Persona 6: REM
Chapter 30: 10/8
Previous Chapter Next ChapterOctober 8th, 2019
Monday
Cloudy
Morning
song: I (sun) - Blue Reflection
When she woke up the next morning, she was admittedly still a bit shaky. Nothing happened, of course, but the thought that it could have did put Starlight on edge. Ms. Tia offered to let her stay home, but she insisted on going to school. For one, she didn’t have much to do at the Dorm, but also, they needed information on Rarity.
But as she sat in her room, she found it shockingly hard to gather herself.
She stood in her room in her bra and panties, looking over her clothes for the day, and sighed. She needed to get dressed soon or she’d miss the train, but she couldn’t bring herself to put on her normal dress and makeup.
She heard a knock on the door, “Starlight, it’s me,” Pinkie Pie said, “Can I come in?”
Starlight hesitated, but opened the door, warning Pinkie that she wasn’t entirely decent yet. She walked inside, still wearing the sexier piece that Fleur picked for her, which did look nicer now that she was being her true self in it.
“I was thinking we could walk to school together,” Pinkie Pie offered, to her credit only looking at Starlight’s breasts a bit. Starlight didn’t mind, but did wonder if everything was okay, “Oh, I’m fine, Starlight. I just figured, with what happened last night, you’d want a bit of company on the way to school.”
Okay, that was sweet. Pinkie Pie was a very good friend.
“Alright. I’d like that a lot,” Starlight said with a relaxed smile.
“Great! But um, you might wanna put on something more than just lacy underwear,” Pinkie Pie giggled, blushing a bit, “Not that I’m not enjoying the view.”
Starlight sighed, explaining that she was planning to, but just couldn’t bring herself to wear what she’d normally wear.
“Huh. Yeah, I guess I can see that. Hey, why don’t you wear that other piece? You know, the super sexy ensemble with the red mini skirt and fishnet top?” Starlight blushed and looked away. She had thought about wearing that to school, but it was a really hot piece, “It should be fine. Think of it as, a change of pace. Like Ms. Tia said, no one really pays much attention to the dress code all that much. Besides, it might help get you out of your head a bit.”
“I, guess I can see your point,” Starlight said thinking it over. After a bit, she pulled out the tops, skirt, and boots. She was able to wear it on her date with Trixie (yes she was still calling it that), so maybe she could wear it to school? It’d certainly boost her popularity quite a bit.
She asked Pinkie Pie if she could have some privacy to change, to which Pinkie Pie nodded excitedly, “Yeah yeah! I’ll wait outside!” she stepped out of the room shutting the door behind her. Starlight took a deep breath, and changed into the outfit.
They’d definitely be talking about this…
Lunch Time
song: School Days - Persona
Everyone was looking at her differently today it seemed. She knew that a lot of students thought she was attractive, and among those on the football team, she was easily a favorite along with Diamond Tiara, Suri Polomare, and Coco Pommel, but that was when she was in Pep Squad mode.
This was the first time she felt that during the main school day.
“You see what she’s wearing, right?” Starlight heard one girl ask her friend as she got her lunch.
“Oh my God. She looks so different right now…” her friend replied. They were pretty quiet, so they probably didn’t realize she could hear them.
“She’s kinda hot though, you know?”
Starlight blinked, grabbing her lunch. What did they just say...?
“Okay, so it’s not just me then?” her friend sighed in relief, “Good. Cause she’s making me seriously question my sexuality.”
Starlight smiled proudly, and walked off to the courtyard to eat lunch. She felt significantly more popular now.
After School
song: Like a Dream Come True - Persona 4
Despite not being in her usual attire, Starlight decided to stop by the Student Council. Again, she needed to check on Rarity, but she was curious what everyone’s reactions would be to seeing her like this.
When she walked into the Student Council office, she felt everything in the room more or less stop, all attention on her now. Only one who wasn’t there ironically was the Student Body President herself.
Spike and Pip both looked up at her, clearly checking her out. Applejack looked like she was suppressing a smile, and failing miserably, and when she stole a glance at Sunburst, it looked like his brain had crashed.
“Um, everything okay…?” Spike asked Starlight slowly.
“Yep!” Starlight smiled, “I’m having a great day today. What about you all?” Starlight folded her arms in a way that called attention to her breasts, “Everyone, doing alright here?”
“Aye!” Pip nodded vigorously, a silly smile on his face, “We’re having a fantastic day! Right Spike?”
Spike swallowed nervously, but nodded, “Yeah! G-great day! And um, glad you’re, having a good day too!”
Starlight giggled somewhat impishly. She didn’t expect this to be so much fun. That, and she kind of felt empowered as well. She felt out Morgana, and asked her why that was the case.
“A witch’s power is more than just her magic, my pupil. A witch’s, nay, a WOMAN’S true power, stems from her ability to command attention, simply by walking into a room.”
No wonder she felt better like this. Well, she’d have to remember this anytime she needed something to lift her spirits.
“So long as y’all focus on work today,” Applejack chided lightly, “Jus’ cause we got an extra set of hands don’t mean y’all get to spend the whole day oglin’ Starlight.”
“Don’t act like you’re not checking her out!” Spike shot at Applejack, who just laughed.
“Never said I wasn’t. Ain’t no secret what my preferences are. I’m jus’ able to check out the sexy secretary an’ still do my job,” Applejack looked at Starlight and smirked, wagging her eyebrows, “But I am checkin’ out the sexy secretary~”
Starlight blushed, twirling her hair around her finger. Seriously, where did the nickname “No Fun Jackie” come from? She seemed tons of fun, actually.
She confidently walked over to Sunburst, deciding to have some fun as this was a very casual setting, it seemed. As such, she leaned over the desk closer to Sunburst smirking.
“You’ve been awfully quiet today,” Starlight smiled, loving how Sunburst’s eyes widened, “See anything you like?”
“Uh….! Well I um…” she knew exactly where his eyes were, and she loved it. In her peripheral, she noticed Spike and Pip tilting to the side a bit, only for a balled up piece of paper to hit Spike, and then bounce off to hit Pip.
“Don’t, even, think about it,” Applejack scolded.
“There’s No Fun Jackie…” Pip sighed.
“Was wondering if Hell froze over…” Spike muttered, “A guy can dream, at least.”
