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

by ClearlyNotTremor230


Chapter 14: Unmasking a Superhero, the Metropolis of Pride collapses!

Chapter 14: Unmasking a Superhero! The Metropolis of Pride collapses!

Dash Palace – Treasure Room “The Dashcave” -

The damp and scarcely illuminated cave spawned for the entirety of the above City's territory, a side was even flooded in clear water so to permit to the Distrorted Self of Dash to park there dozens of different boats, while at the opposite side there were cars, trucks, elicopters and even fighter jets! And every vehicle was painted Cyan Blue and decorated with the mare cutie mark.

"I have a question." Ryuji said while taking in the entire scene with a curious gaze.

"Besides how can somebody have such an inflated Ego and not collapse on themselves like a super-dense supernova of Pride?" Makoto answered.

"...Yeah." the young man answered, unsure.

"Then ask."

"I did not see rivers or lakes or sea out there...How does Dash use those boats then?"

"Simple, Skull. She…I mean, she obviously...You know…" Makoto tried answering, before words failed her.

"Palaces usually make sense, albeit in their own way, I guess this one just leans a bit more on the 'Power Fantasy' angle than most." Yusuke intervened while still taking several pictures with his phone.

"Yeah, what Fox says." Makoto muttered, grateful.

"You are loving the update the real Igor gave to the Metaverse App, don't you?" Ryuji asked, smirking.

"Yes, it does make taking notes on the Metaverse and Palaces easier. Once done with Celestia, I plan to create a series of paintings dedicated to these Palaces and the ones we met previously. I think I will call it my 'Distorted Heart Period'." Yusuke answered, eyes shining in artistic excitement.

"Then I'll make sure to book a small Gallery for you to show them off." Haru said, smiling happily.

"I can't ask you that, there is no need." Yusuke answered, shocked.

"Fox?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Shut up." The girl ordered with a giggle.

"Huhuhu! Whatever my lady wishes." The artist answered, chuckling amused while hugging her close.

"Guys, focus! We are still-EEK!" Makoto tried saying, before Ryuji hugging her from behind turned her words into an adorable squeal.

"S-Skull!" She hissed while the young man nuzzled her.

"What? I can do mushy stuff too!" He answered, making her snort in amusement.

"While you four are being lovey-dovey, I found our escape route." Morgana interrupted the two couples with a stern tone.

"O-Oh! Really?! Do tell!" Makoto asked while looking utterly embarrassed.

"We'll use the exit path Dash would ideally use to take out one of the cars here, one of them reaches the surface very close to the Palace Exit. If we steal the Treasure and load it in my Car Form, we can then speed our way to the Exit with that...It's damn long, but it is also the safest path." The cat explained.

"And hopefully its closeness to the Exit will mean we won't have to fight Dash for the Treasure. Now we only need the right combination to open that Trophy Cabinet and we'll be ready to send the Calling Card." Yusuke answered.

"We can try asking the other ponies if they know what Dash may have used as a code...Hey, where are Joker and Panther?" Morgana asked while wildly looking around.

"We are here, we are here." Ann answered as she and Akira joined the group.

"We were exploring the cave." Akira added with his usual overly-calm tone.

"..."

"..."

"What?" The Leader of the Phantom Thieves asked.

"...Dude, pull-up your zip." Ryuji said with an embarrassed tone.

"Oh." The other only muttered that as an answer while doing as asked.

Ziiiiip!

"What have you two done?" Makoto asked with a groan.

"N-Nothing." Ann stuttered with a red face.

"Panther…" Haru said with a disapproving frown.

"We...We defiled the Dashmobile...A couple of times…" the girl admitted with an ashamed expression.

"DUUUUUUUUUUDE!" Ryuji yelled in disbelief.

"So outrageous…" Yusuke chorused with a more contrite expression…

He still high-fived Akira, though.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Morgana was not as thrilled by the news, and his scream of anguish loudly echoed inside the giant cave.

"Panther!" Makoto yelled in Anger.

"Oh, cut me some slack! As if I did not know you and Skull sneaked-out to do the same while we were exploring Pinkie's Palace!" Ann answered with a frown.

"Y-Y-You have no proof!" Makoto answered, blanching in horror.

