Logo!?” Celestia growled, tearing away the letter from the stallion’s own magical grasp so to tear open the envelop and read it.

“Dear Princess Celestia, we stole AJ’s Heart as well, and today at noon we will transmit her confession to every human willing to listen in our side of the Barrier, and we both know that soon your beloved ponies too will hear it. Best regards, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts...”as soon as Celestia red aloud, a heavy tick overtook her left eye while her mane slowly turned from ethereal and colorful into a long stream of fire, and Sunburst decided that fire was his cue to leave.

And that was a good plan because as soon as he left the room and turned the corner in a desperate run, Celestia threw back her head and…

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Expressed her fury with a world-ending scream of rage followed by an intense explosion of fire that forced even Luna to raise a shield to defend herself from the incinerating blast that almost leveled an entire floor of the Castle.

With the Phantom Thieves – flying ship -

“TO US!” Ryuji said with a giant smile while rising his glass.

“TO US!” the other Phantom Thieves answered as one, followed by their pony friends doing the same.

“Another Element of Harmony has been saved, we are almost there.” Tempest Shadow said with a pleased tone.

“I am happy to have you back, AJ.” Fluttershy muttered with a tiny smile.

“Shucks, sugar! Ah’m happy to be back too! All that anger was turning me mad! That and the voices talking about everypony bein’ a stinkin’ liar, enough to drive a mare bonkers, let me tell ya!” AJ answered with an elated smile.

“This Distortion thingy is really mean, you know? It makes us act all strange and over the top!” Pinkie admitted.

“It feeds on your inner darkness, but normally it doesn’t change people’s attitude.” Yusuke answered.

“As yah said, this is some hella mixture of Distortion and Corruption put together, yes? The two things are bad for any good mare and human. They make ya act crazy.” AJ said.

“That’s why we are here, the Phantom Thieves can remove the taint of Distortion while the Elements can destroy Corruption, we’ll need both to stop Celestia and stop this Conversion War before it wipes-out humanity.” Tempest declared.

“Shucks...And you say that they will use the Conversion stuff on the ponies too once done with humans?”

“It’s our best theory at the moment, Celestia has given Pinkie balloons filled in Conversion Gas for a parade that will be held after Conversion is over while you where about to receive seeds spiked in Conversion Potion to create food filled in that stuff, meaning that whoever eat it would have then unknowingly consumed it...That too sounded like something planned to happen once every human has been Converted.” Makoto answered.

“And why woulda she do that?”

“That we don’t know.” Ryuji answered, sighing.

“She is the only source of Conversion Potions and the only pony fully controlling its delivery, it stands to reason that she would be the prime suspect.” Tempest admitted.

“Good thing Thorax and the others destroyed all those seeds.” Haru said with a sigh of relief.

“They torched everything they could put their hooves on, and we are certain we got everything since Celestia has been reported being utterly mad about it.”

“Nothing stops her from trying again.”

“Sunburst will alert us if that happens,”

“If we keep targeting the other names on our list, she should get determined enough to stop us to not attempt it again too soon.” Akira answered.

“True.”

“Everything is ready to deliver AJ’s confession as well, I have already uploaded into several social networks, by tonight everybody will know...In the human side at least.” Futaba said with a pleased smirk.

“That small detour to that Internet Cafe was worth it: zero traceability and maximum anonymity! You think Celestia will be mad that we lied about when we would have released the Confession?” Ann asked.

“Her problem, not mine.” Ryuji answered, smirking.

“Will everypony back home hear that too? Ah want BigMac and Bloom to know I understood I was wrong and that I am okay.” AJ asked with downcast eyes.

“They will know, and soon we’ll have to move them somewhere safe, just in case whatever is controlling Celestia will suggest using them as a bait to get to you.” Yusuke suggested.

“I’ll get in touch with Lyra, we have several safe based back in our world just for this occasion, she’ll take them there and then here with us, Thorax and the Changelings will keep them safe.” Tempest answered.

“Ah will write ya a letter for them, shoulda help them trust Lyra and follow her.”

“Oh! Take Granny Smith along too!” Pinkie added.

“That was a given.” Tempest answered.

“Thank you.” AJ said, grateful.

“It’s what friendship is about, helping each other.” Haru answered.

“T-Thank you...” the mare hiccuped in tears, clearly relieved.

“Who’s the next target?” Tempest asked.

“Technically it should be Dash, but we can actually jump over to Rarity as well and then find Dash. Twilight unfortunately will be the last because of her closeness to Celestia. Twilight’s Change of Heart will hit her the hardest about her plans since Twilight is also the greatest contributor in producing the Conversion Potion; we’ll need to leave her last so that in case of emergency, we already have the Elements of Harmony at ready.” Makoto answered.

“More and more ponies are starting to revolt against the Conversion Propaganda, soon we’ll start making real waves, so we must get ready.” Tempest said, sighing.

“That is the trick, Tempest, we are always ready!” Ann answered with a smug tone.

“I hope that’s true.”

Meanwhile -

“Ah don’t know what came over me...Ah kept lying and lying, switching tha blame on everypony against Conversion and covering tha truth always more lies…

We are destroying everything we shoulda protect, we are killing instead of befriendin’...We are lying to ourselves about us bein’ in the right…

Ah cannot do this anymore, Ah cannot lie to mahself anymore…

Conversion is a giant Lie, don’t believe what anypony say, this never gets better, nopony ever does!

Twilight!

Twilight if yah can hear me, we need to stop this! This isn’t us!

We...”

While AJ’s confession slowly circulated to every corner of the human side of the Barrier, and also started making its way through the pony side by word of mouth of few dissenters divulging copies of it, it was not only Celestia to get restless, many humans too were clamoring for answers, first of all the old man at the head of the SIU branch dealing with Celestia and her ponies.

“Bring me those horses! They must be hiding somewhere! I want those Elements of Harmony in a cellroom, NOW!” the old man ordered with a barking scream, he too foaming at the mouth just like the Sun Alicorn was.

- End of the Chapter -

Fighting scenes are a nightmare to write! I never understand if I am making a proper one, a pathetic one, a short one, a too long one, or if I put enough details or too little details...It wrecks my nerves every time I have to update.

On more important matters: Should I go for Rainbow Dash or Rarity Belle as the next Target?

I am almost done with the Elements of Harmony so I can let you decide who is next Target.

And remember ONLY ONE OF THE ELEMENTS will join the Phantom Thieves as a pony member, I won’t tell who that is!

Thank you for reading this story, it means a lot to me.

A little extra, if you want, to get a clear picture of Celestia’s anger fully…

What can I say...I love Classics!

Chapter 13: A Metropolis of Wish-Fulfillment.

The return of the world’s greatest Thieves! Chapter 13: A Metropolis of Wish-Fulfillment.

Rainbow Dash’ Palace – Streets -

The song was always the same, every time The Distorted form of Dash intervened to stop a crime, something happening every five minutes apparently, the same Theme Song would play over and over and over again as a background of the action; everything then looked like an episode of a kids show with the Superhero-Dressed Mare spouting some cliché lines about justice and then defeat the Villains and return back inside the penthouse of the ginormous skyscraper topped by the giant neon sign with Rainbow Dash cutie mark on it spinning like a lighthouse of sort.

In an isolated alley, hidden from view thanks to some well-placed garbage bins, The Phantom Thieves kept taking notes on the Distortion’s schedule, trying to gauge when to better enter and leave the mare’s base.

“With a level of criminality this high, I am impressed people are still happy to live here.” Yusuke commented as yet another robber went stopped by Distorted Dash.

“We are inside her delusions, she believes herself to be a great Hero, so she needs lots of Villains to defeat.” Ann answered, rolling her eyes.

“A Hero she may be, but she clearly is no Deku, she is way too prideful for that.” Ryuji commented.

“We are inside her damn Fanfiction: she saves everybody and everybody loves her.” Makoto added with a frown.

“That will be a problem, then.” Akira admitted.

“Why, Joker?” Morgana asked, confused.

“You fear her conviction to be an Invincible Hero will translate as her being actually Invincible?” Futaba asked.

“Yes.” He answered.

“Then let’s hope we won’t have to fight her, this time.” Haru said with a sigh.

“For now we need to focus on finding a way inside, and to do that, we need Dash to leave long enough for us to look for an access point.” Yusuke commented while watching the Distorted Mare once again fly out of the tower, tirelessly fighting ‘Villains’ again and again.

“Just get close to the building, for now, look from afar for an entrance, then big or small, you’ll be able to get inside with whatever distraction Dash’ Mary-Sue’ Self will produce.” Futaba answered.

“Wouldn’t that be Mare-y Sue then?” Ryuji asked, smirking.

“...”

“...”

“That joke was bad, Skull. And you should feel bad.” the Super Hacker answered with a deadpan tone.

“Screw you, guys.” the young man answered with an annoyed grumbling.

Meanwhile – with Rarity - “Shibuya 109” Shopping Mall – Storage rooms area -

The recently-added underground storage area had been recently transformed into a single wide room by its new owner once every wall had been blasted away and the clothes in there used for spare parts, and now everything was covered in long drapes and other carpets of fabric, making the place look like a giant spider’s nest, but with cloth instead of webbing.

“UUMF! UUUUMF!” a scared Night Guard Mare kept trying to break free of the bright-red cocoon of fabric holding her upside-down.

“Your force of Will is impressive, you break free more often than the others, but nothing I can’t fix.”

“HNNNNF!”

“No, no, no! You shouldn’t move around so much, Darling! I used the smoothest fabric I could find, but even then you may ruin that beautiful skin of yours if you keep moving around like that...And we don’t want that to happen, yes?” Rarity said with a condescending tone, and at hearing her voice the Night Guard’s eyes widened in pure fear while she doubled her efforts.

“Why are you scared? You are going to be part of something beautiful! Divine even!” Rarity said while nearing the mare to lock eyes with her.

“UUUUUUUHM!” now utterly desperate, the mare gave it her all to at least bite her mouth free from the silk gag in her mouth.

“Sssh! Everything is fine, my dear...Relax...” Rarity ordered with a soft voice, and the hypnosis once again took effect making the guard drop asleep in a matter of seconds.

“Sleep well, my darling. Sleep helps the skin remain youthful and healthy, and I need your skin to remain as beautiful as it is now, because we are almost ready.” the Unicorn mare said with a beatific smile while watching the various cocoons around her and the mares hidden inside them.

“The Skin is here...The Back Hooves too...Then the Mane, the Nose, the Teeth, the Faceand the ears...I only lack the Front Hooves, the Horn and the Eyes...If only Fluttershy was here, her eyes have always been so nice! But I am a patient mare, there is still lots of time before the Full Moon, and I want my Rebirth to be as much Beautiful and Poetic as possible! And for that, every piece must be carefully chosen.” she declared before walking towards the row of stallions chained to the wall and showing empty eyes.

“Your time to shine instead will come later, once I am done, I will use you all to create my own King, one fit for a Queen such as myself!” the mare purred caressing the cheek of one of the bound, unresponsive ponies.

Dash’ Palace - “Secret Base” of Distorted Dash – Entrance hall of the skyscraper -

In the end, the Phantom Thieves had to wait for a giant robot to pop-up out of literally nowhere for the Distorted Mare to defeat in a slightly-longer fight than normal, just long enough for Morgana to force a window open for them, and as soon as they entered the main hall, they all had their first unrestricted view of Rainbow Dash...”PECULIAR” style of decorating.

In that hall there was Rainbow Dash’ paraphernalia simply everywhere: giant banners with her face on it covered the every wall and even more hanged from the ceiling, in the middle of the room stood a giant fountain with at its top three statues of Rainbow Dash that kept spitting water in the cutie-mark-shaped pool under it, a dozen of giant marble statues of the mare in various ‘action poses’ littered the ground floor and at the opposite side of the room from the entrance stood a huge staircase with golden railings (those too decorated by golden replicas of Dash’ head) leading to a trio of elevators that were the only way to reach to higher floors; the walls were painted bright cyan like Dash’s fur and decorated in slightly darker blue silhouettes of Dash’ cutie mark, the sofas were decorated with Dash’ faces, the floor was pure-white marble with a long and wide deep-blue carpet creating a path from the door to the staircase and decorated with Dash’ cutie mark repeated hundreds of thousand times on it.

“...”

“I don’t think that Tacky is enough to describe this.” Haru commented with a scrunched nose.

“You okay, Fox?” Makoto asked.

“I...I am fine, Urg! I just...I just feel part of me shrivel and die the more I look at this...This INSULT to good taste.” Yusuke answered, gagging.

“I fear that it’s your Artist Side dying a little.” Ryuji offered.

“I believe so, yes.” the other answered.

“That bad?” Futaba asked, curious.

“Worse.” Ann answered, grimacing, and sending her a pic with her phone.

“...DEAR GOD!”

“Let’s just hurry to the next floor, maybe there things will look less horrid.” Haru offered.

“We’ll have to fight those Shadows to reach the elevators.” Akira said while pointing at the two guard-dressed Shadows standing in front of the elevators.

“May as well, I will express my displeasure about this abomination on them.” Yusuke declared.

“I’ll take care of the left one.” Akira said as he sneaked under the Shadow on the left while Yusuke moved under the one on the right.

“Off with your mask!”

“Show me your true self!” both young men yelled as one once jumped the two unaware guards to tear-off the mask they wore as face.

When the two creature’s bodies exploded into thick ichor, what surfaced were two tall beings with a muscular human body, a howl head and big angel wings on the backs.

Andrass

“Two Andras, You will do fine.” Yusuke declared.

“This city is under Rainbow Dash’ Protection, we can’t let you stop her.” the first owl-headed monster said with a haughty tone of voice.

“We feed on the dark emotions born in battle and we can’t permit to anybody to stop this endless war between Good and Evil!” the twin demon added, and at that both unfolded their angel wings to hover slightly above ground.

“Hn! It’s the first time I hear a Shadow admit being just a parasite feeding on a Palace’s power. Your lot usually cook-up some sort of excuses at least!” Morgana answered.

“Be quiet, Fool! We won’t stand for this lack of respect!” Andras 1 answered, scoffing angrily.

“Bite me.” the Cat replied, smirking.

“I shall teach you manners! BUFU!” the same Shadow answered with a growl, and summoning an ice javelin in its hand to throw it at Morgana.

“Zorro!” the Cat answered by summoning his Persona to deflect the attack by cutting in two the projectile.

The downside of fighting an Andras, out of many Shadows, was their ‘Hollier-than-thou’ attitude that was unbearable, as the monster kept talking relentlessly during the entire battle, contrary to the other Shadows that preferred to just focus on killing the Phantom Thieves.

“This battlefield shall never know peace! RAKUNDA!” Andras 2 yelled while rising in the air and cursing Makoto.

“Agh!”the girl growled as she felt her body become weaker due to the defence-lowering curse catching her.

“HOY! That’s my girl you are cursing, bastard!” Ryuji answered with a mad roar and blasting a hole in the Andras’ wing with his shotgun, forcing the monster to drop face-first on the floor.

“Right! They are weak against guns!” he then said with a tone of wonder.

“Eh! My Hero!” Makoto said with a mocking tone while helped by him to stand back up.

“Just doin’ a man’s work!” Ryuji answered with a smug grin.

“Just shut-up and fight, Skull.” she answered, chuckling amused.

Not too far from them, Akira, Ann and Yusuke were brutalizing the other Andras with an hail of bullets that forced the flying howl-man to scamper around to try avoid the giant shower of lead.

“BUFU!” finding an opening, the monster launched a desperate counterattack against Ann, only to watch in dismay as the girl’s Persona melted the ice javelin in midair by summoning a small pillar of fire in front of her.

“CARMEN! Agilao!” Ann ordered, and in answer her Persona blew a kiss to the Andras to summon right under it a big pillar of fire, and from its core, the birdman flew out covered in flames and shrieking in agony.

“Where are you going? Tentarafoo!” Gorgeous and merciless, the girl added insult to the injury by inflicting Confusion to the Shadow, and scrambling its brain so badly it could no longer tell right from left, or Up from Down.

“Daamn, Panther! Zero Mercy!” Futaba commented, chuckling.

“May I? I want to fight too!” Haru asked with a cute pout and her giant battle-ax shining ominously behind her.

“Be my guest!”

“Thank you!…KYAAAH!” the girl offered a grateful, adorable smile in answer...And then she dropped it in favour of a cruel snarl right before beheading the Andras with a wide, furious swipe.

“...My dear, I know your new responsibilities in your job were stressing you heavily before Celestia even arrived, but must you really vent your frustration on these poor Shadows?” Yusuke asked with an overly-gentle one.

“But it heeeelps!” she answered with a long whine.

Sigh! “Very well, feel free to continue...With moderation.” he conceded.

“Thank you! MILADY!” Haru answered, and again dropping the cutesy act to assault the poor Andras.

“This is madness!” the Shadow shrieked in answer, and dodging the Persona wild attacks while cradling its severed head to its chest.

At the same time, and not too far away, Morgana was assaulting the other Andras in tandem with his Persona Zorro, forcing the owl-man to use his only remaining wing as an improvised shield.

The other wings had long turned to shreds after a second shot of Ryuji’s gun…

“TAKE THIS!” Morgana yelled in triumph as his last attack gave the finishing blow to the Shadow’s wing that finally broke apart, leaving the monster open for Zorro to cover in dozens of deep cuts in a flurry of motion.

“ARGH! I am not defeated yet! Bu-”

“BUFU!” before the thing could try to attack back, its companion launched an ice attack of its own, unfortunately that Andras was still under the effects of Ann’s confusing Skill, meaning that the Ice Javelin traveled at high speed towards its fellow Shadow, interrupting it mid-casting.

And the resulting chaos left them open to the Phantom Thieves All-Out-Attack immediately after that left the two Shadows dazed, and hurt, on the floor after the sudden beating they received from the teens.

“Hold up!” Akira ordered while jamming his gun on the Forehead of Andras 1.

“Don’t move, buddy! Or we’ll shoot.” Ryuji added while he pressed the muzzle of his shotgun on the cheek of Andras 2, who was still holding its severed head in its arms.

“You may have defeated us, but we will never follow you!” Andras 1 spat in defiance.

“Why not?” Akira asked, honestly curious.

“We thrive on the battlefield, we follow the flow of battle! Peace for us is an unbearable, disgusting idea!” the thing answered.

“We are fighting Celestia, we will stop her plans no matter what.” the young man answered.

“...A fierce battle? One so intense to turn certain defeat into unexpected victory?” the Andras asked, leaning slightly closer.

“Yes?” getting from his friends some unhelpful shrugs in answer to his questioning look, Akira answered, just a tad unsure.

“Curious answer, as expected from somebody as strange as you…Very well, I shall become your mask for the time being, see to not die too soon.” the Andras replied, getting back to its feet to offer a small bow to Akira.

“TRAITOR!” the other Andras roared in answer, so angry it almost dropped its own head to the floor.

“I am merely choosing a more fitting battlefield.” the thing answered, nonplussed.

“YOU FOOLS! You won’t stop her! Dash will keep this war against Evil ongoing forever! We will thrive! You others will just be destroyed!” Andras 2 declared in anger.

“SILENCE! My new Master won’t be talked like that to! Bufu!” Andras 1answered, striking down its old partner with an ice javelin that pierced the other Shadow’s severed head, making it shriek and run away.

“Well, I guess we can call that a loyal Persona...” Morgana commented, unnerved, while they watched the remaining Andras dissolve and enter Akira’s mask.

“Even too much. So? Shall we continue?” Yusuke answered.

“We definitely should, but those elevators look way too small.” Ann said, unsure.

“We won’t all fit into one,” Haru confirmed.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to split in two groups then, for reasons of weight.” Morgana said.

“You mean that we are fat?” the girls of the group asked with narrowed eyes.

“NO! I-I-I Mean…J-Joker! Guys!” the cat uttered afraid.

“You are on your own, damn cat!” Ryuji answered, smirking, while the boys took the elevator on the left.

“Traitors!” the poor cat shrieked.

“We’ll put this aside, for now...” Ann said with narrowed eyes as the girls took the elevator to the right.

“Meeeeow.” Morgana gave a long, low yowl of defeat as he rode the middle elevator alone.

First Floor -

“An elevator that gets up of a single floor?!” Makoto hissed, furious.

“Must be the Palace itself making sure trespassers have not an easy time.” Akira guessed with a sigh himself.

“I already saw this corridor somewhere...” Yusuke said with a strained voice.

Once left the elevator the group saw they were in the middle of a long corridor with another stretching in front of them towards another set of elevators, the floor had a very low ceiling giving everything a suffocating look and the absolute silence surrounding them didn’t make it any better, the earth-colored carpet with geometrical patterns was just the extra flair on the claustrophobic feeling.

“Why this place looks like a scene from ‘The Shining’?” Ryuji asked with a low voice.

“Don’t know and don’t care, at the first ‘Come Play with Us!’ I am bailing!” Ann, looking extremely pale, answered.

“There is nobody in sight...L-Let’s just go to the next floor, shall we?” Haru asked with a trembling, fake smile.

“I never saw that movie,” Joker admitted, as the only one not looking in dread at the scene while traversing the long corridor.

“Why? It’s a classic!” Ryuji answered, shocked.

“It insists upon itself.” the other replied while walking forward.

“What?!”

“It insists upon itself.” he repeated.

“It insists...You can’t just describe it like that!” Makoto gasped.

“I can and I did.” Akira answered.

“Y-Y-You...That movie is a masterpiece!” Haru added, scandalized.

“It insists upon itself, I tried three different times to watch it, but could not get to even see half of it.”

“You haven’t even see it to the end?!”

“Uh-hu.”

“You can’t judge it then! Stanley Kubrick directed it! THERE IS JACK NICHOLSON IN THAT MOVIE!” Ryuji shrieked.

“Great actor and great director, I just don’t like the movie.” Akira admitted while opening the gate of the new elevator.

SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!…

As soon as he did that, EVERY DOOR behind them opened by themselves and a duo of Shadows appeared at the opposite end of the corridor, right in front of the elevator they arrived in.

“Come play with us!” the Shadows said in chorus.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” at that Ann let loose a blood-curling scream and boarded an elevator while pushing desperately on the buttons.

“No can do, we’ll have to fight first.” Morgana said as the Shadows turned into a duo of monsters known as Alice.

“T-Then let’s get this over with...” Ann conceded, unsure.

“It’s the first time we find one Alice roaming freely.” Makoto hissed in dread.

“Not just one, but two of them!” Haru added, equally worried.

“Their power is no joke! Be careful!” Futaba warned them between clenched teeth.

Alice

“Wait! I remember you!” Alice 1 said, stopping the fight before it could even start.

“Uh?” Akira uttered.

“You asked me to attack that bald muscled meanie! I missed you so much, Onii-sama!” the Persona answered while giving Akira a small curtsy.

“Uh?” the other Alice uttered unsure.

“Bald musculed meanie?” Ann muttered.

“I think she is referring to Shido.” Yusuke guessed.

“What were the chances of finding again the same Persona from years ago?” Makoto commented, impressed.

“Very slim,” Morgana admitted.

“I missed you too. Do you want to come with us?” Akira tried asking while kneeling down to meet the eyes of the short ‘Girl’.

“Is another meanie threatening you?” Alice 1 asked with narrowed eyes, and the Yandere Tone of her voice turned the blood of the other Phantom Thieves into ice.

“Yes, she is called Celestia, and she and her friends are very evil.” Akira answered.

“Then I will help you. They will die for us! Hahahahaha!” the Shadow answered with a chilling laugh as its body broke into light particles to enter Akira’s mask.

The other Alice simply gave another curtsy and faded away without too much of a fuss.

“Okay, we avoided a terrible fight thanks to Joker’s “Loli Magnet” Powers. Let’s move now before other Shadows arrive!” Makoto said while hurrying towards the elevators.

“Yes, we better get going.” Yusuke said while he and the boys boarded the rightmost elevator.

“Please don’t call it like that, it sounds too wrong.” Akira begged with a soft sigh.

“Sorry, Joker.”

“GUYS, WAIT! I found a Safe Room!” Haru called them from a side room not too far from the elevators they were about to use.

“Thank God! Let’s take a break, please?” Ryuji begged with a groan.

“Yeah, I need that.” Ann added, sighing.

“We can call it a day for now and return searching tomorrow if you want.” Akira offered.

“No, it’s okay. I feel like I can still continue, how about you?” Yusuke answered.

“Me too, I just need to catch my breath a little and then we can continue.” Makoto answered.

“Then it’s decided, we will rest a little and then continue search the Palace.” Morgana declared, and getting several nods in answer from the others.

“Shouldn’t we check the other rooms too before going up to the next floor?” Haru asked.

“We could, but it would be strange for the Treasure to be this close to the entrance.” Makoto answered.

“Fair enough.” Akira answered while the group entered the Safe Room to rest a little.

Half an Hour later – after a refreshing moment of rest inside the room -

“...I am still going to say that you cheated.” Ryuji said with an annoyed tone as soon as the door of the Safe Room opened again.

“How am I supposed to cheat while playing Uno?” Ann asked while they split in two groups to board different elevators.

“I don’t know how, you just did it.”

“Maybe you just suck at the game, Skull.” the girl replied, huffing.

“Whatever. Hey, Navi? What can you see from outside?” Makoto asked.

“Not much. The first twenty floors are just rooms, like an hotel, I can see them through the windows and beside Shadows several of them are just being used by those human and pony shadessimilar to the ones acting as citizens of this city, so I guess the Treasure must be kept in one of the highest floors. How high can you go?” Futaba asked.

“How high...How High...Rooms, Rooms, Rooms, SPA, OH! Let’s go to the SPA!” Ann answered once red the giant bronze plaque filled in buttons and the tiny names written above them.

“I don’t think that we’ll find Shadows there open to the idea of giving us a massage, Panther.” Haru commented.

“What about the sauna? It may be nice.” Ann asked while giving a ‘Look’ at Akira that made him grow a tiny, feral smile.

“Keep your head out of the gutter, Panther.” Futaba answered.

“You mean that you never wondered what it would feel like to do it inside a Palace?” she asked.

“Panther, please, just focus.” Yusuke, he and the others remaining in touch thanks to their phones, begged with a sigh.

“Yeah, especially since Mona is getting cringey.” Ryuji added.

“Shut up, Skull...” Morgana answered with a mopping tone.

“The highest floor here is the one labeled ‘Restaurant’, Navi.” Akira said.

“...I can see it, it should be the thirdhighest floor, you will have other two floors above you, the very last one being Dash’ Penthouse.” Futaba said.

“This Palace is too streamlined,” Yusuke said with narrowed eyes, and his voice sounded tense even through the phone.

“You mean?” Ann asked.

“A skyscraper whose majority of floors is merely hotel rooms, then few themed rooms. This is too simple, Navi can you see if there are windows in the Penthouse?” Yusuke answered.

“I am already checking, the entire place is made of windows, there is not a single wall, beside the bathroom, that is not made directly out of glass. So I am almost sure the Treasure is not there.” Futaba answered.

“If not there, then where? Every other building here is pretty much a cardboard box, the city is pretty outside but empty inside.” Makoto commented.

TLING!

In the meantime, the elevators arrived at their destination: an entire floor dedicated to the restaurant of the building.

It wasn’t lavishly decorated, being instead pretty minimal in both table dressing and overall decoration, although everything was still ‘Rainbow Dash Themed’ with a giant ice sculpture of the Mare on every table along the mare’s cutie mark appearing on every piece of cloth, from the folded drapes at the windows to the napkins.

The four walls were entirely made out of windows so that the settling sun could colour everything in a golden-red light, and deep down, the Phantom Thieves had to admit the place was actually very nice as they stood in the third tallest floor of the skyscraper that still made sure they could see the entire city under and around them.

“Okay, this is nice.” Makoto admitted, impressed.

“Still too much Dash everywhere.” Akira added, grimacing.

“I think I had brunch in a restaurant identical to this once...” Haru muttered, unsure.

“...”

“...” everybody else looked at her with a half-lidded, deadpan stare.

“If I take you all there at my expenses, will you stop looking at me with those judgmental eyes?” Haru asked with an offended pout.

“Are you trying to buy us with outrageous quantities of expensive food?” Ann asked with her eyes narrowed into thin slits.

“...Yes?”

“Sold.” Ryuji answered with a non-committal shrug, meanwhile Akira behind him merely nodded.

“DUCK DOWN!” In that moment Futaba screamed at them with a horrified voice just a second before Distorted Dash landed on the patio of the restaurant to enter from there.

“Great Dash! Here! Here! Your table is ready! As always!” a Maitre-dressed Shadow immediately reached Dash to welcome her and escort her to a reserved table while talking with a thick Ital-American accent.

“Good! Fighting Crime always makes me peckish. Bring me my food!” the Distorted Mare answered with a haughty tone as she sat down.

“Everything for the greatest Hero of Dash City!” the Shadow answered as others, dressed as chefs, hurried to bring food to the Mare in a never-ending back-and-forth of plates.

Not too far away -

Hidden behind the empty tables at the opposite side of the room, the Phantom Thieves were crouching down so to not be seen, watching as their Target was seemingly ignoring the rest of the world in favor of stuffing her face with the grace of a pig.

“Dash City? Really?” Morgana muttered, cringing.

“The others told us she was prideful, but this is just ridiculous.” Makoto answered.

“It’s not different from any other Palace,” Akira commented.

“This is a bit more on the nose, perhaps.” Yusuke admitted with a thoughtful expression.

“It must be the Corruption, I remember you we are dealing with both things at once: one brings-out the inner Darkness of the victim and the other exacerbates their Darkest Desires and gives them physical form.” Futaba said.

“How do we get past them though? The only way up are those stairs!” Morgana hissed.

At the opposite side from their current position, the group of teens could see another door leading to a giant staircase doing an 180 midway in direction towards another room above the restaurant; unfortunately, in order to get there, they would be forced to traverse the entire restaurant, risking over a dozen Shadows and Dash herself to see them, and without having located the Treasure yet, that would spell disaster for them.

“Those Chefs and Waiters keep coming and going at precise intervals, so we can try to jump from cover to cover all the way there in the brief pauses between passages.” Haru offered.

“What if we wait for Dash to finish?”

“I don’t know, Panther, she is still eating like a bottomless hole, I don’t know how long we would have to wait.” she answered.

“And that would mean risking to be discovered at any moment. I say we try that.” Yusuke said.

“Get ready then, we’ll need to be fast.” Akira instructed.

“Yes.”

Taking position, each Phantom Thief choose a table to crouch behind, forming an ordinate line so that the one on the front would leave their place to the one behind them as soon as they switched hiding place.

“All ready?” Makoto whispered.

“Yes.” the others answered.

“Joker, you first.” Morgana, hiding behind the table right behind Akira, said.

“I’ll tell you when to move, you be ready to move, but remember: BE FAST.” Futaba instructed.

“Yes.”

“...”

“...”

“...Now.” the Hacker ordered just as the back-and-forth of waiters created a small window of time where nobody was around, and with Dash face-deep in a bucket of soup, nobody saw Akira move like a ghost from a table to the other so to pass to the other half of the room and sthealthily make his way towards the door leading to the stairs.

“Mona, you’re next.” Futaba said.

“Okay.” helped by his small sizes, the small Thief easily slipped through two giant waves of waiters exchanging the absurd mountain of empty dishes of Dash with new ones.

All in all it took five minutes for everyone to pass through and reach the stone staircase leading to the next floor, and luckily for them, they managed just in time before Dash could finish eating and get up from the table.

“Was it all of your liking, Great Dash?” the Maitre asked.

“Yeah, it was nice. Others will pay the bill, as always.” the Distorted Mare answered.

“Of course, we wouldn’t dare asking you to pay for all this. The citizens will happily cover for it, have no fear.” the Shadow answered with a generous smile.

“Good, I’ll be off then, Dash City won’t defend itself from crime after all!” Dash said, pleased, before zooming away at high speed.

“...She doesn’t even pay the bill...How cheap can somebody be?!” Ryuji said, incredulous.

“She can literally imagine herself as being the richest mare in the world, but still won’t pay and leave others cover for her.” Haru added, just as surprised as he was.

“We are close, just ignore her.” Akira chided them as he rapidly ran upstairs until he found a new door blocking his path.

“...”

“...No...You must be kidding...” Makoto whispered.

The giant door was a seven foot tall mahogany monstrosity, with every inch carved to represent Rainbow Dash during various heroic deeds, and next to it, a grandiose gold plaque detailing what kind of room that door led to.

Rainbow Dash Museum:
Museum dedicated to the greatest Hero who ever Lived: Rainbow Dash,
Witness the Glory of Dash’ City Greatest Hero: Rainbow Dash.

Free entrance.

Come pay homage to Rainbow Dash, The Coolest Hero Ever!

“I-I can’t do this. I have a dignity, I can’t enter there.” Yusuke uttered in pure disdain.

“Now is not the time, Fox. We have a Treasure to find.” Morgana answered.

“No, I refuse! I will wait for you here. I can’t enter there and see real works of art RAPED by a delusional Mare wishing the world to revolve around her person!” the Artist replied.

“Just get in, you egomaniac Art Wanker!” Ryuji countered with a growl, and dragging the young man inside by the scruff of his neck once opened the door.

“NO! You can’t force me!”

“Ssssh! Stop trying to have every Shadow in there know we are entering!” Makoto silenced both with a hissing whisper.

“...There is nobody here...Why?” Ann commented once noticed they were the only ones inside that museum.

“This is strange, I still feel watched.” Akira added while studying the thick shadows above them.

“Maybe its just because everything in here has Dash on it, and the eyes keep following us.” Morgana answered, as she watched a replica of the famous painting representing Napoleon Bonaparte riding a horse, only with Rainbow Dash taking place of the man himself, she was even wearing the same clothes.

“A Pony riding a Horse? How does it work?” the Cat asked.

“The same way a ‘Pony Lisa’ works...It doesn’t.” Makoto answered while looking at the Rainbow Dash version of the Mona Lisa in front of her.

“The Scream of Dash…The Persistence of Dash...Rainbow Dash duct-taped to a Wall...The Dashes of Riace...She just modified every piece of art of our world to be about herself...” Yusuke said with a whimper.

“This Palace is not on the nose...This is a PUNCH on the nose.” Ryuji commented, grimacing.

The place was enormous, dimly-illuminated and every piece of ““““Art””””” displayed on the reddish-wood parquet covering the walls, there was even a giant bronze statue of Rainbow Dash in the middle with its wings fully opened so that people could use them as a bridge of sort once reached the upper part; everywhere there were copies upon copies of famous Human paintings and statues that had been edited to have the mare as its only Protagonist, and every eye (on canvas or sculptures alike) openly moved to follow every movement of the Phantom Thieves.

“Tacky or not, we have a Treasure to find. So start looking.” Futaba said.

“Right. Let’s break into groups. Me, Panther and Joker will look through the Egyptian area.” Makoto said.

“Me and Mona will check the Impressionism wing then.” Yusuke confirmed.

“And me and Skull will check the statues area.” Haru added.

“Be careful, and at the first sign of trouble, call for help.” Futaba instructed.

“Roger!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one before splitting in three groups.

Impressionism Wing -

“Found anything?”

“Fox here, beside the worst attempts at copying the works of Bernard Cohen I have ever seen, no Treasure here.” Yusuke said to his phone.

“Anything of value we can take home for extra cash at least?”

“I would not use a single painting here even as emergency toilet paper, Navi.” he answered with acidic scorn.

“Sheesh!”

“You are being too hard on Dash, Fox. Some of these are not THAT bad!” Morgana said.

“Then remember me to take you to a real Museum once done with Celestia, your ignorance about fine arts is awe-inspiring.”

“Yeah, yeah.” the Cat countered while rolling his eyes.

Statues Wing -

“Fox is having a Life Crisis, how about you?”

“I just saw too many stone dicks for my tastes.” Ryuji answered with a scrunched nose.

“In a bit less crude way?” Futaba asked with an annoyed frown.

“No Treasure here, Navi. But Dash’ ego is a bit too much even when it comes to male statues of herself...” Haru answered with a shy tone.

“What do you mean?”

“...Put it like this: in her ‘Male Version’ Dash gave to herself a bit of too much Male Pride, it’s a miracle the statues do not topple over with all that weight and length focused on the front only.” Ryuji said.

“Ewwwww!”

“Yes, her fixation to be the best in everything translates badly with statues.” Haru commented.

Egyptian Wing -

“Joker! Please tell me there is normal stuff on your side.” Futaba begged.

“Only more things shaped after Dash.” Akira answered.

“Yes. Sarcophagi, mummies, statutes and relics; all about Rainbow Dash.” Ann added.

“No Treasure?”

“No trace of it.” Makoto answered.

“This makes no sense! The only place remaining is Dash’ own penthouse, and Navi confirmed that every wall there is transparent! The Treasure must be here somewhere!” Morgana answered through Yusuke’s phone, and sounding deeply scandalized.

“I say we search Dash’ Penthouse all the same. If the Treasure is not there we will search the Museum, the Restaurant and the SPA.” Haru suggested.

“And what if it’s not in any of those places?” Ann asked in dread.

“Then I fear we’ll need to comb the entire city for any other ‘Secret Base’ Dash may have.” Yusuke answered.

“Let’s try the Penthouse first.” Akira said.

“Yeah, let’s go with that.” Ryuji answered, sighing.

“No. You are not going anywhere.”

A voice boomed as the main doors closed with a thundering WHAM! And a Trio of shadowy figures dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of the three groups of Phantom Thieves.

They were three identical Ponies dressed in a full-body purple costume, with a long purple cape, a wide-brimmed hat and a mask obscuring their face completely and only decorated by wide, and empty, cerulean eyes.

The only differences were that the one facing Akira, Makoto and Ann possessed a Unicorn Horn, the one confronting Haru and Ryuji possessed Pegasus Wings, and the one trapping Yusuke and Mona lacked both.

“Isn’t that ‘Mare-Do-Well’? The fake hero Dash’ friends tried creating to teach her humility?” Makoto asked.

“You guys are facing the three versions of her: Pegasus-Do-Well, Unicorn-Do-Well and Earth-Pony-Do-Well!” Futaba answered, voice full of worry.

“And we’ll need to defeat her to advance.” Morgana hissed.

“You won’t defeat me! I will capture the lot of you! For Dashie!” the three Mares-Do-Well answered as one like a single being, and her tone was full of worship.

“Dashie?” Akira asked, confused.

“I thought you two were rivals.” Ann commented.

“Aaah! I would never be her Rival! I want her to notice me, to like me, to be my friend, and for me to become her Side-Kick! She is so Brave and Cool! I did everything in my power to have her notice me, but I am not cool enough...But I am sure that if I capture you all, she will finally recognize me and we will become best friends and fight Crime Together!” the masked Mare answered, gushing lovingly while speaking about Dash like a love-struck fangirl.

“Even what is supposed to be her Rival in the Real World, here is just another fan Loving her to the point of obsession.” Haru commented while watching the Pegasus Version of the mysterious mare circle above her and Ryuji like a hungry vulture.

“It shows how deep Dash’ delusions go.” Yusuke commented with a sad tone, and watching in pity the earth pony version of the thing in front of him seemingly preparing to charge him like a raging bull.

“Enough talking, HAVE AT YOU!” evidently growing tired of their banter, three versions of Mare-Do-Well charged the Phantom Thieves at the same time.

With Akira – Battle against Unicorn-Do-Well -

“Scatter!” Makoto yelled as a bolt of deep-blue Magic whistled between her and Ann, forcing she and Ann to dive to the floor to avoid it.

“Arsene!” Akira intoned, summoning his Persona to attack the monster.

“You can’t defeat me!” Mare-Do-Well answered summoning a Barrier in front of herself.

Clang! Even if the damage went greatly reduced, the combined attack of Persona and User managed to pierce through, opening a faint cut on the neck area of the creature, but nothing came out of it, signifying that they were basically fighting against an empty costume.

“There isn’t a mare inside!” Akira commented.

“You are fighting somebody’s clothes?!” Futaba asked, confused.

“So it seems!” Akira answered while dodging the giant gold sarcophagus Unicorn-Do-Well threw at him with a telekinetic blast.

“THIS WAY, MORON!” an angry voice answered from the mare’s blind-spot.

“YOU!” the monster roared back.

BRAAAAGH!

“ME!” Makoto answered, ramming the mare while riding her Persona Johanna and blowing through the new blue energy shield the thing tried summoning around herself and launching Mare through a trio of Egyptian statues of Dash and against the wall.

“Okay, we can smash through her shield then! That’s good news!” Ann said, elated, as from behind her Carmen kept pelting the downed monster in fire attacks while she was still trying to get up.

“DAMN YOU! You are ruining the museum!” and the thing in answer sent flying towards them a wide blade of energy that beheaded a Dash-headed Sphinx behind the teens, making her even angrier.

“I thought Unicorn’s barriers were tough.” Akira muttered.

“We are still inside Dash’ wish-fulfillment, nobody can be better than her at anything, even what is supposed to guard the way to the Treasure.” Makoto answered.

“So if she is here, it means the Treasure is close?” Ann asked.

“Exactly.”

“I’LL DESTROY YOU!” Mare bellowed as two clawed hands of condensed blue energy appeared at her sides, one trying to grab Ann and the other closing tightly into a fist to try and squash Akira with a mighty punch.

With Haru – Fight against Pegasus-Do-Well -

“SHE. ISN’T. STANDING. STILL!” Ryuji roared while hiding behind a giant stone-made head of Dash (literally parodying the heads of Easter Island) and popping out of cover only when trying to shoot down the flying Mare-Do-Well he and Haru were fighting with, but the monster was flying rapidly around the room, and coming down only in lightning-fast dives to try and flying kick them at random intervals.

“Try aiming for her wings! Maybe we can force her to land!” Haru answered while shooting like crazy with her grenade launcher and forcing the flying Mare to go through daring curves and loops to not be caught by the shrapnel of each Boom! Her bullets produced.

“IT’S WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO SINCE THIS FIGHT STARTED!” Ryuji bellowed in answer, shrieking in pain when Mare-Do-Well finally caught him on the chest with a flying kick that sent him flying on the notes of some harsh curses of the angry young man.

“CAPTAIN KIDD! GO!” once landed, Ryuji didn’t even try to get up, but immediately summoned his Persona that looked even too eager itself to flatten the monster with a savage charge that embedded the mare deep inside a near wall.

“Oow!” Mare-Do-Well groaned in agony from the deep hole she was in.

“Some damage, finally! Milady! DOUBLE DOWN!” Haru exclaimed happily.

“...That will hurt.” the monster muttered with a whimper as the Persona’s missiles and other explosive rounds were about to rain on her the instant she climbed out of the wall.

With Yusuke - Battle against Earth-Pony-Do-Well -

“GET OVER HERE!” the earth pony version of the mare roared as she charged forward like a bull, her body also covered by a thick blue aura adding more power to her charge.

“She keeps charging! Why she is not out of breath?!” Morgana howled in anger as it was only thanks to his agility as a cat that he could dodge the mad charges of Mare-Do-Well that kept easily blasting holes through the walls.

“If Joker is right, we are facing an empty costume, meaning that there are no lungs that will burn of muscles that will ache, she can keep charging forever!” Yusuke answered, gritting his teeth as he barely dodged a charging attack himself that demolished an entire side of the room.

“Do something then!” Morgana answered while his persona Zorro went blasted aside with the new charge, and him with it.

“Goemon do not betray me now...MABUFU!” as soon as the masked mare veered to charge Yusuke, the young man used a wide area ice attack on her hoping to freeze her solid even just for a moment.

“USELESS!” To his dismay, while the attack did some damage, showing that Mare-Do-Well was indeed weak against Ice, the monster did not end up frozen in a block of ice…

CRACK!

“GAAAAAAAH!”

Except for one of her front hooves that had turned stiff just long enough for the pressure of her charge to snap in two at the knee, making part of that leg fly away and the mare crash painfully on the floor until she skidded to a halt, thing that also opened a small tear in the face area of the costume so that both wounds could confirm that there was indeed nothing filling it.

“FOUND SOMETHING!/FOUND SOMETHING!” Both him and Ryuji declared at the same time to their phones so that the others too could hear.

“You first.” the artist conceded, smiling amused.

“I just managed to blast one of the bastard’s wings to pieces and she crash-landed! Body or not, this thing can’t do shit if a part is broken!”

“Same here, I managed to tear of one of her legs and she stopped charging. She is weak against Ice.” Yusuke confirmed.

“She is weak against Fire too! Carmen just blasted a hole in her torso!” Ann added.

“We are fighting against an animated piece of cloth, those two weaknesses should have been obvious.” Morgana admitted with a short chuckle.

“YOU FOOLS! I AM NOT DEFEATED YET!” the three Mare-Do-Well declared at the same time as an unseen force pulled them away from their respective battle and back into the museum’s main room where they fused together to form a singular, slightly bigger version of Mare-Do-Well sporting a single wing on her left side, a unicorn horn, a big hole on her chest and face and still missing the frontal left hoof.

“As she become an Alicorn?!” Haru asked in dread.

“No, for some reason her energy readings have not changed, her wounds too are still there so she has not healed herself either. My best guess is that this is her original form and she just separated herself in three to hunt you down.” Futaba answered.

“How can a costume alone do that? I thought that we would have seen the face of at least one of Dash’ friends hiding under the mask once damaged it...” Morgana wondered while the thing snarled at them in hatred.

“That would have been unlikely, Dash’ Element is still Loyalty, although buried deep under Corruption, she would never see her friends as enemies.” Makoto answered

“Of course! That thing is empty because you are fighting the representation of Dash ideal Rival! It has not an identity or a ‘Race’ because it was born as a Lesson in Humility that Distortion and Corruption gave life to and corrupted into yet another side of Dash’ delusions of Pride!” Futaba said in realization.

“It was supposed to be a faceless threat to her status as a Hero, a symbol of what she should have been and what she wasn’t, her friends created this thing to show Dash what a real Hero was supposed to be and as a way to keep her Ego grounded. We are fighting against an Idea, and unfortunately Ideas don’t bleed.” Yusuke added.

“But costumes get shredded, once broken the costume wings that thing stopped flying, so if we destroy the costume, we will defeat her.” Ryuji added.

“Good! We are already halfway done then! Let’s finish the job!” Makoto declared with a triumphant grin on her face.

“You won’t defeat meee!” using her last wing to cover for the absence of a hoof, the real form of Mare-Do-Well shoot forward like a meteor, only for the Phantom Thieves to dodge her and watch as she failed to destroy the Museum entrance door and only briefly stunning herself into immobility from the hit.

“Maybe she can’t leave the Museum, if so then she won’t be able to blast through the walls leading outside or to other floors, use it to force her to knock herself unconscious when charging and create an opening to attack her!” Futaba instructed.

“Roger!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one.

“Get down!” Ryuji screamed as his sledgehammer caught the mare’s chin with enough strength to force her to topple over yet again before she could get back up on her hooves, partly in thanks to her missing leg.

“You are wide open!” Yusuke assaulted her with his sword drawn, although Mare surprised him by using the tear on her “Face” like a mouth to catch the blade and hold him in place.

“NO! YOU ARE!” the monster roared back in defiance as her horn lighted-up to shoot him with a magic bullet.

“LET GO OF MY MAN, YOU HUSSY!” not amused by the thing, Haru’s battle-ax came down like a guillotine to try and behead Mare, only for the thing to react fast enough to avoid a fatal wound by letting go of Yusuke and pulling back her head by ‘rolling back’ her neck, unfortunately not fast enough to avoid the attack fully, thing that resulted in the costume’s horn being chopped-off in half.

“Nooo!” Mare-Do-Well roared in anger while finally returning to stand.

“We crippled her Unicorn self too! We are close at defeating her!” Morgana declared, while gleefully bombarding the mare with the bombs launched by his giant slingshot.

“I don’t need all four hooves to trample you to death!” Mare bellowed as she somehow launched herself in a new charge that destroyed the giant Bronze statue of Dash in the middle of the Museum.

“NOOOOOOOO!” she bellowed in horror.

“Oh, cry me a river! That thing was too ugly to be left standing.” Makoto said with a smirk while riding her Persona Johanna and revving the accelerator at random times.

“HOW DARE YOU?!” Mare-Do-Well roared in fury at the offence to her Idol.

“What? Offended I just said the truth about that Loser?” the girl asked with her smirk growing even more malevolent.

“Don’t you dare call Dashie a Loser! I’LL KILL YOUUUUU!” blinded by her fury, the living costume charged forward with her head low ready to squash Makoto against the wall and uncaring of everything and everybody else around her.

“How easy it is to rile-up a fangirl! Freila!” not even a bit worried by the charge, Makoto blasted the monster with a big nuclear explosion while also charging towards the running mare.

As the explosion teared away half Mare-Do-Well’s head, and at the same time, the young woman used the back wheel of her bike Persona to bounce off the mare’s back to avoid the attack and let her slam what remained of her forehead against the Museum, thus knocking herself unconscious again.

“Let’s finish this, she made us waste even too much time!” Futaba said with an annoyed tone while boosting the attack of her friends.

“Jack Frost!” Akira intoned, summoning the living snowman Persona to attack Mare’s back and encase her remaining wing in ice.

“Carmen!” Ann followed immediately after, and the combination of freezing solid and then being hit by a blazing ball of fire disintegrated the remaining wing of the costume.

“GYAAAAAAAAAH!” in answer Mare-Do-Well looked upward and released a loud scream of pain filled in anguish.

“I’ll personally finish this! Goemon! Giant Slice!” Yusuke declared as he charged the mare alongside his Persona, and the combined attack of his sword and the bladed pipe of the spirit finally beheaded the living Costume, making the empty face mask and hat slowly drift away while the rest of the costume deflated, finally defeated.

“It’s over.” Morgana said with a sigh as they watched the empty thing slowly melt into ichor and then evaporate until nothing remained.

CREEEEEEEAK!

As soon as the last traces of Mare-Do-Well disappeared, the Museum rapidly repaired itself and the two giant door at both ends opened by themselves in a loud cacophony of creaking hinges.

“The road is clear, I suggest you to hurry up and go before Dash decides to try visit her Apartment.” Futaba suggested while she still kept watch for the Distorted Mare’s whereabouts.

“Up these stairs, let’s go.” Akira said as he went up first soon followed by the other Phantom Thieves.

The staircase itself was ordinary, almost cramped, signifying that of course only Dash used that contrary to the one leading to the Museum about herself that instead was planned for a great multitude of visitors to pass through; it alsi meant that the Distorted Mare herself technically liked to take a stroll basking in her own Hype before reaching her less-than-humble abode.

And the place was luxurious indeed, outrageously so.

“Everything is still Dash Themed...” Haru commented, dryly.

“Does it still count as a surprise anymore?” Makoto answered while rolling her eyes.

“Not really.”

“Split up, we need every clue we can find about the Treasure.

“...Like a secret passage behind a bookcase?” Ryuji asked with a dead tone of voice.

“What do you...Mean...” Yusuke asked, before words failed him.

As Futaba had said, every wall was covered in windows, making the entire penthouse effectively see-through from every direction one looked at, except for a cubicle acting as bathroom AND a small rectangle of concrete right next to the bathroom covered by a single bookcase.

“Rainbow Dash and the Emperor’s Crown...Rainbow Dash and the Lost Minotaur Empire...Rainbow Dash and the revenge of Mondomezza...Wanna bet these are all real books Dash changed to be about herself?” Ryuji asked.

“I Think we saw enough of her Ego, Skull.” Ann answered.

“Rainbow Dash and the Philosopher Stone, Rainbow Dash and the Prisoner of Azkaban...”

“Apparently we haven’t seen it all yet.” the girl conceded with a defeated sigh.

“This Palace is really streamlined.” Yusuke commented.

“I think it’s perfectly in theme instead.” Akira countered.

“Uh?”

“She wants to be a Hero, and be recognized as such, while still playing the role fully.” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves explained.

“So her Palace follows the Cliche of the Super Hero genre, while also playing it in a way that satisfies (and represents) Dash’ Ego and Pride.”

“Yes.”

“This really is a damn Fanfiction...A very lazily written one.” Makoto grumbled annoyed.

“Let’s just see what’s hidden behind this thing.” Morgana answered, sighing, and somehow helping Akira and Ryuji swing aside the thing thanks to the hidden hinges built in, so to reveal a new elevator with just one button waiting to be pressed.

“We’ll have to cram inside...” Haru commented.

“Let’s get this over with.” Akira answered while moving Morgana to sit on his head so to stop the cat from getting squished to death between them.

And with a bit of forceful pushing, every one of them managed to get inside the small thing, albeit with zero breathing room.

“...Izh sombdy able to prss the btton?” Ryuji tried gurgling-out with his face pressing hard on the elevator’s back.

“I can try.” Yusuke said with a whisper of voice, partly thanks to Haru’s elbow painfully burying itself in his sternum.

“Joker, I know you love me, but now is not the moment of manhandling my ass.” Ann said with a disapproving tone and an adorable blushing face.

“That’s not me, my hands are holding Mona up.” he answered.

“Then who is?”

“That would be me, sorry, Panther, but I can’t move my arms now.” Makoto answered, looking bashful.

“I-It’s okay.”

“...A-A-Are you working-out, though? I-It’s very firm.” the other tried saying.

“Darling press that button, before things become even more awkward.” Haru begged.

“Yes, pardon me…” the Artist replied as he managed with some difficulty to sneak his arm forward enough to press the only button present, and to the Thieves’ shock the elevator did not descend, it literally rocked down at absurd speed on the notes of the teens scared screams.

When the thing finally stopped, having gone down what looked like being twenty floors in just a couple seconds, the Phantom Thieves found themselves in a futuristic-looking secret base hidden in what looked like being an artificial cave filled to the brim in vehicles and other Superhero style gadgets.

“THE TREASURE!” Morgana bellowed happily, exiting the elevator like a missile to see the formless blob of light that was the Treasure carefully held on display on a Trophy Wall of sort protected by a thick glass.

“Okay, we found it. Of course surrounded in Trophies proclaiming Dash’ Awesomeness.” Ann said, hands at her hips, while studying the absurd amount of gold medals and trophies all sporting Dash’ name in bold characters.

“We’ll need to find the right combination to open this thing, that is a numerical pad acting as lock.” Makoto said while pointing at the small metal square covered in numbers installed on a side of the wall next to the glass.

“What code could somebody like Dash use?” Akira asked.

“0000?” Ryuji answered, smirking.

“If not for the risk of making an alarm sound if we are wrong, I would actually try that.” Yusuke admitted.

“Your opinion of this version of Dash is THAT LOW, eh, Fox?” Futaba asked with a chuckle.

“Maybe I am a bit biased.” the other admitted.

“We’ll try asking for her to Dash’ friends in the Real World, for now let’s just focus on finding a way out. Now that we found where the Treasure is hidden we need to plan our Escape Route once stolen it.” Morgana proposed with crossed arms.

“Ok.” Akira answered.

“Guys...You will never believe what this place is called...” Ryuji said in disbelief once checked the name written above the elevator’s button.

“Uh?” the others uttered, confused.

“Apparently this is ‘The Dashcave’...”

There were no words to describe it…

The Cringe was just that intense.

The Dashcave.

Chapter 14: Unmasking a Superhero, the Metropolis of Pride collapses!

Chapter 14: Unmasking a Superhero! The Metropolis of Pride collapses!

Dash Palace – Treasure Room “The Dashcave” -

The damp and scarcely illuminated cave spawned for the entirety of the above City's territory, a side was even flooded in clear water so to permit to the Distrorted Self of Dash to park there dozens of different boats, while at the opposite side there were cars, trucks, elicopters and even fighter jets! And every vehicle was painted Cyan Blue and decorated with the mare cutie mark.

"I have a question." Ryuji said while taking in the entire scene with a curious gaze.

"Besides how can somebody have such an inflated Ego and not collapse on themselves like a super-dense supernova of Pride?" Makoto answered.

"...Yeah." the young man answered, unsure.

"Then ask."

"I did not see rivers or lakes or sea out there...How does Dash use those boats then?"

"Simple, Skull. She…I mean, she obviously...You know…" Makoto tried answering, before words failed her.

"Palaces usually make sense, albeit in their own way, I guess this one just leans a bit more on the 'Power Fantasy' angle than most." Yusuke intervened while still taking several pictures with his phone.

"Yeah, what Fox says." Makoto muttered, grateful.

"You are loving the update the real Igor gave to the Metaverse App, don't you?" Ryuji asked, smirking.

"Yes, it does make taking notes on the Metaverse and Palaces easier. Once done with Celestia, I plan to create a series of paintings dedicated to these Palaces and the ones we met previously. I think I will call it my 'Distorted Heart Period'." Yusuke answered, eyes shining in artistic excitement.

"Then I'll make sure to book a small Gallery for you to show them off." Haru said, smiling happily.

"I can't ask you that, there is no need." Yusuke answered, shocked.

"Fox?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Shut up." The girl ordered with a giggle.

"Huhuhu! Whatever my lady wishes." The artist answered, chuckling amused while hugging her close.

"Guys, focus! We are still-EEK!" Makoto tried saying, before Ryuji hugging her from behind turned her words into an adorable squeal.

"S-Skull!" She hissed while the young man nuzzled her.

"What? I can do mushy stuff too!" He answered, making her snort in amusement.

"While you four are being lovey-dovey, I found our escape route." Morgana interrupted the two couples with a stern tone.

"O-Oh! Really?! Do tell!" Makoto asked while looking utterly embarrassed.

"We'll use the exit path Dash would ideally use to take out one of the cars here, one of them reaches the surface very close to the Palace Exit. If we steal the Treasure and load it in my Car Form, we can then speed our way to the Exit with that...It's damn long, but it is also the safest path." The cat explained.

"And hopefully its closeness to the Exit will mean we won't have to fight Dash for the Treasure. Now we only need the right combination to open that Trophy Cabinet and we'll be ready to send the Calling Card." Yusuke answered.

"We can try asking the other ponies if they know what Dash may have used as a code...Hey, where are Joker and Panther?" Morgana asked while wildly looking around.

"We are here, we are here." Ann answered as she and Akira joined the group.

"We were exploring the cave." Akira added with his usual overly-calm tone.

"..."

"..."

"What?" The Leader of the Phantom Thieves asked.

"...Dude, pull-up your zip." Ryuji said with an embarrassed tone.

"Oh." The other only muttered that as an answer while doing as asked.

Ziiiiip!

"What have you two done?" Makoto asked with a groan.

"N-Nothing." Ann stuttered with a red face.

"Panther…" Haru said with a disapproving frown.

"We...We defiled the Dashmobile...A couple of times…" the girl admitted with an ashamed expression.

"DUUUUUUUUUUDE!" Ryuji yelled in disbelief.

"So outrageous…" Yusuke chorused with a more contrite expression…

He still high-fived Akira, though.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Morgana was not as thrilled by the news, and his scream of anguish loudly echoed inside the giant cave.

"Panther!" Makoto yelled in Anger.

"Oh, cut me some slack! As if I did not know you and Skull sneaked-out to do the same while we were exploring Pinkie's Palace!" Ann answered with a frown.

"Y-Y-You have no proof!" Makoto answered, blanching in horror.

"...?" Akira just looked at Skull with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that, it just happened." Ryuji muttered lamely.

"I expect more self-control from my colleagues." Yusuke chided them.

"Darling...We too are not innocent." Haru whispered with an adorable pink dusting of her cheeks.

"...AJ's Palace." Akira guessed.

"To my shame, those beds were extremely comfortable. Please forgive me." Fox admitted, looking utterly ashamed of himself.

"IS EVERYBODY HERE HAVING AN INTENSE LOVE LIFE EXCEPT ME?!" Morgana howled in agony.

"Preach to the choir, cat." Futaba answered, bitterly.

"I am sure Panther can loan you Joker if you want, Navi." Haru said.

"WHAT?! Why would I?!" Ann roared back in answer.

"I am not loaning Fox, and I am sure Skull is not free either…"

"What nonsense are you blabbering about?!"

While the girls kept arguing, the boys moved slightly aside after a rather intense look from Akira caught the attention of both.

"Yes?" Yusuke asked once they were far enough.

"You okay?" Ryuji asked as well.

In answer Akira pulled out his phone to show them a picture.

"...Holy shit! For real?!" Ryuji gasped in shock.

"You think it will be enough?" Akira asked, worried.

"Enough? Dude, that will be lethal! Ahahaha! Don't worry, there was no need to go that far!" The other answered.

"Still, it is a surprise. But I am happy to see you are taking things seriously." Yusuke added.

"Would you and Skull…"

"Shit! R-Really?! Of course I will!" Ryuji asked with a touched expression.

"I would be Honoured. But only if you both do the same for me." Yusuke answered with a small smile.

"Of course." Akira answered.

"...We all had the same plan, eh?"

"Skull?"

"I guess Celestia did come at the worst time, eh? Just before a screwball like me could start fixing things up." The young man answered, embarrassed.

"Nothing has been cancelled, just slightly postponed." Yusuke answered, patting his friend's back to cheer him up.

"What are you three talking about?" Ann asked.

"It's a secret, for now." Akira answered.

The three girls will never admit it, but the strange way they saw the boys look at them did make their hearts flutter a little, for some inexplicable reason.

"You guys and your secrets. Let's just go." Makoto huffed annoyed.

"I say we use the escape route this time, the only other way out seems to be Dash' "Secret" elevator, and we can't risk being discovered yet." Morgana suggested while transforming into the PT's van.

"Are you sure?" Haru asked while she and the others mounted aboard.

"We don't really have a choice this time, the core of the Palace is too isolated to try something else."

Roooooooo! Ding!

It was then that they heard that same elevator descend, meaning that Dash herself was about to enter the cave.

"Shit! Floor it, Queen!" Ryuji yelled just as the elevator doors opened.

"HOLD ON TIGHT!" Makoto yelled while pressing down hard on the accelerator, making the car sprint forward at mad speed.

"INTRUDERS!" They heard Dash roar in fury, soon followed by the noise of a second engine going full-throttle.

"She can fly! Why is she taking a car?!" Morgana asked.

"I learned to not question the Madness of a Palace owner! Look out!" Yusuke answered as the cyan coloured Lamborghini reached them on the notes of Dash' theme.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And immediately starting slamming against Morgana to push him towards the wall.

"Gyaaaah!" The transformed cat shrieked in pain every time he went sandwiched between the Dashmobile and the wall.

"Do something!" He begged.

"Persona! Alice!" Akira intoned, and the Young girl appeared floating next to him.

"How dare you attack my Onii-sama! You shall die for me! Megidolaon!" The Persona said with a cold tone of voice before summoning an imposing magical explosion similar to a nuclear bomb going off.

And to the Phantom Thieves horror, the attack did nothing to either car or mare.

"It didn't work?! How?! Try something else!" Futaba suggested.

Bang! Bang!

In the meantime Dash kept slamming her own car against Morgana's side.

"Just let us go!" Ryuji bellowed while unloading on her the entire clip of his shotgun.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Again the attack was fruitless as the bullets kept bouncing aimlessly on the car.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"I can't hold on for much longer!" Morgana shrieked in pain.

"Goemon!" Yusuke tried summoning his own Persona.

"Milady!" Soon joined by Haru.

"GO!" The two ordered with a desperate yell, and to their horror, their attacks too failed.

"Is she immune to Skill, Physical and Gun attacks?! What joke is this?!" Futaba yelled in hysterics.

"Give up! You can't defeat The Dash! You'll pay for entering my secret base! And for ruining the seats of my Dashmobile! This is real Leather, do you have any idea how hard it is to clean it?! What the hell have you done even?! It smells horrible here!" Dash said, looking extremely pissed.

"Sex." Akira blurted-out without thinking.

"...WHAT?!" The Distorted Dash shrieked in horror while looking at the passenger seat and the one she was sitting on with wide eyes, and to the Phantom Thieves surprise the mare's Theme Song literally screeched to a stop at the same time.

"GET OFF!" Using the opening of Dash' distraction, Makoto gave a furious turn to the wheel to push Dash and her car against the wall.

And this time, a miracle happened as the blue car slammed against the wall and lost control, spinning on itself and finally shooting the mare out from the front window before crashing upside-down, making her tumble painfully on the floor while behind her the car exploded into a ball of fire.

"I'll get you next time!" Dash roared in defiance with a broken wing and a thin line of black ichor streaming down from her forehead.

"The Exit! We are safe!" Ryuji yelled in relief.

And while cheering for escaping such a close call, the Phantom Thieves all noticed the same thing:

As soon as the Music stopped, they managed to wound Dash.

Later that day - Flying Ship acting as the Phantom Thieves HQ -

"...And that's pretty much it." Ryuji finished retelling what they saw and did inside the Palace.

"My goodness, Dash is really such a bad case?" Fluttershy asked with an extremely concerned tone.

"Ah'm watching da pictures, Shy. Dash' got it bad." AJ confirmed while still watching the pictures Makoto and the others took.

"Still more colorful than yours." Spike said.

"Yeah, but me and them were just darn creepy, Dash has another level of bad!" The farm mare answered.

"I am happy Rarity is not here to see this, that 'Rainbow Dash Wallpaper' and Museum would have killed her." Pinkie added.

"She'll be the next Target, now that we found Dash Treasure we will need to also start looking for Rarity. The longer we take the more daring Celestia will get in speeding-up Conversion." Haru answered.

"I will take care of that! I will ask Thorax for help in locating Rarity while you steal this Treasure!" Lyra offered immediately.

"That is good and all, but if we can't find a way to defeat Dash should we be forced to fight, stealing the Treasure will remain a dream." Ann countered with a sigh.

"You may have a clue, though." Tempest interrupted her.

"As you said, you are almost certain that unless Dash' Theme Song is stopped, she is invincible."

"It is just a theory, we guessed that the music we hear while in the Palace could be an integral part of her Delusions based on how she took damage only when that stopped; this is why we believe that her theme music is actually part of her believing to be an Invincible Hero of Justice." Yusuke confirmed.

"It doesn't make much sense, though." Ann muttered, and while all of them still wore hoodies and 3D printed copies of their Phantom Thieves masks, the ponies present could still catch the Defeat in her tone.

"Not really." Futaba and Pinkie said at the same time.

"You first." The Hacker conceded with a smirk.

"Everypony knows that when the Theme Song plays the Hero is about to win!" The party pony explained with a wide smile.

"Fuck! The Theme Music Power-Up cliché, how could we forget that!" Ryuji answered, laughing.

"It always happens in anime shows too, like with "Rising Fighting Spirit" in Naruto or "You say run" In My Hero Academia." Futaba said, shaking her head.

"Or Rivers in the Desert with you." Pinkie said.

"Wha?"

"Nothing!" The pink mare quipped.

"So Dash may be really following the Rules of superheroes to a T. How do we use it to our advantage then?" Yusuke asked.

"The moment the music stopped, we managed to damage both car and Dash, maybe we need to stop that from playing long enough for us to either escape the Palace or Defeat her." Makoto tried answering.

"That may be a good idea, but how do we actually do that?" Haru asked.

"How did you stop the music the first time?" Fluttershy asked, curious.

"...Let's just say that Joker and Panther managed to surprise her hard enough." Makoto answered while refusing to go into too many details.

"Oh! So you can do it again?" Spike asked.

"Yes." Akira answered, gaining in answer a punch to the shoulder from a madly blushing Ann.

"I fear that wouldn't be advisable, we may very well call on us too much anger from Dash." Yusuke suggested while eyeing his friend subtle amused smirk.

"Anger? Why?" Spike asked, confused.

"I'll explain when you are older." The Artist answered.

"Ough! Always the same answer!" The small dragon said, whining.

"Anger...Anger...Anger...EUREKA!" Futaba yelled.

"Uh?"

"It means-"

"I know what it means, I want to know what your brilliant idea is." Ryuji asked while rolling his eyes.

"That's easy! If not surprise, we'll go for anger! That Theme follows Dash around, meaning that maybe she is producing it herself with her powers as Palace Owner, I plan to anger her so much we'll break her focus, thing that I believe will stop the Theme from playing."

"And how do you plan to do it?" Ann asked.

"Ohohohoho! Leave it to me! It will be a surprise! I just need the help of Tempest and Lyra." Futaba answered.

"Uh?" Lyra muttered, confused.

"I need…" nobody heard what the short girl whispered in Tempest ear, but the glint in her eyes was truly frightening.

"...It's nothing too hard to do. But why?" The mare answered.

"Doooon't worry, everything will be clear when the time will come."

"If you say so." Both mares answered with a shrug.

"Joker? I need Lavenza, can you call her?" She then asked.

"It's not like she comes whenever I call her." Akira answered.

"You called?"

"Kyaah!" Both Makoto and AJ shrieked in surprise as the blue door appeared behind them and opened to show the tiny girl.

"I need your help...But I also need somebody more...Mature. Sorry." Futaba admitted.

"I can ask Belladonna-oneesama if she is open to help...Her or Margaret-oneesama." Lavenza answered promptly, even if she sounded almost miffed at the idea of asking for help to those two women.

"...It doesn't mean Joker won't owe you a favour, even if you ask your sisters to help you." Futaba muttered.

"A favour?" The girl said, perking-up.

"A big one."

"I'll do it."

"Thank you!" Futaba answered with a smug expression, watching the girl disappear back inside the door that then melted into nothingness.

"I don't like being used as a bargain chip." Akira commented, unsure.

"Ow come on, Joker! It will just be a threesome with her and Panther! Unless those twins join too and turn it into a fivesome, don't be a wuss!" She answered while waving his concerns off.

"NAVI!" Makoto, Haru, Ann and Fluttershy yelled as one, scandalized.

Some time later - Human Side of the Barrier -

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets rained all around Sae as she duck for cover, showering her in the dust of the holes those projectiles drilled on the walls next to her.

"We don't have to do this! Just give me the Phantom Thieves! Do it and I will let you go on your merry way!" The old man directing the SIU said with an overly sweet voice while calmly reloading his gun.

"For the last time, I have no idea where they are." Sae answered, calmly, before shooting back, turning yet another wall of the store they were fighting through into a hole-filled mess.

"I know you are lying, darling. And I know you and your friends are helping them! Even while shooting you to kill, I am still on the right side of law since your little band keeps pillaging these abandoned stores!" He answered, uncaring.

Bang!

Sae was forced to enact a desperate forward roll to avoid the new bullet, and diving behind an upturned table nearby, she too reloaded her gun.

"I told you a hundred times already and I will repeat it once more: I don't know where they are!" Sae yelled, and mentally cursing once seen that she only had three more bullets to use.

"I don't believe these will be enough to scare him away." She thought in dismay.

"Listen…" It was then that she heard the old man's voice turning so cold to almost not sound human anymore.

"This little Game between Celestia and the Thieves runs Deeper than you can even begin to understand. There are Forces at play here that your feeble mind cannot hope to comprehend even in a thousand years! I won't ask again: GIVE ME THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND THE PHANTOM THIEVES! NOW!" the old man roared like a beast as he started shooting again.