Starlight laughed, and sat down beside Sunburst, who did look a bit nervous.
“You, sure everything’s okay?” Sunburst asked softly, “Not that this is a bad thing, it’s just, well… seeing you dress so…”
She assured Sunburst she was fine. Really at this point, she was just having a bit of fun. She’d probably go back to her usual clothes tomorrow. As they got to work on some of the paperwork, Starlight noticed someone was missing. She turned to Sunburst and asked where the President was.
“Rarity got called to Cinch’s office,” Sunburst explained, “As soon as she got settled in, too.”
“Cinch has been ridin’ Rarity pretty hard, lately,” Applejack folded her arms, looking at the loudspeaker on the wall, “Hope everything’s alright…”
“She is the President,” Pip chimed it with a shrug, “With so much going in with the Nightmare Epidemic, I’m not surprised Cinch needs her more.”
“Rarity’s a thousand times more capable than that stuffy woman anyway,” Spike shot, giving the loudspeaker two middle fingers, “Might as well call Rarity the Principal, seeing how Cinch can’t do jack shit without her.”
Applejack chuckled, “Yeah, guess that’s true…” she said softly, looking away a bit. If Starlight didn’t know better, Applejack seemed a bit, tense. Did she, know somethi-
song: Troubled - Persona 3
The door swung open. Everyone jumped and turned to see Rarity, breathing in and out as if trying to control her temper.
“Um, h-hi Rarity,” Sunburst said first, standing up, “Everything, um, alright?”
“Fine,” she answered curtly, walking over to the other side of the room and sitting down by herself. She didn’t say anything to anyone, not even Applejack. Instead just covered her face with her hands and crossed her legs, turning away from everyone.
“Oh boy…” Spike muttered softly, “Best keep our distance right now…”
Starlight tilted her head. Was this, common here? Pip walked over to her and leaned in.
“It doesn’t happen too often,” Pip whispered, “But when she gets like this, we all keep our distance. Not even Applejack can calm her down.”
She looked at Applejack, who was biting her lip looking at Rarity. Clearly she wanted to go talk to her, but she didn’t know what to say or do. Starlight took a breath, and got up, making her way over to Rarity, only to be stopped by Sunburst grabbing her hand.
He said nothing, but he shook his head, visibly afraid. Starlight patted his hand and lightly pulled free, continuing toward Rarity. She could feel how nervous the room had gotten. Still, this might have been related to her Dungeon. Besides, she had a bit of an edge being a witch.
She just hoped Rarity didn’t bite her hand off…
“Um, Rarity?” Starlight asked carefully, reaching for her shoulder, “Is everything alrigh-”
I FUCKING HATE CINCH!!! WHEN GET OUT OF THIS CAGE, I'M GONNA RIP HER APART!!!
Starlight froze, sucking in a breath. That, was NOT the classy and contained anger she expected from Rarity. It almost felt animalistic, it was so intense. She'd never felt that much anger for one person in her life!
“Hm?” Rarity turned to look at Starlight, and gave her a gentle but tired smile, “Oh, I’m sorry darling. I just had, words with Cinch is all. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“If, you’re sure…” Starlight said cautiously. Her emotions told a very different story than her words and expression.
Rarity nodded, “Oh, but there is, one thing,” she held Starlight’s hand and pulled her close to her ear, “You didn’t, tell anyone about last night, did you?” she asked calmly, but Starlight could feel something radiating off of her in that moment. It almost felt like a beast was eyeing her, baring its teeth at her. She could almost hear growling.
Just what was this girl…?
“All I said to Ms. Tia was that I was almost assaulted,” Starlight answered as calmly as she could, “But I didn’t mention anything that could implicate you.”
“Ms. Tia…?” Rarity repeated, her voice low. However, Starlight could feel Rarity relaxing a bit, “Well, so long as it’s her, its fine.”
You're lucky I like her, but I got my eye on you, bitch.
Starlight nodded, slowly pulling her hand free, “If there’s, anything I can do, to um…”
“I’m afraid not at this time. Thank you, though,” Rarity said, “I do appreciate you, darling.”
“Of course, Rarity,” Starlight smiled, “What are friends for?”
Rarity blinked at that, and just looked at Starlight surprised for a beat, “Right. Friends…” she slowly smiled again. As Starlight returned to her desk, Applejack went up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“You alright?” she asked Starlight softly. She nodded, explaining to Applejack Cinch was just giving Rarity a bit of a time. Oddly, she felt Applejack’s emotions flare up suddenly.
Had a feelin’ it was her! Better handle this away from everyone!
“Thanks,” Applejack nodded, patting Starlight on the back. She then walked over to Rarity, rubbed her back to comfort her, and spoke softly to her. After a bit, Rarity nodded, and got up, walking out of the Student Council office into the hallway.
That confirmed it. Applejack did know something.
“How are you not ripped to pieces?” Spike asked once they were gone, “I tried talking to her once when she was in a mood, and she damn near bit my head off.”
“I just, reached out to her, is all,” Starlight explained, rubbing her hand, “She’s still human.”
At least, Starlight assumed she was...
As she sat back down next to Sunburst, he rubbed her back comfortingly, “Let’s go get something to eat after this, alright?” he offered. She’d bought back Bicorn, a Hermit Arcana Persona, before leaving the Velvet Room last night, so she felt like they’d get along pretty well today.
Starlight nodded with a smile. She appreciated it. It was nice having her best friend back in her life.
play song: When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars - Persona 3
After finishing up in the Student Council, Starlight and Sunburst went out to South Street to the Mushroom Kingdom for pizza. The atmosphere here was a lot of fun, and super colorful. Apparently, both brothers had super hot girlfriends who were high class. Starlight saw one of them today, a kinda ditzy looking blonde wearing a lot of pink, who had the air of being completely helpless. She was such a bombshell, that when she kissed the smaller brother wearing red on the cheek, and saw him blush, she was a bit surprised. He didn’t seem like her type.
Well, the heart wanted what the heart wanted. She was happy for them.
“So um, can I, ask you something?” Sunburst asked when they sat down with their pizza, “When you touched Miss President’s shoulder, you locked up a bit.”
“You, noticed that?” Starlight asked.
“It was subtle, but yeah,” he said, “What, happened there?”
