Author's Note

Seiko's side of the chapter

Tamami's Big Top

*Pinkie's POV*

Okay, I was with Seiko's group as we arrived at an odd place.

Shima spoke "This is a very different look compared to the last place..."

Kaze spoke "What is this? It's starting to look like some... weird circus."

Sapphire whimpers "Th-this is m-more s-scarier th-than Nightmare Moon...."

Emerald asks "The TM world changed according to the mind of whoever appeared on the Midnight Mirror, right? There's Shadows around and we can call out Personas here, so does that mean this Midnight Stage works the same way?"

Kaze spoke "*Bead of sweat* You're telling me someone's mind looks like a circus on the inside? That, uh... raises a lot of questions."

Kiko spoke "Not to mention that doesn't make much or any sense."

Deep Lilac spoke "This place is more bizarre than Discord!"

But then I felt a shiver down my spine, telling me the atmosphere changed.

The eerie voice spoke "Hmhm… Welcome to Tamami Uesugi’s Midnight Stage."

Rainbow spoke "That voice…! Come on out already!"

The eerie voice spoke "Hmm? And why should I do that? I don’t see any reason to bother with you."

Rainbow growls "*Tick mark* What’d you say…?!"

Kaze spoke "Somehow, I’m glad I’m not the one blown off this time."

Can’t blame Dashie for being mad. We can’t see who’s talking and we don’t know who it is either. It’s like the voice is deaf to our words.

Seiko asks "…You just said this was Tamami-san’s stage. Is she up ahead?"

The eerie voice spoke "Hmhmhm… Yes, she is. And her performance is about to begin. She’s going to become the Tamami everyone wants, a true star, shining brightly at our eternal concert."

Kaze spoke "Karei told me about your spiel. Becoming the “you that others want,” huh? That’s just letting yourself be brainwashed!"

The eerie voice spoke "Brainwashed? Not at all. This is for Tamami’s sake. Forcing others to deal with your true self won’t make anyone happy. To her, there’s no point in being someone that nobody loves… But if she becomes the Tamami everyone wants, then everyone will love her. Hmhmhm… Nothing could make her happier."

Okay, that’s weird. It’s like that voice truly thinks it’s “for Tamami’s own good.”

Miran spoke "This is bad. It isn’t listening."

The eerie voice spoke "In any case, I’m sorry you’ve come all this way… But I’m afraid there’s no admission for those without a ticket."

The gate suddenly closed as ribbon-bound Shadows became the crowd.

Emerald asks "Wh-What the!?"

Goryuu asks "Shadows?!?"

Shima spoke "Shadows connected by ribbons… just like Sunao-kun said!"

Seiko spoke "Be careful! Don’t get caught!"

The eerie voice spoke "Come on… connect with us. If you do, I’ll let you join us and see Tamami on stage…"

A song started playing with the Shadows dancing, causing us to feel weak.

Rainbow spoke "Gyah! Not again…!"

Kaze spoke "I know I was warned, but I didn’t think it would be THIS bad…!"

Emerald spoke "Oh crap…! They’re getting closer-Ugh!"

Seiko spoke "Everyone, hang in there! Don’t let the pressure overwhelm you!"

Kaze, Kiko and I nodded as we stepped forward.

Kaze spoke "Heh. Good thing Karei assigned each of us a song to work on! Dancing is “expressing ourselves”… I still don’t get it, but looks like I gotta give it a shot!"

Adagio spoke "I’ll help on the vocals!"

“Don’t forget me and Kiko!” I smiled.

Emerald asks "Give it a-Kaze, you’re going to dance!?"

Kaze spoke "Hey, when it comes to showing off your moves, it’s first come, first served. Sorry, but Pinkie, Kiko and I got dibs on this one!"

Karei asks "*Calling through telepathy by Himiko* Senpai, everyone, are you alright!?"

Kaze spoke "Karei, perfect timing! We need our song!"

Karei spoke "*Through telepathy by Himiko* Kaze-senpai, Kiko-senpai and Pinkie’s track? Okay, I’m on it! I’ll turn it up full blast!"

Kaze spoke "Suh-weet! Alright, Karei… Hit it!"

The three of us were ready to dance.

Kaze spoke "We’ll be sure to make it look good!"

Kiko spoke "Okay, here we go."

“Time to get this party started!” I whooped as the music played with us starting to dance.

Deep Lilac and the others sang along.

As Adagio and most of the others sang, the three of us danced really good as we felt charged up.

Kaze spoke "Okay, bring it on whenever!"

