Chapters Cold. That was all that existed in Sunset's life. Though that wasn't always the case. Until recently her world was warm and bright. But all of that changed when Anon-a-Miss appeared. With just a few posts the blogger took everything away from her. Now the warmth was gone and in its place was cold, emptiness, and pain.
She cringed as her breath exacerbated her bruised ribs. Blood trickled past her lips from her nose as she trudged through the howling winds. The fierce snow storm that tore through the streets around her filled her line of sight with pure white as the cold numbed her wounds. Her arms hung loosely at her sides as she walked, the will to use them to warm her lost along with the feeling she once had in her broken and bleeding fingers. Her tattered and torn winter jacket did little against the frigid winds that bit into her like a thousand starving rats. Feeling started to fade from her tired legs as she marched against the gales, no real destination in mind as she walked through the land of white. Her good eye dimly scanned her surroundings as she walked, the other one swollen shut from her recent fight.
Though calling it a fight was too generous a term. An ambush beating was more appropriate as people she could only briefly identify as her fellow students came out of an alley on the way to her apartment. She didn't even have time to scream before fists and boots were brought down upon her.
Tears started to slide down her cheeks along with her blood as she remembered the pain. The pain that seemed to last for hours before she blacked out. The pain that tore through her when she came to later and tried to stand up. Then the relief that came from the merciless snowstorm that ripped through the town.
Why did this happen? she thought, the strength fading from her knees as she staggered forward. I thought I had made up for what I did. I thought they were my friends.
A horse gasp burst past her lips as her legs finally gave out and she fell to the snow-covered ground. The world started to turn dark as what little strength she had left started to fade away.
Maybe it's better this way. If I died...then...Anon-a-Miss will stop. Not that it really matters anyway. Nobody loves me. Hell...th...ey...all...want me....dead.
"Perhaps," a female voice said.
What remained of Sunset's mind focused on the voice, the world now nothing but a black void without sound or feeling.
"W-Who's there?" she asked, voice thick and horse.
"Who am I? A foolish question. You know who I am."
Sunset sighed, then rolled onto her back as she stared up into the abyss.
"Am I going to hell?"
A harsh laugh filled the void.
"You believe me to be death? Ha! That stingy charlatan wishes he could be me! No Sunset. I am not death and you are not dead. Though I fail to see why you would want to die. There is so much left to do."
"Like what?" she asked hollowly. "I have nothing to live for. No one to fight for. I'm alone. Again."
"Indeed," the voice mused. "You have no one to fight for, but that doesn't mean you have no purpose."
"What purpose?"
"You know pain, suffering, and betrayal. You know the emptiness of the abyss. Let's give that pain to those that have given you such a cruel set of gifts. Do they not deserve it? Does a criminal not deserve punishment? If you are destined to fall into the abyss, why not drag the fools that condemned you to that fate along with you?"
Sunset mulled the voice's words over for a bit, remembering all of the people that lead her to this moment. She remembered the time she spent with her friends. The time spent helping Fluttershy at the animal shelter on the weekends. All of the matches shared between her and Rainbow Dash on the court after school. Every day she helped Applejack tend to the farm when she could spare the time. All of the times Pinkie snuck into her apartment to have a small party for whatever excuse she could think of that day. All of her modeling sessions with Rarity after school and trips to the spa when she could twist Sunset's arm hard enough.
A small spark flashed inside her at the thought of the purple haired woman. Countless other memories ran though her head as she focused on her. Sleepovers at Sunset's apartment that turned into less innocent things over time. Dates at the mall behind her friend's backs. Small moments alone at the park. Their first kiss behind the bleachers just a couple months ago. Then the hateful glares the fashionista sent her with the rest of Sunset's former friends. The hateful words that cut through her like searing hot razors as she fell to her knees in the hall. The tears she shed when the girl she loved left her to rot.
The spark inside her turned into a raging inferno as she dragged herself to her feet, the void seeming to ripple around her in response to her fury.
"Yes," she sneered, her wounds fading as her anger flooded her veins like liquid fire. "Let's do it."
"Excellent!" the voice cheered. "Then let's form our pact. I am thou. Thou art I. A raging flame that scours the soul. A Goddess of Vengeance that cleaves all who stands against the scales of justice. Shout out my name, and let us lead the souls of the guilty to their ultimate punishment!"
Sunset put her hand up above her head and with a voice as soft as silk said, "Come to my side, Alecto."
A door wreathed in black flames formed above Sunset and with a faint creek it opened to admit a being of pure hatred. She was tall, about a head taller then Sunset if she stood beside her and had a thin, toned build. She bore spartan armor with a helmet built in the shape of a crow's head, a pair of glowing red eyes peering out of the helmet's open beak. In on hand she held a flaming sword covered with jagged teeth like a saw while the other held a flaming whip covered with obsidian thorns. From her back were a pair of wings made of knives, each dripping with blood from a recent kill.
Sunset stared at the angel of pain and smiled.
Sunset felt the smile her Persona returned just before it let out a blood curdling scream into the darkness around them. She felt a wave of power rush through her as the world around her started to change. Buildings made of mirrored glass rose out of the darkness like shimmering trees. Streets made of diamond formed on the "ground" between the buildings as a type of border around the structures. A blood red moon formed in the sky, covering the scene with an aura of haunted dread as it's crimson radiance cut through the thick gray clouds that covered the sky. Sunset's smile grew as she stared at the true masterpiece that stood at the heart of the city. A twisted tower, miles high and hundreds of feet wide pierced the heavens like the lance of an eldritch god well past the cloud line into the true oblivion of The Abyss.
Sunset trembled as she struggled to contain her glee at what she created, but it became too much as manic laughter burst past her lips.
"Beautiful!" she cried, bouts of laughter forcing her to fall to her knees.
In time, her laughter faded into light chuckles, the power thrumming through her giving her a high no drug could ever hope to achieve as she stared at The Abyss.
"It's so beautiful. I can't believe I made it."
"Believe it," Alecto said, placing a hand on her mistress's shoulder. "This is the prison your power created. The shape of your vengeance."
"No," Sunset growled as she staggered back to her feet. "This is is the shape of my new purpose."
Sunset smiled as she marveled at the world her new power had created, but a raging fury sat beneath the surface as she thought about what she planned to do.
Brace yourself Anon-a-Miss. I'm coming for you.
Blue.
That was the first thought Rarity had as she emptily took in her surroundings. The ivory teen stood at the heart of an ornate blue rose garden. Elaborate black iron bars separated the garden from the outside world, the space beyond obscured by a thick curtain of fog. At its heart stood an ornate hickory table with a blue velvet tablecloth. On each side of the table stood a lounge couch, both crafted elaborately from the same material, and adorned with blue velvet cushions. A woman dressed in a dark blue business dress stood to the left side of the lounge facing her, a white masquerade butterfly mask hiding all but her blood-red lips, the cream complexion of the lower half of her head, and long, straight, raven hair that reached the middle of her back. What truly held Rarity's attention was the figure that occupied the lounge the woman stood next to.
Said figure was an eerily ghoulish sight.
Were he to stand, Rarity was sure the top of his head would've barely made it past her own. He was dressed in a fine black suit with an excellently tended to red tie and white dress shirt. His small shoes were equally immaculate, both polished to a brilliant shine. What unnerved her was the goblin-like features of his face. With his long nose, wide piercing eyes, pointed ears, eery smile, and ring of messy silver hair surrounding a balding crown. His fare complexion was the only objectively attractive thing she could say about him that didn't put some part of her on edge. At the same time, an overwhelming part of her felt drawn to him. As if a part of her soul was telling her to trust the strange man. That he held the key to answering all of her questions.
Questions? What questions? Where am I? Why am I-
"Talk to him," a faint female voice urged.
She flinched, but showed no other signs of discomfort. Trusting the voice and seeing little else to do, she took a step towards the figure. It was then that she become aware of what she was wearing. Looking down at herself, she found herself wearing a black funeral gown, her hands decorated by a pair of matching black gloves that went up her arms to her bare shoulders. Matching dress shoes held her feet, the soft leather so light, she barely noticed their presence. Brining a hand up to her hair revealed it to be bound not in its usual glamorous spiral, but a rather charming bun. A wave of melancholy washed over her at the discovery, but it did little to stop her from approaching the strange man.
Taking a seat across from him, she rested her hands on her lap and locked eyes with the grinning figure, brilliant sapphire meeting the small black dots that swam in the whites of his manically wide eyes.
In an eery, yet polite voice, the figure broke the silence.
"Hello my dear and welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor and I am the Proprietor of this space."
"The...Velvet...Room?" she asked, tone dreamy with a hint of confusion. "What...?"
"Is the Velvet Room?" Igor snickered. "I am glad you asked. This is a space that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."
Rarity nodded, only half following what the man was saying. Her mind felt so foggy, so drained. She wanted to rest, but felt as if she was already sleeping. She would've been so frustrated if she had the energy for it.
Igor chuckled, the sound pulling back the fog just enough for her to hold her focus on the man.
"I must say, it is rare that someone as interesting as you is drawn to this world. As if the strings of fate have decided to bring you here."
"Fate?" she asked, eyes sluggishly blinking.
"Yes," he chuckled, reaching for something under the table. "Tell me my dear, to you believe in fortune telling?"
As he said that, he lightly placed a stack of cards onto the table.
Rarity tilted her head in drowsy thought for a moment, then nodded when she fully registered his question. Igor chuckled at that and placed four cards onto the table, From Rarity's left they were arranged vertically, vertically, horizontally, and horizontally. With a casual flick of his wrist, the cards flipped face up and a collection of artful, yet foreboding images greeted her. In the same order, the first card showed a pair of lovers embracing with a pink heart hovering above them. The next card showed a black tower being struck by lightning, the top falling down towards the ground below. The first horizontal card showed a green wheel, three odd creatures seemingly caught in its spokes in a clockwise-facing fashion. The next horizontal and final card in the arrangement showed a sword with a scale's dish hung from both sides of its hilt in the direction the blade was pointing.
"Love is a powerful thing, is it not?" Igor sighed, staring down at the first card. "Under its sway, many have done both great and cataclysmically foolish things. Yet, as powerful as it is, it is often brittle in the face of betrayal."
As he said that, his eyes wandered towards the second card. A thin trail of tears slid down Rarity's cheeks, countless sweet memories of her time spent with Sunset drifting in and out of the fog that clogged her mind. The most painful of all being the last time they spoke. Or rather, the last time they spoke without the others being present.
She flinched when a white handkerchief appeared in front of her face. Blinking back her tears, she saw the bony hand holding the offered fabric. With a weak smile and thankful nod, she took the offering and whipped away the tears.
"Fear not my dear," he chuckled. "For even in the ashes of disaster, there is still hope!"
As he said that, he gently tapped the first horizontal card.
"Fate can be as fickle as love, but much more flexible. Should you make the right choices, it is possible to turn things around."
"R-Really?" she slurred, swaying slightly in her seat.
"Oh yes," Igor chuckled. "But be warned; just as you may seek to change what is to come, there will be those who seek justice for what has passed."
He tapped the final card, an ominous weight filling Rarity as she absorbed his words.
"Justice will need to be served, but who's sense of justice will have command of the scales?"
Rarity wanted to ask him what he was talking about, but the fog in her mind prevented her from finding the words. She noticed that, for a brief second, Igor looked at something behind her. His smile grew slightly at that as he reached for something in his inner coat pocket.
"It seems our time together has come to an end. Before you go, please, take this with you on the way out."
As he said that, he pulled a gold ornate key from his pocket, a silver card hanging from its keyring by a small silver chain. With a drunken nod, she took the key and finally fell over in her seat. As everything faded to black, she heard Igor cackle one last thing.
"Until we meet again, my dear. And please, stay safe."
***
Rarity awakened with a groan, her vision blurry as stared blankly at a dark ceiling. Feeling as if she had just had a hammer slammed into the side of her head, she tried to rub the haze out of her eyes. When she did, she became aware of something metallic wrapped around her right wrist. Confused, she pulled her hands away from her face and investigated. Wrapped snuggly around her wrist was a silver chain with two simple charms held safely in place by the simple links. One was a gold key while the other was what appeared to be a sapphire tarot card, the vague shape of a wheel carved into its surface.
"Where did this come from?" she blinked, sitting up.
The simple accessory held her focus far longer than such a thing truly should've, the young girl more than use to such fineries. However, the way it shined in the dim light of her room put all of the other trinkets in her collection to shame. When she finally managed to pry her eyes away from it, she was able to take in her surroundings. What she saw put a cold chill down her spine.
Instead of the familiar sight of her bedroom, she was greeted by dilapidation and decay. Wallpaper peeled from rotting red walls, once white carpet corroded until it resembled brown fungus, and what had once been fairly expensive furniture was now nothing but rotted piles of moldy wood. Even her bed hadn't been spared, the rotten frame seemingly being held together by a prayer while the rest of it was just a sliver of a degree less stable than that.
All of that, under a dim blood red light that came into the room from an open window.
Scared and confused, Rarity staggered out of bed, a disgusted grimace crawling onto her face when her bare feet made contact with the wet and rotted carpet. Looking down at herself, she was relieved to see that whatever befell her room had not done the same to her pajamas, the ivory silk still shining just as brilliantly now as it had the previous night.
She didn't allow herself to be distracted by that for long, as she ran towards her bedroom door.
With a loud bang, she slammed the door open and ran out into the hall beyond.
"Mother?! Father?! Sweetie?! Can you hear me!?" she cried, running through the now deteriorated echo of her home.
Her fear spiked when she came to her parents' room, or more specifically, where her parents' room should've been. Where a door had once stood was now nothing, but solid wall, her sister's room having fallen to that same fate when she ran to it seconds later. Taking a deep breath, she nodded stiffly at the wall and made her way towards the kitchen. Her hands were shaking, panic struggling to fight past her forced calm as she tried to take note of what resources she had at her disposal.
In spite of the kitchen's decayed condition, all of the food was in excellent shape. Grateful for the small blessing, she fixed herself a simple bowl of cereal and tried to make sense of her current situation. Before she could make any progress on that venture, a loud banging at the front door caught her attention, the sudden break in the silence enough to make her jump to her feet. Not entirely sure what to expect at this point, she cautiously made her way towards the door.
Gulping back her nerves, she cracked the door open a bit and peeked out. What she saw put a chill down her spine, her grip on the door loosening just enough for it to fully open on its own. All of the buildings still held their familiar shapes and sizes, but where made of what appeared to be mirror glass. The roads and sidewalks were now made of diamond and a blood red moon hung high in the sky. What truly chilled her was the massive tower in the distance, the structure looking more like a twisted horn from some demonic beast than any structure built by mortal hands.
That barely held a candle to the monster that stood before her.
It had the general shape of a teenage girl, but that was where the similarities ended. It was thin with long gangly limbs and short, gray ratty hair. A white mask featuring two dark holes for eyes and a twisted smile for a mouth covered its face while a dress made from a discarded brown potato sack covered its jet black body. The creature's head twitched as high pitched giggles escaped its dark maw.
Rarity quickly slammed the door shut and ran back to the kitchen, fear and adrenalin pouring through her veins as she frantically looked for anything she could use as a weapon. Less than a second later, the sound of shattering wood announced the creature's presence, twisted giggling telling Rarity exactly how quickly it was closing the gap between them. Grabbing a knife from the counter, she quickly hid under the kitchen table, praying to every god that was listening that she hadn't taken to long to do so.
A split second after that, the monster staggered into the kitchen.
Rarity forced a hand over mouth, trying to make as little sound as she could while the table cloth hid her from sight. Her heart hammered in her ears as she watched the creature's feet step past her hiding place, each staggering step punctuated by more maniacal giggles. Shaking, she listened to the creature drunkenly stumble around the kitchen, all the while, silently begging it to leave. The creature continued its inspection for several long minutes, ignorant of its prey's wishes, before the sounds of its steps and giggles faded out of the kitchen.
Not wanting to let this chance go to waste, she crept out from under the table and quietly crept towards the front door, knife held tight and at the ready should the need arise. Just when she started to close in on the open doorway, a scream of fury echoed through the house, followed by the creature's rapid uneven gate.
Her cover seemingly blown, Rarity abandoned all pretense of stealth ran out the front door into the streets beyond. Picking a direction at random, she ran as fast as her bare feet could take her, the creature's mad giggling not far behind her.
This can't be happening! This has to be a bad dream, r-right?!
A pained gasp flew past her lips as something ripped into her back, almost staggering her as she ran. The moist feeling she felt sliding down her spine quickly putting an end to her previous line of thinking.
Not a dream. Oh my god, THIS ISN'T A DREAM!
She ran harder, desperate to get as far away from her hunter as humanly possible. All the while, the monster's laughter continued to haunt her senses, growing closer and more fanatic by the second. Thinking fast, she bolted into a nearby alley, just barely avoiding another strike from the creature's claws. The girl took as much advantage of the creature's confusion as she could, knocking over trashcans and whatever debris she could as she ran. Irate growls merged with the creature's laughter as it tried to keep up with her.
The sound brought her a small sense of triumph. If she was destined to lose this encounter, then she was going to at least make the monster work for it. She hugged corners like they were long lost lovers as she continued to put distance between herself and the monster.
Her sudden turn of good fortune took an equally sudden nose dive when she rounded a corner into a dead end.
"N-No," she gasped, staring blankly at her reflection.
Her already chilled blood turned into solid ice when a now familiar giggle graced her ears. She turned, just in time to see the creature round the corner, the demon seemingly savoring her fear as it slowly rounded the corner. Trembling in terror, Rarity slowly backed away from it, her knife pointed forward in vice-like fingers.
"St-Stay back!" she stammered. "I-I'm warning you!"
The creature's giggle took on a deeper pitch, seemingly mocking her as it staggered towards her. With each step it took, Rarity took one back , every fiber of her being telling her to run away from it. She wanted to, she needed to, but when her back made contact with the wall behind her, even those thoughts became fleeting dreams.
Wether she liked it or not, this was where she was going to die.
Resolved to her fate and with nothing left to lose, she let out a strangled battle cry and charged towards the monster. The creature flinched back for a second, seemingly taken by surprise by the sudden desperate act. It was just the opening Rarity needed to run her knife into its chest. A split second later, pain shot threw her gut as she flew back-first into the wall behind her. The creature leered down at her, its laugh holding a much more sinister weight as it closed in on her.
Rarity's vision started to blur, blood loss, pain, and exhaustion starting to finally catch up to her as she slid to the floor. At the same time, she felt something inside her slide into place, as if shaken awake by some force she could not properly describe. Before she ponder on that feeling, a female voice softly echoed in her mind.
"A most unfortunate fate. Should nothing change, your punishment will be quite intense. Are you satisfied with this result?"
"N-No," she weakly croaked.
"Then you wish to pull upon a different thread? If so, let us form a contract. I am thou and thou art I. A fickle web, woven with infinite possibilities. Let fate's crew threads be woven with beauty beyond the skill of the god! Say my name and let us bring an end to fate's cruel design!"
Nodding, Rarity raised her right hand, the charms on her bracelet glowing brightly in the dim light of the red moon. With a brief flash, the key-shaped charm vanished, only to turn into a life-sized replica in her raised hand. The second her finger wrapped around that key, her vision cleared and a power greater than anything she had ever experienced ran through her.
With fire in her eyes, she dragged herself to her feat, stared deeply into the monster's eyes and cried, "Disend, Arachne!"
With a simple twist of her key, a door wreathed in webs appeared above her. With a light creak, it opened and a being of elegant horror stepped through the opening into the word. From the waist up, the being looked like that of a young woman, her skin a dark sapphire that shined with an etherial glow. Her hair was a straight curtain of silver that crept past her bare shoulders. She sported a red leather corset that emphasized her modest bust, but not so much as to be deemed indecent. Her lower body was that of a sapphire spider, a horrifying contradiction to the beauty her human features presented.
Arachne lowered herself to her mistress' side, a cold fire burning in her green eyes as she stared the monster down. The monster took a step back, fear creeping into its laughter as it met the Persona's glare. Led by instinct, she pointed at the monster and in a voice as cold as ice, gave her command.
"End it. WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!"
With a nod, Arachne pointed a palm at the monster.
Seconds later, threads burst from the walls and floor, all of them wrapping effortlessly around the monster in an elegantly intricate web. It struggled frantically against its bindings, but it couldn't escape their steely grip. Then, Arachne closed her open palm into a tight fist and the web turned into solid ice, the frozen magic running through it instantly freezing the monster to its core. As her hunter crumbled away, all of the power she gained from Arachne's summoning suddenly left her, the world turning into a colorful blur as she fell over. A spike of pain shot up her spine when she hit the cold hard ground beneath her, but even that wasn't enough to keep her conscious. As everything faded to black, made one last prayer.
Please, let the others be okay....
***
As Rarity laid, back bleeding across the snow covered ground, a woman stepped around the corner into the scene. Her skin was a vibrant shade of tangerine while her hair was fiery blend of red and yellow styled into a loose ponytail. She wore a jet back cocktail dress that hugged all of her lithe features like an anaconda with a slit cut into the skirt's left side that came up to her hip. The woman took in the sight with some interest, her teal eyes soaking the scene in like a sponge as she took hits off of a cigarette from an ivory holder. When she noticed the key in the young girl's hand, a hint of excitement filled her eyes.
"Looks like I found a guest," she drawled, her voice a soft mix of sensual and sweet. "Looks like Igor earned himself a drink."
Rarity was many, many things. Beautiful, charming, ambitious, and studious just to name a few. Combatant was not one of these things. Imagine the nerves running through her as she sat on her bed, her bed gown replaced by a simple blue blouse, jeans, and gray running shoes found in her room's wardrobe. In the next few minutes, Viper was going to have her fitted for a weapon and trained in the art of combat.
For someone that used self-defense more as a means to stay in shape than anything else, the idea of applying said skills was a nerve-racking one to say the least. A knock on the door made her jump to her feet, her posture ridged as she stared at the door.
"Are ya' ready?" Viper asked from behind the door.
"Y-Yes," she squeaked. "I-I believe so."
"Good," she said with an audible smirk. "Now come on out here and we can get this party started."
Nodding, she stiffly made her way towards the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted by a grinning Viper Lily, her hands on her hips and a high-heeled foot impatiently tapping. The woman gave her attire a quick once-over, her piercing, yet familiar, gaze bringing a blush to the ivory girl's cheeks. Seemingly satisfied with what she saw, Viper nodded at her and started to walk away, casually gesturing over her shoulder for Rarity to follow.
With a started blink, she shook herself out of her nerves and tailed the woman.
"I hope ya' know that this won't be a painless process," Viper stated. "You want to be strong enough to hold your own out there as quickly as possible, correct?"
"Yes," Rarity nodded, sporting a determined frown. "My friends and sister are out there. I am ready to do whatever it takes to make sure that they're safe."
She looked over her shoulder at the girl and an excited glint flashed in her eyes.
"Good. Keep that fire, sugar. It'll help ya' get through this."
After taking a trip downstairs and through the lounge area, the two made their way through several more window-lined hallways before stopping in front of a massive pair of golden double-doors.
"This leads to the Grand Ballroom," Viper smirked, pointing a thumb at the doors. "It use to be were my sisters and I played when we were bored, but know, it's going to be were I'm going to knock ya' into shape."
Rarity looked at the doors with trepidation, but her determination refused to back down from the challenge the door represented. Again, images of her loved ones in pain flashed before her eyes, reminding her of what was at stake if she backed down.
Standing tall, she locked eyes with her teacher and with a challenging smirk said three words that brought a small chuckle out of the woman.
"Bring. It. On."
"Oh, you know I will, sugar," she winked.
With a snap of her fingers, the gold doors slowly slid open, a dull groan filling the air as they did. As soon as they were fully open, Viper sauntered in, her hips swaying in a way that brought yet another blush to Rarity's face. Shaking off her host's charms, she ran into the room just as the doors started to close. Now inside, her jaw dropped at the shear spectacle that surrounded her. The Grand Ballroom was as massive as a football stadium and several times more opulent. The floor was a titanic circle of bronze, polished like a brand new penny and carved to show a great vessel fighting against a turbulent sea. The walls were polished platinum featuring nights fighting against fearsome dragons, copper flames eagerly trying to burn away their platinum shields and armor to end their brave attempts. The ceiling was massive gold coin, angels shown drawing blades against foul demons with massive crystal chandeliers positioned between the combatants in a way that made them look as if they were stars exploding around their wings and blades as they filled the room with light.
"Pretty nice, huh?" Viper snickered, pulling Rarity's attention away from her surroundings.
"It's magnificent !" she gushed, stars shining in her eyes as she gave the room yet another once over. "I can't even begin to describe the beauty of this room! Art is too plane a work to describe the majesty of it all!"
"Alright, sugar. Reel yourself back in a bit," she chuckled. "I brought you here for a reason, remember?"
"Oh! Right," Rarity sheepishly chuckled, standing at attention before her teacher.
Rolling her eyes good naturedly, she crossed her arms and said, "Let's start from the top. I'm guessing that you heard a voice just before your Persona appeared, right?"
"Yes," she nodded. "It asked me if I wanted to form a contract with it, which I agreed to. A moment later, a key appeared in my hand and I was able to summon Arachne."
"Makes sense," she shrugged, raising a hand from her chest and summoning a gold key, a card showing a goat's skull enveloped in a pale red aura attached to its ring by a silver chain. "The room keys here are the catalyst needed to summon a Persona. Once you agree to forming a pact with your true-self, you gain your key to your room and let the poor thing out. It's really just that simple."
"The Persona are...tied to the hotel?" Rarity asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"The rooms are tied to the people with the power to summon their Personas. Not the other way around," she corrected, playfully twirling her key on her finger. "That being said, summoning a Persona is just the start of things. Like any other kind of ability, it takes time and practice to get anywhere meaningful with it. Use too much power too suddenly, and you'll put a massive strain on your mind and soul. Something I think you're pretty familiar with, eh, sugar?"
She gave the girl a sultry wink at that, returning the blush she had fought so hard against earlier. Whether it was out of shame or interest, was hard for Rarity to determine at the moment. A brief memory of the last time Sunset looked at her like that flashed through her mind, adding to the heat building on her cheeks.
Why does she have to have the same face as her? she thought, taking a deep breath in a feeble attempt to regain her composure.
"Enough yapping," Viper sighed, raising her key above her head. "The best way to learn how to use your Persona is by using it. So let's get started, sugar."
"R-Right," she stammered, fishing her own key out of her pocket.
"Here goes," Viper smirked. "Ravish her, Lamia!"
With a slight twist of her key, a red pulse of raw power surrounded her and a long serpentine creature faded into existence around her. The creature had the heavy coils of an anaconda, but the scale-covered bust a woman near a similarly feminine humanoid head. Fiery red hair trailed down three feet down its neck, its tone matching the yellows, oranges, and reds that swirled through its scales like a great inferno. The serpent coiled protectively around Viper, its head suspended on a neck five feet longer then its master's as it leered hungrily at Rarity.
Faintly shaken by the serpent, she pointed her own key forward, gave it a small twist, and said, "Descend, Arachne!"
A moment later, Arachne appeared at her left, the spider woman smiling and bowing to her mistress before shifting her attention towards Viper. Rarity staggered a bit, the sudden rush of power from summoning Arachne taking her by surprise before she regained her footing. The brief display brought a small chuckle out of the older woman, a small series of hissing giggles coming out of her Persona.
"Real rush, huh?" she smirked. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Now, let's see what we have to work with."
As she said that, she pointed at Arachne.
"Warm up that spider, Lamia."
Lamia let out a wicked, hissing laugh as her eyes glowed a bright red. A second later, balls of fire appeared around the serpent and rocketed towards the spider woman. On instinct, Rarity pointed a palm at the incoming attack and forced some of the power running through her to obey her. A second later, Arachne imitated her movement and a wall of solid ice blasted into existence, filling the air with a chilling mist as the flames slammed into it.
"Nice reflexes," Viper mused. "Think you can do it again?"
As she said that, Lamia summoned a massive fireball, launching it with a hissing roar like a hellish meteor. A thunderous explosion filled the ballroom as the ice wall blew apart in a fiery explosion. With another projection of will, Arachne jumped in front of her mistress and knocked aside some of the larger chunks of ice. Griping some more of her power, she willed her next attack into Arachne. A second later, the spider woman weaved her magic out into the remains of her improvised defense. The chunks turned into frozen spikes and flew towards Viper in a dense swarm.
Viper smiled at the incoming attack and snapped her fingers. A second later, a wild flaming tornado surrounded her, completely annihilating the incoming spikes.
"Try blocking this, sugar," she cheered, pointing a palm at her with a manic grin spread wide across her face.\
A chain of flaming explosions shot out of the ground, starting in front of Viper and moving in on Rarity. Thinking fast, she willed Arachne to send some of her power into the ground as well. In response, the Persona placed a hand onto the ground. Icicle spikes shot out of the ground, blocking the incoming explosions and showering the room with ice shards.
"Good, good," Viper snickered. "Looks like you've got a bit of talent when it comes to this sort of thing,"
A dangerous glint filled her eyes as she said, "Let's see just how far that talent will take you."
***
"This woman is the devil," Rarity groaned, said demon sauntering merrily in front of her.
After an hour of dodging and blocking fire, her host decided she had suffered enough for the day and it was time for Rarity to choose her weapon. As such, now she found herself being guided towards the hotel's basement armory, the building's cool air doing a poor job at tending to the light burns covering her body.
"You say the sweetest things, sugar," Viper smirked over her shoulder. "Tell ya' what, after we get your weapon sorted out, I'll take ya' someplace real nice. How's that sound?"
"Like you're planning to do things to me only a therapist can help me understand," the teen flatly stated, glaring at her host.
"Please, sugar," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm a devil, not a monster ."
Before Rarity could comment on that, the woman stopped in front of a tall wooden door, a rifle and sword carving crossing each other on the door's polished wooden surface.
"Here we are, sugar. Hope ya' like what I have to offer."
As she said that, she winked and threw the door open, revealing a set of stairs leading down to a well lit room below. Humming to herself, Viper let herself through the opening and down the stairs, casually gesturing over her shoulder for the teen to follow. Reluctantly, she obliged, more out of curiosity than obligation as she tailed her host. Just what kind of weapons you one need to slay Shadows when one had the power of Persona at their disposal? Her mind instantly drifted towards alien contraptions, objects of legendary potential that mortals could never hope to craft.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was both impressed and sorely disappointed.