Starlight bit her lip, thinking about her next move carefully. They’d just become friends again, and she did tell him about her being a witch, but he didn’t know the extent of her power. Also, she wasn’t sure she could tell him about Dungeons or the Phase just yet. Still, there might be a way to spin this…
“As you can probably guess, it, was related to my magic,” Starlight took a bite of her pepperoni slice, “I’m an empath now, meaning I can feel people’s emotions if I touch them.”
“Wait, really?” Sunburst asked wide eyed, biting into his pineapple slice before continuing, “How’s that work?”
She explained that normally she needed to open herself up to their emotions first, but sometimes the emotions would jump out at her if they were strong enough.
“That, sounds kind of terrifying, but intriguing,” Sunburst said after she finished, “I take it, you’ve used that often to help people?”
Starlight nodded, “You heard about the thing with Trixie, right?”
“How Blueblood was abusing her?” Sunburst asked, “Kind of hard not to hear about that.”
“Fair enough,” she muttered before continuing, “I, actually found out about that through my empathy. I shook her hand, and immediately felt a sense of urgency come from her. So when I touched Rarity's shoulder, I felt all of her anger hit me at once.”
“Fascinating…” Sunburst breathed out, pulling out a notebook and writing in it. Starlight asked what he was doing, “Oh, this is just my personal journal. Ever since coming here I… kinda became interested in magic again. Anytime I find something that points to magic being real, I write it in my notebook. Is that, okay…?” he asked carefully.
Starlight nodded, “I don’t mind. Just so long as I get a cut when you become a famous author.”
“F-famous? Me? No way,” Sunburst shook his head, “This is just for my own personal investment, really.”
“Why not, though?” Starlight asked, “I mean, you’re smart, and you’ve always been a great writer. I bet if you wrote a book, it’d become a best seller.”
“I, I mean, I’ll admit I have always enjoyed writing…” Sunburst admitted, “I did come up with a setting for a story based off of the school, and a bit of what’s going on with the Nightmare Epidemic.”
“Tell me,” Starlight took another bite of her pizza and then leaned in smiling, giving her old friend her full attention.
“It’s, not much, you know,” Sunburst winced, but Starlight didn’t care. She shook her head and urged him to tell her anyway, making him sigh in defeat, “Alright. So basically, it’s Canterlot High, okay? More or less the same, but there’s an underlying magic present. The whole town is magical, but the school sits on a leyline, so there’s MORE magic here.”
Starlight nodded attentively. It felt almost like old times.
“Now, in this setting, the Nightmare Epidemic is actually being caused by a demon from another world,” Sunburst continued, “This demon sends its minions into people’s dreams, who then torment them in their sleep, feeding on their life force,” he continued, “Effectively, once they die in the dream…”
“They die, in real life,” Starlight finished, her heart racing. It wasn’t exact, but it was just accurate enough where Starlight got chills a bit.
“Only thing I’m missing here, is a hero,” Sunburst sighed, “I know some people put themselves in their works as a protagonist, but…”
“Why not do that yourself?” Starlight asked tilting her head.
“It’s kind of hard to see myself as a hero type,” he admitted, “Also, in case I end up writing and publishing it, I don’t want to come off pretentious, you know?”
Starlight nodded at that. True, a lot of writers tended to make themselves the protagonists of their works. Sometimes it worked out well. But a lot of times it made their works come off as more of a power fantasy.
That said, the story was already, pretty accurate to real life, and it wasn’t like he’d have any way of knowing this was actually happening…
“What if the hero, was a witch who just enrolled?” Starlight asked, “Maybe to reunite with a friend?”
“A witch who, came to reunite with a friend…?” he repeated, looking at her intently.
“Yeah. Maybe she’s searching for this friend, and her search led her to this school,” she continued, “Along the way she… gets wrapped up in the whole Nightmare Epidemic thing, and uses her magic to fight off the demons.”
He nodded slowly, writing that down, “Yeah… that’s perfect! Think other witches could come in to help her?”
Starlight nodded, “In fact, I have an idea for the first friend she could meet,” she then began telling him a bit of what happened when she rescued Trixie from her Dungeon. Naturally she kept out certain details. Her name for one, along with anything private like her kinks, and how Blueblood abused them. However, she did drop in the idea that this friend was “descended from a line of great wizards and witches, and who up until that point didn’t have any magical powers of her own”.
“Okay… okay yeah… I like this… I like this a lot!” he smiled, looking at Starlight, “This is, kind of what happened with Trixie, right? Are you sure it’s okay for me to use this?”
That, was a good question actually. She decided to give Trixie a call to ask her directly.
“Hey Starlight. What’s up?” Trixie asked once she picked up. Starlight explained to her that she caught up with Sunburst, and he was writing a book on the Nightmare Epidemic, explaining a bit of the plot, “No fucking way… Well, he’s not too far off from the truth, scarily enough…”
“He wants to base the main character off of me roughly,” Starlight said, “Would it be okay if, he used what you went through concerning Blueblood as slight inspiration?”
“Hm…” Trixie hummed in thought, “Well… sure. He’s your friend, after all. Besides, it’s already common knowledge what happened between he and I, so what would be the point in hiding it? Just tell him I want to be super sexy and badass, alright?”
Starlight laughed, “I mean, I figured that was a given.”
“You know me too well,” Trixie said airily, “I’ll see ya back at the dorm, Starlight. Love ya.”
“Love you to- H-huh?!” Starlight blushed, hearing Trixie burst out laughing before she hung up.
“Oh. I see how it is, then,” Sunburst gave a teasing grin, “You and Trixie, huh?”
“I-I mean…” Starlight blushed looking down at her lap.
“You know, lesbians are hot…” Sunburst mused to himself, “Ah. I see it now,” he moved to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her and holding his hand out to the ceiling, “The witch, enamored by the tragic beauty of her new roommate, just couldn’t help herself, no matter how much the maiden pushed her away. Partially due to her pure heart, but also drawn to the maiden’s tear stained eyes, the witch pushed onward, determined to rescue the helpless maiden from the demon tormenting her.”
“Stop it… please…” Starlight begged, burying her face into her hands. The fact that's actually how it happened didn't help. Hearing Sunburst laugh did lift her spirits, though.