"...?" Akira just looked at Skull with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that, it just happened." Ryuji muttered lamely.

"I expect more self-control from my colleagues." Yusuke chided them.

"Darling...We too are not innocent." Haru whispered with an adorable pink dusting of her cheeks.

"...AJ's Palace." Akira guessed.

"To my shame, those beds were extremely comfortable. Please forgive me." Fox admitted, looking utterly ashamed of himself.

"IS EVERYBODY HERE HAVING AN INTENSE LOVE LIFE EXCEPT ME?!" Morgana howled in agony.

"Preach to the choir, cat." Futaba answered, bitterly.

"I am sure Panther can loan you Joker if you want, Navi." Haru said.

"WHAT?! Why would I?!" Ann roared back in answer.

"I am not loaning Fox, and I am sure Skull is not free either…"

"What nonsense are you blabbering about?!"

While the girls kept arguing, the boys moved slightly aside after a rather intense look from Akira caught the attention of both.

"Yes?" Yusuke asked once they were far enough.

"You okay?" Ryuji asked as well.

In answer Akira pulled out his phone to show them a picture.

"...Holy shit! For real?!" Ryuji gasped in shock.

"You think it will be enough?" Akira asked, worried.

"Enough? Dude, that will be lethal! Ahahaha! Don't worry, there was no need to go that far!" The other answered.

"Still, it is a surprise. But I am happy to see you are taking things seriously." Yusuke added.

"Would you and Skull…"

"Shit! R-Really?! Of course I will!" Ryuji asked with a touched expression.

"I would be Honoured. But only if you both do the same for me." Yusuke answered with a small smile.

"Of course." Akira answered.

"...We all had the same plan, eh?"

"Skull?"

"I guess Celestia did come at the worst time, eh? Just before a screwball like me could start fixing things up." The young man answered, embarrassed.

"Nothing has been cancelled, just slightly postponed." Yusuke answered, patting his friend's back to cheer him up.

"What are you three talking about?" Ann asked.

"It's a secret, for now." Akira answered.

The three girls will never admit it, but the strange way they saw the boys look at them did make their hearts flutter a little, for some inexplicable reason.

"You guys and your secrets. Let's just go." Makoto huffed annoyed.

"I say we use the escape route this time, the only other way out seems to be Dash' "Secret" elevator, and we can't risk being discovered yet." Morgana suggested while transforming into the PT's van.

"Are you sure?" Haru asked while she and the others mounted aboard.

"We don't really have a choice this time, the core of the Palace is too isolated to try something else."

Roooooooo! Ding!

It was then that they heard that same elevator descend, meaning that Dash herself was about to enter the cave.

"Shit! Floor it, Queen!" Ryuji yelled just as the elevator doors opened.

"HOLD ON TIGHT!" Makoto yelled while pressing down hard on the accelerator, making the car sprint forward at mad speed.

"INTRUDERS!" They heard Dash roar in fury, soon followed by the noise of a second engine going full-throttle.

"She can fly! Why is she taking a car?!" Morgana asked.

"I learned to not question the Madness of a Palace owner! Look out!" Yusuke answered as the cyan coloured Lamborghini reached them on the notes of Dash' theme.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And immediately starting slamming against Morgana to push him towards the wall.

"Gyaaaah!" The transformed cat shrieked in pain every time he went sandwiched between the Dashmobile and the wall.

"Do something!" He begged.

"Persona! Alice!" Akira intoned, and the Young girl appeared floating next to him.

"How dare you attack my Onii-sama! You shall die for me! Megidolaon!" The Persona said with a cold tone of voice before summoning an imposing magical explosion similar to a nuclear bomb going off.

And to the Phantom Thieves horror, the attack did nothing to either car or mare.

"It didn't work?! How?! Try something else!" Futaba suggested.

Bang! Bang!

In the meantime Dash kept slamming her own car against Morgana's side.

"Just let us go!" Ryuji bellowed while unloading on her the entire clip of his shotgun.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Again the attack was fruitless as the bullets kept bouncing aimlessly on the car.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"I can't hold on for much longer!" Morgana shrieked in pain.

"Goemon!" Yusuke tried summoning his own Persona.