The room was a massive five hundred-by-five hundred foot cube filled with shopping aisles stocked high with various weapons. Blades, guns, cudgels, and everything in between were kept in glass displays in each aisle, ready to be taken into battle by whoever was competent enough to wield them. Rarity took in the sight with wide eyes, Viper watching her with a smirk as she leaned against the stairway and crossed her arms.
A small part of Rarity was grateful that the weapons were at least familiar to her, but a larger part was disappointed that she wouldn't be wielding some ancient eldritch artifact against the High Judge's forces. Choosing not to cry over spilt milk, she moved through the aisles to get a feel for what her options were. While she didn't have a lot of confidence with firearms, the light blades a few aisles away from them managed to hold her interest. Many of the daggers on display were beautifully crafted, but something inside her told her that they were not meant for her. Sabers and short swards held her attention as well, but the same feeling kept her from opening the case to claim them. This continued for a few more minutes, each weapon feeling close, but not quite the right fit for her. Suddenly, a sharp pull drew her towards one weapon in particular, a zing of excitement running through her when her eyes landed upon it.
The weapon in question was a rapier, the long blade a finely crafted lance of steel decorated with small images of roses. Its guard was a cup type, spider web carvings decorating the brass brace complete with a small spider carving at the bace of the blade and knuckle guard. Its handle and sheath were made of black leather and immaculately crafted. Mesmerized by the craftsmanship on display, she opened the case and delicately pulled the weapon from its display. She gasped when her fingers wrapped around its grip, the weapon almost feeling custom made for her. She swung the blade, the weight feeling perfect even in her novice hands. A loving smile spread across her lips, her eyes savoring the shine of her blade, even as she hid its splendor behind its sheath.
When she stepped out of the aisle holding her prize, she was met by Viper's smiling face. The teen's good mood instantly died, sure that the next hour or so was going to be a whole new flavor of pain now that she found her weapon. With a sigh, she held her weapon close to her chest and approached the grinning woman.
"Looks like someone found something nice," she chuckled. "I knew you'd like one of the fancy weapons."
"I suppose this is the part where you drag me off to a room somewhere and make me use this thing until I drop, correct?" she bitterly asked.
"Maybe tomorrow," she shrugged. "I think now's as good a time as any to introduce you to the hotel's Healing Spring."
Rarity let out a relieved sigh at that.
"You did mention something about that earlier," Rarity smiled. "Will this be like a pool or something to that effect?"
"Sort've," Viper snickered. "Just grab whatever swimwear's in your room when we get there. I promise that the second we get to the springs, It'll be out of this world."
***
Rarity was in heaven, a happy hum rolling past her lips as she leaned back in the spring's steaming embrace. When Viper said "spring" Rarity was not aware that she meant hot spring. The Healing Spring was at least five times the size of an olympic swimming pool and just deep enough for a person to lounge in without the fear of drowning. Every now and then, one of Viper's Homunculi would come to the water's edge to refill Rarity's drink, but other than that, no one disturbed her. It was in this rare moment of peace that she was able to finally let her mind wonder.
How did I end up in this strange world? Why do I have a Persona? Is it because of my magic? Who is The Higher Judge and what do they want with me?
"So many questions," she sighed, staring into the mirky waters around her.
"About what?" a now familiar voice asked.
Rarity let out an irate sigh, then turned to tell her host off, only to freeze the second her eyes landed on the woman in question. Viper wore a sinister smile as she sauntered towards the water's edge, a jet black bikini hugging her curves in a way just short of being immodest. The heat from the water and the way the woman never broke eye-contact as she slithered into the water left no way for Rarity to fight off her blush. She took a long pull from her drink, but the cold juice was no match for the wicked charms the woman was sending her way.
"Can you please stop doing that?!" she demanded.
"Doing what?" Viper innocently asked, a small knowing smirk cracking through the illusion.
"That! " she snapped, pointed at the woman. "Being so, alluring and such!"
"Hey, it's not my fault you can't keep it in your pants," Viper shrugged. "If you've got a problem with how I am, then I don't know what to tell ya,' sugar."
"It's not just how you act," she sighed. "You bear a striking resemblance to...someone I used to know."
"I see," Viper frowned. "Was this someone close?"
Rarity nodded.
"She...used to be a bully. She went to great lengths to tear friendships apart, especially if it made things easier for her to gain something further down the road. Eventually, she turned her life around and she became a very good friend. We...eventually became more than that."
"So a former lover than," she sighed. "And you said she looks a lot like me?"
Rarity nodded.
"I see," she frowned. "I can't make any promises, but I'll at least try to tone it back a bit. No need to put any unnecessary stress on ya' if I'm going to be training you."
"Thank you, darling," she smiled. "That would be most appreciated."
"Yeah, yeah," she chuckled, waving off Rarity's words. "Don't get your hopes up too high. I'm still going to tease the hell out of ya' every now and then."
"I figured as much," Rarity snorted, rolling her eyes.
"Anyway," she frowned. "How'd the two of you break up? Was she a bigger drama queen than you?"
"Hardly," Rarity sighed, slumping her shoulders as she stared down into the waters below. "If anything, Sunset was the more level-headed one. At least, that was what I originally thought."
"What happened?" Viper demanded, a cold edge entering her tone.
Rarity took a deep, bracing, breath as she continued.
"Not long after we became a couple, a blogger called Anon-a-Miss appeared on Mystable. At first, it was a bunch of small rumors. Applejack's nickname, a failed math test, typical drama from an attention-seeking fool with an axe to grind. There were some among us that believed it was Sunset, given her past actions and how sensitive a lot of the information spread was, but we didn't let out suspicions rule us yet. At least, not until after the sleepover at my house."
"What? Did everyone spill their guts that night and all of your secrets ended up on the web?" Viper bitterly asked, briefly looking away to request a drink from one of her Homunculi.
"No," Rarity sighed. "She posted pictures of us onto Anon-a-Miss' profile, each of us wearing rejected outfit designs from my "Shelf of Shame". It was then that we realized that Sunset was Anon-a-Miss and cut her from our circle of friends."
"But that's not the whole story, is it, sugar?" Viper frowned, taking a long pull from an offered glass of wine.
She shook her head, tears starting to roll down her cheeks as the most painful night of her life came back to her.
"A-A few days after we cut her from our group, she came to me in the middle of the night. She tried to convince me that she was not Anon-a-Miss, that she wasn't that person anymore. I...refused to listen to her. I was so hurt, so furious with her. I...said some things I'm less than proud of, just to hurt her the same as she hurt me."
"And that was?" Viper coldly asked.
***
Sunset and Rarity stood just outside her house, the cold winter air biting into them with fridged fangs. Fangs that felt like heaven compared to the cold glare Rarity aimed at her former girlfriend.
"Are you done?" she asked, coldly.
Sunset nodded, a small flicker of hope glowing in her tear-reddened eyes.
"Good," Rarity spat. "I was growing tired of listening to your lies."
"L-Lies?" Sunset stammered. "R-Rarity I-"
Save it, demon," she barked, her words cutting Sunset deeper than any blade. "How long have you been planning this? Did any of it mean anything to you? Did I mean anything to you?!"
"R-Rarity...please listen," Sunset begged, tears rolling down her face.
"No! You listen!" she roared. "Out of all of us, I was the one that needed the most convincing to give you chance. I hated you for everything you did to me, yet I still gave you a chance! When we became a couple, I thought maybe we both had managed to move past that wretched chapter in our lives, but NO! YOU ARE STILL THE DEMON THAT RUINED MY LIFE IN JUNIOR HIGH!!!"
"I'm not that monster anymore!" Sunset cried, closing the gap and reaching for her ex's hands. "Rarity-"
"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU WITCH!" Rarity screamed, slapping Sunset clean across the face.
The girl staggered back, a look of shock clear on her face as she brought a hand to where she had been struck.
"I never want to see you again," Rarity seethed, hands clenched tight and trembling in rage. "In fact, why don't you do the world a favor and drop dead in a ditch somewhere."
She didn't wait for a response as she threw open her front door, and slammed it shut. As she stomped her way towards her room, furious tears slid down her cheeks. By the time she made it to her room, she was outright bawling, her pillow drenched in a hot puddle of tears.
***
A heavy silence filled the air, one feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders while the other looked like she needed something stronger than wine.
"Ouch," Viper cringed, ordering another drink from her servant. "I've heard of ugly breakups, but that was an outright slaughter."
"Yes," Rarity sighed. "I...know that I went too far and that I should've at least listened to her properly, but I was just so....furious with her at the time. A pathetic excuse, I know, but it is the truth."
"Did you try to patch things up?" Viper pressed. "You know, maybe not push her into looking for a nice cliff to jump off of?"
"I did, but every time I got close to her, she would run away from me," she sighed, lost in the swirls of the heated waters around her. "Not that I can blame her. In hind sight, I think I was more of a demon then she ever was."
"No kidding," Viper snipped.
"Agreed," she cringed. "But do you know what the worst part is, darling?"
"What, sugar?" she asked, a hint of venom coloring the end of the question.
With a tired and battered smile, Rarity said something that put just a touch more hope into the older woman's heart.
"Even now, a part of me still thinks that she is innocent."
The streets were as silent as a tomb, the haunting red tint of the full moon dominating the sky adding to the city's grim atmosphere. In the shadows of the buildings, Rarity skulked, eyes and ears on full alert as she tried to navigate the vaguely familiar streets.
It took a week, but eventually, Rarity was able to prove herself strong enough to search for her friends. Of course, this didn't mean that Rarity could be reckless. She could only keep Arachne manifested for so long and a week's worth of fencing training didn't make her a swords master. She could handle a handful of Jurors if it really came down to it, but even one body more than that could spell her end. As such, her mission was the embodiment of simplicity; find a friend and make it back to the hotel.
"Easier said than done," she muttered, dashing into another nearby alley.
The city was huge, at least twice the size of Canterlot City and equally elaborate. While the tall silver skyscrapers and business buildings provided plenty of dark places to hide, it also made navigating it rather difficult. One saving grace was that the Shadows seemed to prefer staying out in the open, the few giggling packs of Jurors she encountered standing mindlessly in the middle of large streets and intersections staring blankly up at the moon. There were a few occasions that she needed to be clever, throwing a rock or empty can into an empty alley in order to get past a pack, but thankfully, these moments were few and far between.
Finding a rare moment of peace, she moved as deeply into the darkness of her alley as she could and took off her backpack. After a moment of fishing around inside, she pulled out a bottle of water, carefully taking note of her surroundings as she slaked her thirst.
"Are you sure she's nearby, Arachne?" she asked, caping her drink.
"Yes," a voice echoed from inside her mind. "I sense a human's presence not too far from here. I can sense the bond you share with this person. it is clearly one of your friends."
"Or Sunset," she frowned.
"...Or Sunset," Arachne conceded.
She took one last swig of water before she dropped the bottle into her bag, slid it back into place, and headed to the mouth of the alley.
"Which way," she whispered, looking from side to side.
"Right," she stated.
Rarity wasted no time, darting as quickly as she dared to the next alley in that general direction. Little by little, she continued down the street, every nerve on high alert for even the slightest hint of danger. As she moved, her hand never once let go of her rapier's handle, her hand twitching with the need to draw every second she was out in the open. When she made it to the last alley at the end of the street, she let out a relieved sigh and looked out into the next pair of streets she had to traverse.
"Which way?" she whispered.
"Left," Arachne stated.
Nodding, Rarity dashed into the nearest leftward alley.
"Mistress, may I ask a question?"
"You may," Rarity nodded, giving her surroundings a quick scan.
"Why do you care so much about Sunset? Is she not your enemy?"
"Those were two questions," she frowned. "You should know why I care. You are me, no?"
"And that is exactly why I ask," the Persona pressed. "Whenever I wander through your thoughts, they always come out so clear, but when they involve Sunset...."
Rarity let out a sigh, scurrying into another alley just as a mob of Jurors ran into view.
"I honestly don't know how I feel about her," she whispered, watching the Shadows wander about. "I want to believe the whole incident was a misunderstanding, but just the possibility that Sunset was responsible makes my blood boil. I want to hate her, but I just can't let her go. It's....It's complicated."
"I see," Arachne sighed. "At least now I know why I can't make up my mind about her. Thank you for helping me understand these feelings."
"No problem, darling," she smiled. "Now, how close are we to our target?"
"Just a few more blocks," Arachne stated. "At this rate, it should take us about an hour to reach her."
***
A one hour trek turned into a three hour one, Arachne's calculations having failed to take into account the higher density of Shadows in the area. Rarity had lost count of the number of times her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, a pack of Jurors seemingly popping into existence each time she looked around a corner. Fortunately, the creatures were just as stupid as ever, regardless of their steadily growing numbers. A few thrown stones or empty cans and the teen was able to slowly navigate around the bloodthirsty roadblocks.
Now she stood in the shadows of a tall silver factory, a massive wear house made of the same material standing across the street from her. According to her Persona, one of her friends was hiding deep within its confines. She wanted to run in to help her cowering friend, but the scene on display all across the road made her pause. Littered all across the road between her hiding place and the wear house where dozens of bodies. All of them were Jurors, each mutilated in one way or another. Some were decapitated or had their heads spilt open like hideous grinning melons, while others had multiple jagged gashes carved into their chests. Rarity held back her bile when she spotted a Juror that had been cut in half, a sight that confirmed that the creatures did indeed have organs. Trails of black blood stained the ground all the way from the wear house's front door all the way towards the bodies, as if they had been dragged out of there and dumped out into the street to rot.
Swallowing back her fear, she stepped out of the alley into the desecrated street, careful to not step on the bodies or the pools of black blood that surrounded them. Weapon and key drawn, she slowly closed in on the door, cold dread running down her spine as she crossed the blood-drenched threshold. When she entered the main room, she quickly discovered that the carnage from before was just a preview of the horrors to come.
Blood covered the walls and floor, some dry and the rest forming into large puddles of fresh ichor. Most of it was gathered around the factory's equipment, most of which were saws and drills that were apparently in perfect working condition. Clean as well, a perfect five foot circle of blood-free space surrounding the tools as if their owner wished to thank them for their "services". The sight put yet another chill down Rarity's spine, her grip on her weapons tightening as she crept further into the building.
Soon, Rarity made it past the ghoulish sight to a metal door set into the back of the room. She quickly pulled it open and just barely managed to stop herself from slamming it behind her. She pressed her back to it, panicked gasps rattling past her lips as she tried to make sense of what she saw.
Could this be the work of one of her friends? No. None of them were capable of such brutality.....right?
Gulping back her fear, she quickly scanned through her surroundings. What appeared to be a decapitated living room greeted her, a rotted couch and termite-eaten table the only furnishings it had to offer. Across from her was another metal door, its green paint as chipped and mold-stained as its knob. On the wall to its left stood another door, this one blue, yet just as corroded as its neighbor. The light clattering of silver wear and a vaguely familiar female humming could be heard from behind the green door.
Body wound tight, she cautiously approached the door, weapon and key ready to spring into action in a moment's notice. With a light push of her shoe, she eased the door open and peeked inside. A withered, yet still functional kitchen greeted her, the room built in a manner similar to the ones used in mid-tier restaurants. Humming in the dim lighting of the room, chopping away at something on the counter with her back to her, was a young teen girl with long ratty pink hair. She wore a pink pair of pajamas covered with little white bunnies, her top covered with long claw-like gashes all across the back, the openings revealing red marks across butter-yellow skin.
Fluttershy!
The sight brought a relieved smile to Rarity's face as she eased the door a little further open. A smile that dropped a second later when a creak from the door alerted her friend to her presence. Fluttershy quickly turned around, her teal eyes wide and void of emotion as she reeled her arm back, ready to throw a thick meat cleaver at her. Rarity instantly jumped back, her heart hammering in her chest as she pointed her rapier at the now closed door. Terrified gasps rattled out of her, her blood now ice as her heart hammered it through her veins.
That wasn't her friend.
Slowly, the pattering of bare feet could be heard on the other side of the door. Rarity aimed her weapon where she knew her target's heart would be, the handle of her blade rattling in her shaky grip. Slowly, the door opened to reveal a confused Fluttershy, cleaver still gripped firmly in her hand. The girl tilted her head, eyes clouded as she stared at her friend, seemingly oblivious to the sword aimed at her chest. Rarity's fear spiked when she got a better look at the girl, the whole front of her pajamas shown to be covered with dried black blood.
"Rarity? Is that your?" Fluttershy asked, her voice dreamy as she stared hollowly at her.
"Y-Yes, dear," she gulped, forcing a nervous smile onto her face. "It's me."
A small smile formed on Fluttershy's face, the hollow feel it gave putting a chill down Rarity's spine.
"Look Angel, It's Rarity," she giggled, staring down at her cleaver. "I bet she's hungry. Let's make her some dinner too."
Before Rarity could respond, Fluttershy staggered back into the kitchen, her footsteps fading away as the door slowly closed itself.
***
I have clearly lost my mind
That was what repeatedly echoed in Rarity's mind as she sat at Fluttershy's rickety kitchen table. A simple bowl of soup sat before her, chunks of recklessly chopped veggies and meat floating in a thick creamy broth. A large pot of the stew sat in the middle of he table while Fluttershy sat across from her. Said girl ravenously tore into her food, her spoon practically shoveling it into her mouth like a desperate beast. Sitting on the table to her left was her meat cleaver. The weapon cleamed to a near mirror's shine and was just as sharp as Rarity's rapier. Rarity eyed the improvised weapon wearily, taking measured bites of her food as she studied her friend.
It was clear that her time spent wandering The Abyss had left a negative impact on her, the sweet girl she new now a stiff, poorly held together, shell of the person she used to be. One that had developed a very unhealthy connection to her tool of choice.
As if to prove her point on the matter, Fluttershy looked up from her bowl and gave the piece of cutlery a loving smile.
"It's nice to have friends over for dinner, right Angel?" she asked, stroking the flat of the cleaver's blade.
"Yes, quite right , darling," she nervously giggled. "It seems you have managed to...settle in quite nicely."
"Mm-hm," she nodded. "After I killed all of the monsters, it was really easy to move in here."
"I...see," Rarity gulped. "I assume that you didn't need to do that often, correct?"
"At least once a night," she giggled. "The monsters get really active when the moon sets. When they come in, Angel and I deal with them."
"R-Really ," she stammered. "How...interesting."
"Not really," Fluttershy sighed, oblivious to her friend's discomfort.
An awkward silence filled the room.
Desperate for a topic, Rarity took a swing at accomplishing her current mission. Even as far-gone as Fluttershy was, certainly, the girl would be open to the idea of moving on to someplace a bit safer than here. Taking a deep steadying breath, Rarity rolled the dice and hoped that she would roll high.
"There is a hotel not too far from here, near the heart of the city."
"Oh?" Fluttershy blinked.
"Yes," she nodded. "It's where I have been living the past couple of weeks. The Shadows can't get in and there is plenty of food and other amenities."
"Shadows?" she blinked.
"The...monsters," Rarity nervously amended.
"Oh....that sounds....nice," Fluttershy smiled, then turned her head towards her cleaver and asked, "What do you think, Angel?"
The tool remained silent, but Fluttershy nodded as if it had answered before giving Rarity her full attention.
"He said he likes it too."
"That's....great," Rarity chuckled, shivers running up and down her spine.
Before she could say anything else, a look of pure dread spread across Fluttershy's face. She stiffly turned her head towards one of the windows, every nerve seemingly flying into high alert. As if a switch had been flipped, Fluttershy gently grabbed her cleaver and rose from her seat. The hollow tone in her voice when she talked put a cold chill down Rarity's spine.
"It will be getting dark soon. You should finish your food and turn in for the night."
"I-I see," Rarity gulped. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare sleeping bag or something I could borrow, perhaps?"
It was then that the girl finally pulled her dead eyes away from the window to her friend, her face a blank robotic mask.
"No. You will sleep in my bed and I will take the couch. If any monsters come, Angel and I will deal with them."
There was no argument, doubt, or kindness in that command. Just cold, hard, facts. Seeing no way out of the situation without testing her friend's already unstable limits, Rarity nodded and went back to eating her meal. Whether she liked it or not, she was in for a very interesting evening.
***
To call what Rarity had to sleep on a bed would've been a massive overstatement. After what felt like hours, she finally managed to get comfortable on the spring-loaded mattress, her tattered blanket only barely keeping her safe from the cold. She let out a pained squeak when a spring suddenly rammed into her side, a few less than appropriate words rolling past her tongue as she tried again to find peace.
This was what Fluttershy had to sleep on all this time? she thought, letting out a bitter groan as she rolled onto her back. No wonder the poor dear lost her mind. When we get back to the hotel, I will push for her to get the softest bed Viper can spare!
She let out a dejected sigh at that, her eyes wandering towards the blue metal door to her right.
Just what kind of horrors did her friend have to endure to end up like that? Had she not awakened her Persona, would she had been reduced to such a state as well? Just imagining what Fluttershy had to have done to make it this far cut her to the bone. For such a sweet and gentle soul to be reduced to the hollowed shell she broke bread with, it was a crime of the highest order.
"Oh Fluttershy," she sighed, tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. "Why did you have to be dragged into this mess, too?"
Left with little else to do, she tried to get comfortable again, if not for her own peace then to at least make dawn come faster. The sooner the moon rose, the sooner she could guide her friend back to shelter. Just when she was about to drift off to sleep, a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the air.
Rarity rolled to her feet, grabbing her weapon off of the ground as she stood. She ran towards the door, weapon drawn as she shouldered it open. She stumbled into the living room just as the room leading to the factory's main room slammed shut. Wasting no time, she threw the door open with a kick. What she saw chilled her to her bones.
Fluttershy stood over the body of a Juror, Angel's blade deep in the creature's skull. Humming a small melody to herself, she bent down and ripped the weapon free. When she straightened her posture, she swayed a little as she walked towards the nearest enemy.
"Hunter and prey. Hunter and Prey. Through Angel's blade, your blood will spray. I seek you out, and cleave your soul. Then add your body to the bowl."
Rarity tuned out her friend's rhyme, instead choosing to focus on the Jurors surrounding her. With trained precision, she ran into the fray, and ran her blade through their heads, dropping them instantly before moving on to the next target. At the same time, she desperately tried to ignore the harsh, meaty cracks as her friend slammed her cleaver into her victims' skulls. The Jurors giggling echoed through the room, their numbers seemingly endless as they stepped out of the shadows to attack. Where it not for the factory's flickering lights, the monsters could've easily overwhelmed them.
At least, that most likely would've been the case for Rarity.
Fluttershy seemed to know where the threats were hiding at all times, the girl effortlessly darting to where the creatures would've emerged from just outside the range of the lights before delivering a swift end with her weapon. The predatory efficiency of her friend's actions unnerved Rarity, but at the same time, she was glad that she didn't need to shoulder the whole fight on her own. She did flinch when she heard one of the chop saws start up, followed by the agonized wail of one of the Jurors.
For hours, the two girls fought off the Shadows, Rarity's precise strikes keeping her free of gore while Fluttershy's gruesome tactics practically bathed her in it. Each brutal execution ate at Rarity's soul, the thought that her sweet friend was the one dolling it out feeling like a knife was being plunged into her heart. She bit down the pain and focused on the task at hand. These monsters were the ones that forced Fluttershy to be this way. They were the ones that pushed such a sweet soul into such a dark place. They would pay for that hideous crime! They would Pay!
"Tear them apart, ARACHNE!!!"
As she screamed that, she pulled out her key and stabbed it into the air in front of her. A second later, Arachne appeared at her side and pointed her palm at the nearest pack of Shadows. A frigid whirlwind surrounded the monsters, freezing them solid before they shattered like glass. Aiming her Persona's might at another mob, Rarity willed another blast of frozen wind at the giggling Shadows. As she raged against the thinning wave of Shadows, Fluttershy watched her friend with empty eyes.
Slowly, that started to change.
Little by little, as if rising from the flames in her friend's heart, life started to trickle into Fluttershy's eyes. At the same time, something inside her started to shift. A spark, faint yet true, reached out from the darkness grasping her heart. Angel's blood-soaked handle slid from her hand, the cold from the ice filling the room sending a chill down her bare back. Screams of rage started to reach her, the voice tied to it filling her with a hope she thought died the day she woke up in The Abyss.
"Yes my mistress. Please come back," a soft female voice whispered, a faint hiss echoing at its end. "Your heart is far too strong to die. Please come back. Don't let the shadows take you."
With one last scream of fury, Arachne fired off a wave of frozen air, covering the ground, walls, and enemies in a deadly blast of ice. Rarity fell to her knees, her Persona fading away from lack of Spirit Power, deep pants falling out of her. Clumsily, she fished a glowing crystal vial out of her pocket, wasting no time in biting off its cork and downing its contents. As she felt her Spirit Power return, she marveled in the peaceful silence around her. A silence that was mildly disturbed by a faint series of sniffles.
That was the only warning she got before a pair of yellow arms tightly wrapped around her from the front. Her eyes flew open, shock shining in them as a mass of pink hair blocked her view. Seconds later, she felt tears soaking into her shoulder, choking sobs cutting into her heart as she wrapped her arms around the trembling girl.
"Make it stop." Fluttershy stammered. "Please make it stop. I want to go home. I want to go home!"
"I know, darling," Rarity cooed, ignoring the black blood soaking into her blouse as she softly stroked her friend's hair. "I do too."
The two stayed like that, tears shed from both of them dampening the snow below them.
"I...I don't want to disappear again," Fluttershy gasped.
"I won't let you, dear," Rarity frowned, holding her friend tighter. "As soon as the moon rises, I'll take you to the hotel and you'll never have to disappear again."
"P-Promise?" she whimpered.
"I promise," she nodded, pulling back just enough to meet her friend's eyes.
Her friend's vibrant teal eyes, glowing with life and pain.
"Now, let's get some sleep," she smiled, wiping away her friend's tears. "We'll need all the rest we can get if we plan to get back to the hotel tomorrow."
Fluttershy nodded, then sheepishly asked, "Can I...sleep with you?"
A small blush colored Rarity's cheeks at that, before she cleared her throat and with a light chuckle said, "Of course, darling."
"Thank you," she sniffled. "I...don't think I would be able to fall asleep otherwise."
"Think nothing of it dear," Rarity smiled. "I'm just glad to have you back."
"Me too, Rarity," she nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. "Me too."
There were few pleasures allowed to those forced to live in The Abyss. Food was available, so long as one didn't mind eating out of cans or freeze dried goods and all of the buildings provided running water. That was the extent of the charity the wicked world was willing to give. Anything else needed to be scavenged from whatever sources the unfortunate had at their disposal. As such, Fluttershy considered herself lucky that her shelter had a working shower.
Her face was blank, standing bare before a torrent of lukewarm water as the dried blood washed off of her skin. This wasn't a new sight for her, the black trails sliding off of her body like dried ink down the drain below. Brief flashes of what she did the night before jumped to the front of her mind, each shooting a tremble down her spine that had nothing to do with the water's temperature.
Shuddering breaths fell past her lips, the rusted metal walls of her cubical shower feeling like they were slowly closing in on her. The pattering from the water sounded like thunder in her ears as her vision started to narrow. Her right hand felt oddly empty, her fingers twitching at the need to feel a familiar grip and weight. A dazed smile started to creep onto her lips, her eyes losing some of their luster as she mulled over where Angel went. Just when she started to fall back into the numbing void of her mind, a fleeting memory of her friend pulled her back.
She fell to her knees, panicked gasps falling out of her as water ran through her hair. An image of her friend standing defiant before a pack of monsters, her guardian spirit standing at her side as arctic winds howled through the darkness. The fire in the ivory teen's sapphire eyes still shook her fading heart, the strength they held just the thing she needed to pull herself back from the void.
Her shaking breaths slowly started to level out, the inky ichor falling down the drain thinning with each steadying breath she took. She wouldn't let herself become a monster again. So long as she had Rarity at her side, she wouldn't need to become that monster again. Everything was going to be fine.
"Is that how you see her?" a voice eerily similar to her own asked.
"G-Go away," Fluttershy demanded, eyes wide with fear.
"Is she just a tool to you? A new cleaver to cut through the monsters?"
"Please...stop," she begged, her hands clamped tightly over her ears.
"She won't always be there to protect you, you know," the voice taunted. "Sooner or later, you're going to need me again. Until then, I'll be waiting for you. Your sweet. LIttle. Angel....."
With that, the voice faded back to the shadows of Fluttershy's mind, the tension its presence had on her heart slithering away along with it. Taking a breath to steady herself, she rose to her feet and turned off the water. She tried to keep her mind blank as she wrapped a tattered, yet dry, tarp around herself, the rough fabric dragging a pained gasp out of her from the multiple shallow claw marks covering her back. Her long hair dripped around her head like a soaked pink curtain as she opened the bathroom door into her bedroom.
She flinched when she noticed Rarity sitting on her bed.
Even when she was "gone", she had quickly gotten used to being alone. To be "back" again and have actual company was something she was going to have a very hard time getting used to. Blushing and hiding behind her wet hair, Fluttershy took a seat next to her friend. A heavy silence settled between them, neither of them sure where to even start. A mountain of questions ran through Rarity's head, chief among them being how Fluttershy became the hollowed nightmare she found her as. Fluttershy was in a similar condition, her tired mind struggling to come up with the answers she knew she was going to have to give her friend.
Eventually, Rarity managed to break the silence.
"I, um, found you a change of clothes," she offered, gesturing to a bundle of fabric at the foot of the bed. "It isn't much, but at least it isn't covered in....at least they're clean."
"R-Right," she stammered, eyes locked onto the ground. "Th-Thank you."
More awkward silence, then, Rarity suddenly stood up and made her way towards the bathroom.
"Well, I'll just get cleaned up while you get dressed," she stated, a look of determination stamped firmly across her face. "We have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it in."
"R-Right," Fluttershy stammered, briefly taken aback by her friend's display. "I...should have something prepared when you come out."
"Make it something quick darling," she smirked. "The sooner we get back to the hotel, the sooner we can relax in full."
Before she could respond, Rarity let herself into the bathroom and locked the door. Fluttershy sat there in shock for a moment, her eyes locked onto where her friend stood a few seconds ago. Sporting a small determined smile of her own, she dropped her tarp and made her way towards the pile of clothes. Rarity hadn't been kidding when she said that the clothes wasn't much. Fluttershy let out a small disappointed sigh at the tattered white T-shirt and faded khakis laid out on the bed. The heavy leather boots where a welcome addition though, the girl having long sense grown tired of walking around barefoot even when she was "gone".