“Sorry. I couldn’t help it,” he smiled, returning to his seat, “But I take it she was okay with things?” Starlight nodded, saying she just wanted her character to be a sexy badass, to which he frowned, “How else… was I going to write her…?”
The two friends shared a good laugh at that. Things weren’t, quite the same as they were before, but they were close enough. Starlight felt like she and Sunburst got significantly closer.
end song
Evening
Starlight returned to the dorm at the usual time today, much to the relief of everyone there. After signing herself in, she sat down on the couch with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Trixie, naturally sitting beside her roommate.
“So, how was it being undressed by the whole school?” Dash teased, making Starlight feel incredibly embarrassed.
“Seriously, Dash…?” Starlight asked, making her rainbow haired friend laugh.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. But a lot of students saw you like that,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, “They were all talking about how sexy you looked.”
“Think you’ll make that look your new default?” Pinkie asked.
“I, doubt it,” Starlight shook her head, “It’s fun every now and again, and I might buy some other outfits at some point, but tomorrow, it’s back to my usual gothic self.”
“So long as you’re comfortable. That’s what’s important,” Trixie said. Starlight nodded smiling, but internally was wondering about what she said a bit ago over the phone. Was she, serious? Was that just her joking?
“What about Rarity? You find out anything?” Rainbow Dash asked. Starlight explained what happened at the Student Council meeting today, “Shit. Seriously?”
“Cinch does ride her pretty hard,” Trixie frowned, “Apparently, she forced Rarity to make that announcement about the pictures when you had your Dungeon, Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie nodded, “My Cousin told me. She said Rarity hated herself for that, and that she missed a day because she was so sick to her stomach.”
“But, Cinch can’t force Rarity to do anything she doesn’t want to,” Starlight frowned, “Can she…?”
play song: Riku - Kingdom Hearts 2
Rainbow Dash turned away frowning to herself.
“Cinch rules over the school with an iron fist, essentially. Well, tries to,” Trixie sighed, “Most of the students hate her, for obvious reasons. When it comes to authority, most listen primarily to Rarity and Applejack.”
“And it’s common knowledge that they both hate Cinch just as much as the rest of the students,” Pinkie Pie added.
Yeah, she figured as much. Based on how Rarity’s emotions were, she hated Cinch probably more than any of them combined.
“I wonder…” Rainbow Dash muttered, catching Starlight’s attention, “Leader, you said that when you touched her shoulder, you felt a murderous rage, right?”
Starlight nodded, “Her emotions felt directed at Cinch, too.”
“And yet, she still listens to her,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, “Kinda like how Pinkie Pie still listened to what Fleur told her, despite being uncomfortable, and how Trixie stayed with Blueblood for so long, even though he was abusing her.”
“H-hang on, Dash,” Trixie leaned in frowning, “Are you thinking… that Rarity’s Dungeon is being controlled, by Cinch’s Shadow?”
Rainbow Dash nodded, “Yep. The pattern fits, doesn’t it?”
“I mean, it does but…” Trixie rubbed her arm nervously, “That’s a huge accusation.”
“It is, I’ll admit,” Rainbow Dash conceded, “But, think about it. Rarity had just finished talking with Cinch about something. Our Leader touches her shoulder, and feels murderous level rage? Come on Lulamoon. You see it, I know you do.”
Trixie bit her lip and groaned softly.
“And like I said, it fits the pattern,” Rainbow Dash continued, “These Dungeons, they seem to attracts other people’s Shadows, who uses them to control the person in their dreams, which then bleeds into them controlling them in the real world, with the person feeling like they have to listen to them even if they hate it.”
“That… is how it was for me,” Pinkie Pie said cautiously, “That photo shoot? I wasn’t supposed to get it till after my birthday, but Fleur managed to pull some strings, and convinced the photographer to let it slide since I was turning 18 so soon.”
“And let me guess,” Rainbow Dash said, “When you said you were uncomfortable, all she had to say was “Don’t you trust me, Pinkamena”?”
Pinkie nodded sadly, “And any resistance I had, gone. It was the same way she took over the kingdom in the Phase. She’d suggest something, I’d mention how uncomfortable it was, and the second she asked me that question, I’d fold.”
“And finally, the fact her feelings don’t match her appearance,” Rainbow Dash said, now looking at Starlight, “You said that she seemed calm on the outside, but her emotions were a hurricane directed at Cinch on the inside, right?”
Starlight nodded. At most, she just looked tired and just, done with everything, but her emotions were way more violent. And that was pretty much how it was for Trixie and Pinkie Pie too. For Trixie, she'd actively try to push Starlight away, only for her emotions to beg Starlight for help. And Pinkie Pie, same thing. She wanted to escape Fleur's influence, but did everything she told her to do on the outside.
But that wasn't all that was happening with Rarity's emotions. On the outside, Rarity seemed to really like Starlight, but on the inside, it felt like Rarity didn't trust Starlight at all.
“We, should talk to Ms. Tia and Twilight about this,” Starlight said, “Before going into Elysium. I see the pattern, and it is damning, I’ll give you that, but I don’t know if we should accuse the principal of our school of something like this till we clear it with them.”
Rainbow Dash sighed but nodded, “That’s fair, yeah.”
“Girls, dinner’s ready~” Celestia said, coming out of the kitchen, “Trying something new today, so I hope you’re all…” she frowned when she saw how serious everyone looked, “Oh dear. Did something happen, girls?”
“Nothing to us, but,” Trixie turned to Celestia, “Dash has a theory about what’s going on with Rarity. We’d like to talk to you and Twilight about it when she wakes up, before we head into the Phase.”
Celestia nodded, “I understand. Tell you what, you girls eat, and meet us upstairs in my room when you’re finished. I’ll wake Twilight, and tell her its urgent.”
Once again, she wasn’t eating. Despite being in the kitchen cooking since school ended, probably. Maybe she’d eat when they went into the Phase? Maybe she ate before coming in? Yeah, that made sense.
“Alright,” Starlight nodded, “Thanks Ms. Tia.”
Celestia bowed to them, took off her apron, and went upstairs to get Twilight. The rest of the girls went into the dining room to eat dinner. They were going to just eat quickly before going upstairs, but… it was Ms. Tia’s cooking.
They all savored their meal, and had seconds.