"Argh!" Sae yelled while fully throwing herself on the floor and covering her head with her arms to protect herself from the rain of dust covering her.

"Why is he not running out of bullets?!" The woman hissed as the wild shooting continued without stop.

"Sae! Answer me! Where are they?! Where are they?! Where are they?!" The old man roared in madness.

"Hey! Old Jeezer!" A new voice yelled.

"Who are y-"

BOOM!

The question died abruptly when the point-black spray of bullets to the chest from the Spas-12 in the man's arms sent the SIU Director flying as soon as he turned around to address the newcomer.

"Let's go!" The man, wearing a hockey mask obscuring his face, yelled while pulling Sae away by her hand.

Behind them the old man gasped for air while painfully removing the bulletproof vest he had hidden under his clothes.

"Dammit, he was padded." The guy helping Sae said with a bitter chuckle.

"Thank you for the help, Iwai." Sae said with an elated sigh.

"I was doing some shopping when I saw that guy chase you. You okay?" The store owner asked while ditching the mask.

"I'll be, but I think one of the bullets grazed my shoulder."

"We'll ask Takemi to give it a look."

"Thank God we have a doctor." The woman admitted.

"Yep! Was that guy still trying to get you to spill the beans?"

"Yes, and he is getting desperate. He talked about some Mysterious Forces being at play behind the scene. "

"I heard that, sounded like a lot of rubbish, though." Iwai admitted, helping Sae to mount the van he had borrowed for his little shopping trip.

"Had I heard this before now, I would have thought the same. But after Celestia and her friends appeared here? Now I am not as sure." The woman admitted, and bracing herself as Iwai made the van shoot forward at high speed.

"Gotta ask the kids if they know anything about it, they already went through this sort of thing once." Iwai answered while taking a daring turn that almost forced Sae to empty her stomach.

"I remind you that one of them is my little sister."

"My statement is still true." He replied, smirking.

Sigh! "We'll ask them." The woman finally conceded.

"Good."

"Where are we going? This is not the road to our usual hideout."

"This is another reason I came looking for you. Me and Akira's father managed to take possession of two boats, we are moving our base on a small island that Tempest mare said will be safe for the time being, those Bug Ponies also said they will help us in future forays for food and other goods."

"Finally some good news...What is all that stuff in the back?"

"Little Navi gave me quite the shopping list, something about this stuff being the key to steal the Treasure of their current Target."

Sigh! "Sometimes I wish I could go with them, just to make sure they will be safe." Sae admitted with a sigh.

"You and me both, woman. You and me both." Iwai answered.

Three days later - Pony side of the Barrier - Phantom Thieves flying ship -

"Reporting!" A changeling pegasus said as soon as it entered the belly of the ship.

"Good evening." Yusuke welcomed the Guest with a gentle smile.

"Tea?" He then asked.

"Oh! Thank you, sir." The changeling answered, gladly accepting the cup.

"Found anything inside Dash apartment?"

"It wasn't easy, sir Fox. Even while mimicking her to avoid detection, Dash is still a very public figure." The bug pony admitted.

"I am sorry if our request did put you in danger."

"It's not a problem, sir! It comes with the job! I have found several key entries in Dash diary I believe may help find the right code." The bug answered.

"Wonderful! Such insight will definitely help! You were perfect, Pincher." Yusuke answered with a happy tone.

"Gosh, just doing my best, sir…" the changeling answered with an embarrassed smile.

"Oh! We have Guests?" Fluttershy said once she and the other mares joined the two.

"I already took care of refreshments." The artist answered.

"Found somethin'?" AJ asked.

"Dash Diary, Miss AJ." The bug pony answered while taking out the bright red thing from its saddlebag to put it on the table in the middle of the room.

"Should we really read her Diary? I-I don't want to breach her Privacy." Shy muttered, unsure.

"It's her Privacy against the fate of both our worlds, I think Dashie will understand!" Pinkie answered.

"Ah hope so! Where are the others?" AJ asked.

"In the Mementoes, we got a notice in our Metaverse App about two Shadows appearing, one Human and one Pony. While we were waiting for Pincher to return from your world, we hoped to further destabilize this Conversion effort by changing more Hearts of the people pushing for it. As a way to not waste time." Yusuke answered.

"And you remained behind?" AJ asked.

"Somebody had to, considering that Navi is still too engrossed in her secret project, I was the only candidate...I did draw the shortest straw, after all, even if I believe Skull cheated, somehow." He answered.

"What is she working on, again?" Pinkie asked.

"...I have not even the faintest clue." The young man answered with a sigh.

"WE'RE BACK!" Ryuji declared while they were still fading back into Reality.

"Got both Shadows." Akira added.

"Oh! What did they turn into?" Yusuke asked.

"High Pixie and Inugami." Haru answered.

"Uh, I hoped for something more imposing."

"Me too, buddy." Ryuji answered.

"What's important is the final result."

"Joker's right, come, we have a diary to read if we want to find the code we need."

"What about Navi?" Ann asked, and in answer the Door to the Velvet Room opened to let the heavily-mumbling hacker out as she marched back to her computer with a lightning fast thank you thrown at Lavenza.

"Na-"

"Can't talk! Almost done! Let me work!" She answered while hastily drawing the drapes obscuring her workstation closed.

"O-Okay." Haru stuttered, unsure.

"I guess she won't help us." Makoto said, sighing.

"Sorry about this, Lavenza." Akira said.

"It's okay, if it is necessary to stop Ruin, I will help you as much as I can." The short girl answered with a kind smile.

"Thank you." The young man answered while gently patting her head.

"Hehehe!" The girl let out a cute little giggle at the action.

"We helped too, Inmate." Justine said.

"It would only be proper for us too to get our reward." Caroline added as both girls took off their hats.

"..." without a word, Akira simply did as asked, and patted their heads as well.

"Loli magnet." Ryuji muttered while fake-coughing, and getting an elbow to the liver from Makoto in answer.

"Belladonna-oneesama wishes to meet you, but I don't know why. Please come visit the Velvet Room as soon as you have done stealing this Treasure. Please, be careful." Lavenza asked before she and the Twins disappeared inside the Room and made the door fade away.

"Uh."

"Oooh! Are you meeting your in-laws?" Pinkie asked.

"Ssssh!" Fluttershy tried silencing her once saw the glare Ann sent her at those words.

"OH MY GOD, GUYS! WE ARE IN TROUBLE!" It was then that Spike entered the ship in great hurry and scared beyond reason.

"Spike! Calm down! What's happening?" AJ asked.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! It's horrible!"

"Some details, maybe?" Ryuji asked.

"I-I was spying on Twilight as usual, and then Dash came in, and then they talked, and there was Conversion Potion crates everywhere and-"

"May I suggest breathing between words?" Yusuke tried saying, unnerved.

"DASH IS ABOUT TO MAKE CONVERSION POTION RAIN FROM THE SKY!' Spike finally broke and shrieked with a high-pitch tone of hysteria.

"...What?" Makoto asked, horrified.

"Apparently she had some 'Awesome Secret Plan' to, in her words, help a lot of people in a single move. She asked Twilight for help and both managed to create a version of the thing that won't lose effect if mixed with water! Dash plans to mix it with rain water and cause a deluge...AND NONE OF THEM TALKED ABOUT THAT STUFF RAINING ON HUMANS ONLY!" The dragon answered, near tears.

"Oh my God!" Haru gasped, horrified.

"How long do we have before that happens?" Akira asked.

"...Two days." Spike whispered with a gag of revulsion.

"Okay, Fuck escaping! We will take the Treasure and fight Dash, I am not taking chances!" Ryuji declared.

"Skull is right, we are dealing with Corruption too, this time, we can't risk it." Morgana admitted.

"I'll go call Miss Tempest, she is good at cracking codes!" The pegasus changeling said while hurrying outside.

"Why is Twilight going along with this?" Fluttershy asked.

"You haven't seen her lately, she is getting scary! Her fixation for studying Humans and New Foals and the effects of Conversion on both Humans and Ponies is getting sickening, I don't know what is still stopping her from vivisecting whoever she gets her hooves on, but everyday I fear that she will start doing that as well!" Spike answered, looking absolutely scared.

"The incident with the Conversion Gas and those ponies must have sparkled her curiosity." Yusuke guessed.

"We'll deal with the mad scientist once stopped Dash! Now help me!" Makoto called them over while already scanning the pages of Dash Diary.

The next day - Airport -

"This is insane, we don't even have a real code to use." Makoto said while spying on the real Dash with a pair of binoculars.

"I know, but we are too close to our deadline." Haru answered, tensely.

"Why must we always have to have a Damocles Sword dangling above us every time we have a Treasure to steal?" Yusuke hissed in contempt.

"I blame Karma." Akira answered.

"We are ready, Navi! Send the Calling Card! And I hope your Secret Weapon is ready too." Ryuji said to his phone.

"...Is not ready yet…" Futaba admitted.

"What?!" The Phantom Thieves yelled as one.

"I am still converting it in a way that will let us use it inside the Palace! I just need a couple more minutes!" She answered.

"We'll need to hope it will be ready when we will need it." Ann muttered.

"And that it will actually work as intended…" Futaba added with a small voice.

The Phantom Thieves forced themselves to ignore that remark, even just to not lose hope.

"In the meantime, I am sending the Calling Card! Get ready!" The Hacker finally declared, and once took control of every screen of the airport, she proudly displayed the Phantom Thieves Logo on every one of them.

And at the same time, several internet forums in the human side went swarmed as well in copies of it, while in the pony side Lyra and Tempest, helped by Thorax, made sure not a single pony could miss Lavenza's voice reading it aloud, once again pissing off Celestia to the point of Madness.

Not a single pony or human missed the new Calling Card, especially Rainbow Dash that was surrounded in red screens and went almost deafened by the message being played all around her from every speaker at max volume with each word accompanied by an ominous echo.

To Rainbow Dash, the Prideful bringer of Despair masquerading as a Hero!

A blind mare preferring to escape Reality and hide behind the Lies created by her Twisted Delusions in a childish tale of Wish-Fulfillment.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who relishes in the destruction of Humanity to satisfy her endless need for acknowledgement and praise.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will teach you that Loyalty goes beyond one's own selfish wishes.

And we will take your distorted desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

As soon as the message ended, Dash could be seen blanching in horror and falling on her butt to look around herself with a lost expression.

"NONONONONONONONO! I-I-I AM A HERO! A HERO!" The mare yelled, crying profusely as the Calling Card went played over and over and over.

"TO RAINBOW DASH, THE…"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Dash yelled as she kept smashing to pieces every screen she saw.

"It's done! The Treasure has took shape!" Morgana said in triumph.

"PHANTOM THIEVES!" It was then they heard the answer from Dash Distorted Self.

"You dare challenge the Guardian Protector of Dash City?! Come if you have the guts! I won't stand for such insolence from some petty criminals, I will destroy you!" They heard the Shadow roar in anger before her presence faded away.

"It seems like we caught her attention, very well, everything is ready then." Yusuke said with a pleased tone.

"Joker?" A voice said from Akira's radio.

"Yes?" The young man answered.

"Tempest here, I don't think anypony has ever seen Celestia this angry. Unfortunately the good news finish here because Cadence herself is getting there on Celestia's request! You better have a plan to keep Dash safe, because love-obsessed she may be, but Cadence is still an Alicorn!" Tempest alerted them.

"Damn it! Okay! We'll come up with something! Thank you for warning us!" Makoto answered.

"I am on it already!" A new voice rang-out from right outside the van.

"That voice...Pinkie!?" Haru said, shocked.

To their surprise, they could see AJ run beside her and Fluttershy following them from the sky.

"What the hell are they doing?!" Ryuji screamed.

With the mares -

"I am a Hero! SHUT UP!" Looking about to lose it completely, Dash kicked another monitor to pieces.

"Dashie?"

"PINKIE!" The mare yelled in both relief and surprise at seeing her friend there with her.

"Hi!" The party lover answered while showing a sad smile.

"Everypony is looking everywhere for you! Why are you here? Have you seen AJ and Fluttershy?" Dash asked while nearing her.

"Uh-hu."

"Awesome! Let's go get them! Those Phantom Thieves are dangerous! They must have some evil plan, we need to stop them!"

"Ah'm here, Dash." AJ said from behind her.

"AJ! Thanks Celestia-"

Puff!

As soon as she turned around, AJ blew some blue dust on the mare's face, making her immediately start swaying on her hooves.

"Sorry, sugarcube, but Celestia is tha last mare I wanna thank right now." The farm mare answered as she watched her friend collapse in a deep sleep.

"What are you doing?" Akira asked, once finally tried contacting Fluttershy's earpiece under Futaba's suggestion.

"W-We used some sleeping powder Lyra gave us, J-Joker. T-They are already waiting for us for recovery." The shy pegasus answered while helping Pinkie to tie and gag Dash tightly.

"We already planned for this form of extraction, we just did not expect you three to carry it out!" Lyra answered while several changelings swarmed the place to help the non-flying mares reaching the flying ship waiting not too far away.

"Sorry! But Dash is our friend, it's our duty to help!" Pinkie answered.

"Damn Ponies! You guys go, we will take them all to safety!" The Abyssinian governing the ship said while already departing as soon as Dash was brought onboard.

"At that speed they should be able to escape. We should go, before Cadence arrives." Yusuke suggested.

"Phones out, guys!" Ann prompted, and as one, The Phantom Thieves disappeared from the real world to enter the Palace.

By the time Cadence will arrive, the changeling/abyssinian crew will have already ditched the ship and gone underground, taking Dash and the other mares with them to a secret location.

"She is not here…" the Alicorn Princess of Love muttered with narrowed eyes, for some reason feeling the need to give a last glare to an abandoned van close by, before returning to Celestia and inform her that yet another Element of Harmony disappeared.

With the Phantom Thieves - Palace Safe Room near the elevators -

"We are in. What about you, Navi?" Akira asked as soon as he and the others exited the Safe Room.

"I got in as well, at the moment the conversion for the Anti-Dash Weapon is at 90%, should you start fighting, you'll need to pull through without it until I am done." The girl answered.

"I trust you, Navi." Akira answered.

"Thank you."

"Focus, guys! The Palace is at maximum alert now!" Morgana warned them.

"The elevators are here, let's go." Ryuji prompted.

Once up to the restaurant, the Phantom Thieves rapidly sneaked past the guard-dressed Shadows that had swarmed the place to reach the deserted Museum and then the penthouse, from which they then descended towards Dash secret base.

"You know? I believe all this is a sign that Dash is hiding her insecurities behind overblown ego and bravado. I mean, every other building beside this is pretty and grandiose only on the outside while inside they are just empty boxes. As if to further underline her greatness by comparison." Yusuke said.

"Sorry, but at the moment I find myself unable to justify her!" Ryuji answered while he and the others perused the long list of possible codes.

"That mare has written every 'Success' in her life as if it was a World-changing event! How are we supposed to find the right one?!" Makoto hissed in contempt.

"Try with the Wonderbolt one." Haru suggested.

"Which one? Her first show? the date of when she was admitted in their ranks?...Spitfire Birthday date?" The girl answered with a growl.

"Yes."

"That's not funny...Let's try with the date of when she got admitted." Makoto hissed while pressing the various buttons, filling the tiny screen above the numpad in "####" marks.

Blargh! Immediately an angry-sounding sound effect alerted them the code was wrong.

EEE-OOO-EEE-OOO-EEE-OOO…!

Soon followed by a loud alert while the cave went tinted red in its entirety at regular intervals by red lights.

"Damn it! She even has a security system! Keep trying!" Morgana growled between clenched teeth.

"Dash Birthday." Makoto muttered while tapping numbers as fast as she could.

Blargh!

"Damn it! Her first air-show."

Blargh

!

"I hate that mare! The battle against Nightmare Moon."

Blargh

!

"Hurry up!" Ryuji yelled while looking at the elevator in dread.

Blargh

!

"I am trying! I am trying!"

"..."

"Something on your mind?" Yusuke asked, noticing in awe how Akira acted unfazed as usual while looking at the true form of the Treasure.

"The Treasure is a picture framed in a simple frame, I can't make out the details, though." Akira answered.

"You think the Treasure itself may hold a clue?"

"It is the biggest trophy there, in the exact middle, for everybody to see."

"True. But how do we check its content?" Yusuke asked.

Wham!

"Damn it, I can't break it open!" Ryuji cursed as his hammer kept bouncing on the reinforced glass.

"I am not surprised, Skull." Morgana answered with a sigh.

"Sorry." Akira said while grabbing the cat from under his tiny arms.

"Uh?!"

"I am going to throw you up there, tell us what kind of picture is the Treasure." Akira instructed.

"W-W-What?! J-Just promise you will catch me, okay?" Morgana begged.

"Of course." the young man answered, before throwing the cat as high as he could.

"Meeeow! Dash and the others in strange dresses!" Morgana yelled as soon as he was in front of the Treasure.

"Define strange, please." Yusuke asked as soon as their Mascotte landed safely in Akira's waiting arms.

"What can I say...Colorful, elegant, with lots of ribbons...I don't know, they have their hair styled in that picture." He answered, uncertain.

"Some sort of Gala?" Haru asked.

"How am I supposed to know?! I never went to one!" Morgana answered.

"There is no Gala in my list!" Makoto shrieked.

"I will leave the Palace for a moment, just the time to ask Confetti, Claws and the others! Wait for me!" Futaba suggested.

"Too dangerous!" Yusuke answered, shooting down her idea immediately.

"There is no other way!"

"Throw me again! I'll see if there are more details in the picture!" Morgana said while jumping in Akira's arms.

"Fly!" The young man said before throwing the cat upward again.

"A table! Seats! A diner of sort!" Morgana yelled as many details he could."

"What else-"

"Doughnuts!"

"Doughnuts...There is a Doughnut Joe date Dash had circled in red, for some reason!" Makoto said with an elated tone.

"Was that the one with 'Remember!' Written next to it?" Akira asked, curious.

"Uh? Yeah! That one! How did you remember?" Makoto asked while using that date as the code.

"It looked important." Joker answered with a shrug.

Ding! Ding!

A happy chime rang as the glass panel swung open.

"WE DID IT!" Morgana yelled in relief, and gladly accepting being thrown up again to grab the Treasure.

"Why do you think that picture is so important?" Haru asked while they all jumped aboard the Morgana Car.

"Just like with AJ, it must represent an important memory for Dash." Yusuke answered.

"Something about never forgetting herself?" Akira suggested.

"Herself?" Makoto asked while spending forward.

"The Treasures up until now were all mementos they were given by others as a way to always remember their origins/values." Akira said.

"A plush toy given by a mother to give a mare hope to one day be a mother herself...A Pet Rock given by a worried sister that wanted part of her family to not lose sight of who she is...And a family picture to always remember to a wayward mare that no matter what she will always have a home and loving family to return to." Yusuke said, sighing at the realization.

"And now a picture of a group of friends smiling together after a party, maybe a reminder for Dash about what is really important between Friends and Fame."

"These Treasures must be the last cry of help of their Hearts from under the weight of Corruption." Morgana guessed with a sad tone.

"Then let's hurry and bring that small spark out to safety!" Haru said.

"Almost there!" Makoto answered as the light signaling the end of the tunnel rapidly turned bigger and brighter.

CRAAAAAASH!

And as soon as the Mona Car exited the tunnel, a small but incredibly fast something slammed on the van's side, launching it aside and making it roll on the floor until the dazed Morgana was forced out of his transformation.

"You really thought that I was about to let you go on your merry way? WITH MY TREASURE?!" the Distorted Dash hissed with a venomous tone.

"She was waiting for us, of course! It was strange she ignored the Alarm!" Yusuke guessed with a frown.

"She used it as a bait." Akira added.

"Precisely! And since I have you here where I wanted you, it's time for me to put an end to your reign of Terror!" Dash declared while forcefully calling back to her the Treasure to hide it under her costume.

"Don't think we are afraid of you! If we can't steal your Treasure, we will take it by force!" Makoto declared.

"Oh, yeah! I can't wait to kick her ass! I effin' hate prideful shits like her!" Ryuji added, smirking.

"Fools! Justice always triumph! And I embody the Supreme Justice of Dash City, there is no way for you to win this fight! But I am not about to take any chances…" Dash answered as a dark aura enveloped her body.

"Scoota-Jet! Tank-Tank!" The mare yelled, making the entire Palace tremble heavily under the strongest earthquake the Phantom Thieves had ever felt.

"Scoota-what?" Haru asked, confused.

"What's she doing now?!" Morgana chorused.

"Guys! You won't believe what is nearing you!" They all heard Futaba yell in disbelief.

Wraaaaaaaaah!

Blowing apart every skyscraper with ease, a giant turtle-shaped tank rolled towards them with no intentions to stop, and right behind it, a giant Fighter Jet painted orange and purple similarly zeroed on the Thieves.

"Consider yourself lucky! I am going to use my strongest weapon to destroy you all! Dash Zord, Transformation!" Distorted Dash declared while mounting the jet.

"...Dash-Zord?" Ann couldn't help but mutter while the two vehicles combined together to form a truly giant Robot designed to look like a stereotype samurai and sporting the same sunglasses-like visor of Dash superhero mask, it even turned cyan coloured like her fur once done.

"Of course she has a giant Megazord." Haru answered with a groan.

"She can easily say it's our fault, she did come to Japan after all." Akira added at the same time.

"That sounds offensive to my japanese blood, somehow." The girl admitted.

"We'll tease Dash about it once freed her from her Distortion! Now hop aboard!" Morgana answered while transforming once again…

This time in a cat-eared helicopter!

"What the eff?!" Ryuji gasped in shock.

"Presenting you the Mona-copter! Now that I accepted my being an Attendant of the Velvet Room, my powers have fully awakened!...Cool, eh?" The cat answered, smugly, while taking air as soon as every Phantom Thief was on board, and just in time to avoid a giant punch from Dash Robot.

"I never piloted a helicopter!" Makoto shrieked while trying to keep the thing flying.

"Then now it's a good Moment to learn! LOOK OUT!" Futaba warned them while she too was forced to pilot her flying saucer Persona into a daring nosedive to avoid another giant punch.

"Stay still! I want to squash you!" They heard Dash order from inside the robot while trying to swat the helicopter mid-air like a fly.

"Over there! Land on that rooftop! It should be high enough to let us face her!" Yusuke instructed.

"You want us to fight a giant robot by ourselves?!" Ryuji asked.

"We don't have other options, unless Mona can transform into a giant robot himself."

"I wish I could." Morgana answered, bitter.

A bit of a crash-landing later and the Phantom Thieves could take their fighting stances, standing on a rooftop high enough to easily reach the Robot's head.

(In the meantime that annoying Theme Song of Dash kept playing in the background at high volume.)

"How long before your secret weapon is ready, Navi?" Akira asked.

"Three minutes! Conversion is at 97%!" she answered.

"Then I guess we'll have to hold on as much as we can!" Makoto answered.

"Johanna! Rakukaja!" She then said, summoning her Persona to raise her own defensive abilities.

"Justice will prevail! Sword of Punishment!" Dash declared, and a giant sword momentarily appeared in the robot's hand as soon as she raised it to the sky, and with a mighty swing, she brought the blade down without mercy.

"Dodge!" Akira yelled while tackling Ann out of harm's way before she could be cleaved in half, while behind him the rest of the Phantom Thieves scampered away as well.

Boom!

With a deafening crash the skyscraper almost got cut in half completely, making the entire structure tremble and whine.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

"Get down the robot! Fight me like a mare!" Ryuji bellowed while shooting the thing, and watching the bullets do no damages whatsoever.

"Evildoers deserve no mercy! Righteous Wind!" Dash answered as the robot's mouth opened.

"That is an area attack! You can't dodge it! Block!" Futaba warned them an instant before a storm exited the robot's mouth to wash over the entire rooftop.

WOOOOOM!

"Gaah!" Akira hissed in pain as many small cuts opened all over his body even if he managed to take a defensive stance just an instant before the attack commenced.

"Joker!" Ann yelled, now looking extremely pissed.

"Carmen! Maragion!" The young woman roared in blind fury, making a sea of fire surge like a raging storm to assault both arms, the chest and the head of the giant Robot, unfortunately without even scratching its paint.

"Useless! This only shows that my Justice is the right path! No Evil will ever win as long as I breath! HAMMER OF JUSTICE!" Laughing in superiority, the robot's fist went raise again high in the sky to then Slam down with full power.

BOOOOOOOM!

Even if the Phantom Thieves dodged the actual punch, the massive explosion it caused on impact still heavily damaged them, with the added bonus of destroying the rooftop making them fall inside the building and on the floor right under it.

"Gah!" Makoto gasped in pain.

"Damn it, Navi! We can't hurt that thing!" Ryuji yelled in anger.

Bra-Craaaaaash!

Not wasting time, Dash piloted the robot to give a wide shoving gesture with an arm, demolishing what remained of the building's top so to once again bring the Phantom Thieves outside and fully face them.

"Have no fear! It's finally time for OUR THEME SONG TO PLAY!" Futaba declared with a savage smile as she pushed a button in front of her with extra emphasis.

"Ah, our Theme Son-WHAT?!" Makoto yelled in disbelief.

Grrrrfzfzfzffffffff!

The sound resembled static noises of a radio out of tune, so loud to actually cover Dash' song and give the impression Futaba was actually hijacking the music itself.

"WHAT?!" Dash yelled with wide eyes.

"Sorry, girl! This is OUR SHOW NOW!" Futaba declared, proudly, as her Persona herself started broadcasting her secret weapon.

The music played loudly enough to cover Dash' theme, soon turning into the only music that could be heard.

"Proudly presenting you: The Phantom Thieves Theme! Lyrics sung by Belladonna, base melody created by myself and finished product mixed by Vynil Scratch AKA DJ PON-3!" the Hacker declared with a wide smile.

"Hey! I like it!" Ryuji admitted with a wide grin.

"NOOOOO! IMPOSSIBLE!" Dash yelled as her own music finally stopped playing altogether, and the mare's shock/horror at that was no different from Yaldabaoth's own when the bastard's Rays of Control failed to even scratch the Phantom Thieves.

"Very nice beat." Yusuke admitted.

Then the vocals kicked-in!

"Time to test your theory, Navi! CAPTAIN KIDD! ZIO!" Ryuji said while summoning his Persona to launch the lightning attack at the robot's giant right arm.

"KYAAAAH!" And gaining from its pilot a shriek of pain that helped an elated smile bloom in the teens' faces.

"IT WORKEEEEEEEEED!" Futaba yelled.

"GET HER!" Morgana bellowed with a savage expression, and as one, every Phantom Thief summoned their Persona at the same time.

"ZIO!" Ryuji yelled, making another lightning bolt rain from the sky to hit the robot right arm again.

"Gah! You won't stop me! Justice will triumph! Sword of Punishment!"

"Incoming! JOHANNA!" fearless in the face of danger, Makoto did not waste time once dodged the sword strike like the others, she actually summoned her Persona to run over the blade and jump high enough to reach the robot's face.

"Freila!" The sizable nuclear explosion not only blinded Dash, bit also took away a good chunk of the Robot face, dazing its pilot enough for Makoto to safely land back between her friends.

"Good, she is weak to nuclear and lightning." The young woman said with a pleased smile.

"Very well. Persona, Shiisaa! Zio!" Akira answered before summoning the lion-like Persona next to him and attack the left arm.

"DAMN YOU! RIGHTEOUS WIND!" Having finally lost every semblance of sanity, Dash spat the attack name with a raving tone.

"AOE Attack! Defend!" Futaba warned them while also boosting their defences.

WOOOM

!

"Even her attack power decreased!" Haru said in surprise has the damages caused by the attack were reduced significantly.

"We took over her Power Fantasy, as soon our music took over, she subconsciously stopped considering herself invincible." Yusuke answered.

"Good to know. Persona, Alice! Megidolaon!" Akira answered while summoning the short girl in the blue dress.

"The enemies of my beloved Onii-sama must die!" The Persona declared, and with an almighty magical explosion, the right arm of the robot went finally destroyed, making it fall down to the ground reduced to scraps of metal.

"Dude, why that Persona likes you this much?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan tone.

"I don't know. " the other answered.

"FOCUS! Just like with Pinkie, that robot is just something Dash is piloting, you'll need to first destroy that if you want to fight her for real." Futaba reminded them.

"We are already working on it, Navi. Goemon! Giant Slice!" Yusuke answered, summoning his Persona to open a big wound on the robot’s chest to show a giant, vaguely heart-shaped engine right in its middle.

“I believe that is the power source of the robot.” the Artist guessed.

“Good to know! Milady! Triple Down!” Haru answered as her Persona gave a spectacular show of its fire-power by showering the Robot’s chest in bullets and explosive rounds that damaged the machine’s core and further enlarged the hole around it.

“AAAARGH! I am not defeated yet! HAMMER OF JUSTICE!”

“Punch incoming!” Futaba yelled as she herself took distance.

This time the Phantom Thieves were ready, other than taking more distance from the punch, they also raised their guards and prepared the Healing Skills/Objects to use immediately after, meaning that even while landing on the lower floor once the one they were standing on collapsed, their wounds old and new were already healed.

BOOOM!

And just like before, Dash guided the giant robot into destroying whatever visual obstacle with an uncaring shove of the remaining arm of the metal giant, once again destroying everything above the teens, it was also starting to rain, and with no longer a roof above them, the entire floor went soon soaked.

“I have a plan.” Morgana whispered.

“I am listening.” Akira answered.

“I saw sparks and smoke come out from that arm’s shoulder the moment she lifted it to deliver a punch, I want you all to goad Dash into using that sword attack of hers, I plan to run up that and reach the shoulder and attack it directly.”

“You want to go Shadow of the Colossus on her?!” Ryuji asked in disbelief.

“It’s the only way, if I manage to destroy the arm, she will only have that wind turbine left, but by then we’ll be free to damage the core until the robot collapsed, and that will force Dash to fight by herself.

“I’ll see what we can do, Mona.” Makoto answered with a nod.

“Thank you, guys.”

Said that, while Morgana took position, Makoto stepped forward to point an accusing finger straight at Dash.

“It’s over! Look at that tin-can! It’s falling apart like your so called ‘Justice’! Give up and handle us the Treasure and we will spare the city!” the young woman declared.

“What the Eff?!”Ryuji hissed.

“She is playing the role of the comic book Villain, Skull. I think we should follow her example,” Yusuke said while he too stepped forward.

“Such beautiful Chaos! So many colors of grief! The choice is yours! Give us the Treasure, or I shall use this entire city as my canvas for a breath-taking Painting of Despair!” Yusuke declared, trying to sound both hammy and yet Elegant at the same time.

“You...” as expected, they heard Dash growl through her teeth, and they could swear they could actually hear said teeth violently grinding together.

“What a better way to let her follow the Script of the Superhero than following one ourselves?” Haru added with a chuckle while stepping forward herself.

“I am Noir! The greatest Phantom Thief! And I shall steal whatever catches my fancy, for I deserve everything beautiful under the sky! Give up the Treasure, it will be the centerpiece of my collection!” She declared while behind her Milady summoned rose petals and a spotlight around the girl, just like it did during Haru’s Awakening.

“You dare...Being so bold...AS TO MAKE DEMANDS!?” Dash roared while summoning the giant overly-ornate sword in the robot’s hand.

“Demands? I am a Pirate, little pony! I don’t make demands! I just steal whatever the Eff I want, that’s all!” Ryuji answered, and one could swear Captain Kidd behind him puffed-out its chest in pride at those words.

“You...You...YOU-”

KRAKATOOOOOOOOM!

The brightest and loudest lightning everybody there had ever seen seemed to literally cut the sky in two for an instant, and behind Joker a GIANT shadow appeared between the clouds in the shape of a being with six wings and a huge halo standing with slightly open arms and carrying a gun big enough to probably shot Dash’s entire robot as a bullet.

The thing holding that gun was several times bigger than the robot itself, so big that Dash' Palace seemed unable to contain its massive body.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

A far away, smooth (sexy) and Diabolic laugh momentarily echoed all around them before both laugh and shadow disappeared as if they were never there.

“…” Akira simply finished adjusting his gloves and dropped the smirk he was showing while all that happened.

“...fuck...” Dash whimpered with a small voice.

“Did Joker just stole the scene while saying freaking nothing?” Ryuji muttered in awe.

“That’s our Leader for you. I believe his Persona Satanael is eager to return.” Yusuke answered with a sigh.

“No shit.”

“...I see...There is no hope left then! I will give it my all and destroy you! SWORD OF PUNISHMENT!FULL POWER!” Dash declared as the core of her robot turned cherry-red from overheating while she forced the arm all the way back ignoring the whining of protest of its abused metal.

“BEGONE! CRESCENT MOON OF HOPE!”

“Wrong choice of words! I am the holder of Humanity’s Hope!” Morgana yelled as the Phantom Thieves dropped on the lower floor thanks to the cleave mark of the mare first swing.

To their relief, that showed being the right choice as the new attack brought with the sword opening a second vertical hole cutting the skyscraper in two a secondary effect: an explosion of fire demolishing the entire floor above them in a sea of fire.

“GAH! YOU WON’T DODGE IT THIS TIME!...UH?!” the mare hissed in horror as she failed to raise the robot’s arm again.

“IT’S STUCK! GO BEFORE SHE BRAKES FREE!” Futaba yelled.

“Hop on! JOHANNA!” Makoto ordered while summoning her Persona.

“Got it!” Morgana answered, immediately jumping on the motorcycle head to be carried up to the giant robot’s shoulder.

“GO!” the girl yelled jumping high in the sky.

“ZORRO!” the Cat roared over the storm raging on the city, and with a duo of clanging sounds, both Morgana and Zorro started mercilessly attacking its metal on whatever weak point they could find and reach.

“Let’s help her! Arsene! Cleave!” Akira said while attacking the robot’s core with both his Persona and his gun.

“Don’t have to tell me twice! Let’s break it, Captain Kidd!” Ryuji answered, he too unloading every bullet he had against the smoking engine while his Persona kept ramming it with the ship it was riding.

“MAKE ROOM! FREILA!” Makoto, having just landed back between her friends, immediately re-summoned Johanna to let loose a big explosion that made the robot stumble back, thing that forced the robot’s damaged arm to stretch enough to produce a loud cracking sound as more armor plaques fell from the shoulder area.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

In the meantime they could hear Morgana and Zorro relentlessly hammering at the arm, and as Futaba confirmed, making its energy readings fall continuously with a steady rhythm.

“ARGH!… I understand now...” Dash said as energy started converging towards the Robot’s core making it light-up in a white aura of energy.

“What’s she doing now?!” Ryuji asked.

“This is where my adventure ends...The final sacrifice for the well-being of Dash City.” Dash said with a serene tone as she dropped the sword and used the remaining arm of the robot to hug the building, forcing Morgana to jump down and bringing the robot’s core extremely close to the Phantom Thieves.

“She is going to blow herself up!” Futaba shrieked in horror.

“For some reason I am not angry...I am...Happy...Of having defended Dash City to my dying breath.” Dash said as now the light around the Robot’s Core had become truly blinding, they could now even see through the robot glass visor a lone tear fall from the mare’s eye.

“That psycho is playing the ‘Martyr Hero Scene’!” Haru yelled with wide eyes.

“Let her play out her fantasy! In the meantime we will get to safe distance!” Morgana answered while turning into her new Mona-Copter form.

“Could have done that when Pinkie blew-up!” Ryuji commented while he and the others hurried inside.

“Blame Igor, HE suggested me to try and see if I could turn into something that flies only after AJ’s Palace!” Morgana answered.

“Hold tight, I still don’t know how to pilot this!” Makoto ordered as they rapidly left the scene, uncaring of Dash continuing her mad monologue.

“Dash City...This is my final gift to you...Farew-Where are they going?!” and immediately breaking character as soon as she saw the small helicopter already outside the blast radius of her self-destruction.

“Oh, those little pieces of sh-”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Phantom Thieves watched as the mushroom cloud slowly formed from the titanic explosion that even managed to temporarily stop the rainstorm around them, and no matter the great distance they managed to put between them and Dash, the shock-wave still almost threw them on their asses.

“That was a big one!” Ann admitted.

“You think she is dead?” Akira asked.

“Unlikely, the Palace is still standing and I refuse to believe such a prideful Distortion was able to enact something as selfless as sacrificing her life to bring us down. The fight is not over yet." Morgana answered.

As on cue, the robot’s head slowly descended on the same rooftop they were on thanks to the engine clearly hidden inside the neck area of the thing, and once landed, Dash dismounted from the thing to calmly glare at the assembled teens with a furious snarl on her face.

“You even had to ruin my Sacrifice Scene, you others are really a bunch of selfish Villains.” the Distorted Mare declared.

“Of course you had a plan to survive that, heaven forbid you actually do something nice for the others instead of yourself!” Haru answered.

“Do nice things for others? FOR OTHERS?! They should thank me I actually waste my time saving their sorry plot everyday! Where are the parades for my greatness, uh?! The parties celebrating my victories?! The crowd asking me for autographs?! You know what it means to fight Sombra or Discord with only ‘The Power of Friendship’?! Tirek stealing my Pegasus Magic freaking hurt, and NOPONY THANKED ME FOR DEFEATING HIM AFTERWARDS!” Dash answered, almost foaming at the mouth.

“You don’t help others to get a medal. You help them because it’s the right thing to do.” Akira answered.

“The right thing to do!? I have enough of that! I want recognition and praises for my Heroic Deeds! PONY AND HUMANS HAVE TO KNEEL AND THANK ME FOR ME GRACIOUSLY WASTING TIME IN HELPING THEM!”

“You shitty brat! I am going to sue! And you, bitch...You know you better testify against him...We’ll see how much you like playing Hero now.” Shido’s words echoed inside Akira’s head, making him growl.

“I am a Hero. The others around me are just there to cheer for me! They are just a pair of hands and hooves whose only duty is to applaud me! I DECIDE WHAT JUSTICE IS! I AM THE ONLY JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER THIS WORLD NEEDS! THIS WORLD IS MINE! MINE AND MINE ONLY!” Dash said with a maniacal glint in her eyes.

She was just like Shido, a blind monster seeing in herself the Savior of all, while everything and everybody around her were just toys for her to rule over in her sick view of what the world should be; and unknown to her, such similarity had every single Phantom Thief see red from their anger alone.

“NOW BE GOOD KIDS AND KNEEL! KNEEL AND REPENT EVER GOING AGAINST THE DA-” POW!

She never finished her rant as Akira’s punch landed squarely on her jaw with inhuman fury, making her hero helmet fly off and launching the mare back.

“You remind me of Yaldabaoth and his favourite puppet. I hate that memory.” Akira admitted with a low voice.

“...My-My helmet! The symbol of my duty as a Hero!” Ignoring him completely, Dash scampered towards the fallen headgear to cradle it to her chest once seen that the sunglasses-like frontal panel had shattered to pieces once hit the ground.

“Big deal.” Ryuji answered, uncaring, while giving an encouraging pat on Akira’s back as soon as he rejoined them.

“Y-You broke it.” Distorted Dash muttered while crying.

“You okay?” Ann asked while utterly ignoring the mare.

“I’ll be, just some bad memories. Sorry about that.” Akira answered.

"It's okay."

“YOU BROKE MY HELMET!”

“YES WE BROKE YOUR DAMN HELMET! Grow-up and understand that you don’t help others for self-gratification but to-”

“SILEEEEEENCE!” What Makoto was about to say went eclipsed by Dash’ roar, and for an instant the Palace trembled.

“You won’t ruin my ideal world! I won’t let you! I...AM...A HERO!” the mare’s voice came out like a distorted, guttural moan as he body bloated and transformed.

She gained a bipedal stance and claws in place of her frontal hooves, muscles grew unevenly and grotesquely and her mouth became filled in sharp fangs.

“GRAAAAAAAH!” the now Monster Dash roared in madness.

“That’s her true form! I’ll play the music again just in case!” Futaba said.

“This my world! My music plays, not yours!" Dash grumbled in answer as a new theme song played, only now dark and out of tune, reflecting the madness of the Palace Owner.

“Ufufufufu! Silly girl...I had the volume dial at 5...Let me just turn it up to 11!” the Hacker answered as the same song she created went blasted at double to volume for an instant.

(AN. Play the music again from here, if you wish)

“GAAAH!” Monster Dash roared in pain as her new corrupted theme went destroyed as well by the Phantom Thieves’ one, and as soon as hers disappeared, Futaba finally lowered the volume to bearable levels.

“She is all yours, if she tries again I will blast her deaf. Fight with your full power!”

“Thanks, Navi!” Akira answered.

“ME HERO! THIS DASH CITY! ME IS CITY HERO!” the Monster rambled madly while rising both fists in the air.

“God, she has Hulk Speech now.” Ryuji muttered in distaste, making the Monster roar even louder in fury.

“ME USE HAMMER OF JUSTICE!” the Monster yelled while punching the terrain with both fists, creating a giant shock-wave that threw the Phantom Thieves to the ground.

“ME HERO! YOU DIE! HERO PUNCH!” jumping high in the air, Monster Dash started falling down towards Ann with her fist cocked-back in a devastating punch.

“Johanna! Captain Kidd!” Both Makoto and Ryuji yelled at the same time while tackling the Monster mid-air with their Persona before she could hit their friend and launching the mare away from her.

“YOU WON’T STOP DASH! DASH IS HERO! DASH WINS! HERO ROAR!” as soon as she landed painfully on the ground, Dash drew back her head and then shoot a bullet of compressed air from her mouth.

“Zorro!” Morgana intoned, using himself and his Persona to shield the others.

“Mona!”

“I am okay! Wind is the worst element to use against me.” the Cat answered with a pained smile, looking like he still took heavy damage.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

“ARGH!” Dash roared in both anger and pain as Akira, Yusuke and Ann kept running around her to shoot the mare from every angle with their guns.

“Her Weaknesses changed! I can say for sure that Gun Attacks are now more effective than before.” Futaba confirmed.

“We are fighting the real deal not a robot after all! Milady!” Haru answered while summoning her Persona AND taking out her grenade launcher.

“MAKE ROOM!”

“Kyaaah!” Ann squeaked as she dodged just in time to dodge the deadly rain of lead her friend unleashed.

“Sorry!”

“Sorry won’t cut it, Noir!”

“Chocolate cake?”

“...That will!”

“STOP ATTACKING DASH!” the Mare yelled while charging Haru while forcing herself to ignore the bullets her target kept showering her with.

“Persona, Jack Frost! Mabufu!”

“Goemon! Mabufu!"

Both Akira and Yusuke yelled at the same time, and the combined wide-area Ice Skill momentarily managed to freeze Dash solid.

CRACK!

“YOU CAN’T STOP DASH!”

“Yes, we can.” Makoto answered with an evil smile, already at an inch of the mare’s face with the front tire of her Persona as soon as she broke free from the ice.

“Oh...” WHAM!

With a heavy and meaty sound the Monster mare went launched back, tumbling on the floor until she rolled close to the abandoned robot head.

“DASH ALWAYS WINS!” the Monster mare yelled while easily lifting the giant robot head.

“DASH WILL SQUASH DIRTY VILLAINS!” she declared before launching the thing at the Phantom Thieves.

WROOOM!

To the mare’s surprise, the small cat she had threw the giant head to had turned into a car right after dodging it so that Akira could jump in in the driver seat.

“FULL THROTTLE!” Morgana yelled as both ram the Monster, only for Dash to grab the front of Morgana car’s face to stop the cat-van dead in his tracks with the wheels spinning in place trying to push her.

“PUNY CAR CAN’T SQUASH DASH!” the Monster Mare declared smugly.

“Who said we wanted to run you over?” Akira answered, smirking.

“Uh?”

“NOW! ALL OUT ATTACK!” Futaba yelled.

What followed for Monster Dash was a whirlwind of colours as the world turned into a blur while the rest of the Phantom Thieves assaulted her with a flurry of wild attacks…

THEN the car ran her over, pushing her body over the edge and making hundreds of kilos of Distorted monster fall for a couple dozen floors creating a deep crater on the street below as her body hit the ground with the power of a Meteor.

“It’s over?” Yusuke asked.

CRASH! BOOOOM!

“Now it is.” Futaba answered once pushed the giant robot head over the edge as well with her Persona, so that the huge slab of metal could fall on top of Dash’s badly-beaten monster body and explode in a giant ball of fire.

“...”

“...”

“What? I had to spend DAYS of sleepless work back and forth between Real World, Metaverse and Velvet Room to create a Theme Song to defeat hers. I am hungry, sleepy and annoyed. I deserved a bit of revenge.” the Hacker admitted with a small, guilty voice.

“We should give her at least this.” Ryuji answered with a shrug.

“Let’s go see what condition Dash is in, instead. Last thing we need is causing her a deadly Mental Shutdown.” Morgana countered, sighing in dismay.

Street Level – Dash crashing site -

The street was deserted, covered in holes and pieces of scrap metal from the giant robot self-destruction and with a myriad of small fires that were slowly being smothered by the incessant rain; the biggest crater of all though was the one Dash fall produced, wide and deep and already filling in water.

“Is she alive?” Ann asked.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

“She is.” Akira answered while climbing inside the giant hole, Futaba had long since stopped playing music, making the only sound heard the rain and the soft sniffling of Dash herself, finally back to her original appearances.

The mare was lying on her back, covered in bruises and with a black eye, her superhero costume was reduced to utterly dirty and tattered rags and hanging limply on her body, both her wings were clearly broken and positioned in strange angles, but she didn’t seem to find that painful.

“You okay?” he asked.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

The soft sobbing continued as tears and raindrops mixed on Dash face as she just looked upward towards the sky.

Surprising his friends, the young man lied down next to her uncaring of the water so to look at the sky himself, and done that, both stood in silence.

One after the other, every Phantom Thief silently decided to mimic their friend and Leader, and all lied close to Dash with their heads almost touching with how close they were.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

“...I-I-I just wanted a ‘Thank You, Dash’...Nothing more.” after what felt like an eternity, the Mare finally talked, with a voice utterly broken by hiccups and sorrow.

“People did not use to give you that back in your world?” Yusuke asked.

“Oh, they did. But it was the empty Thank you, you know? The one your mom forces you to give to somepony. You don’t feel it, Y-Y-You just say the words.” Dash answered.

“Unfortunately I have no memories of my mother as I lost her when I was very young, but I still understand what you mean.” the Artist replied with a gentle smile.

“S-S-Sorry.” the mare answered as more and more ichor left her wounds, slowly returning her to normal, back into being the real Rainbow Dash.

“It’s okay.”

“Why that photo is so important to you?” Haru asked.

“B-B-Because my friends are the only ponies I know that when they say ‘Thank you’, they mean it...I learned it the hard way during the Grand Galloping Gala...T-T-That night was a mess, let me tell you.”

“That bad?” Ann asked.

“A total mess. We all tried our best to get our wish come true...Me catching the attention of the Wonderbolts, AJ selling a lots of pies, Rarity finding her Prince Charming between the Guests and Fluttershy making friends with Celestia’s personal pets...We all had focused on making ourselves Happy for once, and as a result we ruined the party for everypony else and had to escape like thieves...No offence.”

“None taken.” Morgana answered with a big smile.

“We ended up finishing the night at Doughnut Joe in a small party for ourselves, and THAT was the nicest night of my life...The problems came out the day after...It was like we had never done anything good for anypony, all of them kept whispering behind our backs about the mess we caused during the Gala...A-A-As if we were assaulting the Guests with a machete to kill them. It was then that I started wondering: Are their Thank you real? Do they appreciate what we do for them?” Dash admitted, still crying and sobbing.

“So you have been doubting them ever since?” Makoto asked.

“Constantly. Every smile became fake, every ‘Hoof Up!’ a mockery, I constantly felt like the butt of every joke...A-A-And it hurts so freaking much!”

“You would make for a nice Phantom Thief, you know? You are just as screwed as we are in the head. I got labeled as Traitor from my Team because I dared stand-up to a power-hungry bastard of a teacher.” Ryuji said, smirking.

“I am of ‘Mixed Race’ and if that is not enough I am a model AND said power-hungry bastard constantly tried to get in my pants...And many thought he did get there regularly, and were more than happy to tell me that they knew.” Ann added.

“I latched to a man and elevated him as my Father-figure, somebody that unknown to me used the Love of me and other aspiring Artists to fuel his fame and hide the fact he had long lost his inspiration.” Yusuke said.

“I have always been treated like a commodity from my family, a pawn easily controlled.” Haru said.

“Easily controlled? I was supposed to just do what I was told! I was the tiny little doll between us!” Makoto countered, making both chuckle.

“They killed my mother because of her researches on the Metaverse scared the head of a conspiracy, and for years, I blamed myself for it to the point I actually believed my mother to hate me.” Futaba said with a sigh.

“...I saved a woman from being abused by that same man, a guy with delusions of godhood, and instead of thanks, I got sent to prison and had my life ruined forever.” Akira said after a short silence.

“And you people still helped your world? Even after all that? Why?” Dash asked, honestly amazed.

“Because it was the right thing to do! We stole the Hearts of the wicked so that the innocent could live happily without fear of being oppressed and being used by them.” Morgana answered.

“Even if they never thanked you for real?”

“We knew people were happy, we did not need for them to vocally said it, because we could feel their Thank You from inside their Hearts,” Makoto answered, smiling.

“So you were Heroes?”

“Oh, not even close! Trust me, until the very end we had more enemies than friends! We hardly got any thank you notes!” Ryuji answered, chuckling.

“Then how did you do that?”

“We are a small group of friends, no, a small dysfunctional family! each one of us knows that should there be problems for them, the others will waste no time to help.” Haru answered.

“We are very Loyal to each other.” Makoto added.

“Loyal...” Dash said while taking out the Treasure to look at the picture.

“...I miss my friends. This Conversion Mess separated us, and I don’t know what to do! I-I thought that if I made Conversion happen faster, then things would have calmed down and everything would have returned to normal. I-I-I was so convinced that nopony was getting hurt and that every resistance was caused by Evil guys...L-L-Like the ones of Blueblood group kept saying.”

“Blueblood?” Futaba asked.

“I don’t know the full details, but it seems like back in Equestria things are really bad, so Blueblood is between the guys pushing for this Conversion War to close fast. He also seems interested in this world, but I don’t know why.” Dash answered.

“We’ll stop this nonsense once and for all, there are forces at work that are wishing to Convert both Humans and Ponies into mindless drones, and the responsible of this is piloting even Celestia like a puppet, and with her, everybody else.” Morgana explained.

“You mean like Nightmare moon? Twilight said that she was the result of something Corrupting Princess Luna.”

“It may be something similar, yes.” Yusuke answered.

“T-T-Then you need the Elements Of Harmony! We will help you!” Dash declared jumping to her feet, eyes back to being magenta instead of black and gold as soon as the last traces of Ichor left her body.

“We have started our new Mission from you others for this reason, we need your help.” Akira confirmed as he and the others too stood-up.

“Then count on me! We are experts in dealing with bad guys!” Rainbow Dash said as the sky cleared and the sun started peaking from behind the clouds.

“We can’t wait to fight alongside you.”

“Here, take it. You need the Treasure, right?” the mare said while handing the small picture to Morgana.

“We do, thank you!” the Cat answered, happily.

“Thank you, Dash.” Akira echoed with a small smile.

“No, guys. Thank you.” Dash answered with a happy smile as her body broke into thousands of sparks of light, and as soon as the very last spark disappeared, the Palace started crumbling to dust with the various skyscrapers falling down by themselves.

“SHIT I ALWAYS FORGET THE PLACE SELF-DESTRUCT! RUUUUN!” Ryuji shrieked, and the others with him, as the Phantom Thieves as usual had to run for their lives to avoid the crumbling of the Palace.

And as usual in this new adventure of theirs, they never noticed the Humanoid figure made of smoke and Ichor writhe in agony and die together with the Palace while cursing whatever was the cause of its death.

And at each of those figure’s Death, the Entity inside Celestia grew madder and more dangerous, anger that would then seep outside and influence the Sun Alicorn herself, turning her into a raving beast for an instant wishing nothing more than discovering who was causing that rage and destroy them utterly before slowly calming down and recover her normal maternal bearing she was famous for.

Two Days Later – Flying Ship – Phantom Thieves HQ -

The Phantom Thieves, Tempest Shadow, AJ, Fluttershy and Pinkie were all sitting together in the belly of the ship while listening to the radio station playing from Futaba’s laptop.

“I am sorry! Everything I did, I did it because blinded by false promises of Peace! This is not Conversion, this is killing! We are killing whoever gets Converted! They have nothing inside, they are like dolls. And this thing works on ponies too! We need to stop before it's too late!..." the thing kept replaying Dash’ confession over and over for both Humans and ponies to hear, everybody now knew about the effect of the potion on ponies too and about the plan for Conversion Rain.

“Just got the news from Thorax’ spies in the Day and Night guards ranks. This confession forced the Rain Plan to be canceled for now. Celestia still can’t show her hand so she was forced to chalk everything up as a terrorist attack of some illegal group pushing for Conversion...Something about them hating Humans because inferior or such idiocy.” Tempest explained.

“This doesn’t mean they won’t use it when the time comes for Mass Conversion to happen.” Akira answered.

“That is a given, it is after all too much of a good idea to not use it. The Barrier is slowly reaching its critical size, as showed by the stuttering way it is advancing now. Soon Celestia won’t be able to artificially enlarge it and will have to get to drastic measures.” the horn-less Unicorn said.

“Last I heard was that now the thing increase at random intervals.” Yusuke said.

“Yes, Luna is saying that they believe it is a sign of the Barrier unstable nature, meaning that it may increase suddenly in an unpredictable manner.”

“Nice lie.” Ann commented.

“Quite, it should cover for Celestia’s need to take pauses in its enlarging to collect more power.” Futaba answered.

“Where is she getting that extra power, though?” Haru asked.

“New-foal Unicorns! Where else? Every time and human is Converted into a Unicorn they are collected by soldiers. The propaganda machine of Celestia covers it as them being taught how to harness their new Magic...But Sunburst managed to find the holding cells of those poor guys, it seems like some vines are connected to their horns to continuously siphon their Magic away to a secret location, not enough to kill them, but enough to probably ease the burden on Celestia.” Tempest answered with a furious snarl.

“So she is using those guys to keep the Barrier up while she recovers enough to further enlarge it, only for then needing more Unicorns new-foals to keep the system up. Soon not even that will be enough and the Barrier will collapse.” Makoto guessed.

“That was Starlight’s own theory exaclty, the two of them say that for now we can’t break them free, if the barrier collapses before you have done taking down every target before Celestia herself we’ll be in trouble.” Tempest answered.

“She was the Shadow you went out to hunt?” Pinkie asked.

“Yep, she was the one to turn into a High Pixie.” Ryuji answered.

“Good this she is on her side now.” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief.

“Who’s the next target?” AJ asked curious.

“Rarity. But we have no idea where to look for her.” Haru answered.

“Me and Lyra too are coming up empty hoofed, wherever she is, we can’t find her.” Tempest added with a growl of self-loathing.

“...I know where she is.” a new voice said from the door.

“DASH!” the Elements of Harmony yelled as one.

“I had to find her...T-T-To pay you back for helping me...T-To...To really help and-” before the mare could fully broke into tears, her friends swarmed her for a group hug that barely muffled the desperate wailing of the cyan pegasus.

“Waaaaaaah!”

“Another name to cross off the list. We are almost done.” Akira said with a long sigh.

“Once freed the last Element of Harmony, we’ll have to face the hardest targets of them all...” Makoto added.

“And then there will be Luna and Celestia...TWO quasi-gods.” Ryuji said with a sigh of despair.

“We can do this! We did it once, we’ll do it again!” Ann said.

“Is not like we have any other choice, time’s ticking. The fate of two worlds rest of our shoulders.” Morgana answered with a somber tone.

With Celestia-

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the Sun Alicorn fury was immeasurable, impossible to describe as her mane lately was more fire than hair as she restlessly marched back and forth inside the throne room.

“There is no need to be angry. We will stop the Phantom Thieves or whoever is trying to stand in our way,” Twilight answered, she was the only pony present, and the small Alicorn had deep bags under her eyes, but she still looked fully awake and not tired...On the contrary, there was a sinister light in her eyes.

“The Conversion Serum is still being produced?” Celestia asked.

“Production never slowed down of an iota, your highness.” the smaller Alicorn answered immediately, and her voice was as monotone as a robot.

“And the formula for the Conversion Rain? For the Conversion fruits?”

“Safely stored in my secret laboratory, your highness.” Twilight droned.

“Never lose it! Do it and I will send you all the new-foals and Converted ponies you want for your researches.”

“There is no need to worry, my research has top priority, NOTHING will steal the results from me.”

“Good! Are the new-foal stallions like you suspected?” Celestia asked.

“They even exceeded my wildest predictions, your highness.”

“Good, very good. You can go back to your lab, Twilight.”

“As your highness commands.” Twilight answered, while teleporting away.

“The Phantom Thieves are just as big a threat as I thought. Hoping for the Palaces themselves to kill them was a mistake. No matter! This only makes this Game more interesting. Bwahahahahahaha!” Celestia muttered to herself once she finally calmed down, looking with cold eyes at the sprawling kingdom under her resting on the floating island.

But the laugh that came out from her mouth was not hers, it was deranged, Evil and putrid.

And worst of all: Male and almost Robotic in sound.

EXTRA SCENE 1 - Ryuji's question, version B.

"The enemies of my beloved Onii-sama must die!" Alice declared.

"Dude, why that Persona likes you this much?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan tone.

"..." Akira looked lost in thought for an instant.

Mini flashback - Velvet Room – the day before they sent the Calling Card to Dash -

"As promised, this is my present for your last birthday that I missed; I could not give it to you due to you no longer having a contract with the Velvet Room. But now it’s finally the moment...Happy Birthday, My Trickster." Lavenza, wearing only a long blue ribbon covering her chest and crotch, said with half-lidded eyes full of Hunger.

"I hope you are well rested, Inmate." Caroline, """dressed""" in a swimsuit of whipped cream, added.

"Indeed, you are requested to give your best today." Justine, wearing only her hat and stockings, confirmed.

Then there was the Special Guest…

"B-Be gentle...O-O-Oniisama." The Persona Alice asked while shyly toying with the choker and leash on her neck.

"...." Well, when in Rome...

Oooh!

Aaaah!

Onii-samaaaaaaa!

End of the flashback -

"No idea." Akira answered with a straight face.

"Ugh!" Somehow Ann felt supremely pissed, and unfortunately, she used Dash to vent her anger, making the Distorted Mare screams of agony echo everywhere in her Palace.

EXTRA SCENE 2 – Lavenza's lack of control -

Velvet Room -

Igor watched as the Trickster, one of his most curious affiliates to the Velvet Room, saluted Lavenza and the Twins with a kiss on their cheeks before leaving the room, and he could see the annoyed frown on the mortal girl ‘Ann’ at seeing the victorious smirk on the face of his Attendant.

Click!

“Lavenza.” Igor called-out.

“Yes, Master Igor.”

“Are you, perhaps, using the Velvet Room to sate your carnal urges with the Trickster?” he asked, fairly bluntly.

“N-N-NO! I-I-I would never commit such an act, Master Igor!” the girl said immediately, with a crimson red face.

“Good. I would not condone such lack of professionalism.” the long-nosed man said while nearing the brand new chair he had got for his job as Master of the Velvet Room, a clearly-comfortable chair he had got just yesterday and still had to try.

SQUELCH!

When he finally sat down and felt something sticky wet his posterior and back, his ever-present smile did falter a little, especially when a peculiar smell assaulted his large nostrils.

“M-M-Master?” Lavenza asked with a little voice.

“...” The man said nothing and slowly got up from the NEW AND EXPENSIVE chair he never got a chance to use and leaned a hand on the table to asses the damages.

SQUELCH!

Only for his smile to falter a bit more when his glove too felt sticky and wet, making him slowly raise his head to meet the horrified eyes of both Lavenza and Twins, the three of them showing the purest expression of guilt on their faces.

“My desk too?” he asked while pointing at his beloved desk that had been a fixed piece of the Velvet room decor for over seven hundred years.

“...Y-Yes...” Lavenza admitted while looking down in shame.

It was then that he saw Caroline and Justine steal a glance full of panic at the electric chair used for the Persona.

Surely they didn’t…

SQUELCH!...They did.

At least the guillotines were still…

SQUELCH!

...The Gallows…

SQUELCH!

No...At least the door itself…

SQUELCH!

That sounded VERY wet as if it was a favourite spot of theirs.

“Is there a single inch of the Velvet Room you and the Trickster have not defiled?” Igor finally asked.

“...No, Master.” Lavenza answered after a LONG silence and looking mortified beyond reason.

It was then that a horrible doubt assaulted Igor: the spare bedroom for his use for when he was needed to pull an all-night inside the Velvet Room! At least that one room had been spared from-

SQUELCH!

Igor’s smile disappeared completely.

Later that day - Real World – Flying Ship -

“So Igor kicked you three out?” Akira asked.

“Until he finishes cleaning everything and we learned the lesson.” Caroline answered.

Lavenza was instead curled into a tiny ball of Shame and hiding in a corner.

“It is not our fault if our beloved Inmate is the world greatest man.” Justine said, simply.

Akira had at least the decency of blushing a little under the combined judgmental stare of humans and ponies present.

Meanwhile – with Igor – Velvet Room -

There was fire everywhere, everything was burning as Fire-Element Persona kept appearing to renew the flames in the hope of utterly purify the place, behind the long-nosed man surveying the job, several crates of deodorant were waiting to be used once done burning the place clean after a couple more hours of 8000 degrees flames blasting the entire place.

“The new furniture will arrive shortly, in the meantime I will sleep inside the limousine.” Igor declared, finally recovering his old smile as the Velvet Room created the limousine he used to welcome one of his past guests, sure it was not exactly comfortable to sleep in it, but it was still-

SQUELCH!

“...Oh, God...”

END OF THE EXTRA SCENE.

NO, CELESTIA’S VOICE IS NOT YALDABAOTH.

What inspired Dash Monster Form

Chapter 15: Sickening Beauty! Rarity Belle and her 'Rebirth'.

Chapter 15: Sickening Beauty: Rarity Belle and her secret ‘Rebirth’.

Flying ship – Phantom Thieves’ Secret Base -

The flying ship had been recently parked on the ground as Royal Guards went through a throughout check of every corner of the flying vessel from top to bottom under the worried gaze of Thorax that felt his disguise suffer under his intense feeling of dread.

“So?” Shining Armour asked once the dozen soldiers he had bought with him finally stopped scanning every inch.

“Nothing seems out of place, Captain! This ship too is clean!” a mare soldier answered.

“Everything it’s even too clean, Sir!” a stallion added.

“M-My crew ismade up of a bunch germophobes, they spend more time cleaning than doing anything else, H-Hahahaha...Haha…” Thorax answered with a very nervous laugh.

“Relax, soldier! This is just a routine check, we have checked every ship at our disposal just in case we had some traitors in our ranks helping smuggling fugitives with our ships. If you see anything suspicious you have to ask for reinforcements and then keep them occupied until we arrive.” Shining said with a gentle, if a bit cold, tone of voice.

“T-They are using our ships?”

“We don’t actually have proof of that, but they must be using some method to avoid detection, so we are sparing no effort.”

“I-I see. I’ll keep my eyes open, Sir.” Thorax offered.

“That you do. We’ll take our leave, you stick to the patrol route-”

“About that, Sir.”

“Yes?” Shining said with narrowed eyes.

“I...W-We did not get an update on the routes, Sir. Why so?”

“You haven’t?”

“No, Sir.” Thorax answered.

“Goshdarnit! Okay, I’ll have you delivered one then. We’ll take our leave, AND FIND ME WHO IS SLACKING ON THE JOB!” Shining declared while marching away.

“S-Sir, YESSIR!” the other soldiers replied as one while leaving.

“Stick to your old route, tomorrow you’ll get the new one. Keep up the good work, soldier!” Shining said before he and his soldiers flew away at high speed.

“Yessir!” Thorax answered.

“…”

“…”

“...Gone?” he then asked.

“They left, Thorax!” a near Changeling answered, making the entire crew let-out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God Sunburst managed to alert us they were doing these rounds!” Thorax admitted, dropping his disguise and falling sitting on the floor.

“I’ll go alert Tempest and Lyra we are free to go, and with the new rounds we’ll know how to avoid other ships.” another Changeling offered.

“Be careful.” Thorax answered.

“What about the Phantom Thieves?”

“We’ll alert them too, as for now they are checking the Hideout of Rarity.”

“Oh! I hope they will be careful.”

“Me too…” Thorax admitted, mighty worried about his human friends.

With the Phantom Thieves -

The teens and the freed Elements of Harmony had just reached an abandoned apartment complex not too far from the landing point of the ship, and were scanning every corner of the abandoned apartment that had been transformed into a storage/fashion exhibition filled in mannequins dressed in some of the prettiest dresses the girls of the group had ever seen.

“It’s kind of creepy.” Ryuji admitted as he felt watched by those dozens of mannequins even if their faces were featureless.

“But Corruption or not, Rare did not lose her touch.” Pinkie admitted.

“She is damn good,” Ann confirmed.

“Several of these would fetch quite the sum, should we maintain an alliance between humans and ponies, I guess many fashion houses would go at war to have Miss Rarity join their ranks.” Yusuke added.

“There won’t be fashion wars if we don’t stop Celestia.” Haru answered.

“True, unfortunately.”

“Is this Rarity’s Palace?” Dash asked.

“Let me check.” Akira said while taking-out his phone.

“Fashion Store.” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves tried saying.

“Error, No Palace detected.” the App answered.

“Fashion Store?” Makoto asked.

“A password like any other.” he answered with a shrug.

“So I was wrong?” Dash asked, looking miserable.

“Hey! It’s okay! We’ll find it, don’t worry.” Makoto answered.

“It must be close though, there would be no sense in keeping two secret Hideouts in two different parts of town.” Ann said while looking around.

“I think it makes sense. Maybe she wants to open more stores and is already occupying the places she likes.” Ryuji countered, humming thoughtful.

“Rarity was about to open a third ‘Carousel Boutique’ in Cloudsdale, maybe Corruption is making her do that here?” Fluttershy guessed.

“There’s Ruin too with Corruption, maybe she’s going cuckoo and wants to be the only store around?” AJ added.

“If that was the case the App would have caught it.” Akira answered while looking outside the window to be sure nobody was around.

“Uh?”

“Meeeow.” Morgana answered.

“Translation, please?” Pinkie asked.

“Palaces are not limited by size, we have been cases where the Palace was the entire city, so if Rarity wants ‘Dominion’ over everything Fashion-related, it would have been more likely that the city, if not Japan as a whole, would have been considered for a Palace.” Makoto answered.

“He said all that with a meow?”

“Not exactly, Pinkie.” she replied with a sigh.

“Thank you, Queen.”

“All things considered, this was not exactly wasted time, we at least have a starting place for our researches. If we can monitor this area, we might be able to then follow Rarity back to other possible bases she may have.” Yusuke said while walking towards the door and spying outside.

“Coast is clear.”

“We’ll go first, you follow us and get ready to bolt if trouble pop-up.” Ryuji whispered as the humans in the group go in a low crouch.

“Why?” Dash asked, clearly not liking the thing.

“You are too important, whoever Corrupted you may decide to fully remove you instead of brainwashing you again.” Makoto answered as the group silently made their way down, back to street level.

“R-Remove us?” Shy asked in dread.

“Killing us, Shy. The Big Tailhole behind all this doesn’t seem to care about anypony enough to play nice.” AJ answered.

“C-Cursing is unneeded, AJ.”

“Whatevs.”

“Ssh! We are out, we need to take you all to the extraction point and-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH! HELP! HELP! HEEEEELP!” a new scream echoed everywhere as an Earth Pony Mare wearing soldier armor ran through the streets with what could only be described as soul-wrecking horror frozen on her face.

“Y-Y-YOU! HELP ME! HELP ME!” having caught a glimpse of Akira, the Mare immediately latched to his leg to start sobbing uncontrollably.

“AH!” Akira gasped in surprise.

“Let go, now!” Dash roared, immediately kicking the mare away.

“Please help me! S-She wants my skin! Please Help me! PleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePlease!” the mare yelled in tears, hysterically repeating please over and over while latching to Akira once again.

“H-Hoy! Calm down!” Ryuji, shocked by the mad ramblings, managed to pry the mare off once again with some difficulty.

“NO! NO! NO! Don’t let her get me! S-She wants my skin! She wants everypony’s skin! HELP ME! HELP ME!” the mare shrieked, hiccuping and crying nonstop.

“Who wants your skin?” Yusuke asked, trying to calm her down and talking with a slow, gentle voice.

“Ooooh, Darliiing! You should not run away!” a new voice echoed everywhere in answer, and that caused the mare’s eyes to almost fall from her orbits with how much they widened.

“No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” the poor pony shrieked while running away.

“You should not run. Your skin would get wrinkles if you get that nervous, and we don’t want that to happen!”

“R-Rarity?” Fluttershy whispered.

“LEAVE ME ALOOONE!” the mare in the meantime had curled into a ball not too far away from the Phantom Thieves and was already wetting herself.

“Nonono! What have you done? All that snot and pee will ruin that amazing skin and fur! I am very disappointed.” Rarity said as she appeared in front of the mare, making her shriek and back-away while babbling incoherently.

“Since when Rare knows how to Teleport?” Dash asked with a low whisper.

“Dunno, now be quiet or she’ll catch us.” AJ hissed back in answer.

“Darling, Darling, Darling. You and my other Guests have a vital role in my Ultimate Masterpiece! I can’t let you run away. You have the best skin I need for my Rebirth, I simply can’t do this without you. I MUST have you.” Rarity answered as a green glow surrounded the soldier’s head and put her to sleep.

“Now we’ll get back home, and once washed and groomed you properly, I’ll make you a new cocoon, and this one will be just a tad more tight, just to make sure you won’t get silly ideas about running away again...If only you did not have such a sensible skin. But since I can’t get Dash’ skin, yours will have to do. I shall become DIVINE.” Rarity said with a sigh of dismay before teleporting herself and the sleeping mare away.

“…”

“…”

“...She is gone.” Yusuke said with a sigh of elation, making the others sigh just as loudly in relief.

“WHAT DOES SHE MEAN WITH WANTING MY SKIN?!” it was then that Dash shrieked in Horror.

“Whatever that means, it does sound ominous.” Akira said.

“No fluff, Sherlock!” the cyan Pegasus answered.

“Whatever Corruption is controlling Rarity, is very evil sounding.” Pinkie muttered.

“Do you think…?” Fluttershy muttered, looking scared.

“Ah hope that’s not tha case.” AJ answered.

“Guys...S-She is a dress-maker.” Ann whispered with a VERY pale face.

“Yes? So what?” Makoto asked, confused.