Kiko spoke "All good to go!"

“Fever Time ready!” I quipped as it was soon Fever Time before Emerald, Trixie and Rainbow Dash joined in.

Emerald spoke "It’s our time in the spotlight!"

Trixie spoke "Time for the great and powerful Trixie to get a piece of the action!"

Rainbow spoke "Alright! Let’s make this awesome!"

The six of us were totally in sync.

Emerald spoke "Ho-ho, you’re pretty good too, Kaze!"

Kaze spoke "Hwataa, huh! Way to go, Emerald!"

Trixie spoke "You’re doing well, Kiko!"

Kiko spoke "Thanks, you as well, Trixie-chan."

Rainbow spoke "Haha! You’re killin’ it, Pinkster!"

“Heehee! Same to you, Dashie!” I giggled.

Shima spoke "I can tell they really understand each other."

Kaze asks "Amazing moves, Emerald! Should I learn Kung-Fu too?"

Kiko spoke "*Giggle!* That was indeed great and powerful, Trixie."

“That was so awesome, Dashie!” I cheered as Emerald, Trixie and Dashie backed off with Fever Time ending. We kept dancing as we felt charged for another Fever Time. It later began again with those three coming back in.

Emerald spoke "Alright! Time to bust out my steak power!

Trixie spoke "Get ready for the greatest show you’ll ever see!"

Rainbow spoke "Haha! Time to kick it up a notch!"

We danced awesomely as we had sharp hoof/footwork.

Seiko spoke "Good! I can sense all of your passion."

Kaze spoke "That was the best performance ever! The power of meat and work!"

Kiko spoke "Heehee! Quite the finale, Trixie."

“Wa-hoo! We were so cool there, Dash!” I smiled as we soon finished our dance.

Kaze spoke "Come, Persona!"

Kiko spoke "Persona!"

“Let’s go!” I whooped as our Personas appeared, with Kaze’s gaining an electric guitar, Kiko’s gaining a glass armonica, and mine gaining a drum-set as all three of them played like pros, causing the Shadows to glow brightly as our performance was king crazy!

Seiko spoke "Kaze, you, Kiko and Pinkie did it! That was a great performance."

Shima spoke "Yes, you three were wonderful!"

Kaze spoke "Heheh… Phew. Not such a disappointment now, huh? It’s not like I’ve been screwing around all this time, y’know!"

Trixie's left ear twitches suddenly.

Trixie asks "Is it just Trixie or is there a really HUGE shadow approaching?"

We looked around, seeing nothing as the gate opened.

Rainbow spoke "It’s just you, Trix."

Emerald spoke "Whoa…"

Shima spoke "Emerald, are you alright? You’re spacing out."

Emerald spoke "Oh, it’s… it’s nothing! Nothing at all. Really. Just, uh… It caught me off guard and I was like… Damn, Kaze…”

Kaze chuckles "Ohhh ho ho ho! What was that, Emerald? Now that you’ve seen how cool I can be… *Gasp!* Are you… falling for me?"

Shima asks "No, that’s not possible. Right, Emerald?"

Emerald spoke "Yeah. Your dance was awesome, but none of that other stuff."

Kaze asks "*Bead of sweat* …Uh… Shima-san. Emerald-san. It was supposed to be a joke… Could you please get the punchline instead of taking it seriously…?"

Goryuu spoke "Well that’s a relief."

Kaze spoke "Gah… Dammit! Even the Shadows understand me better than you two!"

We saw the Shadows in the area, melting into light while breaking free of the ribbons.

“Oooh!” I awed.

Kaze spoke "Whoa…"

Emerald spoke "Wow…!"

Shima spoke "It’s beautiful…"

Rarity spoke "You can say that again, darling."

All of us were definitely watching in awe.

Deep Lilac spoke "Something is definitely strange about all this..."

Kaze spoke "What’s up with those Shadows, anyway? I mean, these guys are kind of different from the Shadows we’re used to, huh? Usually, they try to beat the crap out of us as soon as they see us."

Shina spoke "Now that you mention it, you’re right. Oh, are they calm because they’re chained down? You know, like Chosokaneigh."

Seiko asks "Chosokaneigh…? The Sengoku-era feudal lord?"

Emerald spoke "No, not him. You know, my pet dog. His name’s Miku! I keep telling her, but she keeps forgetting."

Kaze spoke "Hell, this isn’t even the TM world. Are there really this many Shadows outside of it? I know it happened once, but that was kind of a special case…"

Emerald asks "Hmm… Maybe they were caught in the TM world, and then they got yanked over here?"