Late Night
The room was heavy as Starlight finished explaining what happened at the Student Council room today. Dash helped her explain her thoughts on things, and what led her to think that Cinch’s Shadow was the Dungeon Master, using a term that Twilight had come up with as it felt appropriate.
Needless to say, Celestia’s reaction was about what Starlight suspected.
“Mmmm,” she hummed in frustration, sitting on her couch, “I hate that this makes so much sense…”
“This Principal Cinch,” Twilight asked, “Is she really that bad?”
“From what little I’ve seen, she is,” Starlight nodded, “She didn’t even want me enrolling in the school, on the grounds of my suicide attempt,” she looked away, still ashamed of herself for that. Trixie rubbing her back and Pinkie Pie holding her hand helped.
Twilight blinked and frowned, “She, didn’t want you to enroll, because you tried to kill yourself? My opinion of that aside, why should that be a deciding factor?”
“Because she’s a bitch who only cares about the school’s reputation, that’s why,” Rainbow Dash spat folding her arms, “She made Pinkie Pie stay in school despite being sexually harassed, and forced Rarity to make an announcement that made it worse.”
“She’s also refusing to expel Blueblood, saying him abusing me is “under investigation”,” Trixie growled, closing her eyes, “And is refusing to let me, the one who was abused, speak on it on grounds of him outing my bondage fetish.”
Twilight was visibly aghast, leading her to turn to Celestia, who sighed and nodded, “Blueblood’s father is on the Board of Directors for the school, and puts quite a bit of money into funding the school. While I imagine it could survive without his money, him pulling funding for any reason…”
Twilight muttered something in what sounded like Japanese, “And I thought things were bad back home…”
“Corruption exists all over the world,” Celestia said gravely, “Be it in Japan, or here, there will always be those who abuse their power…”
“Isn't there any way to check?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Like, what if we search for Cinch’s Shadow on your computer? Couldn’t that lead us to Rarity’s Dungeon?”
Twilight took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, “I’m, sorry but, that’s not how the system works. The way I find Dungeons is through key words connected to books within the Akashic Records. I search for the number of books that have those keywords in them, take note of how many there are in any given area, and keep zeroing in on the central location until I find a large section absent of any books. That’s where the Dungeon is.”
“Okay, so… search for Cinch’s name,” Rainbow Dash suggested, “That’ll have to-”
“Connect to Rarity’s Akashic Record, yours, Pinkie Pie’s, Trixie’s, Starlight’s, Ms. Tia’s, and every single person who’s come into contact with her and who knows her name,” Twilight finished for her, “And all of this, again, is still based on the assumption that her Shadow is the Dungeon Master.”
“You saw the pattern,” Rainbow Dash pressed, “Even Ms. Tia says she’s crooked.”
“I’m not saying she isn’t crooked,” Twilight clarified, “Trust me, just from what I’m hearing, this woman is not fit to be the Principal of the school. But her being a self righteous bitch who doesn't care about her students' well being, I’ll admit she probably is Shadow Possessed, but that doesn’t mean her Shadow is in anyone’s Dungeon, let alone Rarity’s.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes in frustration at this. Starlight shared in her frustration, but she did see where Twilight was coming from with this. It sounded like searching for Dungeons was really hard, and this just didn’t give her enough information to work with.
Twilight sighed, “This does make sense, Dash. I’m not shooting it down, but my computer can’t search for Shadows. We didn’t even know that the Blueblood in Trixie’s Dungeon was his Shadow until he started saying things that Trixie didn’t know.”
“And also, when we searched for Pinkie Pie’s Dungeon, Fleur de Lis as a keyword helped,” Celestia added, “But it wasn’t until we found the connection between her and Pinkie Pie that we found it.”
“Um, what was the keyword for my Dungeon?” Pinkie Pie asked, "The one that showed you our connection?"
“It, was “Possession”,” Twilight said reluctantly, “Fleur’s Shadow, saw you as a possession to own…”
“Oh,” Pinkie said quietly, looking down, “I, see how that works, then.”
“Pinkie Pie…?” Starlight asked softly, “Are you, okay…?”
“We just, need to figure out how Cinch sees Rarity, and get a general idea of why, right?” Pinkie asked, perking up a bit too quickly for Starlight’s comfort.
“If, we’re still tackling this from the angle of Cinch being the Dungeon Master, then yes,” Twilight said after a bit, turning to Starlight, “What’s it gonna be, Leader?”
“It’s, as good of a starting point as any,” Starlight said, “Today, focus on helping us in Elysium. We’ll try to get as close to where Diamond’s Dungeon is being formed as possible, and then give you a few days to work on this.”
Twilight gave a half ass salute, “Roger that, oh mighty and divine Trickster.”
“Okay, I gotta know,” Rainbow Dash asked, “Just what is your beef with Starlight? You act like she ran over your cat or something.”
Twilight closed her eyes and folded her arms, “It’s nothing you need to be concerned with. I’ll keep her and all of you alive while you’re off in Dream Land, so just focus on your part, okay?”
Rainbow Dash was about to say something, but Pinkie Pie held her hand, shaking her head, “She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”
Rainbow Dash sighed, “Fine. Let’s head to our room and prepare. Leader, Trixie, we’ll see ya in the Library.”
Starlight nodded to them, watching them leave. Tomorrow, she had Pep Squad, but she’d definitely be checking in on Pinkie Pie soon.
“We’ll get ready to head in as well,” Trixie said to Twilight and Celestia.
“Good. I’ll be praying for your safety, as always,” Celestia said.
Starlight nodded and followed Trixie out of the room. Once they were away from the door, Starlight sighed looking down.
“We’ll figure it out, and you and Twi-Twi will be friends in no time. I promise,” Trixie smiled, rubbing Starlight’s back affectionately again.
“Thanks Trixie,” Starlight smiled in return, hugging her roommate.
“Anytime,” Trixie said, hugging her in return.
end song
The Phase
Yesod: Lvl 8
song: BREAKTHROUGH.EXE - Blue Reflection
Once they all arrived in the Akashic Records, they made their way to Elysium, entering the through their last Checkpoint to continue where they left off.
“Okay, so I have good news, and bad news,” Twilight said, her wisp floating around them, “Which do you wanna hear first?”
“Tell us something good,” Trixie requested.