"Milady!" Soon joined by Haru.

"GO!" The two ordered with a desperate yell, and to their horror, their attacks too failed.

"Is she immune to Skill, Physical and Gun attacks?! What joke is this?!" Futaba yelled in hysterics.

"Give up! You can't defeat The Dash! You'll pay for entering my secret base! And for ruining the seats of my Dashmobile! This is real Leather, do you have any idea how hard it is to clean it?! What the hell have you done even?! It smells horrible here!" Dash said, looking extremely pissed.

"Sex." Akira blurted-out without thinking.

"...WHAT?!" The Distorted Dash shrieked in horror while looking at the passenger seat and the one she was sitting on with wide eyes, and to the Phantom Thieves surprise the mare's Theme Song literally screeched to a stop at the same time.

"GET OFF!" Using the opening of Dash' distraction, Makoto gave a furious turn to the wheel to push Dash and her car against the wall.

And this time, a miracle happened as the blue car slammed against the wall and lost control, spinning on itself and finally shooting the mare out from the front window before crashing upside-down, making her tumble painfully on the floor while behind her the car exploded into a ball of fire.

"I'll get you next time!" Dash roared in defiance with a broken wing and a thin line of black ichor streaming down from her forehead.

"The Exit! We are safe!" Ryuji yelled in relief.

And while cheering for escaping such a close call, the Phantom Thieves all noticed the same thing:

As soon as the Music stopped, they managed to wound Dash.

Later that day - Flying Ship acting as the Phantom Thieves HQ -

"...And that's pretty much it." Ryuji finished retelling what they saw and did inside the Palace.

"My goodness, Dash is really such a bad case?" Fluttershy asked with an extremely concerned tone.

"Ah'm watching da pictures, Shy. Dash' got it bad." AJ confirmed while still watching the pictures Makoto and the others took.

"Still more colorful than yours." Spike said.

"Yeah, but me and them were just darn creepy, Dash has another level of bad!" The farm mare answered.

"I am happy Rarity is not here to see this, that 'Rainbow Dash Wallpaper' and Museum would have killed her." Pinkie added.

"She'll be the next Target, now that we found Dash Treasure we will need to also start looking for Rarity. The longer we take the more daring Celestia will get in speeding-up Conversion." Haru answered.

"I will take care of that! I will ask Thorax for help in locating Rarity while you steal this Treasure!" Lyra offered immediately.

"That is good and all, but if we can't find a way to defeat Dash should we be forced to fight, stealing the Treasure will remain a dream." Ann countered with a sigh.

"You may have a clue, though." Tempest interrupted her.

"As you said, you are almost certain that unless Dash' Theme Song is stopped, she is invincible."

"It is just a theory, we guessed that the music we hear while in the Palace could be an integral part of her Delusions based on how she took damage only when that stopped; this is why we believe that her theme music is actually part of her believing to be an Invincible Hero of Justice." Yusuke confirmed.

"It doesn't make much sense, though." Ann muttered, and while all of them still wore hoodies and 3D printed copies of their Phantom Thieves masks, the ponies present could still catch the Defeat in her tone.

"Not really." Futaba and Pinkie said at the same time.

"You first." The Hacker conceded with a smirk.

"Everypony knows that when the Theme Song plays the Hero is about to win!" The party pony explained with a wide smile.

"Fuck! The Theme Music Power-Up cliché, how could we forget that!" Ryuji answered, laughing.

"It always happens in anime shows too, like with "Rising Fighting Spirit" in Naruto or "You say run" In My Hero Academia." Futaba said, shaking her head.

"Or Rivers in the Desert with you." Pinkie said.

"Wha?"

"Nothing!" The pink mare quipped.

"So Dash may be really following the Rules of superheroes to a T. How do we use it to our advantage then?" Yusuke asked.

"The moment the music stopped, we managed to damage both car and Dash, maybe we need to stop that from playing long enough for us to either escape the Palace or Defeat her." Makoto tried answering.

"That may be a good idea, but how do we actually do that?" Haru asked.

"How did you stop the music the first time?" Fluttershy asked, curious.

"...Let's just say that Joker and Panther managed to surprise her hard enough." Makoto answered while refusing to go into too many details.