As she slid on her clothes, her mind wandered back to her friend and the hotel she kept mentioning. The way she talked about it, this mysterious hotel sounded like some kind of paradise, even by her friend's admittedly outrageous standards. Perhaps she had gone mad as well and this "hotel" was just a simple step up from her wear house.
Then there was her powers.
Clearly, it was some kind of magic, but how exactly did she come across it? Fluttershy highly doubted Rarity always had that kind of power. If she did, she definitely would've used it in the past at some point. Was the strange figure at her side in some way related? What was that creature? Where did it come from?
"When did everything get so crazy?" she huffed, forcing her head through her new shirt.
She frowned at her now dressed reflection in a corner mirror, only to flinch a when a startled wail came out of the bathroom.
"Rarity, are your okay?" she asked, running up to the bathroom door.
"WHY IS THE WATER SO BLOODY COLD?!" she cried.
Fluttershy blinked at that, then, slowly, a fit of giggles fell out of her. Even with the whole world falling down around them and monsters around every corner, Rarity still found something to complain about. The giggles turned into full belly laughs as Fluttershy let the insanity of it all hit her, the teen struggling to breathe as she made her way towards the room's exit. No matter how much things have changed for her, it looked like a few things were going to stay the same.
***
The streets were just as full of Shadows as they were the day before, the two teens just barely managing to find shelter in a nearby alley as a pack of Jurors staggered into view. Rarity glared hatefully at the mob, her grip on her drawn weapon like a trembling vice. A faint whimper behind her ripped her eyes away from her enemies towards her cowering friend. Fluttershy sat curled in on herself further into the alley, her eyes wide with fear as she gripped the sides of her head.
"Fluttershy? Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down to her friend's level.
"H-H-Hunter a-a-a-and p-prey. H-h-h-h-h-hunter and prey," she babbled, the light slowly fading from her eyes.
"No," she muttered, panic grabbing her heart in a vice, placing her hands on her friend's as she forced her to lock eyes with her. "Fluttershy. Fluttershy, stay with me dear. You're going to be fine. Please come back to me."
Fluttershy blinked and slowly, life started to come back to her eyes. When she fully regained her clarity, tears started to fall from Fluttershy's eyes. Rarity lightly shushed her as she delicately wiped her tears away, a fire burning hotter in her heart the longer she took in her friend's condition.
"I need you to be strong, dear," Rarity whispered, gently pulling her friend to her feet. "Just for a little bit, okay?"
Shakily, Fluttershy nodded.
Picking up her weapon, Rarity made her way to the mouth of the alley and peeked outside, a deep scowl marring her pretty face. She counted at least fifty Jurors standing in the street, all of them staring blankly at the red moon above. Far too many for her to kill in one go, even with Arachne's support. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed an empty can and chucked it into a nearby alley. LIke the countless other times she'd done this, the Shadows instantly reacted to the sudden noise and ran giggling into the alley. As soon as the last Shadow entered the alley, Rarity looked over her shoulder at her terrified friend and gestured for her to follow her . With a nod, Fluttershy followed as Rarity bolted out of the alley to another further down the street. Not even a second after they made it to their new shelter, another mob of Jurors staggered into the street.
Rarity barely managed to swallow some very unladylike words upon their arrival. At the same time, Fluttershy was having her own unpleasant reaction to the Shadows. The wounds on her back burned, her heart was pounding in her chest, and her breaths came out in pained gasps. It all came back to her in vibrant flashes; the pain as the monsters beated her and ripped into her back with their claws. All while they giggled their sick giggles and smiled down at her with their twisted masks.
Her hand grabbed hold of the cleaver belted to her side, her mind struggling to stay in the present in a slippery game of Tug-o-War.
"They want to hurt you," a chilled version of her voice whispered. "Let me hunt them. Let me cut them down. You don't have to be afraid. Let me keep you safe."
"No!" a female voice hissed. "Don't listen to her! If you disappear, you may not come back! Stay strong my mistress! Trust in your friend! Trust in your heart!"
"Trust won't keep her alive," the other voice stated. "But I can. It's thanks to me that she's alive. Survival trumps trust, unless it's trust in doing what is needed to survive."
"Not if you lose yourself along the way," the female voice begged. "Please mistress, stay yourself. You don't need to do anything else!"
"S-Stay....myself," Fluttershy gulped, her right eye losing its life as she forced her right hand away from her weapon. "Trust....R...Rarity."
The burning from her wounds lessened as she started to come back to herself. Not even a second later, Rarity gestured for her to follow her again. With a nod, she followed her friend further down the street, her right hand keeping a firm grip on her cleaver's handle until they made it to the next alley. So the pattern repeated, with Fluttershy struggling to keep her grip on herself as a new mob of Jurors staggered into view. While she wasn't aware of every episode, the ones she did become aware of added to Rarity's hatred of the monsters.
Eventually, they managed to find a break in the pattern, the tall buildings replaced by silver suburban homes. With the sudden lack of Shadows, the two girls were finally able to catch their breath, taking shelter between two houses as Rarity fished two granola bars and water bottles out of her backpack. As the girls wolfed down their meager rations, Rarity couldn't get her friend's condition off of her mind. Just what kind of horrors could she have had to endure to turn into the thing she saw yesterday?
Seeing no other way around it, she took a deep breath and forced herself to get the words out.
"Fluttershy darling, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"Um, not really," she demurred, taking a small sip from her water bottle.
"What exactly....happened to you when you came to this world?"
Fluttershy flinched at the question, then somberly stared down at the ground as her gaze turned distant.
"I....woke up in a strange house. Everything was falling apart, but the food was still good. I remember crying at my kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal when there was a knock at the door. When I opened it...."
She shuddered, hugging herself as a mob of grinning masked faces flashed before her eyes.
"F-Fluttershy?" Rarity nervously asked.
"I...remember being hurt. They punched me, kicked me, and scratched me, all while laughing and smiling at me. The last thing I remembered was grabbing a cleaver off the counter and then everything went dark."
"J-Just like that?" Rarity asked, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
Fluttershy shook her head, some of the light starting to fade from her eyes.
"I heard a voice, my voice, telling me to survive. Every now and then, I would see what I was doing to the monsters, but the voice would pull me away before I could see too much. Even know, I can hear her telling me to come back, to let her take away the pain. I...don't want to go back."
As she said that, the life started to return to her eyes.
"And you won't have to," Rarity growled, wiping the tears out of her eyes and standing up. "I promise, once we get to the hotel, you won't have to worry about the Shadows ever again."
"A-Are you sure?" she stammered, staggering to her feet. "How do you know the monsters can't get in?"
A cocky smile spread across Rarity's lips as she said, "Let's just say, I pity the poor soul that tries to breach that particular viper pit."
***
Between the lack of Shadows and the smaller gaps between hiding places, the two girls started to make great time. This didn't mean Rarity was willing to let her guard down, though. If anything, the lack of threats put her further on guard. Even this close to the hotel, she remembered running into small groups of Jurors every now and then. Now, the streets were eerily silent, not even a trace of stilted footsteps or wicked giggles to be heard.
No, something wasn't right.
Both girls had their weapons drawn, Rarity even going so far as to have her key at the ready as they crept through the open streets. Fluttershy's right eye was void of life, the wicked voice in her head humming its twisted rhyme in the back of her mind as she stayed at her friend's back. Her grip on Angel was firm, but loose enough to allow her to turn the blade into a ranged option if the need arose. It scared her that she had that kind of knowledge, even if it was just a passing whisper in the back of her mind. Even if it was the kind of knowledge she needed to survive in this cruel world.
Rarity kept her eyes and ears trained onto their surroundings, every cell in her body ready for even the faintest trace of an ambush. She knew the Jurors were stupid, but that didn't mean they weren't capable of some tactics. Beasts were dumb, but they still had ways to hunt their prey, after all.
Slowly, the duo moved down the silent streets, their hearts hammering in their ears as they waited for the shoe to finally drop. A wait that came to an abrupt end when a sound sent a chill down their spines, both of them freezing in place in the middle of the street. Slow, metallic clicks echoed down the street, each sounding heavy as iron as their source started to close in on a turn. An echoing female voice slowly started to reach them, the merriment in its tone adding to the dread in their guts.
"La~La~La la la~." it hymned, then giggled.
As the steps grew closer, the fear in their hearts grew thicker. Finally forcing enough will to move, the duo ran into the nearest alley. Not a second too soon, as the first "step" could be heard right down the street. They crept into the shadows of their alley, eyes and weapons pointed at the opening as the creature moved further down the street. Their hearts sank into their guts when the creature came into view.
The Shadow's main body was a silver human head, roughly the size of a human torso with a dark blue mask covering its face. Its "face" was locked into a wicked smile, the eyes and open mouth dark voids that seemed to eat the light around them. Five long tendrils made of black hair grew out of the top of the Shadow like oily black spider legs as they held it up, the head swaying playfully back and forth as it hung ten feet in the air. It stood there in front of their alley, humming its eery lullaby as it stared further down the street.
Rarity stared at the creature with narrowed eyes, her mind struggling to think of a way to get around the Shadow. It was alone, so it was possible for her to fight past it if she needed to. Running was also an option, but she wasn't sure if they could outrun something like that. She shook her head at both options, sure that even if this Shadow was different from the rest, it should fall for the same tricks. Pocketing her key and still keeping an eye on the new threat, she reached down and picked up a rock.
With practiced aim, she threw it over the creature into the alley across the street. The Shadow flinched, its singing taking a sudden stop as it turned slightly towards the alley. Rarity pulled out her key and was about to congratulate herself for her cunning, when the Shadow suddenly turned towards her.
Her eyes widened, shock holding her in place as the Shadow started singing again. It was thanks to a hard push from Fluttershy that she snapped out of it, just in time to follow her under the creature as a jet of fire shot out of its mouth. Neither of them said a word as they ran down the street, sheer terror adding speed to their heels. The Shadow's singing and metallic steps were quickly gaining on them, adding to the fear hammering through their veins. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed their fears, the Shadow towering over them with only a trace of an inch's worth of space separating them from it.
Plan B it is then, Rarity thought with a frown.
At the first turn, she shoved Fluttershy into it, and turned to face the Shadow.
"Descend, Arachne!" she cried, stabbing her key into the air in front of her.
Her Persona appeared a second later, hand outstretched just in time to send a blast of frozen air into the Shadow's face. As it flew down the street, Rarity risked a glance at her friend. The dead look in one of her eyes unnerved her, but she forced that down and gave her attention to the already recovering Shadow.
"Go down the street and make a left, then a right, and keep going straight. That will take you straight to the hotel," Rarity frowned, eyes set into a fierce glare as she pointed her weapon at the Shadow. "I will join you as soon as I can, dear."
"B-But Rarity-"
"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME!" she roared. "Get to the hotel, now!"
Fluttershy let out an "Eep!" as she ran, taking a large weight off of her shoulders as her friend's steps faded away.
"Now then," she frowned, eyes as cold as the wind swirling around her as she stared down her enemy. "Let's make this quick."
***
Fluttershy's heart hammered in her chest, fear and worry swirling within her like a thick sludge as she followed Rarity's directions. The mix didn't help her keep the dark away, the corners of her vision starting to fade to black as a familiar numbness settled in. She fought against it, refusing to let it eat her when safety was so close, but its voice still managed to creep past her defenses.
"Yes, leave her to her fate. Survival is all that matters in the end."
"N-No," Fluttershy gasped, her steps turning into staggers as everything started to spin. "Sh-She said she'd make it. "
"Does that matter?" the voice egged. "So long as you live, what does it matter if she dies? That just means she was prey."
She froze, an image of Rarity laying dead on the ground in a puddle of blood shattering her heart in ways she never knew. Slowly, she turned her head back down the empty streets she had just left, flashes of fire and gouts of steam peaking past roofs in the distance. The darkness slowly started to cloud her vision, her grip on Angel turning a lot more steady.
"That's it," the voice cooed. "Come back to the dark. Come back to the safety of your sweet little Angel."
Just as the darkness started to take hold, a kind hand pulled her forward, snapping her back into the present.
"I will not let you fall again!" a second voice hissed. "If you fear for her, then let us lend her our strength! What say you, my Mistress?"
The voice's warmth moved from her hand to her heart and as it did, a raging tempest starting to take form within her. She could feel the darkness in her heart glare at it, hissing like a poisonous viper as it was pushed back. Again, she felt something shift into place, only now it was a more complete fit. A surge of power filled her soul and poured into her body, her love for her friends and family turning the tempest into a howling hurricane.
"Yes, your heart is finally awake! Let us form our contract and lend our power to those we love! I am thou. Thou art I. A piercing gaze that freezes the hearts of the wicked. Through love's penalty, may darkest venom be cleansed from this world. Call my name, and let the guilt of a cold heart be forever broken!"
With a determined smile, Fluttershy reached her left hand into her pocket and pulled out a golden key, a card showing a heart and two figures holding each other close hanging from its ring by a silver chain. Holding its point over her heart she softly said two words. A torrent of air flew up around her as a door appeared above her head, the rough outline of a face with glowing red eyes decorating it as it slowly crept open.
***
"Perhaps, I have bitten off more than I can chew," Rarity panted, barely managing to keep herself standing.
Fire and frost covered the battlefield, the Shadow happily singing at its heart without even a scratch. Rarity was far less lucky, with the dozens of fresh burns covering her blouse and pants. If it wasn't for her own quick thinking, the burns would've been on more than just her clothes. The heat combined with all of the Spirit Power she was burning through was taking a heavy toll on her, her vision blurry and body sore from exertion.
Gritting past the pain, she stood her ground, panting as her Persona flickered in and out of existence at her side. Using what power she had left, she summoned a row of icicle spikes out of the ground towards the Shadow, only for it to counter with a flaming whirlwind. Cursing under her breath, she willed Arachne into firing an icicle spear, but a jet of fire breath was more than enough to deal with that.
"Fire. Why did it have to be fire?" she groaned, what was left of her strength slipping further away from her.
A bitter smile graced her lips as she added, "At least Fluttershy managed to make it out of this. Mission accomplished, no?"
Arachne scuttled towards the Shadow, frozen air surrounding her claws as she threw herself at the approaching monster. The beast knocked her aside with a swift kick, sending the Persona through a house, pain from the blow knocking Rarity to her knees. She could only watch as the Shadow approached her, a ball of fire slowly forming in front of its mouth. In a feeble act of defiance, she pointed her blade at the Shadow, all the while, bracing herself for the pain that was to come.
Before the final blow was struck, a blast of wind threw the Shadow down the street, shattering its attack before it could be fired. Rarity stared dumbly where the Shadow had been for a moment, before her brain finally caught up with her eyes. A second later, a familiar set of boot steps announced her savior's presence.
"Are you okay, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked, kneeling down to her level.
"Flutter...What are you doing here!?" she demanded, staggering as she was dragged to her feet. "I told you to escape!"
"We're not going to leave you to fight that thing," Fluttershy boldly stated. "If we're going to the hotel, you're coming with us!"
"We?" she blinked.https://youtu.be/JzwPmzzpwZw
"Yessss," a female voice hissed. "We. "
A second later, a woman appeared behind Fluttershy and lovingly hugged her from behind. She was dressed in a simple white female toga that hugged her sleek build very well. A thin sheet of fabric covered her eyes, but the mass of snakes that made up her hair seemed more than enough to help her see. Instead of skin, the woman sported emerald green scales that shined beautifully in the moon's crimson glow. A long tail took the place of her legs, said coils lovingly embracing her friend where she stood, completely unbothered by her presence.
A furious roar down the street tore their attention away from each other, the Shadow furiously stomping towards them. Fluttershy and her Persona separated, the teen brandishing her cleaver with menace while her summon let out a furious hiss.
"Medusa, heal Rarity," she frowned.
"Yesss my Mistresssss," the snake woman nodded, pointing a palm at the girl in question.
Rarity gasped as a green aura surrounded her, her wounds and sore muscles mending to much more manageable levels. Nodding with a pleased smile, Fluttershy stepped in front of her friend and pointed her weapon at the incoming Shadow.
"Let's tear this thing apart," she growled.
Her eyes dimmed as the darkness crept a little forward from the back of her mind, Medusa's scales taking a darker hint in response the shadow's influence taking form. Both of them charged forward, shredding gales covering Medusa's claws while Fluttershy pulled her weapon back, ready to hurl it at her prey. With a savage scream, she let her weapon fly, a green aura enveloping it while it flew. The Shadow summoned a fiery whirlwind around itself, an almost mocking laugh mixing with its song. A laugh that turned into a pained wail when the cleaver sliced through its defenses like a hot knife through butter. It's wail turned into a howl when Medusa sank her claws into the monster's face, the Shadow staggering back with black blood oozing past its mouth. The Persona quickly yanked Angel out of the Shadow's face and tossed it over her shoulder, her mistress easily plucking the weapon out of the air.
The Shadow let out a furious roar as it belched out a raging inferno at the duo, sending a spike of terror into Rarity at the sight. A fear that parted just as suddenly as the flames, a raging tempest blasting them away like one would a fly. A few burns could be seen on the girl's exposed arms, neck, and hair, but a quick flash of green aura washed them away a second later.
"I'm so tired," Fluttershy whispered, her eyes hard as diamond as she slowly approached the Shadow. Said beast staggered back, its blood soaking the ground. "I'm tired of being scared, of being in pain, of watching the people I care about getting hurt. But most of all, I'm tired of being the one everyone has to keep protecting. Now its my turn....."
She raised her cleaver, her burning eyes never leaving her target as she reeled her arm back.
"to protect someone else! Envelope it, MEDUSA!!!"
A green aura surrounded the weapon and slid down her arm, taking she shape of a great serpent. Medusa appeared behind her, her right hand hovering over the blade while her left and coils embraced her mistress. The eyes of her serpent hair and the ones hidden behind her covering glowed a burning teal. With a savage scream, Fluttershy threw the cleaver, the aura connecting the thrown weapon to her arm retaining its serpentine form. The air howled as the attack slammed into its target, The Witness letting out one last agonized cry before it was split down the middle. While the two halves fell to the the ground, the aura pulled Angel back into Fluttershy's hand with a soft hiss. A second later, both the aura and Medusa faded away. Life slowly shined back into Fluttershy's eyes, but a deep exhaustion started to join it as Medusa's rush of power started to fade away.
Recognizing the symptoms, Rarity ran to her friend's side just in time to catch her.
"A-Are you okay?" Fluttershy drunkenly mumbled.
"I think I should be asking you that, darling," Rarity chuckled.
"Are you okay?" she frowned, a bit more force sitting behind the question.
"Yes darling," she smiled. "I'm okay."
"Good," she nodded, her eyes rapidly growing heavy. "That's.....good."
"Hey," a familiar female voice cried, making the two jump. "Now's not the time to start nodding off, honey. I've got a hotel a few blocks down for that."
Startled, the two girls turned towards the voice. While Rarity simply rolled her eyes at the person, Fluttershy was able to work up enough energy to look confused. Viper Lily smiled at them, looking winded and leaning against a light pole across the street from them.
"S-Sunset?" Fluttershy stammered.
"You know, you're the second person to call me that," she smirked, sauntering towards them. "Might have to start charging people if that keeps happening."
"Certainly took your time getting here," Rarity huffed.
"How was I supposed to know a Witness was coming through town?" she snorted. "Besides, it looks like your friend had things under control."
Before either girl could react, Viper snapped her fingers and a Homunculus appeared at her side. With a few quick gestures, Viper delivered her instructions to it. The construct nodded and picked Fluttershy up bridal style, earning a small "Eep!" then yelp as she was quickly carried down the street towards the hotel. Rarity watched it go with wide eyes, then an indignant frown as her host walked past, her cigarette and holder summoned while she walked.
"I hope you weren't that rough when you found me ," she huffed, keeping pace with the older woman while she sheathed her rapier.
"Of course not, sugar," she chuckled. "I just figured she would want to get home as soon as possible. Plus, we need to get a Spirit Vial in her before the drain hits her."
She gave the staggered teen a quick look and added, "Better make that two. Maybe a good soak in the springs would do the both of you some good, too."
"Darling, you have no idea ," she groaned.
After everything she had gone through the previous day, Rarity was sure that Viper's hotel would've seemed even more heavenly than it already was. While mostly true, that didn't mean that yesterday's issues hadn't carried over to the present. One unfortunate aspect of her new powers was that she felt any damage that her Persona received. As a result, thanks to the Witness's fire attacks, her whole body felt like it was covered with a horrible sun burn. On top of that, she nearly threw up her breakfast this morning, a wave of nausea hitting her the second she took a bite. Needless to say, Rarity was not having a good start to her day.
Did the Witness poison me? No; Viper would have examined me if that was a possibility. Did I, perhaps, catch some kind of bug. Perhaps, but this feels different from a common flu.
Forcing down her stomach, she dragged herself out of bed and staggered towards her closet. As appealing as staying in bed felt, she needed to see how her friend was adjusting to her new surroundings. While the hotel was marvelous to behold, navigating the building was an extremely daunting task. Besides, after everything she had been forced to endure up to this point, she was sure a shared soak in the Healing Springs would do the shy girl some good.
It isn't the spa, but it should be more than enough, she thought, smiling softly while she sorted through her provided wardrobe.
After getting herself decent, she sat herself down at her vanity to work on her hair. While she passed the brush through her violet locks, her thoughts wandered towards last night's battle. If she wanted to find and save her friends, then it was clear that she was going to need to get stronger. If not that, then at least find a way to get around her Persona's fire weakness.
"I will need to ask Viper for advice on that," she mused, frowning at her reflection. "I doubt I will be anywhere near as lucky in the future."
It was then that her thoughts, again, drifted towards Fluttershy.
Much like her, there was no way Fluttershy was going to leave their friends to suffer out there. If anything, the shy teen would be even more motivated than she was. Rarity had only sampled a small taste of what the Abyss was capable of, while Fluttershy had been forced to endure a full course meal.
She is going to need to rest first. After that, Viper will have to put her through the same kind of training I went through. Though, I suppose she won't need to choose a weapon, given her skills with that.....cleaver.
She shivered at that, memories of how her friend had been when she found her jumping unbidden to the front of her mind. Forcing them back, she set her brush down and examined herself in the mirror. Satisfied, she nodded at her reflection with a smile, then rose to her feet. A smile that died a painful death when a wave of nausea suddenly washed over her.
What the devil is wrong with me? she thought, hand over her mouth while the other held her steady against her vanity.
After a few minutes, her stomach settled enough to let her regain her footing, but only just enough to manage even that. Grimacing in both discomfort and concern, she took advantage of the lull in her symptoms and made her way towards her door. When she opened it, she jumped back with a startled yelp. Standing just past the door was one of Viper's Homunculi, the well-dressed creature holding a covered serving tray with the tips of its fingers on its left hand.
Rarity let out a soothing sigh, forcing a shaky smile past her churning stomach.
"My apologies, darling, but I'm afraid I cannot eat rig-"
The homunculus cut her off with a halting hand gesture, then fished a small slip of folded paper out of its coat pocket. As Rarity took it, the construct walked past her to set the serving tray down on her bedside table. Raising a brow, she unfolded the message and started to read.
Dear Rarity
If you are reading this, then you have just attempted to reject the food my servant has brought to your room. I want to let you know that this is the only warning you are going to get. You will eat what the homunculus has served you and you will let what happens after happen. If you try to go against this, the homunculus is ordered to force the food down your throat by any means necessary.
Sincerely, Viper Lily
Rarity blinked, reread the note, then read it again just to make sure she hadn't misread anything. Slowly, she turned her head to give the homunculus a nervous smile. It stood at attention at the center of the room facing her general direction and while it lacked a face, she could feel it giving her a challenging glare. With a gulp, Rarity closed the door, pocketed the letter, then took a seat on her bed.
Once she did, the homunculus lifted the cover off of the tray.
The rich smell of chicken broth was the first clue she was given when she looked down at her offering. Set before her was a sterling silver bowl of chicken noodle soup. At least, that was the closest thing she could think to compare it to. Unlike the canned version she was used to, this looked closer to a bowl of expensive ramen. She could see finely diced carrots, well chopped celery, and expertly portions pieces of chicken floating in a heavenly scented golden broth. When she forced herself to pick up the dish's offered spoon, she found the thin noodles sitting on the bottom, all of them thin enough to move, yet firm enough to keep their shape when disturbed.
While her mouth watered at what was set before her, her stomach tied itself into a brutal knot. Her eyes shot wide, one of her hands quickly covering her mouth with a pained squeak. She wanted to eat, but just the thought of sampling the soup made her feel like she was going to be sick. She was about to decline the offering, but a quick glance at her guest reminded her that she did not have that option. With a shaky hand, she took the spoon and dropped her other hand away from her mouth. Then, she quickly scooped up a small spoonful of the soup and shoved it into her mouth.
For a full five seconds, the soup took her off on a pleasant culinary journey. A journey that ended just as quickly when her stomach decided it didn't want her to keep that spoonful. With a hand clamped firmly over her mouth, she ran to the small wastebasket by her vanity table and retched. It was quick, no more than a mouthful, but it was still an experience she did not want to repeat if she could help it. She was about to voice that decision, consequences be damned, when she came to sudden realization; she was not sick anymore.
What in the world? she mused, confusion clear on her face.
A bit of movement from within the bin pulled her out of her thoughts. What she saw both fascinated and chilled her on two completely different levels. Sitting about a foot and a half from her face was a small black mass, roughly the size and shape of an apricot pit. Feeller-like tentacles wriggled all across it like living hairs while a single beady eye at its center stared up at her.
With a shriek, she ran to her bed then reached under it for her rapier. Before she could draw her weapon, the homunculus plucked the odd creature out of the bin. She flinched when it crushed the creature, black slime oozing past its gloved fingers onto the floor. With numbed fascination, she watched the construct's hands glow a dull green, destroying the creature's remains in a literal flash. She was frozen in place as it waved its glowing hand over the black stains in the carpet and they also faded away. Seemingly satisfied, the homunculus straightened its posture, turned towards her, bowed, then let itself out.
Silence filled the room, its sole occupant still locked in the act of arming herself. Little by little, her brain managed to pull together everything that had happened up until that point, before it failed and she was forced to try again. When she eventually managed to regain her wits, she slid her weapon back under the bed, stood up straight, then completely shattered the silence with a single question.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"
Suddenly full of energy, she began to pace the room, arms wrapped tight around herself in a shaky embrace.
"Was that what was making me sick? W-Where did that repulsive creature come from? How did it get inside of me? When did it get inside of me?!"
Panic started to swirl her vision, terrified breaths coming in and out of her in ragged pants. It was just when it looked like she was about to faint, that her eyes landed on her meal. In her state, she had just enough sanity left to piece together one key fact; whatever that creature was, the food was able to repel it. Latching onto that, she staggered back to her abandoned offering, took a seat on the bed, and ate. Even if she was wrong about the soup, it was still a rather nice distraction and she was still quite famished
***
In the relatively short time she had spent in The Abyss, Fluttershy was sure she had experienced every horrible thing the realm had to offer. She was sure that being attacked by monsters and having her sanity shattered was something that could never be topped. With a simple sip of juice, she was instantly proven wrong in the most savage way yet. She was currently kneeling in her room's bathroom with her face hovering over the toilet bowl. Tears rolled down her face as her stomach continued to writhe, black slime leaking past her lips into the toilet in thick oily drops. Not even a second after she flushed did she feel another painful purge start. She let out a pained wail before she refilled the bowl with another mouthful of oily black sludge.
When she had awakened that morning, it took her a few minutes to accept that she was not still dreaming. It had taken her even longer to accept that she wasn't delusional either. After spending a week sleeping on a rotting spring mattress, her new bed was a silken paradise. The dark oak walls and floor was a welcome trade from the cold concrete and rusted metal of her old shelter. The white silk pajamas she was offered the night before molded to her lithe form so well, she would've thought they had been custom made for her. For the first time in days, she finally felt at peace; that she was safe.
A familiar, yet unbelievably heavenly scent caught her attention and pulled it towards a wall off to her left. Set at the room's vanity table was a freshly made plate of pancakes with a tall glass of orange juice on the side. Happy tears slid down her cheeks and a wide smile spread across her lips as she dragged herself out of bed. When she approached the meal, she felt an odd lurch in the pit of her stomach, like the organ had pushed itself away from the food. Blinking down at her belly, she put a hand over it worriedly before looking back up at the food. The knot in her stomach continued to grow, doubling her over in pain where she stood.
Thinking that some juice would help settle her stomach, she took the glass and downed a small mouthful. Even now, she had no idea how she managed to get to the bathroom without dropping the glass. After ten minutes of purging the ebon sludge, she laid boneless on the floor. Black stains covered her mouth and chin while tears decorated her cheeks. It was finally over, but she was far too weak to celebrate. The pain in her gut was gone and she felt her apatite rapidly return, but she ignored it. All she wanted to do was curl into a tight ball and sleep off what had just happened to her.
On the edge of her consciousness, she could feel a presence slowly closing in on her. Sluggishly, she peeked open an eye. Viper stood over her, a look of worry clear on her face.
"Can you hear me?" Viper asked, her tone soft, almost motherly in nature.
She weakly nodded.
"Good," she smiled. "Here, let me help you up."
Again, fluttershy nodded, then slowly raised a shaky hand towards the woman. Bracing herself, Viper grabbed it, then gently helped the teen to her feet. A wave of vertigo almost knocked her off of her feet again, but the older woman caught her at the last second.
"Easy honey, easy," she softly cooed. "Try to catch your breath. Can you do that?"
"Y.....Yes," Fluttershy croaked out.
The butter yellow teen took slow, steadying breaths, her dizziness gradually fading with each one taken. Seeing the girl's condition start to improve, Viper gently guided her out of the bathroom towards her bed. Once she had her settled, the hostess went to fetch the girl's food. A mix of relief and indignation settled in Fluttershy's chest as she watched the woman. Not even a full day had passed and she was already letting someone fuss over her. Didn't she already decide that she didn't want that anymore?
She scowled at her hands on her lap, her frustration tightening them into trembling fists.
Am I really that helpless?
Before her thoughts could get any darker, some weight at her right grabbed her attention. Viper had settled down next to her, already cutting the pancakes into bite-sized bits. Just when she was going to protest, the older woman stabbed into a small stack of pieces and began serving it to her.
"Open up," she smiled, her tone an odd mix of playful and motherly.
"I-I can feed myself," Fluttershy pouted.
Viper giggled at that.
"Right, honey's a big girl, right?"
Fluttershy's glare sharpened.
Viper's smile grew a bit in response.
"You look like a little kitten when you do that," she said, nudging the forkful of food towards her. "Now, say 'ah'."