“Well the good news is, I have a general idea of where Diamond Tiara’s Dungeon is being constructed,” Twilight said, “I can’t see it from my terminal, and I can tell construction is steady, but it’s got a long way to go before it becomes a fully fleshed out Dungeon.”
Starlight sighed in relief. She was hoping she still had time.
“So, what’s the bad news?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“The bad news, it’s in the NEXT area of Elysium,” Twilight groaned, Starlight picturing her rolling her eyes, “Also, that section looks bigger than this one, which I can already see goes five floors higher. So that’s fun.”
“Just five more floors? Alright then,” Pinkie Pie ran forward and turned to the group, “In that case, let’s clear this section tonight, wait a few days for Twilight to work on Rarity’s Dungeon, and then we can tackle the next section.”
“What do you think?” Trixie asked Starlight, “Wanna go for a complete run?”
Starlight nodded, “Yeah. I do. Both to get closer to where Diamond is, but also to give Twilight less to worry about.”
“Oh gee, thanks,” Twilight said, her voice oozing with sarcasm, “Your kindness knows no bounds.”
Starlight sighed shaking her head. Even when she was trying to be nice to her, she retorted by being a bitch. What did she do to offend Twilight so much?
Yesod: Lvl 9
For the most part, they weren’t running into too many issues. Thanks to Starlight spending so much time in the Velvet Room last night, she was able to better support her party. The group managed to find where the staircase was without too much hassle, but saw a Shadow cluster floating in front of the stairs.
“We gotta take those guys out first,” Dash said, drawing her sword, “Leader, you’re up.”
Starlight nodded, summoning her scythe and slashing the cluster in the back, stunning the mass as it manifested into two Shadows; Makami, and one that they’d run into a few times on other floors called Inugami, which looked like a really long white ghost dog with a black dog’s head with an odd red symbol on its head.
“BICORN!” Starlight shouted, shifting to the first Persona she ever caught and casting her wind spell Garu on it, before it had a chance to make their lives hell. She learned the hard way to deal with that one first.
Rainbow Dash held up her sword and channeling ring, “Come forth, my inner self!” she roared, summoning Eclair Farron. Eclair raised her sword in unison to Rainbow Dash, knocking it down at the same time Starlight knocked down the Inugami, “What are we doing leader? Taking one of them, or ending this?”
Starlight looked at Inugami, feeling it out a bit. She, felt like she could resonate a bit with it. She nodded and summoned Morgana, channeling her empathy through her to share her emotions with Inugami. Interestingly, she felt something akin to how Rarity felt during Student Council. An intense, burning need for vengeance. To make some pay.
Yeah. Anytime she thought of Blueblood these days, she felt the same way…
Realizing they were kind of alike, Inugami gave a triumphant howl before bursting into flames and flying into Starlight’s channeling ring. Immediately she felt loaded though, as she restocked to maximum capacity. She ended up giving up Orobas, as she didn’t feel like she’d use his powers at the moment.
“Which Arcana is that one?” Trixie asked Starlight.
“Hanged Man,” she said looking down, a hand pressed over her heart, “It, kind of feels like The President.”
“Maybe if she awakens to her Persona, she’ll be the Hanged Man,” Pinkie Pie said.
“It’d be nice to have her, and it seems likely, all things considered,” Starlight folded her arms, “But, she doesn’t strike me as the sort who’d want to assist us. She seems to have enough issues on her own.”
“On top of Cinch, she’s a Senior, which means she’s got more exams to worry about than us,” Trixie pointed out, “We just have Midterms, but she’s got those and SATs and stuff to worry about.”
“Gah! Don’t bring up Midterms here, please!” Rainbow Dash fussed, “I don’t want to worry about school shit while I’m fighting Shadows!”
“Which tells ME that you’re not prepared,” Twilight said airily, “Boy, I’d hate for Ms. Tia to see you get poor marks on the test~”
“I’m plenty prepared!” Rainbow Dash defended, “C-come on! Let’s go before the Reaper catches up with us!”
As she stormed upstairs, Trixie went over to Starlight, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight’s wisp, “Something tells me she’d rather deal with the Reaper than Midterms.”
Starlight nodded in agreement, both Twilight and Pinkie Pie laughing a bit.
Yesod: Lvl 11
The tenth level wasn’t all that rough, all things considered. Somehow, the room organized itself where the stairs going up were really close to where they entered from. Only a few Shadows got in their way, so they were able to move forward pretty easily.
The eleventh floor of Yesod though, not so much.
Starlight ran up to the Shadows and slashed them, but the cluster turned around just in time to catch her do so. The cluster dispersed into four different Shadows; Koropokkuru, Hua Po, Jack Frost, and a new one Starlight didn’t recognize. It looked like a tiny lion/dog hybrid with an orange body, green fluff on its legs and where its tail would be, a green beard instead of a lion’s mane, and an odd face that was grinning from ear to ear.
“The new one is called Shiisaa!” Twilight said, “Brace yourselves! They seem to be coordinated to support each other!”
Before any of them could begin attacking, Koropokkuru cast a red shield around the enemy Jack Frost.
“Was that what I thought it was?” Trixie asked, pulling a card out to brace herself.
“Afraid so. It cast Fire Wall on Jack Frost, so it’ll be immune to your fire spells.” Twilight sighed.
“Well isn’t that just pea- AHH!” Trixie dodged just in time as Jack Frost launched a Bufu right at Trixie.
“Pinkie Pie, raise everyone’s defense!” Starlight commanded, “Trixie, focus on the Koropokkuru, since we know that one’s also weak to fire!”
Rainbow Dash held up her blade to defend as Shiisaa fired a nuclear blast at her, “Shit! That guy’s got my weakness!”
“Focus on blocking and dodging!” Starlight commanded Rainbow Dash, “If you see an opening to attack, go for it!”
“Got it, Leader!” Rainbow Dash nodded.
“I understand, Starlight!” Pinkie Pie said.
“On it!” Trixie shouted.
“Protect us!” Pinkie Pie prayed, summoning her Persona. Serenity appeared before her spinning like a ballerina, casting Rakukaja on Rainbow Dash first, since her Persona was weak to the new one’s attacks.