"Oh! So you can do it again?" Spike asked.

"Yes." Akira answered, gaining in answer a punch to the shoulder from a madly blushing Ann.

"I fear that wouldn't be advisable, we may very well call on us too much anger from Dash." Yusuke suggested while eyeing his friend subtle amused smirk.

"Anger? Why?" Spike asked, confused.

"I'll explain when you are older." The Artist answered.

"Ough! Always the same answer!" The small dragon said, whining.

"Anger...Anger...Anger...EUREKA!" Futaba yelled.

"Uh?"

"It means-"

"I know what it means, I want to know what your brilliant idea is." Ryuji asked while rolling his eyes.

"That's easy! If not surprise, we'll go for anger! That Theme follows Dash around, meaning that maybe she is producing it herself with her powers as Palace Owner, I plan to anger her so much we'll break her focus, thing that I believe will stop the Theme from playing."

"And how do you plan to do it?" Ann asked.

"Ohohohoho! Leave it to me! It will be a surprise! I just need the help of Tempest and Lyra." Futaba answered.

"Uh?" Lyra muttered, confused.

"I need…" nobody heard what the short girl whispered in Tempest ear, but the glint in her eyes was truly frightening.

"...It's nothing too hard to do. But why?" The mare answered.

"Doooon't worry, everything will be clear when the time will come."

"If you say so." Both mares answered with a shrug.

"Joker? I need Lavenza, can you call her?" She then asked.

"It's not like she comes whenever I call her." Akira answered.

"You called?"

"Kyaah!" Both Makoto and AJ shrieked in surprise as the blue door appeared behind them and opened to show the tiny girl.

"I need your help...But I also need somebody more...Mature. Sorry." Futaba admitted.

"I can ask Belladonna-oneesama if she is open to help...Her or Margaret-oneesama." Lavenza answered promptly, even if she sounded almost miffed at the idea of asking for help to those two women.

"...It doesn't mean Joker won't owe you a favour, even if you ask your sisters to help you." Futaba muttered.

"A favour?" The girl said, perking-up.

"A big one."

"I'll do it."

"Thank you!" Futaba answered with a smug expression, watching the girl disappear back inside the door that then melted into nothingness.

"I don't like being used as a bargain chip." Akira commented, unsure.

"Ow come on, Joker! It will just be a threesome with her and Panther! Unless those twins join too and turn it into a fivesome, don't be a wuss!" She answered while waving his concerns off.

"NAVI!" Makoto, Haru, Ann and Fluttershy yelled as one, scandalized.

Some time later - Human Side of the Barrier -

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets rained all around Sae as she duck for cover, showering her in the dust of the holes those projectiles drilled on the walls next to her.

"We don't have to do this! Just give me the Phantom Thieves! Do it and I will let you go on your merry way!" The old man directing the SIU said with an overly sweet voice while calmly reloading his gun.

"For the last time, I have no idea where they are." Sae answered, calmly, before shooting back, turning yet another wall of the store they were fighting through into a hole-filled mess.

"I know you are lying, darling. And I know you and your friends are helping them! Even while shooting you to kill, I am still on the right side of law since your little band keeps pillaging these abandoned stores!" He answered, uncaring.

Bang!

Sae was forced to enact a desperate forward roll to avoid the new bullet, and diving behind an upturned table nearby, she too reloaded her gun.

"I told you a hundred times already and I will repeat it once more: I don't know where they are!" Sae yelled, and mentally cursing once seen that she only had three more bullets to use.

"I don't believe these will be enough to scare him away." She thought in dismay.

"Listen…" It was then that she heard the old man's voice turning so cold to almost not sound human anymore.

"This little Game between Celestia and the Thieves runs Deeper than you can even begin to understand. There are Forces at play here that your feeble mind cannot hope to comprehend even in a thousand years! I won't ask again: GIVE ME THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND THE PHANTOM THIEVES! NOW!" the old man roared like a beast as he started shooting again.

"Argh!" Sae yelled while fully throwing herself on the floor and covering her head with her arms to protect herself from the rain of dust covering her.

"Why is he not running out of bullets?!" The woman hissed as the wild shooting continued without stop.