Gritting her teeth, the teen attempted to yank the fork out of Viper's hand. Much to her growing annoyance, she found that she barely had enough strength to rase her hand, let alone do anything else. With great reluctance, Fluttershy gave in to her host's request.
The second the syrup touched her tongue, she was on cloud nine. From just that one bite, she almost forgot all of the horrors she had been forced to endure up to this point. It was the best bite of pancake she had ever had; not because of the skill involved in its creation, but the fact that it reminded her of home. That, combined with her stomach's demands, she put up no further resistance to Viper's pampering. After downing the last of her orange juice, she let out a contented sigh and was laid down onto her bed on her back.
As she laid there, she stared up at her ceiling in a daze. In spite of what had happened earlier, she felt so light, like a great burden she didn't know about had been lifted off of her shoulders. She tried to think back to a time that she had felt like this before, but only foggy memories came to her.
A sharp stinging sensation on her back made her flinch, a small, pained hiss slipping past her lips. Viper noticed, and with soft smile, she cupped the girl's hand in her own.
"It's going to be okay, honey. After you get your strength back, I'll help you get to the Healing Spring and you'll feel all better."
"O....kay," Fluttershy mumbled. "That sounds.....nice."
As she said that, her eyes started to droop closed. A few seconds later, soft snores filled the room. Viper watched the girl sleep for a little bit longer, then settled the teen's hand down onto its owner's chest and stood to take her leave. Just before she could fully cross the threshold, she stopped to look over her shoulder at her guest. As she did, her soft smile turned into a pained frown. She knew that there was a reason that someone like Fluttershy was here. She knew that justice needed to be met. She knew just what kind of form justice tended to take in The Abyss. That didn't mean she liked any part of this.
Taking a breath, she looked forward and stepped out into the hall. While she gently closed the door behind herself, a pair of pained questions echoed through her mind.
Did you need to drag her into this too, Sunset? Are you really that far gone?
***
Rarity let out a contented sigh, the warm waters of the Healing Spring enveloping her up to her neck. The second she settled herself into it, a tingling sensation pulled the burning out of her skin. At the same time, the mild fatigue that had been plaguing her after the incident in her room also started to fade. Combine that with the soft violin music provided by a Homunculus in a far corner of the chamber, it was almost enough to make Rarity forget all of her troubles.
The key word being almost.
When she had tried to bring Fluttershy to the spring, she was blocked at the door by a pair of homunculi. Miffed, she tracked down Viper and demanded answers. Apparently, Fluttershy had been forced to endure a similar fate as she had, but to a much more intense degree. Naturally, she asked the hostess if she could check on her friend, but was very sternly denied. While the worst of it was behind her, the poor girl was still in a very delicate state at the time.
She grimaced at the memories of how her own morning had been. When she had found Viper, she was too worried about her friend to ask the hostess about the thing she threw up. Just the knowledge that such a thing had been inside of her put a chill through her. Taking a mental note to ask her about the creature, she pushed the memories to the back of her mind.
Instead, she let her mind wander to how she was going to help her friends.
The Abyss was a lot more dangerous than she thought, even with her new powers and Viper's training. If she wanted to make any progress in rescuing her friends, she needed to know more about her new twisted environment. While she did notice a lot of similarities between The City of Punishment and Canterlot City, that didn't give her much in terms of strategy. She also had a sinking suspicion that there were more areas beyond the city or the giant tower at its heart. If anything, The City of Punishment felt like an entry-level zone of sorts to her. As if the world created it to teach new comers what to expect, but not outright kill them if they made a mistake. When she stopped to consider how the Witness operated, that was a small blessing that she decided to be very greatful for. If a monster like that had been the first Shadow she had encountered, she was certain her fate would not've been a pleasant one.
"Just another set of things I need to ask Viper later," she sighed, letting herself sink down to her neck.
A few more minutes passed before a pair of footsteps broke the silence. Lazily, Rarity peeked open an eye, only for both to pop wide-open a second later. Viper and Fluttershy were standing on the edge of the spring, the former giving the later an encouraging smile while said girl sported a burning blush. She was not the only one and it had little to do with the spring's heating. While Rarity was mostly used to Viper's taste in risqué swimwear, seeing Fluttershy dawn a similar style of clothing was almost too much for her to take.
She knew that Fluttershy had a great body, something that frustrated her on more occasions than she was willing to admit. If she were to compare her to her other friends, she would say that she sat in between Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's builds. She had the curves of their farmer friend, but held the lean muscles of the prismatic speedster. At the same time, Fluttershy carried herself with a soft kind of grace unique only to her. There was no better way to remind Rarity of these facts than to put her shy friend into a cream-colored two-piece bikini.
"You're almost there," Viper smiled, gently pulling the shy teen towards the water. "Just a couple more steps."
Fluttershy nodded, gnawing on her lower lip as she took a dainty step forward. Viper's smile lit up a bit at that, a fact that only added to her charge's blush. Rarity continued to watch the exchange with keen interest, the lower-half of her head under the water blowing small bubbles under the surface. When Fluttershy eventually managed to get hip-deep into the water, she noticed just how much attention she was getting from her friend. Before she could back out, Viper gently guided the shy teen's face away from Rarity towards herself.
"Stay with me honey. Don't let her bother you. You know why you are here."
Fluttershy nodded nervously, audibly gulping at the hostess's words.
Viper nodded back, then said, "Are you ready?"
"Y-Yes," she said, a hint of resolve creeping past the nerves in her voice.
"On three then. One......Two.......Three."
At the end of the count, they slowly kneeled down into the water together. As she sank, pained whimpers slipped past Fluttershy's lips, earning some soothing hushes from the older woman. They stopped when the water reached their necks and it was then that Rarity noticed something that broke her shock.
The water behind Fluttershy slowly took on a rusty red color.
Rarity quickly waded her way closer to the pair to investigate, but a pointed look from Viper stopped her at the five foot mark. Not sure what else she could do, or what was even happening, she stayed put and watched. The odd substance gradually became thicker in the water, eventually becoming as visually dense as tar. However, it never spread out more than three feet from Fluttershy's back. Instead, the mass slowly started to fade away, the rate increasing by the second right before her eyes. At the same time, Fluttershy's discomfort was also dwindling away. In time, all of the filth had vanished from the water and a look of absolute relief graced the girl's angelic face.
With a satisfied nod, Viper scooted away from Fluttershy and asked, "How do you feel, honey?'
"So much better," Fluttershy sighed, a dreamy lilt shaking her tone.
"Good to hear," she winked.
Rarity stared back and forth between the two girls, then sputtered, "What the devil just happened?"
Fluttershy flinched out of her bliss, turning to face her friend with a red face and hands covering herself as best as she could from where she knelt. Viper rolled her eyes at that, dawning her trademark smirk as she turned to face Rarity.
"While Jurors don't have magic or any other special powers, their claws do contain a really nasty poison. Get cut enough times, and you'll go nuttier than a squirrel's shit. It makes it easier for them to deal with their prey."
"I see...." Rarity frowned, briefly glancing at where the poison had floated not too long ago. "Any particular reason you did not warn me of that particular fact?"
"Didn't really need to to tell you," she shrugged. "Persona users have a near immunity to the stuff."
"Fair enough," she reluctantly allowed. "Now then, care to explain to me why I vomited up a monster earlier?"
One of Fluttershy's hands flew to her mouth, her face turning a slight shade of green.
Both girl's gave her a concerned look, but Viper was the first to bring her attention back to the question.
"That was because you ate Shadow meat."
"I did what?!" Rarity squawked, taking a step back.
Viper sighed, noticing the way Fluttershy's face paled at that particular reveal before continuing.
"Like with the poison, I didn't tell you this because I didn't think I needed to. There are a few things out in The Abyss that you should not eat or drink. Normal food from a can or box is fine; same goes for anything in a bottle or from a faucet, but anything else is something that you should avoid. Shadow meat, Dread fruit, or Ebon wine are massively poisonous to humans and will cause complete insanity if a normal person consumes them. Sure, you two could do it to get a power boost, but I would really not recommend it."
"Then," Rarity gulped, "that creature was-"
"A piece of Shadow meat trying to latch onto you." Viper sighed with a nod. "Luckily, the food served here can counter the effects, but the experience is really not fun."
A deep shudder from Fluttershy was the only confirmation Rarity needed on that front.
If my experience was so horrible, how bad was it for Fluttershy? Should I even ask?
Shelving that line of thought for later, she gave Viper her full attention.
"These are not the only facts you have neglected to give me," she frowned. "If I am going to save my friends, I can't be left in the dark about how this world works."
"You have a point," Viper frowned, standing to meet the girl's line of sight. "Can't have anymore 'surprises' in the future, right?"
"My thoughts exactly," Rarity nodded.
Viper stared Rarity down, her gaze sharp over her crossed arms. The younger girl met her glare with one of her own, refusing to back down from the intensity of the Hostess's stare. Slowly, a small smile crept onto the older woman's face.
"Alright," she chuckled, uncrossing her arms enough to do a finger-snap. "What do you want to know, sugar?"
"Everything, darling," Rarity smiled, the intensity falling out of her poise. "And I mean, everything. "
"Thought so," Viper chuckled, taking an offered glass of red wine from a summoned homunculus. "Both of you better listen up then, cuz what I'm about to tell you might just save your lives out there."
Chills. That was what Sunset felt. Not joy. Not anger. She felt chills as she stared down her nose at the one currently facing judgement. The fiery-haired teen sat in a golden throne, a cold frown hidden behind a red ivory mask. Said mask was shaped into that of a snarling demon's face with curved horns jutting from its top and long fangs peeking past its lips. A finely woven golden gown covered her form, its fine silk glowing like heated metal. Her eyes held an indifference colder than the darkest void, boring into the soul of the poor girl that laid on the ground before her.
Eight massive golden pillars held the throne room together, each decorated with carving depicting the ruler of The Abyss in various states of despair. The walls and vaulted ceiling were made of solid ruby, all of them filling the room with a blood-red light. In contrast, the floor was covered with polished black tiles, their surface reflecting the scene like a dark mirror. Laying on the ground, crying and covered with countless deep gashes, was a gray teen with messy blond hair. A small pack of Jurors surrounded her, giggling and flexing their clawed fingers with eager anticipation. Unlike the ones wandering the rest of The Abyss, the giggling terrors were dressed in fine black gowns instead of the tattered rags normally seen on their ilk.
"P.....Please.....st-stop," the girl begged, her misaligned yellow eyes staring up at Sunset. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"I know," Sunset intoned. "But that does not exempt you from punishment."
"P....Punishment?" the girl asked, shivering under her cold gaze. "For what? Wh....What did I do?"
"It wasn't what you did , but what you didn't do," she stated, a hint of venom creeping into her arctic tone. "While I was being abused for crimes that I did not commit, you watched from the sidelines. I even remember you giving me a look of smug satisfaction the last time I was shoved into a locker. It took hours for Vice-Principal Luna to get me out of there and when she did, you refused to tell her who the culprit was."
Ditzy stared up at her, terror and guilt showing plainly across her blood-stained face.
"The beating you just received is only the start of your punishment," Sunset continued, her eyes lazily turning towards the large brass double doors at the other end of the room. "Perhaps spending a week as someone's plaything would be a suitable punishment."
Before Ditzy could voice any disagreement, Sunset roared, "JUNIPER! COME!"
A second later, the doors flew open and a black cloaked figure skipped merrily into the room. The figure was short, roughly two feet tall, but its cloak hid any other features. Childish, girly giggles could be heard from the figure, purely innocent, but unnerving in a completely different way from the ones produced by the Shadows in the room.
Ditzy's heart sank when she saw the Jurors backing away from the figure. The distancing became more frantic the closer the figure got to the throne. When the figure stopped next to the battered girl, the Shadows were cowering in fear against the far walls.
"You called?" the figure asked, her voice holding the curious high pitch of a small child.
"Yes, Juniper," Sunset frowned. "For the next seven days, this girl is your new playmate. You are free to do whatever you like with her."
"Whatever I want?" Juniper asked, slowly turning her hooded head towards the downed girl.
Even in the deep shadows of Juniper's hood, Ditzy could feel the small girl's sadistic smile.
"Within reason," Sunset clarified. "Her crimes are not severe enough to justify an execution."
Juniper looked up at Sunset with a disappointed "Aw, " then crossed her arms in a huff.
"Please....don't do this," Ditzy pleaded, tears sliding down her face. "I'll...I'll do anything! Please!"
"Anything?" Sunset pressed.
Ditzy nodded, a hint of desperate hope shining in her eyes.
"Well...there is one thing I want."
"I'll get it for you, I promise!" Ditzy cried.
"Do you mean that?"
"YES!"
Sunset stared her down for a few long seconds, her face impossible to read behind her mask. Then, with a cruel smirk that was barely audible, she made her request.
"Tell me the name of Anon-a-Miss."
All hope instantly fell out of Ditzy's face the second those words reached her ears. Sunset patiently waited for the girl to keep up her end of the bargain, knowing full well that she had her trapped. The chill from before filled her again, only now it held a bit of sadistic glee. Which route would Ditzy take? Would she lie and add to the crimes against her or would she tell the truth and receive a lighter sentence? She could practically see the tug-o-war going on in the girl's head as the seconds slowly turned into agonizing minutes.
Eventually, with her head hanging low, the girl choked out an answer.
"I...can't. I don't know who it is...."
A hint of disappointment crept into Sunset's battered heart. There were so many interesting punishments that she wanted to recommend to Juniper. A waisted opportunity, but she could at the very least give Ditzy some credit in being honest. It was more than she could say for the wastes of air she used to call her friends.
"Make that six days," Sunset amended.
"POO!" Juniper cried, lifting a pair of tangerine fists into the air in defiance.
"Shall I give her to Snap Dragon?" Sunset pointedly asked.
"I'll be good," Juniper grumbled, dropping her hands to her sides.
"Very well," she nodded. "Now, get to work."
"Yes, Greater Judge Sunset," Juniper chirped with a bow.
The second the small being straightened her posture, she pointed her palm at Ditzy. A jet black manacle and matching chain shot out of the being's open sleeve. Ditzy didn't have time to yelp before the cold metal snapped into place around her neck. Humming merrily to herself, Juniper made her way back towards the throne room's giant double doors. At the same time, Ditzy desperately clawed at her restraint, kicking and thrashing as she was dragged further towards her fate. Her eyes never left Sunset, tears pouring down her face as she begged for her freedom, screaming that she was sorry for everything she had done.
"I know you're sorry," Sunset coldly stated, staring unblinkingly into the panicking girl's eyes. "I just don't care."
Any further protests were cut short as the doors slammed shut, filling the room with a thundering echo. When it passed, a fragile silence took its place. So fragile, that a dejected sigh felt almost as loud as a scream.
With her head propped up on her throne's armrest with a fist, she took off her mask. She stared at it with a look of cold contemplation, a mild hint of irritation slowly settling in her core. Punishing the students had been fun the first six times, but it was very quickly starting to lose its charms. On top of that, none of the students brought to her had any useful information on who Anon-a-Miss was.
Her grip on the mask tightened.
That was her real main goal.
The Abyss did exist to punish those who had wronged others, but Anon-a-Miss was the one she was especially eager to judge. It was the one person in the whole Abyss that she was willing to execute and do it with her own bare hands at that. There were nights that she would stay up planning how she would do it. She wanted it to be long. She wanted it to be painful. She wanted them to beg her to end them, only to suffer the same pain they put her through again, and again, and again, and again, AND AGAIN!
"Calm yourself m'lady," a female voice echoed. "Your rage will burn you at this rate."
Sunset blinked, finally noticing the angry red energy swirling around herself. Straightening her posture, she took long, soothing breaths. Slowly, she found her center and as she did, the energy faded away.
"Thank you, Alecto."
"As you need me, I shall come," the persona intoned, a tiny hint of compassion creeping past her stoic cadence.
A brief flicker of a smile graced Sunset's lips before a tired frown took its place.
"I'm thirsty," she sighed, resuming her studies of her mask. "Bring me a drink!"
One of the Jurors flinched, then ran to its mistress's side. In a puff of black smoke, an ornate wine bottle and glass appeared in its claws. With slightly muffled giggles, it poured the bottle's ebon contents into the glass and presented it to her. Sunset accepted the offering, eyes still locked onto her mask as she brought the glass to her lips.
"Why did you choose to don such a thing?" Alecto asked. "The guilty already fear you, do they not?"
"You're me, right?" Sunset sighed, savoring the bittersweet tang of her drink. "Then you know that, that isn't the point. Ever sense the Fall Formal, I've done everything I could think of to prove to these....things that I wasn't a monster anymore. Well, if they still want to see me as a monster, then that is exactly what they are going to get. The only difference now is that I'm done pretending that they're any better than me."
"To punish monsters is to become one yourself."
"Exactly," she said, a cold smile creeping onto her face.
"And the Hunter?"
Sunset shrugged, taking another long pull from her glass.
"Prosecutors may be powerful, but sometimes you need a more human way of thinking to catch people."
"You consider her human?" Alecto asked, incredulity coloring her tone.
She took a longer pull from her glass, a pleasant chill running down her spine as she felt the black liquid settle in her gut. She stayed silent, savoring the pleasant feeling for as long as she was allowed. When it passed, she casually returned the now empty glass to her server to have it refilled. While she waited, she allowed a sinister smile spread across her face before she gave her answer.
"Well, she is one.....technically ."
***
The streets were as silent as a tomb, the red moon soaking the area with an ominous aura so thick, it was choking. This was especially true in the more suburban parts of the City of Pain. While not as common as it was in the city's heart, there were still Jurors that patrolled the area for easy prey. That was the one constant that those who took shelter in the area could count on. Complete silence was new, and to a particular trio of young teen girls, that was not a good sign.
Said trio sat in a dark bedroom, one of them nervously peeking out of the window while her companions sat with their backs against the wall opposite of her, each trying to be as quiet as humanly possible. The one by the window was dark orange with a messy mop of violet hair. Her black shirt and blue jeans were tattered and hung loosely on her scrawny frame. Her lavender eyes were locked onto the empty streets beyond the window, its ratty curtains barely hiding her from sight. One of her companions was a yellow girl with a long head of red hair tied into a ponytail with a ripped pink bow. Her shirt was a light green flannel shirt with long sleeves rolled up past her elbows. Instead of pants, she wore a pair of faded blue overalls and heavy brown boots. Her orange eyes were set on the girl by the window, her toned body wound up tight like a pressed spring. The third girl in the room was equally tense, but struggling a lot more than her friends against the urge to panic. Her skin was a soft alabaster hue and her short curly locks were a two-toned mix of purple. She wore a pink blouse and lavender skirt that would've added a kind of high-society flare to her if they weren't currently stained with dirt and black blood. Her emerald eyes flicked back and forth between her two friends, both of her hands covering her mouth in an attempt to muffle her whimpering.
The yellow girl mentally cringed at the state of her friend's clothing, before conceding that all of them were in the same boat when it came to damage. Dirt and black blood covered each of them in spattering patches, along with various shallow gashes across their arms, legs, and chests from the few times the monsters caught them off guard. These were only a handful of the trophies the trio had managed to earn over the last couple of weeks.
With a shaky southern drawl, the yellow girl turned her head towards her friend by the window and softly whispered, "See anythin' Scootaloo?"
Scootaloo shook her head, eyes still locked onto the outside world.
The redhead nodded in acknowledgement at that before shifting her attention to her more rattled friend.
"Are you okay, Sweetie?" she whispered.
Sweetie shook her head, her whole body violently shaking.
The redhead frowned, then carefully made her way towards her friend. Taking a seat next to her, she pulled the trembling girl into welcomed hug. She softly stoked Sweetie's hair as she cried into her chest, shuddering muffled hiccups breaking the heavy silence.
"I can't take this anymore," Sweetie sniffled. "I want to go home, Applebloom! I want to go home!"
"Ah know, Sweetie," Applebloom sighed. "We all do, right Scootaloo?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo sadly whispered, keeping her vigil.
While Sweetie continued to weep, Applebloom found herself trying to make sense of their current situation. The night before they came to this world, the three girls had decided to have a sleepover at Sweetie Belle's place. After uploading a few more secrets to the Anon-a-Miss account, they fell asleep watching videos on their phones. When they awoke the next morning, it was in a rotted bed in an equally worn replica of Sweetie's home. When they investigated both the house and neighborhood, they quickly discovered just how dangerous this world was. They likely would have not lived long enough to regret it if fate hadn't decided to lend them a hand.
Remembering that, one of Applebloom's hands drifted to her overalls' pocket, her fingers lightly tracing over the key-shaped indent in the denim. Before she could say anything to help her friend, a faint rattling caught her attention. Her friends also noticed, both of them trading worried glances with her. With a stiff nod, she signaled for Scootaloo keep looking while they regathered their supplies.
While her friends quietly and quickly loaded a trio of backpacks, Scootaloo looked frantically for the new sound's source. At the same time, the rattling gradually grew louder, a slowly repeating pattern of ch-chink....ch-chink....ch-chink seemingly announcing the presence of something closing in on their location. By the time her friends had managed to finish packing, the sound had become defined enough for her to identify.
It was the sound of rattling chains.
Her very soul froze the second the sound's source walked into view.
Slowly walking down the middle of the road was a lone humanoid figure. It was slim with some obvious female features and was roughly the same hight as her friends' sisters, but those were the only aspects its clothes allowed Scootaloo to gain about the figure. Said clothing consisted of a frayed shirt, pants, boots, gloves, and long overcoat that came down to the being's knees. All of it was black, a fact that made the tweed sack that covered the being's head stand out even more than it should have. It was just as withered as the rest of the creature's clothes with a single hole cut into place where its left eye should be. Thick iron chains were wrapped loosely around its arms and legs, all of them rattling with each slow step the being took. All of the creature's features put her on edge, but one thing about it held her attention more than the rest.
Slung casually over its shoulder was a large, black and red, dual-bladed, battle ax.
Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach when the figure stopped in front of their shelter, its whole body unnaturally still as it faced down the road. She wanted to look away, she wanted to run, but her body refused to listen to her. On some primal level, she knew that the creature was too dangerous to let out of her sight.
Unfortunately, she couldn't fight the reflex that made her turn her head when Applebloom put a hand on her shoulder.
"W-What is it?" Applebloom softly asked.
Scootaloo brought a finger to her own lips and shushed her, then froze when she heard two sounds.
The first was a heavy footstep. The second was the rattling of chains. Both were just outside of the window. When she slowly turned her head back towards the window, she saw a tweed covered face staring back at her, a bloodshot lavender eye peeking out of a single eye-hole locked onto her.
As the figure raised her axe, both girls grabbed Sweetie and practically dragged her out of the room. A scream full of rage and madness shattered the silence, along with the thundering crash when the axe destroyed the wall on contact. The three girls ran as fast as they could, each struggling to pull their keys out of their pockets. At the same time, the Hunter ran through the house, her axe tearing the walls apart as if they were made of wet paper. Panic flooded their veins the longer they heard her scream, the whole world passing around them in a swirl of hazy color while they frantically tried to find the exit. When they did, they tackled the rotting barrier down and didn't stop running. They doubled their efforts when they heard the house collapse, along with the rattling of chains start to close in on them. They're struggle to get their keys out of their pockets became more desperate the closer the rattling got. It was just as the Hunter was about to grab Sweetie that one of them finally managed to succeed.
"Hestia! Help!"
As she said that, Applebloom turned and pointed her key at the Hunter. The sun-marked card that decorated the key's chain flashed and the young girl's Persona materialized between the trio and the monster. Said being was a slim-fit woman just entering her early twenties in age. Her skin was a burning red while her eyes were solid orange orbs of light. In place of hair, she had thin branches growing from the top of her head in a manner similar to a crown. Covering her lithe form was a golden female toga and in her right hand she held an orange scepter toped with the same golden fire that covered her body.
The Hunter spared the Persona a passing glance before she took a swing at it with her axe. Hestia blocked it with her scepter, flinching from the force of the blow. Applebloom did the same, a sharp pain echoing through her arms all the way to her shoulders. Rattling breaths came out of the Hunter, before she let out another maddening scream that chilled their souls. Screaming like a wild animal, she pulled back her weapon, then let loose an insane flurry of swings. Hestia blocked them, but the strain of doing so was becoming more apparent on her face. The same could be said for Applebloom, pained gasps falling out of her as she clutched her sides. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to endure and tried to focus on her Persona.
"Burn it, Hestia!" she demanded.
Nodding, the Persona took a deep breath, and exhaled a searing torrent of orange flames. The Hunter's scream held a bit of pain, but that was replaced with bloody fury a second later. Still burning, the monster punched clean through the Persona's stomach. Hestia let out a pained gasp before she faded away, while her mistress fell to her knees. The pain Applebloom felt was beyond anything she could describe. She couldn't move. She couldn't breath. The corners of her vision started to turn dark. Just as the Hunter reached out for her, she heard Scootaloo shout something that eased her heart.
"Blast her, Nike!"
A second later, her friend's Persona slammed into the Hunter with enough force to send her flying into a nearby house. Like Hestia, Nike was a woman that looked to be in her early twenties and wore a golden female toga, but that was were the similarities ended. Her build was lean, but toned in a way only a runner could achieve with skin made of polished silver. Her hair was long and made of the same glowing gold as her eyes. On her back was a pair of shining platinum wings, both of them spread wide in a show of defiance.
Like her Persona, Scootaloo stood in front of her friend, the star marked card on her key's chain glowing as bright as Nike.
"Are you okay, Applebloom?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of the destroyed home. "Can you get up?"
"Ah....Ah think so," she gasped, staggering to her feet.
Before Scootaloo could comment on that, the Hunter shot out of the house, axe raised and howling bloody murder. Learning from her friend's mistake, Scootaloo willed Nike to go on the offensive. With lightning covering her body, the Persona rocketed towards the Hunter. Faster than even her mistress could track, the Persona unleashed a hail of electrically charged punches into the monster. Stunned by the blows, the Hunter watched as Nike gathered some electricity into her hand, then slammed it into her target's chest. The Hunter screamed as she was shot back from the blast, but at around the five-foot mark, one of the chains on her arms planted itself in the ground, halting her flight. Landing on her feet, the Hunter instantly closed the distance. Nike tried to dodge the monster's attacks, but found that her opponent was much faster than both her and her mistress originally thought.
Scootaloo clenched her teeth, holding back her screams every time the Hunter's weapon grazed her Persona. The blows came faster and faster by the second, their power cracking the ground each time they missed. All the while, the Hunter continued to howl with maddened fury. That was what truly affected her. It was as if that howl was eating away at her own sanity, pushing away everything, but the panicked urge to flee. Just before the urge had a chance to overtake her, she heard Sweetie add herself to the fight.
"Help her, Terpsichore!"
A soothing aria filled the air, easing the pain and madness plaguing the two girls, before a constant howling gale pushed their attacker back a couple steps. Sweetie ran to her friend's side, key in hand and a shimmering blue falcon on her shoulder. She lightly pressed the tip of her key into Scootaloo's arm, the moon-marked card hanging off of said key's chain glowing light blue as the rest of girl's pain faded away.
"Took you long enough," Scootaloo, smirked.
"My key got stuck in my pocket," she mumbled.
A sharp peck on the head from her Persona got her attention just in time to see the Hunter take a step. She glared at the monster, then pressed her key into Applebloom's shoulder. Once she was fully recovered, the downed girl summoned her Persona as well.
"Leave. Us. ALONE!" she screamed, pouring everything she had into the spell.
With that, Terpsichore's glow turned blinding and the gale turned into an impenetrable wall of air. All four of the Hunter's chains latched onto the ground, a howl of pure hate cutting through the wind's own. Sweetie grit her teeth, willing everything she had into getting rid of the monster.
The Hunter refused to surrender, her rage burning hotter the longer she eyed her pray. With a free hand, she reached into the confines of her coat. When her hand came out, it was clutching a jagged obsidian dagger, a skull and scythe marked card hanging from its handle by a thick gray chain. She stabbed the dagger into the side of her head and screamed three words that chilled the girls to their bones.
"MURDER THEM! CERBERUS!!!"
A second later, the Hunter's own Persona materialized beside her. Like the beast of legend, it was a massive three-headed dog, easily fifty feet tall at the shoulder. Instead of fur, the creature was covered with green and lavender flames. Jet black crystals made its claws and fangs, each of them half a foot long and sharp as razors. Its three pairs of obsidian eyes locked onto the CMC, full of rage and a hunger that could never be satisfied. They could only watch in horror as Cerberus opened its three maws. Dark energy washed over them, tearing through Sweetie's spell as if it wasn't even there. Pain couldn't even begin to describe what they felt. It was as if they had been thrown into a sea of acid, but their bodies were just strong enough to not be destroyed. When the darkness passed, they laid completely still on the ground, still alive, but completely numb to their surroundings.
Both the Hunter and her Persona stared down at them, a small hint of satisfaction creeping into her madness. Pulling the knife out of her head, she dispelled her Persona and took a step towards her prey. That was as far as she got before a blast of fire sent her flying into a house. Seconds l later, three gray-cloaked figures shot out of a nearby home, grabbed the downed girls and their keys, then ran further down the street. A fourth figure ran out of the shadow of another house to follow them, the glint of a key still present in their hand before they pocketed it.
The interlopers were already long gone by the time the Hunter recovered. When she stepped out of the damaged house, she sent out a small pulse of power to see if she could find her targets. When that failed, she slowly turned her head towards the sky. Trembling, she slammed her axe deep into the ground and let out a furious scream.
Author's Note
Merry Christmas everypony
Rarity knew that there was going to be a lot of things that she was going to have to know about the Abyss if she was going to save her friends. The scope of that knowledge was something she was nowhere near prepared for. Rarity Let out a yawn, rubbing her eyes from her room's desk. Set before her was a map of the Abyss along with a neat stack of thick, equally aged, tomes.
Just as she had suspected, the Abyss had a lot more to it than a tower and city. In total, the Abyss was made up of seven zones, each with their own levels of danger. The safest one was the City of Punishment, a zone that was mostly inhabited by Jurors and gave ample resources to those that could get into the houses.
Just below it was the Dread Orchard, an unpleasant forest made up of trees that produced Dread Fruit. That zone held Jurors, but was mostly dominated by Witnesses, a group of Shadows that liked to eat the fruit that grew there and often spent their time tending to the trees.
Next was the Academy Labyrinth, a zone that, as the name implied, was a massive maze made up of various school buildings and facilities. This was the domain of Defendants, especially durable Shadows that made a habit of cannibalizing their weaker kin on sight. When she asked Viper for a description of the monsters, her host told her that they looked like "walking coffins". She also told her that if she heard a group of girls screaming, then one of them knew she was there.