“What if she wants to use pony skin to make dresses? That poor pony said Rarity wants ‘Everypony’ Skin’.” the blond woman explained, gagging in revulsion.

“Then what was that thing about her Rebirth?” Haru asked.

“Don’t know and don’t care. Wishing to use people and pony to make dresses is enough for me to want to stop her.” Ann answered.

“We need to discover where she brought that poor girl.” Makoto said.

“Can you track down a Teleport?” Akira asked.

“I don’t know, Twilight could have answered that,” Fluttershy answered.

“Too bad she is still on Celestia’s side!” Dash said.

“STARLIGHT!” Pinkie yelled all of a sudden.

“Who?” Akira asked.

“Or what?” Ann added.

“Who, she is the friend we talked you about, she and Sunburst are close, he can contact her for us.” Dash explained.

“Oh! Her! I forgot about her.” Ryuji admitted with a sheepish smile.

“And both she and Sunburst are good at magic stuff, they’ll know somethin’, Ah’m sure.” AJ said.

“For now let’s retreat into the ship, from there we will plan our next move.” Yusuke answered while already walking back towards the parked flying ship.

The next day – Floating Island number 2 – Crystal Empire – Cadence’s Palace -

“What a beautiful nose! It’s so pretty! Yes its is! Yes it is!” Cadence cooed happily as she took back her little daughter from the playpen she was in.

“She really missed her mommy.” Sunburst said with a small smile while adjusting his glasses.

“Aaaw! I’m so sowwy, Flurry!” the Alicorn of Love said with a pout and nuzzling her daughter, making her giggle and return the action.

“I will leave you alone, then.” Sunburst said while using the adorable distraction offered by the small filly to leave Cadence alone and trot to his personal chambers.

And once closed the doors he erected a mild privacy seal on every wall, weak enough to not be noticed but still powerful enough to alert him should somebody try to spy on him.

“Coast is clear.” he muttered once checked the small collection of trinkets Zecora gave him once opened the small secret cabinet containing them.

Grabbing a small pouch from a side container in his magical grasp, the male unicorn lifted a pinch of greenish powder and burned it on a small flame, turning the flame bright green and hovering a crystal ball over the magical flames.

“Starlight?” Sunburst asked aloud.

“...I am here.” the lavender mare unicorn answered with a whisper after a short wait.

“Were you contacted as well by Thorax?”

“Yeah, you think he can really put us in contact with the Phantom Thieves?” Starlight asked back.

“I really hope so, everything I try to exorcise Cadence’s Corruption fails miserably, there is Something Else in there that rejects the traps and potions I sneak in her food or inside her bedroom. Whatever it is, it needs a lot of power to break and that would mean being discovered. I can’t risk using the powerful ones”

“Same here. I tried some screening on Luna while she was mid-dream-walking, whatever it is it’s too alien for my spells to read. The results are literal gibberish, random numbers and symbols with no meaning.” Starlight confirmed, sighing in dismay.

“Same results on my side. But whatever those Phantom Thieves are doing, it’s working.”

“Then why making a spectacle of it? Why sending a Calling Card first? I get it showing the results AFTER the targets return to normal, so people gain Hope this nightmare will end soon, but why alert the victimsthat they are coming?” Starlight asked.

“Listening to Thorax, that calling card is a fundamental part of the thing…”

“It’s a strange Ritual, that’s for sure. But whatever works, I am all for it.”

“And that is the reason why we both have been contacted.” Sunburst said.

“They need our help directly. Any idea for what?”

“None whatsoever. But it must be important if they need to tell us personally, especially if they don’t trust anypony, not even Zecora’s Herb of Whispers we normally use to communicate in secret.”

“This stuff is useful, but I can understand some paranoia in this case. Where are they waiting us?”

“They will collect us personally, you should soon receive the secret password for the extraction.”

“They are VERY Paranoid.” Starlight answered with a very impressed tone.

“Very.”

Tock Tock! Tock!

“I must go, somepony is knocking.” Sunburst said before closing communication and hiding everything, before opening the door to see a nondescript guard waiting for him.

“Yes?” the stallion asked, confused.

“Sunburst?” the guard asked.

“Yes? Cadence needs me?” he answered, unsure.

Last thing he saw was a flash of light, then it was darkness.

One Hour later -

“Aaah!” Sunburst shrieked as soon as he regained consciousness, he also felt something covering his head and somehow blocking his magic.

“Relax, you are safe.”

“I’LL GIVE YOU SAFE! I’LL BUCKING DESTROY YOU!”

“Starlight?”

“Sunburst?!”

“As I said, relax.” Tempest said, unfazed by Starlights’ threat and simply removing the sacks covering both ponies’ heads.

“TEMPEST SHADOW!” Starlight yelled with wide eyes.

“And Lyra!” Lyra added, smirking amused.

“L-Lyra? I thought you were dead!” Sunburst said, shocked.

“Yeah, I heard that rumor too, for the time being though I won’t get out and denounce it as fake.” the mare answered.

“Where are we?” Starlight asked, relieved to see the rope tying her and Sunburst being undone and whatever thing blocking their Magic be removed.

“A secret base, a temporary one.” Thorax answered as he and many more Changeling appeared in the abandoned storehouse they were using for the meeting.

“Was this really necessary?” Sunburst asked, sighing.

“We must apology, but we insisted on a more subtle approach, just in case somebody did listen on your conversation.” Yusuke said as the Phantom Thieves too joined the scene, still in hoodies and Thieves Masks covering most of their heads.

“Just in case there were peeping toms, we kidnapped you before the appointment.” Ryuji said, smirking.

“Humans? Are we outside the Barrier?” Starlight asked.

“No, we are still inside!” Ann answered, smiling cheekily.

“HOW?! The thing and what’s inside is supposed to be lethal for humans!” Sunburst asked immediately.

“Only the barrier is lethal, once passed it, nothing happens. Unfortunately the method they use to bypass it works only for them,” Tempest answered.

“Who are they?” Starlight asked.

“They are Joker, Panther, Skull, Fox, Noir, Queen, Mona and Navi, The Phantom Thieves.” Lyra answered.

“And we need your help.” Akira added.

“O-Okay.” Sunburst answered with a tense tone.

Later that Night – Rarity’s showroom -

The place was the same they had seen Rarity kidnap the guard from, once checked the mare was not around, Akira, Ryuji and Yusuke had accompanied both Starlight and Sunburst to scan the area once explained what they needed.

“So Rarity is planning something horrible?” Starlight asked while her horn lighted-up in Magic and projected a cone of light she then directed everywhere around her.

“I would love that remark about using somebody’s skin to be just mad ramblings due to fear, but considering what we saw before and now that we are back on business, I don’t believe we should ignore any possibility.” Yusuke answered.

“Incredible, you can actually enter somepony’s subconscious and exorcise Corruption from within. That must be so fascinating to see in person!” Sunburst admitted in slight envy as he too scanned the area with his Magic.

“I too saw those pictures, Sun, I saw nothing ‘Fascinating’ in that.” Starlight commented, shivering.

“In a very deranged way, it actually is. It is the manifestation of somepony’s darkest side, an abstract concept given actual shape and identity, there would be no mistakes in diagnoses if psychologists could do that with everypony.”

“Yeah, Yeah. Whatever. Keep scanning, we need SOMETHING if we want to track-down Rarity.” Starlight answered, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“Sorry, we didn’t know there was a time limit for this.” Ryuji muttered.

“It’s okay, we understand.” Sunburst answered, giving the young man an encouraging smile.

“Teleportation leaves behind faint traces that can be used to guess, with some degrees of error, the starting/arrival point if one knows how to do it, but the longer you wait, the more those traces degrade until they fade away. Unless the arrival place is one the target visits often, then the traces overlap and your ‘Time Limit’, as you call it, actually elongates a little.” the stallion explained.

“Why I feel like this is utterly illegal?” Akira asked.

“Because it is. Only guards are supposed to know how to track-down teleporting spells, and only a selected few of them. Usually Celestia and Luna’s personal guards.” Starlight answered.

“Then how did you know this?” Yusuke asked.

“Sunset Shimmer. She was Celestia’s student before Twilight, long story short: she was caught perusing Celestia’s personal library and that was the last straw before the Princess banished her...There were other reasonsbesides that behind her banishment, but what we need is knowing that she still remembers few ‘illegal’ spells she stole that day and that she is on our side, she is secretly shipping New-Foals away to a secret location. That’s why Shining was checking every flying ship.” Starlight answered.

“Good to know we have another Mole in Celestia’s court.” Yusuke said with an elated sigh.

“Found nothing?” Akira asked.

“Few dying sparks, not enough to track Rarity down, but enough to guess she does come here quite often, if we set a runic trap we could try pinging her.” Sunburst answered, unsure.

“For the guys that don’t do Magic?” Ryuji asked.

“Basically setting a magical trap that will put on Rarity a temporary ‘Ping!’ that will tell us from where she teleported and where she went. It will be a one-time-use-only thing to not arose suspicion, but it should be enough to give us a location. As soon as she gets here, the trap will activate and put the signal on her, the thing will fade away once she teleports away and that will produce the Ping we’ll use to see where she went.” Starlight answered.

“Hopefully where her secret base is.” Akira said.

“Fingers crossed, as you humans say.” Sunburst admitted with a weak smile.

“Can you set it up now?” Yusuke asked.

“Of course, hopefully we won’t have to wait long.” Starlight answered.

- A WEEK LATER -

Flying Ship -

The Phantom Thieves had just returned from another trip to Mementoes, other two minor Targets had popped-up for them to visit,to see Lyra, Tempest and Thorax go through a rather intense game of Risk.

“Ah-ha! You lose!” Lyra said in triumph.

“NO! I lost Kamchatka! HOW!?” Thorax answered with a long whine.

“Simple, you suck at strategy.” Tempest, at the head of a truly MASSIVE army of plastic tanks, answered haughtily.

“I take that our Magic Experts still have not contacted us.” Yusuke said with a dry tone.

“Not really, we just got another round of Sunburst apologizing for taking this long and Starlight reporting that the other ponies that went missing still have not returned, two of which that had been sent to find Rarity, only to disappear without a trace,” Thorax answered, groaning as yet another wave of his tanks went mercilessly slaughtered by Lyra.

“So Celestia knows where she is?”

“She and she alone, even the Elements have not been told, apparently.” Tempest answered.

“So we are back to square one, with no idea where to look for Rar-”

RIIIIIIIING!

A near crystal ball ringing interrupted Makoto’s words, almost causing her to bite her tongue.

“Since when those things ring?” Ryuji asked.

“Magic.” Akira answered.

“Yeah, right.”

“Yes?” Tempest in the meantime had answered the call by lifting the crystal ball in the chaotic mess of sparks that was her uncontrolled magic.

“She finally moved! Thank Goodness!” Starlight was heard scream in relief from the other side.

“You know where she is?” Akira asked.

“Yes! I am going to wait for you others in that same storehouse we met the first time, I will take you to where Rarity is.” the mare answered.

“We’ll be there, be careful.”

“You too.” Starlight answered before closing the call.

“You heard the mare, let’s go!” Ann declared.

“We’ll go there through Mementoes.” Akira answered while fishing-out his phone.

“Yes!” the others replied, doing the same and soon disappearing from the ship with him.

“Well, I think this mean the game is over.” Thorax said while trying to leave the table.

“Sit back down.” Tempest hissed with a dark tone.

“I still see lots of lands that are resisting my regimen, and yours will be the gateway for my conquest of Lyra’s lands!” she then said with a wicked smile.

“NO! Leave my soldiers alone, you brute!” Thorax shrieked in fear while hugging his toy tanks close to his chest in a protective manner.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Navi was right, this was the worst human game to introduce to Tempest…” Lyra muttered, shivering in dread.

With the Phantom Thieves – Shibuya -

In a flash of violet light Starlight and Akira appeared at the entrance of the famous shopping district of Shibuya, by now completely silent and devoid of life, turning that once noisy and cheerful street into a deserted land of absolute stillness.

“Is this the place?” he asked.

“Sort of, in order to not be traceable, the signal we put on Rarity had to be purposely weak, meaning that we would not have a precise location, but I can assure you she is at least in a three-hundred meters radius from here.” Starlight answered.

“Good enough, thank you.” Akira answered with a grateful tone.

“Nothing too outrageous. Twilight and the others helped me when I was in a dark moment of my life, and you guys saved me from falling back into that void. I owe enough to you all that I fear this will barely cover for it.” she admitted with a sigh.

“You are a good girl.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Starlight answered, smirking.

“Just call your friends and tell them where we are, I need to go back to Canterlot before they notice my absence and start asking questions.”

“Be careful,” Akira asked.

“Oh, I will! You others too, eyes open and on guard, we believe in you.” the mare answered before disappearing in another flash of light.

“...It’s me.” once hidden in a safe-enough empty store, Akira dialed Ryuji’s number.

“Yo! Did it work? Where are you?”

“Shibuya, the shopping district.”

“Of course! A fashion-obsessed mare would of course hide there!” Ann was heard say in the background.

“We’ll be there in a minute, Joker. Please stay hidden and don’t do anything rash.” Yusuke begged.

“Have no fear.”

“We’ll be there immediately, dude.” Ryuji said before closing the call.

And as promised, barely two minutes later Akira saw his friends exit from the underground train station nearby and stealthily making their way towards him once seen him signaling them his position.

“Joker!” Ann said in elation.

“I was hidden, as promised.” he answered, smiling.

“Nice to see you not pulling-off macho stunts.” Haru commented.

“That’s Skull’s job.” Makoto added, smirking.

“Yeah, I-HEY!” Ryuji said, offended.

“Let’s focus, please. Now that we are here, we need to find where Rarity’s Palace is located.” Yusuke asked while studying the street ahead.

“Navi? Can you connect to the cameras here and help us?” Haru asked to her phone.

“What question is that?! I can connect to everything I want, for I AM THE HACKER!” Futaba answered with immeasurable pride, and barely a minute later they heard her satisfied ‘Woop!’ of joy.

“You in?” Akira asked, already knowing the answer.

“Of course! I’ll be your eyes there, I’ll call you should I spot Rarity.”

“Thank you, Navi.”

“No probs! Bye!” the call was thus abruptly closed as the young computer genius focused on the cameras feed in the area.

“We have another pair of eyes looking for our Target, we can start our search.” Makoto said as she walked forward, deeper into the empty streets.

“Wait for us, Queen!” Ann hissed.

“Then hurry up!” she answered.

Every street and store was empty, hurriedly abandoned by who knows how many people running away in fear of the rapidly-encroaching Barrier of Light consuming everything in its way, leaving behind doors hanging open, abandoned cars that had crashed against each other and even bags full of clothes by now covered by a thick layer of dust; everywhere one looked, there were proofs of the absolute chaos that had been the sudden evacuation of the whole area.

“I had planned to come here for Sale Season, you know? I had put aside some money to get something nice.” Ann muttered with a sigh as she and Makoto stopped to look at the deserted H&M store in front of them.

“Equestria popped-up without warning, Panther. Everybody had their plans interrupted.” Makoto answered.

“So you did not ask Skull if he wanted to come live with you?” she asked.

“He is getting really serious about becoming a Sports Doctor, it’s actually amazing how convinced he is to become one, so I wanted to use it as an excuse to try suggest it.”

“Same for me. Joker will go to a Law School, so I hoped to tie the knot before both our Careers start getting in the way.”

“We’ll get our life back, don’t worry.” Makoto answered, patting he friend’s back and showing her an encouraging smile.

“Found anything?” Akira asked once called Ann.

“Nope, this store too is just abandoned, nothing suggest Rarity uses this.” she answered.

“Try few code-words all the same, better safe than sorry.”

“Okay, how are things on your side?”

“I guess the same as you: everything is abandoned.”

“As always…” Ann said with a long sigh.

With Akira -

“Call us if you find anything.” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves asked while closing the call.

“Lady Ann found nothing?” Morgana asked once jumped down from a window and right in Akira’s arms.

“Still nothing. What about you?” he answered while moving the cat back down on the floor.

“The place was abandoned and empty, nothing suggests a Palace is here, or even just a Pony passed by.” the cat answered.

“Next store?”

“Yes. But there WAS something strange, all things considered.” Morgana answered as the two moved to the next store.

“Huh?”

“This store was untouched, but the previous two instead had been visited by a horse, judging by the hoof-prints left behind, and the one before that had been stripped clean...Why?”

“Let me ask the others.”

“Yes?” Yusuke asked, picking-up right after the first ring of his phone.

“Joker here. Quick question, did you notice something missing in the stores you checked?”

“I am no fashion expert, let me ask Noir…”

“…” some undistinguished muttering was heard for a while.

“...It seems like several dresses have gone missing, or even just parts of them. Mostly silk I am told.” the Artist finally answered.

“Hoy! Here too! Everything made of silk has been stolen. Or so the labels on the pieces left behind say.” Ryuji added once Futaba made sure others joined the call.

“Why Silk only, though?” Ann asked.

“…”

“Joker?” Haru asked as their friend and Leader remained silent for several seconds.

“Do you remember the slogan they used to commemorate the renovations they did in Shibuya?” he asked.

“The slogan? What the Eff’ are ya talking about?” Ryuji asked back, confused.

“Something about rebirth?” Ann said, unsure.

“Found it: ‘Come to the new Shibuya, the Fashion Paradise of Japan has been reborn, prettier than ever!’.” Futaba read aloud once found online the promotional slogan for the event.

“YEAH! Now I remember! After that mess with the backed-up sewers they had to strip the street clean and rebuild everything from the ground-up, along renovating every store’s front. They did it in record time and had a one-night-only super sale event! I could not go there because my last English Test was a mess!” Ann admitted.

“I remember that too, but what does it have to do with this?” Makoto asked.

“This is basically a Land of Rebirth...A Place were beauty was born again, better than before.” Akira said, his voice still sounding eerily foreboding.

“Yes? And?” Yusuke asked.

“...What are insects’ cocoons made of?…” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves asked while watching the small brownish cocoon dangling from an abandoned window.

“...Silk…” Futaba answered with a strained voice.

“My Rebirth...I will make you a new cocoon...I will need your skin...You are not suggesting…”

“What if the skin of that mare is not needed for a dress, but as literal Spare Parts?”

“Other ponies disappeared, both Mare and Stallions, is she hoping to use their skin for something?” Makoto asked.

“LADY BATHORY!” Haru suddenly exclaimed.

“Who?” Ryuji asked.

“Lady Bathory, a ruthless Serial Killer. Legends say she used to kidnap and kill young women to bath in their blood with the belief that doing that could keep her young and beautiful, many consider her the true inspiration (Beside Vlad Tepes) for the creation of Dracula.” Futaba supplied.

“She is a seamstress, and by her friends’ tales, extremely cautious of her appearances and ‘Beauty’, maybe Corruption and Ruin not only exacerbated her fixation for beauty as Fashion but her own personal fears...Like growing old.” Makoto guessed.

“So she is probably using the silk to create the cocoons with which she trapped that mare and probably many others for some plans requiring their skin for some Rebirth. It may be just wild guesses, but we cannot risk even just some similar horror to happen.” Yusuke declared.

“Let’s split, we have to find Rarity.” Akira ordered.

“Keep your phones on, I’ll use them to keep track of your position, as soon as you find something, I will make sure the others will join you.” Futaba added.

“Yes!” the others answered as one, and each one of them moved in a different directions.

It was when Ryuji found himself in front of a colossal building that he noticed something different compared to the others, namely the crude doors that had been added to its front and the thick barricades obscuring every possible window to the inside.

“Huh! That’s curious.” the blond muttered, before shrieking and diving for cover behind an abandoned taxi as soon as he saw the doors open.

And Celestia walk out accompanied by Rarity.

“I take it that you will do your best in killing those pesky Phantom Thieves should they come for you.” the Sun Alicorn said, only with a voice not hers, or even Natural at all.

“J-Jeez.” Ryuji hissed, feeling a cold sense of dread climb up his spine at hearing that voice.

“Ufufufufufu! Have no fear, Darling! The other Elements failed due to incompetence, but that word does not exist in my Vocabulary!” Rarity answered, voice mellifluous and sensual, in he worst possible way, even her eyes were golden in color.

“I will trust you, do not disappoint me. Your part in this Project is of vital importance!” Celestia hissed with a tone that made it clear failure would be punished harshly.

“Do not fret! I will give you what you asked for: Perfection! What else can possibly come from me, after all? Wahahahahaha!” ‘Rarity’ Answered with a chilling laugh devoid of soul.

“Considering how selective you have been in finding candidates, and the trouble it caused me to hide everything from both Celestia and Luna, the results better surpass my expectations.”

“Oh! They will, they will! Once used those fools to give me the perfect Beauty I deserve as this world’s Queen, I will move to the last step: your Wish.” the mare answered.

“Then hurry up with your foolish make-up, Time is of essence.” ‘Celestia’ growled in contempt.

“Just be patient. In three days there will be a Full Moon, and I will start building my new body.”

“Tch! Useless theatrics.” the Alicorn grunted with a frown, and teleporting away without further words.

“Everything will be perfect!...Huh? W-Why I am outside?” as soon as Celestia left, Rarity seemed to snap-out of some sort of Trance to look around herself in confusion.

“Oh, Dear me. I forgot what I was about to do...Old Age must really be getting to me! Needing glasses should have been a glaring warning. I really need to hurry up.” the mare, now speaking normally, muttered to herself while returning inside and bolting the door closed, going by the noise coming from inside.

“…”

“SHIT! Shit, Shit, Shit!” Ryuji yelled with wide eyes while immediately taking-out his phone.

“Guys! I found Rarity, and things are effin’ wrong! Super wrong! Insane wrong!”

“Breath! Where are you!?” Ann asked, cutting Ryuji off before he could start cursing for real.

“In front of Shibuya 109! Hurry the Eff-up!” he answered, near histerics, as if he was about to storm Rarity’s Palace alone.

“Calm down, me and Mona are close. You start calling Passwords.” Akira answered, and by the sound of running coming through, he and the cat were really hurrying-up to join him.

“Okay...Okay…” Ryuji said while looking at the shopping center looming above him.

“Cocoon...Cocoon...Nest?”

“No match Found.”

“Queen?..A Queen...Kingdom?”

“No Match Found.”

“Goddamnit!” Ryuji roared in anger.

“Error. Error. Error.”

“Eh?”

“Partial Match Found...Error...Overlapping Destinations!” Ryuji’s phone said through statics.

“Overlapping what now?”

“It means that there are two possible destinations overlapping, that coexist in the same place causing a ‘Glitch’.Kingdom is correct for only one, but it’s wrong for the other, try finding the second.” Futaba answered.

“Coexisting? What the hell does that mean?!”

“That Rarity’s Palace will be utterly unstable.” Morgana answered as he and the others finally joined Ryuji.

“We need different passwords then?” Haru asked.

“Probably.” Morgana answered, unsure.

“One was Kingdom. So, Castle?” Ann tried saying.

“Match Found!...ERROR! ERROR! Overlapping Destinations!” the App answered.

“Okay, we found one set. But what about the other then?” Yusuke wondered.

“Should we say random things?” Akira suggested.

“Not really random. Centered on Beauty, mostly, since she seems to be doing this for some nebulous plan.”

“Not secret at all! That Eff’ing mare said she wants to use her prisoners to create herself a new body! A ‘Perfect One’. She even has Celestia’s backing...Only she did not sound like Celestia at all. More like something using her as a puppet.” Ryuji said.

“Must be what is influencing her.” Akira said.

“Maybe that Thing took over long enough to check on Rarity. But for what?” Haru asked.

“She talked about Celestia’s Wish. Or the wish of that piece of shit, they need something from Rarity, and are helping her getting a better body in exchange.”

“A better body built with the pieces of her victims.” Yusuke muttered, gagging in disgust.

“How long do we have?”

“Three days…Then she said she will start.” Ryuji whispered, tone full of horror.

“Passwords! Now!” Futaba bellowed with wide eyes.

“Okay! Okay! S-Something about Beauty…” Ann said, fidgeting nervously.

“B-Beauty Parlor!” Haru tried.

“No Match Found.”

“SPA!” Ann said.

“No Match Found.”

“Damnit!”

“Beauty Clinic!” Ryuji said.

“No Match Found.”

“Clinic?” Akira asked, confused.

“Ya know? Where you go doing lifting and shit.”

“That’s not the correct name. Carousel Boutique.” Yusuke said.

“No Match Found.”

“Her Store?”

“It was worth a try.”

“Fashion Store.” Akira tried saying.

“No Match Found.”

“Catwalk!” Ann tried again.

“No Match Found.”

“Model Agency.”

“No Match Found.”

“Fashion Gala!”

“No Match Found.”

“FUCK!”

“Fashion Gala is not a thing, Skull! At best it would be a ‘Fashion Show’. But I don’t think-”

“Match Found! Overlapping Destinations...Searching for compatible Entrance Point...Entrance Point located, Beginning Navigation!” Haru’s phone declared, blocking her rebutting and opening a path towards Rarity’s Palace for the Phantom Thieves.

“I am the one that found it if they ask.” Ryuji said, smugly.

“You did not! You used the wrong term!” Haru countered, almost whining in a childish way.

“Why you think Rarity’s password was Fashion Show?” Akira wondered aloud while waiting for Reality to twist itself to form the mare’s Palace.

“We were told she was about to open a third store somewhere in her original world, literally starting a Franchise, a Fashion Empire, so to speak. Her Corruption must be playing on her desire to show-off her creations on one side, so her Vanity, and on creating her Fashion Empire on the other, only in the literal sense of the word.” Yusuke answered with an uncertain tone.

“Yeah, I can see that…” Ryuji muttered with bith eyebrows raising to the point of almost disappearing in his hairline.

The area around them had become a stereotypical medieval village, wooden houses with wheat roof and all...Only interspersed by luxurious and modern villas one would expect Hollywood stars to live in.

“It’s me of this place is a mess?” Makoto asked, watching how the street they were in randomly switched from elegant marble to cobblestone and then marble again with no apparent order.

“It looks like somebody tried gluing together two palaces.” Haru admitted, and the group watched shades both human and pony fill the street dressed either in super-modern ensembles out of a fashion show of the 21st century or in rags like medieval peasants, and nobody of them seemed to notice any discrepancy.

“The sky as well,” Akira added, pointing upward.

The sky was indeed a patchwork or angry red and deep purple, each square of sky literally attached to the other with white thread, as if the sky had been manually sewn in place, although the white thread seemed to form a pattern similar to a spiderweb covering the entire sky and in many areas it even looked loose, ready to collapse. The moon itself was half pale-white and half black and rusty.

“Now I see why the App said there were two destinations overlapping! This looks like two different Palaces badly mixing together.” Futaba said in wonder.

“I don’t like this.” Akira admitted.

“Me neither, Joker. An Unstable Palace is a nightmare to navigate, and this looks ready to collapse on itself at any moment, whatever caused this, it tried to artificially control the Palace’s birth and growth, and of course they failed. We better hurry and find the Treasure, because if this thing collapses, Rarity herself will risk a lethal mental shutdown.” Morgana answered, looking all around them in dread.

“Indeed, and that looks like the best place to start from.” Yusuke answered while pointing towards the lone, bare mountain surveying the entire town.

It was a decrepit, somber looking castle straight out of a Horror Tale, black and rotten walls surmounted by giant towers surveying the entire small world that was Rarity’s Palace and jutting out of the ground like claws of some devilish beast.

“Look, I guess something remained from the old Version of Rarity’s Palace.” Ann said while pointing towards an old poster pinned to a wall written in sharp antique font and style, most of the colors and text had faded away, but the most important parts were still readable.

“The Grand Gala of Fashion, hosted in Castle Rarity will be hosted under the moonlight to commemorate Queen Rarity’s Rebirth, the town is ordered to take part and celebrate the Ascension of their benevolent Ruler into Divine Beauty.” Haru read aloud, looking transfixed at the faded imagine of Shadow Rarity: a version of the real one with pitch black fur, long pale pink mane resembling Celestia’s and dressed in a Gothic dress themed after spiders, the Shadow’s golden eyes were awfully soul-piercing even in that ruined picture.

“We have a lead, she will hold a Fashion Show where she will appear in public before starting her Rebirth even here.” Akira said.

“Yeah, but she is waiting for us, Celestia reminded her to make sure we’ll die if we come here.” Ryuji said.

“Just as she will be ready for us, we’ll be ready for her. Let’s go!” Morgana answered while pointing towards the giant castle.

“We have no time to be afraid.” Akira answered, and as one, the Phantom Thieves hurried forward, ignoring the far-away screams of the few Shadows patrolling the area that tried to stop them.

Inside the Castle – Throne Room -

The gigantic room was completely covered in drapes of the finest black silk, creating patterns that thanks to the faint wind coming from the opened windows moved in a way that give the illusion the room itself was alive and breathing.

Sitting on the regal throne at the opposite side of the room from the entrance, stood Shadow Rarity, basking in the suffuse groans and cries for help coming from all around her; taking a deep breath to savour the feeling of fear permeating the room, the mare gave a satisfied sigh and addressed her Guests.

“Soon. Soon I will be reborn, and my beauty will know no limits! And after that, my greatest achievement will take shape! Wahahahahahaha!” the Corrupted Form of Rarity said while watching the projections of her captives in the real world squirm from inside the thick cocoons imprisoning them and slowly oscillating back and forth thanks to the wind…

And yet, a spark of something could be seen from behind the mare’s merciless golden eyes.

Something scared and begging for mercy.

Whoever this woman is, I apologize for borrowing the picture, but her dress, other than being amazing, it's what gave me the inspiration for Shadow Rarity. THIS is what the mare is wearing inside the Palace

End of the chapter!

It took WAAY too long, and I apologize for this, I blame my Account on AO3.

Next Chapter will have the Palace exploration proper and some fights to spice things up! AND Ryuji himself having his personal “Crowning Moment of Funny/Awesome” to enter the innermost areas of the Castle! What is it? I am not telling, it will be a surprise!

Chapter 16: Vanity above all else! the True face of the Queen.

Rarity’s Palace – Mountain Pass towards the Castle -

The main village around the gloomy Castle was always the same, luxurious and modern apartment complexes mushed right next to brick houses with straw roofs that randomly ‘Glitched-out’ and switched style between Modern and Medieval; streets looking like a chaotic patchwork of marble and cobblestone sections coming one after another without clear order...Even the populace was dressed both modern and in pauper rags as if everything was normal, even the stores seemed to come from both historical periods in a chaotic mixture of old and new.

Unaware of the presence of intruders, every Shade present went through its established role and ignoring the Shadows that had run through the streets to catch the Phantom Thieves.

“Maragi!” the Shadow, a horse with pinkish fur, human hands and standing on its hind legs yelled as it summoned a wide spray of fire in a desperate last-ditch attack.

“God if they are annoying!” Ryuji commented as he barely dodged the flames.

“Orobas have only two attacks as Shadows, it is not their fault if they are monotone to fight.” Yusuke answered, his Persona Goemon was already pelting the second Orobas they were fighting in Ice attacks.

“I hate the most the fact that I am stuck as a Healer when fighting them. Carmen: Diarama…” Ann answered, huffing annoyed and using her Persona’s Skill to heal Makoto’s wounds.

“Not really, you also suppress their fire resistance, it’s useful!” Haru countered as her axe removed an Orobas’ arm at the shoulder, making it shriek in agony.

Orobas

“Do not pity me, Noir!” the poor blond girl answered, whining.

“Jack Frost: Mabufu!” Akira in the meantime called upon the cartoon snowman Persona to summon a sea of ice and freeze the arm-less Orobas in a block of ice.

“Booya!” statue of ice smashed to pieces immediately after by Ryuji, thing that freed the Shadow that immediately abandoned the fight right after screaming in fear.

“Only one Remaining! Zorro!” Morgana alerted them, just before his Persona assaulted the thing in a flurry of thrusts with its rapier.

“Aah!” The thing shrieked as it fell on the ground riddled with small holes.

“Hold up!” Akira said, he and the others surrounding the thing and pointing their guns at its head.

“W-W-What do you want?”

“An object, or you joining us.”

“Is an object good? I got my hands on a pretty-good HP Recovery one!”

“...Sure, hand it over.” Akira answered with a shrug and gladly accepting the energy drink the thing offered.

“Good. NOW SCRAM!” Haru yelled as soon as the exchange happened.

“Gyaaaaah!” with a last cry of fear the horseman Shadow ran away, disappearing soon after.

“Okay, that was the last one of them.” Morgana said with a sigh while putting away his weapons.

“Good, then maybe we’ll have some peace,” Akira added.

“Peace would be nice, but I am afraid this will be hardly the Palace where we will find some.” Yusuke answered, sighing in dismay.

“Guys, the place is a mess. Nothing makes sense here,” Futaba said.

“That bad, Navi?” Ann asked.

“The more I look at it, the more glaring it is: the Palace is shifting.”

“Uhu?”

“I saw the same house randomly switch from Modern Apartment to Medieval Shack and back several times in the span of a minute, same going for entire sections of the road. More often than not I see literal Glitches shake the place and things changing around the area,” Futaba explained.

“This is not normal, we need to hurry before the Palace crumbles by itself, if that happens Rarity will either die from the Mental Shutdown, or worse, go completely insane,” Morgana said while hurrying towards the castle up in the mountains behind the village.

“Any idea why this is happening?” Haru asked.

“Every Palace we navigated before now was defined, even Madarame’s that had unstable sections was not THIS BAD, what’s different with this one?” Makoto asked as well.

“I have a theory, but honestly that would mean something VERY BAD, for us and the rest of the world out there,” the cat answered while running ahead.

“Wait for us!” Ryuji bellowed, he and the others chasing him out of the village.

The path towards the castle was an empty and silent narrow road of dirt without even cobblestone decorating it, all around them empty trees looking like bony fingers closing on whoever passed under them, even the ‘grass’ was black and dying and the air cold and almost tasting of ashes.

“Wasn’t this place supposed to be builtwith the idea of beauty?” Haru asked.

“She is kidnapping ponies for spare parts to build herself a better body.Her Beauty matters, not other’s.” Akira answered while the group kept running through the lifeless road towards the enormous building.

“Uhu?”

“I believe he means that this Palace is about Rarity’s beauty, about hers and about everything she creates only. I am starting to think that to her the world is ugly and lifeless except whenever she has a hand in making it prettier,” Yusuke tried saying.

“The town down there was actually colorful compared to the area around it, if you ignore the commoners houses, whatever is influencing this Palace did not fully cover it.”

“We’ll have our confirmation once inside the Castle! Over there!” Morgana interrupted them, pointing at the imposing doors on the outer ring of walls around the castle.

The Walls reminded them of AJ’s Palace, these too were unkempt and dry, only in this case absurdly high and sturdy looking, with a very tall wooden door standing only slightly open and guarded by a duo of knight-dressed Shadows with horse masks.

“Fight or infiltration?” Morgana asked.

“We have been fighting Orobas ever since we got in, if I see another of those horse bastards I am going to scream!” Ryuji answered with a groan.

“I believe he is voting for stealth,” Yusuke commented, chuckling.

“Yeah, that.”

“We vote for that too.” the girls of the group confirmed.

“Guys?” Futaba asked with a badly-restrained snort.

“Yes?”

“You did not tell Joker you wanted to play it stealth,” The Hacker said while succumbing to her laughter.

“Wha?!”

“SHOW ME YOUR TRUE SELF!” the Leader was heard yell while pulling away the face of one of the Guards.

“GODDAMNIT, JOKER!” Makoto roared in disbelief.

“Well, they were asking for it, they were standing in our way.” Haru commented.

“Darling, please do not justify him…” Yusuke muttered in disbelief as the two Knights turned into two Eligor Monsters.

“You others say this just because you don’t understand the satisfaction we get after a battle well-fought,” she answered, putting.

“Damn Battle Maniacs,” Ryuji muttered in dismay while they joined Joker in the battle.

“Stop! Passage in this Holy Land is permitted only to the chosen of Queen Rarity!Transgressorswon’t survive my wrath! Double Fangs!” the Shadow roared while thrusting forward with its lance as the horse charged forward.

“Persona: Eligor, Double Fang!” Akira countered, making the two knights cross lances as the rode past each other.

TWANG!

The two lances crossed heavily, repelling the two Monsters that immediately returned to their starting positions, the Persona behind Joker and the Shadow in front of the tall gate.

“So I face a traitor?” the Shadow asked.

“No, Fool! You face a warrior of Justice!” the Persona answered, proud.

“DOUBLE FANG!” both spirits intoned at the same time as they charged each other.

“NOW! Shoot it!” he then ordered while shooting at the unprotected back of the horse’s legs.

“Let’s go, Captain Kidd!” Ryujiin the meantime usedhis Persona to ram the second Eligor as soon as it tried to charge towards Joker toblindside him.

“Graaah!” the Shadows roared in defiance while trying to push back against the pirate ship’s charge, only for Ryuji’s own hammer to strike the side of its head, a distraction that permitted to Captain Kidd to push the shadow on the ground.

“How nice! Now we can see eye-to-eye!” Ryuji said with a sing-song voice while Yusuke next to him unsheathed his sword.

When Goemon and Captain Kidd joined the two teens in facing the downed Eligor, the Shadow swallowed hard in dread.

With Akira -

“Milady! PSYO!” Haru yelled, summoning her own Persona to use its psychic attack.

“ARGH!” the first Eligor screamed in agony while holding its head.

“It’s as if somebody shoved a drill in my left ear, and a drill in my right ear…AND THE TWO ARE MEETING IN THE MIDDLE!” the thing shrieked in agony.

“Yes, Honey, that is what psychic attacks are supposed to feel like!” Haru answered, showing a sweet, merciless smile.

“Seriously, how did YOU not end-up with Joker?” Ann asked in disbelief.

“He is head over heels in love with you. Really, I think 99% of his time when awake is dedicated to thinking about you. He probably DREAMS about you as well! Even if I wanted, I would have stood no chance!” the girl answered, laughing heartily.

“Really?! Aaaw, Joker!” Ann asked, before gushing happily as she looked at her boyfriend’s back with a happy expression.

“A-Arsene!” Akira added, assaulting the Shadow in a flurry of attacks and falling black feathers, his tone only betraying a TINYembarrassed stutter as he called upon his Persona.

“Aww, Joker.” Morgana parodied her while attacking the Eligor with his own sword.

“You jelly, Mona?” Makoto asked, chuckling.

“SHUT-UP!”

“I-I won’t be defeated!” the Eligor answered, both soldier and horse finally returning to their feet to stand tall above the teens.

“Are you sure about that?” Yusuke asked as he and Ryuji joined the fight once forced the first spirit into a retreat.

“A-Ah! A-As if I will get s-scared to fight SIX against ONE…” the Shadow said with a forced tone once seen every Phantom Thieves summon their Persona and surround him.

“We used to fight four at a time, but then we wondered ‘Why Bother’? So now we all attack together.” Akira said.

“That is hardly fair!” the Shadow replied with a shriek.

“There is the fate of the world and two Races at stake, I guess we can be excused in this case.” Yusuke answered.

“All together now!” Futaba ordered in sadistic glee.

“Not the face! Not the face! Not the face!” was all the Eligor could say as the world became a blur of attacks physical and elemental that almost tore it to shreds.

Inside the Castle City -

Once passed the giant gates, and once sure any other guard was far enough to not spot them, the group of teens could see the absolute difference between Outside and Inside,something truly staggering.

Everywhere they looked there were Neon signs, in fact, EVERYTHING was pretty much covered or at least outlined by neon lights; fashion stores were proudly showing in their windows what were obviously Shadow Rarity’s creations since everywhere there were signs detailing those products as ‘Queen Style, from Queen Rarity.’

Hanging above the streets everywhere there were GIANT billboards with the Distorted Mare advertising several Beauty Products she herself created, to the point that wherever the Phantom Thieves looked, a picture of Rarity in that spider-themed dress kept looking down on them with a superior smirk on her face.

“A Prophet of Beauty, she is even described as such,” Yusuke commented with a frown while pointing at a particularly giant Billboard sign with a frowning Rarity looking straight at the camera…

The Prophet of Beauty has spoken: Beauty, Beauty at all costs!

“She is taking this thing seriously,” Haru commented dryly.

“Way too seriously,” Makoto answered.

“Sssh! Stick to the shadows! The place is full of guards!” Futaba hissed, silencing them.

“Sorry!” both girls answered, sheepish.

“Over here,” Akira instructed while diving in an empty hallway between two Beauty Parlors that have been built close to each other.

“SPAs, Fashion Stores, Massage Parlors, Hair-dressers, Nail Salons...I can’t see any other kind of shops here,” Yusuke commented as they crouched low to hide behind a long line of banners talking about Shadow Raritys’ new Hair Products.

“I think even Shido was not THIS Self-Absorbed in his own Hype,” Ann muttered with a crunched nose.

“No shit! And the guy saw himself as a Messiah,” Ryuji confirmed.

“There is something I don’t understand,” Akira muttered.

“Uh? What, Joker?” Morgana asked.

“Why she is both The Pretty and the Ugly?” Akira asked, pointing at a particular sign:

The Rarity of the real world: white fur and purple mane, sat on the floor on the left. Downtrodden.

The Distorted Version: tall, with dark fur and long pinkish fur sat on a throne on the right. A Queen.

On the top there was just a caption:

‘Remember: Never an Ugly Loser, ALWAYS aBeautifulQueen!’

“At first I would have said that it is in line with her Palace since she IS trying to build herself a prettier body, but it is strange to see a Palace Owner insult themselves like this, or at least doing it this openly.” Yusuke answered.

The more they looked, the more they could notice that in a way or other the Real Rarity was always put down as a Failure/Loser/Mistake when compared to the Mare’s Distorted Self in the various signs and billboards or even store windows.

“I guess her Palace was also built on some sort of Self-Esteem Issues.” Makoto commented.

“Shadows are formed by the side of us we don’t want to see and acknowledge, probably Rarity sees in herself something that makes her wrong compared to her own ideals, so her sense of Vanity gave birth to this Distorted Form, but mocking herself in her own Palace is still not normal.” Morgana confirmed.

“Over there, there is a crowd forming,” Haru interrupted them by pointing at an immense crowd of people amassing under a rather giant building with a huge screen on its front dominating the entire plaza.

‘Beloved people of the Land of Beauty! Your Queen is here for an important message!’

The Shadow on the screen declared, making the crowd of shades go wild in adoration, especially when the image shifted to show Distorted Rarity sitting on her throne with around her the cocoons of silk still moving weakly in protest, something that made the Phantom Thieves’ skin crawl in horror.

‘My beloved subjects! My Sons and Daughters that have accepted walking on the one true path that is Beauty, the time of ascension is about to come! The final pieces I needed are finally in my possession and my Rebirth will soon commence! So, in honor of this glorious event, I personally selected only the best ‘Materials’ to create a commemorative line of clothing I expect ALL OF YOU to wear during the Fashion Gala that will be held in front of my castle to celebrate my Ascension!’

The Distorted Mare declared with a crazed look in her eyes, and as expected, the crowd gathering under the giant screen could not scream loud enough in their happiness.

“My God, she is disgusting,” Haru admitted with a shiver.

“This Distortion is truly influencing the real Rarity herself in the Real World: she really believes she can do this and succeed.” Morgana muttered, looking ready to puke.

“Then we better hurry and stop her.” Futaba added.

‘But not everything is good, my Subjects…’

The next words of Shadow Rarity made the teens pause, a shiver of dread ran up their spines.

‘There is a group of Intruders that have come to stop this glorious event from happening, a group of Thieves have come to destroy what yours truly created in order to save we all from the ugliness corrupting this world!’

The Mare declared, and as the booing of the crowd was slowly turning deafening, the screen shifted to show pictures of the Phantom Thieves and their Persona.

“SHIT!” Ryuji shrieked at seeing part of their fights back into the Village being used to recognize them.

‘If you see these ugly brutes, alert the guards and you’ll be awarded with the honor of being part of my Beloved Collection! The Queen has spoken, Beauty at all costs!’

Rarity ordered before the screen went black.

“LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!”

“CATCH THE INTRUDERS!”

“DEATH TO THE INTRUDERS!”

“I don’t understand! The Alert Level of the Palace was down to almost zero until now and now sky-rocketed to 60%!” Futaba yelled in disbelief.

“Who cares about that?! Hide!” Ryuji answered, pulling Akira and Ann further down into a hallway so that several Policemen Shadows could pass-by without seeing them.

“There is an empty store here, the door feels like a Safe Room, get in!” Morgana hissed, opening the door for the others so that Haru and Yusuke could literally dive inside, soon followed by the rest of the group.

Slam!

As soon as the door closed, dozens of Shadows came to patrol the area, missing the Safe Room entirely thanks to their inability to sense its presence.

Inside the Room -

“Okay, we are safe for now.” the cat said with a sigh of relief.

“Quick check-up, how are you?” Akira asked.

“Besides actually afraid they will catch us? I can still go on,” Ann answered, collapsing on one of the dusty seats of the abandoned store.

“Same here, I can continue exploring if you others want,” Makoto answered.

“Me too. How do you think she knows we are here? As Navi said, nothing suggested they knew we are here,” Haru asked.

“I told you, That version of Rarity is fully in control of the real one, I saw her talk with whatever is controlling Celestia. That Thing has eyes in the real world too and knows we were coming.” Ryuji answered.

“That would explain why we could get in here relatively easy, she was actually waiting for us. There is only one gate to pass the walls, if they close that entrance, there won’t be a way for us to leave this city of neon signs until they find us…” Yusuke guessed.

“Fortunately they don’t know about Safe Rooms and their being connected,” Morgana answered, sighing.

“We may not be able to use them to take the Treasure out once stolen it, but at least we’ll be free to prepare properly,” Futaba said.

“You did well in hiding here as well, just in case they could pull down your Persona,” Akira said.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to test my luck.” she answered.

“What’s the next order of business then?” Akira asked.

“As usual, find the Treasure and secure an escape route, even if with this Distortion able to actually see and influence the outside world, I too for once would suggest fighting her directly.” Morgana answered, sighing.

“We are dealing with dark forces outside our, admittedly, wider sense of understanding, they wield Magic on a level we used to see only inside Mementoes and Palaces, we need to use extra caution.” Yusuke added.

“And this mean fighting them instead of sneaking past them,” Ryuji said, groaning in dismay.

“I can’t believe I am saying this...But I miss doing things stealthy and silently, at least we had the illusion of a choice even if we did always end-up fighting our Targets.” he then said.

“Same here,” Akira admitted.

“Cheer-up, guys. We have a Treasure to Locate and Steal, self-commiseration can come later. Let’s go!” Morgana declared while moving towards the door.

“Check if the coast is clear before,” Futaba asked.

“Of course, you stick close to us, Navi. This time we can’t risk you flying around and being our eyes from the sky.”

“Okay.” the girl answered, nodding.

As soon as their Cat companion opened the door of few inches to check nobody was around, the Teens silently poured out and moved through the busy streets, shielding their eyes from the overly-bright neon signs illuminating every corner in a multi-color blinding aura.

“The Intruders must be close, find them!” the Shadows guarding the area, in this case dressed like Police Officers with horse masks, ran by them on the orders of a knight-dressed one acting as their Leader.

“They must follow a hierarchy then,” Morgana whispered.

“I still think the castle is where we have to get in,” Makoto suggested.

“Me too,” Akira confirmed with a nod.

The Castle proper was situated right against the mountain walls, only offering a giant gate of shining black iron as the only entrance to the populace, rigth in front of it was being rapidly built an enormous catwalk adorned by lights and shining crystal decorations, dozen of knights and policemen Shadows could be seen patrolling the area while guarding the shades going thought the building of the catwalk.

“That must be where Rarity will hold her celebrations,” Haru guessed.

“A catwalk. She will hold a Fashion Show with the ‘Commemorative Dresses’ she talked about...Probably the great finale will be her in person going through her Ascension in front of everybody.” Ann answered.

“Of course, start with a sick showing of dresses made with the skin of her own kind before attaching body parts of others to her body to be reborn...I don’t think she can be more disgusting.” Makoto answered.

“Sick it may be, but this show may be what we need to steal the Treasure unopposed, she will be sitting in the first row to bask in the adoration of everybody. We’ll need to time this right: Steal the Treasure during the show but BEFORE she starts her Ascension, just in case both events will happen at the same time inside and outside the Palace,” Morgana instructed with narrowed eyes.

“This is a good plan, but how do we actually get in?” Akira asked.

“The main gate is out of the question, it would be suicide.” Yusuke answered.

“The windows are too high and we can’t climb the wall,” Haru added.

“There must be another entrance, even just for servants so that they won’t get in the way,” Futaba said.

“Uh?”

“You know...She is an Evil Queen, so maybe she has passages for the servants so she doesn’t have to look at them…” the Hacker answered with a shy voice.

“That would be nice,” Akira admitted, cheering her up a little.

Vrrrrrom!

A sudden loud noise surprised them as the rumbling of a big engine echoed out of place in the Palace setting.

“Hey, those are trucks! And they are getting inside the Castle! What do you think they contain?” Ryuji said while pointing at the column of giant black trucks slowly entering from a side entrance of the castle once the shade driving it talked a little with the Knight Guards Shadows guarding that gate as well.

“They come from a secluded street so to not ruin the apparel of the castle, Navi was right, there IS a secondary, hidden entrance!” Morgana said in wonder.

“It may not be for the servants, but it will be useful all the same,” Makoto added, making Futaba grin in pride behind her.

“Let’s go.” Akira said with a nod, and sticking to the very few shadows offered by the overly-illuminated front of the castle, the group of teens slowly made their way towards the well-hidden side entrance, only to see there too a small army of knight Shadows patrolling the area.

“Crap-tastic, it’s full of guards.” Ryuji grunted in annoyance.

“Should we try removing one at a time?” Yusuke suggested.

“Unlikely,” Akira answered, shaking his head slowly.

“The patterns of those guards cross each other, and there is always a duo of guards watching each other’s back, if we assault one, another duo will see us and alert the rest of them, we’ll be swarmed as soon as we start fighting one. And with this level of Danger in the Palace it will mean Rarity herself popping-out soon after.” Futaba explained.

“That is still the only way inside we have, how do we do this then?” Haru asked, worried.

“...Wait here,” in answer Akira watched an incoming truck and darted forward alone.

“Joker!” Morgana hissed with wide eyes.

To the teens’ shock, their Leader approached the incoming truck and threw himself down on a sliding kick, sliding between the front and back wheels of the long vehicle and grabbing onto its underside with his back and head barely an inch from touching the ground.

“Is he fucking insane?!” Ann hissed with a horrified expression.

“Maybe, but it’s working! Look!” Makoto answered while pointing at the column of trucks forming behind the one Joker was under, soon forming an ordinate line in front of the entrance.

“Nothing to say?” the Knight Shadow asked to the Shade acting as driver.

“Just a load of materials for her Majesty to use.” the shadowy silhouette answered.

“Hn! All okay back there?” the Shadow asked to its pall.

“...Everything is in order! Let him in!” the second Knight answered once a throughout check of the truck’s inside.

“Get in, Queen Rarity doesn’t like when her deliveries are late!” the first guard ordered, and watching the truck hurry past the gate that immediately closed once it disappeared beyond the check-point.

“...I am in.” Akira finally said after what felt like an eternity to his friends.

“YOU ARE INSANE!” Ann roared, almost catching the attention of every Shadow present, all for the others’ horror.

“Did not expect a line to form, but it worked.” Akira answered, simply.

“...Thank God I love you so much, otherwise I would strangle you for making me worry like this,” she answered, sighing.

“Love you too.” he answered, chuckling.

“Hahaha! Idiot.”

“Dangerous stunts aside, we got a way in, let’s go, as soon as the next truck gets in and the others stop moving, we will copy Joker,” Morgana instructed.

“I will help Navi doing it, you go ahead.” Yusuke answered.

“You sure?” Ryuji asked.

“I am not that heavy, Skull!” Futaba hissed, furious.

“Geez! Sorry.” he answered.

One after another, each Phantom Thief choose a truck and ran towards it once sure the guards were occupied by checking the one in front of the line, crawling between their wheels and grabbing onto the underside, with Yusuke offering Futaba further anchorage by positioning behind her so that she could be sandwiched between him and the truck’s belly.

Each Teen then felt their own soul try to escape when their truck went checked, fearing that the guards could also check under each vehicle at random intervals for further security; luckily though, all of them managed to pass through, soon finding themselves in a giant room filled in parked trucks assaulted by pony and human Shades rapidly emptying them to make room for more incoming deliveries.

“Over here!” they heard Joker call them from a corner of the room filled in empty crates, a wall of giant wooden boxes almost reaching the very high ceiling of the place.

“Dude, that was crazy! Why you did that?!” Ryuji said once they all rejoined Akira.

“I saw it in a movie, it looked like a good idea.” he answered, shrugging.

“Then warn us before doing something that dangerous next time! I thought you were about to be run over!” Ann answered, punching his shoulder.

“Sorry,” he answered, kissing her cheek.

“Hn! Better,” she answered, smiling satisfied.

“At least we are finally inside. From where should we start exploring?” Haru asked.

“In Kamoshida’s case the Treasure was behind the throne room, I would start from the dungeons in this case instead, it’s unlikely that the structure will be the same.” Morgana answered.

“I have enough of dungeons! AJ’s Palace was bad enough!” Ann answered, whining.

“Be strong, we need to do this, Lady Panther!”

“...Okay.” the girl conceded with slumped shoulders.

“Dungeons it is then, if this place has any, let’s go!” Futaba declared.

A small mercy for the Phantom Thieves was that the absurd amount of crates offered both walls and walkways for them to use to avoid detention, except in a single case where Akira decided to fight a lonely Knight Shadow to see if the monsters were finally different...It was a Kelpie, the seaweed-made half-horse, something that annoyed the teens enough they kind of overdid and almost shredded the monster to pieces before the poor thing could actually manage to run away.

Inside the castle walls – Entrance Hall -

What the Thieves found once exited from the tiny door above a short staircase leading to the delivery room was a long corridor, and after that, another LONG staircase that brought them to a side doorof the Entrance Hall of Rarity’s castle, a very small, well-hidden door under the main staircase connecting the entrance hall to the main hall of the castle, at the opposite side from where they entered the place there was in fact the TALL doors acting as main gate, the front of which shades and Shadows were guarding while building the giant catwalk outside.

“We are past the doors, good.” Morgana muttered in relief.

“I say we look for a Safe Room first, just to not be forced to repeat the truck trick again should we need to leave the Palace in a rush,” Haru suggested.

“Noir is right,” Futaba added.

“Let’s try to see if there is one in the lower levels, we are going there anyway.” Akira answered.

The Entrance Hall was awfully silent, not a sound could be seen, making their steps echo ominously in the empty room as they ascended the short ramp of stairs to look for other doors that may lead downward and in a different area that was not the trucks arriving point.

Everywhere they looked there were empty tables with pure-white tablecloths reaching the floor and tall chairs prepared for guests, with enough room in the middle to host small dancing parties, but everything was also covered by a thin layer of dust, as if nobody had entered in a while, making it hard to make-out the fact that the floor was decorated with black and white tiles forming intricate patterns, the giant chandeliers above both halls lacked candles, all of them having long been used fully until their wax covered the chandeliers’ arms in thick wax stalactites, the lack of lightand thick drapes at the windows easily turned the room into a dark gloomy place with long spiderwebs adorning the corners of the ceiling and waving lazily at the weakest gust of wind.

“Those paintings are creeping the shit outta me,” Ryuji admitted with a low voice.

“Why every time we see paintings in Palaces their eyes move around as if alive?” Ann asked with a shiver.

“It’s a common concept, everybody is certain a painting’s eyes are following them when they see one, especially if the painting itself is antique, it’s one of the few perceptions shared subconsciously by everybody, pony or human.” Morgana answered.

The two side walls were indeed covered in antique, giant paintings of Rarity herself in various Victorian Dresses, although all of them had in common few details connecting to spiders, like a brooch or a decoration of the cloth itself, and as usual Yusuke was ready to give his opinion about it, even if the others were a bit too cheeped-out to actually ask anything about it.

“The spider is the ultimate symbol of creativity, showing its power in the way it spins its web, the spider is also aggressive and you can see its aggression in the way it traps, attacks, and kills its prey.

Since the spider’s spiral net or web converges into a single point in the center, for many the spider sitting in its web then becomes the ultimate symbol of the center of the world or universe.

This is the reason why the spider is also considered as the master of Illusions, its symbolism is very deep and represents constant transmutation and changing.

In Christianity instead the spider can symbolizes various negative things: a miser who bleeds the poor people dry just as a spider itself bleeds its victims; the Devil and his traps, waving them just as the spider prepares its web; and a spider can even represent the malice of evil-doers whose web will perish like those of the spider.

Finally, the cobweb is a symbol of human frailty and-”

“Darling, can you please stop? Now is hardly the moment of an Art lesson!” Haru begged, groaning.

“S-Sorry, I got carried away. I was trying to lighten the mood.” Yusuke answered, embarrassed.

“You failed miserably, buddy,” Ryuji answered.

“At least I tried.”

“Hey…” Akira said, unsure.

“Yes?”

“This painting is different.”

The Painting in question represented the Distorted Version of Rarity, spider dress and all, standing tall and surrounded by a godly aura, she stood on top of a mountain with the sky and the clouds still open from her descending onto the Mortal World.

What grabbed Akira’s attention, as he then helped the others see, was the fact that the defeated evil Distorted Rarity was standing on, was the real Rarity of the real world, lying broken and clearly dead with a hoof of Distorted Rarity mercilessly pushing down the mare’s head.

“A Bastardization of Raphael’s painting ‘St. Michael Vanquishing Satan’. Another image of this Palace’s Ruler defeating and vanquishing the Real Rarity.” Yusuke said with a whisper.

“Rarity must really hate herself for being this harsh with her real self even in her own Palace,” Haru muttered with a sad expression.

“It’s her Vanity, I bet it’s all because she believes nature did not make her as beautiful as she feel she deserves,”

“Strange way to show it,” Ryuji answered, unsure.

“…”

“Mona?” Akira asked, noticing the cat’s thoughtful expression.

“Uh? Nothing, nothing. Let’s move on, we have a dungeon entrance to find.” Morgana answered.

In the Meantime – Top of the Castle - Rarity’s personal Chambers -

The luxurious room was divided in two floors, one to welcome guests and the upper one reserved to the Queen alone, it was also filled to the brim in statues and paintings representing the Distorted Mare while the fireplace was the only source of noise in there with the cracking of the fire.

“Nnngh! Aaah!” although a new sound, pained groans, soon joined the cracking.

“Uff! Uff! N-Ngaaah!” Shadow Rarity groaned again in pain while watching herself in the giant mirror next to her bed.

“Unfh! Uuungh! N-No! You won’t...Deny me!” the Evil Mare hissed through the fog of agony clouding her sight.

For an instant she saw her reflection in the mirror change: her face seemingly tried to tear itself in half while melting like wax, with the left eye losing the golden color and part of her mane trying to return purple and her fur white.

“I...AM...The Queen! I Won’t...Remain UGLY! I MuSt bE BeAutIfUl!” the mare roared between clenched teeth.

“GAAAAAAAH!” finally, with a titanic effort, Shadow Rarity recomposed herself, returning to her normal appearances, albeit drenched in cold sweat.

“Ahh...Ahh...G-Good. Pushed it down it once again.” she said with a deranged chuckle, breath labored and uneven.

“Soon I will fix it for good, as soon as I Ascend, I won’t have to fear being Ugly anymore…” she then muttered with a deranged chuckle, moving to fix herself up from her small down moment.

Back to the Phantom Thieves -

Once passed the Entrance Hall’s left door, the teens found themselves in the giant dining room, a long room occupied by a giant table richly dressed with a white tablecloth and adorned by luxurious silverware and pure-white ceramic plates with gold-made drawings, the chairs where plush and important, sturdy-looking and with blood-red cushions.

And just like everything else, it was covered by a layer of dust.

“For being so fixated on beauty, there is dust everywhere.” Haru commented.

“This is beauty for beauty’s sake. Rarity is not using any of this, she only wants to surround herself in pretty things.” Makoto answered.

“So the entire castle is like one of those rooms in your house you never use but just keep pretty and clean for guests to marvel at?” the other girl asked.

“Never had one of those, but yes, I think the idea is similar.”

“Why you have a room like that? Isn’t it just a pain in the ass to keep one sparkling clean if you don’t use it?” Ryuji asked.

“To keep up appearances, it’s a Guest Room you use only for when you have Guests, so to give the illusion your entire lifestyle is as nice as that single room,” Yusuke answered.

“Kinda stupid,”

“It is a bit foolish, but there was a time it was a very diffused thing.”

“It’s a waste of space.” Akira commented, looking though a small side door.

“Kitchen,” he then said once done giving a look inside.

“Let’s try the other door.” Futaba suggested.

“...A corridor,” Akira answered once took a peek.

“And?”

“Other doors,”

“Probably guests rooms, we can check them if you want.” Yusuke tried saying.

“I say we give a fast check, just in case.” Makoto answered.

As Yusuke suspected, what they found were interconnected guest bedrooms (Each decorated with a painting of Shadow Rarity hanged above the bed) and a couple guests bathrooms and a big private hall in the middle of the maze of corridors for the guests to use, and even a single wide balcony surveying the castle city underneath.

“Nothing here, besides a lot of dust,” Akira said.

“Let’s get back and check the other doors.” Morgana said.

The main hall had three doors, one for each side beside the one with the short ramp of stairs connecting it to the entrance hall; the left one led to the dining hall and then the guests room, now they needed to check the right and front one.

“The front one seems to take to the higher floors, so I say we try the one on the right.” Futaba said.

“Let’s try, but I don’t think…” Ryuji, opening the door, started saying before words failed him.

Hundreds of mannequins, both human and pony shaped, looked straight at him as soon as he fully opened the door, and if he did not scream in fright was because Ann hurried to cover his mouth with a hand.

“Ah-ha! We don’t want everybody to know we are here!” she hissed.

“Sorry, I-I just got surprised.” he admitted with a sheepish expression.

“It seems like this is where Guests are supposed to marvel at Rarity’s creations,” Futaba commented as they all entered the first room.

Dresses of every kind were neatly displayed in rows divided by colors, on the opposite wall an elegant sign in bronze was hanged to the wall for whoever entered to see, it proudly declared the place to be a showroom dedicated to ‘Formal Dresses’.

“Men on the right, Women on the left. This is the first place we meet that has not a speck of dust anywhere,” Makoto said.

“Of course not, these are dresses made by Rarity, of course she doesn’t want dust ruining them!” Ryuji commented, rolling his eyes.

“Guys, many details are made in leather and fur, a kind of fur we already met…Especially when Confetti (Pinkie Pie) felt we needed a comforting hug,” Yusuke said with a small voice.

“...PLEASE tell me that is not THAT kind of fur and leather…” Haru begged with a green face.

“Uh?” Morgana uttered with a confused expression, mirrored by Futaba.

“Pony skin and Pony fur.” Akira whispered, and that sentence caused a shiver to run up the Phantom Thieves’ spines.

“T-There are at least twenty mannequins here…” Ryuji said in disbelief.

“Yes, and all of them have at least part of their design made in leather, that is to say, skin of ponies.” Yusuke said.

“Oh, God…” Makoto muttered in horror.

“Let’s keep looking,” Morgana said once swallowed the bile that for an instant filled his mouth.

The room adjacent to that was labeled ‘Gala Dresses’, filled in dresses themed for nights particularly important, as demonstrated by the excess of decorations and accessories on both male and female models, and there as well, every dress had at least a detail Yusuke recognized as coming from ponies.

“She is looking for Spare Parts to use to create her ideal body...Why doing this as well?” Akira asked once moved forward, past the small showroom for ‘Experimental Dresses of Tomorrow’.

“Maybe she is trying to see how to do it? While creating dresses she experiments on how she will create her body?” Haru answered.

“Or maybe for her others are just walking sources of Materials, nothing more than parts to use for her creations,” Makoto countered.

“Both options are frankly disgusting,” Yusuke admitted.

At the very end of the gallery there was a small door with do not enter written on it, locked.

“Can you open it?” Futaba asked.

“I can try,” Morgana answered, grateful of Akira’s collection of lockpicks the PT Leader was more than ready to share.

“Glad to see you did not forget your lessons, Joker! A Phantom Thief always has lots of instruments to make their job easier!” the cat said in praise while attacking the lock, once held-up to the right height by Futaba of course.

“Be quick though, you are heavier than what you look,” the Hacker begged with a strained voice.

“Almost done…”

“I am pulling a muscle, Mona!”

“A minute…”

“My back is screaming in agony!”

“Juuust a moment...”

“I am a Hacker! My muscle mass is measured in negative numbers!”

“Aaand...” Click! “Open! You can put me down, Navi.” Morgana declared as the door swung open.

“Oh, Thank GOD!” the girl said, elated, and unceremoniously dropping the cat with a loud Thump! and gaining a loud yowling from him in answer.

“Meeew! Once saved the world again, I am dragging you to a gym!” Morgana hissed, once recomposed himself from the fall.

“Huhuhuhu!”

“And you stop snickering, Skull!”

“Sssh! Now is not the moment! Let’s just move on!” Ann chided both harshly.

“Sorry Lady Panther,” Morgana muttered, whipped.

“Yeah, sorry.” Futaba chorused.

“Seems like another corridor,” Akira said with furrowed brows.

“One full of mirrors,” Yusuke added with a scrunched nose.

“She loves looking at herself, that is clear,” Makoto added, traversing the thing first and trying to not feel freaked-out by the dozen copies of herself appearing at both her sides as she walked.

“Another door,” Haru muttered, eyes fixed straight ahead to avoid looking at her many reflections.

“...Stairs,” Morgana answered once picked that door open as well.

“Maybe we are getting somewhere,” Ann answered in relief.

Unfortunately their relief was short-lived as they could only find a small room clattered in half-finished dresses, drawings of future projects scattered on the floor and piles of raw materials Yusuke needed only a horrified glance to inform them of their origins.

“This must be Rarity’s personal Laboratory, where she creates her dresses,” Akira commented, dryly.

“Where she creates mynightmares, you mean, that’s a pile of pony skins freshly picked.” Ann answered, gagging in revulsion.

“The smell is certainly unpleasant, but this small trip was not fully useless,” Yusuke answered while pointing at a door that felt different from the ones they met before.

“A SAFE ROOM!” Morgana said, elated.

“In such a strange place…”

“There is a thin layer of dust in here, Rarity must have not come here in a while.” Akira answered.

“As long as we are inside there, we won’t be in danger of Rarity’s finding us, have no fear,” Morgana answered once opened the door to check that indeed they had finally found a Safe Room inside the Castle.

“Good, this means that we need to go all the way back and check the final door in the main hall,” Makoto declared, sighing.

“You up for it? We can always call it a day and get back to the real world to rest,” Akira said, worried.

“No, Joker...W-We don’t have much time before she starts tearing real ponies apart for her sick dream, we have to push forward,” Ryuji answered, shivering at the thought.

“We’ll rest once stopped Rarity, we have a deadline that is way too close for us to be lazy about it,” Haru added.

“Okay.” their Leader conceded once sure everybody was onboard with pushing forward a bit more.

Main Hall – Once returned from the Showroom in the right Wing -

To the Phantom Thieves shock, once passed the main, overly-decorated door on top of the short and wide staircase at the very end of the main hall, they found only a wide squared room with various seats and a lone piano in the far left side and a giant window on the right corner, and where they expected to find another door at the opposite side from the entrance, there was instead only a gargantuan fireplace burning brightly and filling the room in both light and warmth.

“Looks like we found another guest room, one where Rarity greets her visitors personally,” Morgana said, looking around.

“No doors to be seen anywhere,” Akira added.

“The books all talk about Rarity in a way or another,” Haru commented once checked the two long rows of bookshelves covering both sides of the room.

“Not surprising, check for hidden passages,” Makoto answered as she and Ryuji checked the left row.

“This is stupid, the layout of the room makes no sense! There must be a way for Rarity to navigate the rest of the castle! The outside is too damn big for the inside to just be like this!” Futaba growled in annoyance.

“Teleportation?” Akira tried saying while studying the empty frame hanging above the fireplace.

“I don’t even want to take that as a possible explanation, it would make our moving through the Palace impossible, and I refuse to consider it a possibility!” Morgana countered, frowning.

“Even if you turn into our van and we start smashing walls?” Ryuji asked.

“That would tell everybody where we are, Skull.” Ann answered.

“Same with using Mona’s helicopter form, just like my Persona, it will grab every Shadows’ attention if we start flying around the castle.” Futaba added.

“For Eff Sake! We just want to get inside this stupid Palace! Why everything has to be so effing complicated!?” Ryuji roared in anger, kicking a near armchair making it topple over with a loud Bang!that echoed in the room.

“Skull! Calm down!”

“No! I am done being calm! If there is no door I will make one! Captain Kidd, blast that damn fireplace apart!” the young man answered while summoning his Persona.

“Stop before-”

“ALT!” a booming voice said, Interrupting Makoto’s rant.

“Eh?” the teens uttered as one in surprise.

“Who’s there?!” Morgana demanded with narrowed eyes.

“ME! Who else?!” the same voice answered, and once said that, thefireplace went abruptly turned off by an unseen force and the entire section of the wall it was on filled by the huge projection of a Pony’s shadow, only there was no physical body projecting it.

“An actual shadow, what now?” Makoto hissed.

“I detect no spikes in power, I think that is more likely a security measure instead of an actual enemy.” Futaba answered.

“I am the Guardian of Beauty! I protect the innermost sanctum of Queen Rarity from every impurity brought forth by unworthy trespassers!” the shadow on the wall declared haughtily.

“That thing talks like it had just eaten a dictionary...You go get him, Fox!” Ryuji said while nudging Yusuke forward.

“Just because I do not descend into vulgar colloquialisms, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with me! You can’t put this on me alone just because-” the artist hissed in answer.

“You can do it, Fox!” Ann said.

“I trust you, Darling!” Haru chorused.

“Talk him down,” Makoto ordered with crossed arms.

“Hn!” Akira just gave a thumbs-up.

“It’s decided then, Fox will tackle this obstacle with his superior haughty talk!” Morgana declared.

“...I am seriously hating you all right now.” Yusuke admitted with a low voice, but actually stepping forward once nudged enough by every other Phantom Thief.

“Who are you, unworthy Peasant?” the bi-dimensional black silhouette demanded with a booming voice.

“We are here to challenge the ruler of this outrageous mockery of beauty! We demand audience with Queen Rarity!” Yusuke said.

“Blasphemy! Have you even seen yourself? You all look like some weebs out of a Comic Convention!”

“Tch! First of all: Weebs is used for Fans of Mangas and Animes that act excessively in their love for Japanese animation/Culture, and Comics and Mangas are two different things.

Second, we ARE Japanese, so that insult (other than being awfully misused and annoying) can’t be used with us.