Shima asks "Perhaps someone was walking them?"

Kiko asks "*Bead of sweat* You really still on dogs, Shima?"

Seiko spoke "I don’t know if it’s from the TM world or not, but it’s possible they were brought here from somewhere."

Kaze spoke "Hmmm… Let’s say they’re from inside the TM. You’d think Teddie and Heifa would’ve noticed their presence first thing, right? But it it’s not the TM they came from, that’s mean there could be Shadows… anywhere."

Emerald asks "Uh, first off, where even is “here”? This definitely isn’t the TM world, right?"

Goryuu spoke "Teddie did confirm that, so we can at least be assured of that topic. Maybe."

Spottedleaf spoke "That voice did say this world is where no one hurts anyone.”

Kaze spoke "Yeah, no one hurts or gets hurt, right? Well, if you get brainwashed by that ribbon, I guess you wouldn’t even think about hurting anyone… Who the heck is that voice, anyway? Sure sounds like they know a lot about this world."

Rainbow spoke "Actually the voice rules over it, probably even created everything here."

Emerald spoke "Agreed."

Seiko spoke "Who knows? It’s not like any one specific person made the TM world, either. Though if the voice does have that kind of power, then we’re up against one tough opponent."

Rainbow spoke "We could be dealing with another godlike entity."

Wow, that’s actually smart of Dashie to say.

Seiko spoke "It’s possible, but we don’t know for sure."

Shima asks" It’s hard to believe this is all the work of a normal creature… Aha! Maybe the culprit isn’t normal? An alien, maybe?"

Emerald spoke "*Bead of sweat* Uh… I kinda doubt that."

Kaze asks "Oh yeah, that reminds me… I did a little research after Karei’s message. You know what creatures are saying about the LMB website’s video, right? That it’s the “curse of a dead idol”?"

Yikes, Emerald was definitely scared while Shima was interested.

Emerald spoke "Wh-Wha!? No! Nooo! No, no, no, no, no! Stop right there! How can you bring that stuff a-at a time like this!? I can’t believe you!"

Kaze spoke "Hey, I’m being serious here. There was an idol that committed suicide a while ago, and rumor has it that she cursed the site from beyond the grave…"

Shima asks "So, since she’s already dead, you think she has supernatural powers?"

Goryuu spoke "Oh boy…"

Emerald spoke "Gah! You too, Shima!? Just stop! Conversation over! C’mon, we should get going! We need to save Tamami-chan, right? We don’t have time to be standing around chatting!"

Deep Lilac spoke "No argument about that here."

Seiko spoke "You’re right. Let’s focus on rescuing Tamami-san."

Kaze spoke "*Smile* Alright! If we’re ready, then let’s move!

We then went past the gate, rushing ahead. We soon found ourselves at another gate.

Emerald spoke "Look, someone’s there…!"

We looked ahead, seeing a silhouette in a white outfit, totally lost.

Seiko spoke "That’s her! Tamami-san!"

Rainbow spoke "Tamami! Over here!"

We arrived as Tamami saw us.

Tamami asks "Yu-san…!? Dash-hime…!? Dazzle-chan…!? Huh!? Why are you three here…!?

Kaze spoke "Dude, awesome… Just like on TM! It’s the real Fluffy Hen in the flesh…!"

That made some of us girls giggle at Kaze being in his fanboy mode.

Deep Lilac wingslaps Shima.

Deep Lilac spoke "Watch it, I'm half alien."

Shima spoke "Oh, sorry."

Kaze asks "*Notices Tamami’s attire* Huh? But… why are you in your stage outfit…?"

Tamami asks "We were practicing, and we heard this creepy song, and then something all… flat and slithery wrapped around us, and… I-I don’t know what happened, but the next thing I knew, I was here! This doesn’t make any sense! Where are we!? And who are you!?"

I can tell she’s relieved, even though acting like a grumpy kid with a temper tantrum.

Kaze spoke "Oh, uh, yeah, we haven’t introduced ourselves! I’m Kaze Mizu, this guy’s team partner… And this is Emerald Aura and Shima Enaga."

I introduced myself and everyone else in the team.

Adagio spoke "Don’t worry, they’re our friends and team."

Kaze spoke "Anyhow, you can relax now that we’re here. Don’t worry, Tamami! We’ll save you!"

Tamami remembered our names and wondered before looking at all of us new faces to her.

Emerald asks "Huh!? Uh… Something wrong?"