The fourth zone was a twisted mockery of a theme park called, the Crimson Carnival. According to Viper and the books she had been lent, the zone looked like a massive amusement park full of all of the attractions one would expect to see in such a place. The key difference was that all of the attractions were seemingly designed by a madman. It was the perfect home for the Prosecutors, violent and chaotic Shadows that were just as hard to predict as they were to describe. It was also the source of a toxic beverage called Ebon Wine, a drink that Prosecutors inhaled or brewed with great relish.
The fifth zone was known simply as the Tomb; a massive area occupied by twelve castles in a wide circle, surrounded by a thick cloud of gray fog. Only the Judge class of Shadows lived there, each the ruler of their own castles. According to Viper, the Judges never leave this zone and no other Shadows where foolish enough to enter. When Rarity had asked her what these Shadows looked like, she refused to elaborate beyond saying that they looked more "human-like" than the Jurors.
The sixth zone was called the Hunting Grounds and it housed the most dangerous enemy the Abyss had outside of the Tower of Judgment. The zone was a barren wasteland that surrounded the aforementioned tower from all sides. No trees, grass, or buildings occupied this open space. Not even Shadows dared enter this space. The only thing that dared to dwell in this red-sanded, dessert was a being that Viper called the Hunter. When asked about it, Viper had told her that the Hunter was a special kind of enemy. She said that the Hunter could sense the heartbeats of anyone within a hundred-foot range and could recover from almost any damage. She even said that the Hunter could use a Persona, but one that was twisted in a way that it was almost as much of a Shadow as its host. It was also thanks to the being's twisted aura that the Hunting Grounds was devoid of Shadows. As such, she warned both her and Fluttershy that if they should enter a zone that was devoid of Shadows, that they would need to "Get the flying hell out of there", especially if they heard rattling chains.
The final zone was one that was impossible to ignore, known simply as the Tower of Judgement. It sat in the center of the Abyss, the Hunting Grounds working as a border between it and the other five zones that surrounded it. It was unknown what kind of Shadows lived there or if there were any Shadows there to begin with. All that was known was that it was where people were taken when they were captured by the Shadows and that it was the home of the Abyss's rulers; the Greater Judges and High Judge respectively.
It was a lot for her to take in all at once, but not so much that she couldn't manage. At least, that was what she told herself. Keeping everything she had learned in mind, she took careful note of all of the major landmarks throughout each of the different zones and all of the different routs to get to them. A bulk of her attention was put into the Crimson Carnival and Academy Labyrinth in particular, given the nature of their construction. The Tomb, Hunting Grounds, and City of Punishment seemed pretty straightforward in comparison. While The Tower of Judgement was a complete unknown, the Dread Orchard was pushing her to the point of nearly ripping her hair out. That zone held no noteworthy landmarks and the Shadows that lived there were a great deal stronger than her. Then again, the same thing could be said about the Shadows from the other zones as well.
She leaned back in her seat with a frustrated groan, tired eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. For a long time she stayed like that, hair just as frazzled as her weary mind. As clever as she was, this was way more than she was mentally prepared to take on.
A grimace marred her face when Sunset's smiling one briefly flashed to the front of her mind.
Even with her conflicting thoughts on the girl, she could not deny that Sunset would've been able to handle this whole situation a million times better than her. On top of being brilliant, Sunset had a natural way about her that made her a leader. She was confidant and strong, yet held a kind warmth that only Fluttershy could rival. She shined so brightly that she was more of a rarity than Rarity was herself.
She could still remember their first date. It was supposed to be a simple ride around the city, dinner, then a night camping under the stars. Instead, Sunset's motorcycle broke down near the school, followed by a sudden downpour that forced them to take shelter under the bleachers. It was then, with frustrated tears running down her face, that Sunset told her what she had been planning to do for her. Touched, Rarity held the fiery girl close and waited for her to cry herself out. It took time, but Sunset did eventually manage to get a grip on herself. When she did, the two girls sat together to watch the rain, their warmth and presence the only things they needed to make the moment magical. Under the calming spell of the rain, they had their first kiss. Their true first kisses.
The bliss of that memory instantly turned into pain when another flashed to the front of her mind. A crying Sunset standing alone in the snow. The slam of a door. Her tears staining her pillow. The stinging of her palm.
Regret cut deep in Rarity's heart, her jaw clenched tight as tears ran down her face. Curling in on herself in her seat, her hands covered her damp eyes. As the stress and guilt weighed down on her, four words crawled past her lips. A broken sob that she wished the one she held so close to her heart could hear.
"Sunset.....I'm so sorry....."
***
Fluttershy still had no idea what to think about her situation. A few days ago, she was turning in for the night in her own bed with her pet rabbit, only to wake up alone in a rotted mockery of her own home. The next few days after that were a twisted montage of terror and blood-soaked insanity. Now she found herself in a warm hotel lounge, sitting in a soft leather chair before a crackling fireplace sipping a warm mug of cocoa.
Learning everything she had about the world she now resided in had done little to settle her. Purging the poisons from her system had helped her feel better on a physical level, but the rest of her felt so...fragile. She knew that it was a side-effect of her detoxing, that her body was currently on the mend. It frustrated her in a way that was new to her, the normally patient girl on the verge of throwing her mug out of anger over her situation. Her weakness and the fear of angering her host were the only things that kept her from acting on her urges, a weary glare the only thing to show her mood as she stared into the flames.
"How are you feeling, Honey?" Viper asked, taking a seat in a lounge chair to her left.
"Better," Fluttershy bitterly sighed.
"Are you sure about that?" she asked, lighting a cigarette.
Fluttershy aimed a raised brow at her as she fit it into her cigarette holder.
"Those are really bad for you."
"I'm a lady of vices," Viper shrugged, taking a long drag.
Fluttershy grimaced at that, leaning back a bit in her seat to put as much distance as she could from the woman. The only sign that Viper noticed was an annoyed eye-roll. Taking care to blow smoke out of the corner of her mouth away from her guest, she gave the girl a crooked smile before cutting back to the topic at hand.
"I'm sure you've got more on your mind than my bad habits, honey. Now, why don't you tell me what really has you wanting to tear my lounge up?"
Fluttershy lightly flinched at that, eyes drifting to the ground in shame. Viper took another drag, patiently waiting for the girl to find her nerve. The knowing look she was giving her brought Fluttershy back to Earth, reminding her of all of the times she sat in a similar situation with Sunset. After her friends accepted the former bully into their circle, she would sometimes sit Fluttershy down to and help her work through whatever was bothering her at the time. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, Sunset would just know that something was bothering her and always took time out of her day to help her.
Holding onto those memories, she stared into her mug, took a breath, and answered Viper's question.
"When I saved Rarity, I promised that I was never going to be weak again; that I was going to stop being the one everyone has to save all of the time. I thought Medusa would help me keep that promise, but look at me right now. It hasn't even been a day and I already need people to take care of me."
Her hands trembled around her mug with barely contained anger, a frustrated scowl cutting through her soft features like an ugly scar.
"I'm so pathetic!"
Before her thoughts could spiral further down, Viper placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw a kind, almost motherly, smile decorating the hostess's face. From the warmth and patience in that smile, Fluttershy felt her frustration dim to a more bearable level. Taking another deep breath to center herself, she rested her mug, kept her eyes locked with Viper's, and continued her rant.
"If I wasn't so weak then.....maybe I wouldn't have abandoned Sunset like I did."
As Fluttershy said that, Viper had taken a long drag from her smoke. An act that turned into a wild coughing fit when the words sank in a second later.
"A-Are you okay?" Fluttershy worriedly asked, reaching out to the older woman.
Viper nodded, hacking and pounding her chest in a feeble attempt to knock the smoke out of her lungs.
"Sucked down the wrong tube," she wheezed, slowly getting her breathing under control. "J-Just *cough* give me a minute."
Fluttershy nodded in understanding, worry still clear on her face as she sat back and waited. After a few minutes, Viper managed to shake off her episode, then leaned back in her seat with a relieved sigh.
"Damn smoke," she muttered, glaring at her half-finished cigarette. "Anyway," she continued, giving the girl an encouraging smile. "You were saying?"
Fluttershy blinked dumbly at her, then shook it off and fell back into the conversation at hand.
"W-Well....when my friends found out that Sunset was Anon-a-Miss, we all cut her out without a second thought. Well...they did anyway. Sunset was a good actress, but there was no way she could've faked how heartbroken she looked when we abandoned her. I wanted to help her; I really, really did, but the girls would keep pulling me away before I could get a chance. If I could've stood up to them, then maybe...."
Before she could continue, the young girl broke into soft sobs.
"I....I'm sorry," she hiccuped, her grip on her mug tightening .
"It's alright, take your time," Viper smiled, placing a comforting hand on Fluttershy's shoulder.
Fluttershy met Viper's gaze, guilt and gratitude at war on her face as she gently shook her hand off of her shoulder.
"S....Stop being nice to me," she sniffled. "I don't deserve it. Not for what I've done."
"What do you mean?" Viper frowned, tilting her head in confusion.
Before she could answer, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over Fluttershy. A bit of fear ran through her as her vision blurred and distorted as her eyelids grew heavier by the second. The last thing she heard was the wet thud of her mug hitting the ground before everything went black.
Viper let out a low growl as the same thing started to happen to her. Gritting her teeth and clutching her head with her free hand, she tried to fight off the grogginess. As she fought a losing battle against the tide enveloping her, she managed to hiss out one last thing before she passed out in her seat.
"D-Damn you, Igor. warn..... me..... next.....time....."
***
https://youtu.be/g7-iHYmEMbk
Rarity's mind was swimming in a fog, eyes shut as a familiar haunting aria rang through her ears. When she opened her eyes, she found herself seated in the middle of a blue rose garden. Before her stood a round oak table and in the seat opposite of her was the ever eerily smiling Igor. At his left side stood that same finely dressed woman as the last time she was here, the being far more interested in her book than the garden's guest.
The....Velvet Room? she thought, trying to blink past the fugue choking her mind. How did I.....was I not in my room?
"It seems like you have taken the first steps in your journey," Igor chuckled, dragging Rarity's focus to him. "I feel a celebration may be in order. Don't you think so, my dear?"
Rarity blinked, Igor's question snapping a bit of clarity into her mind.
Glowering at him, she leaned forward in her seat.
"All but one of them, my dear," Igor pointed out, his eery smile never leaving his face. "Is that not progress?"
Rarity held her glare for a minute, before she crossed her arms and looked away with a pout.
"I.....suppose you have a point," she allowed, still unable to meet his gaze. "I am still three short of anything worth celebrating, though."
"I feel the same way, my dear," he nodded, reaching under the table.
The movement perked Rarity's curiosity just enough for her to see him place a familiar stack of tarot cards onto the table.
"You have acquired quite a few new bonds since the last time we've met," he snickered, slowly placing the top card onto the table. "You started with The Wheel of Fortune."
As he said that, she saw the card he set was an exact replica of the one on her Persona Key.
"Then," he continued, drawing another card. "You met The Devil."
Sure enough, the next card be placed bared the same name.
"And finally," he added, his tone a touch softer than with the last two draws. "You found The Lovers."
Rarity looked down at the last card with a bittersweet smile before she gave Igor her full attention.
"The bonds you have forged with these two new cards are very powerful," he chuckled, a musing lilt coloring his tone. "Very powerful indeed...and just what you will need to save your friends."
Rarity raised a brow at that.
"With all do respect, I find it hard to believe that these simple strips of card stock could offer me any real help."
"Perhaps," he allowed, a knowing tone creeping into his voice. "Fortunately, these are not mere card stock, my dear."
As he said that, the Devil and Lovers cards both started to glow. Slowly, a small blue ball of light floated out of each of the cards. For a moment, the two orbs hovered over the table, before they suddenly darted towards Rarity. With a startled yelp, she put her hands up to defend herself, only for them to faze right through them into her chest. She gasped as a tingle ran through her body, like a cross between an electric shock and pins-and-needles. At the same time, she felt as if something inside of her had shifted; like a few parts of her that had been separated were finally put back together again. Before she could dwell on the feeling and what it could mean for her, a sudden wave of vertigo knocked her out of the moment and further back into her seat.
"Are you alright, my dear?" Igor asked.
"D-Dizzy," Rarity muttered, trying to blink the stars out of her eyes.
"I see," he sighed. "Well, I suppose there is nothing that be done about that. It will take time for your body to adapt to the new powers."
"Powers?" Rarity forced out, her head starting to fog over again. "W-What did....you...."
"You will know when the time is right," Igor chuckled. "Until we meet again, my dear. Please take care."
As he said that, Rarity's eyes drifted shut and the girl's body crumbled away into mist. A few minutes passed, the only sounds dominating the rose garden being the haunting aria and slow piano performed by an invisible duet. HIs smile wilting slightly, Igor pulled a pocket watch out of his coat's inner pocket, irritably clicking his tongue as he stared at its face.
"They should have been here by now. Was there something wrong with the summons?"
Just when he was starting to get worried, two clouds of mist started to form on the couch Rarity had once occupied. Putting the watch away, he watched as the two masses slowly shaped themselves into the slumbering forms of Fluttershy and Viper Lily. Both of them wore black dresses, with Viper's being the type that would fit in perfectly in a cocktail lounge while fluttershy's was much more modest.
With faint groans, the two women slowly roused themselves, blinking sleep out of their eyes. Igor patently waited for them to orient themselves, collecting the cards on the table and hiding them under it. When they finally regained their bearings, Fluttershy took in her new surroundings with cautious wonder while Viper gave him a pointed glare.
"This had better be good, Igor," she growled, crossing her arms. "Fluttershy and I were in the middle of a very important conversation."
"My apologies, Lady Viper, but I fear this is something that could not wait."
Viper reluctantly leaned back in her seat, gesturing for him to elaborate with a roll of her hand. Fluttershy froze the second she saw him, her curiosity and fear of the man's appearance locking her in place. Seeing that he had the duo's complete attention, he granted Viper's nonverbal request.
"Things are going to be moving forward in a very chaotic manner. As such, I have chosen to awaken Lady Rarity's powers further."
"Really?" Viper blinked. "I saw the bracelet, so I kind'a guessed that she had the potential, but doesn't the Fool usually become the Wildcard?"
"That is common, yes," Igor nodded. "But common does not mean absolute."
"You've got a point there," she shrugged. "I'm guessing this means that I'm gonna need to train her a bit harder from now on, right?"
"Indeed," he chuckled. "It will take time for her to get used to having more Spirit Power, but that is not the only thing she will need."
As he said that, he shifted his attention towards Fluttershy.
Fluttershy flinched back in her seat, but refused to break eye-contact with the odd man.
"You must be Fluttershy, correct?'
She nodded, nervously gnawing on her lower lip.
"A pleasure to meet you, my dear. I am Igor; the proprietor of this space. I have heard many things about you from my dear Papillon, here," he jovially stated, gesturing towards the woman at his side. "You seek strength, both of body and of spirit. Difficult to obtain, but something I could easily guide you towards."
"R-Really?' she asked, a cautious hope entering her features.
"Indeed," he nodded. "Of course, I do not intend to provide such a service for free."
"W-What do you...What do you want?" she asked, a familiar cold dread settling into her gut.
Igor let out a sad sigh, a suddenly serious aura dominating his already intense features.
"Lady Rarity is in a very delicate state at the moment. She knows the enormity of the path she has chosen to walk and I fear that the strain is too much for her to bear alone. Lady Viper should be able to help her become physically and mystically strong enough to do so, but all of that will be meaningless if her mind and spirit falls."
"He's got a point," Viper sighed. "I can whip her into shape, but I can only do so much on the mental side of things. Probably doesn't help that I look like a hotter version of her ex either."
"Indeed," Igor nodded. "Which leads to my proposition. In exchange for helping you achieve your goal, I ask that you help Lady Rarity retain her sanity. Listen to her troubles, give her what advice you can, whatever it takes to help her mind and spirit recover. If you can do that, then I will provide you with my services for as long as it is needed."
Fluttershy gaped at him. her mind running in all kinds of different directions to make sure she was understanding what Igor was telling her. This odd man was basically telling her that he was going to help her and all he asked in return was for her to be a better friend to Rarity? It seemed almost too good to be true. She would say easy too, but a quick reminder of how she treated Sunset made it clear that may not be the case for her.
"Now," he continued. "Do we have a deal?"
Fluttershy offered Viper a guiding look, still torn on whether or not this was a good idea. Her nerves settled when the older woman gave her a reassuring smile. With a small smile of her own, she turned towards Igor and nodded.
"Excellent," he chuckled. "I look forward to working with you from this point onward, my dear."
"Damn you, Viper," Rarity gasped, collapsing into one of the Lounge's armchairs.
Fluttershy did the same, the girl's pink tank top and khaki shorts covered with soot and a couple small burn marks. A similar scorch mark dotted the end of the shy teen's ponytail, a fact that only Rarity seemed to notice for the moment. Rarity scowled tiredly down at herself, her blue blouse and gray jeans equally scuffed by Viper's flames. Too tired to yell, the stylish teen beaconed for a homunculus to come to her with a finger.
Once one approached her, she wearily asked, "Could you be a dear and bring my friend and myself some water?"
It nodded, then walked towards the Lounge's bar. As it walked off, a faint glint on her wrist caught her attention. She stared at the bracelet on her right wrist with a worried frown. Two new charms in particular held her focus, each of them glowing with a faint blue light. These were an obsidian goat skull with a small star carved into its forehead and a pink heart wrapped in chains.
Two weeks had passed sense she was summoned to the Velvet Room, yet she was no closer to understanding Igor's words than she had been when she was sent back to her room. The only proof that the whole event hadn't been a dream in the first place where the two aforementioned charms. She wasn't given much time to ponder them before Viper decided to amp up her training routine. For three hours straight, the hostess pushed her to her absolute limits before helping her drag herself to the Healing Springs.
Unpleasant, but an evil she was willing to accept if it meant not having a repeat of the witness incident. It also wasn't anything she hadn't come to expect from Viper on some level. The same went for Fluttershy doting on her after said training sessions. The extent of said doting was something that actively threw her for a loop.
While it was more on a normal level in the start, as Fluttershy regained more and more of her strength, she became more focused on Rarity's wellbeing. So much so that it bordered on overbearingly obsessive on several occasions. One incident in particular put a shiver down her spine.
***
Rarity had no idea how things turned out like this. One moment, she had flopped gracelessly onto her bed, the next, she was laid back in a recliner in the Lounge with five homunculi giving her a mani-pedi and shoulder massage. That alone was jarring, but seeing a smiling Fluttershy observe the proceedings a few feet away only added to the awkwardness of the situation. The fact that she was lightly bouncing a rolling pin in her free hand like she was about to start swinging did not improve matters.
"Um.....Fluttershy?" she asked, a smile gracing her lips that matched her nervous tone. "Wh...What's going on?"
"It's a spa session," Fluttershy beamed, gesturing towards the homunculi with the rolling pin. "I know we can't go to a real spa, but Viper said that this was 'close enough'."
That... does seem like something that Viper would do, she allowed.
"And the rolling pin?" she asked, pointing at it with her eyes.
"One of them tried to run," she sweetly stated.
Rarity blinked, then noticed that one of the homunculi did appear to have a dent near the top of its head.
"J-Just kidding," she sheepishly said with a shy giggle, then softly added, "Mostly."
"What?" she gawked.
A second later, another five homunculi entered the room, each bearing a different burden. One pushed in a loaded food trolly while the another held a portable massage table tucked under its arm. Another held two large oak trunks while its neighbor held a violin case. The last member of the group walked into the center of the room and went to work setting up an ornate incense burner on a five-foot-tall metal pole.
Fluttershy watched them set up their stations with a critical eye, a hint of fire hiding behind her gentle aura. Meanwhile, Rarity was gradually growing more unnerved the longer she watched her friend work. She knew that her friend had an assertive side that crept past her shell on occasion. That alone would not have put the stylish teen so far on edge, under normal circumstances. Seeing her act like this now made her wonder if there were still some lingering affects from her poisoning. The only thing keeping her from running out the of the room screaming was the nervous tremble she saw slip past the girl's aggressive front.
With a satisfied nod, she turned towards her friend and proudly stated, "After this, you will be given a full body massage and aromatherapy treatment."
"I....see," Rarity nodded, watching one of the homunculi take several vials of what appeared to be massage oils out of one of the trunks. "Um.....Fluttershy?"
"Yes?"
"Isn't this all a tad....excessive?"
"Is it?" Fluttershy blinked, genuinely confused.
She nodded, an awkward smile gracing her lips.
"Not that I don't appreciate the effort, darling," she hastily added. "It's just....this is a bit....overwhelming."
"Oh, okay," Fluttershy nodded, sporting a small smile. "I understand."
Her smile dropped a second later, a cold glare taking its place as she shifted her attention towards the homunculi working on her friend.
"Finish what you are doing and then go back to work," she demanded, voice soft, yet firm.
The constructs paused just long enough to nod, before they went back to pampering their guest. Rarity watched with wide eyes as her friend approached the other homunculi, her grip on her rolling pin tightening.
"All of you accept for the cook and the violinist are to pick up your things and leave."
This group of homunculi were a little less receptive to the girl's demands, trading looks with each other with exasperated body language. When they looked at her again, they and Rarity all flinched. A faint green aura surrounded the teen, the barest sound of a snake's hiss filling the room like a passing breeze. The homunculi quickly gathered their things and ran out of the room, save for the two Fluttershy had ordered to stay. Rarity could see the way the two constructs stared longingly at the slammed door, before miming a gulp the second they turned their heads towards Fluttershy.
"Please continue," she sweetly ordered, her grip on her rolling pin loosening slightly.
Both of them nodded, the chef moving to a collection of covered serving trays to add a few last second settings while the violinist started tuning his instrument. Nodding in satisfaction, Fluttershy walked to Rarity's side and took a seat. While the normally shy teen was still smiling, the aggressive aura still lingered around her. Rarity felt and saw the homunculi working on her flinch the second her friend's gaze fell in their general direction.
While it lacked the hollow void it held when Rarity found her in that warehouse, she could not ignore the subtle ferocity she saw in her friend's smile. Like she had done on that day, she hid her concern behind a smile. It was clear that they were going to have to have a talk about a few things later. For now, she had a small spa session that she desperately needed to get through.
***
Not long after that incident, Viper deemed Fluttershy well enough to begin training with her. While this reduced Fluttershy's doting, it also doubled Viper's intensity during their sessions. Most of said intensity was aimed at Rarity in particular. The hostess rained almost literal hellfire down on her, while Fluttershy was almost ignored throughout most of their sparing sessions. If it wasn't for Fluttershy's healing abilities, the fashionable teen would've accused the older woman of favoritism. If anything, said abilities gave her an excuse to turn Rarity into a one-girl bonfire. The fact that she did this with a smile practically cemented that assessment.
"Damn sadistic lunatic," Rarity muttered, accepting her requested glass of ice water from a homunculus.
"She......She's just trying.....to .....help," Fluttershy panted, doing the same.
"I know that, darling," she sighed, then greedily gulped down half of her glass. "I still don't like it."
Fluttershy reluctantly nodded, taking small sips from her own glass.
"Also, you can't' deny that she's enjoying this on some level," she frowned.
Again, Fluttershy nodded, a small grimace marring her lips.
"While we are on the subject," Rarity continued. "Has Viper let you pick a weapon yet?"
"No," she sighed. "Every time I ask her to, she tells me that I don't need to."
"I see," Rarity frowned. "You don't think she means..."
Fluttershy shuddered.
Rarity frowned into her glass.
One of the first things Viper did when the two girls arrived at the hotel was confiscate Angel. While both girls were more than happy to be rid of the cleaver, Rarity could not deny that her friend had a knack with it on the battlefield. At the same time, if Viper deemed the cleaver to be a suitable weapon, why hadn't she returned it yet?
"Do....Do you think the others are safe?" Fluttershy asked, snapping her friend out of her musings.
Rarity opened her mouth to say, "Of course," but the words refused to form on her tongue. She wanted to believe that their friends were safe, but she knew that the odds of that were unlikely. As tough as Applejack and Rainbow Dash were, there was only so much they could do if a pack of Jurors went after them. Their odds dropped considerably if any of the higher level Shadows decided to enter the scene. Maybe if Pinkie Pie was with either of them, then they had a chance, but even that wasn't a sure thing.
Her thoughts instantly jumped to the possible fate of her sister, but she quickly shoved them to the back of her mind. Her friend was already worried, the last thing she needed was for her to heap more things onto the pile.
"I....have hope," Rarity managed to force out, a feeble smile gracing her lips.
"....Right," Fluttershy mumbled, setting her glass aside to hug her knees to her chest.
Rarity let out a dejected sigh, staring blankly into the fire.
"I know it is hard, but we must be patient," she frowned, her grip on her glass tight with barely contained contention.
Fluttershy let out a small whimper, frustration saturating her features.
As she continued to stare into the fire, she offered a lone desperate prayer to whatever gods resided in this realm.
Please...PLEASE let them be safe.
***
Darkness. That was all Scootaloo knew. A numbing darkness, free of gravity, sound, or any other feelings both inside or out. It was peaceful, but memories at the edge of her mind kept her from fully appreciating it. They were foggy, but enough made it past the haze to put a shiver down her spine. There was pain, maddened screaming, and a noxiously acidic taste sitting on her tongue. She tried to force back the shattered memories, to resume her drifting through the void. Instead, a small trickle of confusing sensations started to take their place.
Slowly, she felt warmth envelop her from all sides, soft sheets easing her back into the world. There was a faint, dusty smell in the air, but it was a welcomed change from the reek of rot she had been forced to endure until now. Taking a rattling breath, she sluggishly peeked her eyes open. She let out a pained grunt as she slammed them back shut, the dim light filling the room seemingly as bright as the sun to her eyes. Bracing herself a little bit better, she tried to open her eyes again.
It still hurt, but was now bearable enough to allow her to take in her surroundings.
As she had suspected, the room was completely different from the accommodations she had grown accustomed to. The room was large, roughly two-hundred by two-hundred with a high vaulted ceiling, The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of dark brown wood, all of them showing the slight were of aging. The furnishings were made of the same material and were just the bear essentials. The dresser, vanity, wardrobe, and bed frame were all artfully crafted, yet just as aged as the room itself with a thin layer of dust covering them. Looking up, she saw a loose cluster of glowing blue orbs floating near the ceiling, filling the room with a gentle light.
Where....am I?
Letting out a tired groan, she tried to push her thick covers off. She let out a weak huff when she found her body unwilling to cooperate. Scowling, she stared blankly up at the ceiling, trying to think remember how she got here in the first place.
Let's see...we were looking for food in one of the houses and everything suddenly got really quiet. Then that monster showed up and tried to kill us. We fought it and it brought out-
She flinched when she remembered how the monster summoned her Persona.
.....yeah. Then....what happened after that?
She wracked her brain, trying to remember what happened, but nothing came back to her. Almost nothing, at least. While no specific memories came to her, she knew that something bad had happened. A creeping dread crawled up her spine and an oily burn slithered across her skin. Deciding not to press the subject, she pushed the mystery to the back of her mind as she continued to watch the floating orbs.
After a few more minutes of mind-numbing boredom, a soft click from the door caught her attention. A purplish-pink teen girl walked into the room, smiling and humming as she closed the door behind herself. Her hair was a rich purple mass of curls with white swirls running through it that reached the middle of her back. Set on top of her head was a yellow and green propeller hat. A yellow shirt and grayish-green jeans framed her toned build and modest bust. Her soft purple sneakers announced her presence as she made her way towards Scootaloo's bed. As odd as the girl's appearance was, what really held Scootaloo's attention was the girl's eyes. Instead of having the normal black iris in the middle, the girl's purple eyes had a lighter purple spiral moving out from the middle of her pupils to just short of their edges.
The girl stopped at the right side of Scootaloo's bed, her smile shifting into a surprised gasp.
"You're awake!" she cheered, her tone high and bubbly. "Good, good, good! You had us all really worried!"
"W-Why?" Scootaloo croaked. "W-Where am I? Who.... are you?"
"Oh, right," the girl chuckled. "Well, first off, I guess you can call me Nurse Screwball for the next few days."
After she said that, she pointed at herself with a thumb and winked at her. "As for why, you took enough of a hit from the Hunter to knock you out for a whole week!"
"A....*cough* A week?!" she gawked, tone coming out as a strangled cry.
"Yup," Screwball sighed, then went back to smiling as she added, "As for where you and your friends are now? Well, welcome to Asphodel Manor!"
"Asphodel....Manor?" she croaked.
"Oh, right, you're probably feeling pretty crappy right now," she awkwardly chuckled, reaching into her pocket.
When she pulled her hand free, her fingers were wrapped around a small corked vial of glowing blue liquid.
"This should help," she smiled, pulling out the cork. "Bottoms up!"
As she said that, she leaned over and tilted the vial's contents towards Scootaloo's lips. Scootaloo panicked, but her body was too tired for her to do more than twitch in response. The second the glowing liquid touched her tongue, all of her worry melted away. Slowly, she felt her magic reserves start to replenish themselves, the strain on her body dimming by an equal increment. She was still tired, hungry, and desperately thirsty, but now she didn't feel as if the air itself was trying to pin her to the bed.
When Screwball pulled away the now empty vial, she smiled down at the shocked girl.
"How are you feeling?" she asked. "Better?"
"Better," Scootaloo croaked, shakily sitting up.
"That's good," she giggled. "The Hunter did a real number on your's and your friends' Personas. Heck, it took four Spirit Bottles to get Sweetie's Persona to stabilize enough to heal itself."
"Is she okay?!" Scootaloo pressed, a desperate shine in her eyes.
"It'll be a while before she can summon her Persona again, but other than that, she's fine," Screwball chuckled.
Scootaloo let out a relieved sigh, slumping back into the headboard of her bed.
"That's good."
Screwball sighed, kneeling down to Scootaloo's level as she said, "The three of you got really lucky. My teammates and I are specially trained to take on the Hunter and we still have a hell of a time doing it. Heck, I think she even gives the boss lady a hard time."
"The boss lady?" Scootaloo blinked. "Wait, there's a whole team of monster fighters?"
"They're called shadows and yep," she smirked. "There aren't a lot of us, but we're here."
"Are you guy's strong?" the sporty teen asked, hope shining in her eyes.
"I said we can hold off the Hunter, didn't eye?" Screwball replied, a roguish smile gracing her lips.