And Third: I saw the décor of this room, so I refuse to be talked down by somebody that doesn’t even know how to match curtains to sofas and armchairs.” Yusuke answered, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.

“Oh-Oh-oh! We believe to be big shots, eh?!” the shadow hissed in anger.

“I don’t need to act like a big shot with a Sub-Par Guardian of Beauty. I know I am your superior,”

“SUB-PAR?!” the projection shrieked with a high-octave voice.

“Challenge us, then. Give us a Test of worth and we’ll demonstrate you that we are more than worthy to pass through.”

“Very well! I would have normally asked you three questions to judge you for passage through my door, but since you had to insult my work here, I’ll take this personally and break you!” the pony on the wall answered in raving rage, and inside the room one of the torches on the other walls shifted by itself so to project the piano’s shadow next to the pony.

“I’ll play a song, surpass my piece in beauty and you will pass though, but fail and you will have every single guard rush here to kick your ass!”

“We accept. But no gentleman will ever say something as rude as ‘Kick your ass’.” Yusuke answered, smirking.

“Shut the Fuck Up!” the shadow roared back in answer, before plopping down on the piano seat and starting to play...with hooves, somehow.

The piece was actually quite good, at times fast, others slow, but otherwise it was a beautiful, warm following of notes holding in the background a feeling of longing and sorrow that could touch deep inside the heart of whoever listened.

“...I must admit that it was indeed beautiful, but I did not catch the title.” Yusuke admitted with a worried tone.

“Ah! I wrote this myself! Its title is ‘Ode to the Queen!’ a piece where I lament the fact that nothing in this world can match the untouchable, royal beauty of Queen Rarity! A Fine mare that’s like the Moon: delicate, gentle and yet so far away!”

“...And with that you lost my respect. For an instant I forgot I was dealing with the Delusions of Grandeur of a Palace Owner,” the artist muttered with a sigh.

“How dare you!?” the shadow yelled, aghast.

“I dare because you produced a ‘mockery’ of Art, something dedicated to Beauty itself, just to appease the frail Ego of a deranged monster.”

“Fox! Calm down!” Makoto hissed with narrowed eyes.

“Big words for somebody with clearly no taste in anything artistic! Play your piece if you are so sure about your superiority!” the black silhouette answered with a barking scream.

“…” At that Yusuke’s eyes widened slightly as he realized a glaring problem…

HE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO PLAY A PIANO!

“Noir, my dear, please teach this simpleton what real beauty is,” recovering rapidly, Yusuke gave a charming smile while kissing Haru’s hand.

“Ehm...Eeehm...T-T-There is something I must tell you, Fox…”

“Uhu?”

“I-I-I lied, I don’t know how to play piano...I-I took Violin lessons when I was younger. I-I said it was piano because I know you loved it and-and-and-” the girl stammered with watering eyes.

“My Darling, there was no need to lie! My Love for you needs not such inconsequential things to flourish!” the Artist said immediately while grabbing both her hands in his.

“Oh, Fox!”

“This is nice and all, but I am still waiting.” The shadow on the wall said, uncaring of the rather touching moment.

“Aha! Yes!...Any of you?”

“I can’t play a thing.” Ann admitted, bitterly.

“I am more of a karaoke girl,” Makoto answered.

“Bass.” Akira said with a shrug.

“...What? It’s relaxing,” he then said once noticed the surprised looks of the others.

“You will play for me whenever I am depressed,” Ann ordered.

“Ok.”

“Navi?”

“Synthesizers?” she asked.

“Nope! Real piano, no digital crap,” The shadow on the wall answered with crossed hooves.

“Then no.” Futaba muttered, dejected.

“Mona?” Yusuke asked, now sounding desperate.

“...I...at…” the small guy muttered super low.

“What was that?”

“I SAID I AM A CAT! I CAN’T PLAY INSTRUMENTS!” Morgana yelled while blushing in shame.

“What now?” Haru said, horrified.

“Well, at least you tried! Now let me just call some guards so they can skin you alive,” the shadow said with a pleased tone reeking of smugness.

“Fuck.” it was then that the Phantom Thieves heard the low curse flying out of the mouth of their blond friend, uttered with absolute vitriol.

“Okay, Okay...Goddamnit…” Ryuji muttered with a sigh.

“Uhu?”

“Not a word about what I am about to do, I have an image to defend.” the blond hissed while sitting at the Piano.

“Skull, we are trying to enter! Don’t be the usual Mor-”

(This guy is a genius, if you happen to see his channel on Youtube, leave a like, he deserves is.)

Morgana’s insult died a messy death as soon as Ryuji started playing, immediately filling the room in an angelic melody of ultimate beauty and perfection.

“Isn’t this from Tower of Gods?” Akira muttered.

“I don’t know, I know though that it is being played with amazing talent.” Yusuke answered.

“Since when Skull can play the piano?” Makoto asked.

“I don’t know!” Ann answered, utterly amazed just like everybody else.

“I am so gonna buy one all the same for our apartment!”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” in the meantime Morgana kept shrieking at random, apparently still unable to accept the notion that Ryuji could be not only good, but ‘Amazing’, at something even after saving the world with him as a Phantom Thief more than once already.

“Mom wanted me to learn piano to become a ‘Proper Gentleman’, luckily our neighbor had a daughter that sucked at math, in exchange of Math Lessons from mine I got Piano lessons from her mother. But tell this to somebody and they won’t find your corpses.” Ryuji hissed while his fingers kept flying over the piano like a goddamn virtuoso.

“Only if you play at least once a week for me.” Makoto said.

“FINE!” the punk conceded with a grunt and closing the piece with a last long string of notes.

“So? Did we pass your test?” Akira asked as the Phantom Thieves turned towards the wall with the pony shadow on…

“…” To see that the bi-dimensional black silhouette had in the meantime hanged itself in shame at the total defeat it was served with, not before leaving the section of the wall with the fireplace slightly open to show the hidden passage behind it.

“I...I think you overdid, Skull,” Haru muttered, uncertain.

“So this happens when you win too hard,” Akira muttered, impressed.

“I-I didn’t mean to!” Ryuji admitted, watching morbidly as the shadow projected on the wall kept waving back and forth from the shadow rope around its neck.

“Let’s just go…” Yusuke offered as another projection joined the ‘dead one’.

“Nooooo! My husband!” the female shadow cried while watching the shadow corpse.

“We...We’ll pass though...Our condolences.” Ann said as she forced the wall open just a bit more to pass though.

“What will I do now?! We have seven kids!”

“Ju-Just ignore her…” Morgana muttered, and as one the Phantom Thieves passed through the hidden entrance to heart of Rarity’s castle, all the while holding their heads low and avoiding looking at the wall and the grieving widow with all their might.

Inner Garden -

Passed the secret door, and traversed the second VIP Guest room, the Phantom Thieves found themselves in a wide patio acting as the entrance of a giant garden filled in purple flowers, statues of Distorted Rarity and with pathways of white marbles on the ground leading to an enormous wooden gazebo big enough to contain a dozen people easily right in the middle of the garden, the thing was furnished with white metal tables and seats and a big fountain with ponies with fish tails in place of the back hooves holding-up urns from where water continuously poured out.

“Okay...This is nice,” Ann admitted begrudgingly.

“Fruits trees with strange purple fruits, statues, purple flowers, lanterns with delicate purple light and fountains, this does prove there is SOME good taste under her degeneracy, the Feng Shui of this garden is after all exemplary.” Yusuke added.

“Gaping later, Treasure now.” Akira answered while hurrying forward.

“Ah! Y-Yes!”

The garden was unfortunately equipped by guards as well, forcing the Phantom Thieves to battle their way through several groups of Pixie and High Pixie Monsters.

High Pixie

“At least Rarity is keeping them Themed to the place.” Haru said with a sigh while watching the last High Pixie turn into a mask and enter Akira’s Phantom Thief mask.

“Some healing never hurts,” Akira answered, pleased.

“Yep!...So...This must be Rarity’s personal tower.” Morgana answered, eyeing the absurdly-tall Tower at the opposite end of the garden rising high in the sky in all its suffocating glory.

The castle itself was surrounded by five giant towers positioned to form a pentagon, with the biggest tower standing alone in the back, and by its positioning in the garden, it was easy to assume it belonged to Rarity exclusively, compared to the others that were, by Futaba’s estimate, used by the guards.

“We are getting awfully close to Rarity’s personal area, we must be cautious.” Morgana said with a tense voice.

“We’ll bolt at the first sign of trouble,” Makoto answered as she slowly pushed the wide double doors open helped by Akira.

Kreeeeeeeek!

The loud sound of non-oiled hinges screeching made the teens skin crawl, especially since it was loud enough to make them fear any near guard, or even Rarity herself, would hear them.

Rarity’s Tower – Entrance -

The Entrance was just a wide space with armors both Pony and Human decorating the perimeter, two doors could be seen at the opposite side with only a two-persons couch occupying the space between the doors.

“I guess this is where technically on would be waiting to get audience with the Queen.” Haru said.

“Let’s check the doors,” Morgana said.

“...This one leads down,” Akira said, opening the door to the left.

“...This one goes up.” Yusuke added once checked the one on the right.

“Hopefully the Throne Room is in the higher floors, let’s first check the lower ones.” Ann suggested.

“Okay.”

The path downward was a narrow, barely-lit spiral staircase going down steeply with crude steps that made it easy for one to slip if they were not cautious.

“How deep are we going?! I am getting dizzy!” Ryuji asked.

“I guess it’s just an effect of the lack of details here, it makes it seems like we have been walking for a long time,” Yusuke answered.

Finally they reached a sturdy-looking metal door decorated by a horse head holding in its mouth a thick ring acting as handle.

“No lock in sight...How do we enter?” Makoto asked, frowning.

“Password.” the door asked with a monotone voice as the horse’s eyes lighted-up in an eerie red light.

“Password?...Ehm...Beautiful?” Ryuji said.

“Wrong.” the door answered.

“Queen Rarity.” Ann tried saying.

“Wrong.”

“Beauty.” Haru said.

“Wrong.”

“...Beauty Beyond Measure, it’s Life’s greatest Treasure.” a female voice said from behind the Phantom Thieves, making them jump in fright.

“Correct! Welcome, your Majesty!” the door answered, swinging open by itself to show a truly enormous room filled in gold and other jewels, piles upon piles of gold coins as tall as mountains, gems the size of adult men, walls completely made of ordinate piles of gold barsand hundreds of treasure chests left open and overflowing in gold.

But they saw nothing of that as they were more occupied to look at Rarity looking straight at them from a higher point in the staircase.

“SHIT! She found us!” Ryuji yelled while immediately taking a fighting stance of sort.

“Wait! She is different!” Haru yelled before any of the others could attack her.

“W-Who are you? W-Where am I? What is this place?” the white-furred mare asked with a scared voice as she looked around herself wildly.

“She looks ‘Normal’?” Ann asked, unsure.

“I don’t look normal! I AM Normal! Who are you people?! You may be wearing some honestly amazing outfits, but I still want to know what is happening here!” Rarity said, scandalized.

“Rarity? Rarity Belle?” Akira asked.

“Yes? Do I know you?” she asked back.

“We are technically here to save you, do you remember anything?” Futaba asked.

“R-Remember? I...I don’t know? We...I remember we just appeared in another world...A-And Humans...L-Like you? It’s all confused! I-I remember Princess Celestia calling us about the Barrier having some kind of problem...T-Then nothing else!” the mare answered with a scrunched nose and a confused voice.

“So basically Celestia started effing-up everything as soon as she got here,” Ryuji said with crossed arms.

“Or she was already under the control of whatever is behind all this ever since they appeared in our world,” Makoto countered.

“What are you talking about?” Rarity asked, confused.

“We are trying to help both our World and Equestria, something is planning behind the scene to cause the destruction of both.” Yusuk answered.

“And you need to enter that room for that?”

“In a sense.”

“Then why I knew the password? I never saw this place before!”

“We are inside your Heart, Rarity. You know all there is to know subconsciously,” Morgana answered.

“M-My Heart? T-Then why I feel like a stranger in here?” Rarity asked.

“Oh! Believe me, I know how that feels!” Futaba answered.

“R-Really?”

“Really. And I am starting to understand what is happening here,” the Hacker answered.

“I was having the same thoughts, my theory is gaining shape the stranger things become.” Morgana added.

“You are not scared?” Rarity asked.

“We have been doing this for a long time,” Makoto answered.

“This?”

“Exorcising Corruption,” Haru explained.

“C-C-Corruption?! S-She is back?” Rarity asked with a horrified expression.

“She?”

“T-There has been an Incident some time ago...I-I got Corrupted by something. Something that twisted me into s-s-such a brutish mare! A-A monster of Vanity and Madness! But the Elements were supposed to destroy her to erase her completely...B-But I still felt her deep inside, wriggling under my skin like a parasite. And ever since we came here I felt her whisper in my ears or-or-or-or taking my place in mirrors reflection…” the mare told them with haunted eyes.

“Who are you talking about?” Akira asked.

“N-N-Nightmare Rarity.” she answered, flinching heavily at mentioning the name alone.

“Nightmare Rarity? Is it a different form of Shadow Self?” Ryuji asked.

“Maybe it’s the same thing, only stronger and able to take over the real self of the person,” Morgana answered.

“Shit, that stuff now Evolved?” he said, groaning.

“It may be the Equestrian Version of what we see here in the Human world.” the cat replied.

“We are here to help, we want to destroy her.” Ann said with a kind smile.

“D-D-Destroy her? B-But the Elements…”

“The Elements acted from outside, we are about to destroy her from inside.” Makoto answered.

“O-Oh!”

“We are here to help, promise.” Akira said, presenting his hand.

“P-P-Promise?” she said with a small, scared voice.

“Promise. Come with us, we’ll keep you safe,” he answered, happily grasping her hoof as soon as she lied one on his hand.

“M-M-My Magic doesn’t work for some reason, I-I can’t feel it anymore.” she admitted, ashamed.

“It’s okay, we’ll do all the fighting,” Futaba answered.

“I-I can feel her, she is looking for me and she is Angry.”

“We are not afraid of her,” Morgana reassured her, smirking.

“I-I envy you.” the mare admitted.

“We just need to check something in this room, then we’ll take you somewhere safe.” Ryuji explained while jabbing a thumb towards the open door.

“Safe?” she asked, clearly grasping that tiny sliver of hope with all her power.

“Nightmare Rarity won’t find you there.” the punk boy promised.

“You sure she can actually enter a Safe Room?” Akira asked.

“It’s worth a try, if she really is a separate entity from whoever is in control of the Palace, like it was with Navi, then maybe keeping those two separate will be in our best interest.” Morgana answered.

“O-O-Okay, I will trust you...It’s not like I have any other choice.” Rarity answered with a long sigh.

“We’ll keep you safe.” Yusuke answered.

Once sure the powerless Unicorn was following them close enough, the Phantom Thieves entered the treasure room of the tower, marveling at the insane amount of gold and other treasures contained in it.

“T-T-This is my Heart?” Rarity asked, amazed.

“This is were the Treasure of this Palace resides, the Core holding-up this place and probably powering Nightmare Rarity enough to take over your body,” Morgana answered.

“T-Take over? S-She is controlling my body?!” the mare shrieked in horror.

“Yes. I am sorry, but as we speak, Nightmare Rarity is about to use your body to commit a great atrocity…” Yusuke answered with a saddened tone.

“A-Atrocity?”

“...S-She is about to tear other ponies apart to create herself a Better Body using the skin, legs and who knows what other body part of several ponies she kidnapped...I am sorry.” Ann answered.

To their shock Rarity looked ready to faint as she became unhealthily pale and shaky, along falling on her haunches and hyperventilating.

“I-I-I-I-I WOULD NEVER DO THAT! I SWEAR! I AM NOT A MONSTER!” she yelled, shook by heavy shivers of horror.

“We know, but Nightmare Rarity is feeding on your darkest desires, she wants to be the most beautiful Mare, no matter what she has to do to achieve that.” Makoto answered, gently caressing her back.

“I...I used to envy few mares, yes. T-The ones I felt had a prettier skin, or-or-or prettier eyes...B-But I never even just considered gouging them out!” Rarity yelled in horror.

“It’s okay, we believe you,”

“R-Really?”

“Yes,”

“We just need to find the Treasure, send the Calling Card, and once stolen it, everything will get better,” Haru explained.

“T-Then please hurry-up and find it!” the mare asked.

“We are working on it, Miss. It will take a minute,” Yusuke answered with a small smile.

“I never thought I would say that, but there is way too much money in here,” Ryuji admitted.

“I am living my dream of swimming in gold, and yet I am already getting tired of seeing this much.” Ann confirmed.

“It’s because this opulence is presented in a way that is completely tasteless,” Yusuke answered.

“Very, it’s all so...Shabbily presented. Too ostentatious,” Rarity said.

“It has been done by your Evil side,” Akira commented with a tiny smile.

“Umph! The Evil and Tasteless side,” she replied, huffing.

“That she is,” he answered, making her giggle a little.

When they finally reached the end of the treasure chamber, they found the absolute biggest piles of gold coins and gold cups surrounding a wide and stout pedestal made in white stone sitting there in a clear position of honor, but the strange things was that there was nothing on top of it.

“G-G-G-Guys...T-The Treasure is not here!” Morgana shrieked with wide eyes.

“So? We’ll look elsewhere,” Ryuji answered, unconcerned.

“NO! It should be here! I feel its presence here but there isn’t!” the cat answered, utterly confused.

“You feel it’s here, but we can’t see it?” Akira asked.

“Y-Yeah! It’s like it’s here, but then it isn’t!” Morgana answered-

“This never happened before, can the Palace Owner move the Treasure?” Yusuke asked.

“Not unless it has took physical form,”

“Maybe since Nightmare Moon knew we were coming, the Treasure still took shape?” Haru asked.

“It should not work like that, the Treasure should become physical only AFTER we issued the Challenge of our stealing...T-This doesn’t make any sense.” Morgana answered, confused beyond reason.

“We’ll ask Igor then, he must know something more about this,” Akira suggested.

“Y-Yes! Let’s ask him!”

“Who’s Igor?” Rarity asked, curious.

“A Friend of our Leader, he is very knowledgeable in this matters.” Yusuke answered.

“We will now take you to a safe location then leave this place and ask him for help,” Futaba added.

“B-But you will get back, yes?” Rarity asked.

“We’ll get back immediately.” Ann answered.

“O-Okay.”

“Very well, for now we’ll take you to a room where Nightmare Rarity will not find you and-”

Ting!

“What was that?” Akira hissed as a loud winging sound interrupted Ryuji’s answer.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

One after another, big diamonds rolled out of a near pile of money, soon followed by a big crown, a necklace and various other jewels that then rolled by themselves until they surrounded the Phantom Thieves and Rarity.

“What is happening?” the mare asked, afraid.

“Bad news,” Makoto muttered, and as she predicted, translucent spirits surfaced from the jewels to glare at the group with their giant golden eyes, the only feature on their very simplistic bodies.

“I thought we saw the last of these guys,” Ryuji muttered.

“W-What are those?” Rarity asked.

“A Persona, in this case corrupted by this place to become a Shadow, in this case they embody the ‘Curses’ many people believe reside in various legendary Jewels of the human world.” Morgana answered.

Koh-I-Noor

“Are they dangerous?” Rarity asked.

“Not really, just an annoyance.” Haru answered.

“And they make for a good distraction,” A mellifluous voice added in cruel amusement.

“N-NO!” Rarity yelled in fear.

“Damnit!” Ann cursed.

“Get back here, Rarity! YOU BELONG TO ME!” the dark voice roared as a cloud of living shadows similar to smoke blew into the room to circle Rarity and dragging her away screaming and kicking in abject horror.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” they heard the mare’s broken scream echo from the staircase and all the way down to them.

“She got them!” Haru yelled.

“Chase that Monster!” Makoto ordered.

“Ghghghghghgh!” the cursed Jewels once again rolled by themselves to block their path.

“Out or my way! CAPTAIN KIDD! Mazio! Mazio! Mazio!” Ryuji yelled, summoning his Persona to assault all of them in lightning attacks.

“Persona: Alice! Megidolaon!” Akira chorused, and with a crazed laugh the tiny girl Persona unleashed all its Magical power in a deafening explosion.

“Johanna!” Makoto too joined the massacre, using her own Persona Nuke-Element attacks to open a path for the others.

And ignoring the other cursed Jewels, even if a couple did fuse with Joker’s mask, the teens rushed up the staircase, dodging the two guards Nightmare Rarity left behind to try and stop them, the Thieves simply knocked the Shadows aside without even fighting them and broke down the door to the giant staircase or marble and gold-made handrails leading upwards.

“So we have a perception taking over a Palace, like it happened with Navi,” Makoto said.

“Even worse, even that mockery of my mother was not that antagonistic!” Futaba answered.

“No,” Morgana answered.

“Uhu?”

“Things are even worse than that, I had a hunch when I saw the Village glitch and change constantly, with the glitches lessening the closer we got to this Castle. Then I saw the Billboards, the paintings and this place as well! And even the strange behavior of the Treasure! I have a theory, and I believe we will soon discover if I am right or wrong!” the cat explained.

“Bad news?” Ann asked.

“I fear they will be terrible news, Lady Panther!” Morgana answered just as they reached the giant gold-made double doors covered entirely in images themed after Rarity.

“Let’s blast this down, it’s unsightly.” Haru said with a frown.

“One three we’ll summon our Persona and attack all at once.” Akira said.

“Yes!” the others answered.

“One...Two...THREE! PERSONA!” Makoto counted.

“PERSONA!” the other chorused with her.

BOOOOOM!

Rarity Tower – Throne Room -

The combined attack of the six battle-oriented Personas of the Phantom Thieves completely obliterated the doors, letting them inside the enormous Throne Room of Queen Rarity.

As they saw in the video she transmitted on the giant screen, the room was completely covered by dark drapes of silk, with the cocoons still hanging from the ceiling and slowly waving back and forth; the throne was a giant slab of black metal crudely constructed and overcome by rust.

“HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME?!” the saw Nightmare Rarity blast the real mare away with an acid-green blast of energy from her horn to then forcefully drag the wounded mare towards her.

“You are nothing without me! NOTHING!” she spat in pure hatred, mercilessly slamming Rarity head-first on the ground.

“Stop!” Ann ordered.

“Do not interfere! I am teaching to an ungrateful filly her place, in the garbage!” Nightmare Rarity answered with a roar, blasting Rarity against the wall.

“If there is somebody here that belongs in the trash, that’s you, scumbag!” Ryuji answered.

“Don’t talk of things you know nothing about! Without me this miserable mare would be nothing!” Nightmare Rarity answered, painfully dragging Rarity on the floor and then lifting her until they were face-to-face.

“He...He is right...Y-You are just a bad copy of me...T-The sum of everything wrong with me…” the mare said with a weak voice.

“SILENCE! I AM THE BETTER YOU! THE BEAUTIFUL YOU! The Queen you never could become!” the Evil Mare said with a mad roar.

“Maybe because I don’t want to be a Queen...I...I long since learned that things like Charming Princes and Queens are not about gold and pretty dresses...It’s...It’s about attitude…” Rarity countered with a challenging, if weak, smile.

“LIAR! A Queen is the one that everybody envies! The Mare everybody wishes to be! And the one standing above everypony else!” Nightmare Rarity yelled in answer, throwing her away and letting her roll painfully on the floor.

“G-Goodness...I-I-I used to say THAT when I was a filly...D-Did you ever grow-up?” she asked with weak chuckle while still laying on the floor.

“Where do you take this courage, eh?!”

“I...I take it from these guys...T-They say they are here to save me. A-A-And I believe in them, because they never backed down, b-but came all the way here to save me from you.” Rarity answered, just as the Phantom Thieves moved to shield her from the monster mare.

“ALWAYS WAITING FOR OTHERS TO SAVE YOU! You are weak! Pathetic! That is why Canterlot Elite never wanted us! Why we never could become part of the High Echelons of the Nobles!”

“Oh! The horror...I never could mingle with simple-minded, stuck-up foals that think the worth of a pony i-is measured in gold…What a shame!”

“BECAUSE THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT! ONLY THE MOST POWERFUL, RICH AND BEAUTIFUL MARE CAN RULE THIS WORLD!”

“M-My goodness...Y-You are pathetic…” Rarity said with a weak chuckle.

“We’ll take you to safety, hang on.” Ryuji said while lifting the mare in his arms.

“Y-Yes please. Take...Take this monster out of my mind..or Heart...Or whatever...She’s hideous.” she answered.

“Hideous? Me? No, Darling. If somepony is going to disappear, THAT’S YOU!” Nightmare Rarity bellowed in fury as her body exploded into a think cloud of darkness that blew the Phantom Thieves back and surrounded Rarity like mist.

“No!” Haru yelled in fright.

“You are mine, you foal! YOU BELONG TO ME!” the Mad Mare yelled as her smoke form grew to envelop the entire room in complete darkness.

“AAAAAAH!” and Rarity yelled in agony as the Dark Copy of herself started spinning around her like a tornado of dark miasma.

“You are mine! You are nothing without me! Just an ugly, useless thing! Yahahahaha!” Nightmare Rarity declared with a cruel laugh.

“What now?!” Ann said between clenched teeth.

“You need to help her!” Futaba answered.

“Yeah? How?” Ryuji shoot back angrily.

“No need,” Akira answered with a knowing smirk.

“Uh? What?” Makoto asked, dumbfounded.

“She’s going to help herself, in more ways than one,” their Leader answered, looking through the cloud of living darkness with a proud expression.

“Wha?”

Inside storm of darkness around Rarity -

“I am not useless! And I don’t need you! I am my own mare, I can stand on my own hooves and fight alongside my friends!” Rarity tried answering.

“Foolish filly! I am what you wish to be! I am the embodiment of the Ultimate Beauty you aim at! I am your better version, and will always be!” Nightmare Rarity replied with a mocking laugh.

“NO! You are the embodiment of everything Wrong with me! Everything I always avoided to be! Beauty for Beauty’s sake, uncaring of anypony’s feeling! I create Beauty so that EVERYPONY can enjoy it! Not just for my own satisfaction! I want to make the world prettier! Not myself only!”

“Quit your yapping! I see into your Heart, your only goal is YOUR OWN betterment, be honest with yourself for once, I AM YOU! I AM THE REAL RARITY!”

“If you really see my Heart then get some glasses, because you clearly are so blind you cannot see the truth!” Rarity barked back.

“SILENCE! I am the real Queen of Beauty and I shall not let such an ugly wrinkle ruin my perfect bearing!”

“I will always deny you! YOU HEAR ME?! ALWAYS! I am tired of having others dictate what I am supposed to act and look like! Rich or poor, Pretty or ugly! I want to be Rarity! And I want to be Free!” the mare answered just as the darkness closed on her to suffocate her entire being.

“Then you should have tried sooner, little filly.” the Darkness answered, mockingly, as the first tendrils started to wrap tightly around the mare’s body making her eyelids grow heavy.

“N-No...N-Never…” Rarity whispered weakly while still fighting-off the influence of that Monster.

"Such Tenacity…” It was then thata female voice echoed inside her head, making Rarity’s eyes shot wide open, soon followed by her body giving-in making her collapse on the ground shrieking in absolute agony.

“Uhu?” both Nightmare Rarity and the other Phantom Thieves uttered in surprise.

“Just in time.” Akira commented, chuckling.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rarity in the meantime kept thrashing violently on the floor under the most intense pain she had ever felt, as if both her body and soul were being shredded to pieces.

“Rather than accept a life in cinders, you'd strive towards splendor! This desire of Beauty and longing for Freedom seem to fit you better than ever before, if that’s so,then we'll dance to the very end!” the voice kept saying with a victorious tone, as if the owner was overcome in joy at a grand revelation.

It wasat that point that the mare felt an unbearable weight settle on her face, and upon touch she felt the cold presence of a mask covering her eyes, and with that, the only thought in her mind was one:

TEAR IT OFF! NOW! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE! FREE!

“The glass slippers are the icon of glory. If those really are the shoes you've chosen then are you prepared for your debut? I am Thou thou art I! Come!The ball awaits!"the voice declared just as Rarity finally grasped the mask with her hooves and tore it way from her face, even welcoming the mind-numbing pain of her own skin breaking open and her blood flowing like the ultimate form of liberation!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the resulting blinding light washed over the entire throne room and violently threw back Nightmare Rarity that painfully crashed against her throne at the opposite side of the room, demolishing it in a shower of splinters.

“Please say hello to our new member,” Akira commented, smiling cheeky.

“Dude! How did you know?!” Ryuji asked.

“I saw it happen with each one of you, I learned to read the atmosphere.” Joker answered, just a tiny bit smug.

“Ah-ha!...Smart-ass.” Ryuji answered with a mocking laugh.

“You know? I think her costume matches yours, in a sense,” Ann commented, snorting.

“You sure?” Akira asked.

“I...Oh, Gosh! It comes with a Costume?! I need a Mirror! NOW!” Rarity said with an amazed tone once seen what she was wearing.

A black mask with silver highlights and a black ribbon that tied her mane in ponytail in the back while leaving the coif swirl on the front;her main outfit consisted of a strapless black leotard, a chain belt with two silver roses motifs framing her Cutie Markand a scabbard for a rapier attached to her back, a black choker completed the outfit along a black bolero jacket with gold buttons, ruffled sleeves on her front hooves decorated with a red band near the end of the hooves and three floor-length coattails on her back. She wore thigh-length hoseon her back legs as well.

“You look nice,” Haru commented, chuckling.

“I feel...I Fell FREE!” the mare admitted, almost ready to cry.

“No! No! You are mine! YOU NEED ME! YOU BELONG TO ME!” the Nightmare monstrosity bellowed in rage as her smoke form rushed forward again.

Boom!

To Nightmare Rarity’s shock Something blocked her attack with a barrier of light, signaling that Rarity’s heart was finally no longer accessible to the Monster.

A short rain of pure-white feathers welcomed the arrival of Rarity’s Guardian angel: a female-looking being with jet-black skin, cerulean markings on its arms and a leotard seemingly made of blue crystal covering its chest and legs (with an extra “skirt” made of gold threads) while a coat of feathers white as snow hanged from its back, the hair were a highly-detailed reproduction of a stern hairstyle carved out of solid gold and adorned by a long blue ribbon.

“Begone!” the Persona declared with an angelic voice full of righteous anger.

“No! No! NO!” the living smoke roared in rage as it was repelled again.

“There it is,” Akira commented, pleased.

“C...Cendrillon?” Rarity muttered in absolute awe as she watched the tall Persona standing in front of her in a protective manner, its name blooming inside her mind like a beautiful flower.

“It’s your Persona, the manifestation of your rebellious Heart, of your wish for Freedom.” Morgana explained with a proud voice.

“Beautiful…” Rarity whispered in wonder.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” the realizationthat Rarity was no longer being hers to control and use sent the Nightmare parasite spiraling over the edge, and with a roar devoid of reason and sanity the entire Palace shook.

“GET OUT OF THERE! THE ENTIRE PALACE IS SHIFTING!” Futaba yelled in fear, and they could see the Hacker too was already running towards the exit FAST.

“RUUUUN!” Without stopping to wonder what Futaba meant with ‘Shifting’, Ryuji grabbed Rarity under his arm and started running away, worried enough for the Castle crumbling around them to ignore the faint pangs of pain from his ruined leg.

“KYAAAAAH!” not to be undone, the other Phantom Thieves too started chasing their friend through the collapsing corridors of the Palace to escape, especially since Nightmare Rarity was also chasing them at high speed in the form of a thick cloud of smoke with her faintly-discernible giant face in front of it that was devouring everything in her path.

“Why everything is crumbling?!” Ann demanded.

“Nothing is crumbling! The Palace is transforming into its true form!” Morgana answered, and as soon as they were back into the main hall, the cat turned into his Van Form to let everybody in with Makoto scrambling to get to the driving seat and floor Morgana’s accelerator as hard as she could.

“True Form?” Haru asked.

“I had a suspect when we failed to find the Treasure no matter how hard we searched, and now I got my confirmation: this never was Rarity’s Palace!” Morgana answered, mewing in agony as Makoto decided they had no time for turning and just started running through walls to get out faster from the crumbling building.

“T-T-This is not my Palace?” Rarity, held tightly in Yusuke’s arms so to not be slammed everywhere in the Van’s back, asked confused.

“Nightmare Rarity is a separate Entity something awoke inside you once again, correct?”

“Y-Yes,”

“Whatever resurrected her, or gave her powers back to her if we can believe her words, forcefully put her in command of your body! She IS the embodiment of your Corruption, and she was also feeding on your Distortion to grow stronger, meaning that she was pulling on it for sustenance and further power, that’s why until now we have seen two Palaces co-exist and try to one-up each other: she was literally forcing you to develop a Palace so to feed on it! But since you could awake a Persona, it means that you had not in you enough Distorted Desires to form a Treasure, that’s why we could not find one, the real one was being ‘hidden’ behind your lack of Treasure!” Morgana said, now finally having all the pieces to formulate his theory.

“And now?” Akira asked, just as the van broke thought the entrance gate of the castle so that they could run wildly through the streets and skyscrapers around it, but still tirelessly chased by the advancing cloud of smoke-like darkness.

“Now that Rarity accepted her rebellious Heart and awoke her Persona, Nightmare Rarity no longer has access to her heart and Desires, meaning that now this will become her Palace only, its true form,” Morgana answered.

“And that means there will be a Treasure for us to steal now,” Yusuke added.

“Precisely! Now there is no longer the instability of Rarity’s Palace clashing with Nightmare’s own to hide it, that strange empty pedestal we found surrounded in gold in the treasury is probably where the Treasure is located, we only need to send the Calling Card and take it!”

“If we survive this! THERE’S THE GATE TO THE FOREST!” Ryuji yelled with wide eyes as the sturdy gate was slowly being pushed closed by several Shadows puffing heavily on both halves of the gate.

“Stop them!” Ann shrieked.

“Alice: Megidolaon!” Akira, just as worried, ordered.

“Oh my gosh! She is adorable!” Rarity gushed as soon as the tiny Persona appeared.

“No doors shall hinder my Onii-sama! DIE!” the tiny girl yelled with a Diabolical roar as she obliterated those Shadows (and part of the gate) in a mushroom cloud of Almighty power.

“SHE IS NOT ADORABLE!” Rarity commented with horrified eyes.

“That’s why he hardly uses her, that Persona freaks the shit outta us! Go, Captain Kidd!” Ryuji commented as his own Persona took care of the other Shadows remaining with a shower of lightning bolts.

“WE ARE OUT!” Haru yelled in relief as soon as Makoto drove them out of the gate, and they could see the cloud stop chasing them before fully coming out, so that now the only sound they heard was of the van’s engine going full throttle.

“Guys, Look. The Palace is finally only hers indeed,” Makoto muttered with a saddened voice.

“Yes, she really sucked away whatever small traces of beauty still in there,” Yusuke admitted.

The sky was now entirely blood-red with black clouds hanging immobile in place, the moon was now full, although looking like a rusted disk of once-pale metal, a pale-white net of threads covered the sky as well in the form of a spiderweb; the village under the mountain was now grey and lifeless, with its shades inhabitants dressed in rags with heavy metal collars around their neck and randomly declaring ‘Long Live Queen Nightmare Rarity!’ with a tone of deranged fanaticism.

“The castle remained awash in light and fashion, but not the Village...Why?” Rarity asked.

“See for yourself, look.” Morgana answered with a sorrowful tone.

“YOU! You have good skin! Come with us!” one of the Knight Guards Shadows patrolling the streets said while pulling on the collar around a shade’s neck.

“I have been chosen! I have been chosen!” the shade declared in rapture as it was roughly pulled away under the jealous gaze of the others around it.

“You shall become part of the Queen’s prized collection! Remember the honor you have been bestowed with and be grateful!” another Shadow answered.

“Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen and her godly Beauty!” the shade kept saying the entire time it was dragged away.

“They are not Villages, they are cattle...Materials to use for her creations,” Makoto said between clenched teeth as the group descended from the Van to remain inconspicuous and traverse the Village towards the Exit.

“Here is the real Palace. It’s not about the world needing to be beautiful as per Rarity’s standards, but only about Nightmare Rarity’s Vanity taking precedence over everything, even other people’s lives.” Yusuke muttered.

“I-I-I am not like this! I would never do this!” Rarity babbled in horror.

“We know, she is just a Parasite, a Monster using your face to do as she pleases, but we’ll stop her. Together.” Ann answered.

“You up for it?” Haru asked.

“O-Of course! I’ll help you! My friends too were like me before you helped them, isn’t it?” Rarity asked.

“Yep! Not to sound too smug, but we didsave them from themselves!” Ryuji answered, smirking.

“Then let me help you as well, please let me join the Phantom Thieves!” the mare begged.

“Can’t see why not! You only need a Codename!” Morgana answered.

“A Codename?...AH! Like yours!”

“Uh-hu! Mine is Noir.” Haru answered.

“So poetic!”

“And mine Panther!” Ann added.

“And yours is sexy!” Rarity answered, sounding almost jealous.

“I believe you will need an Elegant one,” Yusuke offered.

“Like Amethyst?” Akira said.

“Almost, but not like what I had in mind,” he answered.

“C-Can I be ‘Jewel’?...P-Please?” Rarity muttered with a shy voice.

“Can’t see why not! Welcome on board, Jewel!” Morgana answered, smirking.

“Thank you!” she answered with an elegant bow.

“That’s nice and all, but I fear we won’t be able to take Rarity out of here, Nightmare Rarity is still in control of her body, we’ll have to leave her here.” Futaba said.

“Wha?!” the girls of the group yelled as one in shock.

“It’s okay! I will be careful and wait for you to return. In the meantime I will learn to use my Persona and powers against those Shadows. You just hurry-up and come here to steal the Treasure, I don’t want that freak to use my body for whatever sick plan of hers!” Rarity answered with a reassuring smile.

“You must be careful though, now Nightmare Rarity is fully in control of the Palace, there is no telling what she will do to you if she catches you in order to have you back under her control.” Morgana instructed.

“I will be careful, you just do not waste time and come back, I want to see my friends again, and finally be free of Nightmare Rarity once and for all.” she answered, nodding in determination.

“We’ll be back soon, promise.” Akira answered, and one after another they bumped their fist with Rarity’s hoof before moving towards the Exit.

“Godspeed, my friends…” Rarity muttered while watching the group of teens fade away once left the Palace.

“We are alone now, you brutes! En Garde!” the mare declared as her horn shone in Magic to unsheathe her rapier and point it at the creatures.

“Intruder!” a near duo of Shadows yelled as one whole turning into two Bugbear.

“You overstayed your welcome, now it’s time for me to evict you freeloaders! Cendrillon!” Rarity answered, summoning her Persona and charging the two by herself.

At the same time – Nightmare Rarity’s Tower – Throne room -

The place had been transformed by the removal of the real Rarity from Nightmare Rarity’s control, the floor was now shined to the point of acting as a mirror, with beautiful brown patterns from the stone that had been used to create it.

Everything was made of either gold or marble, the entire room was full of suffocating opulence that perfectly reflected the Vanity of the Palace Ruler as every statue was of her, every painting in the room was about her, and even the throne itself was made of pure gold and held in the hands of a goddess done with Rarity’s face on it; gold chandeliers, and even fountains of molten gold were at every corner.

“This little set-back means nothing! NOTHING! Come if you dare, Phantom Thieves! I will wait for you! I WILL USE YOU AS PARTS FOR MY NEXT COLLECTION! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Nightmare Rarity declared with a deranged, soulless laugh that echoed inside the golden room.

At the same time, in the real world the Phantom Thieves started coordinating with Lyra, Thorax and Tempest for a pincer attack on Rarity’s Palace as soon as they reappeared on board the ship, so that while they faced the monster controlling the mare’s body from the inside the others in the real world could save the prisoners at the same time before the worst happened.

End of the chapter.
I feel a bit undìsure about this chapter to be honest...

A little extra: this is the map of the Main Hall of the Castle, right beyond the entrance Hall once passed the entrance

Chapter 17: The Ugly Truth behind the Gold: The fall of the Reign of Vanity!

Flying ship – Phantom Thieves’ Secret Base -

There was a somber silence in the belly of the ship while the Phantom Thieves were giving a last review to their equipment and battle plans.

“Everything is ready, Thorax and the others will swarm Rarity’s base as soon as you others send the Calling Card.” Tempest declared.

“You guys are sure you will be safe?” Ryuji asked.

“Skull, I know we look cute and fluffy from your point of view, but I assure you that our Magic is nothing to sneeze at. I will personally lead the assault, and compared to many others, I have experience in Magic Warfare. Rarity may have all the Power-Ups she can pull out of her plot thanks to her Master, sheer numbers will still be her weakness. She’s no Alicorn.” Tempest replied.

“I am just worried, yah know?” the blond answered, shrugging.

“And I appreciate that, don’t worry.” the mare answered, smiling.

“The Changeling are also not weaklings, Thorax and the others will also help save every prisoner.” Lyra added.

“We have a plan then: we will send the Calling Card and enter the Palace as soon as the Treasure takes shape, while we are in Tempest and Thorax will take position and attack Rarity to save the prisoners before she starts extracting ‘Parts’ for her Ritual. Any question?” Yusuke said.

“When do we start?” Dash asked.

“We are getting close to the shopping district, we’ll be there in five minutes.” Futaba answered.

“You sure you want to join the attack?” Ann asked.

“Rarity is our friend, we’ll be there tha help!” AJ answered.

“Just be careful, okay?” Fluttershy begged.

“Me and AJ are not stupid, have faith!” Dash answered.

“We are approaching the Palace!” a Changeling alerted them from outside.

“Good. Send it, Navi.” Akira ordered.

“Yessir! Transmitting the Calling Card in Three...Two...One...NOW!” the Hacker answered in glee and sending the signal to the hidden speakers around the shopping district Rarity occupied and to the remotely-controlled ones in both Human and Pony side of the Barrier, once again causing Celestia to combust in rage at the knowledge that NOBODY would miss the new message from the infamous Phantom Thieves.

To Rarity Belle, the Vainglorious bringer of Despair posturing in her Palace of Vanity!

A butcherhiding her disgusting vision of Beauty behind her Twisted Delusions as a prophet.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who relishes in the destruction of Humanity to satisfy her bottomless Selfishness.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will teach you that True Beauty is not wrapped in Gold.

And we will take your Distorted Desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

“We are ready! Remember, guys: this time we are not just stealing the Treasure We have to destroy Nightmare Rarity once and for all!” Morgana instructed.

“You sure we can risk that?” Haru asked, worried.

“I felt it, that Thing is a separate entity from Rarity, they may share a similar appearance or Name, but the two are still neatly separated, no matter how much Nightmare Rarity wants to take over the real one. The Palace is hers only, that is why it is still standing even after the real Rarity awakened her Persona. If we want her gone for good, we’ll need to destroy her inside the Palace.” the cat answered.

“We’ll trsut your judgment, Mona.” Makoto answered with a sharp nod.

“We are above Rarity’s Palace!” the same Changeling guard alerted them as the flying ship stopped moving to hover in place.

“PHANTOM THIEVES!” as on cue, the manifestation of Nightmare Rarity appeared before them in all her mad glory.

“You dare attack the Queen of this world?! Then so be it! Come stealing my Treasure if you think you have what it takes! I shall wait for your arrival and use your filthy skin to create a new line of clothes to celebrate my Ascension!” the projection of Nightmare Rarity declared with a deranged smile before fading away.

“The Treasure took shape! We are off!” Ann said already with her Metaverse App opening.

“Beginning Navigation!” the App said with a metallic voice.

“IT’S OUR TURN TOO! GOGOGOGOGOGO!” Tempest yelled as she and dozen of Changelings with Thorax at the head jumped down the ship to assault the sealed store as soon as the vessel touched ground to land.

The last thing the Phantom Thieves saw before fully fade away was the entrance of Rarity’s hideout being blasted down by an awe-inspiring rain of spells and the Changeling army and both AJ and Dash rush inside before the smoke could even disperse.

Rarity’s Palace – Mountain Pass towards the Castle -

The real Rarity felt a sudden lurching feeling encompass the entire micro-cosmos inside the Palace, and the spike of unbridled RAGE exploding from the far-away Castle to cover the surrounding land like a blanket.

“This feeling...Could it be?...It’s time!” with a victorious roar the mare rushed up towards the path leading to the Village and the Safe House she was told about.

Once there, the only Pony member of the Phantom Thieves found the young humans already waiting for her with an elated smile, and with a squeal she dove for the hug Ann and Haru offered her.

“You are alive!” the blond girl said, happily.

“You too! For a moment I thought Nightmare Rarity managed to get you!” Rarity answered, hugging her just as tight, albeit while also making sure her mane would not lose its pristine appearances. Something that got her a chuckle from her new friends.

“Good to see you are well, Jewel.” Yusuke said.

“More than well, Fox! I managed to get a hang of this wjole Persona thing!” Rarity answered.

“It’s liberating, eh? You feel hella powerful every time.” Ryuji suggested, smirking.

“That it does!” the mare admitted.

“It took some coaching, but she is a natural.” Akira confirmed.

“OOOH! So THAT’S what you and Mona were doing!” Futaba said, surprised.

“Whenever we had a moment of free time while preparing for stealing the Treasure, me and Joker would pop here to help Jewel training.” Morgana answered.

“It was a crash-course, but it was worth it.” Akira added, shrugging a little.

“What’s important is that we all are ready,” Makoto answered.

“I am. You sure destroying Nightmare Rarity won’t hurt me?” Rarity asked.

“I promise, Jewel. On my life.” Morgana answered.

“He is an Attendant of the Velvet Room. He knows what he is doing.” Akira added.

“AND the Vessel of Humanity’s Hope. Don’t forget that!” the cat added, smirking.

“Boy, as if your Ego was not big enough…” Ryuji said with a sigh.

“Stuff it, Skull.”

“Make me, Cat.” the other replied, and both Cat and young Punk shared a smile at that.

“If we are all ready, I believe it’s now time to reach the Safe Room inside Nightmare Rarity’s castle and from there, get to the Treasure.” Yusuke said.

“How will we do it? Security around the Castle will be at its peak now that she knows we are coming for her Treasure.” Rarity asked.

“It’s okay, we’ll show you another nifty trick of the Phantom Thieves,” Haru answered, giggling.

“Uh?”

“The Safe Rooms are all connected to each other, once conquered one, the connection opens. We can easily move from the one here to the one inside the castle.”

“How?”

“Either air vents or underground tunnels. It depends on where and how far they are.” Makoto answered.

“Air vents...In a Medieval Castle?” Rarity asked, unsure.

“Don’t question it, the less you think about it the less headaches the Metaverse will give you. Personal experience.” Futaba answered with a scrunched nose.

“Air vents in a pyramid…” Ryuji muttered with a low voice.

“Stuff it, Skull.” the Hacker answered, and this time not in a friendly manner as her face burned bright red.

A long walk through the Safe Room connection later – Nightmare Rarity’s Castle Safe Room

The room was no longer an abandoned workshop, but a bloody room more akin to the storage room of a slaughter house since now the piles of skins were hundreds and reached up to the ceiling, and not all of them seemed to be of ponies only.

“Dear God, now it’s even worse.” Makoto gagged in disgust as soon as they exited the Safe Room.

“So this is what’s inside Nightmare Rarity’s mind?” Rarity asked in shocked disbelief.

“Mind, Heart, Soul...It’s a bit broader in scope.” Yusuke answered, sighing.

“So her entire being is a cesspool?” Ann asked.

“Why so surprised?” Akira answered in bitter sarcasm.

“Then let’s hurry up, the sooner she is gone, the sooner I will be able to Clean-up myself from her taint.” Rarity answered.

What further surprised them was that except that blood drenched and dimly-lit room, every other room had become a vast expanse of gold, marble and precious stones; every corridor was so bright and excessively opulent their eyes would actually hurt from the reflected light.

Piles of gold coins littered the floor everywhere, every Statue was about Nightmare Rarity, every painting was about Nightmare Rarity, everywhere they looked, the damn mare would look back at them.

“Jesus...I would have never said that I would have seen Too Much Gold, but here it is.” Ryuji admitted.

“A pity that we can’t take any of this outside the Palace. We would have been set for life otherwise.” Makoto admitted, looking at the huge mountains of money carelessly thrown everywhere around them.

“It’s not that much money…” Haru muttered.

“…”

“…”

“Not one word.” the girl hissed with a bright red face.

“Darling,” Yusuke tried saying.

“Hush!”

“Shadows!” Akira alerted them as soldiers wearing gold armors appeared beyond the corner.

“Remember your training, Jewel!”

“I will! PERSONA! Cendrillon!”

Gardens at the back of the castle – Tower – Treasure Room -

“The door to the Treasure Room is open.” Morgana muttered with narrowed eyes.

“There is nobody around either.” Ann added.

“No shadows hiding either.” Futaba added.

“A Trap?” Akira asked.

“We’ll see.” Ryuji answered.

As one the Phantom Thieves carefully entered the Treasure Room together, now even bigger and overflowing in gold, jewels and treasure chests to navigate the place towards the giant marble pedestal holding the Treasure.

To their surprise the Treasure was not a giant crown or diamond...But a simple Tiara that looked strangely plastic in nature.

“The Treasure is a bit...Underwhelming?” Haru commented.

“You mean Cheap?” Ryuji countered.

“Maybe a bit of that too.”

“It does not fit in the setting either.” Yusuke admitted.

“Does it have some special meaning to you?” Akira asked, curious.

“...Never seen it before.” Rarity admitted, unsure.

“Let’s just take it, we might be here to openly fight Nightmare Rarity, but I still want the Treasure as far away from her as possible.” Morgana declared while moving to grab the small thing.

“You came, finally.” a new voice from behind the Thueves said with a tone of finality.

“Nightmare Rarity!” Makoto growled.

“Indeed. Follow me, let’s do things properly.” the voice came from a cloud of pitch-black smoke-like darkness that flew inside the room to circle the Treasure and take it away.

“THE TREASURE!” Haru gasped in horror.

“I will wait for your in the Throne Room. Don’t make me wait.” the formless form of Nightmare Rarity answered with a calm tone before rapidly leaving the room.

“Apparently she too wants to finish this once and for all. Let’s Go!” Morgana answered while running out and up the staircase.

“Chase that Monster!” Ann as well ran forward to chase Nightmare Rarity.

“Let’s go.” on the notes of Akira, the rest of the group as well sprung to action to reach the top floor of the Tower.

Nightmare Rarity’s Castle – Throne room -

Still following the cloud of smoke holding the Tiara in its middle, the Phantom Thieves returned to the Throne Room where Rarity Awakened her Persona to see the place utterly transformed in the opulent, overbearing nightmare of gold and Vanity that was the heart of the entire Palace.

“It’s all so...gaudy…” Rarity hissed in disgust.

“Wow...And here I thought we met self-centered people before...Even Dash was not so much into herself.” Makoto admitted, looking repulsed.

“Her face is everywhere.” Akira said, frowning.

“And way too much gold. Way too much.” Morgana added.

“Such tasteless opulence, it is unsightly.” Yusuke admitted.

“Spare me your drivel! You have no right to judge a Queen such as myself, you are not worthy!” the cloud of darkness hissed in answered while condensing into Nightmare Rarity so that she could wear the tiara properly and sit on the giant gold throne held in the hands of the enormous gold statue of a goddess sculptured in her likeness.

“Time’s up! I am here to take back my body!” Rarity answered, glaring at the Monster in utter contempt.

“Time to kiss goodbye to your Treasure! Your time here is over, we are here to evict you!” Ryuji added.

“Tch! So you really want to oppose me!? You openly challenge a Queen in her own Kingdom?”! Nightmare Rarity said with a snarl.

“Your ‘Kingdom’ as you call it, is built inside MY HEART and MY MIND, and you have long overstayed your welcome! Kindly remove yourself and disappear!” Rarity answered, just as angry as the Entity ruling the Palace was.

“Pfeh! I am a herald of beauty! A prophet of perfection! Believe me, once finished my Magnus Opus I will leave this ugly shell for a better body!” the Monster answered.

“Magno what?” Ryuji whispered.

“Magnus Opus, so to say, her greatest creation.” Yusuke whispered back in answer.

“So this all a matter of creating yourself a new body?” Makoto asked with narrowed eyes.

“I am not going to disclose my Vision to you, simpleton! My goals are wide and beyond your understanding! Gaining freedom from this inferior Vessel is merely the first step! But enough talking! HAVE AT YOU!” Nightmare Rarity answered with a booming voice, soon followed by her body swelling-up grotesquely in boils and pustules until it exploded into a thick cloud of smoke-like darkness from which loud howls and growls could be heard.

“Get ready, Jewel, you’ll need to learn how to fight a Palace Owner on the fly!” Morgana declared as the Treasure and an insane amount of gold coming from the floor tiles, the giant gold statueand fountains went forcefully absorbed by the cloud of darkness along several yards of silk from the drapes.

“I must be beautiful! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” as soon as the last fragment of gold finished joining on the ornate opera mask covering the Monster Mare’s face, the creature released a madness-filled scream that made the entire room tremble.

“Of course she covered herself in gold, God forbid she won’t be so over the top in attitude at any given time!” Haru hissed as the three-meters-tall monstrosity emerging from the smoke loomed over them.

“Palace Owners always are borderline caricatures, but that’s you get from an embodiment of somebody’s Evil side! Now focus!” Ann answered.

The new form of Nightmare Rarity was an absurdly tall humanoid figure fully made out of gold and with horse legs, a living statue of a woman wearing an overly-decorated wide Victorian Dress adorned, to the Phantom Thieves Horror, by what looked like being hundreds of highly-detailed bodies of skinned ponies disturbingly positioned to create the patterns of the dress, even the tall hairstyle of the creature was formed by pony faces with mouths open in a perpetual scream of anguish.

“Once again, break the outside layer to reveal the real body of Nightmare Rarity! They are getting smart and hiding their real body from harm!” Futaba instructed them while boarding her UFO Persona, ready to give assistance.

“Stick close,” Akira instructed as he stood next to Rarity.

“Don’t worry, I will pull my weight,” the mare answered.

“I’ll be counting on you.” he answered with a small smile.

“It’s time for you to join my collection! I will turn your skin into my new evening gown! YAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the Mad Mare declared with a deranged laugh, and while twirling on herself, her golden dress’ layers rose a bit so to act like the teeth of a giant saw-blade.

“SCATTER!” Morgana shrieked as the spinning monster almost ran them over, turning to shreds every statue or fountain standing on her path as she glided on the floor at high speed.

“That dress is not just for show! Those folds are obscenely sharp, be careful!” Haru warned them with wide eyes.

“So is not ugly just because?” Rarity asked.

“Now’s not the moment for fashion talk! Captain Kidd! Zio!” Ryuji yelled, and summoning his Persona to blast the Monster Mare with a fast lightning attack that made her shriek in pain.

“Ah-HA! Gold conducts electricity! I knew it!” the young man cheered with a smug smile.

“Nice to see you managed to make him study!” Ann said with a smirk.

“He just needs the right motivation, and me giving him the silent treatment apparently works like a charm!” Makoto answered.

“Hoy! Don’t use my fear of getting the cold shoulder against me! You know I can’t say no when you do that!” Ryuji admitted, sounding indignant.

“Squirm and dodge! I want to have fun before harvesting my new leather!” Nightmare Rarity in the meantime had unsheathed her own weapon, an extremely-long gold-made rapier and assaulted Joker with a savage thrust.

“Ah!” it was a close-call, as the young man could dodge it just thanks to Rarity tackling him away from the attack.

“Thank you,”

“As I said, I will pull my weight! Cendrillon!” the new Phantom Thief replied summoning her own Persona.

“Kouga!” with a triumphant cry, the Persona summoned a column of light in front of the golden Monster, pushing it back with a screech of pain.

“ARGH! NO! You shall kneel before your Queen!” Nightmare Rarity ordered as the gold tiles forming the floor turned semi-liquid to trap the Phantom Thieves’ feet.

“Ah!” Haru shrieked in surprise.

“Break free! Stop her! DO SOMETHING!” Ann yelled while trying to pull herself free.

“I’ll mince your flesh! I will cut your skin and turn your bones to dust! And then I will use all that to create a new line of evening dresses for my beloved subjects!” The Gold Monster declared with a mad laugh, momentarily covering herself in enough gold to turn into a towering giant pillar of gold covered in spikes and adorned by five copies of her head showing a maniacal smile.

“Use your Persona to break free! Hurry!” Futaba yelled in panic.

“PANTHER! Use your Persona!” Makoto instructed.

“W-Wha? On ourselves?!”

“Gold is a soft metal! We need to make it softer with your fire!” she answered.

“But-but-but!” Ann stammered, unsure.

“DIE!” as soon as the tower of gold was completed, it started to spin on itself at high speed and then charged forward towards them.

“PANTHER! NOW!” Futaba yelled.

“Carmen! Maragion!” Closing her eyes tightly, Ann summoned her Persona to envelop herself and her friends in a thick wall of fire.

“YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Nightmare Rarity let loose a long deranged laugh as she plowed through the fire.

“HOOOOT!” only for Ryuji and the others to jump out of the flames barely an instant before they could get run over, rolling on the floor to put themselves out and watch the giant spinning tower demolish a wall and remain stuck in the wreckage.

“That was close!” Yusuke admitted with a sigh.

“Okay guys! Who has Healing Skills use them, who has Fire, Electric and Nuclear Element skill focus on Nightmare Rarity now that she can’t move!” Futaba instructed.

“That’s us!” Ryuji, once fully healed by Akira’s High Pixie Persona, declared with a malevolent grin.

“Leave it to us!” Makoto chorused while revving Johanna with extra emphasis.

“Sorry if I almost roasted you!” Ann added with a sorrowful tone.

“It’s okay, Lady Panther! You did nothing wrong!” Morgana answered immediately.

“Simp.” Akira commented.

“STUFF IT, JOKER!”

“GRAAAAH!” in the meantime Nightmare Rarity was still trapped into the wall, trying to make the tower spin again so to break free.

“FREILA!”

“AGILAO!”

“ZIONGA!”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Nightmare Rarity shrieked in pain as the three skills covered her in fire, electrocuted her and then removed a big chunk of her tower in a radioactive explosion.

“That’s it! I have had enough!” the Monster roared, breaking free from the giant tower construct to personally assault them with the long rapier in her hand.

“Arsene! Cleave!” Akira yelled, blocking the attack with his own knife and the one in the hands of his Persona.

“Cendrillon: Vorpal Blade!” since the Monster was distracted, Rarity assaulted her from behind and opening a big gash on the back of the Golden Armor.

“Argh! You will pay for this!” the thing bellowed in fury, now assaulting the mare with wild swings.

“Jewel!” Haru yelled, worried.

“I will get you back! I will bury you so deep into my Subconscious you will cease to exist!” Nightmare Rarity roared while summoning a second rapier in her left hand to double her attack rate.

“Milady! Double Down!” Haru intervened, bombarding Nightmare Rarity’s armor in heavy artillery fire.

“That Armor will soon give-in! Keep attacking!”

“Goemon! Rising Slash!” Just as the gold-covered Monster was about to skewer Haru in retaliation, Yusuke appeared from her blind side accompanying the overhead slash of his sword with the one of the bladed-pipe of his Persona.

CLANG! CRAAAAK!

With a dull, heavy sound, one of the rapiers snapped in two like a twig and a cross-shaped gash went opened on the armors chest as the two blades easily cut through the metal.

“Gyaaah!” Nightmare Rarity stumbled back while looking at the stump of a weapon still in her hand.

“Just like your convictions, your armor is all glitter and no substance! Face us yourself if you have the courage!” Haru demanded with narrowed eyes.

“Beauty is delicate, you brute! You are supposed to just admire it, not trying to destroy it!” Nightmare Rarity answered, snarling in anger.

“Delicate? Yes, but also Eternal if you turn Beauty into Art, but yours? Yours is just opulence, a pretty box that is utterly empty inside.” Yusuke answered.

“SILENCE!” Nightmare Rarity shrieked in madness as she swapped weapon for an overly-ornate gold scythe covered in gems, and with a furious roar she started again to spin on herself with the sharp edges of her dress lifting-up just as she twirled her weapon at the same time.

“Don’t believe we will be defeated so easily! Zorro! Pulinpa!”

“Argh!” the Monster groaned in agony as her brain went scrambled heavily.

“Eligor: Double Fang!” Akira ordered, with the spear of his Persona piercing the golden Armor all the way through in a spurt of ichor.

“G-Guh…”

“Gold is nice to look at...But it melts easily! Carmen! Agilao!”

“Kyaaah!” surprisingly, even if made of gold the Monster got completed covered in fire with globs of burning gold dripping heavily on the floor.

“Since when is gold flammable?” Makoto asked.

“Gold isn’t, but her blood apparently is! Look!” Morgana yelled, pointing at the Monster’s armor that was starting to lose bigger and bigger pieces the longer the flames persisted.

“We saw the same thing happen with Pinkie, they both seem to have a weakness for Fire Element Attacks once removed their armors,” Yusuke added.

“Guys? Something’s trying to break out of that armor! Something BIG!” Futaba warned them with a worried scream.

BANG!

With a deafening cracking sound the gold armor exploded outward generating a cloud of miasma that soon grew to huge proportions, forcing the Phantom Thieves to step back towards the entrance so to not be caught fully by the cloud.

“GUUUUUUUUUUUUHIIIIIII! I MuSt BE beAUtIfUL!” a deranged, rasping and booming voice roared from the cloud just before a loud snort blew it away.

“What the EFF is that?!” Ryuji yelled in disgust.

“That must be Nightmare Rarity’s Real Form.” Akira answered.

“What have you done? I was not ready yet to be Reborn! You broke my cocoon before I was done! I WILL KILL YOU!” the deranged monstrosity roared without a shred of sanity left.

“She snapped! Be careful!” Futaba warned them.

Nightmare Rarity was now a real monster: a five meters tall weird, malformed fusion of horse and spider presenting the same round body of the arachnid, but with skin and fur of a horse, very muscled eight legs culminating in hooves, two extra arms culminating in jagged sickles and a giant round head with eight uneven round eyes with golden pupils, even the snout was equine but abnormally short and adorned by a spider pincers, and the two were clearly not meant to coexist as Nightmare Rarity’s mouth could not fully close, forcing her to droll uncontrollably nonstop.

“Now the outside matches the inside,” Makoto commented.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” with a deafening roar, the mad Mare lunged forward, utterly demolishing the wall to the outside to land heavily in the gardens below once the teens scampered away.

“Chase her!” Haru said.

“In that form she needs more space to fight, the Throne Room would have restricted her too much, let’s go!” Morgana answered.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Already tired of waiting, the giant Horse-Spider started ramming her head against the base of the Tower, making it shock heavily until huge chunks started falling down, both inside and outside.

“Hurry before she tears this thing down and bury us alive!” Rarity yelled as she easily ran ahead.

“Easy for you to say that! We have only two legs!” Ann replied, huffing in agony while trying to keep up with the mare.

“JUMP!” Morgana yelled with wide eyes, jumping out one of the windows once felt the entire tower starting to topple-over from the attacks so that the Phantom Thieves could run down the collapsing building outside wall.

Gardens -

Covering the last leg to the ground with a jump, the group of teens and their new pony recruit landed at few feet from the Monster Mare that immediately nailed them with a glare of insanity and rage.

The entire surface of the garden was now covered entirely in red flowers with thin petals resembling spider legs pointing upward, at each step of her massive legs, new flowers bloomed around Nightmare Rarity.

“Spider Lilies, they grew everywhere as soon as she landed here and more keep growing at every step she takes.” Yusuke whispered, confused.

“They represent the fear of being forgotten, I think we are seeing what Nightmare Rarity is really afraid of since those flowers follow her close…” Haru suggested, unsure.

“Oh! I will forget about her all right once done here!” Rarity answered with a hiss.

“What have you done to meeeeh?!” the rambling monstrosity demanded as its giant golden eyes turned blood-shot, she was stomping on the ground angrily with her multiple hooves and the sickles while her bulbous spider back started throbbing.

“You did this to yourself,” Akira answered, simply.

“DIEEEEEEEE!”

With a loud roar, the giant spider shoot from its back a giant rope of webs to pull itself on top of one of the remaining towers that immediately started whining under the sudden weight added to its top.

“What is she-”

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rarity’s question died in her throat when her Dark Self propelled itself forward head first towards them like a meteor.

BOOOOM!

The explosion at the impact was immense, the full weight of the giant Monster plus the speed of the jump utterly demolished the garden, turning the place into the crater caused by a meteor, scattering the Phantom Thieves away from each-other thanks to the overwhelming shock-wave of the attack.

“COME HERE!” once found Rarity, the Shadow Monster created a new rope of webs to lift part of the destroyed walls around the arena to throw it at the small pony.

“KYAAAH!”

“Jewel!” Ann yelled in horror at seeing the GIANT slab of rock dwarf the mare while falling down.

“MEEEEEEEEEOW!” to Rarity’s surprise Akira rushed towards her while driving Morgana’s Van Form.

“Here!” once locked the steering wheel, the young man opened the car door and leaned outside with his full body and an arm stretched out, catching Rarity’s hoof and pulling her inside just an instant before the attack could land.

BOOOOOM!

“JOKER! JEWEL! MONA!”

CRASH!

“We are okay, Lady Panther!” Morgana answered, bursting out of a near wall and creating an identical hole to the one they made in their haste to dodge.

“They dove into one of the towers!” Haru said in relief.

“COME BACK HERE!” Nightmare Rarity roared while chasing the van towards the other Phantom Thieves.

“OVER HERE! HURRY!” Yusuke called-out.

“What are you planning?!” Ryuji asked.

“Navi! Tell them to repeat the truck trick! We’ll do the same!”

“WHAT?! O-Okay!” the Hacker answered, unsure.

To Shadow Rarity’s surprise the car she was chasing in an instant turned into a cat, meaning that the other two Phantom Thieves could skid safely under her giant belly thanks to the sudden change in size, and once watched the other Thieves do the same and repeat the same trick they used to enter inside the Castle, the Monster Mare had the less-than-brilliant idea to look behind her to follow their movements without stopping her charge.

BOOOOM!

With a loud thundering noise the giant Spider-Horse malformed hybrid demolished the wall right in front of her with enough strength to almost knock herself unconscious.

“She is dazed! ATTACK!” Futaba yelled.

“Alice: Magidolaon!” Akira ordered while summoning the tiny Persona.

“You who dare attack my Onii-sama...DIE!” the girl spirit roared with zero mercy as a humongous explosion of Almighty Power covered the giant monster entirely and turned part of the gardens into a barren wasteland.

“Cendrillon: Kouga! How can something so cute being so horrifying?!” Rarity asked, shocked, as her own Persona skill bombarded the monster mare.

“Just be thankful she is on our side, Persona like her are a bitch to fight!” Ryuji answered while mercilessly hammering away at one of the eight Spider-horse legs of Shadow Rarity.

“A bit crass as a description, but yes, they are tough enemies.” Yusuke added while doing the same at the other side of the distorted mare and covering one of her legs in deep cuts.

“ENOUGH!” Finally growing tired of their abuse, especially the hail of bullets the girls of the group were showering her back with, Shadow Rarity shoot a giant rope of webs from her backside to connect to a tower and forcefully pull herself free.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

And as she spun around the structure, she actually uprooted the tower and developed a frightening smirk on her malformed snout.

“Please tell me she is not about to…” Futaba whimpered in horror.

“DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” landing heavily on the ground, the monster mare gave a deafening roar and used the webs still connecting her to the broken tower to fully lift the entire damn building and launch it on the Phantom Thieves.

“YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME!” Makoto swore loudly with wide eyes as the tower slowly rose to the sky and was about to fall down on them.

“SCATTER!” acting rapidly, Morgana turned again into a van and forcefully swallowed the group of Teens with Haru being the one ending in the driving seat.

“KYAAAAAAAAAH!” shrieking in horror, the girl flattened as hard as she could the accelerator making the van sprint forward FAST.

“NYYYYYYEEEEEUGH!” half-shriek of pain and half engine roar, the Mona Van jumped forward just an instant before the giant projectile landed behind them.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

It was by sheer Divine Intervention if they actually avoided the thing enough to just be shot forward by the immense wind pressure generated by the tower’s landing, the same could not be said for the part of the castle behind them that instead immediately turned into a vast plain of rubble.

“…” an intense silence fell between the Thieves since the close-call left them a bit shaken.

“...H-Hey...You actually swore, Queen!” Ryuji blurted-out as a way to lift the mood.

“It was an isolated incident nobody here will ever talk about!” the girl replied, bristling.

“I found it hot.” Ryuji admitted, sheepish.

“T-That’s beside the point.” she replied, face a bit redder than before.

“There you are…” a loud growling voice reminded them that they still had not defeated Shadow Rarity that finally caught a glimpse of them between the ruins of her demolished castle.

“RUN!” Ann yelled as the monster gave chase again.

“There must be a way to defeat her!” Rarity yelled while watching the charging form of her Corrupted Self from the rear mirror of the Mona Van.

“I have an idea.” Akira proposed.

“...Dude...No.” Ryuji muttered in horror.

“What?” Yusuke asked.

“Rodeo?” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves said.

“Another idea that is not ‘Suicide with extra steps’?” Futaba asked with a begging tone as she too was forced to drive her Persona in a daring escape around the castle ruins while chased by the charging Spider-Mare.

“Spiders are easy prey once turned on their bellies, and Nightmare Rarity is very weak to fire. If we manage to make her topple over, we will have easy access to her belly, the weak spot.” Makoto said.

“Her eyes are also unevenly distributed, it means that she should have blind-spots we can use to climb on her back.” Yusuke added.

“So you are coming with me?” Akira asked.

“Two riders is better than one,” the artist answered.

“I have a plan too.” Morgana added.

“Do tell us, we need to stop that Monster!” Rarity begged.

“Listen well, this is what we need to do…” the Cat started saying.

With Nightmare Rarity -

The giant monster spider kept charging forward while trampling everything on her path with her multiple muscled legs and her spider-horse snout blew-out big puffs of hot air like a steam engine at random intervals.

“Stop running and die at my feet!” the mad Mare roared.

Suddenly she saw the back of Morgana’s Van Form open to show Ann, Rarity and Haru glaring at her with their Persona already hovering next to the Van.

“Remember to focus on her eyes!” Makoto instructed from the driving seat.

“MARAGION!”

“KOUGA!”

“TRIPLE DOWN!”

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Nightmare Rarity bellowed in agony as the three attacks momentarily blinded her in a sea of fire, blinding light and more bullets-per-inch than air molecules.

CRAAAAASH!

With a deafening crash the giant Spider Monster crashed through one of the last remaining towers that immediately started swaying dangerously back and forth.

“THIS WON’T STOP ME!” Nightmare Rarity growled while pulling her head free from the wall the had broken though, further damaging the tower’s base.