Hua Po charged at them, but Starlight slashed her back with her scythe and then held up her Channeling Ring, “APSARAS!!!” she shouted, shifting to the light blue dancer Persona. She felt a spell called “Ice Wall”, and cast it on Trixie, “There! Jack Frost can’t knock you down for a bit!”
“Aw, my hero~!” Trixie purred, summoning Elenora, who threw an Agi to Koropokkuru, briefly lifting her leg as if to throw a baseball before tossing it, knocking the Shadow down. This was immediately followed up by Rainbow Dash charging in with her blade, slashing him wildly with electric charged strikes.
While that went on, Pinkie Pie cast Rakukaja on Starlight next, who then switched to another Persona she had fused into recently, “MATADOR!!!” she shouted, shifting Apsaras with a skeleton dressed as a Mexican Matador, complete with the hat and red cloth.
“Psi!” she held her hand forward, casting an odd looking spell on Shiisaa, hitting it with a psychic wave that messed with the space in front of it, knocking it down.
“Good! Keep this up!” Twilight cheered, “Hua Po is weak to Gun spell! Anyone got anything for that?”
“I got something!” Rainbow Dash said, “Starlight, cover me with yours!”
Starlight nodded to Rainbow Dash, who summoned her Persona again. This time, Eclair Farron pointed the gun part of her sword forward, firing at Hua Po and knocking her down. Rainbow Dash then gave Starlight a High Five, “Your turn!”
BATON PASS!!!
“Thanks! MORGANA!!!” Starlight shouted, shifting to her default and favorite Persona. She then had Morgana open her chest, revealing her gun, which fired two powerful shots at Hua Po, killing her instantly.
Jack Frost cast Mabufu on the whole group, pushing them back with sudden ice shots. Trixie thankfully didn’t fall down, but it was clear it still hurt.
“Don’t worry everyone!” Pinkie Pie prayed, summoning Serenity again, “Help is on the way!”
Serenity danced and twirled all around them, casting Media and healing them more or less back to full health.
“Pinkie Pie, how are you holding up?” Starlight asked their healer, who’d been pretty active today casting spells, “Still okay?”
“Yep!” Pinkie nodded, “I can keep going, Starlight!”
Koropokkuru prepared to cast Mabufu as well on them, but Trixie had already charged up a Maragi spell, knocking both him and somehow Jack Frost down, “Perfect! Starlight, do your thing on Shiisaa before he can attack again!”
Starlight nodded, “MATADOR!!!” she shouted, once again casting Psi on Shiisaa, knocking it down just as it looked ready to attack again, “All Out Attack! Now!”
Trixie held her sleeves forward smirking, Pinkie Pie readied her Magical Girl Scepter, Rainbow Dash held her blade up and ready, and Starlight held her scythe back, ready to charge. All four girls launched their assault on the fallen enemies, wailing on them with everything they had. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of them.
Starlight hunched forward, holding her knees and panting heavily as Rainbow Dash patted her on the back, “Boy, if we didn’t have you on the team, I don’t know WHAT we’d do.”
“Yeah! That Wild Card power of yours is amazing!” Pinkie beamed, “You were all ‘MORGANA!!!’ and ‘MATADOR!!!’ switching back and forth! You looked so cool!”
“I-I’m pretty sure you’d all be much cooler if you had this power,” Starlight defended humbly.
“But see, we don’t have it,” Rainbow Dash leaned in and smiled, “So stop being humble and just take the compliment already.”
“G-geez, you guys…” Starlight muttered.
“If, you’re all quite done stroking Starlight’s ego,” Twilight chimed in.
Trixie gasped, “Twi-Twi! We’d never do something so crass in public!” she cried.
“What are yo-” she stopped when Trixie burst out laughing, “Oh ha ha. Very funny. But that fight took up a lot of time. You might wanna start booking it to the next floor. Like NOW.”
Starlight was about to ask Twilight what she meant, but was horrified to hear the rattling of chains, “It’s the Reaper. Move. Now!” she ordered, all of them booking it down the hallway.
“Everyone, watch out!” Twilight cried, “Two Shadows are about to attack you!”
“Where are they-” Starlight was cut off by Trixie screaming in pain, as a Shadow knocked her down. Everyone was so stunned that they didn’t even see the other one come up behind them, leaving them surrounded.
When they manifested, they became an Inugami and Mokoi.
In their desperation, they weren’t able to prepare as Inugami cast Tarukaja on Mokoi to increase his attack. This was then followed up by Mokoi hitting Pinkie Pie hard with his boomerang, knocking her down.
“PINKIE PIE!!!” Rainbow cried in shock. Another boomerang was thrown in her direction but she dodged, “Leader, can you heal Pinkie Pie?!”
Starlight nodded, “I got it! Focus on attacking! PIXIE!!!” she shouted, shifting to Pixie and casting Dia on their fallen cleric immediately. At least she wouldn’t die, even if she couldn’t get up yet.
Rainbow Dash learned before that Mokoi wasn’t good against her electricity, so she rushed at him with her blade, slashing wildly before shooting past him with her blade out, slashing through him before sheathing her blade, causing him to double over from the assault.
“Persona!” Trixie cried urgently, casting Sukukaja on Starlight, “Quickly, Starlight! They’re all weak to Wind!”
Starlight nodded, “BICORN!!!” she shouted, summoning her noble steed and casting Garu on Inugami to knock him down. One more All Out Attack cleared the area quickly of all Shadows.
“Pinkie, are you okay?” Rainbow asked helping her up.
“Y-yeah, I am,” Pinkie Pie confirmed, “But the rattling’s getting louder.”
“The stairs are literally just ahead!” Twilight cried, “Go go go!”
Starlight looked and saw the stairs. She urged everyone ahead, making sure they all got upstairs first. Right before going up herself, she saw it turn the corner and look at her. It was large, wearing a black long coat and covered in chains. It wore a red bloodstained cloth over its head, which only showed one eye looking right at her, and held two large hand guns in its hands.
Starlight’s eyes widened, and she was frozen in fear. It was as if she were seeing an embodiment of Death itself. Made worse when it approached her slowly.
You can’t… escape… death…!
“NO!!!” Starlight screamed in horror. Right as it was about to strike, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her up the stairs away from it.
Yesod: Lvl 12
Trixie had her arms around Starlight, rubbing her back as Starlight tried to pull herself together. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel herself beginning to break down a bit.