Scootaloo met the older teen's gaze for a long moment, her frazzled brain struggling to accept what was told to her. When it finally did, a shaky smile spread across her face as tears ran down her cheeks. Screwball's smile was replaced by a concerned frown as she watched her patient slump bonelessly against her bed's headboard. A sound like a cross between a chuckle and a choked cough fell out of her along with more tears. With each drop taken, a bit of the tension that she had been holding in sense she came to this twisted world was taken away.
With desperate joy, she put her strangled thoughts into the closest things to words that her dry throat could manage.
"We're safe. We're finally safe."
"Yeah," Screwball sighed. "For now, at least."
Scootaloo aimed a confused look at the older teen.
"You'll see," she snorted, standing up. "Anyway, it's almost time for dinner and I bet you're more than a little peckish."
Scootaloo was about to deny that, but a loud roar from her stomach beat her to the punch.
"M-Maybe a little," she allowed, looking away with a blushing pout.
"Thought so," she snickered. "Welp, let's do something about it!"
As she said that, she casually plucked Scootaloo out of her bed and gently slung her over her shoulder.
"Hey! Put me down!" she demanded, weakly struggling against the older girl's grip.
"Nope! Not happening!" Screwball huffed, making her way towards the door. "I've been patching you up for days and I don't want you to screw all of that up by falling down the stairs or something."
"I'll be fine!" she protested, continuing to struggle.
Screwball stopped in front of the door, then coldly asked, "Can you stand up on your own?"
Scootaloo froze, logic and ego fighting for control in her mind. Eventually, she had to admit that Screwball had a point. Grumbling under her breath, she went limp in the girl's grip and shook her head.
"Thought so," Screwball frowned. "Now, let's get some grub."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes as the girl opened the door.
Instead of immediately stepping out of the room, Screwball said something with enough cold venom to chill Scootaloo's soul.
"By the way, if you and your friends do get to stay here, don't get between me and the Hunter. She's all mine and I do not like to share.
While she could not see it, Scootaloo could hear the cruel smile in Screwball's tone as they finally left the room.
It was common knowledge between Scootaloo and her friends that the three of them were different, that each of them had a role that helped them keep their group together. Sweetie was the smart one, Applebloom was the strong one, and Scootaloo liked to think of herself as the resourceful one. These traits did a great job in keeping them safe since they came to this strange world. After a few weeks of getting by here, she was pretty sure that her Persona was as far as this place was able to go in surprising her. The Hunter and her new surroundings very quickly showed her that there were still plenty of things the Abyss could do to throw her for a loop.
On the way towards the mansion's dining room, it was revealed to the young teen that her room's aged condition was not limited to it alone. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the hall she was being carried through were all made of sturdy dark oak that had shown signs of being polished at one point. Now, said polish had faded away to a near memory, leaving the wood beneath exposed with dust and cobwebs as its only protection. They passed by a few equally withered doors, the few open ones showing nearly identical rooms to the one Scootaloo had awakened in. Like in her room, the wooden furniture was aged, but lacked the dust and webbing that covered the hallway and, presumably, the rest of the mansion's walls and ceiling.
As Screwball hummed her way further into the aged home, other rooms passed them by. While it was hard to see through the dust, they passed by a pair of large glass double doors that lead to what may have been a study. Another was an equally large and heavy oak door with a placard on it that read, Library , in faded blue print. Some time after that, they passed another named door, this one made of gleaming steel who's placard marked it as the mansion's armory.
While they passed by other, more mundane rooms, Scootaloo noticed just how plain the mansion seemed to be. From what she had heard from Diamond, most people that owned these kind of homes were not afraid to show off. Aside from the odd glowing orbs that hovered around the ceiling, there was nothing even remotely flashy to see.
Another thing she noticed was how cold it was.
It didn't feel like an ordinary chill either. It was as if something was actively pulling the warmth out of the air itself. Thinking that maybe it was just her imagination, Scootaloo took as deep a breath as she could manage and let it out. Sure enough, she could see a faint hint of mist billow in front of her for a few seconds.
"W-Why is it so cold?" she asked, fighting back a shiver. "It's never been this cold before."
Screwball snorted.
"See those balls up there?" she asked, pointing to the orbs. "They pull heat from the air to make light."
"Really?" Scootaloo blinked, trying to stare up at the orbs. "How?"
"Heck if I know," she shrugged. "You can ask the boss lady if you want, but don't expect to get a straight answer."
"Oh, okay," she frowned, still staring at the orbs as they lazily drifted about.
The next few minutes passed in silence, Scootaloo letting her thoughts on her possible new shelter wander. Between the aged look and eery chill, it almost felt haunted. The impression was so strong that she was sure she saw a varnished suit of armor watch them pass by it for a second. Not helping was the air of sadness that seemed to mingle in among the chill. The building felt as if it was in mourning, but for who was something she couldn't figure out, yet.
"Here we are," Screwball cheered, coming to a stop.
Knocked out of her thoughts, Scootaloo had a few seconds to brace herself before her caretaker set her on the ground. After grabbing the older teen's leg for support, she looked ahead and had to quickly pick her jaw up off of the floor. Two massive oak double-doors towered over her, each decorated with grapevines intricately carved into their surfaces. Like the armory, a placard set to the left of the doors labeled the room beyond as the dining room.
Smirking at her reaction, Screwball grabbed one of the doors' brass handles and shoved it open. The room beyond made Scootaloo's jaw drop faster. The dining room was twice the size of the school's gym, the middle of it dominated by an aged hundred-yard table straight out of a medieval-times movie. Tall, stain-glass cathedral-style windows lined the wall opposite the door, each of them showing morbid images of various people suffering different forms of execution. A massive cluster of blue orbs hovered at the center of the room's high vaulted ceiling, filling it with a blue light that was just as eery as the arctic chill that filled the air.
A few puffs of breath caught Scootaloo's attention just enough for her to notice that the room wasn't empty. Five other teens sat at the table, four of them familiar to her while one of them sitting just short of the head of the table was a mystery. She instantly recognized her friends sitting near the middle of the table, both of them looking drained, but unharmed as they took sips from steaming mugs. Sitting across from them was a light blue girl with long silver hair. Her eyes were a sharp shade of purple that perfectly matched her T-shirt and complimented her gray jeans. She could see that her build was similar to Screwball's, with a lithe build better suited for running . Sitting a few chairs down the table from her was a light orange boy with wavy blue hair. Like the girl, he wore a simple T-shirt and jeans, only his were white and blue respectively, along with a heavy black jacket and boots. While the jacket made it harder for her to tell, Scootaloo could see that the boy was not particularly athletic, but he was still in fairly good shape. Both of the older teens were reading, sipping from identical steaming mugs as her friends every now and then.
While they held her attention for a bit, the boy sitting near the head of the table had it in a stranglehold. His skin was an ash gray while his messy black hair was cut short. The whites of his eyes were a vibrant yellow that only made his red pupils stand out even more. Even while sitting, she knew that he was at least a head taller than the other boy in the room. His build was lanky, but not in a way that looked awkward or frail. He wore what, at first glance, appeared to be a multicolored dress shirt and slacks, but a longer look revealed that both were actually made out of pieces from different colored versions of themselves.
He casually lounged in his chair, playing solitaire with a knowing smirk and taking occasional sips from his mug.
"She lives everyone!" Screwball cheered.
Everyone flinched, save the older boy, from the cry before giving the pair their attention. Scootaloo's friends shot out of their seats and ran to her, almost knocking her over in a tight hug. The rest of the teens got up at a more sedate pace, closing in on a still smirking Screwball.
"How bad was she?" the orange boy asked. "It took you longer with her than the other two."
"Yeah," she sighed, her smile wilting as she gave the younger teen a passing glance. "I think her Persona took the brunt of it all. Her nervous system was thrashed and her lungs almost collapsed a couple times. She's really lucky you guys found them when you did."
The boy let out a small relieved sigh.
"I'm glad you could save her. I don't think Sunset's friends would've been happy if anything happened to these three."
"Still have a thing for her, Flash?" the taller boy asked, giving him a crooked smile.
"Sh-Shut up," the boy, Flash, frowned, glaring up at the older boy. "You know it's not like that."
"Really , Discord?" the blue girl frowned.
"Oh, relax Trixie," Screwball chuckled, giving the girl a playful smack on the shoulder. "You know my bro's just screwing with him."
"Trixie still doesn't like it," Trixie frowned, crossing her arms.
The siblings traded knowing smirks at that.
The trio of younger girls watched the exchanges, one with actual interest while the other two simply let out exasperated sighs.
"Anyway," Discord chuckled, kneeling down to Scootaloo's level. "Let's introduce ourselves properly. I am Discord, head of the Theater Club and second in command of this group of misfits."
As he said that, he held out a hand to shake. When Scootaloo accepted, she noticed an odd bracelet was wrapped loosely around his wrist. The second her eyes landed on it, she felt an odd pull from it. When the shake ended, the pull quickly passed, leaving her slightly dazed for a few seconds.
If Discord noticed, he didn't show it as he gestured towards Flash.
"This is Flash Sentry, our eyes and ears out in the Abyss."
He nodded, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"And that's our sniper, Trixie," he chuckled, pointing at the girl in question.
Trixie puffed out her chest, arms still crossed, but her scowl was replaced with a cocky smile.
"Trixie does what she can."
"And you've already met my baby sister," he winked, pointing his thumb at Screwball.
"Brooooooo, c'mon!" she groaned.
He smiled at her misery as he stood up straight and pulled her into a half hug.
"Even in hell, you'll always be my screwy little baby sister."
"SHUT UP!" she roared, hiding her blushing face in her brother's chest.
He laughed harder as he gave her a full hug.
"Love you too, sis." He smiled, pulling out of the hug.
Screwball pouted, crossing her arms and turning her burning face away from him.
"You're an ass," she grumbled.
"I've been called worse," he shrugged.
She let out a huff, then raised a brow when she gave her group a passing glance.
"Hey, where's Zef?"
"Same place as always," Flash sighed. "Seriously, I'm starting to think he's obsessed at this point."
"Starting?" Trixie asked, raising a brow.
Before anyone could reply, a cold breeze washed over the room, making everyone pause. A second later, the door behind Scootaloo slowly crept open. The older teens instantly stood at attention, all merriment knocked away in favor of militaristic stoicism. Confused, Scootaloo turned to face the door to see who could've caused such a sudden change in atmosphere. Her heart sank into her gut the second she saw who was standing there.
At first, she thought Sunset Shimmer was standing before her, but it didn't take her long to notice a few key differences. First, the woman looked far older than Sunset, like a version of her set in her mid to late thirties. Her red and golden hair was tied back into a tight ponytail that reached the middle of her back. She wore a thick black female military officer's uniform, complete with gold buttons polished to a brilliant shine that matched her ebon dress-shoes. Her build was lean, toned, and held a rigid posture that only years spent serving in the military could achieve. None of that held Scootaloo's attention for very long compared to the woman's more prominent features. The woman's left arm was missing, the long sleeve of her uniform for that limb looking as if it had been bitten off at the shoulder. There was a deep scar on her right cheek, starting just below her eye and moving down to her neck. Her eyes were a milky gray and blank, not taking in anything in particular or moving. Strapped to her left hip was a jet black sheath, housing a gladius with a gleaming golden capulus and brown leather grip.
The woman turned her head towards each of the older teens, her blank eyes unmoving.
"At ease," she said, tone void of emotion.
Everyone let their poise soften, but a sliver of tension was still present in the group. They quickly returned to the table, with the sole exception of the CMC. Each of them were frozen in place, unable to take their eyes off of the woman that stood before them. Shivers ran through them, both from the cold the woman gave off and the pressure her presence summoned. They flinched when she turned her head towards them, face just as blank as her eyes.
"You have recovered," she stated.
Scootaloo nodded.
A moment of silence passed between them.
With a scowl, the woman asked, "Have you recovered?"
Scootaloo blinked, then gave her a confused nod.
Another moment of silence.
A hint of anger entered the woman's voice as she said, "Give your answer child, or I will have you thrown from my house."
"Y-Yes! I'm good!" Scootaloo stammered, taking a panicked step back.
Is she blind?
The woman's features turned blank again before she gave them a small nod.
"Good. Take a seat."
Not wishing to push her luck, Scootaloo bolted towards the table and took a seat. Sweetie and Applebloom weren't far behind her, quickly taking a seat on either side of her. Curious and cautious, she watched the woman slowly make her way to the head of the table. Adding to her theory, she saw the woman carefully reach towards the head of the chair, slowly pull it back, then use her hand to guide her into her seat.
"Fool, has anything of any merit happened in my absence?" she asked, turning her head towards Discord.
"Only Scootaloo's recovery," he shrugged, gathering his poker cards.
She nodded, turning her head towards the girl in question.
"I see. That will make this a lot easer to manage then."
"What do you-" Scootaloo started only for Applebloom to cut her off with a hand over her mouth.
A faint glare was the only sign that the woman noticed, but her tone remained cold as she continued.
"First, I should introduce myself. I am Asphodel Grove, the lady of this manor and leader of this faction.
Shooting a glare at her friend, Scootaloo pulled her hand off of her mouth and nicely said, "Nice to meet you. I'm-"
"Not worth knowing," Asphodel coldly stated. "I have no interest in or use for people who are weak."
"What?" Scootaloo frowned, a faint growl entering her tone.
"Was that too difficult for you to understand?" she frowned. "Then I shall make this simple. You are too weak for me to acknowledge. All three of you are."
"Are you picking a fight?" Scootaloo snapped, jumping to her feet.
"Simply stating a fact," she calmly stated, snapping her fingers.
A second later, two blue mannequin-like figures dressed in butler's uniforms entered the room. One of them forced scootaloo back into her seat while the other moved to Asphodel's side.
"Beef stew with a glass of red wine," she said, addressing the odd being.
It nodded before moving on to Discord.
"That being said," she continued. "I do see some potential in you three. It is for that reason alone that I am giving each of you a choice."
"What kind of choice?" Scootaloo asked.
"A simple one. I will allow you to live freely in my home for one week. If you want to stay after that, you will have to do so under my training. If not, then you will be forced out."
"Wait, so you're gonna throw us out if we don't train here?!" Scootaloo gaped.
Asphodel nodded.
"As I have said, I have no use for weaklings. My home is not a hotel or shelter. If you wish to stay, you must prove yourself worthy of it."
Scootaloo continued to glare at her.
Naturally unfazed, Asphodel continued.
"These terms are unnegotiable. Either stay and become strong or leave. You have one week to make your decision."
***
Scootaloo furiously paced her room, her mind running in two completely different directions. She knew that Screwball mentioned that there was a chance she and her friends might get kicked out. What she didn't expect was how deceptively difficult the conditions for staying would be. She knew that she needed to get stronger, but Asphodel's cold demeanor made her hesitate to accept her "help". At the same time, the mansion was a lot safer than the houses and the food was great. On top of that, if all of the other kids had to live under the same conditions, they must be pretty strong on their own. A shiver ran down her spine when fragments of their battle against the Hunter flashed through her mind.
We got lucky that time.
Pushing back the dread in her heart, she turned towards her bed. Applebloom and Sweetie sat on it watching their friend, their own conflicted thoughts plain on their faces.
"What do you think?" she asked. "I mean, you two have been up longer than me, so...."
Applebloom sighed.
"Ah, think we should stay. We don't know what other things are runn' around out there and Ah don't think we should chance it."
"I was thinking the same thing," Scootaloo nodded.
"I think we should leave," Sweetie frowned.
Scootaloo gawked at her while Applebloom let out an exasperated sigh.
"Sweetie-" Applebloom started.
"You saw what the others have to do to stay here!" Sweetie cut in, anger and fear coloring her features. "We'll get destroyed!"
"Asphodel said she'd ease us into it," Applebloom countered. "And Discord said that was all the advanced trainin'."
"Easy for you to say," Sweetie scowled. "You can still call your Persona!"
"That's even more of a reason to stay!" Applebloom snapped back, her patience starting to run thin.
"DON'T YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!" Sweetie screamed, tears running down her face.
"Then why are you fighting me on this?" Applebloom demanded, hands clenched into trembling fists on her lap.
"BECAUSE SHE LOOKS LIKE SUNSET!"
Both girls flinched back at that, a bit of guilt creeping onto their faces. Sweetie, on the other hand, was visibly seething. An awkward silence settled between them, neither of them sure what they could say to get their friend to calm down. Before they could even attempt to, Sweetie shot to her feet and ran out of the room, slamming the door hard behind herself. Both girls cringed from the sound before letting out a collective sigh.
"She still hates her, huh?" Scootaloo asked, flopping back first onto her bed.
"Eeyup," Applebloom frowned, doing the same.
Scootaloo frowned at that, staring tiredly at the ceiling.
In a lot of ways, she could see where Sweetie was coming from. Even now, Scootaloo was more than willing to put up with almost anything if it meant having a safe place to sleep. After everything she and her friends had been forced to endure sense coming to the Abyss, some hell-training seemed like a fair price to pay for that. However, the fact that Asphodel looked like Sunset complicated things for her.
That was were things differed between her and Sweetie.
Where Sweetie was coming from a place of spite, Scootaloo's hesitation came from someplace else.
"Ah'm takin' her offer," Applebloom sighed, tone voided of argument. "Ah don't want to end up like I did if somethin' like the Hunter shows up and Ah need to know if my sister's okay."
"I get it," she sighed. "I.....I just need to think about it, okay?'
A long pause settled between them.
Then, with a tired sigh, Applebloom gave her a nod and said, "Alright. Just.....whatever you choose to do, don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"Yeah," she snorted, a rueful smile gracing her lips. "I'll try."
***
Sweetie wandered aimlessly through the mansion, anger boiling through her like water in a kettle. How could they be so willing to stay here? Intense training aside, how could they look at Asphodel and not have their blood boil? No. There was no way she could stand being here if it meant being anywhere near that woman.
"As soon as I can use my Persona again, I'm going to knock her ugly face off," she growled, smacking a nearby wall out of frustration.
"Is that a fact?" a familiar voice asked behind her.
Sweetie froze, a mix of rage and terror swirling within her as she slowly turned around.
Sure enough, standing before her was the very woman she was ranting about. Asphodel looked down at her, a small frown slipping past her impassive expression. Sweetie stared back at her, jaw clenched with barely contained fury as she met her useless eyes.
"How exactly are you going to do that?" Asphodel calmly asked. "You lack a weapon. I do not. You lack a Persona. I do not. You lack training. I do not."
She leaned down to Sweetie's level, face as blank as her tone as she continued.
"The way I see it, if you were to try it, you would be the one missing a head, Moon."
"Don't! Call me that!" Sweetie screamed, whole body trembling with a wild fury. "My name is Sweetie Belle!"
"The name of a seedling is not worth noting," Asphodel coldly stated. "Until you grow, Moon is the only thing I will call you."
"SHUT UP!" she cried, throwing a punch.
Asphodel easily sidestepped her, lightly smacking the girl across the back. Sweetie stumbled forward only to turn around a second later to take another swing. The two continued this back and forth for a few more minutes, the older woman always staying just out of reach of the younger girl's clumsy attacks.
Eventually, Asphodel grew tired of this game.
Stepping just out of Sweetie's striking range, she reached up and tapped a key hanging by a golden chain around her neck. A second later, a pillar of ice covered Sweetie's body up to her chest. Fear mixed with the anger already present on Sweetie's face as she banged her fists onto the ice.
"You hate me," Asphodel more stated than asked, slowly closing the distance. "Why?"
"Why shouldn't I?!" Sweetie grunted, glaring at the older woman. "You tried to take my sister from me!"
A confused grimace crept onto Asphodel's face.
"What do you mean? Who is your sister?"
Sweetie gawked at her for a second, then let a spiteful smile grace her lips.
"So, you forgot about her? I knew you didn't love Rarity!"
Asphodel was unmoved by the girl's rage.
"I have never come across a seedling with that name or any others," she intoned, kneeling down to Sweetie's level. "And had I ever, there would be no love for me to give."
Sweetie flinched back at that, her anger snuffed by the woman's arctic aura.
"Let me be blunt, Moon. I have no use for the emotions that rule you. Anger, love, sadness, all of them are worthless chains that get in the way of true strength. Even without sight, I can see that you're emotions have lead you to make many foolish mistakes. That being said, they should be able to help you take steps to become truly powerful."
"W'-What?" Sweetie asked, the cold of her prison finally starting to hit her.
"Everyone present has their own reasons for being here," she continued, a tiny hint of compassion entering her robotic tone. "It is from those reasons that they all find strength. If you'd like, I could help you find that reason and the strength needed to take root."
A weak glare formed on Sweetie's face, teeth chattering in her clenched jaw.
Asphodel stayed at the girl's level, unmoved by the girl's hostile display. Letting out a slow breath through her nose, she stood up and slowly walked away. About ten steps away, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at the teen.
"The choice is yours, Moon. Remember that."
Sweetie watched Asphodel walk further into the gloom of the hallway. In time, the older woman walked out of sight, but Sweetie's eyes never left where she had been. Even when the ice encasing her crumbled away a second later, she continued to stare. A tiny frown graced her lips as she turned and went the opposite way down the hall.
As much as she hated to admit it, she had a few things that she needed to think about.
The moon hung high in the sky, soaking the city streets with its crimson glow. Faint giggling and a passing breeze were the only sounds that chipped at their hunting silence. In one street in particular, an especially large mob of Jurors passed a dark alley. Two minutes after they left, a figure wearing a black hooded cloak peeked out of it. The figure scanned their surroundings and, still facing forward, gestured for something behind them forward before they darted to the nearest alley further down the street. Seconds later, a similarly garbed figure followed them into the same alley.
Pulling back her hood, Rarity leaned against, then slid down the alley's wall with a deeply frustrated sigh. Fluttershy did the same, standing in the middle of the alley with her hands on her knees and letting out shaky breaths.
"Three days." Rarity whisper-groaned, reaching for something in the shadow of her cloak near her belt-line. "Three. Bloody. Days."
Fluttershy nodded, aiming a frustrated glare at the alley's entrence from its farthest shadow.
After a week of rest and training, the two girls had headed out of the hotel to save yet another of their friends. With their Personas as their guides, they carefully navigated the city streets. While a few unavoidable battles occurred, none of them were as difficult as their clash with the Witness. Not wanting to tempt fate, both girls opted to maintain their stealth over testing their strength the farther they traveled from the hotel. While it was proving effective in terms of saving their Spirit and resources, it also cost them in terms of time.
"How much farther do we need to go?" Rarity grumbled, pulling out a granola bar.
"Not far," Arachne tiredly responded. "Your friend's magic presence is very close. Once we make it down the street, a left turn should take us right to her."
"Thank god," she lightly chuckled, taking a bite out of her snack. "How are you holding up, dear?"
"I-I can keep going," Fluttershy panted, a determined glint brightening her teal eyes.
Rarity nodded, tossing her friend a granola bar. Fluttershy let out a small surprised squeak, clumsily juggling the bar before she caught it in a near death-grip. She gave her giggling friend a small glare while she unwrapped it, pouting at her when she took a bite.
While the shy girl ate, Rarity fished a small slip of paper out of her pocket. She casually pushed some of her Spirit into it and a map of their current position bled onto its surface. As she had suspected, they were gradually edging closer to the border of the City of Punishment and the Dread Orchard. That knowledge put a chill down her spine, her mind instantly jumping back to her fight against the Witness.
"That will never happen again," she whispered, closing her eyes and trying to will her shaking to stop. "I am stronger. I am not alone. I can do this."
A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her mantra with a start. Turning her head to face the hand's owner, she met her friend's reassuring smile with one of her own. After taking a few more minutes to catch their breaths, the duo gathered up their supplies and resumed their journey.
When they eventually made it to the turn Arachne mentioned, what they saw made them freeze. Peeking around a building down the street, they saw the city abruptly turn into a dark dirt trail about half way down. What few trees lined the path were withered with absolutely no leaves. The moon's light painted only added to the hellish despair of the scene, the cold silence filling the air with the chill of death. However, it wasn't the abrupt shift or the ominous feel of the path that gave them pause. That honor belonged to what they saw laying in the middle of it.
Keeping their guard high, they made their way towards the object in question, their steps letting out faint crunches when they crossed onto the path's dry gray dirt. They had hoped that their eyes were fooling them, that what they were looking at was a trick of the light. As they stood over the source of their dread, it was impossible for them to deny what it was.
Laying in a small red puddle , tattered and trampled, was a familiar brown stetson hat.
The duo stood over the hat in silence, slowly digesting what they were seeing. Taking a shuddering breath, Rarity broke it with a question.
"W-Was this what you were sensing, Arachne?"
She could feel her Persona's somber nod.
Swallowing her pain, she reached down and picked up the hat.
"Well, at least we know who we are tracking now," she sighed staring further down the path.
Fluttershy nodded, a determined frown sitting on her face as she followed her friend's gaze.
A four-miles-long path winded down a red-shined dead field before them. At its end stood a massive dark forest that spread far past the horizon. With hope for their friend's safety and determination in their hearts, they took their first of many steps onto the path.
Until a body was found, they refused to let their fears or worries drag them to despair.
***
The Dread Orchard was just as ominous as its name implied. Massive trees towered over Rarity and Fluttershy on all sides, the thick black canopy blocking out all, but a few thin rays of moonlight. Said trees added to the unsettling atmosphere. Their bark looked rough, but also fleshy and wet with a thin coat of slimy sap. Said sap came from face-like weeping markings seemingly carved into their trunks in random places, each face dripping the sap as tears from their "eyes". The fact that the "faces" resembled Sunset's added a spike of guilt to the fear slithering around the girls' hearts. Hanging on some of the lower branches, hidden among ash-gray leaves, where the dread fruit the grove was known for.
The fruit quickly killed any urge either girls may have had to sample them, even if they had not been made aware of their twisted nature. They held the general shape of apples, but their flesh resembled rotten meat. On top of that, each one sported a skull's face along with a steady stream of black sap dripping from their "eye holes". All of that, combined with the smell of burnt meat made the fruit the most horrid things the girls could've ever had the displeasure to stumble across.
The two girls tried to ignored the alien traits of the trees and their fruit while they made their way deeper in. Instead, they pushed their focus into trying to make sure there weren't any Shadows nearby. Both of them kept their hands on their weapons under their cloaks, Rarity's other hand holding the map viper gave them. Taking occasional looks at the enchanted map to note their current location, they continued their advance through the wooded shadows.
Just as her research revealed, there were no visible landmarks for Rarity to take note of. All of the trees were nearly identical in their strangeness and any marks she made into their trunks quickly healed away. If it wasn't for their map, she was more than certain that it wouldn't have been long before they lost their bearings.
Another thing she noticed was just how quiet the forest was.
While the City of Punishment had its pockets of quiet, a majority of it was still filled with the wicked laughter of Jurors to give at least the illusion of life. Aside from the occasional crunching of dried leaves under their shoes or the faint sounds of their breaths, the forest was completely silent. It put a small chill down both girls' spines, not by its presence, but by how fragile it felt. As if the silence was daring them to break it for one reason or another. What that reason was in particular? Neither girl was eager to see, if they could avoid it.
They flinched and froze when they heard a familiar sound. It was faint, but there was no way either of them could forget a Witness's lullaby. Trading glances, they nodded towards each other before they changed their rout. Unfortunately, the change did little to fix their problem. As soon as one song faded into the distance, a new faint echo of "La-la-la~la" and giggling would grace their ears from a completely different direction. Rarity kept a careful balance between keeping track of the sining and trying to track their position on her map. After doing this for at least an hour, she came to a very unfortunate discovery; both of them were walking in a giant circle.
That forced frustrated sigh out of her, already making peace with what they were going to have to do. As it stood, there were only two landmarks in the orchard. The first was a massive silo that served no notable purpose. The second was a massive farmhouse surrounded by a few smaller barns. Both of these landmarks were near the heart of the orchard with the farmhouse sitting directly in the middle. Since they hadn't even come across the silo yet, it was obvious that they needed to go further into the haunting forest. A decision that meant heading where the Shadows appeared to be gathered.
Fluttershy seemed to realize this as well, her shoulders slumping as she turned to face the orchard's heart. Letting out a reluctant sigh, Rarity drew her rapier before she made her way towards danger. Fluttershy did the same, puling a pair of hand sickles out from under her cloak, a thin silver chain connecting the weapons by the bottom of their handles.
***
Rarity took cover from behind a tree, blasts of fire and bolts of lightning flying around her from the other side. Three Witnesses giggled from a good distance away from her cover, each of them taking turns taking shots at her. A few trees away, Fluttershy was in an identical position, her pair of enemies firing spears of ice at her between giggle-fits. The second she heard the Witnesses start to laugh together, Rarity bolted out from behind the tree towards them. Before they could resume their onslaught, she pointed her key at the trio and summoned her Persona. With barely a thought, Arachne trapped them in a pillar of ice before she conjured ten floating ice-swords and ran them through. As the frozen Witnesses crumbled along with their prison, Fluttershy made quick work of her own aggressors.
Once the two Witnesses started giggling, Fluttershy summoned Medusa and trapped them in a tornado. Coming out from behind the tree with casual grace, she aimed a cold glare at the confused monsters. Channeling some of her Spirit into one of her sickles, she twirled it over her head like a green-glowing lasso. The weapon let out a high-pitched whistle as she swung it widely towards the cornered Shadows, cutting both of them cleanly in half.
While the Shadows' bodies crumbled away, the two girls regrouped with each other, both sported faint scowls.
"Just how many of those monsters live here?" Rarity growled, sheathing her weapon.
"Too many," Fluttershy sighed, clasping her sickles to her belt.
"Indeed," Medusa grumbled, her snake-hair letting out irritated hisses. "At least the groups are small."
"Considering how one of these demons dealt with my mistress and I, I fail to see that as a blessing," Arachne huffed, crossing her arms."
"Better to fight three than to fight thirty," Medusa countered, aiming a furrowed brow at the spider-woman.
Rarity and Arachne chose not to argue against that, both of them simply rolling their eyes in reluctant acceptance. Fluttershy gave a small giggle to that while her persona simply gave a triumphant smirk. Mumbling under her breath, Rarity dispelled her persona and pulled the map out of her pocket. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Medusa kept watch over their surroundings.
While she wasn't happy about the number of fights they had to get through, she couldn't argue against their progress. In the past hour, they had, had to deal with ten different mobs of Witnesses to reach the halfway point of the orchard. Thankfully, the training the two girls went through made the battles more of a chore than anything else, but that didn't mean the girls were eager to jump into pointless fights. After all, they were here to find one of their friends; not knock down the Shadow population.