Shima spoke "N-Nice to meet you…"

Kiko asks "Uh… Okay?"

Goryuu asks "There a problem?"

Kaze asks "Whoa, that’s close… Uh… Wh-What’s up?"

Rarity asks "I-I beg your pardon…?"

“Ooh! Are we having a staring contest?” I guessed.

Tamami spoke "*Smile* Mm… Yep! I win! I’m the cutest one here."

Emerald asks "Wha…!?"

Rarity asks "Huh?!"

Kaze asks "THAT’S what that was about!? Is this really the time for that!? A-And hey, why are the guys and I even in the running?"

Dashie couldn’t help but laugh a bit.

Rarity's left ear twitches before hearing the eerie voice again.

Trixie spoke "I'm scared...."

The eerie voice: Hahaha… I’ve found you. Oh, Tamami, what a funny girl you are…

Kaze: Well, who do we have here we won’t let you have Tamamin!

Eerie Voice: You’re still around? Sorry, but it’s almost time for Tamami’s big performance. Let’s go, Tamami… Make everyone laugh, like you always do.

Tamami: Wh-Why should I go with you? Besides, I’m not trying to make anyone laugh…!

Eerie Voice: Oh, I know… You’re just working hard, always trying to do your best. But it’s a funny thing, isn’t it? The harder you work, the farther away you seem to push everyone…

Tamami: F-Funny!? How dare you! I-

Eerie Voice: It’s alright… I understand your pain. If you connect with me, you won’t have to suffer at all.

The gates closed as ribbon-bound swaying Shadows filled the crowd again.

Kaze spoke "These guys again…!? Dude, there’s even more of them this time."

Tamami asks "I… won’t have to suffer?"

Seiko: Don’t be fooled. You can’t listen to what that voice says."

Tamami spoke "Huh? O-Okay…"

We were ready to protect Tamami.

Emerald growls "Hey, you! Think you can smooth-talk Tamami-chan? Whoooa! Not gonna happen, sorry!"

Goryuu growls "You’ll have to deal with us now!"

Shima spoke "That’s right! All your pretty words are nothing but lies!

Kaze spoke "Heh, now that we’re here, it’s not gonna be so easy for you!

Kiko spoke "We won’t let you get Tamami-chan!

The eerie voice spoke "Ha! Stop yapping. You don’t know a thing about Tamami. No one likes pain or suffering… So let’s all get connected.

The song started playing with the Shadows dancing, making us feel weak again.

Tamami spoke "What is this… song…!? Ugh, my head…!"

Kaze spoke "This song again…! Ugh, no matter how many times I hear it, it makes me cringe…"

Emerald asks "Ugh, so many Shadows! Just how many more are there in this freakin’ place!?"

Seiko spoke "Still, we can’t afford to lose. Stand back, everyone…!"

Shima spoke "Wait, Seiko-kun. I’ll dance this one."

Rarity spoke "And I as well."

Deep Lilac spoke "Guess I’ll join too."

Emerald asks "Shima!? What are you saying!?"

Shima spoke "Don’t worry. I’ve been practicing the song Karei-chan gave me when I took a bath at our inn. “First come, first served,” right, Kaze-kun? Then here I come!"

Shima, Rarity and Deep Lilac readied themselves.

Kaze asks "Hey… You think Shima just really wanted to dance?"

Emerald asks "*Bead of sweat* Shima… You were dancing in the inn’s open-air bath…?"

Karei asks "*Through telepathy by Himiko* Sorry for the holdup, Senpais! The Shadows are right in front of you, aren’t they?"

Shima asks "Karei-chan! Rarity, Deep Lilac and I’ll be dancing this time. Can you prepare the music for us?"

Karei spoke "Y-You mean your track, Shima-senpai? Uh, give me a sec…! Okay! Ready when you are!"

Shima spoke "Thank you! Then let’s begin!"

Rarity spoke "Let us dance!"

Deep Lilac spoke "Let’s get it started now."

Shima spoke "It’s starting. Alright, time to focus."

Rarity spoke "Allow me to show you my grace and beauty."

Deep Lilac spoke "Alright, let’s go."

Seiko spoke "We’re eager to see your elegant dance, Shima."

Spottedleaf spoke "Try not to hold back, Rarity."

Sapphire spoke "I’ll be there to support you, Lilac."

The music began as the three started dancing with Adagio helping with the vocals.

Spottedleaf yowls since she got grabbed by a ribbon.

Spottedleaf asks "CAN SOMEONE HELP ME???"

To be continued...