“We are aware of that…” Yusuke said from the Monster’s back.

“That’s why we are here.” Akira added from the same position.

“GET OFF!” the giant spider-horse hybrid bellowed while wildly shaking her bulbous body to knock them off.

“HOLD ON TIGHT!” Akira ordered while holding onto the sparse thick fur covering Nightmare Rarity’s back.

“OKAY!” Yusuke answered.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“OVER HERE!” In the meantime Morgana, still in car form, appeared from under the mare’s giant body with Haru at the driving seat blasting the car’s horn as loud as she could.

“THAT’S IT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!” Nightmare Rarity yelled before trying to swallow the car whole in her massive maw.

“Arsene: Cleave!” Akira ordered while focusing his Persona’s attack on the biggest eye in front of him making it pop like a balloon in a small spray of black ichor.

“Gyaaaaah!”

“The eyes are ready to be destroyed.” Akira commented.

“Good to know. Goemon: Giant Slice!”

“GAAAAAH!” Nightmare Raroty shrieked in agony again and again as the two young men kept attacking her weakened eyes until they burst.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

In the meantime Haru kept driving around her while blasting the Mona Van’s horn, forcing the giant spider to stand in place while blindingly stomping down in place to catch her and shake her body as hard as she could to dislodge the two Phantom Thieves clutching her back.

“MEEEEOW!” Morgana would also shriek loudly whenever the blind swipes of the Monster’s sickle arms went extremely close at catching the Van while digging deep trenches on the floor.

“Carmen: Agilao!” and standing on top of the moving van, Ann either shoot Nightmare Rarity with her gun or pelted her in fire attacks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

What Car’s horn and pain from the attacks where doing was not just annoying her, but covering the noise of what was happening inside the half-demolished tower the Monster Mare had just run through.

Inside the Tower -

“CAPTAIN KIDD!” Ryuji yelled while ordering his Persona to demolish another main wall.

“Good job, Skull! Now the next one, JOHANNA!” Makoto complimented him while pulverizing various walls with the attacks of her bike Persona.

“This one too?” Rarity asked.

“That’s good too! Get ready to bolt as soon as you have done, I will give Noir the signal to take down the Tower on Nightmare Rarity as soon as you have done!” Futaba answered.

“I got it. Cinderella: Couga!”

Nightmare Rarity -

“ENOUGH!” the Monster yelled while trying to catch Haru and Ann into her webs by shooting giant projectiles of webbing from her back.

“Only two eyes remaining!” Yusuke declared once plunged as deep as he could his weapon in the eye in front of him.

“WE ARE READY!” Futaba yelled.

“Perfect timing,” Akira answered.

“Get ready to run, this thing is coming down!” Ryuji bellowed as he, Makoto and Rarity could be seen escape from the crumbling tower.

“JUMP!” Haru, eyes wide, yelled while driving the Van towards them.

“JUMP!” Yusuke yelled at the same time while he and Akira jumped down from Nightmare Rarity’s head.

“Giant Slice!”

“Double Fang!”

And at the same time, thw two summoned their Persona to destroy the last two eyes of the Spider Mare before landing on the roof of the Mona Van.

“GOGOGOGOGOGO!” Rarity yelled in horror as soon as all of them boarded the car to sprint inside the collapsing tower.

“DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” now that she was completely blind, Nightmare Rarity could only follow her hearing to locate the Phantom Thieves, and with a merciless headbutt she gave the finishing blow to the structure in front of her.

CRUUUUUMBLE!

Coming out from a side wall Ryuji weakened beforehand, the Phantom Thieves escaped from the collapsing giant tower and watched from safe distance as the multi-story building fell on top of Nightmare Rarity in a cacophony of sounds and a giant cloud of dust covering everything.

“…”

“…”

“...Is she dead?” Haru asked, unsure, after a couple of minutes of silence spent watching the humongous mountain of rubble that covered even the mare’s giant spider body.

CRACK! Crumble!

Finally, a solitary and normal hoof broke through the cover of broken bricks with a muffed groan of pain, then another hoof followed, and as soon as both found a good-enough grip, the heavily-wounded Nightmare Rarity finally pulled herself out from under the crushing mountain of debris to show her frazzled mane and body completely covered in bruises along her two black eyes and several missing teeth.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Soon after she tiredly pulled herself free, the battered tiara on her head fell off, rolling towards the Phantom Thieves while ignoring Nightmare Rarity’s weak protests before she too tumbled down to ground level from the top of the mount of broken bricks, adding further bruises on top of the ones she already had.

“It’s over.” Rarity declared while marching towards the Treasure, to her surprise she could actually lift it with her Magic.

“You are once again in control, Jewel. It really is over.” Morgana confirmed with a sigh.

“You...Need me!” Nightmare Rarity tried saying with a weak voice while dragging herself forward, unable to stand since her back hooves were bent in strange, and clearly-painful, shapes.

“No, I don’t. I once believed I did need you, even just as a reminder of what I did not want to become, but I finally understand that hanging on you, even just out of guilt, would only hold me back…” the mare answered while showing her the Palace Treasure.

“Do you see this?” she asked.

“That’s...Mine...Mine...MINE!” the Monster roared in madness.

“This is a cheap plastic Tiara one wears when dressing-up as a princess: Cheap plastic with gaudy ‘Jewels’ that are there just to make it shiny. Utter worthless junk! This is what you are and what I don’t want to be: ‘Beauty for Beauty’s Sake.’, all style and no substance, in short: Worthless!” Rarity answered with a snarl while tossing the Treasure away for Morgana to catch.

“I AM NOT WORTHLESS!”Nightmare Rarity roared in defiance as she jumped forward by using the last spark of energy she possessed.

“Just shut the Eff up, Creep!” Ryuji answered with an annoyed growl as all of them pointed their guns at the advancing Embodiment of Corruption.

DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA!

The Phantom Thieves all shoot as one, riddling Nightmare Rarity in holes while a single arrow from Rarity’s crossbow nailed her on the forehead.

“I...Am...A Queen…” the demented Parasite gurgled-out a last time before breaking down into wisps of black smoke soon dispersing in the wind.

RRRRRUMBLE!

A soon as the lasts sparks of Nightamre Rarity died for good, the Entire Palace started trembling heavily, soon destroying whatever part of the Castle remained still standing while at the same time the far-away village as well self-destroyed.

“It’s over, Jewel. You are free.” Morgana declared with a sigh.

“I can tell, I feel...Free.” Rarity admitted with a small smile as sparks of light started floating around her.

“The Palace is disappearing.” Akira said.

“Yes, now that Nightmare Rarity has been destroyed, she can’t force Rarity to have one anymore, and since she awakened a Persona, her Heart belongs to her only. Let’s go home, we’ll help her deliver her Change of Heart and take her to safety.” Morgana answered.

“I will wait for you, my friends. And thank you for finally freeing me from this Darkness!” Rarity said, giving all of them a tight hug before fading away from the Palace that now started trembling for real.

“We better go.” Yusuke suggested.

“Yep! Phones out!” Ann answered, and as one the Phantom Thieves used their Metaverse App to leave behind the disappearing Palace.

“NOOOOOOO! Not this Vessel too! Not this one Too! I DON’T WANT TO DIEEEEEE!” the same Shade that had appeared at the destruction of the other Palaces appeared once again to give a last shriek of agony nobody was around to hear, and dying in absolute pain as it disappeared together with the Palace until nothing remained.

Some time later – Floating Island housing Celestia’s Castle – Throne room -

There were no words to describe the ball of swirling, scalding fury that had settled down in Celestia’s stomach as she watched a copy of Rarity’s Confession that had been played everywhere in both Pony and Human territory; and as an added insult, a signed copy had been delivered to Celestia herself.

Only this time, instead of being about a Mare tearfully admitting her crimes, but it showed a fierce-looking Rarity glaring straight at the camera.

“I will take just a moment of your time.

I have recently broke free of the Corruption that was plaguing me, Corruption I fell victim not for my own weakness, but because of the machinations of somepony else.

I am now free thanks to my new friends: the Phantom Thieves, and to be fair, I never felt so FREE as I feel now.

Al thought I understand that at the moment the concept of Freedom may be alien to you others with “Celestia” as your ruler.

But now that I am free, let me be clear:

YOU are fighting a useless War.

YOU are moving forward this Conversion for no other reasin except Greed.

And YOU are destroying an entire race that was just minding its own business before we arrived!

Humanity did not need “Salvation”, especially the one offered by Conversion!

If there is a working brain still in your silly heads, I can only hope you will understand that you are willingly following a Liar.

Conversion won’t help anypony, Human or Pony.

As for Celestia herself…

Don’t feel safe.

They will come for you too.”

Both Luna and Shining stood in silence as they did not dare to make a sound, they just waited for Celestia’s rage to subside enough to safely talk to her without being attacked.

"We found the disappeared soldiers, Civilians and Converted, Your Highness. We have no idea where they were kept or why, and even if questioned, they all have no memory of the time they were prisoners. Between them there were many of the soldiers we sent to protect Rarity as well, but no signs of where she is now." Shining explained.

"My soldiers even swept the area they were found in, besides few stores that had been emptied of their clothes, we found no traces of either Rarity or the culprit behind the ponynappings." Luna added, sighing.

"Just a bunch of very confused ponies wandering around with a splitting headache." SHining finished saying.

"Pricesely what the Captain said."

“...The Phantom Thieves have not been stopped yet either. Why so? Is fooling us so easy nowadays?” the Sun Alicorn asked with a low voice.

“They are surprisingly slippery, your Highness. We still don’t know who they are oor even if they are either human or pony. But since many of their Victims where hiding in our side of the Barrier, we are more inclined to consider the new formation being fully Equestrian. We are still looking everywhere for them, but we still can't find-”

“THEN LOOK BETTER!” Celestia interrupted him with a barking scream.

“I will go immediately, Princess!” Shining answered, gladly welcoming the excuse to hurry out.

“Only one Element Bearer remains, sister.” Luna, once seen Shining leave and slam the door to the throne room closed.

“And they won’t get to Twilight. I will have guards guarding her night and day, and even should they manage to get close, my Student will never betray me! Never!” Celestia answered.

“Then what’s left is finding the Thieves and retrieve the other Element Bearers. With your permission, I too will start organizing my own soldiers to capture those Phantom Thieves. Good day, Tia.” Luna declared before marching out of the room herself.

"Good day to you too, Lulu." Celestia answered, sighing in frustration.

"..."

"..."

“This world belongs to me. Soon all of you will join me.” Celestia, once alone, uttered with a distorted metallic voice and a malevolent diabolic grin on her face.

That mysterious Entity had finally ran-out of patience, hoping for the Palaces to kill the Phantom Thieves won’t be enough anymore, it will soon take care personally of them!

Meanwhile – with the Phantom Thieves – flying ship -

“To our new member! To Jewel!” Ryuji said with a wide smile while rising his glass.

“TO JEWEL!” the other Phantom Thieves answered as one.

“Oh, Gosh! You’ll make me blush now!” Rarity answered with an elegant laugh, she had even created a fake mask like her Phantom Thief one to match the Human teens with them.

“Tch! I was supposed to join them! I am just too cool to not get a Persona!” Dash grumbled in annoyance.

“Not now, Dashie! We have to focus on Twilight now!” Pinkie answered.

“She is right, there is only Twilight left, then we’ll be all back together.” Fluttershy added.

“We’ll save her too, promise.” Akira assured them with a tiny smile.

“Please do, I want Twi back.” Spike begged with a sigh.

“Have no fear, we’ll save her.” Makoto promised.

Somewhere in the Pony Side of the Barrier – secret lab -

“More knowledge...I must know everything…” Twilight muttered alone to herself while studying the struggling ponies in the cages in front of her with the dark rings around her eyes accentuating her clear lack of sanity in them.

Either Converted of normal Ponies, all of them instinctively recoiled away from her to avoid attracting the attention of the Mad Scientist and the newly-installed huge collection of shiny and sharp surgical instruments behind her.

Extra: This is what inspired me for Nightmare Rarity Phase 1

Extra: And this is what inspired me for Nightmare Rarity Phase 2

Chapter 18: Twilight's Palace: Knowledge above all else...

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 19: The Scientist of Depravity! Horror beyond Reason, Science beyond Insanity!

Author's Note

I am truly sorry for the long wait! besides Real Life and my Job getting in the way, there were many issues at play that stopped me from updating.

On a lighter note, one of the "Nicest" reasons as to why I took so long is that I found a new source of Inspiration for the upcoming fights and Plot development. You will find more details at the end of the story.
Thank you all so much for still reading my story! and a BIG SHout-out to my Bro Draco, still a source of laughs, damn good ideas, Bro-feelings and support! THANK YOU! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own MLP or Persona/SHin Megami Tensei.

This is a work of fiction made not for profit, but for passion, please support the official release!

Chapter 19: The Scientist of Depravity! Horror beyond Reason, Science beyond Insanity!

Twilight’s Palace – Entrance Hall

The Hospital-Themed Palace was eerily silent, the only noise was the creaking of wheels, specifically of the wheels of the roller-blades worn by the Shadows dressed like nurses that were tirelessly patrolling the corridors.

Everywhere one looked there was filth littering the floor, not just yellowed pieces of paper, but empty blood sacks and catheters as well, abandoned wheelchairs and temporary beds succumbing to rust and falling apart, tiles that had long since detached from the walls and crashed to pieces on the floor and much more, there was such a thick layer of dust everywhere, even those pieces of tiles could not be discerned from the floor proper. The rotten wooden doors to the various rooms as well more often than not were absent or just hanging precariously from a single hinge and ready to collapse on the floor.

The air was practically saturated in the stench of old blood, disinfectant, ammonia and various other chemicals, so much each breath made one’s nose burn as if corrosive.

As one of the Shadow Nurses rolled past an empty room in complete silence, from behind a duo of rusted beds resting on their sides Makoto’s head peeked out for an instant to make sure the coast was clear.

“Another close call. This place is abandoned, but the Shadows are aplenty.” she admitted, grimacing.

“We need to go deeper inside, this place develops downward into underground floors instead of up towards the sky, it’s a true underground complex.” Yusuke answered.

“Do you think it has to do with some kind of symbolism or it’s just a matter of security?” Ann asked, her voice coming as a whisper from Makoto’s phone.

“I would like to have an answer, but with Palaces the difference is never that cut and dry,” Yusuke answered.

“Why Nurses with roller-blades?” Akira asked.

“For the same reason they all talk with Twilight’s voice...I don’t know.” Makoto answered.

“Twilight needs help fast, I can’t believe Corruption and Distortion turned her Heart into this horrible thing!” Rarity said.

“Believe it or not, this is not the worst Palace we have seen,” Haru answered, sighing.

“We are moving towards the elevators, you?” Morgana asked.

“We’re coming, we’re coming.” Ryuji answered.

Beside the ample main room, two long corridors moved in opposite directions leading to a long series of rooms, with the double doors once probably stopping unauthorized people from entering left open and covered in rust, in the middle of the hall there was a giant statue of Celestia made in pure gold that doubled as a fountain, although the water that poured out of the mare’s back to mimic her wings was a putrid-looking black, giving the impression the statue itself cried black tears from the few drops falling on the thing’s eyes.

At the opposite side from the entrance, right next to a big desk, there was a wide metallic door with a faded ‘Elevator’ plaque hanging on top of it slanted on a side; once sure no other nurse Shadows were around, the Phantom Thieves moved stealthily towards that lone big metallic door.

“We are all here, good.” Yusuke said in relief once everybody regrouped.

“From the lack of any real threat, I can only guess the bulk of Twilight’s defenses will be on the lower floors. You ready?” Morgana answered.

“I believe we all are. Call the thing, Fox.” Makoto answered once sure everybody nodded.

“Immediately.” Yusuke answered, pushing the lone button next to the door.

Trrororororororororororororo!...Clang!

“Jeez, this place needs some maintenance.” Ryuji said with a grimace, the elevator had reached them on the notes of sharp and loud clanging notes of badly kept cogs and wires that made the teens’ skin crawl.

“I can’t believe somebody as meticulous as Twilight can turn into such a being of degradation.” Haru added, saddened.

“Not really.” Rarity admitted while they all boarded the thing.

“Uh?”

“It is often Claws (Spike) that keeps things around Twilight clean as she works, she tends to ignore everything around her if the research she is going through grabs her full attention. I guess this Palace brought it to extreme levels, meaning that the area closest to the Treasure will be in pristine conditions while all the rest is left to rust.” the mare said.

“Hn, makes kind of sense.” Ryuji admitted.

“...There is only one button.” Akira commented dryly.

“What do you mean?” Ann asked, confused.

“All the others are busted, we can only go to sub-level 3. To go lower we’ll need another elevator.” the PT Leader answered, pointing at the dozen broken or missing buttons on the panel and at the only one lighted up.

“...Of course, God forbid we can go straight to the Treasure…” Makoto muttered, grumbling.

“Better than nothing, let’s go.” Morgana answered.

“Okay.”

Sub Level 3 -

When the doors finally opened, Ann and Rarity promptly threw-up on the floor out of sheer disgust, and the others looked very close at imitating them.

The smell of death was overpowering, along the spots of dried-up blood now acting as actual paint on the wall creating patterns of reddish-brown splashes, along the walls of the main corridor they saw beds covered by a dark-red sludge vaguely pony or human shaped slowly dripping on the floor.

“Rotten corpses...Ngh...Several parts are missing.” Yusuke informed them, face ashen and voice broken by gags of revulsion.

“S-Spare me the details, dude. I beg you.” Ryuji whispered, he was steadfastly looking straight down on the floor, the lesser evil of the scene.

Each step they took produced a wet schlop-schlop! noise due to the puddles of rotten matter being semi-solid in nature, enough to feel like their shoes were getting glued to the floor, Akira had started carrying Rarity on his back as soon as he noticed, so to at least spare her the feeling of walking there barefoot. Morgana instead was floating in the air thanks to the Unicorn’s Magic lifting him up.

“Much appreciated, Jewel.”

“Think nothing of it, Mona. I must thank you, Joker. I-I don’t want to think what it would have felt walking on that...” Rarity muttered with a small voice filled in gratefulness.

“It’s okay, you don’t have shoes, somebody had to carry you.” he answered.

“God, feels like walking on glue…” Ryuji gagged.

“No details, Skull! Please!” Haru begged, eyes closed shut and relying on Yusuke to walk forward.

“That way, there is some sort of lab that looks clean, with part of the corridor having collapsed, we can pass through that to move around the debris.” Futaba, she too forced to follow the group inside on foot instead of her Persona, suggested.

“Yes please, before I vomit again…” Ann’s answer came as strained, something that had the others hurry to enter from the only clean door in the entire hellish corridor, even if with how caked were the walls in gore, the Phantom Thieves could not tell if there were other doors beside that one.

Lab -

The sterile-clean room was the complete opposite of the nightmare corridor outside, everything was clean and proper, with tables littered in dusty notes, microscopes still with their dishes on and every wall covered in shelves filled in glass containers of yellowed liquid, and floating in there, organs and body parts of either Human or Pony origins. In the most horrid case, there were also jars big enough to have entire severed pony heads floating in there.

“...T-T-Those heads are blinking!” Rarity shrieked.

“Yes, I noticed.” Morgana answered, sighing.

“They are looking at me, Mona! They blink!” the mare said.

“Yes, Jewel, that is normal for a Palace.”

“There are severed Pony Heads half rotten and looking at me from inside glass jars, Mona! That is not normal!”

“Just ignore them, Jewel.” Makoto said with a detached tone.

“What do you...Oh…” it was then that Rarity noticed how her fellow Phantom Thieves were all looking straight ahead towards the door, not even sparing a glance everywhere else.

"At least I am not the only one weirded-out by this whole situation!" the mare thought in relief.

“This way, the door leads to a hall of sort.” Akira said, and opening the doors for the other to walk through.

What they saw was a small hall room with four doors, one made of glass leading to the laboratory they just exited, two leading to two different operating rooms and another, giant and covered in locks, stopping them from going deeper into the complex; curiously metallic tubes connected the two operating rooms after disappearing up to the ceiling, although why that was the case was a mystery since there was a complete lack of light in the area, beside the faint one coming from the lab and the two operating rooms.

“Well, unless when can lockpick all those locks, I say we will be forced to first give a look to those operating rooms,” Yusuke suggested with a thoughtful expression.

“There are no keyholes in there, Inari. The way to unlock them must be another.” Futaba answered.

“Operating rooms it is then...Effing Perfect.” Ryuji said, groaning.

“Left or right?” Akira asked.

“Does it actually matter, Joker?” Morgana answered, sighing.

“…” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves merely shrugged.

“Let’s start with the left one then,” Haru answered...And nobody moved.

“…”

“…”

“...You go, Skull.” Makoto said while pushing her boyfriend forward.

“W-W-Why me?!”

“Please?” she begged, already at wits end since weak against horror-movie-like settings.

“Is she okay?” Rarity asked with a whisper.

“Queen doesn’t do well with abandoned labs, especially the ones that look haunted.” Ann answered.

“Oooh!”

“F-Fine! I’ll go!...Dude come with me…” Ryuji finally said, and then stealing a glance at Akira.

“Bring Inari with you.”

“Actually, as a Leader, you should be the one leading.” Yusuke answered.

“...Traitors.” Joker answered while walking forward, and dragging Ryuji behind himself by the guy’s arm once noticed how he did not start walking as well.

“I was going to walk! I just had an itch in my old leg wound! Honest!”

“Sure.” Akira answered, clearly not believing him at all.

“Go with them, Mona! You are our Healer!” Futaba said.

“ME?!”

“Please? Do it for me!” Ann said with a cutesy voice.

“Do it for me!...That is a low blow, Lady Panther…” the cat muttered while joining the other two.

The three Thieves slowly neared the double doors and stood glues to the side wall, Ryuji and Morgana on the right, Akira on the left.

“Ready?” Joker asked.

“Yeah,” the other two answered while clutching their weapons even too tightly, especially Ryuji that looked ready to start blasting everything in sight with his shotgun.

“On three. One...Two...Three!” Akira said, and on three he kicked the door open and-

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

And watched in dismay as his brave friend and cat companion started immediately firing their guns wildly everywhere in the room while shrieking at a high pitch.

“…”

“…”

“You done?” Akira asked with a very soft groan.

“A-Hem! It is obviously Skull’s fault, he startled me.” Morgana, face completely red, answered with a fake cough to try regain some semblance of composure.

“Bullcrap! You started screaming way before me!” Ryuji hissed in answer.

“That is so not true! You lost control! Not me! I am a professional!”

“Professional my ass!”

“Hey.”

“...Sorry, Joker.” both muttered with downcast eyes.

“I am not angry, just disappointed.” Akira admitted.

“Come on, dude! Don’t be so harsh!” Ryuji said with a dispirited expression.

“I can’t help it, you two still missed the only Shadow in the room,” Akira answered while pointing at the tall Shadow dressed like a surgeon standing right next to the wall the two reduced into Swiss cheese, their wild spray of bullets had apparently missed the thing entirely of barely an inch.

“Oh…” both uttered in surprise.

“Are they okay?” the Shadow asked.

“They will be.” Akira answered.

“Good, now, I believe it’s time for us to fight. I do have three operating tables with your names written on it! Doctor Twilight will love to vivisect you!” The Shadow declared right before its body bloated and exploded into black ichor from which a tall humanoid creature with a black apron, armed with a big hammer and a set of pliers and standing on a single leg emerged.

“COME! Let me tear you apart for my Master to study!” the thing ordered with a roar and pointing at them with the heavy hammer in its hand.

“An Ippon Datara? Please, leave it to me! He will be weak to my Ice attacks!” Yusuke said while joining the fight.

“WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE NOW!?” Ryuji yelled.

“Watching your back.”

“BULLSHIT!”

“Focus!” Akira answered while jumping the Shadow to cross his knife with the thing’s hammer.

“Let me take the lead, Joker! Come, Goemon!” the fox-masked Thief asked while summoning his Persona.

“All yours,” Akira answered, rolling away to avoid getting in the crossfire.

“Don’t run away, coward!” the Shadow hissed.

“I am your opponent now! Bufu!” Yusuke answered, and the ice javelin created by Goemon shoot forward at insane speed to pierce the monster’s shoulder.

“ARGH!” the Shadow hissed in pain at the attack drilling a hole in its shoulder.

“YOU BLASTED INTRUDER! I WILL CRACK YOUR SKULL OPEN!”

“Goemon! Do not betray me now...MABUFU!” Once sure the Shadow was focused only on him, Yusuke used a wide area ice attack on the hopping Shadow to freeze it solid even just for a moment.

“Incoming! Captain Kidd!” Ryuji came right after, his own sledgehammer and the boat rode by his Persona impacting with the frozen Shadow hard enough to send it flying back.

“ARGH!You fools have to chance against the Doctor! Sledgehammer!” the Ippon Datara roared once returned to stand, and with a mighty jump of its single leg it was already upon Yusuke with the sledgehammer in its hand high above its head for a downward slam.

BANG!

“Agk!” Yusuke gurgled in surprise as he barely dodged the attack, and yet watched in horror as the hammer came crashing down on one of the bodies on the beds without a care, even when at the impact a thick burst of blood sprayed-out to turn the cloud covering the corpse's head completely red.

“We’ll collect your organs and put them under culture! We will cut off your limbs and use them to create more workers! We will cut you open! We will experiment on every inch of your body!” the Ippon-Datara roared while swinging around madly its sledgehammer.

“Be quiet.” Akira countered, summoning a Jack Frost to assault the Shadown in Ice attacks that made it shriek in agony.

“Over heeere! Captain Kidd! Zio!” not to be left behind, Ryuji’s own Persona launched a thick lightning spear at the Shadow, making it topple down on the floor.

“LET’S GO!” once seen the thing on the ground, Morgana gave the green light for an All-out Attack of the four.

“ARGH!...Why...Are you...Opposing Doctor Twilight?” The Ippon-Datara hissed with a weak voice.

“Because she is treating everybody as Test Subjects and following the orders of a Megalomaniac, of course we are going to stop her!” Morgana answered.

“Don’t you dare insult the Doctor! Sledgehammer!” the Shadow roared in defiance, and trying once again to use its hammer to crush the Phantom Thieves’ skull open.

“I admire your loyalty, too bad it is reserved to a soulless monster! Goemon! Bufuia!” Yusuke answered with an honest praise, but then followed-up with his Persona summoning a quartet of giant ice javelins that pierced the Shadow in the chest and then burst to pieces, launching it on the ground once again.

“Hold up.” It was the that Akira moved closer to point his gun at the Shadow’s forehead.

“You...What do you want?” the Shadow spat.

“Either an object or you joining us.” he answered.

“You got guts, boy! Why should I follow you when I was having it great with Doctor Twilight? I got all the people I want to crack open!”

“...Follow us and I will let you fight often.” Akira tried offering.

“...Often?” the Shadow repeated, leaning closer.

“All the Shadows you want to hammer down.”

“Oh! Hell yeah! I am all for it!...WAIT! I remember! I am not a Shadow, I am a Ippon-Datara!That’s it! I’ll join you, my hammer will turn your enemies into beautiful nails, Haha!” the Ippon-Datara declared with a smug voice before its body broke into sparks of light and entered Akira’s mask.

“Okay, he actually joined us, that not too bad.” Ann admitted with an elated sigh once seen the battle being over.

“Happy to see you others join as well, cowards!” Ryuji answered, harrumphing.

“We lost our cool for a bit, but we are back now. Don’t sweat it.” Panther answered, waving him off.

“So? What do we have?” Haru asked.

“A dozen beds, all occupied by ponies.” Akira answered once checked under the yellowed white cloths covering the still ponies lying on the beds.

In the ample room there were a dozen similar beds, all covered by cloths adorned by a hole in the middle from which a tube connected the ponies to a system of similar tubes covering the ceiling in its entirety and then converging outside in the main room where they disappeared upward towards the ceiling. Only the silhouette drawn by the cloth clinging to the bodies helped recognize the ones filling the beds as ponies.

“What kind of operating room is this?” Rarity asked while looking at the flickering lights above them and at the spiderweb of tubes.

“...One where Twilight has removed ponies’ Hearts.” Akira said with a tense tone once peeked under one of the cloths.

“...What?” Makoto asked with a very small voice and a whimper.

“Their chest has been opened and their heart removed, she then shoved that tube in its place.” Akira answered, and even he had to become slightly green on his face at that.

“What?!” Rarity shrieked.

“All of them...Such brutality.” Yusuke confirmed after taking a glance under another cloth and then looking away right after.

“This is not the work of a surgeon, even butchers are more delicate.” Ryuji confirmed from the bed he too checked, he gave a gag and dropped the cloth before he could puke at the horrid spectacle.

“Why doing such a thing?” Haru asked with tears already wetting her cheeks.

“Twilight would never do this! NEVER! What has happened to her!?” Rarity demanded, she too was bawling her eyes out.

“There is a chance that the Entity behind all of this asked her to run these experiments, and if we are lucky this might uncover some secrets.” Morgana answered while holding a big tape recorder above his head.

“An Audio log?” Ann asked.

“Very likely.” the cat answered, putting the thing on the ground in the middle of the group.

“Let’s hear it.” Akira said.

“Yes...You ready?” Morgana asked, and getting a shaken nod from the other Phantom Thieves.

“Okay.”

Audio Log 22. Fifth Day of Experimentation.

“It’s Twilight’s voice!” Rarity gasped in shock.

Hearts. It all hangs on Hearts and their Content…

I don’t talk about the veins or the blood either, but on a more Spiritual Level.

SPLOTCH! CRUSH! RIIIIP!

“Oh, God…” Makoto groaned in disgust as the wet noise of Twilight forcing open the rib-cage of her latest test subject with zero mercy echoed in the room.

“What the hell is she doing?” Ryuji muttered, pale as a sheet.

“Don’t...Don’t make me think about it...please…” she begged.

At the end of the day, a Heart is nothing but a complex pump moving blood through the circulatory system...Just like a Brain is nothing but a spongy mass of fat controlling and releasing electric signals, and interpreting similar signals coming from the rest of the body…

SPLAT!

“URGH!” Haru once again emptied her stomach at hearing Twilight bash something open with a wet sound that all of them fervently tried to not recognize as a skull.

Then WHY a Heart and a Brain make us...Us?

If you take out a heart and shove a pump in its place, the Pony or Human still live.

If your switch their organs around, or their limbs, they are still the same Subjects they were at the beginning.

“My God...Her depravity truly knows no bounds…” Yusuke muttered in shocked horror.

“That’s not Twilight...That’s not my friend Twilight…” Rarity sobbed in despair.

Switching brain around does make some change though...But if half the original brain remains an is sewed together with a different half, then comes conflict…

What is Us then? Where does the Soul reside?

“Funny how somebody without a soul pretends to study one.” Makoto hissed in contempt.

“She is in dire need of help before this twisted monstrosity starts affecting the real Twilight too.” Yusuke admitted, grimacing.

“You are treating her as a separate entity?” Rarity said.

“Yeah! Normally we don’t, but this situation is so effed-up we understand that this shit is not forming naturally...So we kind of treat the Shadows we meet in these Palaces like a different pony. Or at least we started doing this after AJ’s Palace.” Ryuji answered with a shrug.

“Oh…”

“Sssh! I think we are finally getting to the good part!” Morgana silenced them.

...Of course this doesn’t mean that this Research they commissioned me was not fruitful for me as well!

While studying “Souls” and “Personality” I also advanced my own studies! The content of a Heart is something that has always fascinated me! Ever since I got access to the Elements of Harmony and saw their effect on the so-called ‘Wicked’.

The Positive that erases the Negative...So against standard, so beautifully against mathematics…

Then I met the Phantom Thieves.

“UH?!”

Their power over Hearts opens the door to many questions, just like Conversion did!

How much of US is actually contained inside the Heart? Is it where the Soul is?

That is why I started removing Hearts, I needed to know how much a Heart influences us!

I heard the Phantom Thieves also targets Desires, I found videos of Calling Cards where they declare their wish to steal them…

Desires…Desires...

Is it what they work on? What they steal from they targets to make them confess?

Is Conversion a similar power? Manipulating or erasing Desires? Is that why New-Foals become so Empty?

They either say ‘Steal your Heart’ or ‘Steal the Desires’...Are they two different things?

Content and container?

I need to learn more...Tomorrow I will move to the next step and operate on myself…

“…” when the recording finally came to an end there was a stricken silence inside the room, nobody actually knew what to say. Until Ryuji decided to break that silence.

“What’s that shit about operating on herself?!” he asked.

“The last of a long series of wrongs we just heard,” Haru answered, still looking jittery from her puking fit.

“To say the least. Okay, we need to analyze this room, there must be a way for us to unlock that door.” Futaba answered.

“Look everywhere.” Akira said while starting looking inside every cabinet in the room.

“Okay!” the others answered.

“The beds are connected to cables leading to a control panel,” Yusuke said once followed every cable connected to the bed back to a corner of the room.

“What kind of control panel?” Futaba asked while nearing him.

“These look like dials controlling pressure. Is it for the bed?” he answered.

“Urgh! No, those are for the ponies, the cables are connected to the pump that psycho shoved in place of their Hearts! Cough!” Ryuji answered once stolen a look again under the cloth covering the ponies on the beds, and coughing in disgust at the stench.

“If this panel controls blood pumps, then where does that blood go?” Futaba asked aloud.

“...We need to check the other room.” Akira said after a long silence.

“Do we have to?” Makoto asked with a tone of defeat, it was clear she did not want to stay in that Palace.

“Be strong, Queen! We are together in this!” Ann answered.

“Right! Let’s go…The sooner we do this, the better.” the woman replied.

“Leave everything as it is, once checked the other room we will see if we need to turn anything on,” Akira said.

“Okay!” Futaba answered.

What they found in the adjacent room, beside another Ippon Datara waiting to fight them, was the same dozen bed, this time though occupied by humans, and the girls were understandably against the idea of entering, but pushed through to not leave their friends alone.

“So we have ponies on a side, and humans on the other, all victims Twilight operated on to remove their hearts to study them.” Makoto declared once found the same control panel managing the pumps inside every human’s chest.

“I guess this is meant to represent Twilight’s interest in discovering if there are intrinsic differences between a Human heart and a Pony heart, twisted as it may be while inside a Palace.” Yusuke guessed, humming.

“The fact remains that discovering where that blood goes is probably what we need to unlock that door,” Futaba answered.

“There is a computer controlling the two systems of tubes, should we try that?” Rarity suggested.

“Leave it to me!” the Hacker answered, taking a near chair and sitting in front of the monitor of the control panel.

“…”

“...So?” Ann asked once seen their friend look at the screen with her eyebrows up to her hairline.

“...I don’t understand a word of what is in there.” Futaba admitted, fingers still hovering unmoving over the keyboard.

“What? Since when? You are the group’s Effing Hacker!” Ryuji yelled in shock.

“I am a Hacker that works in English! Not gibberish! There isn’t a single letter I recognize in there!” Futaba roared back in answer.

“Gibberish?” Akira asked while studying the monitor.

“Yeah! See? That’s not a Language I know! And I know plenty!” Futaba said with a whine.

“...That’s Equestrian.” Rarity said while rising a hoof.

“UH?!” the other Thieves answered.

“But you people speak English!” Ann said.

“Or Japanese, thanks to some Magic mumbo-jumbo you others can use.” Ryuji added.

“Well, yes, surprisingly our Equestrian and your English sound eerily similar, but have you actually saw our writing to make a comparison?” Rarity asked.

“No?” Akira asked.

“Nope!” Ryuji answered.

“Never saw any of that,” Yusuke admitted.

“I heard my sister talk about coded messages the Army intercepted, but I guess those were written in code using their original alphabet too,” Makoto answered, sighing.

“Maybe they used our own Alphabet for their propaganda pamphlets to make it easier for us to read, hence why we never saw a real Equestrian text.” Haru said.

“So we need Jewel to hack that computer? Or to help Navi do that?” Yusuke asked.

“Inari, Hacking is a complex matter, I can’t teach it to her in a matter of minutes! It is also about speed so she can’t translate for me on the fly either!” Futaba answered with a distraught groan.

“And I guess asking you to learn Equestrian is out of the question too?” Ann asked.

“Nyeeeeeeh!...I am smart, but I can’t learn an entire new Language in an instant…” Futaba answered, deflating in defeat.

“We barely found a secret room before the elevators...We are one single safe room in...And we already hit a roadblock…” Morgana muttered with a low meowing of despair.

“If this was the real world I could have tried writing a program that translates Equestrian to Human English, but that doesn’t mean it could actually work well with coding either, but since I can’t bring here with me a laptop, that is a moot point to begin with.” Futaba muttered with her head lolling back and forth boneless.

“Let’s get back to the base, we will secure something out.” Makoto suggested.

“Yeah, we will try asking for help to the others too.” Haru answered.

“…”

“Dude?” Ryuji asked once seen their friend and Leader’s thoughtful expression.

“...I have an idea.” Akira finally answered while walking out, back towards the Safe Room to leave the Palace.

“An idea?” Rarity asked.

“Don’t know,” Ann answered, helpless.

Real World – Flying Ship Phantom Thieves HQ -

Once returned, and debriefed their pony friends of the situation, and sadly discovering that unless a Pony had a Cutie Mark about Hacking finding help will be next to impossible, they all watched Akira pace around the ship while checking the contact in his phone.

“Who is he looking for?” Fluttershy asked.

“He didn’t say,” Yusuke answered, sighing.

“He mentioned it being an old friend, nothing more.” Ryuji added.

“Silent Characters are a pain in the flank! And he is a Real Life one!” Dash answered, grumbling.

“It is endearing...Except times like this where it isn’t,” Ann answered, sighing.

“Ah-ha.” amusingly, Akira’s small hum of victory sounded extremely monotonous, but by the mischievous glint his friends saw flash in his eyes, they all knew he heard them and did it just to annoy them.

“Hardy-har-har!” AJ replied, rolling her eyes.

“...Helllloooooooo! Glad to see you alive! Or, well, HEAR you alive! How are you?” the female voice that came from the phone once put on speaker made the Phantom Thieves jump in shock.

“NO EFFING WAY! YOU GOT HER NUMBER?!” Ryuji shrieked with bulged-out eyes.

“Just in case.”

“Oh! I am on speaker! And the others are there too! HIIII! I heard you are back on business so I was actually waiting your call!” the woman answered, still cheerful.

“OH-OH-OH! Joker is on the line!? HI JOKER!” a second voice was heard from the call.

“SOPHIE!” the Teens yelled as one, and one could almost physically see the happiness they all shared at hearing that second voice.

“You were waiting?” Akira asked.

“Uh-hu! Ever since the first Calling Card was delivered I IMMEDIATELY started upgrading Sophia to help you! I planned to send her to help, but finding you was surprisingly hard, you are hiding well! Is it because of Oracle?”

“It’s Navi, Ichinose.” Futaba said, annoyed.

“Navi, Oracle. Does it really make a difference?” Kuon answered, amused.

“Depends on the localization,” Pinkie answered, cheekily.

“Not now, Pinkie.” Rarity answered with a groan.

“We have been hiding, yes. What do you mean with Upgrading Sophie?” Akira asked.

“Sophie? AH YES! You said to use Code names only in your message! Yes, you see, as a way to apologize to her, I improved a bit her code using what I learned from EMMA’s bout of God-Complex, her computing ability is now WAAAAAAAY higher than before! Same going for fighting power!” Ichinose said in pride, with Sophie’s giggle echoing in the background.

“I can help my friends even better now!” the girl added.

“...But?” Akira asked with an ice-cold tone.

“Aww! Don’t be like that! I learned my lesson! I changed nothing of her! She is still the Sophie she was when we parted ways, I just upgraded some minor things to round the edges, I swear on my life!”

“...Okay.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence! So? What did you need to ask?” Ichinose asked.

“Can Sophie learn an entire new Language? In a matter of minutes?” Akira asked.

“Minutes? I can do it in seconds, Joker! Do you want me to?” Sophie asked.

“If possible. Do you also know how to hack into a computer?”

“I can teach her no problem, just five minutes and she will become a Pro!” the scientist answered, proudly.

“Then please do so, we need to hack two computers inside a Palace, but they are coded in Equestrian, it sounds and works similar to English, but it’s written in another Alphabet.” Akira explained.

“Amazing! A different alphabet and Language that evolves to become similar enough to one of ours to be still usable between our two races, that’s so fascinating! Give me ten minutes to find enough data in Equestrian to extrapolate their language and Sophie will be ready, then I will send her to you!” Ichinose answered,

“She can do that?” AJ whispered.

“She can, she is super smart like me...So this is what it feels like to have a machine steal your job…” Futaba muttered, dejected.

“I am not stealing your job, Navi! I am your friend, we can do this together!” Sophie answered immediately and with a distraught tone.

“Okay, that makes me feel better.” the girl replied.

“We have a safe haven our friends are building in an island offshore, some ponies are also helping us keeping them safe, we can send them to collect you if you want,” Haru offered.

“OH! Please do, I am veeery scared lately, that barrier is getting super close to where I am hiding, so a new safe hideout would be very appreciated to avoid death by disintegration,” Ichinose answered, still sounding amused and happy.

“This is the part where the smile drops and you start panicking, Ichinose.” Makoto said, sighing.

“Oh...I need to work a bit more on this…” the woman admitted, finally sounding a bit more somber.

“She is learning to express her emotions after an entire life of people convincing her she didn’t have any,” Ryuji explained with a whisper.

“Oooh!” the ponies whispered in chorus.

“I am Tempest, tell us where you are and we will send somepony to take you to our small island.” Tempest said.

“Thank youuu! Just a moment to update Sophie and I will be ready, I will send the coordinates to Joker’s phone in the meantime! Ta-ta!” Ichinose answered, closing the call right after.

“She is very strange,” AJ admitted.

“But a great friend, Sophie will help us with the computers,” Akira said.

“She must be very smart to learn a Language in a matter of minutes,” Spike said.

“She is an artificial intelligence, she can do that!” Futaba answered, smirking.

“And Humanity’s Companion.” Akira added with a small smile.

“An Artificial Intelligence?” Fluttershy asked.

“Basically an artificially-created human being, she was only a machine before knowing us, after a long adventure she learned what a Human Heart was and unlocked a Persona once discovered her own path. She is now literally as much human as we others.” Ann explained.

“She developed her own Heart and soul, she is now her own person, not a doll anymore.” Makoto added.

“...Twilight will freak out once she knows her,” Dash said.

“I know I did!” Futaba answered, laughing.

“And her Shadow will hate Sophie’s guts,” Ryuji said in dismay.

“Uh?”

“Sophie, an artificial human, learned what a Heart was and created, or discovered, her own. That Psycho in the Palace is so desperate to learn what a Heart is she is carving ponies and humans by the dozen and doing who knows what other shit and she can’t discover a thing. She will HATE Sophie for learning whatever secret bullshit she is looking for and can’t get her hooves on instead,” the blond punk explained.

“Oh...Oh Shit…” surprisingly, it was Haru of all people to mutter that.

“We will keep Sophie safe, don’t worry.” Rarity answered.

“Good, let’s organize Ichinose’s recovery then we will go to the Palace again.” Joker suggested.

“I will start immediately,” Tempest answered with a nod.

Meanwhile – Human side of the Barrier – Sapporo -

A car was speeding through the empty streets while being chased by Pegasus soldiers, the engine roaring like a beast as the driver pushed it to the limits and then some, uncaring of how many street rules he was breaking, with his life and the life of his daughter on the line, he just didn’t give a crap about those, especially on a deserted road.

“Dad!” the girl in the back seat said in fear.

“It’s okay, Akane! Dad will protect you! I did it once, and I will do it again! Always!” the officer answered with fierce eyes worthy of a true PapaWolf.

“Stop! In the name of Celestia!” an Earth Pony tried jumping in front of the car to stop him.

“MOOOOOOOVE!” the guy’s answer was not slowing down, but roaring like a beast and pushing on the accelerator for all that was worth and ramming the stallion full speed, he did not spare the flying pony behind him a glance as he took a daring turn on a side street.

“Is...Is he dead?” the kid, Akane, asked with a trembling voice.

“...He is getting up, Earth Ponies are the though guys of their group, he will be out of the fight for a while, but he will live.” he answered once briefly seen the guy he ran over get up…

He did not mention the pony falling back down on the floor because the impact destroyed the stallion’s front legs, little Akane didn’t need to imagine the scarring scene.

“Calling Cards...Calling Cards...They are back for real and they are again making a difference...Where did I put that number...Goddamnit why changing phones always means trouble?!” the man hissed while fishing his phone from a pocket.

“Dad?”

“I am calling a friend...Or a friend’s friend since I lost the former’s number.” the man answered, dialing a secondary number and actually whooping in happiness once heard the woman on the other side pick-up.

“Nijima-san?”

“Holy! You are alive too?!”

“Yeah, me and Akane, even if barely. I had to escape our place before the Barrier covered it and we are being chased by those damn ponies!” he answered.

“Where are you now?”

“Sapporo, been hiding here for a while, but even this place is compromised now! Even Akane’s own grandparents tried Converting her by force once so I can’t go to them either!”

“I see. I have a contact between a group of ponies that are actually fighting against Conversion, send me your coordinates, I will see if they can collect you two and take you to us, we have a safe haven still far from the Barrier.”

“THANK GOD! I’ll do it immediately! Also, do you have Kurusu’s number? I had to change phone and I lost few contacts,” he said with an overly-elated tone.

“You’ll join them!? Okay, I will send you the number immediately, you be careful.”

“So you know, eh? Not surprised. Don’t worry, I will be careful and protect Akane, promise.” he answered, closing the call.

“Dad? What is happening? Why you need Akira-san’s number?” Akane asked.

“EH! There is a tiiiiny little secret dad did not tell you, but it’s a surprise, you will totally freak-out! I know I did!” he answered, finally returning to smile.

Later that day – Twilight’s Palace Safe Room -

Having met the strange scientist and got Sophie downloaded again inside Akira’s Phone, under the confused looks of the ponies, the Phantom Thieves once again entered Twilight’s Palace.

“How can somepony help you from the phone?” Rarity asked once they finished fading into being inside the hellish abandoned hospital.

“I am not inside Joker’s phone all the time! I have a body in the Metaverse!” the new group member answered.

“GOOD HEAVENS!” the poor mare shrieked in fear at the sudden appearance.

“SOPHIEEEEEEEE!” Ann and Haru tried glomping the red-haired AI as soon as they saw her, but the girl merely avoided the double hug in a surprising show of agility.

“As I said the first time we met, no Fluffing: I am not a doll or a pet. Thank you!” the girl said with a cheerful smile...While hugging Akira to get her head patted by him.

“WHY HE CAN DO THAT THEEEEEEN?!” Ann asked with a long whine.

“Joker was my first friend and the one that helped me the most to learn what a Heart is and in developing mine. And as the Leader of the Phantom Thieves, I can concede him some fluffing from time to time.” Sophie answered, nonplussed.

“Thank you for the concession,” Akira answered, still patting the short girl’s head.

Pat! Pat! FLUUUUF!

“NGH!” the girls of the group were obviously not jealous of the preferential treatment. Not at all. Absolutely.

“Eh! So salty!” Ryuji said, smirking.

“Indeed being a Leader has its perks,” Yusuke added, smiling mischievously as well.

“SHUDDUP!” the girls of the group, Rarity comprised, yelled as one.

“We are wasting time, let’s go!” It was Morgana’s words to recall things back to business, making the Thieves nod and follow him to the Elevator to descend once again.

“I have memorized your real name, what is your Phantom Thief Codename, though?” Sophie asked, curious.

“I go as Jewel when in a Palace, Sophie.” Rarity answered.

“Jewel. Okay, I memorized it!”

“Here comes the hell corridor…” Ryuji warned them with a grimace.

“R-R-Right! Ready!” Ann replied while immediately latching to Akira’s arm and closing her eyes tight.

Ding! Even the sound of the doors opening was distorted and creepy, but of course the horrible stench and state of that corridor was still enough o gain the Phantom Thieves undivided attention even after seeing it once already.

“Here we ar-”

BOOOOOOOM!

It was sudden, but a loud explosion could be faintly heard coming from deep underground, several floors under their feet, but the Phantom Thieves still felt the entire Palace shock as alarms started blaring left and right, along a recording of Twilight’s voice relying the same message over and over.

Containment Breach! All personnel be advised!

The Fears Have escaped containment!

This is not a Simulation!

Containment Breach! All personnel be advised!

“Containment?” Akira asked aloud.

“Fears?” Rarity added.

“What the EFF?!” Ryuji, eloquently, summarized.

“Something altered Twilight’s cognition deep enough the Palace has been thrown in shambles! What happened?!” Morgana asked with wide eyes.

“A traumatic event?” Sophie asked, she was the only one not showing any reaction to the entire thing.

“A very big one, the entire Palace is still shaking.” Makoto answered, nervous.

“What can have happened to shake Twilight so much?” Haru asked.

Real World – Secret Lab in the hospital’s lowest floor - With Twilight -

The explosion the Phantom Thieves heard and felt as not a mere metaphor of what Twilight was feeling, but an apt description of the intense feeling of fear that had flooded the mare’s psyche as soon as she got delivered a catastrophic news from a soldier.

“An entire train...AN ENTIRE TRAIN GONE!” the sleep-deprived mare shrieked in horror while pacing back and forth in her lab, alone.

While she was the one responsible for the Conversion Serum’s creation, the bulk of the production was still located in Equestria as an added security measure, or that was the idea since neither she or Celestia believed they would have had enemies on pony’s soil against the Conversion of Humanity into ponykind.

That turned-out to be wishful thinking as Twilight had just been informed that the biggest load of Conversion Formula they ever produced, having finally perfected the thing in a manner that permitted them to produce it in bulk, had just went up in smoke as the giant train that was supposed to transport it from the lab in Equestria to the floating Island housing Celestia’s castle in the human world had been intercepted even before it could leave their home planet.

And had she known that it was a combined effort of her ‘Friends’ Zecora, BigMacintosh and HER OWN FATHER that caused the train to derail and the entire cargo to burn to a crisp, the mad-scientist ‘Princess of Friendship’ would have snapped for real, and maybe used the culprits for the foulest experiments she was still unwilling to perform. For now.

As it stood though, for now her biggest issue was the obvious, and in her mind justified, anger Celestia will almost certainly unleash on her for the disaster that befell on the delivery Twilight herself planned for, a deep-rooted fear of failure that had forcefully resurrected Twilight’s insecurities she had barely managed to bury deep in her subconscious, and that the mixture of Corruption and Distortion possessing her that was more than eager to push those fears back out to the front of her mind.

“Oh nonononono! This can’t be happening! This is propaganda! Lies! We can’t have lost several thousand doses of Potion! This will push back our schedule of weeks! Conversion is supposed to happen faster, not slower! But how?! Shining gave me his most trusted soldiers! I studied the entire track to find the perfect window of time where delivery would have bee missed by those Naysayers! Even the track was guarded!...THE BRIDGE! The train was supposed to pass on a suspended bridge and I had no pegasi to put there so it was the only unguarded point! How could I not think of that?! I am a failure! A failure! A failure!” the mare yelled to herself with wide, bloodshot eyes while working herself in a downward spiral of worry and anger, the first two emotions she had actually felt in a long time after moving to her new lab.

She was feeling it again!

The Fear of Failure!

The Fear of Judgment!

And the biggest of them all, her Fear of Abandonment once everybody will know how useless she was in truth...

And deep inside her Heart, the Palace reacted to her change of Perception.

Inside the Palace -

Having finally returned to the two horrid operating rooms, the Phantom Thieves were relieved to hear the sirens of that strange alarm stop ringing along the recording of Twilight’s voice stop being broadcast over and over, everything was once again under a blanked of oppressive and sinister silence.

“It stopped. Maybe they fixed everything?” Ann asked.

“Unlikely, I believe Twilight would have issued a message about the situation having been dealt with, otherwise.” Yusuke answered.

“We will keep our eyes open then. How are things going, Navi?” Morgana answered.

“We should be able to hack it! Even if written in Equestrian, it still follows our “rules” about programming. I guess that even if Twilight’s cognition means her original alphabet is used, she is still subconsciously tied to OUR OWN rules of programming. What about you, Sophie?”

“Hacking is going smoothly! The terminals are actually connected so I can interact with both at the same time from this one, I am now unlocking everything and taking control of the pumping system!” the AI Girl answered while her fingers flew on the keyboard under Futaba’s watchful eyes and supervision.

Prororororororororororo!

Once the last command was issued, the pumps of both operating rooms started working at the same time at an alternate rhythm, and with it, the lights in the main room outside too went turned on.

Ba-dump...Ba-dump...Ba-dump…

What soon followed thought was a loud and sinister heartbeat coming from right outside the operating room.

“What is happening now?” Makoto asked in dread.

“It sounds like a heartbeat! A loud one!” Haru answered.

“We better go check,” Ryuji suggested.

“Indeed, we may be forced to fight our way through that door now that we did unlock it.” Yusuke added.

What the Phantom Thieves found once run in front of the chained door was a giant heart dangling from the ceiling, and no matter the chains nailed and tied haphazardly around it, the thing kept beating normally thanks from the blood coming from the two operating rooms now acting as a closed circuit thanks to the giant, half-rotten organ, one big enough four people could hardly wrap their arms around it.

“WHAT IS THAT?!” Makoto asked with a shriek.

“By the shape, that is a horse heart. By the data I acquired from the computers, Twilight’s, to be precise.” Sophie answered, still unfazed.

“THAT IS TWILIGHT’S HEART?!” Rarity bellowed in horror.

“What Twilight sees it as,” Morgana answered.

“So she treats her heart as a mere pump?” Yusuke asked.

Tlack!

“Uhn?” Akira muttered, curious.

Tlack! Tlack! Tlack! Tlack!…

One after another, the various locks slowly started opening by themselves, letting the chains fall on on the floor one after another.

“Everything seems to be part of Twilight’s Experiments. She is studying Hearts and used her own as well. She removed it and used it as a lock to stop intruders from accessing her underground laboratory.” Sophie explained.

“Of course, only she can access those terminals normally to gain access through the door, so that and using her own heart as a lock must feel like the best security system,” Futaba answered.

“Or maybe this is just another metaphor.” Yusuke suggested.

“How many times we heard how secrets are hidden deep into our hearts? The real us, our real fears, desires and dreams. All hidden where nobody can see them: behind the Lock of our Heart. I guess this is literal inside a Palace, but the feeling remain,”

“...You know? I finally get the appeal of having a certified Artist in our group.” Ryuji admitted, smirking, just as the last lock finally went undone.

“Ah! You mean that up until now you harbored doubts?!” Yusuke asked with a hurtful expression.

“Nah! Of course not! I am glad to have a friend to face this with!”

“Oh, thank you! The feeling is-”

“I am just awed whenever your fixation actually is useful inside Palaces too!”

“Mine is not a fixation! I am a lover of fine arts!”

“Enough arguing, kids. We have a Treasure to find.” Morgana said while rolling his eyes, and luckily stopping the two from arguing.

When the final lock fell, the doors slowly opened by themselves, creaking and whining thanks to the hinges being completely covered in rust.

“What’s important is that we can now access Twilight’s actual laboratory, and this means her Treasure is actually getting closer!” Haru declared.

When they were about to pass through the door, a massive Shadow in riot gear and actually carrying an over-sized RPG appeared in front of them.

“Intruders! I won’t let you break into Doctor Twilight’s secret lab! I will destroy you!” the Shadow roared.

“Bring it, Asshole!” Ryuji answered.

“You will peri-GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the Shadow’s answer went cut short when a shapeless blob of white wax-like goo former a spear and pierced its chest, and under the horrified eyes of the Phantom Thieves a tall, barely humanoid mass of white goo shredded it to pieces.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” Makoto yelled.

The thing was now looking at them with four read beady eyes barely surfacing from under the melted wax-like goo the thing was entirely made of, and whatever that thing was, it was now looking straight at the Thieves while opening a dripping hole acting as a mouth.

“You are a disappointment…” the thing gurgled-out, slithering towards the Phantom Thieves and creating tentacles on its back to force the door open enough for it to pass through.

“You. Are. A FAILUUUUURE!” the monster then gave a deafening roar and actually pulled both wings of the door off their hinges to throw them away in a fit of rage.

“It wants to fight,” Akira said with clenched teeth.

“And we’ll make it happy!” Morgana answered.

“You fail at everything! You do nothing right! And for this, you will dieee!”The strange Monster howled in insane fury, now with each tentacle on its slug-like body hardening on the tips to form extremely sharp hooks and spearheads.

“Its power the real deal, it won't be easy! Get ready!” Futaba warned them just as they all took position.

The fight against Twilight’s Fear of Failure was about to begin!

I will close it here for now, a bit of cliffhanger.

Just because, to be evil.

As you saw, the reason why I took so long to update was not just a moment of lack of ideas, but also because I finally got around to play Persona 5 Strikers, and as a good Bro of mine can testify down in the comments, I loved it enough I decided to Update the story and add elements from Strikers too.

Next update should HOPEFULLY not take this long, but with Real Life bitching about my free time, one can never know for certain, and for that, I apologize.

Chapter 20: The Heart of Twilight Palace: Fears and Failed Experiments.

Twilight’s Palace – Underground operating rooms Area -

In the wide area leading to two separated operating rooms, with a giant heart hanging from chains form the ceiling, the Phantom Thieves were fighting for their lives against a monstrosity looking like a mass of living molten wax.

“Nothing you do is useful! Nothing you say is smart! You just waste everybody’s time with your failures!” the thing roared while forming dozen of tentacles from its main body to try and gab the Phantom Thieves.

“Oh! Hi, dad! You here too?” Ann said with a mocking tone while dodging the attack.

“Remind me to punch him when we have done here.” Akira answered, shooting the tentacles trying to grab him and tearing them apart.

“I’ll help!” Ryuji added, and just like Akira, he used his shotgun to blast the tentacles to pieces, only to see the broken particles of the thing move back by themselves to rebuild the appendages.

“Thanks, guys! But my mom already remarried with a WAY BETTER guy!” Ann answered, with her expression turning displeased at seeing the Monster being immune to fire.

“Focus! This thing is regenerating too fast!” Rarity hissed, and needing Haru’s help to dislodge her rapier from deep inside the Fear’s stomach area.

“Immune to fire!” Ann said.

“Lightning does next to nothing!” Ryuji added.

“Wind cuts but this thing heals fast!” Morgana added, watching in dismay the DEEP cuts he and his Persona made close in a matter of seconds.

“Bless seems to work normally, but I register no physical damage because of the Shadow’s semi-liquid body.” Sophia declared.

“This leaves-out Curse and Ice!” Futaba answered.

“AH! Ice works wonderfully!” Makoto answered, she had punched part of the monster that Yusuke had frozen solid hard enough the frozen area exploded, but even after that, the Fear did not regenerate nor recovered the lost mass.

“This means you and Joker will be the front-line fighters! Let’s go!” Haru answered.

From there, they fell into a sort of rhythm, Akira or Yusuke would summon their Persona and pelter the thing in Ice attacks until the thing froze, followed by the more heavy hitters, like Ryuji, Makoto and Haru, zeroing on the weakened part to smash it to pieces.

“You do nothing right! You make everything difficult! Why you must be such a waste of space! Failure! Failure! Failure!” The Fear roared deafeningly.

“Hi, uncle. Glad to see you here too.” Haru answered, rolling her eyes.

“Do you all have family issues?!” Rarity asked, appalled.

“...Yeah, pretty much. Among other problems.” Ryuji answered after a short pause of thought, the others too nodded along, even Sophie.

“My own mother tried erasing me!” The AI Girl actually added, showing a smiling emoji on her Phantom Thief mask.

“Good Heavens! Done with Celestia, I am dragging you all to my Psychologist! You people need to talk with a specialist!” The mare Thief answered, eyes wide.

“We kind of had one in our school, but Dr. Maruki didn’t last long.” Ann answered, grimacing.

“Uh? What happened to him?” Akira asked.

“A week before you arrived his fiancee got sick, so he was a living mess. I don't know every detail, just that it probably had something to do with the death of her parents." Ann answered.

“OH MY GOD! And now they have Conversion to worry about!” Rarity said, horrified.

“It's okay, last I heard, he and her moved to the countryside where he is helping her recover from some trauma in a specialized hospital for PTSD victims... Her parent's death I presume. Luckily that area is still far from the Barrier, so they probably are between the people that managed to escape. Dr. Maruki was always brilliant and resourceful, so I have no doubt they are still safe and, well, human." Makoto reassured her.

"I wish I could have met him." Akira said.

"He was an okay guy, bit of a nerd, but he did like his job. Ya know? It was clear whenever you saw him." Ryuji answered, shrugging.

“STOP IGNORING ME, YOU FAILUUUURE!” With a new shriek of rage, the monster broke into four smaller copies of itself and attacked the Thieves

“You are a disappointment! My greatest failure!” one of the copies said.

“Been there, heard that. My dad was worse. NEXT!” Ryuji answered with a bored tone while either shooting the human-sized ball of goo attacking him and Makoto, or hammering it down with the sledgehammer in his hands.

“Honestly, we should really consider some counseling, we DO have lots of issues.” Makoto admitted while summoning her Persona Johanna and explode the thing with a ‘tiny’ nuclear bomb to watch heavy droplets of wax-like Shadow rain all around her.

“OOOF! Later! Now focus on fighting!” Joker answered, grunting in pain when one of those tentacles grabbed him and painfullyslammed him on the floor.

“AH! Son of a-” Ann’s curse went eclipsed right after by her small uzi pelting the goo clone with a shower of lead in retaliation for the hurting of her man.

“Need some help here!” Rarity asked once seen her Persona attacks and Sophia’s own being not exactly effective.

“Hn! Hn! Ah!” All the while the AI Girl kept most of the tentacles at bay thanks to the bladed yo-yo in her hands.

“We are here!” Haru answered, giving both a moment of respite when her grenade launcher blew-up the full frontal half of the clone fighting them.

“Mabufu!” Yusuke chorused behind her with a wide area Ice Attack that managed to freeze solid most of the chunks their various attacks had blow off.

“MEEEEEEOW!” This in turn gave Morgana the signal to jump in the air and turn into their van to squish those frozen fragments under his wheels, and just like before those broken fragments evaporated instead of returning inside the main body.

“AAAAAAUH-AAAAAAAH! KYAAAAAAAH!” The Fear shrieked in agony at the lost pieces, recalling the clones to reform its original appearances, only with a noticeable difference in sizes.

“I believe that if we break this thing into pieces too small, it won’t be able to regenerate,” Futaba suggested.

“Good enough for me!” Ryuji said, cracking his knuckles.

“Finally a good strategy,” Makoto added.

“GYAAAAH! You failures must die! Disappointments do not deserve to live!” The Fear shrieked with a hysteric voice.

“Oh, Shut it! You are annoying!” Morgana answered, hissing like a normal cat would.

WAAAAAAAAAAAA-OOOOOOH!

When the thing seemed ready to pounce again on the Thieves, a creepy loud siren started blaring everywhere, and that particular sound somehow caught the Fear’s attention making it turn towards the busted door it came from.

“GYAAAAAH!” With a blood-curling scream the thing launched itself against the grate of a air duct, and disappearing inside it in a chorus of disgusting wet squelching noises, until it was gone and silence returned in the underground room.

“...That thing was disgusting.” Akira admitted once sure the battle was really over.

“Urk! Yes, really.” Rarity admitted, gagging.

“That Shadow was strange, it was way too different,” Morgana admitted with narrowed eyes.

“By the readings, that was some kind of Cognition, more than a Shadow. A literal physical manifestation of a concept.” Futaba answered.

“A concept? Like, perhaps, a fear?” Yusuke asked.

“Very likely, and by its talking like a broken record about us being failures, Fear of Failure seems like a proper way to call it.” Makoto answered, sighing.

“And that recording talked about fears, plural. Maybe there are more monsters like that one roaming about,” Haru added.

“How great…” Ann muttered in dismay.

“Effing wonderful! Not only we have to deal with Shadows, traps, puzzles and shit! But with her Fears too!...Sorry about that.” Ryuji answered with a growl, only to then notice and apologize.

“It’s okay, I understand the annoyance. And I am sure Twilight too would understand.” Rarity answered.

“Any clue what other fear we may find?” Morgana asked while the group finally had the freedom to pass through the ruined giant door to move deeper into the Palace.

“Not really. I can understand fearing Failure considering Twilight’s perfectionism and fixation for minor details...The only other one I can think off is abandonment.” Rarity answered.

“Abandonment?” Akira asked, confused.

“Mostly about being left behind, I believe. Twilight rarely talks about her past, but from the snippets she and Spike left slip-out, I think Twilight didn’t have many friends before getting to Ponyville, and I believe she...Latched...To her group of friends a lot once learned what is like to actually have some. There have been times where I saw her panicat the idea of losing her friends, same going when she thought Celestia was looking for another student. I think she is deadly afraid of being left behind, or even substituted. More than maybe even she herself believes.” Rarity answered.

“Daamn, that’s harsh.” Ryuji muttered with a grimace.

“And yet nothing we have not seen before,” Haru answered.

“...We are being watched.” Sophia said suddenly.

“By who!?” Ann asked, looking everywhere frantically.

“I don’t know, I just feel we are being watched, like “DUUUUUUUUH!”. You know? Watched!” she answered with a cute smile and her head reclined to the side.

“I missed your sound effects.” Akira admitted, smiling.

“I missed you too, Joker!”

“Quiet! I need to understand who is spying on us!” Futaba hissed, managing to summon her flying-saucer Persona in the corridor, even if it was a tight fit.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

“EEEEK!” When the Persona appeared, a loud clanging noise came from the ceiling, as if something hurried away with heavy steps, unfortunately with how little lighting there was, nobody could see what was lurking in the shadows above them.

“You okay?!” Haru asked, startled like everybody else at Makoto’s high-pitched shriek.

“No! I am not okay!” she answered.

“Whatever it was, it’s gone. We are no longer being watched! Hmmm-Hmmm!” Sophia declared, humming a small tune right after.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” Rarity admitted.

“There is another elevator, let’s go.” Joker answered, and pointing at the BIG platform acting as elevator and the simple ‘Up / Down’ control panel.

“Coming, coming…” Ryuji said, sighing.

GROOOOOOOOOH!

Heavy machinery grumbled to life as the platform slowly descended deeper and deeper underground.

“A heavy duty lift, one big enough to carry even vehicles big as trucks, I wonder what Twilight uses this for. Can’t be for the aesthetics only,” Yusuke wondered aloud as barely-illuminated walls of steel soon surrounded them on their way down.

“There are many desiccated stains of blood, so it’s easy to assume a lot of corpses have been transported with this, among other cargo.” Sophia answered.

“...Honestly, that is an answer I could have easily made without.” He admitted, grimacing.

“Sorry, Inari.” The girl muttered with a sad tone.

“It’s okay, Sophie.” he answered, immediately brightening the girl’s mood.

“Slow is slow, but damn if we are going down,” Ryuji admitted.

“We are descending a lot, meaning that unless we find a Safe Room soon we’ll be in trouble should we walk into a trap.” Morgana answered.

CLANG!

The giant elevator touched ground with a thundering sound, and to the Phantom Thieves’ surprise what appeared in front of them once the doors opened was a futuristic lab still in pristine conditions, the perfect opposite of the nightmare above them.

“So the upper floors are what Twilight sees the real hospital as, while this is her personal lab?” Futaba asked.

“Probably her belief she can do it better than humans helped shaping this. There have been quite the uncouth talk about humanity in the more ‘Sophisticated’ circles of Canterlot…” Rarity answered with a scrunched nose.

“Uh-hu?” Joker asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, why am I defending them! They all are racist morons, plain a simple! Many seem to see you others as an inferior race even! My Gosh, and here I am trying to become part of THAT High Society, pfe! Disgusting. And they even got their clutches on poor Twilight!” Rarity answered.

“We had a couple of those in our History too, unfortunately they were not just talking about so-called Inferior Races, the most deranged ones actually got so low to take action to kae their beliefs reality.” Yusuke admitted with a frown.

“Oh, they aren’t doing just talking in Equestria either! Blueblood is getting quite vocal in his displeasure towards humanity, and his cronies happily parrot his words to the masses...All of them are conveniently forgetting that we too have some rotten apples, Ponykind doesn’t smell of roses either! But if you heard them, the problems are all coming from ‘The Others’: Griffins are brutish! Yaks are dumb! Merfolk are rude, Changelings are BORN Evil and Kirin are savages...I met some unpleasant ponies in my life too, so I KNOW bad people come in every shape. A Revelation that instead others seem to conveniently forget.” she answered, ashamed of her own kind.

“Blueblood, uh?” Joker asked.

“Another name on the list, yes. His rallies are gaining everyday more friction and followers, at a frightening high speed at that.” Rarity said.

“We’ll deal with him too and...W-W-What the hell is that?!” Makoto started answering, before the first big window in the long corridor they were traversing came into view and she had the bad idea to look inside.

“What are you talking ab- THE FUCK IS THAT?!” Rarity shrieked in horror as soon as she and the others looked as well inside that room.

Legs.

Dozens of Pony and human legs that had been sewed off and attached to electrodes were running nonstop by themselves on giant hamster wheels while instruments registered everything.

“W-Why there are severed legs in there?” Ann asked, looking ready to vomit.

“Guys! Look at this shit!” Ryuji, face ashen, said while pointing at whatever was inside the room right in front of the ‘Legs room’.

“...What in the world is Twilight doing here?!” Yusuke asked while taking a step back and covering his mouth to not get sick.

In that room there were dozens of rows of severed human arms with electrodes sprouting from the stumps of where once stood their shoulders, and thanks to those cables the arms hanging from the ceiling could pass along a bright-red rubber ball to each other back and fort, each row had its own rubber ball to pass to the hand behind them, and then to the one in front once the thing reached the end of the row and restarted the circle.

“She is studying them. How we work and how ponies work.” Joker said with a low voice.

“My God, it’s horrible.” Futaba whispered while looking away.

“There are pony heads here.” Sophia said, pointing at the next window.

Hundreds of severed Unicorn heads were neatly displayed in rows, every head paired by colour of the fur and horn length with the others around it, each resting on a table with a rubber ball in front of their dead eyes, and randomly, the machine they all were connected to sent a jolt to a random head making its horn light-up in magic in a way that made the rubber ball levitate of a couple of inches, before the small spark of life ceased and the ball fell back into its support while the head died again.

“Knowledge is the One true Goal. She wrote it on top of every room,” Makoto hissed in disgust.

“What is happening?!” Rarity asked in shock.

“We are seeing how a Palace twists and Corrupts somebody’s thirst of knowledge. Let’s continue, we need to snap Twilight out of this.” Morgana answered.

Room after room, the terrifying and morbid spectacle of Twilight’s Researches became more and more twisted and depraved.