Though, I doubt anyone would argue against us doing so, she bitterly mused, starting to get her bearings.
After taking a moment to replenish their Spirit and drink some water, they resumed their march towards the forest's heart. While they walked, Rarity couldn't hold back the dark thoughts nagging at the back of her mind. She knew that Applejack was a strong and very resourceful girl, but she didn't know if that would be enough to last long here. Even with a Persona, the Shadows could be difficult opponents. She shuddered to think where she or Fluttershy would be without Viper's training at this point.
Then, there were the trees themselves.
Every trunk reminded her of the last time she saw Sunset, brining back the guilt she tried to stuff to the back of her mind. It was just as frustrating as it was painful the longer she trekked through the space between the trees. Were it not for Fluttershy, she was sure that she would've snapped from the conflicting feelings.
Pushing all of that to the back of her mind, she tried to keep her ears primed for any signs of the Witness' singing while noting their position on the map. In time, they came to yet another clearing, but this one held something that made them pause. Three Witnesses walked casually around in it, sining their lullaby and occasionally pulling a whole dread fruit into their mouths with long, tentacle-like tongues. Standing in the middle of the clearing was, what looked like, some kind of crudely crafted scarecrow. It stood roughly three feet tall and looked to be crafted from sticks taken from the surrounding trees. Frayed rope held the main body together with a pair of long branches pointing out to the sides in a T-like fashion for its arms. Its head was a burlap sack, bits of hay and dried grass sticking out of a few small holes in random points with a generic smily face painted on with some sort of black slime. The effigy wore a tattered pair of blue overalls and had a withered pink bow set to the back of its head to add to its eery design.
Both girls took in the scene from behind a pair of trees, neither sure what to make of the situation.
"What in the world?" Rarity softly asked.
Not even a second after the words left her mouth, a figure darted into the clearing straight towards one of the Shadows. A sickening crunch echoed through the clearing as the Shadow fell, its main body split open like a mellon and covered with cracks. It was only as the figure stood over the Shadow's body that they could properly identify the attacker.
It was a toned orange girl with long blond hair tied back into a ratty ponytail. She wore a tattered white t-shirt with black blood-stains, both dry and fresh, spattered all across it. Her gray sweatpants and bare feet were in a similar state, the latter covered with thin cuts and small bruises. Held tightly in her right hand was a small rusted sledgehammer, its head soaked in black blood. Though her face was blank and her green eyes held a fury neither girls had ever seen before, there was no way either of them could misidentify who it was that stood before them.
Before the two remaining Shadows had a chance to turn to face her, Applejack fearlessly charged towards them. Two more sickening crunches announced the end of the battle, the victorious girl staring down at the corpses with hate-filled green eyes. She spat on them, then made her way towards the scarecrow, her features softening with each step she took.
"Are ya' okay Applebloom?" she asked, kneeling down to the constructs "eye-level".
A moment of silence.
Applejack let out a relieved sigh, sporting a warm smile as she said, "Thank goodness. You need to be more careful. No tellin' how much longer we're gonna be in this place, y'know?"
Rarity and Fluttershy watched the "exchange" in concerned silence, trading matching glances every few seconds. Glances that quickly turned into terror when one of them stepped on a small branch on the ground. When they looked back out into the clearing, they were met with a pair of cold green eyes. They froze, torn between drawing their weapons and running from their friend. When the malice vanished from Applejack's features, some of their fear receded along with it. Instead, caution crept forth to take its place as the farm girl stood up straight and turned to face them fully.
"Howdy girls," she said, a thin, twitchy smile spreading across her lips.
"H-Hello, darling," Rarity gulped, stepping out into the clearing.
Fluttershy did the same, nervously nodding in greeting.
"Glad to see ya'll are all in one piece," Applejack chuckled. "Was starting to think mah kin was the only ones that ended up here."
"Is that so?" Rarity frowned, carefully studying her friend. "Then, you have not seen anyone else yet?"
She shook her head, a faint tremble going through her body for a second.
"Just you two, Granny, Mac, and Applebloom," she continued, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the scarecrow.
"I...see," Rarity nodded, forcing a small smile. "That...well, at least you have them, right?"
"Yeah," Applejack chuckled, the sound just as stiff as the scarecrow behind her. "Speakin' of, we should start headin' back to the house. It ain't all that safe out here."
"Right," Rarity nodded. "Please, lead the way, darling."
Nodding and holding her stiff smile, Applejack started heading towards the northern side of the clearing and gestured for them to follow her. The duo traded worried frowns before they tailed her, careful to keep their hands close to the handles of their weapons. As they kept a keen eye on their stiff and twitchy friend, they hoped that they wouldn't need to draw them. Even acting the way that she was, they didn't know if they actually could bring themselves to do it in the first place.
With everything Rarity had experienced up to this point, she had simply made peace with the fact that there was always going to be something that was going to surprise her. Awakening in a bizarre hotel run by a woman that looked like an older version of her ex? Shocking, but something she quickly adapted to. Fluttershy turning into a hatchet-wielding sociopath that ate monsters? Something that haunted her dreams for a few days, but she got over it eventually. Almost dying at the hands of a Witness? Nothing more than a spiteful memory now that she can kill three of them in one go. Vomiting up a piece of living monster meat? ....She, admittedly, still needed some work getting over that particular curveball.
Then again, the situation she found herself and Fluttershy being forced to deal with might just be eery enough to take the place of that issue for a while.
Just like the map implied, there was a barn and farmhouse set in the heart of the orchard. That was the only fact about the structures that had been made apparent. The farmhouse was a massive three-story building made entirely of jet black stone. The walls, floorboards, and even the shingles were made pure black onyx that shinned sinisterly in the moon's crimson light. The windows were made of roughly-shaped obsidian instead of normal glass with dread fruit seemingly painted onto them with dried black slime. The front door was a thick rectangular slab decorated the same way as the windows with a black crystal doorknob.
As the trio walked into the house, Rarity caught a brief glance at the barn.
The building in question was made of the same materials as the house, sole difference being the state of its massive double doors. While the house's door was pristine in shape, the barn's was covered with massive dents and devoid of decorations. What truly unnerved her about it was the fact that the dents seemed to be caused by something inside of the barn.
The inside of the farmhouse was equally strange.
Unlike the building itself, the furniture was made of wood and held an eerily identically rustic charm to the Apple's house. They were all in aged, yet pristine condition too, a radical change to the rotten state of the amenities found in the homes from the City of Punishment. One other thing about the furniture quickly stood out to the two girls. Aside from the chairs, all of the furniture appeared to be literally rooted to the ground. Another thing they noticed was that, instead of carpet or flooring, the ground was covered with what looked like a thick layer of soft red and yellow grass.
At the moment, Rarity and Fluttershy sat at a large round table in the dinning room, awkwardly munching on sandwiches. Applejack sat opposite of them munching happily on her own sandwich, completely oblivious to her friends' discomfort. Three scarecrows sat on either side of her, two to her right and one to her left. They were made from the same materials as the one from the clearing, the one sporting a tattered pink bow in its "hair" a perfect replica to the scarecrow in question. The two to her right were bigger, one a whole head taller than the other with a much broader "chest". The bigger one wore a faded and worn plaid shirt under a pair of equally aged overalls. The shorter one had a more hunched posture and wore an aged brown sundress with its "hair" styled into a tight bun.
Fluttershy and Rarity sat in silence, both sporting stiff smiles.
Everyone, human and scarecrow alike, had a plate of food set before them. The meal was nothing spectacular, just simple TV dinners in plastic trays for the scarecrows and sandwiches for the girls with glasses of water for everyone. If Applejack was aware of her friends' discomfort, she didn't show it as she talked with her "family".
That was what unnerved the girls the most about this arrangement.
While they picked at their food, they watched her interact with the effigies. Applejack was speaking animatedly to the scarecrows, nodding and replying to questions that the two girls couldn't hear. What added to the uncomfortable scene was how normal Applejack looked. Were it not for the obvious, the occasional twitch of her head, and the dead haze in her eyes, they never would've known that there was something wrong with her.
As Rarity took a bite from her food, she couldn't shake the sense of deja vu the scene inspired. The fact that Applejack's small sledgehammer was by its owner's plate reinforced that feeling.
Better play along, for now, she mused, taking a sip from her glass.
Not even a second after the thought crossed her mind did Applejack shift her focus to her.
"So, how've you bin doin' out there?" she asked. "Crazy place ain't all that friendly to most folks around here."
Suppressing a flinch, Rarity calmly said, "I've been....surviving. Though, I suppose mine and Fluttershy's situation is better than most."
"What do ya' mean?" Applejack blinked.
Taking a breath, Rarity told Applejack everything about what she had experienced sense awakening in the Abyss. The farmer's hazy eyes drilled into her, checking her for any possible lies. When Fluttershy cut in at points to add her own accounts or confirm Rarity's story, the shy teen would fall under Applejack's piercing gaze. After an hour, the two girls finished both their meal and their story. Applejack stared back and forth between them for a long moment, then let out a tired sigh as she fell back in her seat with her eyes closed.
"That's quite a lot to take," she frowned, eyes still closed as she crossed her arms. "A crazy hotel run by some Sunset clone. Shadows? Personas? Ah'd call ya' nutty if'n Ah wasn't already knee-deep in it."
"So...are you going to come with us?" Fluttershy asked, a tiny flicker of hope filling her nervous tone.
Before she could answer, Applejack's entire body froze. A second later, the empty glaze in her eyes became more pronounced and her face void of emotion. Next, her body twitched at random points, like some invisible force was zapping her with small controlled shocks. Just as suddenly as it came, the episode ended, Applejack blinking as if she had just woke up from a daydream and gave them an empty smile.
"Ah'd love to girls," she said, tone dreamy and distant. "But Ah need to protect mah home. Ah'm needed here."
"B-But Applejack-" Fluttershy started, only to be cut off by a hand on her shoulder from Rarity.
"We understand, dear," Rarity cut in, fake smile spread thin across her lips. "This is your home. It would be insensitive of us to try to force you to leave if you feel that you are needed."
While she said that, she gave a subtle look at Fluttershy and equally discreet nod towards Applejack's weapon. Catching on, Fluttershy gnawed on her lower lip with a faint nod.
"That being said," Rarity continued. "The journey here was quite taxing."
"Say no more," Applejack chuckled. "We've got more than enough room fer the two of ya'."
"Are you sure, darling?" she blinked. "I would hate to impose."
"Now don't give me any of that hogwash," Applejack snorted. "The Abyss is all kinds'a bad news and Ah ain't gonna leave ya'll in the lurch."
"Thank you very much," Rarity smiled, nodding in acceptance. "We will try not to be a burden while we are here."
"Think nothin' of it," she chuckled, rising from her seat. "Now, let's get some pie!"
Both girls offered her a nod as she made her way towards the kitchen. The second their hostess was out sight, Fluttershy gave her friend a face full of terrified worry.
"What do we do?" she whisper-yelled.
"I...am still working on that," Rarity gulped, the worry she was hiding finally coming to the surface. "For now, we should just play along and see just how far her...delusions extend."
"Will that help us snap her out of it?" she pressed.
"Hopefully," she sighed.
Before their conversation could move beyond that, Applejack came back. What she happily set down onto the table made the two girls' stomachs lurch. In general shape, the pie looked normal enough, but that was where the similarities ended. The crust was an ugly acid green with thick black juice oozing through a few cracks in its surface. A rancid burning-meat smell came off of it like a rotted miasma.
Either ignorant to or ignoring the disgusting features of the thing she put onto the table, Applejack hummed merrily to herself as she started cutting into it. When she expertly lifted a generously sized slice out of the tin, chunks of blood-red apple slices could be seen floating in the pie's black gelatinous filling. After she lowered the slice onto her plate, she went to serve her friends as well, only to be stopped by shaky rejections.
"Are ya' sure?" she asked, putting a slice onto each of the scarecrows' plates.
"Very much so," Rarity nodded, her face turning a shade of green.
"I-I'm full," Fluttershy forced out, her face equally discolored.
"Ya'll do look a little out of it," she nodded, retaking her seat. Maybe ya'll should go lie down for a bit."
Both girls nodded, stood up sharply, and nearly ran to the living room. Watching them go, she shrugged, then dug into her dessert.
***
Rarity laid on her offered bed, face blank as she stared at the ceiling of her guest room. The shadows hid the sparse furnishings in the room, each of them growing out of the floor. Silence dominated the room just as heavily as the shadows, but the same could not be said for Rarity's mind. While she stared at the ceiling, her mind was running through everything she knew so far.
It was clear that Applejack had been eating dread fruit, just like Fluttershy had been eating Shadow meat before she found her. That alone made things a little more complicated, but not in the same way as when she found her shy friend. While Fluttershy was clearly not in sound mind when she found her, Applejack seemed to be mostly lucid. As if she had managed to mix her normal routine from Earth with what she needed to do to survive here. In a lot of ways, that act of normalcy was even more unnerving than the cold-blooded cruelty Fluttershy had when she found her.
Before she could let her mind wander further down that unwanted memory, a soft knock at her door caught her attention.
Sitting up, she turned her head towards the door, cleared her throat and softly called, "Yes? Who is it?"
"I-It's me," a soft voice replied. "C-C-Can I come in?"
Her lips slid into a small smile.
"Of course, darling. Come on in."
After a short moment of silence, a soft click broke it as the door faintly creaked open. Fluttershy quickly shuffled in, but was much more careful when she closed the door behind herself. Like Rarity, she was no longer wearing her cloak, weapon, or equipment belt, both tools likely hanging on a coat hanger in her own room like Rarity's were. The girl wore a form-fitting green t-shirt, light brown jeans, and simple gray tennis shoes with a few butterflies printed on them.
Rarity sat up fully to face her friend, said girl looking at her with nervous eyes.
"You couldn't sleep either?" Rarity sighed, motioning for her friend to sit next to her.
Fluttershy nodded, gracefully accepting the offered seat.
Silence settled between them, one patiently waiting for the other for find her voice. When Fluttershy found it, it came with a brittle tremble.
"What do we do, now?"
Rarity let out a tired sigh, staring up at the ceiling in thought.
"I was wondering the same thing, darling. This is a completely different situation from when..."
She grimaced, giving a concerned frown to her friend.
Fluttershy looked away, a deep sadness heavy in her features.
"I'm sorry," Rarity sighed, looking away. "I'm sure that you would rather I...didn't mention that."
Another moment of silence passed between them before Fluttershy broke it with a question.
"Was it like this for you when you found me?"
"What do you mean?" she blinked.
Fluttershy brought her knees up to her chest, holding them tight and trembling as she stared into the distance.
"At the table, it was like I was watching someone pretending to be her. Like some stranger was wearing her face. Then there was her eyes. Every time I saw them, they looked so dead and empty.When she stared at me I...felt like she was trying to look into my soul."
Trembling, she turned her head towards Rarity with terrified eyes and asked, "Was I like that when you found me?"
Rarity didn't answer. She couldn't. Instead, she scooted over and pulled her curled and shaken friend into a gentle hug. Fluttershy leaned into it, already knowing the answer to her question.
After some time, the two friends pulled out of the hug with better states of mind.
A minute later, Rarity voiced her thoughts.
"The first thing we need to do is figure out how to bring her back to us."
"How do we do that?" Fluttershy blinked.
"I haven't the foggiest clue," she sighed. "With you, it just seemed to happen."
Fluttershy thought about that, trying to remember how she came back all those days ago. Try as she might, all she could recall was a hazy sense of emptiness. Like she was floating in a dark void too deep for anything to hurt her. She remembered faintly hearing the cries of her enemies, but those memories were fragmented and muffled. The only memories that were clear were when she was cooking, eating, and bathing, all of it with Angel within reach. She remembered all of the encouraging whispers of her weapon, whispers she now knew came from the void that drowned her mind. She was at peace in the dark. She was safe.
Then Rarity came and a bright light cut through the darkness. From that light, a new sense of peace came to her. When she came back, she wanted to stay safely in that light her friend created. While the void did try to pull her back into its hold, the safety her friend's light promised was just enough to help her fend it off.
Nodding to herself, Fluttershy said, "She feels safe here."
"Pardon?" Rarity blinked.
Giving her friend a determined frown she continued.
"When I was...gone , all I cared about was being safe, even if that meant becoming a monster. I think Applejack is going through the same thing."
"That, does make sense," Rarity mused, massaging her chin in thought. "Applejack would find comfort with her family and this orchard is fairly similar to Sweet Apple Acres. After eating a few Dread Fruits, I could see her trying to have some sense of normalcy."
"I...think she may have eaten more than just a few ," Fluttershy grimaced, face turning a bit green. "She...is strong enough to kill Witnesses without a Persona."
"Right," Rarity nodded, her face also taking a faint verdant shade. "Viper did say they give people a power boost."
Both girls let out disgusted sounds, eager to push that particular thought to the back of their minds.
She will not be happy when she has to purge all of that out of herself.
"Coming back to what you were saying," Rarity said, clearing her throat. "Are you saying that I made you feel... safe?"
Fluttershy blushed, staring down at the ground with a sheepish nod.
"I-I think that...m-maybe if we....convince her that she would be safe at the hotel, then...maybe she'll snap out of it."
"I see," Rarity nodded, choosing to ignore her friend's mild frazzling. "Though that may be easier said than done."
"Right," Fluttershy wilted, remembering just how stubborn the farm girl could be even on her best days.
A bold smile spread across Rarity's lips as she added, "But at least now we have an idea of how we can move forward."
Fluttershy gave her a smaller, yet equally determined smile. For the two girls, a tiny ember of hope started to spark within them. They knew that an uphill battle awaited them in the morning, but it was one that they were more than ready to face.
At the start of the rise of the red moon, Applejack's internal clock slowly roused her from her sleep. With a yawn and overhead stretch, she sat herself up in her bed. Slowly blinking sleep out of her eyes, she took in her surroundings with a dreamy smile.
In addition to the bare necessities, countless photo frames of varying sizes and shapes covered the walls. Each one housed a photo of some kind of family event. Everywhere she looked, smiling faces and happy memories greeted her. She chuckled, getting out of bed to start the day. As she stretched herself out fully, her pjs turned into a red and green flannel shirt and freshly washed pair of blue work overalls. With just a step, a pair of used, but very sturdy brown leather boot appeared on her feet. Humming a small tune to herself, she sat herself down at an aged vanity to brush her hair, her own smiling reflection greeting her from its mirror. Not once did she break eye-contact with her reflection, moving a brush through her hair on pure autopilot. After tying her hair back, she reached for something on the vanity table, only to be met with empty air. That was what it took to get her to break her staring contest with the mirror, brow furrowed in confusion as she gazed at the space in question.
"Where's mah hat?" she mused.
Suddenly, a sharp whistling filled the air. Her eyes widened, the whole room seemingly flickering around her between two different versions of itself. The photos on the walls flickered briefly into rotted and broken frames devoid of pictures. The furniture was cracked or completely destroyed, seemingly smashed by something heavy. The vanity and bed were the only things that avoided the onslaught, the former escaping with a badly cracked mirror and the latter sporting a large chunk of missing headboard. In the mirror, Applejack saw dozens of reflections of herself staring back at her, each screaming for her to wake up. Her head twitched, then everything returned to normal, complete with a familiar brown stetson hat on her head.
Smiling in satisfaction at her reflection, she stood up and made her way towards her bedroom door. On the way out, she napped a now trusty small sledgehammer. A cool breeze greeted her when she stepped out of the room into an open hallway. Though it took some getting used to, the odd traits of her new shelter were just similar enough to her home to make it easier for her to digest. That, combined with the abundance of fresh apples added to the girl's acceptance of her situation.
OF course, these were not the only things that convinced her to stay.
When she closed the door behind her, she was greeted by a happy call from further down the hall. Chuckling, she turned towards its source with a small smile. Smiling back at her from further down the hall, was none other than her dear sister, Applebloom.
"Howdy Bloom," she chuckled, closing the distance. "Get a goodnight's sleep?"
"Like a log," Applebloom beamed. "you?"
"Same," she nodded. "Ready for a long day of work?"
Applebloom enthusiastically nodded, earning a small chuckle out of the older Apple.
"Good ta' see. Are Rarity and Fluttershy up yet?"
The second the words left her mouth, the whole hall started to flicker. While the hall in question remained mostly unchanged, the same couldn't be said for Applebloom. The young girl's form switched back and forth between her normal smiling self and a sloppily crafted scarecrow wearing her clothes and bow. She heard herself screaming at her to wake up from somewhere in the distance. She twitched, then everything went back to normal, both girls acting as if nothing strange had just happened.
"Ah don't know," Applebloom shrugged. "Maybe you should go check on them."
"Alright," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Can't have 'em sleepin' through breakfast."
"Right!" Applebloom chirped. "Ah'll meet ya' downstairs."
"Alright," she chuckled, moving past the excitable girl. "See ya in a few."
"See ya' sis," she giggled.
The second Applejack passed her, the young girl's presence completely vanished.
A faint twitch of her head was all it took for her to forget about that, her march towards the guest rooms further down the hall taking up most of her attention. After some breakfast, she was sure that today's workload was going to be a lot less heavy for her. With her friends backing her up, she was sure that was going to be the case. If she was lucky, maybe they would decide to make that a more permanent arrangement.
She was sure her family wouldn't have any arguments against that.
***
Rarity stared blankly at the pig pen, struggling to make some level of sense out of what she was supposed to do.
After breakfast, Applejack had given her and Fluttershy their own tasks for the day. While Applejack assigned herself patrol duty to keep the Shadows away from the farm, Rarity and Fluttershy were made to work on the pig pen and chicken coop respectively. Naturally, Rarity's first impulse was to object, but her talk with Fluttershy the previous night gave her the power needed to hold her tongue.
When she was guided by her farm girl friend to her fate, she was left more perplexed than worried.
The pen was a made up of a smaller version of the farm house surrounded by a frail wooden fence. The land was dry and covered with deep cracks as if some giant slammed a huge hammer into it. The "pigs" were barrels laying on their sides with four sticks lifting them about two inches off of the ground. There were seven "pigs" total in the pen, each standing in random places in its confines.
Clearly ignorant to the truth of the situation, Applejack handed Rarity a large withered sack and told her to pour some of its contents into a feeding troth by the door as well as a few other pointless tasks. After warning her not to let any of the pigs escape, she gestured for Fluttershy to follower her as she made her exit. Fluttershy and Rarity traded uneasy looks before the shy teen followed after their friend. This left Rarity standing by the pen, holding a large heavy sack, and looking as lost as a woman dumped in the middle of a vast desert.
Not sure of what else she could do, she entered the pen and made her way towards the troth. When she reached the rusty container, she instantly reeled back by what it contained.
Thick, oily slime sat in the rectangular tub, with brown bits of what looked like bones floating on its surface. Every few seconds, a bubble would slowly float to the surface, lazily pop, and release a faint gray gas. In spite of that, the odd substance gave off no oder, a relief to Rarity, even if it was a fleeting one.
Holding back her urge to gag, she opened the bag and heaved its contents into the troth. The second she did so, she was greeted by a smell so horrible, she dropped the now half-full bag next to the troth and hurled a couple feet away from it. After taking a minute to catch her breath, she cautiously looked back to see just what kind of vile concoction she had added to the sludge.
Floating in the scentless gunk and littering the floor were dozens of half-eaten dread fruits. Not only that, but cores, skins, and molded leftovers of regular food also drifted through the filth. The sight alone put a chill down Rarity's spine with the smell only adding to her unease. It was as if she was staring at some sort of rancid offering to a twisted alter. A gift to some kind of god of rot and decay.
Forcing back such unpleasant thoughts, she hefted up the bag, looked away, and dumped the rest of its contents into the troth. Glad to be done with her duty, she threw the bag out of the pen. Before she could make her own exit, she begrudgingly noticed that a few dread fruit had landed on the ground. Her first thought was to leave them were they lay, but the thought of how Applejack may react to that made her change her mind.
Letting out a defeated sigh, started picking up the fallen fruit.
As she did, she started taking brief moments to examine them in greater detail. Be it morbid fascination or just general curiosity, she couldn't help examining the twisted things. Under their foul flesh, they didn't look that different from regular apples. Sure, the red innards were off-putting, but a few cautious pokes with her nail showed that they at least felt like regular apple pulp. The smell was the most curious part; having an odd mix of maple syrup and moist grass instead of burning meat. It also lacked the black sap she saw its more pristine counterparts expel in the forest.
Was that the source of the smell? she mused, turning the half-eaten fruit in her hand. Why would it need to let out such a repulsive substance? It certainly does not make the it more appetizing, so why?
The longer she stared at the fruit, nagging thought pulled at the back of her mind. A question that subtly, at an extremely slow pace, brought the fruit closer to her face. As the question drifted to the front of her mind, a light trance made her open her mouth. While the smell of maple syrup and moist grass started to grow, a faint haze started to fill her vision.
What does it taste like?
Just before she could get her answer, a sharp jab at the back her mind snapped her out of her trance. Blinking the haze out of her eyes, she looked down at the fruit in her hand just inches away from her open mouth. Eyes wide with panic, she snapped her mouth shut and threw the fruit into the troth. Terror taking control of the body, she ran out of the pen and slammed the door behind her. For several long minutes, she stood there with her back to the troth, frightful pants and wild shudders running thorough her body. When she eventually turned to face the pen, it was while hugging herself in a feeble attempt to dull her shaking.
W-We need to more careful than I thought , she grimly mused.
A sudden realization made her freeze, extreme worry knocking her fear to the curve with savage brutality. Her head snapped towards the direction her friends went, eyes wide while her arms fell limply to her sides. She ran full speed in that direction, a cold stone sitting in her gut over what she hoped she wouldn't see.Oh, God, please let me reach her in time!
***
Fluttershy's heart was pounding in her chest, the girl curled in on herself and trembling just outside of an aged chicken coop. A half-empty burlap sack laid beside her, birdseed mixed with moldy bits of dread fruit leaking into a small pile next to its opening.
She was clutching the sides of her head, eyes wide and distant while she rocked back and forth on the ground. Her mind felt like it was trying to pull itself in half, one part of her tempted to give-in to the promises the dread fruit offered while the other was repulsed by even the idea of accepting. Both sides were at an agonizing standstill that pushed a terrible migraine into her skull. A static-like buzzing filled her ears as the pain gradually grew and spread to her other senses. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to see. It hurt to think. She couldn't take it.
"I'm.....going to.....break....." she weakly moaned. "....someone......help...."
As if summoned by her words, a familiar terrified voice cut through the buzzing in her ears. She looked up just in time to see Rarity kneel down to her level. The second their eyes met, the pain started to reside, a numb tingle quickly taking its place. Upon her friend's gentle urging, Fluttershy focused on slowing her ragged breathing. As she did, she felt her heart go from thundering in her chest, to a soft rhythmic beat. Slowly, the dark voices slithered back to the deepest recesses of her mind, her panic quickly turning into drowsy relief.
"Are you alright now?" Rarity asked, worry still plain to see as she put a hand on her friend's forehead.
Fluttershy nodded, gently pushing the girl's hand back with a small smile.
"Th-Thank you," Fluttershy sighed.
"Anytime, darling," she smiled.
With shaky legs, Fluttershy let her friend guide her back to her feet. Once she found her footing, Fluttershy aimed a leery stare at the bag of bird feed. Rarity did the same, already aware of the bits of dread fruit scattered around it.
"What happened?" Rarity asked, glaring at the bag.
"Applejack handed me that bag and told me to feed the chickens," Fluttershy frowned, eyes still locked onto the sack. "I was filling the feeders when I noticed the...fruit mixed in."
"Did you eat any of it?" she asked, looking away from the feed to give the girl a look of worry.
"No," she stated, a shaky breath falling past her lips. "B-But it.....made me want to."
Seeing the girl start to shake, Rarity quickly came to her side and pulled her into a soft hug.
"This is going to be a lot more difficult than we thought," she sighed.
Fluttershy nodded, letting her friend's warmth pull her back from the void.
"Did...Did you bring any Tonics with you?" the shy girl asked, meeting her friend's gaze.
"Um...well," Rarity fumbled, unable to do the same for very long.
"Rarity, " she sighed.
"To be fair," she frowned. "How was I supposed to know that she adds dread fruit to her animal food?"
Fluttershy gently pulled herself out of Rarity's embrace with a flat look.
The yellow teen let out a sigh then said, "Right. I didn't think about that either."
"So, now we should make sure to keep at least one on us at all times. Agreed?"
"Yes," Fluttershy nodded, then gave the bag a cautious stare. "So....can you-"
"Say no more," Rarity snorted, trying to glare a hole through the bag. "The sooner we end this, the sooner we can return to the house for our Tonics."
"And we can....keep an eye on each other," Fluttershy gulped.
"My thoughts exactly," she nodded grimly. "Now, shall we?"
Fluttershy nodded and reluctantly bent down to pick up the sack. The duo worked to fill the feeders in silence, putting all of their focus into resisting the subtle influence of the fruit. Unbeknownst to them, a pair of green eyes watched them from the shadows of the orchard, the occasional twitch of the figure's head the only sign that she was not just another scarecrow dotting the land. After watching them for a few more minutes, she let out a disappointed sigh, mimed adjusting a hat, and made her way towards the farmhouse. Perhaps tomorrow would have better results. After all, it was only a matter of time before they saw things her way.
After the near disaster that was the first day on the farm, Fluttershy and Rarity refused to let their guards down. Every morning, they made sure they didn't leave their rooms without their Tonics and they kept as much distance as they could from anything that had dread fruit in it. A task that was significantly easier than one would think, given the effect the twisted fruit had on anything it was added to.
As each day passed, one thing in particular gradually became more unnerving than the fruit.
It turned out that Applejack had built her scarecrows in quite a few locations throughout the farmhouse. Eerily enough, the same could be said about the land surrounding it, to some degree. In seemingly random locations and rooms in the farmhouse, one or more of the scarecrows would be arranged in various scenes. One was placed in a hallway near the main bedrooms dressed like Applebloom with an "arm" up in greeting. The living room had a scarecrow version of each of Applejack's family sitting in chairs. The three in the dining room from their first day in the house remained were they sat.
Adding a chill down their spines was seeing how Applejack reacted to the effigies.
Every single time they saw her interact with them, she would reenact the exact same conversations and routines. The only deviations that they noticed was how she would add one or both of them to the performance. If either of her friends said or did anything different from the previous interaction, her head would twitch and then she would somehow weave the difference into the scene.