“Shh… shh… it’s alright,” Trixie said softly, “You’re safe now.”
“You okay, Starlight?” Twilight asked, her wisp floating up to her.
“I, think so,” Starlight confirmed, “But… w-what is that thing?”
“Sadly, I don’t have much information on the Reaper,” Twilight said softly, “There might be a few books on it in the Akashic Records, but I don’t know where any of them are.”
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck and looked around, “Looks like this floor’s a rest spot. We got a Checkpoint?”
“Let me check,” Twilight muttered, typing away at her terminal apparently, “Okay, good. There IS a checkpoint here. And considering the signal I’m seeing above you, we better take it.”
“What’s above us?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“A high level Shadow,” Twilight answered, “You’d best end this here for now, and come back fresh.”
Starlight didn’t want to leave now. Honestly, she wanted to keep going. They were going to try and clear this section, right? They were literally one floor away from doing so. She protested and tried to plea her case.
“Sorry, but you’re in no condition to keep going,” Twilight insisted, “You’ve been using a lot of magic, so you HAVE to be tired. Keep in mind that you still have school tomorrow, and you’ve been using your dream time to fight Shadows, so your bodies aren’t resting.”
“Diamond has plenty of time, Starlight,” Trixie urged, “And if there’s a powerful Shadow up ahead, we need to be at our best.”
“Come on,” Rainbow Dash rubbed Starlight’s arm, “Let’s head back to the Akashic Records and just chill for a bit. Alright?”
Starlight sighed, knowing she lost this fight. She nodded, and let her friends guide her to the Checkpoint.
song: Qualia - Blue Reflection
They gathered in the main lobby outside of the door to Elysium, all sitting at the nearest table to relax a bit. Pinkie Pie even found a book and was reading it, sitting with her legs crossed in a way that drew Starlight’s attention to her. She knew that Sailor Moon was actually wearing a leotard with a skirt connected, but something told Starlight that Pinkie Pie’s was more risque.
“There, feeling better?” Rainbow Dash asked, rubbing Pinkie Pie’s leg as she sat next to her. Based on how Pinkie smiled, she enjoyed the feeling.
“Immensely so,” Starlight smiled, resting her head on the desk, “I can feel my stamina returning by the second.”
“What made you think of this for post Elysium runs?” Trixie asked Rainbow Dash.
“Pinkie Pie and I were talking about how real it feels to be in here,” Rainbow said, “Like, we know our bodies are asleep, but… it doesn’t feel like it.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Starlight nodded, “It’s kind of like we’re still awake, just in a more liberated form. I can’t even feel my body in the real world.”
“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash wrapped an arm around Pinkie Pie, who leaned into her still reading, “So we got to thinking, what if after a run either in Elysium or a Dungeon, we just took a second to relax before returning to our bodies?”
Pinkie Pie nodded, “Yep. So Dashie and I came here and tested that theory.”
“I’m afraid to ask, but how did you test this?” Twilight asked dryly.
“We came here and spent the whole night having sex,” Pinkie said, not missing a beat or looking up from her book, “Did it once on Saturday, and once again on Sunday.”
“Just, comes right out and says it… alright.” Trixie muttered, cheeks a bit flushed.
“Oh my God… really? You fucked in the Akashic Records?” Twilight asked shakily, but then flinched as Starlight heard laughter in the background, “M-Ms. Tia?! Why are you laughing?!”
Starlight couldn’t hear Celestia exactly, since she was probably sitting on the couch, but she did hear something about no one saying they couldn’t.
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat, “Anyway,” she pressed firmly, Pinkie giggling beside her, “We did this two times. Friday night going into Saturday, we just, well, that, and then just took off our rings. Saturday, we were pretty much dead to the world.”
“But then on the following night, we did the same thing for about just as long, but then rested for a bit until we heard our alarms go off,” Pinkie Pie finished, “When we took off our rings and woke up, we weren’t as tired.”
“I’ll admit, while the method of testing it was a bit, questionable,” Trixie said, “This is good information.”
“It is. This means we can plan things out to include rest periods after a run,” Twilight said, “I’ll keep track of how long you stay active, and make sure you have at least a bit of rest time afterward.”
“You’re the best, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie smiled, still reading her book.
“Glad I can help- okay, I gotta ask. What are you reading?” Twilight asked Pinkie Pie.
“Oh this? It’s a book on healing,” Pinkie said, “Starlight and Trixie both have magic from the Phase, right? I figured I’d get something too.”
“Hey, didn’t you get something, Dash?” Trixie asked, “You mentioned you’d look into something to help Pinkie Pie during her Dungeon.”
“Oh yeah, I did,” Rainbow Dash said, “Ended up getting both technomancy and electrokinesis,” she explained, “Simply put, if I want to shut off a machine, I just point to it like my finger’s a gun, fire at it, and the machine shorts out. As for Technomancy, that I just got for shits and giggles. Hey, next time we game, I’ll show ya.” she said to Starlight, who nodded smiling. She was looking forward to it.
“By the way, it’s about 5 o’clock out here,” Twilight said with a cute sounding yawn, “You should head back.”
“That late, huh?” Trixie stretched in a manner that pushed her breasts out and a bit toward Starlight, “Yeah, let’s head back to our bodies. See ya in the room, Starlight.”
“Y-yeah! See you,” Starlight said, averting her eyes from Trixie and feeling flushed. Trixie giggled and took off her ring, vanishing in a white light.
“She’s totally hot for you,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, making Starlight feel even more flushed.
“Oh yeah. You two make a cute couple,” Pinkie Pie giggled, closing her book, “We’ll see ya in school, Starlight!”
“Y-yeah, see you,” Starlight muttered. Dash and Pinkie Pie both took their rings off and vanished together, leaving Starlight alone with Twilight’s wisp.
“I’m logging off,” Twilight said immediately, “Starlight, if you find out anything about Cinch’s connection to Rarity, let me know.”
“I will,” Starlight said smiling, “Good night, Twilight. Sweet dreams.”
This time, Starlight heard Twilight scoff, “Sure. Whatever,” and with that the wisp vanished. Seemed Twilight’s heart was still closed off to her. Starlight sighed to herself, and then took off her ring. She seriously hoped she and Twilight could become friends one day.