Severed Pegasus wings flapped continuously by themselves with no body to lift, sometimes so fast the bones snapped and burst out of the skin, other wings instead were forced to go against artificial wind currents too strong for that flesh to withstand without getting literally torn away from the bone, in both cases the wings that went mangled were dropped into a pile of similarly-broken wings for a new pair to be brought in and connected to the machines by a Scientist-dressed Shadow.

Entire walls of human hearts beating in unison in a soft, twisted melody as they all went forced to beat at random speeds to test their resistance, and whenever one got burst, a new one was brought in to take its place.

Hundreds of Earth Pony legs forced to buck blocks of concrete over and over so to see how they took the shock, some of which already reduced to bloody stumps as the hooves cracked and broke under the unrelenting strain and the vibrations.

When the Thieves reached a room full of Ponies and Humans that had been vivisected and emptied of every organ just to see if machines could take the place of flesh, they could not open the door fast enough to leave that cursed corridor behind them as soon as possible.

“I can see a Safe Room down there. I say we take a pause to calm down a bit.” Morgana suggested, sighing.

“Maybe we should, you all register as Highly Stressed.” Sophia added.

“Yes, just...Just five minutes. I need to clear my head from what we saw.” Ann muttered in answer with a tired voice.

“I think the sa-” CRASH!

“…” Makoto’s own answer went eclipsed by the loud sound of glass shattering coming from the room they had just left.

“…” In the silence that followed the poor girl slowly fell on her knees and turned deathly pale.

“I am not going to check!” Ryuji said immediately.

“Somebody has to!” Makoto, face unhealthily ashen, answered.

Bump! Bump! Bump!

“…” Akira watched in zero amusement as Ririty’s back hoof kept gently pushing him towards the door while she looked away.

“You are the newcomer, you are coming too.” He finally said with a deadpan tone.

“WHA?!” The mare shrieked.

“Yep! Newcomers have to gain experience!” Ryuji answered with a WIDE smile while pushing Rarity towards the door.

“I PROTEST!” She shrieked.

“See it as a wonderful learning experience!” Yusuke, he too pushing her, added with a similar wide traitorous smile.

“GOSHDARNIT! NOT YOU TOO! GIRLS! HELP ME!”

“We believe in you, Jewel! Gambarre!” Haru answered with a cheerful tone.

“Kick their ass!” Ann added with a thumbs up.

“TRAITORS!” Rarity yelled, THEN her eyes fell on Morgana.

“...Nooo.” The cat said, slowly.

“Yes!” She answered, dragging him behind her with her Magic.

“MEEEOOOOOOOOOW!” The Cat Thief shrieked with his nails leaving deep marks on the floor while he was forced to follow her and Joker towards the door.

“On three...THREE!” Joker said while kicking the door open…

And seeing nothing besides the windows being broken and few body-parts lying around the corridor.

“...Uh! Fancy that, the Culprit left already.” Futaba said.

Wiggle...Wiggle wiggle wiggle!

“...Why those legs are moving?” Makoto asked with a weak, high-pitched tone.

“Oh no…” Joker muttered in dismay as the other pieces of ponies and humans started wiggling around as well.

Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!

It was as if an invisible force came to life among those pieces as those body-parts went pulled towards a single point until the all slapped together to form a tight ball of flesh...Then the pieces started moving around to form a new monstrosity standing on four legs, two human legs on the front and two pony legs on the back, the human torso was leaning backward at an unnatural angle under the weight of the security camera the thing had for a head, while the various Pegasi wings haphazardly and unevenly shoved on the thing’s back flapped chaotically; the human left arm was reaching forward while the right mangled pony hoof kicked-out randomly.

“KRYAAAAAAAAAH!” the thing shrieked deafeningly, and the various unicorn horns on its front lighted-up in various colours, exploding the other windows and the lights and making the floor, ceiling and walls crumble around it like paper.

AWOOOOH! AWOOOH! AWOOH!

“

Attention to all Personnel! A Fear has been detected in the upper floors!

Attention to all Personnel! A Fear has been detected in the upper floors!

This is not a drill! Seek safety and do not be hit by its flashes!

This is not a drill…”

As soon as the monster finished assembling itself, a recording of Twilight’s voice blared from several speakers along a loud alarm.

“Do we have to fight it?” Akira asked.

FLASH!

As if to answer him, the creature projected a blinding cone of yellow light from the lenses of its security camera head, and once found the source of the alarm, the cone of light turned red and a flash of light similar to a camera taking a picture erupted from its head to completely erase the alarm speaker and a good portion of the wall around it.

“KRYAAAAAAAAH!”

“THAT’S A 1-HKO ATTACK! RUUUUN!” Futaba yelled, already running ahead towards the Safe Room.

“WAIT FOR US!” Makoto yelled while the other Thieves too started running away.

“KRYAAAAAH!” Offended by its preys escaping, the strange chimera of body-parts gave chase, each step echoing loudly behind them while the borrowed Unicorn horns sprouting from the heads composing its front kept pulling away pieces of floor, ceiling and walls in front of the Phantom Thieves to knock them down or trip them.

To Yusuke’s horror, not only Rarity was pulling ahead of him, kind of expected since she was a horse, or Ryuji that was still a former Track Team member, thus better trained, but Akira and Ann and Makoto as well were starting to leave him behind!

“Am I really that out of shape?!” The Artist yelled in shock.

“That’s why I told you I wanted to pay your Gym subscription! Now run!” Haru answered, pulling on his arm to make him run faster.

“KRYAAAAAAH!” The Fear shrieked as a yellow cone of light went projected by its head.

“The Cognition is charging-up its Death Flash! Can I suggest somebody to come up with some countermeasure?” Sophia said, ahead of the group like Rarity but behind just enough to keep Akira in her line of sight.

“YOU GAVE IT A NAME?!” Ryuji asked while wheezing in fatigue.

“It’s a good name! It goes FLAAAASH! And then we die! Like...BLEH!” she answered.

“SHUT UP AND SHOOT IIIIT!” Makoto yelled, and even gaining extra speed out of hysteric strength.

“AH!” As the one with better aim, Joker turned around and used his gun to shoot the Fear right in the security camera head’s lenses, making it snap back on the notes of the thing’s pained roar.

“Did it work?!” Morgana, sitting on Rarity’s back asked.

“KRYAAAAAAH!” The Fear shrieked in fury while showing the big hole on the broken lenses that was rapidly repairing itself.

“Only temporarily!” Sophia answered.

“GODDAMNIT! LEAVE US ALONE! PERSONA! ZIO!” Ryuji roared in anger, and with a furious snarl he summoned Captain Kidd to deliver a fast lightning attack that caught the Monster fully.

“KYAAAAAAH!” To the Thieves’ relief the thing was apparently weak to that Element as it released an ear-piercing shriek of pain and actually tumbled on the floor, something that bought time for the Thieves as its mismatched legs meant the thing needed time to fully get back up.

“OKAY! Lightning works super well! Food for thought!” Futaba declared.

“LATER! THAT’S THE DOOR TO THE SAFE ROOM! DIVE IIIIIN!” Morgana yelled, with the Phantom Thieves pretty much falling inside the room as a pile in their haste to enter.

“KRYAAAAAAH!” Joker had to dive for the door to close it just an instant before the Fear could try entering as well.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The Thieves stood in silence while hearing the loud noise of the Fear slamming its entire body on the section of the wall it had seen the teens disappear into, it may have been unable to perceive the Room’s existence, but it could still tell somewhere in that wall there were its preys.

FLASH!

They even heard the thing trying erasing the wall with its flash in order to find them, and Morgana was fervently HOPING that Shadows and Cognition won’t try breaking the rules and make even those rooms Unsafe.

“Kryaaaaah!” With a last roar of anger, the teens heard the monster rapidly walk away with its four mismatched legs stomping about until silence finally returned and even the alarm stopped ringing.

“...I think it’s gone.” Ryuji said with his ear glued to the door.

“Okay...WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD WAS THAT THING?!” Ann shrieked.

“A Fear, the Alarm recognized it as one of the ones that escaped containment,” Sophia answered.

“Fear of what, though?” Akira asked, opening the door and walking deeper into the lab, through the sterile-clean corridors of the high-tech hospital/lab Palace.

“Are we continuing?” Makoto asked.

“It’s scary, but we can’t waste time, we still have a lot of exploring to do.” He answered.

“You can wait for us here if you want,” Ryuji asked, uncharacteristically gentle.

“No...No, I can do this. I won’t stay behind out of fear and leave my friends down. Let’s go!” Makoto answered, walking forward to match Joker’s pace.

“That’s our Queen! Let’s go steal this Treasure!” Ann answered with a proud voice.

“Yes!” The others answered as one.

Meanwhile – Real World – New Island HQ of the Resistance -

When Zenkichi first heard about the small island, he wracked his head thinking about what small island he knew off the coasts of Japan big and far away enough to work as a suitable base of operations, when he arrived instead he saw an actual floating island similar to the Fragments of Equestria that had first appeared in his world when the ponies arrived.

“Nice, isn’t it? Some fragments of the original islands detached after their arrival here and drifted off on their own and then fell into the sea, took a bit for Starlight, Sunset and Sunburst to locate them and fuse those pieces together, but they managed, then it was just a matter of applying the same spell that makes the original islands float and we got our own flying island.”

“Sure it’s not big or fancy like Canterlot, the Crystal Empire or Ponyville, but it gets the job done.” Lyra added, joining the Detective and his daughter together with the only other humans present.

“Glad to see you alive, Zenkichi.” Makoto’s sister welcomed both with a smile of relief.

“Miss Nijima. Thank you again for the help, I could not risk Akane to be Converted by some nutjob.” He answered, sighing.

“Come, we are camping not to far away, got a nice cup of coffee if you want.” Iwai answered, pointing with a thumb to the small circle of camping tents on a far side of the small island.

“Oh, God...Some coffee would be so nice…” Zenkichi answered with an exaggerated slumping of his shoulders.

“Dad, don’t make a scene, please.” Akane begged with a groan.

“You must be young Akane! Makoto told me a lot of great things about you,” The Woman said with a gentle smile.

“I am not...That great,” Akane answered with a shy whisper.

“OH! New friends?! HIIIII!” It was then, as they were walking towards the tent, that Pinkie and the others as well surfaced from their tents to greet them.

“NO FREAKING WAY! HERE IS WHERE THE ELEMENTS ARE HIDING?!” Zenkichi yelled.

“Is he always that over the top?” Sojiro asked with a sigh, he, Akira’s father, AJ and Spike were sitting in a corner and fishing in silence from the sea under the floating island.

“He sounds like somepony very bad at keepin’ tha head straight.” AJ commented.

“Sorry if I am surprised to see the most wanted ponies on the planet all chilling together on a floating island!” the Detective answered.

“It’s okay...No harm done…” A half-asleep Dash muttered while lying on a cloud that lazily floated next to the man’s head.

“Looking at you one would think you are on a vacation…” The man said dryly.

“Until the others come back, it’s not like we have much to do.” Fluttershy answered while helping Pinkie and Akira’s mom to bring more wood for the fire.

“And if they are seen, you can be sure entire platoons of soldiers will try to drag them back to Celestia.” Iwai added.

“We all would be dragged to her. This entire island is inhabited by Traitors, remember,” Storm answered, and gladly accepting her own mug of coffee.

“Honestly, running a guerrilla operation is more stressful than what appears on TV.” Lyra commented, sighing.

“Wait...You lack a pony…” Zenkichi said after a rapid head-count.

“Ya mean Rarity?” AJ asked.

“Yes!”

“Tch! She got to join the Phantom Thieves….GOSHDARNIT! I SHOULDA HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!” Dash roared in defiance.

“She joined them!? THEY WERE LOOKING FOR APPLICANTS?! WHERE!? WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED?!” Akane asked immediately.

“OH, HELL NO! You are not joining them! They have Zero Safety Protocols, Odd working hours, bad pay, ZERO health insurance and Skull’s and Inari’s jokes are atrocious! Honestly, the only good things about them are the Uniforms!...Okay, and Joker’s coffee and Curry Rice.” Zenkichi answered immediately.

“You talk as if you were one of them, dad.” Akane answered, scoffing.

“I-”

“Why would they even let YOU join them? Aren’t you too old? You would probably crack your back while stealing Hearts!” she then said, cutting him off.

“WO! WO! WO! Watch that tongue, young lady! I am not old! I am Hip! I got Swag!” The man answered, appalled.

“...Eh! Six out of ten .” The ‘Fishing Team’ answered as one.

“NO COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!” The Detective shrieked.

“Whatever.” the kid answered, huffing.

“You’ll see, hn !” Zenkichi answered, huffing as well, and it was hard to say who between the two was the most childish.

“Let’s just set your own tent up, okay?” Takemi offered, shaking her head at the sad spectacle.

With the Phantom Thieves – Underground Facility – Palace -

Whatever that Camera Monster represented, it seemed to like blasting random things with its Killer Flash as the Thieves kept finding random perfectly-spherical holes on walls, ceiling and floor while they traversed a long series of ramp of stairs to the lower levels, finding various waiting rooms and even a cafeteria for the Shadows acting as staff of the place.

“Lucky Punch!” the Bugbear yelled while trying to punch Rarity’s skull open.

“MISSED!” the mare answered, dodging the attack by a hair to plunge her rapier in the living toy’s eye.

“KYAAAAH!” the thing screamed in pain while taking distance, bumping against its two companions and unwittingly joining them in the range of Ryuji’s AOE Lightning attack.

“Hell yeah, 3x1! Captain Kidd: MAZIONGA! ” He yelled in glee and blasting the three Bugbears in a single, wide lightning bath that incinerated two and left the third one close to death.

“Zorro!” Luckily Morgana was already in position to use his Persona and cut the Shadow julienne.

“…”

“Okay, that was the last,” Joker said, returning a chair upside to asses the damages the had brought to the big Cefeteria.

“It had been a while since we had to face multiple enemies at once,” Yusuke admitted, fixing a chair for himself to sit on.

“To be honest, I like our battles when they are on the Mosou Side of things, it’s more lively.” Futaba admitted.

“That because you just watch, direct and sometimes buff/heal. We do all the work.” Ryuji answered.

“Those are just silly unnecessary details.” The Hacker answered.

“Small talks aside, how deep do you think we need to go?” Rarity asked.

“Hard to say, Jewel. Each Palace develops in its own way,” Makoto answered, sighing.

“And Palaces do not follow Laws of Physics or Nature, so it can grow and develop however it wants following its owner’s wishes and necessities,” Morgana added.

“Drats,” The mare hissed in contempt.

“We left behind the area of the minor laboratories, where should we go next?” Haru asked, she was standing in front of a set of signs hanging on the wall in front of the Cafeteria’s entrance.

Cafeteria

← Labs

Offices →

Relax Area →

Waiting Room 6 →

Guards Room 3 →

Stairs →

“I say to avoid any Guards Room, the less attention we call on ourselves, the better.” Morgana answered.

“Stairs is a given, what about the Offices?” Akira added.

“You hope to find a clue to where the Treasure is kept?” Sophie asked.

“Twilight is very organized.” Their Leader answered with a shrug.

“Sounds unlikely.” Ann answered with a scrunched nose.

“That if Twilight is in a normal frame of mind, but this place is making her already borderline-obsessed attention to detail become extremely off-putting. I am with Joker on this, we may actually find a small mention to the Treasure. IF things are as bad as I believe,” Rarity answered.

Sigh! “Let’s try the Offices th-”

TAP! TAP! TAP!

“WHO’S THERE?!” Haru’s words went interrupted by soft steps as something small ran away.

“It ran away! Chase it!” Futaba yelled while running towards the source of the noise.

“Why?” Ann asked while the rest of the group still gave chase.

“That’s no Shadow, by the readings, that’s a Cognition, a projection of whoever Twilight knows in real life, and whoever it is, they are running away for a reason, and we need to stop them!” Futaba answered.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

“Over there! They are running towards the offices!” Yusuke said.

“You’ll never get into the Main Lab!” The mysterious Cognition yelled.

“Why that voice sounds familiar?” Yusuke asked.

Slam!

The small shadow had just the time to try close itself inside one of the offices, unfortunately that was not a good strategy as Ryuji and Akira’s combined shove forced it open all the same, and the Phantom Thieves saw a copy of Spike standing on top of the desk clutching a plastic key-card pressed tightly against his chest.

“A Spike Clone?” Rarity said.

“I am not a Clone! I am the real one!” The tiny dragon yelled in answer.

The Phantom Thives though could see his scaly skin being pale and sickly-looking compared to the Original, he was also covered in stitches covering his body in a random crisscross of lines, as if his entire body had been built from scratches.

“That is a very strange way for Twilight to see her assistant,” Joker whispered.

“I guess that a Corrupted Twilight sees everypony as Test Subjects, even Spike.” Rarity whispered in answer.

“Come on, little buddy...Give us that card…” Ryuji said while very slowly nearing Copy-Spike.

“NO! You won’t stop Twi! She wants to learn everything, and it is my mission to help her!” The small dragon answered, eyeing the door.

“That key must be important, my friend. Do you mind if we give a look to it?” Yusuke said, slowly.

“You will never have it! HEEEELP!” Copy Spike yelled in answer.

“Intruder!” And in answer, a Shadow rushed into the same office to attack the Phantom Thieves by turning into a small group of Slimes.

“Damnit!” Ann cursed at seeing the small Dragon run away using the cover of the attack.

“Grab him!” Makoto yelled.

“SELF DESTRUCT!” the Slimes said in chorus.

“WE KNOW!” The Thieves yelled in answer, ducking out of the office uncaring of the explosions demolishing the office and the rooms around it.

Down the stairs, past rows of small labs that were more similar to slaughterhouses filled in opened up humans and ponies hanging from the ceiling for scientist-dressed Shadows to tear apart to study them.

Across corridors full of horrifying pictures of vivisected Test Subjects of both races with Twilight working on them treated as works of art.

“FOR SOMEBODY WITH SUCH TINY LEGS, HE CAN RUN!” Yusuke yelled, huffing in fatigue.

“Can’t you grab him, Jewel?” Morgana asked.

“He keeps zigzagging! Twi is the Combat Magic user! I am the artist of the group!” Rarity answered, her own bolts of Magic missing Copy Spike of a hair.

“Enough!” Haru yelled.

“NOIR! NO!” Makoto yelled with wide eyes.

"NOIR YES!"

BOOOOOM!

The young Heiress had grown tired, and with impressive accuracy, she had shot a grenade from her launcher above Copy Spike head and right in front of the small dragon, and the explosion shoot him to the ground with both legs obliterated.

“There, he can’t run now!” Haru said with a satisfied smile.

“…”

“Aaah...Must...Protect...The Key…” Copy Spike groaned in agony while dragging himself forward, one claw holding the key-card, the other dragging forward his mangled body.

“Good God, woman! Learn restraint!” Ryuji said with wide eyes.

“We’ll deal with that later, let’s recover the key now bef-” Boom!

Haru’s words went eclipsed by something blasting its way through the wall, a something almost three meters tall and walking on hind legs made of human and pony legs sewn together, just like the rest of the body of the vaguely-humanoid creature.

“I HATE YOUUU!” The towering golem screamed in hatred and ‘pointing’ at the Thieves with a malformed arm composed by several human and pony arms culminating in a mass of hands and hooves unevenly stuck together.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” Makoto asked with a shriek.

“I believe we are seeing another Fear,” Yusuke said, tense.

Thump! Thump! Thump! WHAM!

Walking heavily on the ground, the giant thing kicked the wounded Clone Spike against a near wall, uncaring of the loud crunching sound of the small guy’s bones cracking to pieces when he almost went through the concrete.

“WE ARE NOT FRIENDS! GO AWAY! WE DON’T WANT YOU!” several voices, coming from the many heads and faces that composed the Monster’s head and chest, moaned as one in an angry howl.

“At least it’s honest about it,” Sophie said.

“Now is hardly the time for jokes.” Morgana said, slowly.

“GO AWAY!” The Monster bellowed, slamming down both malformed giant fists and destroying the entire floor, making the Thieves, the barely-alive Clone Spike and the Fear Monster pummel to the floor below in what looked like being an arena-like operating room with a tiny bed in the middle of a wide circle of seats.

BOOOM!

The landing of the Thieves, Monster and ruins of demolished floor and ceiling above for an instant covered everything in a thick cloud of dust, the perfect cover for Joker and the others to take some distance from the Fear Monster.

“Cough! Cough! Cough! W-Where are we?” Joker asked, still coughing from the dust in the air.

“Is this an arena?” Ann asked as well.

“No, this looks more like a sort of classroom for a med school,” Makoto answered.

“Indeed!” A voice boomed in answer.

“Twilight!” Rarity yelled with wide eyes, completely overcome by horror at seeing the deranged mockery of her dear friend Corruption and Distortion created.

The Distorted form of Twilight fully mirrored her Depravity in her search of Knowledge: A pale-looking mare with balding spots on her fur, with her body covered in overly-precise surgical stitches, dark bangs under her eyes from countless sleepless nights of studies helped by her wearing a metal contraption on her head forcing her eyes open, she was even wearing a lab coat completely caked in stains of blood, old and new.

It was clear that the insane mare had operated even on herself in her mad search for who knew what secret Knowledge she was looking for.

“T-T-Twi…” The extremely wounded Clone Spike said with a weak voice.

“Yet another failure,” The Ruler of the Palace, Shadow Twilight, said with a sneer from the hole in the ceiling connecting the two floors.

“WE HATE YOU!” the Fear roared while glaring at Twilight.

“The feeling is mutual.” Shadow Twilight answered, glaring at the beast in hatred.

“I must thank you, Intruders! When I first removed these pesky Fears that were holding me back, I had no idea where to put them since they were basically Concepts, thus not something I could kill for good. But recent events Helped them break free and they surprisingly used the left-overs from my experiments to give themselves a physical body...But that STILL left me with no way to deal with them...Until you arrived and broke your way in, that is.” The Distorted and Corrupted version of Twilight said with a sinister smile as the white molten-wax-like Fear and the Security-Camera-headed one entered the same room under her from side doors.

“KYAAAAAH! You do nothing right! You Failuuuure!”

“KRYAAAAAH! FLASH!”

Both monsters hissed and yelled to their prey on the floor above, looking up at Twilight as if daring her to get down and fight them.

“Disgusting. But as I said having Intruders force their way in has just become a blessing in disguise…” Distorted Twilight said with a crazed smile as several Scientist-Dressed Shadows appeared around her.

“What are you planning now?” Rarity asked in disgust.

“I found a way to utilize ALL my failed experiments to deal with you Intruders and those Fears. I just need to add some more Mass to my new project, though. Dump Them.” Shadow Twilight ordered, and every Shadow around her turned around to grab something they then threw down the hole in the room below…

“My God…” Ann muttered in horror.

Hundreds of dead copies of Spike rained down to the floor in a sickening chorus of splattering bodies, they all looked exactly like the original small dragon, soon forming a pile of dead dragons.

“They...They…” the wounded Clone Spike said with wide eyes.

“They, just like you, are just mere copies of my Original Assistant. Copies I made to experiment and study, all in the name of finding a way to turn him truly Immortal, just like my other friends. As an Alicorn, my life-span will cover millennia just like normal beings live through mere minutes, and I won’t risk something as silly as Death or Old Age to get in the way. I will gift MY friends Eternal Life and Youth, sure I will need to disassemble and rebuild their bodies a couple times, but at the end of the day, they will thank me. That is why I am using background characters as Test Subject. Until the procedure won’t be PERFECT, I won’t risk MY friends health. It’s only a small sacrifice in the name of both Science and Friendship.” Shadow Twilight explained just as the few last dead Spike Clones went dumped into the room.

“You are just another shitty Psycho! Just talking as if you were a saint!” Ryuji spat in blind fury.

“I am about to have a breakthrough that will push ponykind forward and uplift it! I don’t expect an Idiot to grasp my vision! Conversion, Change of Heart, Desires Manipulation, these will be the keys I need to uncover the secrets of Soul and Mind of both human and ponies! With those and my Immortality Operation, I WILL CREATE AN UTOPIA! ETERNAL PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP! NO MORE AGING, ILLNESSES, WARS, FAMINES AND DISCORD! I WILL CREATE A PARADISE!” Distorted Twilight yelled with wide eyes, Madness just a euphemism when describing the depths of her depravity.

“You are tearing innocents apart! That’s what you want to do to achieve your Utopia?!” Rarity asked in disgust.

“I am not tearing Innocents apart, you foolish mare! Only my friends and family deserve eternal happiness! Everybody else is just Cattle, guinea pigs only good enough to act as source of knowledge for me to gain. Once done collecting the Knowledge I need and deserve, I will select the worthy ones to become the next step in ponykind evolution, but until then...I will keep tearing them apart, cracking them open, operating and experimenting on them until I am satisfied...There are still many, many questions I need to answer…” The Distorted Mare answered, smiling in a deranged way while lifting a purple vial with her Magic.

“And one of these Questions is: What happens when I use a mountain of dead dragons as a base to create new life? With my Solution of Failure acting as glue, Cadaver Golem of Abandonmentgiving it motion and Oculus of Judgment giving it sight, once added to it a Spike’s loyalty and absolute obedience...The final result should be quite interesting!” At those words the vial of purple goo went shot at the Wax-Like Fear.

“YOU WILL FAIL! AS ALWAYS!” The thing roared in disgust and using a gooey tentacle to smash the vial in mid-air, splattering itself with the content as a result.

“Not this time. Be reborn as a success from that pile of Failures! I christen you Amalgamatiel: Essence of Fear!” Shadow Twilight answered, and on the notes of her mad laughter, the Wax-Like Fear turned purple and exploded outward in thousands of tendrils.

“DOWN!” Joker yelled, tackling Ann to the floor just in time to not be pierced by the living goo.

“YEUCK!” Rarity shrieked in fear as she and the other as well, threw themselves on the floor barely an instant before being skewed alive.

Under their shocked eyes, though, that mutated Fear of Failure pierced the other Monsters, the barely-alive Spike Clone and the mound of dead Clones, then pulled them all together towards itself where they went swallowed by the purple sludge creature.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! SPLAT!

And as bones broke and rebuilt and flesh went torn apart and forced to get glued together anew, a giant, rotting undead monster vaguely Dragon-like in appearances was born right in front of the Phantom Thieves.

“He...Help...Me…” The Spike Clone begged weakly a last time before getting buried under the flesh of the giant undead dragon, now glaring at the Thieves with two mismatched eyes: one dull and lifeless, the other a mass of rotten flesh around a rusted security camera.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the giant monstrosity roared in hunger as soon as its birth was complete, and flapping the torn, goo-covered bony wings on its back.

“Fascinating, isn’t it? I can even turn a sad mountain of failures into a single, giant triumph! Speaks volumes of my genius! HAHAHAHAHA! Now...Either Amalgamatiel kills you and I get the perfect Guard Dog for my lab, or YOU kill it and I can finally say farewell to some useless Fears, in either case, I win! Hahahahahaha! You others collect as much data as you can, I have Experiments to run.” Distorted Twilight ordered before leaving.

“GYAAAAH!” The Undead Dragon gave a loud roar, opened its half-rotten wings wide and showed the Phantom Thieves the long rows of uneven and sharp fangs it possessed.

“Attack incoming!” Sophia alerted them, just in time for the teens to scatter and avoid the purplish flames the monster vomited towards them.

“Ouch! Okay, that fire is no joke! Try to see if it kept the weakness to Lightning and Ice like its components or if it gained new ones!” Futaba instructed while boarding her Persona to float out of the way during the fight.

“No shit!” Ryuji yelled, only sparing a glance to the long row of wooden desks now reduced to ashes behind him.

“Captain Kidd: Zio!” The young man then moved on to attack the dragon with a weak lightning attack to test the waters.

“Guuh!” And gaining just an annoyed grunt from the giant beast that now moved to glare at him.

“Doesn’t look very weak to it! SHIIIT!” Ryuji shrieked, barely avoiding a wide swipe of one of the Dragon’s giant claws in retaliation to the small shock.

“Then I guess next is Ice, Freeze him, Goemon! Mabufu!” Yusuke tried next, parrying a tail swipe that still sent him flying while his Persona covered most of the Monster’s body in a thin layer of ice, but besides annoying it further, nothing suggested its weakness to Ice was higher than Normal.

“INARI!” Haru yelled in horror.

“I-I am fine, bruises aside. But Ice Resistance too has been improved.” The man answered.

“THEN LET’S SEE IF NUCLEAR ATTACKS WORK! JOHANNAAAA!” Makoto answered with a roar, summoning and mounting her Persona and revving it to full throttle as soon as she straddled the summon, running it along the Dragon’s spine from tail to head and launching herself up in the air in a back-flip to meet the eyes of the Monster.

“FREILA!” Makoto screamed, launching her attack as soon as she went upside down and landing back on solid ground at the same time the strong Nuclear-Element explosion made the Dragon stagger with its head whipping back from the force of the explosion.

“GYAAAAH!” And as an added bonus, small flames started burning all over its body.

“Weak to fire! Use that!” Futaba confirmed the weakness with a victorious cry.

“That’s my job then! Carmen: Agilao!” Ann answered, immediately jumping in range, avoiding a claw swipe by sliding under it and summoning her Persona to hit the Dragonin a big explosion of fire straight inside the Monster’s mouth to turn its roar of anger in a wailing of anguish.

“Holy Faust!” Rarity yelled in surprise almost misfiring the crossbow she was holding up with her Magic.

“Yeah, we usually kick things up a notch during Boss Fights. Zorro!” Morgana answered to the awed look by running on all fours up that dragon’s claw to reach its face and unleash a flurry of attacks on its snout with both his cutlass and the rapier in his Persona’s hand.

“I tend to forget that!” The mare admitted, still not used to her new Job as Phantom Thief.

“You shouldn’t, it’s where the fun is! Right, Joker? Pandora! Kouga!” Sophia answered, landing on the Dragon’s back after having used her giant Yo-Yo weapon to grab onto the Monster’s wings to swing her way up and blast it’s spine with a strong Bless-Element attack.

“Bless works well too!” She then chirped happily.

“It’s undead, makes sense. Lamia: Agilao!” Akira answered, he too using a similar Fire Skill to Ann’s to blast one of the Dragon’s wings to pieces.

“You know? It may be just too effing creepy, but Fusing Persona like you do to gain new ones is a life-saver!” Ryuji admitted while pelting the Monster in bullets from his shotgun once seen Lightning being not really useful.

“GUAOOOOOOH!” And gaining a LOUD howl of pain from the Dragon that started trashing around the room violently, enraged to the point of madness.

“Okay! It’s official! That thing is VERY WEAK to Gun attacks, second place Fire, then Bless, Lightning, Wind and Ice do slightly less damage than normal and Curse is useless! You know what to do!” Futaba instructed them, sending a wide-scale healing and attack boosting skill their way from her flying-saucer Persona.

“Then I guess I will be joining the fire squad, then!” Yusuke said, taking a hold of his own gun to join Ryuji and Haru in showering the Monster in lead.

“GUAAAAAAH!” in answer, the Monster opened its maw wide and literally vomited out a true river of purple sludge smelling of decay and melting everything it touched.

“Oh, for God’s sake! Can it get any more disgusting?!” Rarity shrieked in horror and almost puking herself in disgust.

“Dodge that stuff! Don’t let it touch you!” Makoto yelled while dodging left and right madly the wide sprays of acid sludge.

“Keep shooting it!” Akira answered while dodging a acid shower himself to retaliate with more Fire-Element Skills.

“Roger! I’ll give it my all! Milady: TRIPLE DOWN!” Haru answered, aiming her grenade launcher while her Persona elegantly lifted its dress to show the demonic mechanical mouth hiding under it and the insane arsenal it contained to rain destruction on the Monster in a cacophony of explosions.

“GUIIIH!” With a low whirling sound, the camera eye plopped slightly out of its socket.

“IT’S CHARGING-UP THE DEATH FLASH! STOP IT!” Futaba screamed in horror.

Flash! Flash! Flash! The three preparatory flashes bathed the shooting squad in yellow light, signaling who the Dragon wanted to try disintegrate first.

“SHIT! SCATTER!” Ryuji shrieked with wide eyes.

“ONI: SNAP!”

“CARMEN: AGILAO!”

“CENDRILLON: KOUGA!”

Just an instant before the red light of the Death Flash could actually hit the three Thieves, three other voices screamed at the same time, and the combined strength of the Gun Skill, Fire Skill and Bless Skill hitting the same time, destroying the camera eye in a burst of rotten-smelling blood and mechanical parts flying everywhere from the exploded eye-socket.

“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” The Dragon reared its head back in agony, so much it momentarily stood on its back legs and throwing Sophia away from its back as a result, luckily the AI girl managed to scamper away before the Monster could fully fall on its back and sqush her under its immense weight.

“IT’S ON ITS BACK! ALL-OUT ATTACK, NOW!” Morgana yelled.

“How do I-” Rarity asked.

“JUST FOLLOW OUR LEAD!” Haru answered.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” The Dragon shrieked in agony as the wild flurry of attacks pushed it back on its back as soon as it tried to stand back up and covering its massive body in countless wounds along destroying its remaining wing.

“Well done! The Camera Eye is already regenerating, but at least for a bit it won’t be able to use its Death Flash! Keep pushing, we have almost won!” Futaba informed them as soon as they took distance from the creature after their all-out attack.

“Thanks, guys!” Ryuji said in relief as the Teens regrouped.

“I barely had enough Yen to just Summon the Oni Persona instead of fusing it, but the Gun Skill made it worth it, that until I will be able to control stronger ones like in the past.” Akira admitted.

“Dude, she makes you pay for summoning extra Persona? I thought they loved you!” Ryuji said.

“Panther would have hated me for using the other Payment Method.” Akira answer.

“Other...Oh, those three little Whor-”

“Instead of arguing, help me!” Makoto interrupted Ann’s screech just as the dragon tried returning to its feet, annoyed by the young woman’s bone-shattering punches and Nuclear-based Persona attacks.

“Grrrrr!” Finally the thing returned to its feet, and it glared at the Thieves with its remaining sane eye in absolute hatred.

“It’s mad!” Sophia said.

“GUAAAAAAH!” And in answer, the thing charged forward with its head low.

“It’s very mad!” Rarity yelled in answer, gladly letting Akira grab her under his arm to be helped avoid the attack.

BOOOOM!

An entire section of the wall went turned into a fine cloud of dust under the assault of the colossal Dragon, a hit that only slightly staggered it, before it shook its head and turned around to face the Thieves with purple fire already surfacing from the depths of its maw.

“FIRE BREATH! DODGE!” And again Futaba alerted them, giving the teens just enough time to fan out and avoid a new sea of fire that incinerated everything in front of the Monster.

“GRAAAAH!” It was clear the monster was now out of control.

“TAIL ATTACK!” Futaba yelled.

“PANTHER!” Akira yelled, pushing the girl away but catching the attack himself before he could dodge as well.

“JOKER!” The girl yelled in horror at seeing him being sent flying and crash-landing on the few desks remaining in an explosion of splinters.

“CENDRILLON: VORPAL BLADE!” Rarity countered with a physical attack of her Persona, and biting down the pain it caused her as well, so to distract the Dragon before it could attack their Leader further.

“Somebody heal Joker! I’ll keep this thing occupied!” The mare yelled while barely dodging the fireball the Dragon spat at her in retaliation.

“I’ll help you, Jewel!” Sophia said, she too pelting the monster in energy bullets from her gun to anger it into focusing on her.

“YOU WANT TO DIE, FUCKER?! BECAUSE THAT’S HOW YOU CHOOSE TO DIE! CARMEN! AGI! AGI! AGILAO!” Ann herself was now mad, and the way she used both her Persona and gun to assault the Dragon was both awe-inspired and terrifying.

“Leave some for me too! Johanna!” Makoto added.

“Zorro: Diarama! Stay with me, Joker. We have a Treasure to steal!” Morgana in the meantime had neared the downed Akira and summoned his Persona to heal his friend in a whirlwind of green wind that made most of his wounds fade away.

“I am going nowhere, promise.” The young man answered, staggering a bit to his feet.

“That’s good to hear, we can only reach our goals together, nobody is left behind. Here!” Yusuke added, throwing a small bottle to Akira.

“God bless our Doctor and her miracle medicine…” He answered, downing the entire thing and returning to full health.

“All good?” The cat asked.

“Yes, sorry for worrying you,”

“A good friend always worries if their friend gets hurt and needs help, there is nothing to be ashamed of, let’s join the others now, I am sure they will appreciate some extra help!” Yusuke answered.

“Yes! Lamia: Agilao!”

“Zorro! / Goemon!” both Morgana and Yusuke followed Akira’s example and summoned their Persona to announce their return into the fight grandiosely enough the other eye of the Dragon as well as part of its jaw exploded into a thick cloud of gore and smashed teeth, and interrupting the creature’s new puking of corrosive sludge as an added bonus.

“Joker! Are you okay?!” Ann asked once seen her boyfriend return to her side.

“Yes, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, you dummy! Just help me kill this thing!” She answered with a wide smile.

“Of course!” He answered.

“So! Good news: only the Camera Eye can regenerate since it is now functional again, meaning you can kill this thing...Bad news… THE EYE CAMERA IS BACK! DODGE!” Futaba yelled, she too driving her Persona out of the way since now the light was covering a wider angle than before.

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! The three preparatory flashes covered the room almost entirely.

“SHOT THAT THING!” Haru shrieked while taking aim and pulling the trigger to her gun as fast as she could.

“AAAAAH!” The other Thieves answered with a similar “Brave” scream as they all emptied the clips of their weapons on the thing’s face without too much care about taking aim.

“GYAAAAH!” The thing shrieked in pain and whipped it’s head around, shooting the Death Flash against an empty section of the wall and erasing a giant portion of it to form a perfect circle connecting that big classroom to the room right next to it.

CRUUUUMBLE!

What remained of the wall went soon covered by deep cracks going all the way to the ceiling above, forcing the Shadows still observing the fight following Twilight’s orders to scamper so to not fall down as big chunks of the ceiling above started falling down.

“SHIIIIT!” Ryuji yelled while barely jumping aside and avoid a chunk of ceiling twice his sizes about to squash him.

“Careful! This place is falling apart!” Makoto warned him.

“And maybe we can use it,” Yusuke said with narrowed eyes once checked the sorry state of the room’s ceiling.

“...I think I understand. If we trick that thing into charging against one of the walls, maybe we can bring the ceiling down on it, there should be enough concrete still to really hurt it.” Morgana answered.

“Like we did with Nightmare Rarity?” Rarity asked.

“That was my inspiration, yes.” Yusuke answered.

“Let’s hope it will work as well...OVER HERE, YOU IDIOT!” Makoto answered, summoning Johanna and sprinting under the Dragon’s belly, blasting its stomach with a weak Nuclear Attack andcontinuing moving away while ignoring its roars of pain and anger.

“Mona!” Joker said.

“On it, Meeeow!” Morgana answered, turning into his Van form and sprinting away as soon as Akira took the wheel and the others jumped on top of him.

“Ay-Ooooh! Over here, shit-breath!” Ryuji yelled while shooting the very few bullets still in his possession on the Monster’s half-destroyed snout.

“GUAAAAAAAH!” The Dragon roared in fury, once again trying to burn them alive with its fire breath.

“Not the fire, you moron! Charge us! God, you are just as stupid as you look!” Ann answered by insulting the creature and taking pot-shots at its forehead with the few bullets remaining in her dual Uzis.

“Grrr!” As the Thieves kept taunting it, something almost therapeutic, surprisingly, they kept dodging its claw and tail swipes.

“What? You hate being called stupid, you fool?” Haru asked with a cutesy giggle.

“Really, you prove how bad Twilight is at creating monsters, she is a real incompetent.” Yusuke added, sighing in exaggerated dismay.

“GRRRRRR-GUAAAAAAAH!” That seemed to finally be too much for the Monster that finally rushed forward to stop over the Phantom Thieves under its four massive feet.

“You really are a Moron! Cendrillon: Kouga!” Rarity said, tutting mockingly.

“Very silly! Pandora: Kouga!” Sophia said, giggling, and using the same skill.

“GRAAAAAH!” Momentarily blinded by the duo of Bless Skill that destroying the still regenerating Camera Eye, the blind dragon could not see the Thieves dodging at its sides to watch the dragon slam headfirst against the only sane wall remaining from the battle, and almost demolishing it as well under its rage-empowered charge.

CRRRRRRUMBLE!

And luckily, as Yusuke hoped, the additional damage proved to be too much for the ceiling above the room as all of it came falling down, and while the Phantom Thieves managed to avoid being submerged by several tonnes of concrete of the above room crashing down on them thanks to the hole the creature created with its flash, the Undead Dragon instead for an instant disappeared from view thanks to the giant cloud of dust.

“Is it dea-”

“ROAAAAAR!” To answer Ann’s question the massive head of the Dragon emerged from the smoke with what remained with its maw stretching wide open to swallow them all…

Boom!

Only for the Monster to die mid-jump and collapse right in front of them at an inch from actually swallowing them and just lying there, slowly melting into a sludge of rotten flesh as its body broke down into a puddle of molten dead matter.

“…”

Ping! The sound of the key-card Clone Spike defended to his very last breath falling to the floor in front of them once the dragon’s flesh evaporated leaving behind just a malformed skeletonalmost went unregistered by the Thieves, even if that was the only sound heard in the complete silence between them.

“…”

“...I think I peed myself a little…” Finally, after a couple minutes of stricken silence, somebody talked, and it was Ryuji admitting his small incident with a very squeaky, high-pitched voice.

“Me too…” Rarity admitted.

“Same…” Makoto squeaked as well in answer.

“That was the mother of all Jump-Scares.” Futaba said with a weak voice once banished her own Persona to join the others.

“What’s important is that we have this key, now we only need to understand where to use it.” Makoto said, recovering the key-card from the ground and looking around for any suggestion about where to use it.

“Let’s explore this floor first, just in case.” Haru suggested, unsure.

“Okay!...Uhm! That way!” Sophia answered, and dashing forward right after.

“You just choose a random direction! Wait!” Rarity yelled while chasing her.

“Ah, yes. She doesn’t know Sophie,” Morgana commented, chuckling.

“She never led us wrong, though,” Joker answered.

“Nope!”

Once rejoined those two, the Phantom Thieves kept scanning the floor, room after room, but besides other two giant Classrooms with their rows of desks and the solitary metal table for operating on corpses while teaching, they only found mortuary rooms or other small labs, besides the ramp of stairs leading back up to the floor above or to the one under and a small office belonging to Twilight herself.

“…” And that posed a problem, because besides a new Safe Room right next to Twilight’s personal Office, the floor under it was the last one, and that was just a single giant room occupied only by an enormous incinerator and hundreds of abandoned body bags still full and, for the Teens’ horror, randomly wiggling or moaning softly at random times with a very weak and faint voice.

That and many, MANY, FAR TOO MANY Shadows roaming the place either as Security Guards or “Escaped Patients” still clad in straitjackets or hospital gowns, all of those missing body-parts or with either Pony and Human pieces mixed together to create gangling, moaning mutant freaks thanking Twilight for their Uplifting or loudly and fanatically offering themselves to Twilight as Test Subjects for more experiments.

Akira and his friends felt like they were actually doing an act of mercy when fighting them, freeing them from the hellish existence of endless pain, a way to liberate them from the miserable role the Palace forced them to take.

“Okay, this makes no sense, even for Palaces’ standards. There MUST be a Room where the Treasure is kept. I can FEEL the Treasure is here somewhere...But where?!” Morgana hissed while sitting on one of the plush chairs in front of Twilight’s desk.

“Maybe we missed it?” Makoto asked while studying the grotesquely-detailed books of Pony and human anatomy in the office’s book-case, before hastily putting one back in disgust.

“Nu-uh! The Treasure is close now! Before now it felt way far away!” Sophia answered, she was sitting on the desk proper and kicking her feet a bit.

“The Treasure of the others were well hidden as well?” Rarity asked.

“Not really, kinda.” Ann answered, sighing and plopping down on the other chair in front of the desk.

“Kinda?”

“Well, they had some protection, or gimmick, if you would.” Haru answered, humming.

“Like what?”

“Excluding Fluttershy whose Palace was still forming, so in its Infancy and lacking the usual nuances of a proper, Complete Palace, all the others had a very specific sets of requirements to reach them.” Yusuke answered.

“Pinkie needed you to collect special tickets from the rides in her Lunapark and then know in detail how her favourite play played-out to reach the Treasure.” Makoto said.

“Dash had it hidden in her Super Hero Secret Base and then she had a secret key-code to open the safe holding it.” Ryuji added.

“AJ needed you to blind yourself to see the world like she did and enter her secret orchard nobody but her and her guards could enter.” Haru said.

“And Nightmare Rarity had a special Guardian AND a pass-code keeping Intruders out of the treasury she had hidden hers in.” Rarity added, sighing.

“…” It was then that all of them frowned in sync.

“...Am I the only one seeing a pattern?” Akira muttered.

“Secret Rooms and secret codes...And we got a Key-card a Cognition was determined to its very death to keep away from us.” Makoto said with narrowed eyes.

“Or that it stole from Twilight just to keep it safe. It seems like sometimes a Cognition can act on their own without waiting for directives from a Palace Ruler.” Futaba added.

“Twilight has always been overly-focused on details, so while the others did that just to be on theme with their Palaces...She may have fully thought this out as an actual security measure.” Rarity said, humming while looking at the lone computer on the desk.

“And she is fascinated about Human Technology…” She then said.

“Let me check that then,” Futaba answered, and while she sat at the chair behind the screen, Sophia stood behind her to act as Equestrian Language Expert for support.

“...So?” Akira asked once seen both girls work on the thing for several minutes with the rapid-fire Click-Clack! Of the keyboard filling the room.

“Just notes after notes of the Experiments she ran in this God-forsaken Palace, all enriched by the goriest pictures I have ever seen, and I do like Splatter Movies...Bleah.” Futaba answered with a scrunched nose.

“Anything else?” Rarity asked.

“Uhmm…” Sophia answered, taking momentarily the lead and writing on the keyboard at super-human speed for an instant before whooping in triumph.

“New Audio Log!” She then said with a wide smile.

“Play it, hopefully there may be a clue for the Treasure.” Morgana said.

“Okay!”

Experiment Log n.3337.

Subject: Myself.

I don’t understand...Ever since I removed my heart and switched it with a mechanical one, Something has appeared in my own personal lab…

“Wo! Wo! Wo! Something?!” Morgana said with wide eyes.

Whatever that thing is, it defies logic...I can’t even understand my subconscious attachment to it! What even is its Value?! It has no shape, no weight or mass, it’s just pure, incorporeal light! Then why I am filled with longing whenever I see it?! Why I INSIST in referring to it as Treasure?! Why I want nothing and nobody else to touch it?!

I need to get to the bottom of this...

“Okay, we got a clue on the Treasure alright, but I don’t like how she talks about it.” Ryuji said.

“She wants to Experiment on her own Treasure without knowing how dangerous that is,” Yusuke added.

“Must be the Influence of the Corruption they took from Equestria, bot forms of distortion are clashing…” Futaba guessed.

“There is another Audio Log, do I play it?” Sophia asked.

“Please do, this is getting out of hand fast and we need more details.” Haru answered.

Experiment Log n.3338.

Subject: Myself.

WHY ANSWERS ELUDE ME!? THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!

KNOWLEDGE BELONGS TO ME! IT’S MINE!

I keep operating on Test Subjects to find other examples of Treasure to further study this phenomenon, but there are none! Is it in the Blood? In the Brain? In the Bones or in the Hearts?! I tear them all apart, I smash them open and pull them out but no other Treasures come out!

“My God...she sounds…” Yusuke tried saying.

“Effing Insane?” Ryuji suggested.

“Indeed, a depth of Depravity I never thought possible.” the other answered.

“Oh, Twilight…” Rarity muttered, eyes already clouded by tears.

There must be an answer to all this, and it must be mine!…

I decided, I will operate on myself again, there must be something I am missing…

If it is really connected to me only like I believe, following the feelings of possessiveness that overcome me whenever I am close to it...Maybe I will get a proper reaction if I remove the right body-part…

“This was the last one!” Sophia said.

“Okay, what did we learn?” Akira asked.

“Besides this Twilight being damn insane, you mean?” Ryuji answered.

“Yes.”

“We know for certain that this Distortion of Twilight loves to Experiment and Operate on everybody, even herself, just for the sake of learning...Well...Everything.” Haru answered.

“This until one day, following this Palace’s Plot, she removed her own Heart to switch it with a mechanical one. Probably wishing to have something more efficient than her own. And just to not waste it, she somehow used it as a Lock for the innermost labs of the Palace.” Futaba added.

“This in turn made the Treasure “Appear” in her personal laboratory...How does this actually work?” Makoto asked.

“A Palace Ruler is not really aware of the existence of a Treasure. They can feel their connection to it, and can subconsciously tell it is important and that they must protect it, but in the end a Treasure to them is just another object that belongs to them, not really something essential.

Just like we saw in the Palaces last time, for them a Treasure it’s just there, nothing more, contrary to the Desires the Rulers of a Prison stole that instead become something they need like a drug addict.

Twilight instead has a completely different problem: she started to question her attachment to her Treasure due to her own Distortion making her obsessed with knowing EVERYTHING, so accepting something being important “Just Because” is never going to make it, she needs to know WHY, at the cost of destroying herself. And we need to stop that.” Morgana answered.

“That’s good and all, but unless we find this personal lab of hers, we won’t be able to do a thing!” Ann said.

“Right. Is there nothing about it in the computer?” Haru answered.

Sigh! “Nothing really, there is a prompt for a key-card reader program, but the computer itself has not the slot to insert it.” Futaba answered once she and Sophia checked.

“You know what this means…” Ryuji said, smirking and moving his arm around as a warm-up.

“Tear the place down to find the card reader, got it.” Yusuke declared.

“A bit uncouth, but indeed this Palace hardly deserves the foal gloves.” Rarity answered with her horn lighting-up in Magic.

It took barely five minutes for the to destroy and upturn everything inside the room except computer and desk, until finally Sophia stumbled on the small, barely-noticeable slot of a card reader hidden well behind a picture on the wall of Celestia herself.

“Should have known, Twilight has always loved Celestia a bit too much.” Rarity admitted.

“What’s important now is seeing what that is for, hopefully some map or secret door for that Lab.” Makoto said.

“I wonder...If we have the key-card, how does Twilight reach that?” Haru asked.

“Maybe we are using her spare key or something, don’t really care.” Ryuji answered, shrugging.

“Oh, me neither! Just curious,” she admitted.

“Whatever. Put it in, Joker.” Futaba commented while waving the two off.

“Yes.”

“...Okay, the computer recognized the key, I am starting the program!” The Hacker said with a wide smirk.

Groooooooooo!

“Holy crap!” Ann cursed.

“Okay, no secret elevator, the entire office acts like one!” Morgana commented in surprise as they all could feel the entire small room move downwards.

Grooooooo-Boom!

With a heavy lurching sensation, the elevator touched ground heavily, making the Thieves stumble slightly at the sudden stop, then the door opened by itself towards a giant room filled in tubes, three of which broken while the others were filled in greenish water with several malformed ponies and humans floating lifelessly in.

Then there were numerous operating tables covered in stains of blood old and new, rows and rows of surgical instruments filling the walls, some of which twisted and cruel-looking version of the normal instruments seen in Operating Room s in the real world.

And finally, occupying the wall at the opposite side from the door to the office, a really enormous empty glass tube with a shapeless mass of light silently floating up and down inside it.

“The Treasure!” The Phantom Thieves yelled as one in surprise.

“Okay! We finally found it. What now?” Rarity asked.

“As usual I say we look for an escape route, it never worked, but I want to believe that one day we will manage to steal a Treasure without needing to fight the Palace Owner.” Morgana answered.

“One may call it wishful thinking, but I too hope for such a miracle to happen, one day.” Yusuke admitted.

“We are probably in one of the deepest floors of the Palace, I don’t think it will be easy to escape from here since there seems to be only that lift as an entry point.” Ann said.

“Not really!” Ryuji answered.

“Uhu?!”

“There is a drop hole for the incinerator we saw before, I bet Twilight uses this to dump into the thing the bodies once she finished working on them. I say we turn that shit off, clear it and once stolen the Treasure we slide down from here to there and run away from the Palace.” He explained.

“…”

“...What?” Ryuji asked, unnerved by the silence.

Sniff! Sniff! “And here I thought you were a disappointment, Skull! Instead you have finally started thinking like a proper Phantom Thief!” Morgana answered with loud and exaggerated sniffs.

“Oh, screw you, cat!” The young man answered, scoffing.

“Kids, be nice.” Akira said with an uncaring tone while checking inside the chute.

“Sorry, Joker!” The two answered in chorus, smirking, making him chuckle.

“By size alone, I think it can work...This if the Treasure is as small as the others were before.” Makoto said.

“Good.”

“I hope none of you put up any extra belly before now, because that seems to be a tight fit.” Haru added.

“...Oh Goodness, I don’t think so?” Rarity said while checking herself.

“Me neither...I think?” Ann added, doing the same.

“For now let’s go clean that incinerator, just in case we’ll make it run for a few minutes to make sure nothing is clogging it, then I say we use one of these poor souls to see if we will go down smoothly when it will be our turn to slide down, last thing we need is for us to remain stuck midway down a dark and tight chute,” Yusuke said.

“Thanks for the lovely image, buddy…” Ryuji said, he and the others paling considerably at the idea.

“Oh...Oh...Sorry! I didn’t meant to!” He answered.

“It’s okay, Inari...It’s okay.” Akira answered, sighing.

Later that day – Real world – Floating Island -

It was with baited breath that Shadow and Lyra watched the flying ship they left the Phantom Thieves use as moving base landed at the dock.

“Holy crap a real flying island!” To their relief Ryuji showed how everything was still okay with his cheerful comment.

He and the others were still wearing hoodies and copies of their Phantom Thieves masks, just in case, but the people close to them still recognized them…

“OH MY GOD! YOU ARE THE PHANTOM THIEVES!” All of them, Akane comprised.

“Oh! It’s Akane!” Haru said, happily.

“Eh! Surprise!” Zenkichi said, smirking.

“GRANPS!” Ann yelled with a wide smile.

“Glad to see you are okay,” Akira said.

“Don’t underestimate me, Joker.” Zenkichi answered, shaking the young man’s hand for just an instant before pulling him into a hug.

“Ugh!”

“God, I thought they got you all!” The poor detective said with an exaggerated whine.

“Meeow!”

“Oh, shut-up! We are friends, of course I worry!” he answered to Morgana’s teasing.

“RARE!” Fluttershy yelled while hurrying to hug her friend.

“I am back, I am back, it’s okay.” Rarity answered, chuckling, and hugging her back.

“So? How’s Twi? Is she bad?” AJ asked.

“She is in a very bad shape, girls...I saw her...My Goodness, we need to save her fast!” She answered.

“Ya will, just like they saved us. That’s what a Phantom Thief does, yeah?” Dash said, unsure.

“We’ll save her. Promise.” Akira answered.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy answered.

“We’ll need to hurry, though. In a week Celestia is going to force Twilight back inside her castle. Our latest raid against the Conversion Potion has severely damaged and slowed-down her plans, and Twilight is still the only one able to produce great quantities of the thing in a short amount of time. Celestia will need Twilight inside her primary production line to cover for that loss of Potion doses.” Lyra said.

“Good thing we located the Treasure and prepared an escape route then,” Makoto answered, sighing.

“That’s good to hear! But tell me, is there room for one more?” Zenkichi asked.

“So you want to join us again?” Makoto asked.

“You sure? Will your back last, old man?” Ryuji asked as well.

“Oh! You youngsters think to be big shots?! I’ll show you how Wolf is still in the game!” Zenkichi answered.

“Glad to have you back, then.” Akira answered, nodding.

THUD!

“AKANE!” Zenkichi shrieked once seen his daughter faint.

Sigh! “I guess there were too many surprises for that poor girl,” Haru commented, sighing in dismay.

“Akane, baby, wake-up!” Her father begged in tears, making the others sigh in dismay at his excessive reactions.

“Joker! Joker!” Sophia said from inside Akira’s phone.

“Yes?”

“Did you know that that girl has a folder in her Cloud Storage full of Fanfictions about you? She wrote at least 20 where she herself is paired with you, five where you are paired with Panther and over thirty where she turns Panther in this Cuckquean thing. What does that term mean?” Sophia asked aloud, for everybody to hear.

“...Oh, God…” Akira muttered in horror.

“AKANEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Zenkichi shrieked in horror loud enough the young girl did wake-up, and had A LOT of questions to answer.

And while this small moment of levity happened, at the same time the real Twilight went briefly overcome by the same fears she believed to have defeated, like her fear of failing and disappoint Celestia; and unknown to her, her Distorted Self too inside the Palace fell victim of those fears she believed to have defeated, the only difference was she did not cower, she turned furious and blamed it all on those same Intruders she had unleashed them on.

“FIND THEM! I WILL TEAR THEM OPEN! I WILL GOUGE OUT THEIR ORGANS! BRING THEM TO MEEEEEEEE!” Her screams echoed in every corner of the Palace, sending the Shadows there into a mad frenzy.

Chapter 21: Decomissioning the Lab of Lust!

Chapter 21: Decommissioning the Lab of Lust.

Resistance Militia Floating Island -

With the arrival of Zenkichi, the Phantom Thief Wolf, the group of Thieves was once again reunited, and now Joker and the others were bringing up to speed both him and Sophia about the current situation.

“So! With Twilight we would have ideally every Element of Harmony on our side. That’s kind of good to hear.” Zenkichi said, studying the big folder Futaba and both Makoto and her sister built about the Phantom Thieves’ mission for him.

“Pretty much. We also need to stress the fact that Twilight is technically the last ‘Easy Target’ of the list. Once stolen her Heart, the remaining targets will have fully-established and completely developed Palaces.” Yusuke added.

“...”

“...Hn!...That is actually fascinating, seeing the development stages of a Palace. Not too different from what I saw with you when I joined the group the first time.” Zenkichi said.

“We believe the Elements of Harmony themselves managed to slow-down the formation of the Palaces inside Twilight and her friends. They are absolute Pure Positive Feelings/Energy. We believe they took longer than others to form a Palace due to Corruption and Distortion having to first overcome that extra layer of protection around their hearts.” Morgana said.

“Uhm, although these Palaces sound similar to the Prisons I saw with you. You say they are different things?” Zenkichi muttered.

“The major difference is that a Palace is just about its owner, not everybody around them. Not that directly at least, it’s a more personal Inner Universe. They rule the place, they are not prisoners in a golden cage.” Makoto answered.

“...”

“Energy readings are very similar though! It confirms that Konoe was creating the Prisons on the base of the Palaces, as we suspected!” Sophia said from Akira’s phone.

“Yep!” Futaba confirmed, nodding.

“…”

“That is that. Now we have to worry about the Treasure.” Ann said.

“True.” Akira answered.

“Eff Yeah! We finally know how to steal it!” Ryuji said.

“Ya just know that ya need to slide into a chute to an incinerator, then?” AJ answered.

“Exactly. Then it’s a mad dash through the two elevators to ground level and then us running fast towards the exit.” Haru answered.

“So somethin’ that will never happen?” Dash asked.

“I heard their stories, so yes, I am starting to think that it will remain just a dream.” Rarity answered, sighing.

“...Ngh…”

“Come on, ask.” Akira said with a kind smile.

“HOW COME YOU ARE THE PHANTOM THIEVES?! WHY MY FATHER IS ONE!? WHY YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?! SINCE WHEN YOU ARE RECRUITING!?...Oh, God I showed you my YouTube channel, why you never told me...It’s so embarrassing.” Akane yelled, then crumpled on herself in a tight ball of shame.

“Aww, come here!” Ann said, squealing and hugging the girl tight.

“So adorable.” Haru added, adding herself to the hug to pet the girl.

“Come on! It wasn’t that Cringe!...Maybe just a bit, but in a cute way!” Ryuji said, laughing.

“Augh…”

“Back on track, guys. We don’t have much time!” Akira said, clearing his throat.

“Ah! Right!” The girls yelled as one.

“Celestia needs Twilight, as the only one able to create the Conversion Serum in big quantities, and after your attack on that convoy, she will be antsy to cover for all the doses she lost.” Yusuke said.

“We needed to stop that delivery, it was the biggest one to date.” Tempest admitted with a contrite expression.

“It’s okay, we are used to work with strict deadlines.” Morgana answered, and as always one of the Phantom Thieves that could actually understand him translated the cat’s Meows for the others.

“We’ll need to organize Twilight’s recovery after her Treasure gets stolen, this if we actually manage to deliver her a Calling Card.” Ann said.

“Sending her one is feasible, she keeps updating her journals on her computer and she’s still connected to the internet, so adding one there is no issue. Problem is that as soon as we send one to everybody else the guards right above her head will rush down, get her and take her to Celestia...That will probably tie her up and close her somewhere, or even chain her to her person at all times.” Futaba answered.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! I have an idea!” Ryuji said, smirking.

“What is it? Let’s hear!” Morgana said, rolling his eyes.

“We play dirty!” Skull answered, chuckling.

“...Eh?” Everybody, and everypony, else answered in absolute confusion.

“Hohoho! You never thought about it? Awesome! So this is how it feels to be the smart one! Feels Effing Great!” He said.

“GET TO THE BLOODY POINT!” Both Haru and Rarity yelled at the same time with the same “””””””””””””Elegant”””””””””””””” composure.

“Jeez! Let me enjoy the moment! Whatever. Here’s my idea…” Ryuji, rolling his eyes, started explaining his plan to the others.

The Next day – Hospital Underground Area – Twilight’s Lab -

Nothing was going according to plan! And Twilight hated having no clue about how to fix that! Especially with Princess Celestia insisting she returned to the Alicorn’s castle and manage Potion Production personally.

“I have so many experiments to run still! Those dreams of an Immortality Operation I keep having can’t be a fluke! I know my subconscious is trying to tell me something! I just need to understand what is it!...I really don’t want to cut open anypony...But from what I saw in Humanity’s past, they were kind of right: if you want to see how something works, you need to open them up.”

PING!

“Uh?” It was then that her computer made a strange sound that caught her attention.

“Who does this thing have now?” She muttered, confused.

And in answer, a video started playing full screen by itself, and unknown to her, the Calling Card’s own effect made sure Twilight’s Distorted-Self forced her to watch.

To Twilight Sparkle, the Selfishbringer of Misery tearing apart everybody around her to satisfy her endless hunt for Perfection and control!

A soulless machine masquerading as a pony that instead threw away its Heart to chase her Twisted Delusions as an All-Knowing.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who relishes in the destruction of Humanity to satisfy her bottomless Lust for Knowledge.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will remind you that True Friendsare not found in books or labs.

And we will take your Distorted Desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

“I… I… No!… I!” Twilight was in shock, babbling incoherently with wide eyes.

Inside her instead, Shadow Twilight was demolishing one of her labs in blind fury, screeching and roaring like an insane beast.

“Phantom Thieves! You think you can just barge in my laboratory and not only disrupt my work, but even stealing the one thing I still can’t unravel and dissect?! Come if you dare! I will tar you apart and let you join my experiments!” The Monster Mare yelled.

Inside Twilight’s Palace – Hidden Lab – Room of the Treasure -

The Group of teens had just let the incinerator run for few minutes to make sure the chute was free and both starting and arrival point were empty and big enough for them all to slide down of, and tried to tell themselves they were burning simple garbage… Not humans or pony remains.

Then was the ride of Shadow Twilight’s secret lifts to enter the secret lab with the test tube holding inside the Palace Treasure now holding physical form thanks to the Calling Card.

“There it is.” Zenkichi said with a sigh.

“Readings confirms that being the center of the Palace, it’s the Treasure! :D” Sophia said with a smiley emojy appearing on the glass panel of her Phantom Thief mask.

“This time it became a plushie.” Ann said.

“That should be Smarty Pants! It is Twilight’s fillyhood plushie!” Rarity confirmed with a gasp.

“A worn-out plush toy, usually used as a way to represent childhood innocence.” Yusuke muttered, thoughtful.

“And usually a kid’s first Best Friend.” Ryuji added, sighing.

“I remember I had a doll I took everywhere, Miss Taki. I talked with her, played with her. She was my best friend as a kid.” Haru answered, sighing at the memories.

“This must be her Heart crying for help?” Akira asked.

“The symbol of real Friendship and its values, before Distortion and Corruption made a mockery of it into possessiveness and desire of turning her friends immortal so that they will never leave her.” Morgana answered.

“Poor girl. Come on, let’s take it out and help her snap out of her madness.” Makoto said, grabbing the plushie and pocketing it.

“Everything is going to be alright! :)” Sophia promised to the small toy with a side smile.

“Let’s go.” Akira said, hurrying towards the exit.

“Coming!” Ryuji answered, and as one the group followed.

“…”

“I don’t like this silence.” Yusuke admitted after a few minutes of them running.

“… There is nobody around.” Zenkichi answered.

In fact, the only noise heard were their footsteps, the Phantom Thieves were seemingly the only people in the Palace, a deep and creepy silence that made the dimly-lit, automated and blood-drenched corridors feel even more creepy, if possible.

“Twilight must be waiting for us.” Morgana said with narrowed eyes.

“A trap?” Rarity asked, gasping.

“She is scary smart, listening to you and her other friends, so I guess she is waiting for us to get to a part of the Palace big enough for her to get enough room to fight us.” Makoto answered.

“Very likely! !!!” Sophia answered with three giant exclamation marks getting projected on her Mask.

“Would be surprised if Twilight hasn’t prepared several plans just for this occasion, true.” The mare admitted.

“Then she will find us ready.” Zenkichi said.

“Yes.” Akira added, nodding.

When they finally reached the giant elevator, the thing slowly started making it’s way upward when it stopped abruptly and flashing red lights flashed on and off for few seconds.

“We stopped.” Yusuke said between clenched teeth.

“She is coming.” Akira said, and at his words his friends huddle a bit closer together to watch each other’s back.

“Twilight! We just want to help!” Rarity yelled.

“Not helping, Jewel!” Makoto muttered.

WRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

In answered two giant circular saw-blades burst through the floor and rapidly moved towards the Phantom Thieves to scatter to avoid being cut to pieces.

“AGH! Okay, it either worked or Twilight has a very good timing!” Ryuji said.

“Not funny, Skull!” Rarity answered.

CRASH!

As soon as the saws stopped a giant humanoid exoskeleton bursts through the floor to stand up and look at the Phantom Thieves; it was a towering two-meters-tall iron robot covered in rust and with two giant circular saw-blades in place of hands, it also lacked a head, but had a big glass sphere on its belly filled in green liquid with a brain floating inside of it.

“Found you, Thieves!” Light shone in the robot’s bulging glassbelly whenever the brain talked.

“Twilight! What have you done to yourself?!” Rarity said in abject horror.

“Just a couple upgrades, nothing much! I wanted to welcome you all properly!” The Brain said with a mocking tone.

“You disrespected even the purity of your own flesh!” Yusuke answered in disgust-fueled anger.

“Purity? AH! A body is just an ensemble of flesh, tendons, bones and fat! Organs mechanically doing a job that a machine can do better! The real Us is only the brain!” Twilight answered.

“And what about your Heart, dumbass?!” Ryuji asked, scoffing.

“My Heart? That mere pump? it’s job is all about making blood flow! But, I am curious about the sense of longing others say come from it, and that thing you stole from me will be the key! I don’t know how you made it become tangible, but I don’t care! As a thank you for resolving my issues about being unable to dissect it, I’ll make your death fast!… Although, I can’t promise it will be painless! YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The ma brain answered with a bot of deranged laughter.

“Then try it, Psycho!” Ryuji snapped back in answer.

“Come get dissected!” Shadow Twilight yelled in psychotic glee as she slammed the circular saws on the ground and made them spin at high speed like wheels and using them to sprint forward to assault the Thieves.

“Scatter!” Makoto yelled, rolling aside and delivering a devastating punch with her spiked gauntlets, but to her surprise she didn’t damage the exoskeleton, making her entire arm shock heavily and get overcome by shivers for a bit.

“Something’s strange.” Akira muttered with narrowed eyes.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

“Okay! Bastard’s tough!” Ryuji growled in annoyance as his bullets and Ann’s bounced off from Shadow Twilight’s armor’s back.

“Goemon!” Yusuke summoned his Persona.

Skrieeeeeee!

“UGH!” Both his sword and his Persona’s bladed pipe met Shadow Twilight’s circular saws mid-swing generating a thick shower of sparks.

“I’ll cut you open and discover the secrets of how a Heart works!” S. Twilight said, giggling deranged.

“How a Heart works? Preposterous for your to declare that! You cast you away and pretend to study how it works?!” He answered, sneering, and rolling away before the saws could cut him in two.

Clang!

“You all fill your mouth in philosophic nonsense! Sometimes we want clear answers! Not useless drivel out of a fortune cookie! And I will be the one to finally give those answers!” She answered, struggling to get back to her feet after the saws got stuck in the floor.

“NOT ON THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS!” Zenkichi yelled in answer and sticking the tip of his wide sword in the folds of S. Twilight’s Exoskeleton’s armor to try pierce through.

“You all want answers! You all want solutions! But don’t want to work for it! And whoever works to get those answers, you demonize them! I am working to discover every last secret remaining unanswered, you all just don’t want to admit you want you know too!” The mad mare answered with a crazed roar, breaking free and assaulting Zenichi as soon as the man stumbled on the floor from being buckled off.

“Whoa!”

“WOLF!” Haru yelled in horror at seeing the two circular saws about to shred him.

“Milady: Mapsio!” Haru summoned her Persona and assaulted S. Twilight with a wide-area Mental attack, and the effect was instantaneous.

“KYAAAAAAAH!” A blood-curling scream of agony echoed in the area while the robot started wildly waving the saws ‘Blindly’ while screaming more and more.

“Okay! I think we can say she is weak to Psi attacks!” Makoto sai, awed by the strong reaction.

“Kind of makes sense since she is an exposed brain inside a robot! Now give her Hell!” Futaba answered, sending a fast round of Healing and buffing skills to the entire group.

“Can do! :D” Sophia answered, bombarding the howling robot in ‘Bless Element’ attacks.

“YAAAAAH! I’ll tear you apart! I’ll vivisect you! I’ll nail you to a table and watch you bleed to death!” S. Twilight roared, now with the saws started spinning so fast fire enveloped them.

“Over here!” Akira said, standing precariously on the ledge of the giant elevator.

“JOKER!” The others yelled in worry.

“You! You are the Leader! I’ll tear you apart first!” The Mad Mare bellowed, using again the saws as wheels to charge forward at high speed.

“JEWEL, CATCH ME! NOIR, PSI!” Akira ordered, running toward Twilight while shooting his gun at the glass dome, covering it in only faint cracks since it was apparently reinforced.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Ann shrieked.