Another thing they noticed was how much she pushed them to try her baking.
Normally, that wouldn't be that much or a problem, but it was obvious what was being used to make her pies. Even with their Tonics, they didn't want to risk being put under the same spell as their friend. The fact that they were too repulsive to even look at only added to their revulsion. Fortunately, Applejack would always let the rejection go with a shrug before greedily digging into her creations on her own.
While the farm girl inhaled her pie, the two girls retreated to Rarity's room. While Fluttershy sat on her friend's bed, Rarity paced the room, gnawing on her thumbnail in thought.
"It is obvious that the scarecrows are a key part of her delusions," Rarity mused, continuing her pacing.
Fluttershy nodded, watching her friend with a tired frown.
"As such," she continued. "I believe the first thing we need to do is find a way to get rid of them."
"I...agree," Fluttershy reluctantly nodded. "But, how do we do it? If she really thinks that the scarecrows are her family..."
Both girls shuddered, neither of them eager to cross their unstable friend.
Since they came to the farm, there were a few instances were Witnesses came onto the property. Every time they came, they would meet their end by the farm girl's hammer. She would become even more vicious if the Shadows came near a scarecrow.
"W....We may not have any other choice." Rarity gulped. "As it stands, nothing short of destroying the farm could convince Applejack to leave."
"Right," Fluttershy sighed.
"Besides," she added, a small smirk slowly forming on her lips. "I didn't say that we were going to get rid of them all at once."
"Oh?" Fluttershy blinked.
Still smirking, she turned to face her friend fully.
"Not only would doing that be risky, it would be next to impossible to pull off in a timely manner."
Fluttershy nodded, eager to see where her friend was going with this.
"As such, I believe the best approach would be to remove them gradually, starting with the ones outside of the house and working our way back."
"That....might work," Fluttershy nodded, hope slowly creeping into her eyes. "But, how are we going to do this? I mean, Applejack patrols the farm regularly to keep out Shadows. If she sees one of us..."
"Not at night," Rarity pointed out, her smirk growing slightly. "I've noticed that she never comes out of her room until about an hour before moonrise. That should give us plenty of time to complete our mission."
"B-But the Shadows are more aggressive at night!" she gulped.
"Yes," she nodded, her smile shifting into an uneasy frown as she added, "Though, for some reason, they never attack here at night."
"They...don't?" she asked. "Why?"
"I do not know for sure," Rarity mused. "But I think....the barn might have something to do with it."
***
Pure darkness covered the land, the eery silence adding to the dead feel of the world. That alone was enough to put Fluttershy and Rarity on edge. The two girls progressed at a slow rate, holding hands for both comfort and to keep each other from getting separated. At the same time, their Personas guided them through the dark.
Even at after all this time, it was still an odd feeling for them. It was like having a living being watching the world from the back of their minds. They still flinched every now and then when their Personas talked to them or answered when they talked to themselves. The truly odd feeling was how their Personas could guide them towards something. If they were to put the feeling into words, it was as if they were being subconsciously pulled towards something. This, combined with more direct navigation from the beings gave them an almost perfect internal radar.
While this ability was a mere curiosity or perk at the start, now it was proving to be a massive boon for the two girls. Slowly, guided by the pull of their Personas, they closed in on their first scarecrow. Groping at the construct, they quickly discovered that it was one of the "Appleblooms". They both drew their weapons and carefully cut at the bindings holding it together. At the same time, they made sure to keep an ear up for any footsteps or humming. Aside from their own occasional footsteps or the sounds of wood and fabric falling to the ground, there were no breaks in the unnatural silence that surrounded them.
Once the scarecrow was completely taken apart, each of them gathered up as many parts as they could, sheathed their weapons, and made their way towards the tree-line. As soon as they got as close as they would dare, they threw the branches back into the forest beyond. Not wanting to test the nerve of the Shadows, the two girls quickly distanced themselves from the boarder.
With clothing in one hand, the two held hands and made their way back towards the farmhouse. A small, hopeful smile spread across Rarity's lips, her grip on the cloth in her hand tightening slightly.
One down, ninety-nine more to go.
***
Applejack let out a yawn, the red shine of the moon filtering through the kitchen windows. While she worked on getting breakfast ready for her family and friends, her mind wandered slightly. She didn't know what it was, but she felt as if something was wrong. She felt restless, as if something was missing or taken from her and she needed to get it back. This feeling had hit her the second she woke up that morning and continued to eat at her from the back of her mind all the way to the present.
She asked Applebloom if she had noticed that anything was missing, the girl told her she hadn't, but agreed that something didn't feel right. She briefly wondered if her friends had done something, then killed that line of thought just as quickly as it was birthed. There was no way Fluttershy or Rarity would do anything like that to her. She trusted them just as much as she knew they trusted her. At the same time...
Maybe some varmint snuck onto the farm, she mused, yawning into her palm. Might need ta' start doublin' mah patrols now.
Putting a metaphorical pin in that, she loaded up some pan-fried instant waffles onto some plates. Carrying one in each hand, she gave her brother and grandmother smiling nods of greeting before she set their breakfast down onto the table in front of them. She did the same with Applebloom when she brought her plate, rustling the younger Apple's hair as she went back to get her's and her friends' food. Once everything was all set, she went off to go get her friends for breakfast.
"C'mon ya'll!" she merrily called, banging loudly on two doors in the hall of guest rooms.
She chuckled when she heard a pair of groans, one fainter than the other and each from one of the two rooms. A part of her couldn't understand how they hadn't gotten used to the hours in this house at this point. She knew her friends weren't morning people, but she was sure that they would've adapted by now.
After a few minutes, Rarity and Fluttershy staggered out of their rooms.
Both girls were dressed sloppily and sported tired scowls, Rarity's holding a bit more venom than Fluttershy's, but they both managed to force a small thin smile to take their places. Applejack gave them a nod in greeting, a cocky smirk hiding her own exhaustion. They returned the gesture, yawning and mumbling softly under their breaths as they staggered past her. Applebloom watched the whole thing from the other end of the hall, giggling and shaking her head. Applejack rolled her eyes in agreement, turning to follow her friends back towards the kitchen.
Weird feeling or not, she and her friends still had a lot of work to do. Maybe it would be enough to help her forget about it. Maybe. Hopefully....
***
"Ah need to get out. Ah need to wake up. Please. Help me wake up. Rarity. Fluttershy....Please.....help me."
A female voice echoed out into the void, a warm embrace holding her close. Applejack had no idea who was holding her, nor could she hear her words, but they continued to ease her pain. The darkness kept her trapped, her body's actions visible to her in dreams. In her waking nightmare, all she could do was try to push forward when she could and pray. Pray that her friends could help her break free. Pray that they could help her wake up.
Pray that she could come back to her body.
Pray that she would not turn into a hollow husk.
Pray that she wouldn't become a lie.
That she wouldn't become just like the scarecrows.
Tears ran down her face as she curled in on herself, clutching onto the invisible figure for dear life.
"Ah'm scared. Please.....Ah don't want ta' be trapped here. Please.....save me."
Ch.15 Cracks in the Dream
For two weeks, Rarity and Fluttershy continued to whittle away at Applejack's scarecrow "family". While they went about it, Applejack's feeling that something was wrong steadily grew. It ate at the back of her mind at all hours, chipping away at her already fraying peace. By the start of the third week, all three girls were on edge, waiting for something to finally snap. A wait that Rarity was pretty sure she wasn't going to have to keep for that much longer.
She had no idea just how right she was.
She kept her ears and weapon primed as she crept through the house. Fluttershy was doing the same, her weapons lightly trembling in her grip. After having taken care of all of the scarecrows outside of the house, now came the true nerve-wracking work. While each of the scarecrows outside were usually alone, the ones in the house were mostly in groups of three. This meant that, if they wanted to avoid suspicion, they needed to dispose of each trio at a time. Clearing out the living room and getting rid of the Applebloom in the hall the last couple of days took so much time, they were almost caught.
The two of them went to work quietly disassembling the scarecrows in the dining room. Every now and then, a faint creak would make them pause for a moment before they went back to work. While the "Applebloom" didn't take too long to take apart, the "Big Mac" and "Granny Smith" were more complicated.
Almost done, Rarity mused, using the edge of her rapier to cut next to a stubborn knot of rope. Just a few more ropes and it will all be over.
Sure enough, a few more cuts was all it took to do the deed. A second later, she quickly held the bundle together herself to keep them all from clattering to the ground. Slowly, both of them worked together to ease the, now loose, cluster of twigs and branches onto the kitchen floor. Taking a minute to hear for any breaks in the silence, they shifted their focus to the "Big Mac" to repeat the process.
Trading subtle nods, each of them went to deal with the last part of their task. Rarity quickly folded up the clothing that were used on the scarecrows and crept back up to the second floor to store them in what appeared to be this world's version of Applebloom's, Big Mac's, and Applebloom's rooms. Meanwhile, Fluttershy disposed of the wood the same way they had done the past few nights before. After what felt like an hour, Rarity completed her task and came down to help Fluttershy with her own. She was relieved to see that said task was about half-way done, the stress of their situation already starting to eat at her.
She quickly and quietly made her way into the dining room and grabbed a good-sized bundle of branched. When she stood up, a sudden chill froze her in place. A quick glance at Fluttershy added to her dread, the girl standing a couple feet in front of her staring at something behind her with wide terrified eyes. Slowly, Rarity turned, praying that her guess was wrong about what she was going to see. The prayer went unanswered as her sapphire eyes met a pair or wide, unsteady, green ones.
Applejack stood at the opening into the dining room, body unnaturally still as her eyes drilled into them. Her hand-sledge was held in a white-knuckle grip at her side. Rarity flinched back a step when Applejack's head twitched, the action seeming to hold a bit of barely restrained malice.
Slowly, Rarity reached for her key, not once taking her eyes off of her unstable friend.
"A-Applejack," she gulped. "I...I know this looks bad, but you need to listen."
Applejack gave no signs that she heard her. Aside from the occasional sharp twitch of her head, she gave no sign that she was even alive. Rolling the dice, Rarity pressed on, hoping that she could get through to her.
"I...know this is all a lot for you, dear, but you need to face facts. These dolls you made are not your family. This place is not home. It is all just an illusion you built to feel safe."
"Sh-She's right," Fluttershy chimed in, a small frown pulling on her lips. "Y-You may not believe me, but...I know exactly what you are going through. I know how much better it may feel to just...let yourself get swallowed up by this place, but you can't let it happen! You need to wake up Applejack! And...If you can't do it on your own...."
Her eyes briefly flicked down to the now scattered scarecrows before they met Applejack's, now with a determined fire shinning in them.
"Then we're going to help you do it ourselves!"
For a long moment, neither person added to that, a heavy silence surrounding them like a thick fog. Rarity and Fluttershy both held their guard, the later silently praying that one of them had managed to get through to her. When Applejack eventually broke the silence, she added a sickening chill to the room that make her friends wish she hadn't.
"Who are ya' people? What did ya' do to Rarity and Fluttershy?"
"W-What?" Rarity blinked, taken aback.
"Flutters and Rares would never do this," she growled, whole body trembling with fury. "They ain't murderers. Did ya' kill 'em too? Tell me."
She took a step towards them, teeth bared as the rage within became visible.
"Tell me," she repeated, scaring the duo into taking a couple steps back from her.
"TELL ME!"
With that last roar, she raised her hammer and charged.
Their training took over, letting them dodge the girl's opening attack by just a hair. Not wanting to test their luck in the house's confines, they tackled the door open into the inky darkness beyond. After they gave the building a good twenty-feet of space, they turned and summoned their personas. Instantly, they could see their surroundings as clear as day, the glow from their persons' aura giving their location to anything in the dark. Applejack's eyes locked onto them, pure hatred covering her face like a bestial mask.
She darted towards Fluttershy with an animalistic roar, closing the distance in a literal blink. Terror flashed onto Fluttershy's face as her friend raised her hammer. Medusa knocked the raging farmer back with a blast of wind, lips pulled into a worried frown while she and her mistress watched her hit the ground hard. Rarity didn't get to take in the scene for long, before Applejack jumped to her feet and shifted her focus to her. She pointed her palm at Applejack and a blast of freezing air shot from her persona's palm towards the raging girl.
At speeds beyond anything either girl thought possible, Applejack side-stepped the attack and bolted towards Rarity. She tried to take a swing at her with her hammer, but a quick parry from her rapier managed to redirect it just enough to avoid a hit. Rarity jumped back and pointed her palm at her attacker. A second later, an ice pillar roughly seven feet high sprouted from the ground and encased Applejack's armed arm before she could raise it again to attack.
Applejack looked back and forth between the two girls, eyes wild and teeth bared like a savage beast. Furious animalistic roars and screams filled the air as she tried to pull herself free. When that didn't work, she started clawing at the pillar with her free hand, then biting it like a trapped animal.
It was only a matter of seconds when blood started to stain her fingertips, sending more terror into her friend's souls. Rarity heard Fluttershy say something, but it was pushed to the back of her mind. The second Applejack reared her free hand to punch the pillar, Rarity trapped it in a pillar as well. Applejack's scream of fury grew louder, more primal the second her arm was trapped.
Rarity gasped, suddenly feeling an intense strain puling at her core. She could feel Applejack's strength start to take its toll on her spell, a few thin cracks starting to form on the pillars. She dropped her weapon, aiming both of her palms at the bound girl to force more of her Spirit Energy into the spell holding her in place.
"Medusa!" Fluttershy cried, pointing at Applejack. "Do it now!"
"Yesssss," the persona nodded, quickly slithering in front of Applejack.
Applejack continued to struggle, screaming and howling. When she saw Medusa, she lunged forward as much as she could to take a bite out of her face, but came just short. Before the girl could look away, Medusa pulled down her blindfold. Gold, reptilian eyes met maddened green ones and Applejack froze. Every part of her was locked in place, her body, her mind, everything was bound. Her rage was frozen, but not by fear. It was there, but it wasn't the focal point of her being. It was a side note compared to the persona's eyes. She wanted to see them; needed to see them. There was nothing that she wanted to do beyond this simple act.
While she was distracted, Fluttershy staggered towards her and pulled a small glass bottle out of her pocket. Rarity watched her, worry almost distracting her from her own duties, but a soft crack from the pillars recentered her focus. Forcing back the strain using her persona's hidden ability, she gently held open Applejack's mouth, bit the cork out of the bottle, and poured a single drop of glowing white liquid down the girl's throat.
She staggered back, recorking the bottle, she mentally told Medusa to cover her eyes. With a nod, the persona obeyed before she returned to her mistress's side.
The second the trance ended, pure panic and confusion formed on Applejack's face. Rapid pants fell out of the girl, her eyes looking around frantically for something neither girls could see. Small delirious whimpers came out of her with her frantic breaths for a few minutes before she threw her head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream. A scream that turned wet as black sludge poured out of her mouth. Oily black tears ran down her face as well, fear and agony decorating her features. She lurched forward, puking and crying more of the black sludge onto the ground.
Fluttershy and Rarity watched the whole thing with tears of their own, their hearts breaking at what they were witnessing.
They watched for hours, Applejack's strength seeming to bleed out of her along with the rancid black slime below her. The first rays of red moonlight started to crest the horizon before the purging slowed. Between expulsions, the girl tiredly muttered something almost too softly for her friends to hear. When the cleansing was finally over and the red moon hung high above them, Applejack's words clear to them before she passed out.
"Ah...need to wake up.....don't want......to be...........a.........lie."
With a flicker of hope in their hearts, they made to take a step towards their weakened friend, but were halted by their personas. Remembering the toxic pool surrounding their friend, they let their persona's dispose of it with a pulse of frozen and healing magic. With the danger gone, the two girls ran to their haggard friend's side.
Rarity slowly dropped her spell and helped Fluttershy ease Applejack down onto the ground. Rarity watched with worry and hope as the girl immediately went to work, a light green aura surrounding both her hands and Applejack's body. Little by little, the wounds to Applejack's hands started to fade away. All the while, slow, shaky breaths rattled Applejack's body.
Neither girl said anything, both too invested in their current task.
After a few long minutes, Applejack's eyes slowly fluttered open.
"R...Rares?" she croaked out, gaze hazy with exhaustion. "Is....Is that you? Really you?"
"Yes, darling," Rarity smiled, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "i'm here. We both are."
She let out small, tired chuckle, eyes slowly drifting shut as her exhaustion started to claim her.
"Ah'm back....Ah'm finally......back."
Tears softly fell onto Applejack's chest, both girls finally able to let the dread that sat on their shoulders slide off to the ground. Finally, their mission was over, even if it was not according to their initial plan. Finally, they could bring their friend back home.
A dry groan made it past Rarity's lips, her whole body feeling like it had been tied to lead weights. She barely had enough strength to open her eyes, only managing to open them enough to see swirls of blurry colors far to bright for her weak eyes to bare. At the same time, she felt a soft warmth enveloping her on all sides, as if she were wrapped in a cocoon of warmed silk. A soothing scent graced her senses, a strange mix lavender and vanilla that cleared the fog from her mind and lightened the weight on her muscles. A soft humming lightly pulled her drowsiness away, the voices tone taking her back to happier times. With her strength coming back to her, she opened her eyes yet again, only now, what she saw brought wonder instead of confused pain.
She laid in a massive king-sized bed with cream-colored silk sheets and comforter. It's headboard and frame was made of ornate chocolate brown oak, polished to an immaculate shine. The walls of the room and the rest of the furniture were made of the same material, said room easily ten times bigger than her own back home. A crystal and gold chandelier hung from the ceiling, crystal bulbs shining low to give the room an almost intimate atmosphere. A pair of incense sticks laid in a holder on a small table at the right of her bed, each filling the room with thin trails of scented smoke from their lit ends. To her left, siting with her bare left leg crossed sensually over her skirt-covered right was a woman that could've easily passed for Sunset's mother, her eyes closed and humming a soft lullaby.
She had the same hair color and skin tone as her ex, but was at least ten years her senior. Even so, that was not a mark against the woman in any way. It was obvious that she took great pride in her looks and was not afraid to show the fruits of her labors. Between the tight embrace of her black cocktail dress and the confidence she held in her poise, it was impossible for the young girl to fight back her blush.
The woman abruptly halted her humming, sporting a small smirk as she opened her teal eyes.
"Finally awake, eh?" she asked, her tone teasingly playful. "That's good. I was starting to worry, sugar."
Rarity simply nodded, face red as a rare case of nerves strangled her voice.
The woman chuckled at that and leaned back in her seat.
"What's wrong, cat's got your tongue?" She asked, raising a brow.
Rarity tried to give a response, but when she opened her mouth, she could only force a dry cough to come out.
"Easy sugar," she cooed, getting out of her seat to gently put a hand onto her shoulder. "I was only teasing ya'. You've been stuck in this bed for three days. Of course you can't talk yet."
THREE DAYS!? she thought, eyes widening at the revelation.
Seemingly reading the young girl's mind, the woman nodded and said, "Between your injuries and all of the energy you burned through using your Persona, I'm surprised it didn't take you a week to wake up."
"My...Per...son...a?" Rarity asked, her voice dry as she forced the words past her lips.
The woman blinked in surprise at the display, then regained her playful smirk as she said, "Tough and pretty, you're gonna make someone feel real lucky someday, sugar."
Rarity blushed harder at that.
"But yeah," she continued. "That's the power you tapped into a few days ago. Think of it like calling a part of your soul to fight on your behalf. Everyone has one in one form or another, but only a handful of people have the power to summon their persona into the real world. Those lucky souls get a key from Igor and a room from me."
When the woman mentioned Igor, Rarity's eyes briefly widened.
That wasn't a dream? The man? The garden? All of it was real?
"Where...am I?" she croaked, some of her strength slowly coming back to her.
The woman chuckled, puffing out her chest in pride.
"Why, none other than The Viper Lily Hotel, the safest and best establishment in the whole Abyss!"
"Abyss?" she asked. "Is that what this place is called?"
"Yeah? " she frowned. "You really don't know anything, do ya'?"
She shook her head.
"Figures," the woman sighed. "But before we get into that, let's put some grub in ya'!"
With a snap of her fingers, three cobalt blue male mannequins dressed in red tuxes faded into existence at the foot of Rarity's bed. They each stood at perfect attention with their hands behind their packs and facing forward. Their heads where completely void of any features beyond a slight trace of a chin and forehead.
"Get to the kitchen and put a feast together for our guest," the woman demanded, tone stern as she stared the figures down. "If I see anything less then our finest quality food enter this room, I'll personally feed the fool responsible to the nearest Shadow, am I understood?"
They nodded.
"Good," she smirked. "Now get to it!"
With another nod, the three figures faded away.
"Homunculi," she sighed. "Not much for conversation, but great for keeping a place like this running smoothly. If only their components weren't so hard find."
The women's eyes widened slightly as she turned towards the young girl and said, "I haven't caught your name yet, have I? Sorry about that. What's your name, sugar?"
"Rarity," she croaked.
"A pretty name for a pretty girl," the woman winked. "Suits ya' real well, sugar. Mine's Viper Lily, but you can call me Viper if you want."
***
The week passed in a blur of sleep and fine meals presented by Viper's unnerving servants. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter. Whatever it was she had to do to awaken her Persona, it took a massively heavy toll on her body. On top of feeling drained for the first few days, she was absolutely ravenous, practically inhaling everything the Homunculi put in front of her. When she managed to move past that stage, she was able to regain her table manners and actually appreciate the skill put into the food presented to her.
Eventually, she managed to recover enough to finally leaver her bed.
Dressed in a silver silk bedgown, she lightly staggered towards her room's door and let herself out. She was instantly greeted by a dimly lit hall, the polished oak walls lit by ornate crystal bulbs set into ivy shaped lamps affixed to them near the ceiling. Lining the walls were several doors, each roughly a dozen feet apart from each other. Each door had an odd symbol positioned just below their numbers. A quick examination of her own door revealed an elaborate iron wheel set into the wood just below a golden number ten.
Mesmerized by the craftsmanship on display, she staggered into the hall and softly closed the door behind her. Her feet lightly padded on the polished green marble floor as she made her way down the hall, her eyes constantly wandering as she made her way down the hall. At its end, she came to a massive chamber, a titanic golden domed ceiling hovering over her, covered with silver constellations and another hall on the end opposite of her. A spiraling oak staircase dominated the room's center and tall rectangular windows owned its front, the red light of the full moon beyond painting the scene in its haunting aura.
Still under the pull of her curiosity, she ignored the windows and made her way down the stairs. With a tight grip on the railing, she was able to keep her unsteady legs under her long enough to reach the bottom without falling to her doom. Upon doing so, she found herself in what appeared to be a lounge area of sorts. Ornate lounge chairs straight from period films lined the room, complete with small tables one could rest their glasses or other such pleasures upon standing within easy reach. A record player stood in a corner of the room to the left of a merrily crackling fireplace, the device playing a slow jazz number that set a soothing mood all across the dimly lit setting. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, its crystal bulbs dimmed to just enough to set the mood. In the far back of the room, directly opposite of where Rarity stood, was a fully loaded bar. Viper Lily sat behind the bar, a book laid out before her as she casually took a drag from a cigarette locked into an ivory holder.
Happy to see the woman again, Rarity slowly made her way towards the bar, her strength finally starting to reach its limit. When she slumped into a bar seat, Viper looked up from her book with small smirk.
"Finally strong enough to leave your room, eh sugar?" she snickered.
"Yes," she sighed, wiping some sweat from her brow.
"Not by much though," she frowned, drawing a glass out from under the table. "What's your poison?"
"Just water is fine," she frowned. "I am far too young to imbibe in such riské beverages, thank you very much."
"Oh come on now," Viper chuckled, taking a chilled bottle of water from a nearby mini fridge. "We all have a few guilty pleasures, sugar. You trying to tell me you've never had a sip?"
Rarity looked away , refusing to answer for a long minute as Viper filled her glass.
When the older woman slid the glass in front of her, the young girl still refused to meet her gaze as she mumbled out a "Maybe," just before she took a swig.
Viper chuckled at that, taking a wine glass out from under the bar and setting it onto the table.
"Thought so," she smiled, pouring herself a glass of red wine. "Now that your up and about, I bet you have a few questions for me."
"I do, as a matter of fact," Rarity nodded.
"Then let's have it," she smiled, taking a small casual sip of her drink.
"Well...I suppose a good place to start is, Where am I?"
"I thought I already told you that," Viper frowned, raising a brow.
"Not where, as in the hotel, but where as it, the world, darling," she pressed.
"I see," Viper sighed. "I guess that would make a bit more sense.
Gazing into her glass with a bit of melancholy, she gave her answer.
"We call this place, The Abyss. It's a place the HIgh Judge brings people to to pass judgement upon for wrongs brought upon the innocent. It's thanks to her that the place is the way it is, crawling with Shadows and full of hapless humans struggling to stay out of her grasp."
"We?" Rarity blinked.
Viper nodded, a pained sigh rolling past her lips.
"This world wasn't always as big as it is now. In the beginning, there was just me and my six sisters. All of us lived in this hotel together, laughing at each other's misfortunes and keeping the place intact. When The Abyss expanded outside of the hotel's confines, they were dragged out into it. I...haven't seen them since."
"I....I'm so sorry to hear that," she frowned, placing a hand on one of the woman's own.
Viper gave her a pained smile and said, "Thank ya', sugar. Now, do ya' have any other questions?'
Noting the dodge, Rarity tried to think of something else to ask.
Eventually settling on a topic, she fought past a shiver as she asked, "When I came to this world, I was attacked by a monster. Do you know what that horrid thing was?"
"A Shadow, most likely," Viper sighed, taking a drag from her cigarette. "The Abyss is crawling with them. If I had to be a bit more specific, I'd be willing to bet a Juror class was the one that caught ya'."
"A Juror class? What do you mean by that?" Rarity pressed.
"Put simply," Viper continued. "There are five Shadow Classes. From bottom to top, these are Juror, Witness, Defendant, Prosecutor, and Judge. Most of the Shadows that hunt in The City of Punishment are Juror Class, but Shadows from the higher classes do occasionally appear from time to time."
"I see," Rarity mused. "What can you tell me about the Jurors?"
"There isn't much to tell, sugar," she shrugged. "They may look like humans, but are about as smart as a brick. They don't have any magical abilities, but they do have a set of razor sharp claws. They also like to hunt in packs, which makes the fact that you only ran into one a huge stroke of luck."
"I see," she gulped, not sure if she was going to like the answer to her next question. "How large are these packs usually?"
"Anywhere from five to ten members," she sighed. "It's mostly due to how frail each of them are. A simple stab in the neck is all it takes to put them down in a one-on-one fight."
Her hands trembled at that revelation.
The memories of dealing with one of those foul creatures was almost too much for her to endure, but five or ten? A phantom burn rand down her spine at the memory of the Juror's claw ripping through her flesh, the blood running down her legs as it pooled around her feet. She let out a shuddering breath as she forcefully dragged herself back to the present.
Bracing herself for even more unfriendly truths, she locked eyes with her savior and asked, "What do the Shadows do...if they catch you?"
Viper's eyes turned cold, her face marred by a deep scowl as she answered.
"The how may differ among the classes, but if a Shadow catches ya', it'll beat you within an inch of your life. For whatever reason, the High Judge doesn't want the people brought here dead. That doesn't mean she doesn't want them hurt. If a Shadow catches you outside of a house, it will beat the ever-loving hell out of you and throw you back in. Simple as that."
Instantly, images of her friends suffering such a fate flashed through her mind. Rainbow, battered and bruised to the point of tears. Applejack, bashed nearly into a coma. Pinkie, covered in claw marks from a raving pack of Jurors. Fluttershy weakly crying in a puddle of her own blood. Sweetie laying on the ground in agony as a Juror stood over her.
"I NEED TO HELP THEM!" she screamed, slamming her hands onto the bar as she jumped to her feet.
"Easy sugar," Viper soothed, standing and putting a hand on the frantic girl's shoulder. "You're still recovering. Way I see it, you've still got another week before you can go saving anyone."
"I don't have a week to waste!" she snapped, swatting the hand away. "Right now, my friends and sister are out there facing who-knows-what kind of horrors while I sit here twiddling my thumbs like a fool!"
"I understand where you're coming from, sugar," she frowned. "But look at yourself. You barely have enough energy to stand, and you still haven't regained enough of your spirit power to summon your Persona. If you go out there now, you'll just be another punching bag for the Jurors."
"Th-Then what am I suppose to do?" she demanded, frustrated tears starting to run down her face. "Do nothing while the people I care about suffer?"
Viper stared her down for a long second, smooth jazz and Rarity's sniffling the only sounds that filled the silence between them. Eventually, the hostess let out a defeated sigh and reached for something beneath the bar.
"You couldn't've been this stubborn for her sake too?" she muttered, wrapping her fingers around her prize. "Figures. Foolish humans will be fools for life."
"Excuse me?" Rarity blinked.
"Nothing, sugar, just talking to myself," she snickered, placing a small crystal bottle onto the bar.
It was a tiny thing, no bigger than a shot glass yet perfectly carved into a diamond shape. Corked within was a strange blue, glowing liquid that seemed to swirl in a slow perpetual tide. Rarity stared down at the bottle, mesmerized by the continuously shifting liquid light, before a snap from Viper brought her back to reality.
"Stay with me, sugar," she smirked. "This is a Spirit Essence Vial. A swig from this should restore some of your Spirit Power. Enough to summon your Persona, at least."
A wide smile spread across Rarity's face upon hearing that.
"Thank you so much!" she cheered, reaching for the vial.
Only for it to be slapped aside at the last second by her host.
"Not so fast, sugar," Viper frowned. "I'm not giving you this to go running off and get yourself beaten to a pulp."
"Then, why are you?" she asked, rubbing her poor hand.
A cheshire's grin spread across the woman's face as she said, "If you're so gung-ho on going out to save people, I think you should at least know what the hell you're doing first."
"You...wish to teach me how to fight?" Rarity blinked.
"It is one of the services this place provides," she winked. "Between the Ballroom Arena and the Healing Springs out back, it shouldn't be too hard to get you into fighting shape."
"Excuse me?!" she gawked. "Just what kind of Hotel is this place?!"
"The kind that wants to make sure its guests have everything they need to survive in this crazy world," she snickered. "That reminds me, I should help you choose a weapon from the Basement Armory later. What kind of weapon do you think would be a good fit for yourself? Do you have any preferences?"
"The Hotel has an Armory?!" she balked.
Viper chuckled at the girl's shock, then took a long drag from her cigarette.
"Oh , I'm gonna have so much fun training you, sugar."