“Mapsio!” Haru in the meantime repeated her attack, making Shadow Twilight shreik again in agony and rush forward without control.

Akira jumped high and used the back of S. Twilight’s exoskeleton as a springboard to avoid the attack, although it still caused both to start falling down the elevator shaft, only with a magic aura to envelop Akira’s body to stop his fall.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” And leaving Shadow Twilight fall down alone and rapidly disappear from view into the thick darkness under them, the far, far away soft sound of something breaking told them how absurdly long the fall actually was before the Mare’s exoskeleton actually touched ground.

“ARE YOU EFFING INSANE?!” Ryuji, helping pulling Akira back on the elevator, shrieked with wide eyes.

“He is still in my Magic field…” Rarity muttered.

“It’s a matter of him feeling his friend in his grasp, it assures him Joker is alive! :)” Sophia answered with a smiling emoji flashing on her mask’s screen.

“Don’t! Don’t! Don’t ever do that again!” Ann begged with a loud scream while poking his chest hard.

“Okay.” He answered.

“Seriously, Joker. You are trying to ill me here.” Makoto said with a loud sigh.

“I trusted him not to die. I would have resurrected and killed him myself otherwise!” Haru said with a sweet smile.

“Precisely,” Akira answered, pointing at her and looking unfazed by her words.

“Honestly, you are my beloved friend, I am still not ready to write a beautiful and tear-jerking eulogy for your funeral, so please, wait before causing your own demise.” Yusuke said with a very dramatic sigh.

“A BIT LESS CREEPY SHIT, PLEASE!” Ryuji said with a shriek while still checking if Akira was okay.

“I am okay, though.”

“Fool.” Futaba said with a voice that made it clear she was also pouting.

“What’s important is that you are safe, Joker… Now please stop trying to give me white hair!” Zenkichi said with an overly-dramatic whine.

“Ehm… Is Twilight dead?” Rarity asked.

“...Oh!” The others said in dread.

“Shit! I forgot about that! Dude, you threw her down an elevator shaft!” Ryuji said in horror.

“And she took a full two minutes before touching ground!” Makoto added, shocked.

“It isn’t over.” Akira answered, looking at the darkness under the elevator with narrowed eyes.

“True, the Palace is still standing.” Morgana confirmed.

“Eh?”

Clop! Clop! Clop!

A slow clapping of hooves echoed around them as Twilight’s body came into view, still smiling but with her eyes looking dull and lifeless.

“Her original body!” Rarity yelled in horror.

“So Twilight body and brain can act independently?” Yusuke said, shocked.

“Not really.” Shadow Twilight said as he brain floated upward surrounded in a purple aura of magic, resurfacing from the long fall without a scratch.

“I saw your body spying on us.” Akira said, having noticed the brainless body hiding above them in an alcove thanks to the updated Thief Sight Igor gifted him.

“Was that another experiment to you?” Morgana asked.

“Indeed! And it showed me that my little “Vivisecter” Battle suit still needs some key updates!” S. Twilight brain said, opening the skull of her body so to re-enter her head and then closing her scalp with a loud squelch.

“I went really close at dying, but luckily I had took precautions against high falls too! Another proof of my genius!” Twilight answered, now finally using her mouth to talk once regained her body.

“What now then, Genius?” Ann asked with a mocking tone.

“Now? Now that I got enough data for the next version of my battle suit, I will make true to my promise and slaughter you all!” The Mad Scientist answered, recalling the Treasure to her in a flash of magic.

“NO!” Rarity yelled.

“This is mine, Thieves! Another reason to be mad at...UGH!” Shadow Twilight’s new taunt stopped abruptly as soon as she physically touched the Treasure.

“Oh no! Here it comes!” Ryuji yelled with wide eyes.

“What is happenin-GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Twilight yelled in agony as her body started swelling, and in her blinding pain she once again fell own the elevator shaft.

“Ho-oh…” Zenkichi whimpered in worry.

“It starts now!” Futaba yelled.

“Get ready!” Akira ordered-

THUMP! THUMP!

Two disembodied giant robot hands grabbed the sides of the elevator, and at the same time a giant mask of a laughing face floated up to tower over the Phantom Thieves, slowly spinning in place to show the mask of a sobbing sad face behind it.

Tubes then uprooted themselves from the walls to connect the giant two-faced head to the walls, and red energy started flowing through the tubes and inside the transformed Mare’s head, the same eerie red energy lighted-up the masks eyes making them shine.

“A Mockery of the Comedy and Tragedy masks, I wonder if they represent the duality of Twilight’s madness.” Yusuke said between clenched teeth.

“What have you done to me?!” The Sad Mask said with a howl of despair when the spinning brought it forward to face the Thieves.

“I will disassemble you! YAHAHAHAHAHA!” Soon followed by Grinning Mask when it was its turn to be in front.

“Just you try!” Zankichi said.

“I just wanted to make my friends immortal! Waaah! What’s wrong about wanting to be always together!” Sad Mask howled in despair, and from its eye holes two giant streams of water went shot at the Phantom Thieves.

“That’s pressurized water! Evade!” Futaba screamed in panic.

Fwoooosh!

The group scattered just in time to avoid the attack, and watched with wide eyes as the two giant streams of water cut two deep trenches on the metal floor.

“HOLY CRAP!” Ryuji yelled.

“Pressurized water, it can be used to cut even the hardest material, be careful or it will tear us apart!” Makoto warned the others.

“Ahhhh! Get here!” Mad Mask was now in front, and it sent both hands forward to grab Haru and Ann.

“Captain Kidd!” Ryuji yelled, guiding his Persona to slam against the floating right hand while he himself tackled Haru down to the ground.

“Panther!” Akira and Morgana echoed, Joker by pushing Ann out of harm’s way while Morgana and Zorro attacked the hand.

“Sophie! Together! Kouga!” Rarity said while summoning her Persona.

“Okay! Kouga!” Sophia answered, summoning her own Persona Pandora.

“Zorro! Magarula!” At the same time, Morgana added his own Wind Element attack to the consecutive explosion of pure light raining on the left hand.

“Kyaaaa!” Mad Mask shrieked in pain and anger as both hands went pushed back.

“Waaaah! Why must you hurt me! Why do you hate me!? I just want to learn everything!” Sad Mask returned, and this time the mouth opened and energy mounted inside of it.

“Wide area attack!” Futaba warned them.

“Defensive stance!” Yusuke yelled.

“Waaaaah! (Sorrowful Lament)” a rain of blood-red lasers bombarded the entire elevator, wounding the Phantom Thieves heavily and making the platform fall down of few feet.

“Ugh! This thing won’t last!” Makoto hissed in pain.

“If that psycho destroys it we will fall down!” Ann added, holding her side with a grimace.

“Healers!” Futaba said, adding her own healing skills.

“On it!” Morgana and Akira answered, switching into the role of the group’s healers.

“We are making next to zero damages, we need to find a target to focus on!” Zenkichi said between clenched teeth.

“The hands are not a good target, that leaves her faces or those tubes.” Yusuke answered.

“Although those masks look sturdy!” Rarity admitted, worried.

“Then we’ll break them!” Makoto answered.

“Well said!” Zenkichi answered.

"We’ll do it together! Panther, go for the sad face! Mona, keep us healed!" he shouted, the sound of rushing water drowning his voice momentarily.

Panther, agile and graceful, lunged at the weeping face with her whip, accompanied by her Persona’s fire attacks.

“Waaaaah! Why! Why can’t I learn the secrets of Immortality to keep my friends alive forever! I don’t want to lose them!” The sad face winced and screamed as the fire attacks and whip lashes struck home, causing it to recoil in agony and big chunks of its metal body to fly everywhere either broken or half molten.

Meanwhile, Mona kept acting as the group's support, channeling his Persona to cast protective and healing skills, and even physically shielding his friends from the onslaught of watery projectiles.

"Hang in there, everyone! We've got this!" The cat said with a loud and reassuring voice.

Across the battlefield, the malevolent grin of the Boss's Madly smiling face twisted with glee.

“YAHAHAHAHA! BURN! I WANT TO STUDY THE HEAT PRODUCED BY THE BURNING CORPSES OF DIRTY THIEVES!” The Mad Mask declared, then it opened its mouth, and a searing burst of fire erupted forth.

Skull, caught by surprise, tried summoning his Persona to use it as an improvised shield to try mitigate the damages even just a tiny bit.

“SKULL!” The other yelled in horror.

"Skull, brace yourself! Noir! The laughing face!" Queen yelled while taking the young man in the back lines and closer to Morgana to get his dose of healing.

“I am on it!” Noir answered, and with rapid and calculated movements, she darted towards the laughing face while avoiding the various giant blobs of burning plasma the Mad Mask spat at her.

“Stay still, I’ll fix you up in a jiff.” Morgana said, piling-up healing skills and items nonstop.

“Sorry, that thing vomiting an effing sea of fire was unexpected.” Ryuji muttered with an ashamed voice.

“No need to apologize, Skull.” Morgana answered, chuckling.

“What’s important is that you are still alive.” Makoto added, and Ryuji answered with a chuckle, glad to have his friends by his side even in such terrible situation.

Meanwhile, Haru and her Persona Milady kept assaulting the Mad Mask, with the support of Akira and the others, until, with a swift and precise strike, Akira, Yusuke and Rarity managed to pin down one of Shadow Rarity’s hands down for her to use as a platform to jump on the Mad Smiling Mask when the transformed Mare pulled it free, she then grabbed onto one of the empty eye socket of the metallic thing and plunged her grenade launcher inside the mask’s mouth just as fire started again to mount inside its maw.

“LAUGH AT THIS!” Haru yelled, unloading every grenade she had inside the thing, making a long series of explosions echo dully from deep inside the monster’s giant head and eliciting a pained howl at each new explosion.

“Kyah!”

“Noir!” Yusuke yelled, catching Haru in his arms after the giant floating head shook the girl off by briefly spinning in place at high speed.

“Ooof! Thank you, Inari! I think I know how to hurt it!” Haru said, smiling in satisfation.

“Oh really?! Do tell becaaAAAAAAAH!” Zankichi shrieked as a back-handed slap of one of S. Twilight’s giant hands sent him flying.

“Oh! Careful, Wolf! Don’t get bitc-”

“I forbid you from finishing that sentence!” Zankichi interrupted Sophia’s ‘Suggestion’ with a disappointed and high-pitched scream.

“I am open to suggestion, Noir!” Akira admitted, and the team was once again forced to scatter, dodging the colossal fists that threatened to slam them into oblivion as the Furious Mad Mask threw a tantrum and starting slamming both on the elevator over and over to try squash them nonstop.

"Guys, those hands are predictable!” In the middle of that chaos, Futaba demonstrated once again her prodigious intelligence and analyzed the strangerhythm of the punches and found an actual pattern behind the seemingly-random tantrum.

“They are?!” Ryuji asked, surprised.

“Yes, there is a method to madness! Follow my lead and I will tell you how to get to the masks!" she shouted.

“Through a rain of punches?!” Ann shrieked with wide eyes.

“Imagine it as a very intense round of any rhythm game!”

“WITH MY LIFE ON THE LINE?!” She asked.

“Precisely.”

“I… I… FINE! But if I die I will sue!” Ann conceded with a frustrated scream.

“Glad to see you all are ready to do this.” Akira answered, smiling proud.

“Good! Here’s how we’ll do it: the mask themselves act as an armor of sort, but if we shot through the mouths we can reach the Squishy Insides. Those tubes too seem to take care of powering the giant head since I detect the most energy to come from those. We need to attack Twilight from those three points: The Masks’ mouths and detach or destroy the tubes.” Futaba explained.

“Me, Jewel and Wolf will break the tubes!” Sophia said, ever cheerful.

“Good enough for me! I am ready for some giant face rodeo!” Zenkichi said, nodding.

“Everything for my friend!” Rarity declared.

“Smiling Face?” Akira asked to Ann and Skull.

“Sure!” The other two answered.

“Then we will take care of the Sad Mask.” Yusuke answered, and behind him Haru and Makoto nodded along.

“Then I will take care of Healing, and help Wolf and Sophie if they need.” Morgana added.

“We have a plan then. Guide us, Navi!” Akira said.

“Sure! Follow my lead!” Futaba answered.

With Futaba's guidance, the Phantom Thieves managed to anticipate the movements of the giant hands, putting their lives on the line to dodge the mad slams of Shadow Twilight’s giant fists.

“Quick, Quick, Slow… Quick, Quick, Slow…”

“INARI, SHUT UP! It’s distracting! KYAH!” Makoto shrieked in panic when she felt one of the giant fists came cashing down at an inch from her back.

“Sorry!” Yusuke answered, chuckling nervously before rolling forward to avoid a grabbing attempt.

“There she is! LET’S GO!” Ryuji yelled, and once in range, the Thieves split in three groups and jumped the mare.

“LET GO OF MEEEE!” Shadow Twilight yelled in two voices, one mad with fury and the other insane in sorrow.

“Sorry! But it’s for your own good! Cendrillon!” Rarity answered, and together with Sophia and Zenkichi they assaulted the tubes connecting Shadow Twilight’s giant floating head connected to the walls.

“I don’t like this!” Ann said, shoving her arm elbow-deep inside the Mask’s eye socket and unloading the gun’s entire clip.

“As long as it hurts her I don’t care!” Haru answered, doing the same inside the eye sockets of her own target.

Every Phantom Thief was using their weapon to hold onto Twilight’s face with one hand so to freely use their guns to shoot inside the mask.

“Hold on tight!” Ann, with her whip tying her hand to one of the stumps left behind by the tubes detaching.

“STOP HURTING MEEE!” Finally Twilight had enough, and instead of trying to try shake them off, she guided her hands to swat the Thieves away.

“HANDS!” Haru yelled with wide eyes.

“JOHANNA!” Makoto summoned her Persona.

“GOEMON!” Yusuke echoed right after.

BANG!

The two Persona and the two flying hands collided mid-air, with the hands flying back, pushed away by the Personas’ skills.

“The tubes are almost gone!” Zenkichi said once every tube on top of Shadow Twilight’s head started leaking viscous black and release wild sparks of electricity.

“Can you tear them off?” Morgana, assaulting the hands directly as a disctraction.

“I AM TRYING!” Sophia answered with a strained scream, she had tied her yo-yo’s rope around one of the giant tubes and was desperately pulling.

“SAME!” Rarity, pulling on another with magic, said the same.

“I have a plan.” Akira said.

“NO! I don’t like your plans!” Ann admitted, scared.

“I won’t die.”

“But you always go close at dying! That’s why I don’t like them!” She answered.

Akira gave a small chuckle and jumped, shooting Shadow Twilight’s flying left hand with the grappling hook to swing himself upwards and on top of it.

“LET GO!” Mad Face roared, vomiting a sea of fire towards him.

“NOW!” Jumping down, Akira used his body weight to pull on the hand with the grappling hook rope to make the big thing spin and used the hand as a shield, making Twilight engulf her own hand in flames.

“KYAAAAAAH!” The Monster Mare shrieked in horror, dropping the hand that started falling down lifeless.

“MONA! TOGETHER!”

“OKAY!”

“ZORRO!/ARSENE!”Both summoned their Persona and attacked the burning hand as hard as they could, sending it falling towards the tubes on top of S. Twilight’s head.

“OH, CRAAAAP!” Zenkichi yelled with wide eyes, grabbing Rarity under his right arm and grabbing the back Sophia’s suit with his left hand to drag them down.

CRAAAAASH!

The three Phantom Thieves managed to jump down the head an instant before the flaming hand slammed against the tubes, tearing them to pieces and making the oil and other chemicals in them start burning.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Shadow Twilight started howling in pain from both Masks’ mouths.

“It worked,” Akira said, pleased with himself.

“Warn us next time!” Makoto and Ann said with a shriek.

“It was hard to explain I wanted her to cover her hand in fire to slap her with, I wasn’t even sure she would have stopped controlling it.” He answered.

“… I hate that it makes kind of sense, but still, next time I want a warning, one coming with enough time for me to process it!” Zenkichi answered.

“Noted.”

“Har-Har-Har! Kids these days, no respect.” The poor man answered in bitter sarcasm at the cheeking answer, making the others chuckle.

“DAMN YOUUUUU!” Shadow Twilight howled in fury, so angry now she looked unfazed by the flames covering her completely.

“Oh! She mad!” Ryuji said, smirking.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

“Oh no… I think this time it’s not a good thing…” Futaba said in dread when Shadow Twilight’s power rising spiked instead of dropping, all the while deep cracks started appearing on the masks.

“What is happening?!” Rarity asked, horrified.

“Second phase, I fear… To use a videogame term.” Zenkichi answered, gulping.

“Oh, no…” Ann muttered in answer.

“GET READY!” Morgana yelled with wide eyes when Twilight released an indescribable scream of monstrous rage.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

In the eerie red light of the alarms blaring everywhere in the laboratory Shadow Twilight began to undergo a horrifying transformation while releasing a chilling, otherworldly wail after another.

The massive floating head loomed over them while thrashing violently and slamming against the walls, screaming in pain over and over;its two faces beyond the masks howling in pain and screaming insults and obscenities, and the more Shadow Twilight slammed her floating giant head against the walls, the more cracks appeared on the masks covering her two faces, until with an ominous cracking sound the masks on the twin faces began to splinter and crumble into pieces.

CRACK!

Bolts and rivets shot off from Shadow Twilight’s monster body, and big splinters of her masks started falling down or remaining stuck in the walls, slowly revealing the grotesque features hidden beneath.

“What… The crap is that…” Ryuji muttered with a green face.

On the front face, the Mad One, the skin had been surgically peeled back, revealing a tangle of veins pulsating in sickly hues of crimson and violet; the eyes, once concealed, were nothing more than empty sockets filled with writhing maggots and metal cables still crackling in electricity, while the mouth was fixed on an eternal snarl full of sharp, jagged fangs.

Simultaneously, the mask on the back shattered, revealing the horrific sight of the Sad Face’s skin melting away like wax, exposing a raw, fleshy cavity where a second set of eyeswere forced open by crude suture sewing, eyes now cold and unfeeling, that stared into the abyss while crying nonstop tears of putrid black water leaving thick stream marks on the ruined face’s cheeks.

As the masks broken down further, the monstrous head began to tremble and convulse, then it let out an otherworldly scream that reverberated through the room, like a guttural cry of agony.

“JESUS!” Makoto looked away, gagging in disgust.

“The true face of Twilight’s madness. Self-destruction in the name of Science guided by anger and sadness. What a sad, terrifying sight.” Yusuke commented with a sorrowful tone.

Now the two faces started to squiggle as if something was moving wildly right under their flesh, then they started to merge: flesh melting and conjoining into a grotesque, pulsating mass… Until the transformation reached its horrific climax.

“GET DOWN!” Akira yelled, throwing himself on the floor soon followed by his friends that did the same with just a split-second difference.

When the twin faces merged completely into a grotesque, quivering misshapen ball of pulsating flesh with veins and arteries still pulsing with life; it briefly hovered menacingly over them, exuding a stench of decay, for just a couple seconds it then stood still, before the mass exploded like a water balloon splattering blood everywhere in a grotesque rain.

BOOOM!

“WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!” Ann yelled with a hysteric scream as now a giant floating brain covered in pulsating black veins hovered over them.

The transformation was gruesome, as the grotesque creature completed its metamorphosis and summoned again the two hands at its sides and a giant single eye opened right on the front of the brain’s mass.

“Phase 2, guys! Keep it together! We still haven’t won!” Zenkichi tried saying, swallowing hard to reign his bile at the disgusting sight.

The new form of Shadow Twilight answered by releasing a cacophonous scream that reverberated through the Palace, causing the Phantom Thieves to clutch their ears in agony as a long chain of acid-green 1 and 0 appeared around the brain.

01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01110101 01101100 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01110000 01100001 01101001 01110010 00101110 00100000 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100101 01110011 01100011 01100001 01110000 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01110101 01110010 01101110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101110 01100101 01110111 00100000 01010100 01100101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01010011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01110011 00101110

"What... What is that thing saying?" Joker exclaimed, his voice strained.

Oracle quickly analyzed the situation and deciphered a message in the air around the monstrous brain.

"It's speaking in binary code!" she exclaimed.

“Awesome! And?” Ryuji asked with an annoyed scream.

"It's saying, 'I am the culmination of despair. You cannot escape. I will turn you into my new Test Subjects.'"

“She is welcomed to try!” Makoto answered.

“You okay, Jewel?” Morgana asked, concerned.

“I… I am! That is not Twilight! My friend would NEVER get to this point! Never! That is a mockery of Twilight just like my Shadow version was a bad copy of me! And I will help you destroy it to free my friend!” Rarity answered with eyes ablaze in determination.

“Well said!” Haru and Ann said together.

With newfound determination, the Phantom Thieves faced the horrifying brain; it floated ominously, with the binary code surrounding it like an aura that then expanded and latched onto the floating hands to tie them to the brain, and forming a very simplistic and translucent giant humanoid body made of 1 and 0 numbers.

“The battle had taken a nightmarish turn, but we must remain resolute.” Yusuke said, pointing at the giant brain encased in a body of binary code with his sword.

"You took the words right outta my mouth, buddy! Let's finish this!" Ryuji answered, smirking and moving his arm around.

"Skull, Noir, you are the only ones still with bullets, target its weak point! We will cover you and distract her." Akira ordered while charging forward.

“Which weak point?”

“What about her giant brain that formed the body in the first place?!” Morgana answered with a tone dripping in sarcasm while rolling his eyes.

“Jeez! Just making sure!” Ryuji answered, chuckling.

While the others targeted the hands and semi-solid body with their melee weapons and Persona Skills, Skull and Noir moved in unison, striking at the pulsating mass of the brain with precision with a hail of bullets and every Gun Element attack Haru’s Milady could dish-out.

01000100 01101001 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 01101100 01100101 01100100 01100111 01100101 00100001

“Eh?” Zenkichi, parrying the grabbing attempt of Twilight’s giant hand, uttered.

“She says ‘Die in the name of Knowledge!’. She really hates us!” Sophia, attacking that same hand with her yo-yo and tearing away big chunks of its metal, answered with a jovial tone.

“Oh, dear! I wasn’t aware she hated us! I thought she wanted to give me a very extreme head pat!” He answered in sarcasm, chuckling, and making Sophia giggle amused.

“Eat some lead! I heard it’s good for psychotic evil brains!” Ryuji yelled in the meantime, shooting Shadow Twilight’s Brain Form nonstop with his combat shotgun and pelting it in Lightning attacks.

“MAZIO!” And following that skill attack, Shadow Twilight released a statics-riddled scream of agony.

“Oh! Lightning works too! I wonder if... MAPSIO!” Haru said, trying again the Psi Skills of her Persona, and making so much damage all at once the Binary-made Body of Twilight briefly blinked off and causing the brain to convulse and emit agonized screams in the form of dissonant, electronic screeches and static noises.

“OF COURSE! Back in the days one of the methods used to ‘Heal’ Madness was through Electroconvulsive Therapy! That’s why Lightning attacks are more effective! Just like using Psi attacks work on her by adding even more pressure on Twilight’s warped Sanit-”

“NOT NOW!” The other Phantom Thieves, Rarity comprised, yelled in chorus to interrupt Yusuke’s exposition fit.”

“… Truly, you others are against learning new things.” The poor Artist muttered in dismay while whacking away at the giant hand trying to poke him to death.

Showing a great deal of multitasking skills, Morgana kept switching roles on the fly and use his Persona to both attack Twilight and heal and protect his friends, countering the brain's attempts to corrupt their minds with its own Psi Element attacks.

"She is preparing something big! Some kind of AOE super Psi attack!" Futaba alerted them in panic, already working tirelessly to detected vulnerabilities in the brain's next move.

“Should I get worried?” Rarity asked.

“Unless you like the idea of Twilight turning you all Brain Dead, maybe you should stop her!” She answered.

“That sounds convincing! How do we do that!?” Ann asked.

"What Twilight is trying to accomplish is such a giant thing that she needs a lot of power and time to prepare it, There will be weak points in its programming! Hit them when it exposes them!"

“For people that know nothing of computers?!” Ryuji, Haru and Yusuke asked in chorus.

“The binary code will soon converge on the giant body chest. Hit and destroy that cyber-pustule whenever the binary code on Twilight’s chest becomes thicker!”

“Oh! I can do that!” They answered.

The battle against the monstrous brain raged on, a clash of technology and supernatural abilities. With each strike and spell, the binary code around the brain flickered and glitched, revealing moments of vulnerability.

The Phantom Thieves exploited these openings, slowly but surely chipping away at the brain's formidable defenses.

As the battle reached its climax, the Palace itself seemed to quake, mirroring the intensity of the confrontation. The Thieves pressed on, their resolve unwavering, determined to overcome the embodiment of despair and claim victory.

“!!!” Whenever a new metallic shriek of static noises erupted from the brain, a new pustule of condensed binary code formed on a random part of Shadow Twilight’s holographic humanoid body.

“Right hand side! Under the ribs area!” Futaba instructed.

“On it! Mazio!” Akira answered, bombarding the big lump of ethereal numbers in lightning attacks from one of the Personas he could call upon.

With a sickening Squelch sound the pustule would break causing Twilight to shriek again, this time in pain.

“Okay! She is hurt when those are broken! Good to know!” Futaba said, elated.

“Good to know!” Ryuji, from on top of Twilight’s brain, answered with smirk.

“SKULL! HOW?!” Makoto yelled.

“Climbed the Effing thing while she was distracted!” He answered, smirking and shoving the head of his sledgehammer deep inside Twilight’s brain while twisting it around in splashes of viscous black blood mixed with oil.

“HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” And of course the giant of binary code immediately started thrashing violently to try shock the Thief off.

“SHIIIT! STAY STILL, DAMNIT!” Ryujy answered with a scream of his own while hanging limp and holding onto the brain only thanks to his hammer being stuck deep inside the monster mare’s brain.

“STOP TRYING TO SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS THAT THING AND COME DOWN!” Zenkichi yelled, desperately attacking the left hand to stop Twilight from using it to grab Ryuji.

“Wha?” The other teens asked, confused.

“I’ll explain the reference later! Now help him!” He answered.

“Going!” Akira yelled, using the grappling hook to latch on one of the walls and swing upward towards his friend.

“PUSTULES!” Futaba yelled in panic as now at least six of those lumps appeared on Twilight’s shoulders, all pointing towards the swinging Akira and Ryuji.

“HANDS!” Haru yelled in equal panic as the two metal hands as well flew towards them.

“SKULL!” Makoto yelled in absolute panic.

“JOKER!” Ann and Sophia echoed right after her.

“My hand!” Akira said, swinging right next to Ryuji with his hand stretched out.

“SHIIIIIIIT!” Ryuji managed to dislodge his sledgehammer and jump towards Akira a split second before the pustules broke and several giant acid-green lasers rained on them.

“RYAAAAAAAAH! (Brain-Break!)” Shadow Twilight roared in anger.

FOOOOOM!

“TOO CLOSE! TOO CLOSE!” Ryuji, hanging from Akira’s hand shrieked with bulged-out eyes as the lasers avoided them by a mer inch thanks to Joker’s wild swinging.

“HOLD ON!” Akira answered, looking in horror as the two hands were instead about to grab them.

“STAY AWAY!” Two voices roared in bestial fury.

BOOM!

The right hand folded on itself when Makoto’s fist, encased in the blue flames of the Nuclear Element of Johanna’s powers, slammed onto its palm with the strength of a meteor, digging a very deep crater into it and shooting the hand against the wall where it remained stuck.

“Wow!” Ryuji muttered in awe.

“DON’T WOW ME! I’LL PUNCH YOU LIKE THAT WHEN WE ARE DONE HERE FOR THAT STUNT OF YOURS!” Makoto bellowed.

“… Still wow.” He muttered, making her chuckle despite her anger.

“Makouga!” Both Rarity and Sophia in the meantime blasted the other hand with the combined power of their Persona, momentarily engulfing the flying thing in a blinding explosion of light before the thing finally fell down limp.

“Both hands are incapacitated but are self-healing quick! Hurry and attack the brain before it forms more pustules or recalls them!” Futaba said, pumping the Phantom Thieves in all the buffs she and her Persona could call upon.

“Bring me closer to her!” Haru said.

“Okay!” Yusuke and Ann answered.

“We’ll open a path.” Akira added once he and Ryuji landed close to them.

“God, that was close!” Ryuji admitted with a sigh of relief.

“IT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID!” Makoto answered, grabbing the collar of his Phantom Thief uniform to shake him wildly.

“B-B-B-BUT I-I-I-IT WO-WO-WORKED!” He answered, stuttering heavily due to the wild shaking.

“NOT AT THE COST OF YOUR LIFE!” She roared back.

“Focus!” Morgana ordered as the giant humanoid body of binary code surrounding Twilight’s brain blinked on and off at a rapid pace.

“She is at her limit! A last push!” Akira said.

“OKAY!” The other Thieves answered as one, and the group assaulted the brain as a single unit.

“01000100 01001001 01000101 01000101 01000101 01000101 00100001 (Dieeeeeee!)”

The Brain recalled and compressed the aura of 1 and 0 and then shot it forward towards the Phantom Thieves in hundreds of tentacles with a sharp point glinting like actual blades.

“CUT A PATH FOR NOIR!” Morgana yelled, with his Persona Zorro swinging his sword just like the cat’s own in a blurry of motion to cut away every tentacle they both could reach.

“ARSENE!” Akira yelled, and just as his own knife shredded tentacles by the dozen, so did the Persona’s sharp wings in a flurry of black feathers.

“GOOOO!” Zenkichi and Rarity yelled, they two chopping down the tentacles trying to skewer Haru, with the Unicorn turning her own rapier into a blender by spinning it with her magic as fast as she could.

“JOHANNA!/CARMEN!” Both Makoto and Ann instead used their powers to burn every tentacle they could reach.

“WHY WON’T YOU DIEEE?!” Finally actual words escaped Shadow Twilight as her single giant eye in front of the floating brain turned more bloodshot the more tentacles went destroyed, as a testament of the immense damage she was taking.

“SHUT UP AND EAT THIS! MILADY: MAPSYO!” Haru answered by throwing her battle axe right at the eye splitting it in two, kicking it deeper inside the brain’s flesh and then unleashing her Persona’s current stronger Psy Attack at point-blank distance.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” The brain shrieked in agony while the binary numbers aura exploded outwards and faded-away, and with a loud wet slap the brain crash-landed on the elevator unmoving besides few faint jiggling jitters.

“IT’S STAGGERED! ALL-OUT ATTACK, NOW!” Futaba yelled.

“All together!” Akira ordered.

“PERSONA!” The Phantom Thieves yelled as one, summoning their powers and attacking Shadow Twilight in a single, high-speed flurry of attacks that actually pushed the brain off the elevator platform.

“AAAAAAAAAH!” The Brain yelled in agony as it fell, exploding into a blob of ruptured jelly-like grey matter once hit the bottom.

“…” The Thieves cautiously peeked over the edge of the thing to the darkness below.

“…”

“… Please tell me the effing thing doesn’t have a Phase 3 or I swear I will scream.” Ryuji asked with a small voice.

“…”

“… Well, the Palace is not collapsing, so she is still alive.” Morgana said.

… Hick!

Finally a very faint sound reached them, a whimper of sadness.

“I think we won. I can’t get any more readings from Twilight, she has returned to normal.” Futaba said, exiting her Persona and standing next to her friends.

“Oh, finally!” Zenkichi said with an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“Let’s find her.” Akira said, relaxing a bit.

“I’ll pull down the elevator enough to bring us close to her without squishing her under it! :D ” Sophia said, already fiddling with the controls.

“Yes, please.” Rarity answered, sighing in relief.

A slow descend later and the Thieves could jump down the platform and reach under it to recover Twilight, now back into pony form, and bring her on the thing with them, restarting the slow ascension of the thing until it reached the top floor.

“I just… I just wanted to keep my friends close to me forever! To help Humanity and Ponies coexist…” Shadow Twilight said, crying softly in shame.

“Oh, Twilight.” Rarity said, hugging the Distorted version of her friend tightly.

“I am an Alicorn, I will watch the other girls grow old before me and die! I can’t stand it!” Shadow Twilight said, hugging Rarity and wailing in sorrow.

“They may die in body, but in your Heart they will live forever.” Yusuke offered, gently stroking her head.

“But… But…”

“Twilight, everypony grows old and dies at some point. Life is short, but that’s what makes it beautiful, because it pushes you to make sure every instant counts, it makes you appreciate it and fill it in good memories.” Rarity said, taking away the Shadow’s tears with a handkerchief held-up by her Magic.

“But it will hurt!” Shadow Twilight answered, hiccuping.

“Yes, it will. But once day it will stop hurting and only the good memories will remain,” She answered.

“But I will never see my friends anymore!”

“You will be always able to see them, silly.” Rarity said, kissing her forehead.

“How?”

“You tell me, how hard can you close your eyes?” Rarity answered with a sweet smile.

“Will they wait for me at least? Or will they forget about me?” Shadow Twilight asked with a small voice.

“Twilight, your friends will wait for you to rejoin them in Heaven even for tens of thousands of year, I am sure of it. Friendship is the hardest thing to break, yes?”

SNIFF! “Yes it is… Denser than Osmium.” Shadow Twilight answered with a weak smile, finally free of the taint of Distortion.

“… I’ll take that as a good thing,” Rarity answered after a short silence of confusion, making both mares chuckled.

GRUUUUUMBLE!

As soon as Shadow Twilight’s body started breaking into small lights, the Palace gave a shudder and started breaking down.

“OH CRAP! ALREADY?!” Zenkichi yelled in horror.

“We’ll never get out in time!” Ann added, horrified.

“There is an escape pod! Use it to leave quick! It may be cramped, but it will take you out!” Shadow Twilight said, throwing the Treasure at Akira and a key card to Makoto.

“You build an escape pod in here?!” Morgana asked.

“It’s an underground laboratory that goes underground for miles! Of course I added one to escape fast if things go very wrong! Have you seen how slow those elevators are?!” Shadow Twilight answered.

“… You know what? Touche!” Morgana conceded.

“I’ll sign a path for you to reach it! Tell my friends I am sorry!” Shadow Twilight said, then her body broke into specks of light that formed a line towards said secret escape pod.

“Once out of here, you’ll apologize yourself, let’s go!” Akira yelled, already running away following the light.

“No need to tell me twice, Buddy!” Ryuji answered, he and the other Thieves following their Leader towards their salvation from the rapidly collapsing Palace.

While they were escaping, though, from the deepest depths of the Palace, a formless shadow wailed in agony.

“NOOOO! NOT THIS ONE TOO! MY BODY! MY PLAAANS! DAMN YOUUUUU!”

The ghostly shadow yelled in agony as it was slowly dying together with the Palace, then a giant slab of concrete detached from a wall slammed on it, dispersing its body into tiny wisps, and when the Palace finished dying, the figure as well died with it.

Real World -

When the Guards tore down the door to Twilight personal lab, they found it empty and filled in dust, signaling that the thing had been abandoned for days.

“...How?!” Shining Armor yelled in disbelief.

“She just got her Calling Card, where is she?!” One of the guards asked with wide eyes.

“People of Earth! Everypony from Equestria… I am sorry.” Right in that moment Twilight’s face appeared on the monitor of her computer to deliver her admission and apology thanks to her Change of Heart.

“HOW?! GOSHDARNIT!” Shining yelled in fury, demolishing computer and lab in a flare of uncontrolled Magic.

With the Phantom Thieves – Secret Floating Island -

“Delivering the Calling Card to Twilight first and then wait two days before delivering it to the masses… So simple and yet so effective.” Yusuke commented.

“At least it gave Twilight enough time to record her message and then reach us to the extraction point before sending it out.” Lyra answered, sighing.

“But it’s not what a Phantom Thief does…” Morgana said with a sad and whiny meow.

“Just this time, we could not risk doing it like we usually do.” Akira answered, petting him.

“Fiiiiine!” Morgana answered with a long sigh.

“How’s she?” Ann asked.

“Finishing apologizing to her friends,” Yusuke answered.

“Dude, it’s been four hours. She is still apologizing?” Ryuji asked, shocked.

“Pain and shame can cut you deep, my friend. Let’s let her open her Heart and fulfill her sense of guilt, her friends are doing that, so so can we.” He answered.

“Pinkie seems to be very open to hug Twilight nonstop until she recovers.” Haru added.

“That’s some pure Friendship,” Makoto admitted touched.

“I can hug you too if you want.” Akira said with a straight face.

“Har-Har, buddy. Very fun!” Ryuji answered, rolling his eyes. “But thanks” He then said.

“Hn!” Akira answered, smiling and offering him his bent arm so that the two best friends could “cross arms”.

“Oh, drop it with the Manly Friendship!” Ann said shaking her head.

Akira and Ryuji just smirked and kissed Ann’s cheek, making her face burn dark red.

“JERKS!” She answered, flaying her arms wildly and making the others laugh.

“Phantom Thieves…?” Twilight asked them with a low voice.

“Yes?” Zenkichi asked.

“Rarity told me what you are doing… I wish to help you!” She said.

“Help us?” Akira said, curious.

“Yes! I think I can come up with a way for us others to follow you into those Palaces and act as extra set of eyes! Sure we wouldn’t be able to interact with things or move too far from Rarity as she will act as an anchor to let us follow you, but I am certain that a modified Astral Projection Spell with a bit of Illusory-”

“In terms we can follow?” Ryuji interrupted her while going cross-eyed.

“Ah! Yes! I mean to say that we may be able to see and hear things inside the Palaces thanks to a spell, to help you navigate any new Palace.” Twilight said, simplifying it.

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked.

“Your friend Sophia told us the next targets on your list, like Cadence, my brother Shining and Spitfire; we know those ponies personally, so between us and Rarity will help you! Palaces are based around the Owner’s mind and desires, yes? Maybe we can help!” Twilight said.

“We’re getting bored of just staying here. We are used to be the ones kicking plots and taking names… Please? It’s boring!” Dash begged.

“We-We can help!” Fluttershy added.

“Equestria is our home! We are just as much victims as Humans are!” AJ said.

“We didn’t say you could not join.” Ann answered, chuckling.

“We can accept any help we can get.” Makoto added.

“Just remember to use our Code-names and Rarity’s when we are inside the Palaces, to maintain our anonymity.” Akira said.

“Of course!” The other Elements of Harmony answered in chorus.

“I will also make sure to better hide this island, now that I am gone Princess Celestia will seriously start combing everywhere to find me. Whatever is controlling her is now probably furious.” Twilight said, tense.

“No doubts about it, without you Conversion has slowed down to a crawl, recovering you will be their maximum priority.” Storm Shadow answered.

“And we can use it, Celestia’s fixation for recovering you can potentially blind her from our attacking the other Targets. Now that every Element of Harmony has been freed, they have no idea who our next target will be.” Zenkichi said.

“Who is our next target?” Ryuji asked.

“In our list Cadence and Shining Armor are put on the same level, under them there is Spitfire.” Makoto answered.

“We need to choose carefully then.” Akira answered.

“I’ll help you plan! I am good at that!” Twilight answered immediately, even too eager to gain redemption for her Corrupted Self’s sins.

“We’ll count on you, girls.” Ann said with a friendly smile.

Meanwhile – With Celestia -

Roars and shrieks, screams and flashes of Magic shook the entire royal palace as Celestia went overcome by mind-numbing rage, making her destroy everything around her, even the windows exploded to dust, even her own throne went thrown outside, smashing through the doors and almost splattering the two poor guards standing outside making them scamper away in fear.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE LOST TWILIGHT?!” She demanded.

“It seems like the Phantom Thieves first got to her, THEN notified us. This will slow-down our production of Conversion Potion immensely since we cannot test each batch as fast as she does.” One of the Pony scientist answered with a trembling voice full of fear.

“THOSE DAMN THIEVES!” Another chunk of wall went blasted to pieces with a flare of super-hot Magic from Celestia’s horn.

“The soldiers can’t find her, and she destroyed everything in her Lab before leaving. We lost every note about the Potion, we can at best produce only the common one now, unless we find Miss Twilight, we will need to restart from zero to develop every variant like the Rain one or the Gas one. It will probably take us months!” The poor Stallion said, sweating profusely.

“MONTHS!? TWILIGHT MADE THEM IN JUST DAYS!”

“We… We are not Miss Twilight, your Highness…”

“AAAAAAAAARGH!” The roar of mad fury physically blew away the poor scientist and launched him through one of the few walls still standing as if it was made of paper.

“TELL SHINING ARMOR TO FIND MY ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! I WANT THEM BACK HERE NOW!” She ordered.

“Yes, Your Highness!” The soldiers waiting for orders answered, rapidly leaving the room in an ordinate manner to fulfill their orders.

“Have somebody hunt down the Phantom Thieves too! Send out the world, everypony must help finding the Elements of Harmony and the Phantom Thieves! Whoever finds them will get whatever they want in exchange, but if they are helping them they will be petrified and smashed to pieces!” Celestia yelled.

“Yes, your Highness!” the guards answered.

“… It was a mistake believe that a Palace could kill those pests, I guess that I will have to up the difficulty if I really want to get rid of them.” Celestia’s eyes turned red and a deep voice left her mouth, followed by static noises and a faint robotic undertone.

The shadow inside Celestia’s Heart writhed and twisted, angrily mashing their teeth in frustration at their powerlessness in stopping the Phantom Thieves with its own hands…

But that didn’t mean they could not influence the other Palaces they were connected to to make things more difficult for them…

End of the chapter.

I am very sorry for this long wait, but besides Life, my own Health has not been helping, and not only on a physical level.

All my thanks to my friend Drako that has been of great help in finding the strength of writing this chapter, he really has the patience of a saint.

Thank you, Bud!

And thank you all as well for sticking with my story and still enjoying it no matter its many, many, many, many, many, many, many flaws.

I’ll see you all around the net.

… Hopefully it won’t take me this long to update again.

Sorry.

Chapter 22: "Sum Temperantia, Scutum Dei!”... From Sins to Virtues.

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: Reunion and Velvet Room.

Author's Note

You fans of Ponies do have some strange tastes!

So, apparently there is a branch of stories where Celestia (that to my limited knowledge is so good and gentle and pure that she probably shits rainbows and pees sugar) invades Earth and mercilessly forces humans to convert into ponies so to not face extinction…

Then the various versions of the basic plot splits into:

The: Ponies rule and Humans suck and should die horribly. Group

Or

The: Humans rule and Ponies suck and should die horribly.Group

Or even the angst group of:

Everything is a terrible mistake and neither of the two groups can do anything to stop humans from disappearing (Sob! Sob! Angst, angst, angst! Tears, sadness and all that).

Having said this, do you mind if poor little me gives this a try with an added bonus of making it a crossover with Persona 5?

.....

Okay, I'll do it! Thank you for the tacit permission!

(I will use the Canon-ish name "Akira Kurusu" for the Main Character, by the way)

Chapter 1: Reunion and Velvet Room.

April 24th – Evening -

BRAAAAAAAGH! An old family car howled with the deafening metallic roar of its over-stressed engine as it sped through the streets without caring of red lights and barely dodging the other cars in front of it, going too fast for the occupants to even just faintly hear the scared screams and curses of the ones they passed by in their mad escape.

The one driving this mad bullet was a young man with short wavy black hair and glasses and still dressed in his school uniform, on the back seats instead sat two adults, his parents clearly, both of which desperately trying to not get too shaken by the wild driving style of their son.

“H-Honey!” the middle-aged woman sitting on the back cried-out in fear as she held her wounded husband close to herself.

“Ah! I-It hurts.” the man answered hissing as he tied the makeshift bandage around the stump that used to be his left hand just a bit tighter to stop its copious bleeding.

“You cut-off your hand, it is supposed to hurt.” the young man at the wheel answered while giving a sharp turn and ‘bouncing’ against a parked van to help him take a sharp 90 degrees turns into a side street without losing too much speed.

“Did you learn to drive like this from a game, Akira?!” the woman asked her son while looking almost ready to puke.

“I learned from that and by driving Morgana’s car form through Mementos.” the young man answered nonplussed while looking at the rear mirror in well-conceived worry.

“Well, son! There are no Shadows here, but people! So try to not run over somebody! At least let’s not had hit-and-run to our long list of problems!” the youngster’s father answered turning blueish on his face after a particularly-daring turn of the car that flattened him against his wife.

“Meow!” the cat sitting in the passenger seat next to the boy answered mewing.

“What?”

“Morgana said that it’s either this or asking to those pastel ponies chasing us to PLEASE stop trying to turn us into them through Magic Potion Showers.”

“...JUST FLOOR IT, DAMN IT!” both parents bellowed in unison after merely two seconds of thought.

“I am trying to, but this thing can go only so fast.”

“I told you it was time we bought a new car!” the woman said sighing.

“SORRY, PRINCESS! I WAS NOT EXPECTING MAGICAL PONIES TO POP-UP FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION TO TRY CONQUER US! Had I know I would have sold our house and bought a damn Ferrari, okay?!” the woman’s husband bellowed in sarcastic rage.

“Just leave it to me.” Akira, ever the stoic one, answered while using the rapid-call shortcut on his cell to call one of his friends.

“...Riuji? You there?”

“Joker! Goddamnit, you are alive!” another young man answered from the other side and using his friend’s ‘nickname’ out of habit.

“Barely, my father had to cut off his hand to not be Converted, now they are chasing us while I am trying to leave town. How are things on your side?” he answered while putting the call on speaker.

“He cut off his hand?!” A female voice yelled in fright.

“Hi, Ann! Don’t worry, dear, I am okay!” Akira’s father answered with a small smile.

“Hello, Kurusu-san!”

“He is okay, Ann. How are you?” the boy asked.

“I am fine, thank you. We managed to get the old gang to safety, plus a few guests.” Ann said sounding elated.

“Guests?”

“You okay, kiddo?”

“Of course he is okay, what are ponies to Shadows or stealing hearts?”

“Sojiro! Iwai-san!” Joker exclaimed in surprise.

“We are all okay for now, we are hiding in an old storehouse not too far away from Inokashira Park. The school...the students in there...they...” another woman was heard say with a broken tone of voice.

“Sae-sensei...”

“I am no longer your teacher, you dummy.” she answered with a small sigh.

“What if I still consider you so?”

“I would be really touched. We were having lesson like normal when we heard that Celestia crazed mare use her powers to declare that we no longer had enough time to find another solution to the whole ‘Deadly Barrier’ issue and that they would have Converted us en masse by force, whatever we wanted it or not. Barely a minute later an entire squadron of flying horses barged inside to spray every student with their serum. I too would have been caught had Riuji not tackled me to the ground.”

“I acted without thinking...”

“You always do that, Ryuji.” the cat next to Joker said, and only the old members of the ‘Phantom Thieves’ group understood what he said.

“MORGANA?!” the group yelled as one.

“You know, I find it quite annoying that apparently everybody but us can understand that cat...” Akira’s mother muttered huffing.

“Me too, honey. Me too.”

“Shit! He is back?!” Ryuji asked in disbelief.

“Apparently Mementos are also returning, listening to what Morgana says, and you know what this means...”

“Palaces?! Again?!” Ryuji said gasping in shock.

“And probably Yaldabaoth.” another boy, named Yusuke, added growling.

“For now let’s just regroup, then we will try to plan something. If Yaldabaoth and the Mementos are back, then maybe our Persona too are...Or so I hope.” Morgana declared.

“Where are you?” Akira asked.

“I’ll guide you, just ditch the car and follow my instructions, if we are lucky those Kids-Show-Rejects have not screwed-up things enough for few of my old tricks to not work anymore.” Iwai offered gruffly.

“How do you know I am in a car, Iwai-san?”

“I can hear the engine screaming for mercy from here. Now hurry up! Is your father able to walk?”

“I can, Iwai-san. I feel a bit faint, but I can still walk.” the old man answered breathing heavily.

“I hope so. Tae-san just returned with her medical supplies, both me and her will patch you up good, but you have to follow my instructions perfectly, or we’ll see you others too turn pastel-coloured and start spewing garbage about the joy of having hooves.” Iwai answered, pleased.

“I am all hears.” Joker answered nodding in determination.

“Good boy. Here’s what you need to do...”

Several Hours later – Storehouse – night time -

“This way, dad.” the young man said holding-up his father that was fully hanging from his shoulder.

“Honey, please hold-up!” the man’s wife pleaded as she was about to pound on the rusty doors when a callous hand pulled her inside while covering her mouth so she could not scream.

“Do not make so much noise and hurry inside!” the old man wearing a military cap hissed.

“Iwai-san!”

“Get in! Get in!” a blond young man, Ryuji, added as he helped his friend and his father inside.

“It looks nasty, what have you used?” a young woman wearing punk clothes and a choker under a dirty lab coat said immediately as she joined them.

“A meat cleaver, are you a doctor?”

“The best one.” Joker answered.

“Still the same charmer. Come, there is a hidden room underground that was used to smuggle illegal goods, we are hiding there, and there you’ll find my ‘clinic’. Now enough chatting, he has lost way too much blood for us to waste time.” Tae answered dragging the group inside and slamming the door closed.

“The coast is clear, nobody Followed us.” Morgana said tailing them.

“Good to have you back, you damn cat.” Ryuji admitted with a happy smile.

“I am happy to see you others as well.”

A short walk later, and once Iwai and Sojiro moved away a couple of rotten crates to show a hidden ramp of stairs, the new guests of the storehouse went brought to the hidden storage room housing The Phantom Thieves and most of their ‘Friends/Confidants’.

“Ann!”

“Akira!” the girl yelled jumping in his arms to hug the life out of him and cry on his shoulder.

“You were the only one left to call, we heard that your town was completely covered by the barrier and the entire population Converted...and...and...and...” the youngest girl in the group started saying before tears and sobs overcame her self-control.

“What Futaba was trying to say is that we feared you went Converted.” the girl’s guardian, Sojiro, finished for her.

“You have bandages around your chest...” Akira muttered unsure.

“Ever the observant one, eh? Yeah, one of those bastards tried Converting Futaba and I answered by smashing a bottle on his head, I think he took the lost of an eye badly, because he kicked me through the door. Luckily in the mess I managed to snatch Futaba and run away, with a couple ribs broken, but still human.” the old man answered proudly.

“Then I found them and brought them here.” Makoto answered sighing, she had bandages around her head and a patch on he cheek.

“And you?”

“Oh, this? They tried getting me, they were holding me down to force-feed me their ‘Potion’...But my sister protected me by shooting a couple of them dead, she just went out there to look for food and water, we take turns for supplies. Luckily Iwai-san knows a couple guys that can fetch stuff for us and leave all that in secret safe houses for us to retrieve.” she answered.

“Of the old group we have: Me, Yusuke, Ryuji, Ann, Futaba, Makoto and her sister, Sojiro-san, Iwai-san, Sae-san, Tae-san, Mishima-san and now you...We have no idea where the others are and if they are safe.” another girl, called Haru, explained.

“And what happened to Akechi?” Akira asked.

“Last we heard he tried fighting off those ponies with a group of rebels, when it was clear he was the last one remaining and that he was about to be Converted...He...He took his own way out...W-With a gun.” Haru answered shuddering heavily and making a cold silence fall in the room.

“I-I don’t understand! First they arrive talking about Friendship and happiness a-a-and then out of the blue they drop everything for this ‘Convert or Die’ Bullshit! It makes no sense!” Ryuji cried-out almost pulling out two handful of hair from his head.

“They say that the Barrier’s advancement cannot be stopped, so we can no longer waste time in trying to find another solution. it’s either Converting or dying. As we speak they are opening ‘Conversion Bureaus’ to speed-up Conversion.” Sae the teacher answered.

“And that Potion…”

“It still causes humans to turn into ponies acting like demented characters from a Kid Show, only saying good things and only smiling like morons. I could try to look more into it, but I don’t want to touch that stuff, even to study it while wearing full hazmat gear.” the punk doctor of the group answered grimacing while treating Akira’ father.

“Ugh!”

“Bite down the scream, we are sewing the wound shut, so be a man.” Iwai said while helping the woman heal the bloody stump.

“Why you were not Converted?” Yusuke asked.

“My school was supposed to stay closed and go on a rally against Conversion under the temporary Embassy Equestria opened in our town, but my father was preparing the barbecue we wanted to have tomorrow with few visiting family members, so before I could leave he talked me into staying home. Ironically saving me from the police charge and then the pony raids.” Akira answered.

“And that explains why you were fast enough to cut your hand off as soon as their Potion fell on it.” Tae muttered sighing.

“I was holding the knife and acted without thinking...” the man admitted shyly.

“It was Morgana to alert us of their arrival, while coming here I told my parents about our time as Phantom Thieves and what happened while I lived here.”

“Compared to flying Ponies using Magic, it was not so hard to believe.” the young man’s mother admitted while still holding her husband only hand in a tight grasp.

“But what now? How can we fight back? They have Magic! Even Laws of Physics mean nothing to them!” Makoto asked, scared.

“It’s okay, no matter what, I will protect you. ‘Kay?” Ryuji said immediately.

“Thank you.”

“Are you...Are you being chivalrous?” Morgana asked in disbelief.

“Eh! Lotsa things changed while you were away, Mona!” the blond boy answered smirking.

“...Eh?!” the cat bellowed in disbelief as not only Ryuji and Makoto looked close, but Ann and Akira and everybody else too showed signs of romantic involvement.

“I am sorry, Morgana. But it looks like me and you are the only singles left in the Phantom Thieves Organization.” young Futaba admitted, patting the cat’s head gently.

“Of course! For as long as I draw breath at least!” Sojiro declared, huffing.

“LADY ANN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

MEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOW!

“Wow, that cat sounds like it has a broken heart.” Iwai muttered impressed.

“The fact remains that we have no idea how to stop them, I heard the army was about to be involved, but I am actually afraid they will just start carpet-bombing everything coming out of that barrier, because sure as hell no weapon seem to be able to pierce it.” Sae explained with a weak sigh.

“Then maybe We can offer some assistance.” a new voice answered.

“What the fuck?!” Sojiro yelled in surprise at the improvise appearance of the intruder.

“Lavenza!” Akira said shocked.

“My Trickster! My Love!” the blue-dressed short girl said while happily hugging him.

“Love?” the young man asked, confused.

“MY LOVE!?” Ann roared furious.

“I feared the worst happened when the Mementos reappeared and those creatures swarmed your town, but luckily you are safe. Come, Master Igor wants to speak with you all.” Lavenza answered grabbing his hand tightly and gently pulling him towards the new blue door that appeared on a near wall.

“He is already taken.” Ann hissed with narrowed eyes.

“...Hn.” Lavenza simply looked her up and down and then gave a small grunt of answer before pulling Joker through the door.

“I am going to kick that bimbo’s ass.”

“Ann, I remember you that her two halves were already very powerful, and she is the real deal instead.” Futaba answered worried.

“It doesn’t matter. Now move!” the young woman answered marching inside the door.

“Coming, coming.” Ryuji answered, shaking his head as he and Makoto followed inside.

“Shall we go?” Yusuke asked presenting his arm to Haru.

“Of course.” she answered, latching to her beau with a gentle smile.

“Should we...” Sojiro asked, unsure.

“Sorry, guys! Phantom-Thieves-only rendezvous. We’ll be back soon!” Futaba answered as she too hurried inside with the others.

Velvet Room – Igor’s Office -

“Welcome back to the Velvet Room, Phantom Thieves.” an old man with an unnaturally long nose greeted the group as soon every last one of them entered his office.

“Igor-san.” Akira answered with a short bow, just like the others behind him.

“It is curious to have the former recipient of a contract return to the Velvet Room for a second time, and yet, things out of ordinary have happened, forcing us to go through this unique situation.” Igor, crooked smile ever present and never faltering, explained simply with his gravely voice.

“Soo, what is happening?” Ryuji asked, confused.

“With your last job Mementos were supposed to have disappeared, cut-off from the conscious world and forever erased so to stop other beings from using them to manipulate mortals...But Something has started drawing power from the Collective Subconscious of the Mortal Realm, thus turning the already thin line separating this world from the Metaverse even thinner. And Causing Mementos to return.”

“So Yaldabaoth too...” Akira asked.

“No. What is dead, remained dead. My Master, Lord Philemon, alerted me that neither him or Nyarlathotep or any other God or Devil is behind this. This whole situation comes from the presence of otherworldly interlopers.” Igor answered unfazed.

“So the Ponies did this?” Morgana, now looking like a super-deformed anime cat character (Big head, tiny body) asked in realization.

“Indeed. Their Magic unbalanced the natural order of things, but, their own inner Darkness, their Desires, is what in the end caused Mementos and Shadows to return. For now it seems that both are only relegated to, let’s call it ‘Ponykind’…But it’s only a matter of time before it bleeds into the human side once again, and should that happen Ruin will threaten the world just like it did in the past.”

“Oh, my god...” Yusuke muttered with wide eyes.

“That is why you all have been called, I was told there is already a talk about resetting this world so to erase the ponies influence. The Phantom Thieves are the last hope before this happens, and Lord Philemon himself vouched for you, under my own request.” Igor said with a dry chuckle.

“That is why Morgana is back, our Persona too returned.” Akira said nodding.

“Exactly. The plan is indeed simple, you all are tasked with Stealing the Heart of the being behind this whole situation: Celestia. That and discover what is causing the ponies’ Wicked Desires to awaken and pollute the world enough for Mementos and Shadows to return.”

“Then let’s go immediately!” Ryuji yelled in determination.

“Unfortunately it is not that simple.” Lavenza, still holding Akira’s hand by the way, answered sighing.

“Why?” Ann asked while glaring at her.

“As for now, your powers are not as strong as they were when you saved the world the first time. You will need time to recover your lost strength before confronting her, that and whatever is the reason behind Celestia’s change it is not relegated only to her, meaning this will need a cautious approach.” Igor explained.

“The Darkness corrupting her is an amalgamation of the remnants of the Old Mementos you destroyed and something else coming from their world, an entity we cannot determine. Whatever that is, it’s also ‘feeding’ on the darkest feelings it can find in the Collective Subconscious of the Ponies. In order to fight Celestia on equal ground and steal her heart, you need to weaken that Darkness first.” Lavenza added.

“Once weakened enough, you will be able to fight against her and that Darkness and steal her heart, but to do so you will first need Inside Help.” Igor said.

“Inside help? A Mole?” Yusuke asked.

“There are six mares that may posses what we need to weaken ‘their’ side of the Darkness protecting the Heart of our main Target. But in order to gain their help, we need them to have a Change of Heart and join your side.” Igor said, and at his words a unanimous chorus of Pings rang from the Phantom Thieves phones.

“The App is back!” Haru said in surprise.

“And we already have a list of names this time, there won’t be us shooting in the dark.” Makoto added as she scrolled down the list of names.

“Fluttershy...Applejack...Rainbow Dash...” Akira red aloud.

“Ranked from the ‘easiest’ to the ‘Hardest’. Based on the strength of their conviction. Their being Targets is not just for their Powers, but it also has another meaning.” Igor explained simply.

“The more influential figures you convince to have a Change of Heart, the more waves you will make, so that once Celestia and her sister too finally fall, there won’t be any other trying to continue their work. It will then be a matter of those ponies either moving here peacefully or going away. That choice will be up to the masses, though.” the old man added.

“This time the Palaces you are going to storm are not formed just from the targets’ Wicked Desires, but also built on their Distorted Ideals.” Lavenza said.

“Distorted Ideals?” Ryuji asked, confused.

“They believe to be doing the right thing, they are blinded by their ideals of Justice and so either willingly or not they are ignoring that what they are doing is morally wrong.” Morgana tried saying.

“Correct. Celestia and Luna, those two sisters fed enough lies to their people to make them believe that humans need to be protected from themselves through the power of their Conversion, unknowingly trying to remove Humanity’s Free-will. If this happens all of them will just turn into obedient puppets blindly relying on Celestia for their every decision. Sounds familiar?” Igor asked with a chilling grin.

“Even too much.” Akira admitted with a scrunched nose.

“So we’ll have to breach their ‘Proto-Palaces’ and force them to face the truth they are willfully ignoring?” Yusuke asked.

“Proto-what?”

“It more or less means ‘Almost Palaces’, Ryuji.” Makoto explained helpful.

“Oh! Thanks!”

“Yes, this self-imposed ignorance is also leaving them open for that same Darkness clutching Celestia to influence them. Even now as we speak, the seedlings left behind by that Entity are strengthening your targets’ darkest desires, if left unchecked those will bloom into fully-formed Distortions, and then they won’t be any different from what Celestia herself has become after her arrival here.” Igor answered.

“So we have six ‘Elements of Harmony’ and four ‘Generals’ to take care of before being ready to tackle the three main targets: Cadence, Luna and then Celestia.” Futaba declared once red the full list of targets.

“They are the ones more influential, yes, but if along the way you happen to explore few Mementos and fix those too, then your Mission will be even easier; the more ripples forms the more the defenses around Celestia’s Heart will weaken.”

“The Darkness around her Heart is feeding on the dark emotions between humans and ponies, if that flow of power diminishes enough, you all will be able to open a crack in it and infiltrate her Palace.” Lavenza said hopeful.

“And if we steal her Heart, then that evil shit won’t have not something to latch on and disappear, right?” Ryuji asked.

“Correct. By that time you should have also gained the help of powerful beings that will further weaken her defenses, and finally prompt the Change of Heart that will stop this invasion.” Igor answered.

“Then it’s settled! When do we start?” Ann asked.

“First you will need to mount a secret base and coordinate from there with your companions outside the Barrier.”

“How?! Nothing can pass through it, and if we enter it, the Magic of their place is apparently lethal to humans.” Yusuke answered.

“This is nothing but another lie, the Barrier itself is lethal, but once passed through, nothing will happen to you.” Lavenza answered shaking her head.

“Its advancement and mere existence are artificial as well, something ruled by Celestia’s own power, and soon she will be forced to also stop enlarging it, otherwise she won’t be able to hold it up as it will become too big even for her power to maintain.” Igor added.

“Too big?” Haru asked.

“Their land, Equestia, resides on a flat planet. She never considered that this world would have been several times bigger than her own, so she will need to speed-up Conversion before her ruse will be discovered.”

“A planet can’t be flat! It is against every rule of Nature and-” Yusuke tried saying.

“Magic.” Ryuji chided in, sighing.

“...Yes...They indeed are magical ponies...Please continue and forget I said anything.” the artist admitted in defeat.

“So we can survive Magical Radiation, but how do we pass through the Barrier?” Futaba asked.

“The Metaverse exists on a plane detached from this, and one of its entrances is in the area you call Shibuya, that has already been engulfed by the Barrier.” Igor answered simply.

“We can get there through the Mementos!” Morgana cried-out in shock.

“Yes, your App will guide you towards another entrance, and from there, to the one in Shibuya. Use it to freely move in and out of the border of Celestia’s domain. The rest though will be up to you.” Igor said nodding.

“Okay, Team! We just need the help of our friends to organize this, but we can do it! The Phantom Thieves will save the world once again!” Morgana declared.

“Yes!” the group of teens answered as one.

“Akira...” Lavenza asked.

“Yes?” he answered, kneeling so to be at eye-level with her.

“Please be careful, and come back to me.” the Assistant asked before kissing his cheek.

“WE ARE GOING!” Ann roared, grabbing Akira’s arm to drag him out of the Velvet Room.

“Please forgive us,” Yusuke offered with a bow.

“Remember to return here if you need help with your Persona.” Igor answered unfazed while watching them leave and gently close the door behind them.

Click!

“I see that you are still not over it.”

“I am sorry, Master.” Lavenza answered looking guilty.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In answer a long series of loud thundering noises echoed into the room.

“It seems like certain individuals do not understand when their presence is not appreciated.” Igor said rising from his seat and fixing his dress coat.

“Are you joining, Master Igor?” Lavenza asked as a velvet-blue flaming aura enveloped her body to then shift into one of the many Persona she could control.

“Nobody can enter the Velvet Room uninvited, it is time even for me to reinforce this rule.” Igor answered with a pitch-black aura erupting around him, and the Persona that came out of it was simply MASSIVE.

“Also, I was told by Lord Philemon that should you continue in this endeavor with our Trickster, that then I should not oppose you.”

“So it means...”

“You are free to continue pursuing him, but should you push to the very end, the first born shall become an Assistant, that is not negotiable.” Igor said as a new door appeared to show who was trying to force their way into the Velvet Room.

“Thank you, Master Igor!” Lavenza said as those words ignited a new wave of determination inside her.

“This shall be interesting to witness.” Igor said to himself as he watched his Assistant tear through the intruders with merciless efficiency.

At the same time – hidden storage room -

“You are back!” Sojiro exclaimed elated.

“You were gone for barely a second.” Akira’s father added.

“Magic.” Yusuke answered.

"Of course, what else could it be? There is Magic everywhere nowadays!"

“SO! We have a plan, but it is also pretty much a suicide mission! Do you wanna help us?” Ryuji asked grinning.

“...”

“Ryuji...” Morgana said sighing as the dumbfound, astounded silence inside the room kept prolonging until it erupted into a chorus of mad screaming.

“SUICIDE WHAT?!”

“What?”

“Wrong choice of words, Ryuji.” Akira explained.

A week later – Iwai’s shop “Untouchables” -

The run-down shop for weapons enthusiasts was deadly silent, having been already raided of everything by daring escapees that tried using even those faithful replicas as weapons to fight against the ponies while the Barrier slowly advanced to cover everything.

In the back of the new deserted shop, in its storage/backroom, an empty cabinet toppled down by itself as the trapdoor hidden under it went forcefully pushed open from inside.

Crash!

…

…

“...Coast seem clear.” Yusuke was heard say from inside the trapdoor as he used a small mirror to check inside the room.

“Do you see anything?” Akira asked.

“Just a lot of chaos, they must have raided the place clean.”

“Good, I guess we can enter then.” Morgana declared as he climbed out first.

Soon every member of the Phantom Thieves climbed out of the secret passage, with the boys mounting guard at the door while the girls tried organizing everything they bought with them.

“We are in.” Ann said to the radio in her hand.

“Good, as expected they never found my emergency escape route.” Iwai answered from the other side.

“We had to pass through the sewers.” Futaba muttered gagging in disgust.

“I am surprised you had such a thing in this place.” Akira admitted.

“When you have a troubled past like mine, you do everything in your power to have contingency plans, kiddo.” the old man answered.

“You mean your past as a thug?”

“Among other things.”

“I am more concerned about the real weapons you gave us.” Makoto asked unsure.

“A gift. You said that the more real they are, the more powerful they get in that world of perceptions or whatever. At least with real weapons you can defend yourself in real life too.” Iwai answered.

“And you found these…Where?”

“Girl, trust me. Don’t ask.”

“Well...We already know how to shoot a gun, technically.”

“Focus, Team! We are in enemy territory, from now on, he Phantom Thieves are back!” Morgan, now back into looking like a normal black cat, declared from the top of a small table nearby.

At the same time – Canterlot – Royal Palace -

In the throne room of the royal palace, sitting on the throne with the bright sun insignia, Celestia was sitting with a calm smile while one of her Captain-rank soldier as he gave a rapid rundown of the current state of their moving to Earth.

“In short, excluded few pockets of violent resistance, humans seem to be open to the idea of Conversion, but even while some look interested in the steep increase in quality of life post-transformation we promise...It seems like more than 80% of the humans we ask are unanimously answering: ‘Better living with hooves than dying disintegrated’. But we are optimistic about the final results.”

“Nopony ever liked sudden big changes, and of course an extremely different life-style AND race are indeed a huge switch in prospective happening instantaneously; we cannot expect all of them to accept it readily, and even fight against it. Patience is the key, once Converted them all, we will help them adjust to the Equestrian way of life, after all, wouldn’t you feel scared should somepony tell you that you had to immediately become a gryphon or a manticore to survive, Captain Shining?” Celestia answered with a serene smile.

“Well...Being forced to grow claws and switch diet, face, race and living habitat in a matter of seconds...Yes, I can understand that many would be so scared of this to not think rationally, Princess. Harmony only knows if I would keep calm even with my military training! I can’t fault civilians to be afraid of ‘Aliens’ coming to turn them into a different shape, after all...” Captain Shining Armour answered slowly and unsure.

“See? We are not so different from them, after all. Problem is, their race has roots in the ‘world’ of Predators while we come from a more social race, they have been taught since the dawn of their race that only the strong survive while the weak perish, so they see our Conversion as the closest thing to a deadly attack, and their Instincts force them to lash-out with intent to kill. That is why until Conversion fully takes hold, you all must use extreme cautions when dealing with them.”

“Of course, Princess. I will remind the others to be patient and careful when dealing with Conversion Raids.” Shining answered, bowing.

“They are not doing it on purpose, the poor dears are just afraid. Help them in this transition and I am sure they will apologize from the bottom of their hearts once explained why we did this.” the mare said with a maternal smile.

“We will be gentle then. By your leave, Princess.” Shining answered nodding, and leaving the mare alone after a brief formal bow.

“You are free to go.”

…

…

…

“They are not so bad as a race, scared children afraid of change unless this happens extremely slowly, but unfortunately I cannot let them take the decades or centuries they may need to accept this. I need Conversion to happen as soon as possible, I cannot stand this horrid smell of chaos permeating the air any longer...Order...This place, the humans and my beloved ponies need more Order in their lives.” Celestia muttered to herself while watching outside the window.

“And yet, I have this feeling crawling up my back telling me I should be worried about the days to come...As if something even worse than you is about to pop out of the shadows.” Celestia added while stealing a rapid glance to the strange statue of a mismatched creature hidden behind her throne and showing an expression of absolute sorrow and betrayal on its mismatched face.

“I am sorry, Discord, but there is already too much Chaos here without you adding to it, now is time for Order to be implemented. Please forgive me.” the Sun Alicorn whispered sighing, and for an instant her eyes went clouded by something.

Something ominous.

Something Dark.

Chapter 3: Fluttershy’s Palace, First Visit and Calling Card.

- Inside Fluttershy’s Palace -

“Find them! Find them for Mama Fluttershy!” a pony-shaped, featureless Shadow dressed like a nurse yelled as “she” and many others flooded the “Nursery’s” entrance hall to look for the Phantom Thieves with clear distress showing even on their faceless heads.

“They must have gone that way!” another Shadow said pointing towards one of the corridors of Fluttershy Palace.

“...”

“...”

Soon the noise of madly running hooves disappeared until absolute silence returned into the empty entrance hall, and it was then that the Phantom Thieves dared to take a peek from their hiding spots.

“Coast is clear.” Akira said as he and Haru came out from under a duo of pink sofa.

“Hop!” Yusuke and Makoto quipped as they dropped from the ceiling.

“Mona? (Morgana) Skull? (Ryuji)” Ann asked once moved away the window curtains she had used to hide.

“Puuuuu…Present!” The cartoon black cat answered once finished spitting out water as he had been pretending to be part of a near small fountain.

“BLARGH! I-I am here too...” Ryuji answered coming out from under the water of that same fountain to take huge gulps of air.

“Okay, We are clearly a bit rusty, we still fought that Shadow into leaving this Palace, but not without it having time to give the alarm and alert everybody of our presence here.” Morgana said sighing.

“Can we still do this?” Akira asked.

“I think...Navi (Futaba)?” the cat asked.

“I can see some of them looking around, but if I can give a guess, it’s a ‘Low’ kind of alert. It should soon be called-back if you are not seen again, we should be able to make them believe you were chased out.” Futaba, the Team’s Navigator, answered from Akira’s phone.

“It’s still somethin’.” Ryuji answered shrugging.

“We will be careful then, thank you.” Yusuke said with a grateful tone.

“No probs!” the young girl replied smugly.

“So! I think we should start from the left wing...” Haru said studying the signs on the wall.

“Playpens...Bath Room...Bedrooms...What do you think would be the place holding Fluttershy’s Treasure?” she asked.

“I would go for the bedrooms, since she is so sickeningly attached to them, guarding over their sleep as well seem to be the next logical step.” Yusuke offered, thoughtful.

“I say to check that Bath Room instead, you saw the real one how happy she was to wash them...Kinda creepy if ya ask me.” Ryuji countered, shivering.

“I was actually going to suggest the Playpens instead, what now?” Makoto said sighing in annoyance.

“Is there a canteen of sort too?” Ann asked.

“Yes, but the sign for that points to the right wing, so if we go to the left one then we will be forced to traverse the whole place to get there and to the bedrooms.” Haru answered, making the others groan.

“Let’s start from the rooms here, we can’t risk missing the Treasure just because we were too lazy to check everywhere.” Morgana said with a clearly unwilling expression.

“What if the Treasure its at the heart of this Nursery? In the main building?” Akira asked.

“Then we will pretend we wasted time looking in every other room just to have a good layout of the Palace so to create an escape route.” the talking cat answered with a forced smile.

“It is a plan like any other, let’s move, before they return!” Makoto ordered as she ran forward.

“Hey baby wait up!” Ryuji yelled as he hurried to follow her, soon followed by the others as well.

- Playpens area -

In front of a bright yellow door adorned by a sun sporting a goofy smile stood a pony Shadow, dressed in jail guard attire and with a plain white mask acting as face; the thing was walking back and fort patrolling the entrance of the playpen area.

Not too far from that Shadow, the Phantom Thieves front-line team (Akira, Ann, Ryuji and Morgana) were studying its movements to find the right opening to attack.

“A guard, isn’t that a bit out of place in a Nursery?” Yusuke, acting as Leader of the back-lines Team, asked with a low voice.

“They are still on the look-out for us, and this is a Prison-Nursery, Fluttershy wants NOTHING to hurt her dears, remember? No matter what she has to do to protect them.” Makoto next to him answered, grimacing.

“What now? That Shadow barely takes three steps before turning back.” Ryuji asked growling annoyed.

“Do you trust me, guys?” Ann asked, having apparently got a brain-wave.

“It depends, does your plan have to do with your acting talent?” the thug-looking boy asked.

“Yup!” she answered.

“Then no.”

“Screw you, Skull! (Ryuji)”

“Go Ann, I trust you.” Akira countered while still looking straight at the Shadow.

“See? See?”

“Tch, he is biased, you two are together.” Ryuji answered huffing.

“Just drop it, Skull.” Morgana replied, rolling his eyes.

“Now watch and be amazed.” Ann said while grabbing a toy robot from a near Toy Box to throw it at the Shadow.

“GUEH!” surprised at the improvised bullet hitting the back of its head, the Guard stumbled forward in a daze long enough for Akira to dash forward, straddle its back and grab its mask.

“Show me your true face!” the black-haired young man ordered while tearing the thing away.

Once deprived of the mask, the pony Shadow swelled like a balloon and then exploded into a thick puddle of sludge of solidified shadows from which a duo of identical white creatures wearing blue shoes and a blue cap emerged with empty black holes acting as eyes and mouth.

“That hurts!” both Jack Frost said in chorus while nursing the cartoon lump on their heads.

“So you planned to hit the Shadow and distract him? Where does acting fits in that?” Ryuji asked, confused.

“...” Ann just blushed crimson at that.

“You actually hit the guard by mistake, isn’t it?” Akira asked simply.

“I-I-It was supposed to fly overhead and attract it, then I would have acted like a kid chasing her toy to distract the Shadow for you to attack, okay?!” Ann yelled in anger, her face getting even redder in embarrassment.

“Maaaan! Your aim sucks.” Ryuji said, impressed.

“It still worked to our advantage, Panther (Ann). We are still grateful.” Morgana tried saying to reassure her.

“Yep.” Akira confirmed with a nod.

“So it was a mistake?! We are still going to make you pay for it!” Jack Frost 1 said with a furious tone.

“Yeah! And for intruding into Mama Fluttershy Nursery! You won’t hurt her little Dears!” Jack Frost 2 added, equally angry.

“Ready for battle! Arsene!” Akira said, taking away his own mask to summon the towering form of his Persona in a fluttering of its black wings.

“MABUFU!” both Jack Frost intoned angrily, making the group scatter to dodge the AoE ice attack that would have caught them all in a small explosion of freezing icicles otherwise.

“EIHA!” Akira countered, enveloping one of the Shadows in a blood-chilling aura of darkness making it shriek in pain from the powerful curse attacking its entire being.

“...Where are you going?” Ryuji asked mockingly as the second Jack Frost ran into the mouth of the young man’s shotgun while dodging.

“Bang!” he intoned happily as his own words accompanied the real bang of the shotgun that launched the creature back.

“Too violent, you take too much pleasure from this.” Ann said smirking as her own Persona Carmen blew a kiss to Akira’s own target, and making the lip mark flying towards that Jack Frost to blow up into a small explosion of fire, renovating its screams of pain.

“Amazing move, Panther!” Morgana cheered while pelting Jack Frost 2 with small bombs he was shooting from the comically-large slingshot in his hands.

“Stop brown-nosing her, she is taken.” Ryuji countered smirking.

“Mind your business, Skull!” the cat replied with a red face.

“Kyaaah!” finally overwhelmed by the bullets, one of the creatures fell back on its ass looking dazed and with a soot-covered face.

“Baton Pass!” Ann said cheerfully as she gave Akira a high-five to take over the finishing blow to the Shadow.

“This brings back memories.” Akira muttered sighing at the small inside joke of their group while he watched the girl in skin-tight leather suit give a savage beat-down to her victim with the whip in her hand.

“Wait! Mercy!” the remaining Jack Frost pleaded once seen its companion run away and disappear to leave the Palace.

“Mercy? Then choose: you either join us or leave behind something, mercy’s not cheap.” Ryuji answered smirking heavily as he and the others now circled the thing with their guns (and slingshot) aimed at its head.

“This is not fair! You first attacked us and now are bullying me while four against one...”

“Unfair would be attacking you regardless or forcing you to choose between death or joining us, we still are offering you the chance of running away in exchange of a small object instead, it’s a way better deal than what the Humans are getting from the ponies.” Akira answered.

“So the Humans cannot choose to live but only between joining the Ponies or death? Nobody should be forced to choose between slavery or death. I will join you. I am Jack Frost! Take good care of me!” the lone Shadow answered nodding in understanding, then its body broke into specks of light that entered Akira’s mask on his face.

“You have not lost your touch as a ‘Wild Card’, Joker (Akira).” Morgana said happily while he and the others holstered their weapons.

“So it seems.”

“Well, the more Persona we can use, the better. So it’s a ‘good job!’ for me!” Ryuji declared, giving one high-five his friend while showing a big smile.

“While you were having fun with those two, we covered your back against another Shadow.” Yusuke informed them as their group joined them.

“Good to see that we are slowly re-learning how to do this, you ready?” Morgana asked, looking at the door with narrowed eyes.

“We are, let’s see what that crazy mare thinks a ‘Playpen Area’ should be.” Makoto answered, making Akira nod and slowly open the door.

“Ah...”

The room was enormous, the floor covered in its entirety by a fluffy bright green carpet simulating grass while the walls had been painted to represent mountains and woods, meanwhile the ceiling was painted bright blue with giant clouds hanging from it.

The light source for the whole room was a giant sphere decorated to look like a sun...And smiles, smiles were everywhere; on the "sun" itself, on the painted trees and flowers, on the mountains, on the clouds...Everywhere the Phantom Thieves looked, they could meet the eyes of dumb, overly-friendly smiles.

Even the gentle music of a near carillon felt "Wrong" as every once in a while a note or two would sound distorted, and together with the ambiance and the cage-like playpens in the room, it was making the teens' skin crawl at each step.

"Guys, I don't like this place," Ryuji said with a shiver of dread.

"Me neither, let's hurry and see if the Treasure is here." Morgana answered.

"It still looks like a zoo," Akira muttered while watching the ordinate row of cages masquerading as playpens at both sides of the room and adorned by baby toys and cushions.

"It's her Corruption, it turned her motherly instinct into...This," Yusuke answered with a scrunched nose.

"I don't know you, but even those Shadows seem unhappy of wearing diapers and pacifiers." Ann said unsure.

"What the?! Those pacifiers have been sewed on their mouths to force them closed!" Makoto countered in horror.

"WHAT?!" the rest of the group yelled as one in shock.

"Now I get it! Those are not Shadows! They are humans!" Haru said horrified as she saw that the silhouettes filling the cages were humanoid instead of quadrupeds.

"The manifestation of what Fluttershy sees them as," Joker added, nodding.

"That mare is so deep in her belief that she doesn't even care who they are! They all look the same, that's why they have not faces!" Ryuji growled furious.

"It still doesn't explain why their mouths are sewed shut..." Makoto said with narrowed eyes.

"I bet we will discover that too once stolen her Treasure!" Morgana answered.

"The Treasure is clearly not here, we better move out," Akira said with a more calm tone.

"Yes, we must hurry," Yusuke echoed behind him.

Once peeked out of the room to check nobody was around, the two teams of Phantom Thieves rapidly hurried forward and towards the other rooms, one of which labeled as "Bath Room", where they saw long rows of the same featureless human silhouettes being forcefully thrown again and again into vats of soap water by mechanical arms so to be scrubbed without stop by floating brushes.

All on the notes of a recording of Fluttershy's voice praising them.

("Get clean for Mommy! Mommy loves when her Dears are sparkling clean!")

("Nopony likes smelly kids! That is why soap exist, to make the Dears all clean and pretty!")

"Oh my God..." Haru whispered in horror at seeing those figures being took out from a vat of soap water just to be immediately tossed in the next one to restart the scrubbing.

The ‘Bath Room’ was a tall circular tower divided in 'rings' with a circular staircase in the middle and each floor holding a dozen vats running along the entire perimeter, this made clear that the hundreds "humans" in there were trapped in a never-ending circle of bath after bath after bath.

"And this is how she actually sees her precious "Bath Time"?" Makoto said sneering once they reached the last, identical floor of vats to see yet again the same scene happen with brutal precision around them.

"The Treasure is not here either, what will it even be actually?" Ann asked unsure.

"Ehm...Guys?" Futaba said with a worried tone.

"Yes?" Joker answered.

"The Alarm has been recalled, but now a bunch of guards are moving towards you! And Fluttershy is with them!" The girl explained, nervous.

"We still can't let her find us!" Morgana said while looking madly around for an escape route.

"The windows!" Ryuji said while trying to force open one of the windows in the room.

"Are you crazy?! We are, like, at the tenth floor!" Ann yelled in answer.

"Actually, it looks more like eleventh," Yusuke corrected her, unsure.

"That's beside the point!"

"Do you want to be found by that psycho, Panther (Ann)? No? Then climb down!" Ryuji answered annoyed, roaring in victory once finally pried the thing open.

"Careful now. Navi (Futaba), tell us when to move down and when to stay still, she must not see us!" Akira said as he helped the girls of the group to climb out.

"Leave it to me!" Navi replied immediately.

“Mona (Morgana), do you still have the rope we used to enter Madarame’s Palace some time ago?” he then asked.

“Of course! A real Phantom Thief is always ready for everything!” the talking cat answered pulling out, somehow, a long length of thick rope from the tiny pouches of his belt.

“One day you will tell me how you can fit it there.”

“You are not ready yet to learn that, Joker (Akira).” Morgana said simply as he tied the rope to the window.

"...Hey...Ehm...Okay, maybe this was a bad idea..." Ryuji admitted once seen how high they were and swallowed hard to try undo the knot in his throat.

"Too late, now please move before they catch us." Yusuke answered unperturbed.

"H-How?!" The other asked.

"There are climbing roots on this wall too like the ones we used to enter, I can see some loose bricks as well and the other windows under us have frames, use them, Skull (Ryuji)." Morgana said while holding both his tiny arms around Akira’s neck and looking like an anime cat backpack.

"And Luck, that too helps." the black-haired young man added.

"If I fall and die, I will sue." The thug-looking young man muttered shivering as the group started their slow descent.

"If you die, suing will be the least of your worries." Makoto answered.

"Then remember me like a dashing hero..."

"God, not even now you can be serious..." Morgana said, rolling his eyes.

"STOP!" Futaba yelled out of the blue, scaring them almost to death.

"Shit!"

"I almost lost my grip..." Haru muttered while still shaking a little.

"A little more gentle next time, Navi." Akira asked gently.

"Sorry, sorry. Fluttershy is inspecting the whole place, vat for vat, you are outside the seventh floor now, as soon as she gets to the eight floor, you can try forcing a window open and get inside and if you are fast you can leave without her noticing." The girl answered.

"And the guards with her?" Panther asked.

"One of them remained patrolling the fifth floor while the others are still following Fluttershy, you can either fight that Shadow or bypass it."

"Okay, thank you, Navi (Futaba)."

"My pleasure!" She answered proud.

“Ssssh! Here she is.” Haru whispered, making the others shut-up instantly and flatten against the wall.

- Inside the Tower – With Distorted Fluttershy -

“Aaah! Here too I can only smell the scent of my adorable Dears getting clean for their Mommy.” The distorted voice of the manifestation of Fluttershy’s inner darkness echoed in the room as she personally walked towards one of the transparent vats of soapy water to watch the various shadowy silhouettes inside.

“Bring one to me.” she asked to one of the six Shadows accompanying her.

“Yes, Mama Fluttershy.” thenurse-dressed Shadow replied obediently, and as on cue, one of the arms grabbed a silhouette, and once took it out of the water, it moved the humanoid figure to kneel in front of her.

“Uuuuhm! You smell so good, my little angel! Isn’t it nice to have mommy take care of you?” Fluttershy said with a happy smile as she caressed the silhouette’s head with a hoof, and ignoring its faint struggling and its sewed-shut mouth.

“You still struggle? A good kid should never refuse their Mommy’s Love! But you all will come along eventually...You all are going to LOVE me.” the distorted mare said watching unfazed as the shadowy figure went once again thrown into the water to restart the endless circle of washing.

“Let’s move to the next floor, I want to be sure ever single one of my Dears is clean and proper.” she then ordered once checked the other vats, passing in front of the window the Phantom Thieves were hanging from while sparing it merely a simple glance.

“Of course, Mommy Fluttershy.” Both Nurses and Guards Shadows replied as one while following her upstairs.

“What about the Intruders?” she asked while narrowing her golden eyes.

“We couldn’t find them, and since nopony else saw them ever since the Alarm was given, we believe they have left, we probably scared them away.” the guard Shadow answered promptly.

“Good, be sure the patrols keep their eyes open, especially at the entrance, my Dears MUST be protected.” Fluttershy answered coldly.

“Of course, Mommy Fluttershy.”

“AYEEEEEEEEEEEE!” a new scream of pain and fear reached them from the lower floors making both Shadows and Pegasus Mare stumble.

“What was that!? Go check immediately!”

“YES, MOTHER!” the Guard Shadows yelled while hurrying down.

Meanwhile – with the Phantom Thieves -

“I told you that an ‘All-out Attack’ was too much!” Morgana said huffing as he and the others ran away as fast as they could.

“But it was down and dazed! It’s not our fault if that bastard screamed like that!” Ryuji countered as they dove for the corridors and all the way back towards the Entrance Hall.

“Well, it did instead! And-”

“Guards at twelve!” Akira interrupted the cat and pointing towards a group of guards they could see patrolling the main doors of the Nursery.

“Eh?”

“It means in front of us!” Ann yelled in answer, grabbing Ryuji’s ear and Morgana’s tail to force them to jump through the same door she and Akira used before those Shadows could see them, the four of them soon followed by Yusuke and his own group as well.

“...”

“...”

“Where are we?” Haru asked, curious.

“Considering the fact that I am watching a four meters tall teddy bear? I think this is the ‘Toy Room’, the first floor of the Main Building.” Makoto answered.

“This place is huge, I mean, a couple football fields could be built here with a lot of room to spare!” Ryuji commented in awe, because as soon as they walked around the gigantic plush toy they could see the seemingly endless room they were in, enormous and painted bright pink, and filled in toys of every shape, form and size.

“Mountains of plush toys, enough equipment to fill a hundred public parks, life-size robots and entire ‘towns’ of dolls...There is everything that can be considered a Toy in here, and in absurd quantities at that.” Ann said in wonder.

“Looks familiar, Noir? (Haru)” Ryuji asked smirking.

“Yes, I have a rich bank account and grew-up with a silver spoon, but pointing that out is not funny.” Haru replied with a scrunched nose.

“...And not even I had all these toys when I was a kid.” she then added muttering.

“Be careful, there are Shadows here too.” Morgana said with narrowed eyes as several Guards Shadow ere seen patrolling the scene.

“The staircase for the upper floor is at the opposite side of the room...” Futaba said unsure.

“Yes, Navi?” Yusuke asked once noted the strange inflection of her voice.

“Can you bring me one of those cat plushy next to you? Pleeeease! They are so cuuute!”

“I don’t think we can bring something out of a Palace that is not the Treasure.” Akira answered.

“Aaaaw! It’s unfair!”

“Forgetting the ones around, we have no choice but to fight the one guarding the stairs. You ready?” Akira asked and getting several nods in answer from his friends.

Creeping close to the lone Shadow, and somehow managing to evade the other guards by standing immobile in simply ridiculous poses and pretending to be life-size action figures whenever a Shadow walked too close, the group of teens reached the lone guard and used a near Giant doll-house to hide behind and ambush it.

“Gah!” the Shadow shrieked in surprise as its mask went torn away in a fast movement of Akira’s hand, making its body melt to turn, to the Phantom Thieves’ horror, into THREE monsters, this time three teddy bears with blood smeared on their mouths and human skulls visible from the loosened stitches on their stomachs.

“Ugh! What were those again?” Ryuji asked with a disgusted frown.

“Bugbears. And be careful, they may be weak, but-” Morgana started saying.

“But-GUEAH!” the skull-masked youth asked when the smallish paw of the teddy bear slammed on his stomach with inhuman fury making his eyes almost pop-out from his mask eye-holes.

“Miracle Punch!” Bugbear 1 yelled with a normally-adorable childish voice.

“But they have a devastating right hook.” Morgana finished saying, grimacing.

“NOW I REMEMBER!” Ryuji squeaked-out from the floor.

“MASUKUNDA!” Bugbear 3 intoned making Akira groan as he felt his legs grow heavy and his sight blurry slightly.

“And now I remember why I hate them!” Ann shrieked in alarm as she barely dodged a Miracle Punch from Bugbear 2 that simply drilled a hole on the floor.

“ZORRO!” Morgana yelled summoning the bulky, black-dressed form of his Persona.

“Go!” the cat ordered making the summon move its rapier in a blindingly-fast manner to generate the sharp gust of wind of its ‘garu’ skill to blow back the monstrous teddy bear attacking Ann.

“You okay, Joker (Akira)?” in the meantime the blond girl had moved to her boyfriend’s side to check on him.

“Y-Yes, Just a bit dizzy, LOOK OUT!” Akira answered before pushing her away to get the Bugbear punch himself and get blown back.

“DAMN YOU! BURN THAT THING DOWN, CARMEN!” Ann, now furious, replied summoning her Persona to assault the attacker with a plethora of fire attacks.

“You okay, buddy?” Ryuji asked while helping their friend back on his feet.

“Yes, I will feel it tomorrow, but at least the blow helped clearing my head.” Akira answered, shaking his head a little.

“Together, then?” Skull asked with a heavy smirk while toying a little with the sledge hammer in his hands.

“Together, I’ll cover you.” the other answered while loading his gun.

“ALRIGHT!”

One Hour later – third floor of the Main Building -

Finally, after fighting their way through the second floor of the Toy Room too, since there the guards were covering every corner to stop intruders from reaching the stairs to the final floor, the group of Phantom Thieves finally reached the topmost floor of the Main Building, looking rather dazzled and bruised, but still alive and kicking.

The third floor had a giant heart-shaped door labeled ‘Mommy’s Room – Keep Out.’ written in bold letters on a giant gold plaque on top of it, and with how unrelenting and numerous were the Shadow Guards on the floor below, they were almost certain the Treasure was indeed inside.

“I swear...If the Treasure is not here...” Makoto said with a growl.

“What?” Yusuke asked, curious.

“I...I...I will be very unhappy.” she answered, once failed to find the right words to properly express her anger.

“Oh! Same here.” Fox (Yusuke) answered while still looking composed and well-mannered.

“Navi? Where is Fluttershy?” Akira asked once fished-out his phone.

“In the Bedrooms area, the second giant tower of this place. She seems to be reading something, I think a bedtime story, but with how much those silhouettes are squirming around, it must not be a ‘Normal’ one.” Futaba answered.

“Thank you.” he answered nodding.

“Then we can enter freely, remember, be always on guard!” Morgana ordered once the giant door went pushed open by the entire group of Phantom Thieves.

- Inside the room -

“Okay, this looks...Normal?” Haru commented as the personal bedroom of Fluttershy was actually pretty normal-looking, albeit still big enough to easily accommodate four football fields.

“Queen-size bed, giant mirror, everything normal...THERE IT IS!” Ann said once found the Treasure in its ‘shapeless form’.

At the right side of the room stood an enormous, easily six meters tall, plush of a fluffy white bunny sitting on its haunches and holding in its front paws a shapeless blob of white light the size of a small car.

“The Treasure! Finally!” Yusuke said with an elated tone.

“Good job, Team! We managed to find it during our first visit...Which is strange...” Morgana said with a thoughtful expression.

“This whole Palace is strange, Mona (Morgana).” Ryuji commented.

“It’s too small and there were not special measures protecting the Treasure.” Akira added.

“Yes, even Kamoshida’s Palace, our first one as Phantom Thieves, was at least three times bigger than this one. If not even bigger!” Ann said unsure.

“And those human figures seem to be trying to rebel against Fluttershy’s will somehow.” Yusuke confirmed as he watched outside the giant window and towards the Bath Room Tower outside.

“...How long has it been since Kamoshida started treating the school as his Castle?” Morgana asked out of the blue.

“Since when?...Ever since he arrived, I guess...Right?” Ryuji answered unsure.

“Yeah, pretty much. It was a couple of years already before Akira and you arrived.” Ann confirmed.

“And Madarame had been manipulating the Artistic World and numerous hopeful artists for even longer, way before I was even born in fact.” Yusuke added.

“Years...Years...I got it! This Palace is ‘New’! Too new! Fluttershy must have been the last one of the ‘Elements Bearers’ to be Corrupted by her wicked desires!” Morgana said with wide eyes.

“This Palace was born from the inner darkness of a being whose inner power is all about being Gentle and Caring. Her ‘Element of Harmony’ is still struggling against Distortion, even if it’s slowly losing the battle.” Akira said while looking at the faint light of the Treasure, fainter than the blinding sun-like light they were used to see in other Palaces’ Treasures.

“Yes. The Palaces we visited in the past were formed through Strong Distortion, deeply rooted in their Owners’ Ego and Wicked Desires, their palaces then had Years to form and consolidate, further adding rooms and defenses and attracting even more Shadows. But here, Distortion is attacking a way purer soul, one that even houses concentrated Kindness, it must be having troubles getting a hold of her, and in the small window of time before our arrival here, the Palace had barely enough time to be formed, that is why the Treasure itself looksnot as shining as the others. We must steal it now that the Palace’s innate defences are still forming, otherwise who knows what we’ll have to do to get it.” Morgana explained.

“So the other Palaces too will be smaller?” Makoto asked, hopeful.

“I would love for that to be the case, but since the Metaverse App lists Fluttershy as the ‘Easiest’, I am afraid the others will have ‘Normal Palaces’ waiting for us, so to speak, ones already formed and perfected. Once dealt with Fluttershy’s Palace we will have to greatly step-up our game, or we’ll fail.” Morgana answered with a grave tone.

“Yeah, don’t remind me. I forgot how hard some Shadows could hit.” Ryuji admitted grimacing.

“First order of business, though, is deciding on an escape route. And I may have already found one.” Yusuke declared while opening the window and pointing at the tower barely three meters away from the window of the third floor of the ‘Bath Room’.

“She must use this to enjoy the view of her Dears getting clean for her...We can move from here to there once secured the Treasure and escape from the Tower! Good Job!” Morgana answered with a proud smile.

“Just doing my part.”

“Navi, what’s the fastest path from the Bath Room Tower to the outside?” Ann asked to their Navigator.

“Since the tower’s only entrance would take you back inside the Nursery, you will have to jump out from the rightmost window at the first floor and you’ll be in the gardens, from there, you should be able to climb the same guard tower you used to enter and get out, sure it will be a twenty meters dash right under the eyes of everybody, but as usual our escape from a Palace can’t be a fully safe one. Up for it?” Futaba asked.

“Of course! A Phantom Thief never shows fear in front of obstacles.” Morgana declared puffing out his chest.

“Then let’s go back, we have a Calling Card to write and send.” Haru answered nodding.

“Extra careful now, everybody, we’ll have to go back the same way we came in, we can’t risk using our escape route now and have Fluttershy discover the hole in her Palace’s security.” Morgana ordered, making his partners nod in answer and silently leave the room to go back and leave the Palace.

The next day – Real World – Soft Air shop “Untouchables” -

It was around noon when the group of teens woke-up, having collapsed into deep sleep as soon as they left the Metaverse and returned to the abandoned shop acting as their HQ for some well-deserved rest.

“Nnngh...Hello? Anybody there?” Futaba asked sleepily at the radio.

“Soujiro here, Futaba. Did you woke-up just now by chance?” the owner of Cafe Leblanc asked chuckling.

“Metaverse is tiring, okay? By the way, we found Fluttershy’s Treasure and we should have a good escape route. Now we only need to send her our Calling Card and that thing will take physical shape for us to steal it.” the girl replied rolling her eyes.

“Uh, that’s good, I guess..Eh?...Wait, Sae-san says she wants to speak with you.” the old man answered amused before talking with somebody else behind him.

“Big Sister?” Makoto, by now she and the others too finally awake, asked.

“Hello, Makoto. I was helping the others moving to another place, soon the Barrier will cover this place too, so we need to switch base. I heard what you said about the Calling Card, and I want to suggest you to wait for two days before delivering it.” the woman at the other side explained.

“Why two days?” Yusuke asked.

“I got wind of a piece of news from some old friends in the Police Department, in two days Celestia will apparently deliver a message to humanity to once again talk people into accepting Conversion and not be destroyed by the Barrier.” Sae answered.

“She is persistent, eh?” Ryuji said sneering.

“Very, and by your words, she has to be. Since the Barrier won’t be able to grow enough to cover the entire planet, she must hurry and talk every human to Convert before her machinations are discovered.”

“And this message she wants to give?” Futaba asked.

“Some agents managed to arrest one of those Pro-Conversion nut-jobs, they have been talked into helping Celestia stream a message from a secret location inside the Barrier; she will talk live with both politicians and various news outlets that will then show it live to everybody, we are also certain that your other Targets will be there with her to further make Conversion look appealing.”

“And you want us to deliver our Calling Card to Fluttershy during that? During a Livestream?” Akira asked.

“Yes. We are losing this battle against Celestia and her ponies, people need hope, and the Phantom Thieves can be that source of hope. If we make the Phantom Thieves return, people will know there are Heroes out there fighting for them.” Sae answered.

“So we will have everybody know the Phantom Thieves are back? Awesome!” Ryuji said with an excited smile.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Haru asked.

“For that...We’ll have to ask for help to the Police Department.”

“WHAT?!”

“We are in an ‘Enemy Mine’ situation. For all the bad things the Phantom Thieves are considered culprit of, they will never be considered being as bad as Celestia and her plan for the eradication of Humanity.” Sae said sighing.

“I happened to spend time in isolation last time I dealt with the Police, do we have to?” Akira asked grimacing.

“You don’t have to meet, talk or even just see them. What I meant was that we need to send a copy of your Calling Card to the Police Department so that they will deliver it for us, that Card together with a letter explaining what we plan to do, of course: have the Phantom Thieves return and FORCECelestia into a change of Heart that will hopefully stop the Barrier, the Conversion and everything else.”

“And they will play along?”

“I still believe in Justice and doing the right thing. I am sure they will help us, even just because they have no other option beside a Nuclear Attack, and many believe that too will fail against that damn magic Barrier.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Guys, please. Trust me.” Sae begged after a long silence.

“I know you still not fully trust ‘Adults’, especially the ones in positions of power, but please, just this one time...Give Adults some trust, if they won’t do it then we’ll find another way and we will do it your way, I won’t force my ideas on you anymore.”

“...What should we do?” Makoto asked the others with an unsure expression.

Sigh! “Okay.” Ann said with a saddened sigh.

“Let’s give them another chance, my friends. Not all of them are really that bad.” Yusuke added.

“What do you think, buddy?” Ryuji asked with a defeated expression.

“...Okay.” Akira finally conceded.

“Thank you, you won’t regret it. Trust me.” Sae answered with a grateful tone.

“We will write the Calling Card and deliver it to you personally in your new base.” Futaba said.

“Okay, I will take care of the rest, have no fear.” the woman answered.

- Two days later – Secret Location inside the Barrier -

“Everything is ready, Princess.” Shining Armour said as the black monitor of the computers around them lighted-up to show the face of several politicians and the few news outlets streaming their messages to the general population.

“Everything works properly, Twilight?” Celestia asked with a gentle smile.

“I had those humans explain to me what to do, I should have connected everything properly. It’s really fascinating what they could do even without Magic.” the young purple Neo-Alicorn answered while her horn flashed in purple Magic to fix few loose cables to stabilized connection, her face momentarily flashing some badly-hidden ‘hunger’ that disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

“Do you hear us, Celestia?” one of the Politicians asked.

“Yes, and do you hear us?” the Sun Alicorn answered.

“Yes. We’ll go live in five minutes, get ready.” the same man replied shaking his head in exasperation.

“It’s for the well-being of your people, to give both our races a bright future.” Celestia countered encouragingly.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.” a soldier, rank General, answered unconvinced.

“Okay we got the signal from the studio, four minutes and we are online!” the various journalists alerted the others, making humans and ponies straighten their back and train their best convincing smile.

Meanwhile – Phantom Thieves HQ inside the Barrier -

The Phantom Thieves were sitting in front of Futaba’s laptop in apprehension, growing even more restless as soon as the Livestream started, making them look at the monitor with unblinking eyes.

“Good Evening, dear people of Earth.” Celestia said with a motherly smile.

“A bit cliche for an alien invader...” Futaba muttered.

“Sssh!” the others silenced her, making her pout in offense.

“Good evening to you too. Are you ready for this little interview and speech, Miss Celestia?” one of the journalists said with a calm and formal tone.

“Of course, please do ask whatever question you have, I will happy to help, and so my beloved sister and the others too are.” the Sun Alicorn answered, smile never faltering as one of her wings was used to point at Luna, Cadence and the Element Bearers behind her.

“Yes, we have several questions already filling the chat rooms, the more pressing one seems to be about Conversion: is it real that it causes ‘Dementia’, ‘Cessation of more than 90% of brain function’ or even ‘Erasure of Personality’? Many have not knowledge in medicine or Magic, so the absence of details about Conversion is...Disconcerting, for most.” the young woman asked.

“Nice way to put it, most of the chatroom is just filled in death threats towards ponies or humanity, fishing-out a proper question from the flood is not easy.” Futaba commented impressed.

“It must come with the job.” Yusuke answered.

“Ah yes, we heard that and it is indeed true that in rare cases one of those issue pop-out. Twilight? Care to give them some details, finally?” Celestia answered with a contrite expression.

“Yes, Princess. While it is true that those draw-backs happen, they are simply temporary, it seem to be the human brain’s answer to sudden influx of Magic, something it is not used to process, by our estimates it takes two weeks at worst for those to disappear. The brain of the Converted is just being ‘Updated’, to use a term from your computers. It just needs to reboot a little and there won’t be any further issues.”the young purple Alicorn answered.

“Why I have the feeling she is lying?” Akira asked.

“Because if she wasn’t Fluttershy would not have a zoo full of Converted nor a Palace where her ‘Dears’ are not supposed to ever leave; and even then, Igor and the Velvet Room would not have called us if the situation was not rotten deep inside,” Makoto answered.

“Let’s trust that bizarre old man then.” Ryuji commented sighing.

“No, I admit that forcing people to be Converted is bad, there is no denying in that, but if you check the Barrier’s expansion, the area where our ‘Attacks’ happened where the ones that were then covered entirely. You can accuse us of forcing your hand, we won’t stop you, but we prefer that guilt over the Guilt of letting even just one more of you die.” Luna in the meantime answered to a new question.

“Yes, we soldiers are ready to shoulder the Hate, the blame, the spits, the curses and the insults, as long as the ones cursing us for Converting them are alive instead of being the family members of people dead because of the Barrier.” Shining Armour added with a determined nod, leaning a bit too much on fanaticism for the Thieves comfort.

“It should be right about now.” Haru said unsure.

“If they did deliver our message.” Morgana answered sighing.

As if to answer their doubts, the transmission started glitching and giving out faint static noises, soon switching the Livestream with a still image of the Phantom Thieves Logo, and immediately after, the text of their Calling Card appeared on the screen red aloud by a familiar voice.

“LAVENZA?!” the teens screamed in surprise.

“I asked her if she wanted to help and she accepted.” Akira answered shrugging.

“And you met her, alone?!” Ann asked, furious.

“She didn’t assault nor molest me.” he said with an unfazed expression.

“But she could have!”

“Sssh! Let me hear!” Ryuji silenced both while moving closer to the screen.

To the overbearing Mother Fluttershy, the mollycoddling kidnapper hiding her sickening possessiveness behind false smiles and so-called ‘Motherly Love’ that can only treat her ‘Beloved Dears’ as prisoners in the golden cage of her Twisted Delusions.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who aides in the destruction of humanity so to appease her bottomless hunger for Love and Affection.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.

We will take your distorted desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

As soon as Lavenza’s voice finished reading aloud, the scene switched back to the Livestream, only now showing the shocked faces of both Equestrians and the other humans, all of them looking straight at the camera with slightly open mouth.

The chat itself was in uproar, with the ‘quietest’ messages being on the lines of:

“WTF!”

“PHANTOM THIEVES?!”

“HOLY SHIT THEY ARE BACK!”

And then a downward spiral into way madder ramblings and spamming about the sudden interruption.

“Did it work?” Ryuji asked.

“YES! Look at Fluttershy!” Makoto yelled while pointing at the deadly-pale, fidgeting Pegasus that has started shivering as soon as the message ended.

“...SO YOU WANT TO STEAL MY DEARS?!” it was then that the Phantom Thieves felt the telling shiver up their spine signaling that their Calling Card was taking full effect, making them perceive the projection of Fluttershy Distorted Self glaring straight at them from the screen.

“Come if you dare! You won’t take them away from me! You will JOIN THEM instead! YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME!” the Projection of Distorted Fluttershy roared in madness.

Then all of them regained conscience of the real world around them, just in time to see an unhealthy twitch of Celestia’s eyes, then followed by her long horn flaring to life abruptly ending the connection.

“Well, I think it worked, she looked positively mad.” Ryuji said with a pleased smirk.

“And Celestia as well seems to not have took it well either.”

“Very well, Team! Starting now we have three days to steal Fluttershy’s Treasure, let’s get ready!” Morgana declared with burning eyes.

“YES!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one.

With Celestia -

The Sun Alicorn was looking around the silent room with her lips pressed thin and her eyes narrowed.

“Captain Shining, please see what you can discover about those Phantom Thieves and how they managed to send such outrageous message to us. We do not need other Agitators in these hard times.” she ordered.

“At once, Princess.” Shining answered immediately, and leaving the room together with Cadence to start investigations as soon as possible.

“I-I-I-I am not C-C-Corrupted! I-I-I am not evil!” Fluttershy in the meantime stuttered in horror while crying, she looked extremely pale and shocked.

“Those people are just trying to ruffle your feathers, Shy. We’ll catch them!” Dash said trying to calm down her distraught friend.

“Steal somepony’s Distorted Desires...What does it mean? How does it work?” Twilight muttered with a calculative gaze in her eyes.

“I am not Corrupted! I am not Corrupted! I am not Corrupted!” Fluttershy said again, almost looking hysterical.

“Yar not, yar not.” AJ answered patting her back.

“Those brutes are just trying to drive people against us.” Rarity added huffing in distaste.

If only they could see inside their friend’s subconscious, they would witness her Distorted Self roar in defiance as she watched her Treasure take a definite shape and twist restlessly in hatred for the ones daring to challenge her and even declare they will stop her.

End of the Chapter.
And a little extra for you readers, I hope you won't mind. ;)

Chapter 12: New Target: The Prideful Rainbow Dash!

The return of the world’s greatest Thieves! Chapter 12: Targeting the fastest mare alive, The Prideful Rainbow Dash.

Phantom Thieves HQ - Flying Ship -

The assembled group of “Freedom Fighters” against Conversion composed by Lyra and Tempest and their men, Thorax and his Changelings, The Phantom Thieves and the three Elements of Harmony that got their Heart stolen were at the moment watching as Ryuji kept walking around aimlessly while cussing under his breath.

“Ah think ya should relax, they’ll be fine.” AJ tried saying.

“No, I won’t relax! Ak-JOKER and Panther are out there alone, in a place that could be raided by ponies at any time!” Ryuji answered with an angry growl.

“...”

“...You know I mean ‘Bad Ponies’, the ones pushing Conversion.” he then added once noticed the horses’ flinching at his words.

“What Skull is trying to say is that he would have preferred if we all went together.” Yusuke explained.

“Had you all go, you would have attracted too much attention, a too big crowd moving as one just for groceries sticks-out too much.” Tempest answered.

“We need that food, we are running short on anything edible.” Futaba added with an annoyed sigh.

“...Ah’m sorry...” AJ muttered with an ashamed expression.

“It’s not your fault, had we gone for another mare instead of you, now we would be in the same situation, we miscalculated the rations for all of us, you are not at fault.” Makoto answered with a gentle smile.

“We are also looking for something on the pony side, but with Celestia on high alert, things are difficult. Big Mac himself told us that your farm is being guarded 24/7 by Royal Guards in case you go there.” Thorax said.

“All your families are under close watch, the Cakes and the Pies as well as Fluttershy’s cottage. Luna and her personal guards are surveying every place you may try to return to.” Lyra added.

“And the human police force is looking everywhere for you as well...And Joker is once again on the list of possible Phantom Thieves, just in case They talked him into joining out of spite for both Ponies and Police.” Makoto commented, huffing.

“We can do this, once stopped Conversion things will go back to normal!” Pinkie said.

“I hope so...” Fluttershy added with a low whisper.

Don’t lose your waaaay!

“Yes!?” Ryuji answered his phone as soon as it started ringing.

“...WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE IN A CAR WITH MADARAME?!” the young man’s shrilly scream almost blew-up the ship while his hand almost snapped the phone in two with how hard he clenched it.

“Madarame? Why they are with him?” Yusuke asked with a low, dangerous voice.

“Mada-who?” AJ whispered.

“One of the bad guys they defeated years ago, the evil artist/art expert.” Pinkie whispered in answer.

“Ooh...”

“Start from the beginning, I’ll put you on speaker.” Ryuji asked.

“We got attacked by Royal Guards, they went through a carpet-bombing with Conversion Serum.” Akira started explaining, and everybody could hear the unusual, furious growling in his voice.

Few minutes ago -

Akira and Ann were cautiously watching as policemen kept ‘discreetly’ combing the streets, either for ponies or for Akira himself, possibly.

“Let’s hurry up.” Ann whispered while pushing her large sunglasses just a bit closer to her face.

“Uh-hu. That way.” Akira, face completely obscured by the hood of his shirt, answered, and accompanying his short answer with a sharp jerking of his head towards a more isolated side street.

Nodding imperceptibly, the girl grabbed his hand as tight as she could, and while both hugged their bags close to their chest, they dove for the side street as soon as they saw the cops get distracted by a loud duo of schoolgirls that ran beside them.

“Hey...” one of the cops muttered with narrowed eyes while glancing at the two.

“Saw them. Let’s go.” her colleague answered with a nod as the two started tailing the two Phantom Thieves from afar.

“...They are following us.” Akira muttered.

“Really?” Ann hissed in worry, and a subtle look above her shoulder confirmed the suspicion, especially since both agents looked unwilling to even blink too many times in fear of losing the two teens.

“Damn it! Why?” she asked with a growl.

“We are wearing hoods and sunglasses.” Akira answered, while curiously watching a homeless guy with a long beard follow his every move with wide eyes as soon as they passed close to his make-shift bed of cardboard…

And for some unfathomable reason, Akira thought he had seen that homeless guy somewhere before.

“So the plan to NOT stand-out too much, made us stand-out too much?” Ann asked.

“So it seems.” he replied.

“Then...RUN!” Ann yelled, and as soon as they started running, the cops too started chasing them.

“HEY! WAIT!” the make cop yelled in rage.

“STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” the woman echoed as she already unclasped the taser gun she had holstered at her side.

And neither the agents or the Phantom Thieves saw the homeless man jump to his feet as soon as he saw the cops take out their weapons.

“They are persistent.” Akira commented as they exited the side street to enter the main road, hoping to hide in one of the shops to lose their persecutors.

“They are paid to do this, Akira!” Ann answered as, to their horror, they saw a veritable sea of people marching towards them in the opposite direction while holding up banners and signs.

“DOWN WITH CONVERSION! DOWN WITH CONVERSION!”

“CELESTIA IS THE DEVIL’S EMISSARY!”

“FREEDOM FOR HUMANITY!”

“DEATH TO THE PONIES! DEATH TO THE PONIES!”

Various cries came from the hundreds of people of every age marching in the streets, all of them showing no intention to stop, no matter the numerous police officers that were amassing in preparation to forcefully disperse them.

“No! No! NO! An Anti-Conversion March?! Why now!?” Ann yelled in utter disbelief.

“Police behind us, and special forces in front. This is not good.” Akira answered with a stiff voice as he saw the two cops that were chasing them finally joining the same street and already pointing at them.

“I am happy to see people revolt, but not NOW that it will get us arrested!” the girl hissed, and not resisting when her boyfriend grabbed her wrist to drag her towards the marching people.

“There was a door towards the Velvet Room around here, we’ll hide in there.” Akira said while looking wildly around for Lavenza and the blue door.

“My God, I will have to thank that bimbo if she saves us...” Ann cursed with a low voice, but hurrying-up nonetheless as soon as she saw the two cops running towards them.

“Later.”

“I know! I know!”

“STOP! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!” one of the cops yelled while trying to take aim with her taser.

“Down!” Akira countered by dragging both of them to the ground just in time for the two electrified needles to hit one of the Leaders of the March, causing the victim to fall on the ground convulsing heavily.

“THE POLICE IS ATTACKING US!”

Those words, screamed in rage and with no warning, gave start to pandemonium: the barely-peaceful march had so turned into a charge of raving animals as police and civilians gave start to a free-for-all brawl, and even if better equipped and trained, the agents sent there to sedate the revolt went soon overwhelmed by the sheer number and the rage driving those people.

The poor cop that had tried to arrest Ann and Akira and misfired was between the first victims as the two Phantom Thieves could see her companion desperately fleeing while carrying her utterly bloody, unconscious and battered form on his shoulders while a horde of foaming-at-the-mouth civilians chased them like a pack of rabid wolves.

“Let’s go! This Chaos will cover us!” Akira prompted Ann while lightly pulling on her hand.

“Yes, we better g-” SPLASH!

Ann’s answer died abruptly when a bottle of slimy liquid fell from the sky to hit the head of a guy right next to her, making him scream in utter agony as his flesh melted momentarily to then slowly and PAINFULLY rebuild itself into pony flesh.

“POOOOONIIIIEEEEES!”

Both Civilians and Police Officers yelled as one in horror as more and more bottles fell from the sky, turning whoever got hit into ponies indiscriminately, soon filling the air in scream of agony from the people mid-conversion or the others desperate begging for help; it was surprising though how the police immediately switched gear and started helping people to seek help, and several of them even started shooting at the masked Pegasi that kept carpet-bombing the place with no mercy.

“Run!” Ann yelled, this time she was the one dragging Akira away towards a small side street.

“Where do you think you are going?” a voice asked with a tone both mocking and patronizing, forcing both to look behind them to see who it was.

“You!” Ann hissed, furious.

“Me! The Awesomest AND Fastest mare alive, want an autograph?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smug grin while lowering the bandanna covering her face.

She was accompanied by other two Pegasi, and the three of them were dressed in what could be called the pony version of the clothes normally worn by cliche Street Hooligans, bandannas and baseball caps comprised.

They slowly lowered their altitude so to fly face-to-face with the two human teens.

“Does Celestia knows of this?” Akira asked while slowly pulling Ann behind himself to shield her with his body.

“Yes and no. This place is on the list of places to Convert since the Barrier will soon pass by here, but why waiting? You saw those guys, they were making a fuss about Conversion and scaring everypony. If we did not force their hoof a little, then a mess would have happened, duh! You all are believing those lies about Conversion making people dumb, we had to do something!” Dash answered, rolling her eyes.

“Force their Hands, not hooves.” one of the Pegasi with her said.

“Hands-Shmhands...Who cares?” she replied.

“And so you saved them, right?” Ann spat-out.

“Somepony has to! Sure we had to get masked and stuff, yah know, so people won’t get scared when they see Royal Guards. And its a bummer, because I want people to know I am helping them.” Dash answered.

“You are mad!”

“I AM A DARN HERO!” the mare yelled back, angrily.

“Please control yourself. Remember, our mission is important, too important.” one of the masked soldiers calmed her down with a soft voice.

“Yes, Yes. You are right, take the Serum out, we’ll Convert them too.” Dash answered while grabbing a capped vial in her mouth, just like her companions behind her did.

“You’ll be stopped.” Akira warned her while he and Ann slowly started stepping away from the trio.

“You mean by those Phantom Thieves guys? Let them come! It’s the Hero’s Job to defeat the Villains after all!” Dash answered with a maniac glint in her eyes.

“Ready to save them?” the other Pegasus asked with a simpering tone in his voice.

“Yeees!” the mare answered with a pleasure-filled purr.

“Run!” Akira ordered.

“NO!” Ann screamed in fear.

“I’ll keep them occupied, RUN!” he repeated.

“RAAAAAAAAGH!” it was then that they saw the same homeless guy from before roar in defiance and jump high enough in the air to grab one of Dash’s rear hooves and forcefully pull her down.

“WHO THE HAY A-GUH!” the Element Bearer barely had the time to yell-out when the man’s fist mercilessly slammed on her temple, knocking her down.

“HOW DARE YOU!?” the other two yelled while throwing him the two vials in their mouths.

“THOSE ARE MY STUDENTS! YOU WANT THEM!? THEN KILL ME FIRST!” the homeless man bellowed while barely dodging the two small things.

“That voice...” Ann muttered in shock.

“I have been a failure, and I will pay the price, but for once I want to do the right thing, now RUN!” the man yelled, tackling one of the two Pegasi still conscious mid-air before they could grab Akira.

“That’s it! Spray them, Soarin!” Dash, finally coming back to her senses and with an eye already swelling shut, ordered with a barking scream.

“Ah!” Ann gasped as she saw the bottle fly towards Akira.

SPLASH!

“Guh!...You too...S-S-Sorry...” the man, having shielded Akira from the Conversion Serum with his own body, offered with an apologetic tone and watering eyes.

“Kamo-”

“GOOOOOO!” the man, already mid-transformation, yelled a last time while pouncing on Dash again, rightly guessing that the other two ponies would prioritize saving her from him to chasing the two teens.

“Let’s go!” Akira said while forcefully dragging Ann away.

“THIS WAY! HURRY!” a man driving a near car yelled, coming to a screeching stop right outside the side street.

“Jump in, hurry!” the one riding the passenger seat prompted while taking potshots with his small gun, forcing the three pegasi to take cover to not be hit.

As soon as Ann closed the car’s door behind both, the engine roared to life and the tires almost caught fire with the abrupt acceleration propelling the car forward as the driver floored the pedal for all that it was worth.

“That was close.” the driver exhaled in relief while ditching the baseball cap and sunglasses he was wearing, showing a disheveled, but not too shabby, Madarame smiling smugly at the two.

“MADARAME!” Ann yelled with wide eyes.

“Indeed. I know I am the last man you probably wanted to meet in times of need, considering what I did to Yusuke and many others. But just like Kamoshida-kun, I won’t pretend this means I am absolved from my past sins, but still, it’s one small good thing to show a bit of remorse for past mistakes.” Madarame replied with a sigh, his companion instead just stood in silence, burying themselves on the seat as if trying to appear as small as they could.

“Were you following us?” Akira asked.

“No, I was helping a friend escape mass Conversion, he just wanted to start a new life away in a safe and isolated location, away from everybody. Then we heard people scream about a massive Conversion Raid and tried to escape...It was then we saw you pass by there chased by ponies, so I just took the liberty to make a detour to save a duo of teens I knew from danger...You are Yusuke’s friends so I felt compelled in aiding you.” Madarame answered while jamming a thumb towards the mysterious seated figure.

“Uhn.” the guy answered with a grunt.

“He was not against this either.”

“Thank you.” Akira answered, making Ann huff in annoyance, but echo the thank you all the same.

Grunt!

“I see, thank you for alerting me.” Madarame said as soon as his strange friend grunted again and pointed at the rear mirror where several thug-dressed Pegasi could be seen chasing them, and even if masked, it was clear they were mad.

“They are chasing us!” Ann said in alarm as soon as she herself checked.

“No Dash, though.” Akira said, noticing the lack of the cyan mare in the group.

“He must have got her good enough to force her to get back, or at least make sure a couple guards felt more safe holding her back.” Ann answered.

“Be ready, I will get daring now! Once safe enough, I will slow-down enough to let you jump down and hide in a secure location, we’ll drag them away from you. But you must be cautious.” Madarame instructed.

“Okay.” Akira answered while fishing-out his phone, both to alert the others and to seek an entrance into the Memento for him and Ann to use.

“And you two?” Ann asked.

“We’ll be okay, don’t worry. And...If you meet Yusuke...Please tell him I am sorry, I fear I still have not said it enough times.” Madarame answered with a suffering sigh.

“We will.” Akira said with a nod.

“Good. Hold on tight!” Madarame replied, pressing down hard on the accelerator and pushing the car’s engine to its utmost limits.

Present time – Memento – After leaving Madarame’s car and alerting the others -

Both Ann and Akira were sitting on one of the benches of the train station representing the ‘Shared Palace’ of Ponykind and Humankind, watching the utterly silent and empty place and keeping an ear open just in case The Reaper appeared anywhere close.

“No Shadows in sight. Can this place exist as a deserted land?” Ann wondered aloud.

“If there really is a reason behind why no trains or Shadows are around, then I don’t think it will be good news for us or anybody else.” Akira admitted.

“Yeah, I think the same.” the girl commented with a defeated sigh.

“There they are!” it was then that they heard Ryuji shriek in relief as soon as him and the others reached them while driving Morgana’s car form.

“PANTHER! JOKER!” Haru yelled in chorus with him.

“Thank goodness you are safe.” Yusuke said with a long sigh as he watched his friends glomp the two teens in a giant group hug.

“Lady Pantheeeeer! I don’t know what I would have done had I lost youuuuuu! YOU TOO, JOKER! Stop worrying me this much!” Morgana yowled crying fat tears as he hugged both in desperation.

“This was too close, and just to get some food.” Makoto said with a sigh, and looking guiltily at the battered bags of groceries on the ground.

“Somebody had to.” Akira answered, shrugging.

“So Kamoshida and Madarame...” Ryuji tried saying.

“Yeah.” Ann answered with crossed arms and a half-heart grumble.

“He is still a bastard, this won’t change a thing. But this time he managed to help us, just like Madarame.”

“Returning at the matter at hand, I guess we are all for Dash being our next target?” Yusuke asked.

“Dash is being the most daring of them all at the moment, you saw Shy and Pinkie as well as AJ, they all were moving on their own agenda, but at the same time they were not exactly an open threat to everybody around them, yet. Dash instead, she is openly taking part to Conversion Raids, even clandestine ones.” Haru said.

“Fake clandestine ones, those were masked soldiers that were speeding-up Conversion. They apparently have a List of location in need of ‘Ponification’ before the Barrier passes by there.” Ann explained.

“So you think Celestia or Luna are behind it? Or even Shining Armor?” Makoto asked.

“We are forgetting a pony.” Yusuke said.

“Who?”

“Blueblood. Standing by what Tempest told us, he is getting extremely active in his circle of high echelon ponies, enough to appeal numerous times to both Celestia and Luna for Total Conversion to happen faster for the well-being of Equestria. Apparently there are problems in their home world and coming here was a blessing in disguise.” Yusuke explained.

“Problems only Celestia and Luna know about, I bet.” Makoto added.

“And maybe her Generals, since Blueblood, Shining, Cadence and Spitfire are in charge of three of the most active groups dealing with the Conversion Propaganda and an entire second kingdom supplying soldiers and more. I remember you that recently another floating island appeared in the sky.” Haru said.

“Princess Cadence and the Crystal Kingdom, she too will be a difficult target. Do we know if any of those groups were between the Thugs enacting this giant raid?” Yusuke asked.

“Hard to say, they were all dressed like stereotype street gangs, so maybe most of those ‘Independent Terrorist Groups’ that keep Converting whoever they meet may very well be all people working for Celestia, and whatever is controlling her,” Ann answered, groaning.

“We know one of them.” Akira said.

“Uh? Who?”

“One of the two ponies accompanying Dash was named Soarin. Dash seems to know the pony very well. And I feel like we already heard that name.”

“Yeah...But who’s that?”

“Let me ask...Hoy, Navi? Does the name Soarin rings any bells on your side?” Ryuji asked to his phone.

“A second...That would be a name of one of the Wonderbolts.” Futaba supplied in answer.

“Isn’t that the group of acrobatic fliers Spitfire is part of?” Ann asked.

“Yeah, the same group.”

“So it’s confirmed: this is either Blueblood acting behind Celestia’s back, or the Princess herself doing this to both speed-up things and keep her reputation clean at the same time.”

“There is little reputation to keep safe, nowadays. The number of people showing hostility against Ponies is increasing exponentially, partly thanks to us.” Yusuke answered.

“That is true, but it’s still too soon for her to fully come out as somebody planning for world domination. As for now this mess is restricted to Japan only, if she is not careful the rest of the planet will be on her in an instant, and while she can keep the Barrier up indefinitely until it grows too much, she will be in serious trouble if every time a pony peaks out they get welcomed by heavy weaponry raining from every corner of the sky.”

“It’s all hanging on a delicate balance, if the Barrier grows too slow, people won’t feel the urgency to be Converted and the truth behind it will come out...But if it grows too fast, her ruse will be discovered because the thing will seemingly disappear for itself once grown too big. And whatever Entity is controlling her like a puppet wants and needsevery human on the entire planet and every pony of Equestria Converted into mindless slaves...She will soon get desperate.” Morgana said with a tense tone.

“She already is desperate. Dash acted like a Shadow.” Akira said.

“Uh?”

“Yeah, she was...Over the top? I can’t explain it, but we usually meet somebody THAT deep in their own backside inside a Palace, not outside, in the real world.” Ann confirmed.

“Just like with AJ, the Shadow Self is influencing the real Dash, this time more heavily.” Yusuke muttered, thoughtful.

“Considering how ready she is to personally Convert people, it may very well be Celestia’s own doing the reason why she is such a bad case. She needs Conversion to happen fast, but she also needs a scapegoat if she is discovered before she is done,Dash will help her plans immensely since she is convinced she is Saving people.”

“Dash’ next then, Rarity seems to still be closed somewhere doing God knows what while Dash is out there Converting people out of some sick need to be a Hero and save Humanity.” Makoto declared.

“Yes. Let’s go back to the ship, we need to plan our attack on Dash’ Palace.” Morgana answered.

Meanwhile – With Rarity – Shibuya – “Shibuya 109” Shopping Mall -

The duo of Night Guards really did not want to be there, even if Luna herself imposed their presence there to increase the number of soldiers protecting Rarity...Especially the young female Unicorn of the two that kept feeling the hair on the back of her neck rise higher and higher the closer they got to the place’s entrance.

“I don’t like here, I feel like a piece of meat...” she said once again, looking around her tensely and breathing rapidly.

“Will you please calm down? You have been jittery as soon as we got in the area, nothing is out of ordinary, this area has just been covered by the Barrier so there are no human soldiers.” her companion answered while rolling his eyes, contrary to her, he looked utterly relaxed and treating the whole ordeal with nonchalance.

“How can you not feel it?! There is something wrong going on here! I feel like something is observing my every move, something hungry!” she hissed.

“Fluttering Haze...Look at me...” the other bat-pony soldier said looking at her with a deadpan stare.

“Yes?”

“How many times did I tell you to NOT watch horror movies before a job?” he said.

“...A couple times.” she answered with a huff.

“And yet you did it again.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, you did. We have to guard a fashion designer, there is no way in TARTARUS that somepony will wish her harm...She is a seamstress, for Harmony’s sake! We are not protecting a politician, relax!” the soldier said, exasperated.

“I know! I know! I guess I am just being overly-paranoid.”

“Yes, but just a little.” Rarity said from behind the two, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” both Night Guards yelled in fright at the same time.

“Ufufufufu! Relax! You guards are too tense! Especially you...” the unicorn mare said with a charming tone, and zeroing on the bat mare, getting extremely close to her.

“M-M-Me?!” Fluttering Haze asked, looking unnerved as the mare she was supposed to protect seemed to seize her up with a too sharp gaze, and in the faint light of the lowering sun, Rarity’s eyes seemingly turned golden, like two cold globes of gold staring at her soul.

“Yes you...Your skin looks so soft and unblemished, you must spend a lot of time making sure your skin and fur remain so enticing.” Rarity said, getting closer still, until their noses almost touched, and she hadn’t blink once since she had fixated her eyes on the bat pony.

Now her companion too started getting second thoughts about this mission, the situation was taking a turn he did expect nor like.

“N-N-Not really! A-A-As a soldier I have no time for make-up.” Haze answered.

“So all this beauty is all natural? Then you will be perfect. Please, follow me inside.” Rarity answered with an aroused purr before marching forward.

“We...We are supposed to guard the inside...” the male bat pony muttered, unsure.

“I insist.” Rarity answered, and along her eyes turning black with golden irises, her mane and fur momentarily turned pitch-black as she looked the guards straight in the eyes to give the order with a deep and unnatural voice.

“...Yes, mistress...” the two guards droned as they followed her inside with stiff movements.

“Good! Time is of essence, you know? I am almost ready for my masterpiece with only few pieces remaining for me to collect, so I cannot waste time.” Rarity instructed with a happy tone once returned to her normal appearances.

“Yes, mistress.” the two hypnotized guards answered as one.

“Glad to see you understand. You will go with the other Chosen, and wait until I have every piece at ready for the grand night!” she ordered.

“Yes, Mistress.” Haze the bat mare answered.

“While you will go with the other stallions, I have other plans for you dears, but that can wait until after my project is completed.”

“Yes, Mistress.” the Stallion answered.

“Aah, the hunt for Ultimate Beauty is such a pain, a poor mare can’t rest even for a minute nowadays.” Rarity moaned in theatrical despair.

“You are the most beautiful mare alive, Mistress.” the guards answered as one.

“I know, my dears...But even I may need some fine tuning, a last polish to achieve Perfection. WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Rarity answered before erupting in a chilling, deranged laugh that echoed everywhere in the empty streets around the giant shopping mall as the doors closed behind her and the two guards under her spell.

The Next Day – With the Phantom Thieves - Haneda International Airport -

“So she really took over the place.” Ryuji commented with a growl.

“And she didn’t even try to be discreet about it.” Yusuke added with a tone of contempt.

The once famous and luxurious airport was now covered in banners with Rainbow Dash’s face on it that declared her as the ‘Hero Protector’ of the world, there was even a cliché ‘epic Hero theme’ being reproduced in loop from the airport speakers.

“I have been informed by one of our spies that the screens in there have been modified to show a clip-show of ‘Cool Pictures’of Rainbow Dash going on and on without pause, all day, every day.” Tempest informed them with a frown.

“Oh, my God! How can she be so much...THIS!” Ann asked in disbelief.

“Dashie had always been a bit prideful, j-j-just not this much.” Fluttershy answered.

“You sure, Shy?” Pinkie asked, confused.

“Aye, Dash has a big darn Ego, but this’ too big even fo’ her. Corruption and Distortion got her good.” AJ commented, grimacing.

The Phantom Thieves, the saved Element Bearers and Tempest were spying on the place from the back of a nondescript van Makoto got thanks to her sister, luckily the place was deserted since the Barrier was very close at covering it, so neither humans nor ponies felt too safe being too close to the place in case the others tried something until the entire area got covered.

This didn’t mean both groups were not spying on each other still, Lyra and Thorax had to work extra hard to distract both sides long enough for the Phantom Thieves to make their first trip to the place.

“Well, we got the place alright, now the problem will be get inside.” Makoto admitted with a huff.

“How does it work?” Tempest asked.

“We have a special app inside our phone, it can transport us inside the Palace of our targets if we find enough key words.” Haru explained.

“Key words? Like?”

“What Dash see this place as, what it does represent to her ego. For example, Aj’s Palace was all about her farm and the “Family” she had formed in there, so Farm and Family were the two keywords we needed to enter.” Akira explained.

“Aye, don’t remind me of that, Ah still feel mighty asham’d of that.” Aj muttered with a shy blush.

“We managed to sneak those ponies to safety so nothing too bad happened, they are slowly snapping out of the influence of your Distorted self, so they’ll be fine.” Tempest replied.

“Good ta hear.”

“This shouldn’t be too hard,” Ann commented.

“Wanna bet the first will be Hero?” Ryuji said, smirking.

“Match Found.” Akira’s phone answered with a metallic voice.

“Told ya!” the boy said with a smug expression.

“Too easy. But still, we know what she sees herself has...But what is that place to her instead?” Yusuke answered.

“Must be something related to Heroes.” Tempest said with narrowed eyes.

“Secret Base?” she tried.

“Match not found.”

“Tch!” the horn-less unicorn uttered in disdain.

“M-M-Manor?” Fluttershy tried.

“Match not found.”

“I-I am sorry.”

“Don’t worry, Shy. City?” Ann answered.

“Match not found.”

“This is ridiculous! We are in front of the most blatant Palace we have ever seen and we can’t get in?! How?!” Makoto roared from the driving seat.

“God knows what her delusions see this place as.” Yusuke answered with a placating tone.

“LOOK!” Haru hissed while rapidly grabbing her binoculars.

“What?” Akira answered while he and the others did the same.

“She is fake fighting against a pony mannequin dressed in a strange costume.” the girl said.

“Ah’ve seen that costume somewhere already.” AJ commented, unsure.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! I remember! That’s Mare Do Well!” Pinkie said with an excited tone.

“Who?”

“It was a fake super hero we created to help Dash learn some humility!” Pinkie answered.

“It didn’t work.” Ryuji answered.

“It did work, kinda...For a little while at least.” AJ countered.

“Hihihi! Dashie is a difficult case,”

“Let’s take that Hero in consideration...What Keyword can we try?” Akira asked.

“Well, we hardly had any catchphrase...Unless...”

“Unless?” Fluttershy asked while looking at Pinkie’s thoughtful expression.

“We did say something overly Heroic once, it was during that parade in honor of Mare Do Well, what was it? It was very corny...But Twilight insisted in using that.”

“Uhm...Uhm...I-It was ‘This Metropolis is under my protection, no harm shall befall on anypony.’ She got it from a Daring Do book.” Fluttershy answered.

“Match found! Navigation ready.”

“So Metropolis was the word?” Tempest asked with a raised eyebrow.

“So it seems. Is she still fighting that mannequin?” Yusuke said.

“She is clearly ‘Defeating’ that thing.” Akira commented as they saw the puppet fall to the side in defeat with Dash standing proudly over it with a triumphant pose.

“So she also likes to show other Heroes that she is the best one...That’s Pride alright.” Ann commented.

“Not the best Hero, the ONLY HERO needed,” Yusuke corrected her.

“She got lotsa jealous of Mare Do Well, so showin’ her up musta feel really good to her.” AJ added.

“Well, we got what we need to get inside, once gone you should sneak away and back into the ship. Will you be alright?” Makoto asked.

“Thorax and Lyra are waiting for us with the ship, we’ll be safe. Don’t worry.” Tempest answered with a reassuring smile.

“Okay, we’ll go then. Bye!” Ann said as every Phantom Thieves took out their phones (And Ryuji alerted Futaba about the whole thing).

“Begin Navigation!” their phones echoed as one.

“Be safe!” Fluttershy begged them while watching her masked human friends fade away.

“Still freaky strange...” Pinkie commented.

Inside Dash’ Palace – Main street of the Metropolis -

The City was a sprawling futuristic metropolis seemingly made only of absurdly high skyscrapers, each building decorated with flags depicting Rainbow Dash’ face wearing an outrageous Power Rangers-like helmet with giant glasses acting as its visor.

“Finally a Palace that is not creepy or downright scary.” Ann admitted with an elated sigh.

“Speak for yourself, this place is way too cheerful, like-like some superhero kids-show.” Ryuji answered.

To be fair, contrary to the other Palaces they had meet before, everything in there was coloured in bright pastel colours, everything was indeed similar to a scene extrapolated directly from a comic book.

“Creepy or not, we still have a Treasure to find and steal, so I suggest you to start looking for it, and beware of the Shadows! Cheerful city or not, we are still inside the darker side of somebody’s mind.” Futaba answered.

“Navi is right, we must be cautious.” Morgana answered.

“Wahahaha! Stop were you are, evildoers!” they heard screaming from the sky.

“Ah!” Haru screamed in fright, only for Yusuke’s hand to cover her mouth as they all dove behind a near newspaper stall to look at the scene.

What they saw was the Distorted Self of Rainbow Dash descend from the sky to beat a shadowy figure with a cliché robber mask to knock it down with a single kick.

“This city is under my protection, and I, ‘THE DASH’! Will stop every criminal scum that threatens it!” she declared while puffing-out her chest.

She was dressed in a full spandex bodysuit deep blue in colour with a yellow lightning bolt framed by a cloud on her chest, similar to her Cutie Mark; her head instead was covered by an overly-decorated helmet with giant orange glasses, just like the images on the flags.

As her cape fluttered by itself as if struck by wind, Dash took another heroic pose as her Theme Song started playing from every corner of the city while everybody in there, either Shadows or shadowy silhouettes, started cheering loudly for their Hero.

“My God, we are literally inside her power-fantasy...” Makoto commented dryly as she watched the mare fly away at high speed leaving behind her a long streak of rainbow.

“It’s nothing different from what we are used to see, let’s go.” Akira answered while stealthily moving forward.

“To where?”

“That skyscraper, the biggest one.” he answered while pointing at a gargantuan building that stood in the exact center of the city and adorned by an enormous neon sign shaped like Dash’ Cutie Mark.

“You mean her ‘Super Obvious Secret Base Somehow nobody knows belongs to her’?” Ryuji asked mockingly.

“Yes.”

“Fuck it, let’s go. But I want it recorded that I prefer Creepy Palaces to this Super Sentai Knock-off shit, I feel insulted just by being here. This place belongs to a demented Saturday morning cartoon, not to the embodiment of somebody’s darkest desires!” Ryuji answered, growling.

“I can’t believe I agree with Skull on something...” Morgana admitted with a low voice.

“Just shut up and run, before Dash discover us even before we get close to the Treasure.” Ann shot back while rolling her eyes.

This was only their first visit inside, and yet, most of them were not trusting of the bright colours of the Palace, and were already dreading the moment the facade dropped and Dash showed HER true colours, and something told them hers won’t be as bright.

Extra – Who was in the car? -

Very far from Tokyo -

After three long days of daring escapes and mad driving at high speed, the old car that Madarame was driving was now lying on its side in the middle of a half-abandoned field and silently burning into a crisp, only two people were looking at the solitary thing in its final moments, they were the only two humans in a five hundred meters radius and there were no ponies in sight.

“I loved that car.” Madarame admitted with a sigh.

“There was no need to sacrifice it.”

“I helped a convicted felon to escape, the less traces I leave behind, the better. I will just take a train back home.”

“And if the ponies attack the train?”

“If it happens, it happens. I lived long enough already, I did good things...And I did A LOT of bad things, I am grateful they gave me house arrest for good conduct instead of leaving me in prison, so I am determined to spend what remains of my days in that house, thinking of the good old days, and feeling ashamed of the many missteps I had.”

“You broke your house arrest to help me though.”

“Yes, but I found it worth it if it helped an old friend of mine in his time of need.” Madarame answered with a chuckle.

“...Thank you...”

“Are you still sure you want to go into seclusion?”

“I escaped prison in a bout of desperation when the ponies raided it to Convert everybody in there, as I wanted and still want to die as a human instead of turning into a brainless horse. But contrary to Kamoshida, I didn’t feel...Worthy?...Of sticking around, not with what I did to everybody.”

“Worthy, that’s a nice term to use. And you still haven’t explained us what you allegedly did.” Madarame answered.

“Ah! Had I tried explaining, you and him would have dragged me into the nearest psychiatric hospital and dumped me there for the rest of my days.” the other answered with an amused chuckle.

“That bad? That unbelievable?” Madarame asked, amused.

“A bit of both, even with magical horses walking around. Had the Phantom Thieves not got me, things would have gone bad, for everybody.”

“Everybody even? Very well, keep your secrets then. I will be on my way.” Madarame conceded, walking away while shaking his head and laughing.

“Good luck, Madarame! If you need me, I will be in a peaceful, isolated cabin waiting for the Barrier to kill me, as a human.”

“As you wish. Farewell, Shido-kun.”

“Farewell.”

This marks another Chapter done! I am really sorry for the absurd wait.