"Sae! Answer me! Where are they?! Where are they?! Where are they?!" The old man roared in madness.

"Hey! Old Jeezer!" A new voice yelled.

"Who are y-"

BOOM!

The question died abruptly when the point-black spray of bullets to the chest from the Spas-12 in the man's arms sent the SIU Director flying as soon as he turned around to address the newcomer.

"Let's go!" The man, wearing a hockey mask obscuring his face, yelled while pulling Sae away by her hand.

Behind them the old man gasped for air while painfully removing the bulletproof vest he had hidden under his clothes.

"Dammit, he was padded." The guy helping Sae said with a bitter chuckle.

"Thank you for the help, Iwai." Sae said with an elated sigh.

"I was doing some shopping when I saw that guy chase you. You okay?" The store owner asked while ditching the mask.

"I'll be, but I think one of the bullets grazed my shoulder."

"We'll ask Takemi to give it a look."

"Thank God we have a doctor." The woman admitted.

"Yep! Was that guy still trying to get you to spill the beans?"

"Yes, and he is getting desperate. He talked about some Mysterious Forces being at play behind the scene. "

"I heard that, sounded like a lot of rubbish, though." Iwai admitted, helping Sae to mount the van he had borrowed for his little shopping trip.

"Had I heard this before now, I would have thought the same. But after Celestia and her friends appeared here? Now I am not as sure." The woman admitted, and bracing herself as Iwai made the van shoot forward at high speed.

"Gotta ask the kids if they know anything about it, they already went through this sort of thing once." Iwai answered while taking a daring turn that almost forced Sae to empty her stomach.

"I remind you that one of them is my little sister."

"My statement is still true." He replied, smirking.

Sigh! "We'll ask them." The woman finally conceded.

"Good."

"Where are we going? This is not the road to our usual hideout."

"This is another reason I came looking for you. Me and Akira's father managed to take possession of two boats, we are moving our base on a small island that Tempest mare said will be safe for the time being, those Bug Ponies also said they will help us in future forays for food and other goods."

"Finally some good news...What is all that stuff in the back?"

"Little Navi gave me quite the shopping list, something about this stuff being the key to steal the Treasure of their current Target."

Sigh! "Sometimes I wish I could go with them, just to make sure they will be safe." Sae admitted with a sigh.

"You and me both, woman. You and me both." Iwai answered.

Three days later - Pony side of the Barrier - Phantom Thieves flying ship -

"Reporting!" A changeling pegasus said as soon as it entered the belly of the ship.

"Good evening." Yusuke welcomed the Guest with a gentle smile.

"Tea?" He then asked.

"Oh! Thank you, sir." The changeling answered, gladly accepting the cup.

"Found anything inside Dash apartment?"

"It wasn't easy, sir Fox. Even while mimicking her to avoid detection, Dash is still a very public figure." The bug pony admitted.

"I am sorry if our request did put you in danger."

"It's not a problem, sir! It comes with the job! I have found several key entries in Dash diary I believe may help find the right code." The bug answered.

"Wonderful! Such insight will definitely help! You were perfect, Pincher." Yusuke answered with a happy tone.

"Gosh, just doing my best, sir…" the changeling answered with an embarrassed smile.

"Oh! We have Guests?" Fluttershy said once she and the other mares joined the two.

"I already took care of refreshments." The artist answered.

"Found somethin'?" AJ asked.

"Dash Diary, Miss AJ." The bug pony answered while taking out the bright red thing from its saddlebag to put it on the table in the middle of the room.

"Should we really read her Diary? I-I don't want to breach her Privacy." Shy muttered, unsure.

"It's her Privacy against the fate of both our worlds, I think Dashie will understand!" Pinkie answered.

"Ah hope so! Where are the others?" AJ asked.

"In the Mementoes, we got a notice in our Metaverse App about two Shadows appearing, one Human and one Pony. While we were waiting for Pincher to return from your world, we hoped to further destabilize this Conversion effort by changing more Hearts of the people pushing for it. As a way to not waste time." Yusuke answered.

"And you remained behind?" AJ asked.

"Somebody had to, considering that Navi is still too engrossed in her secret project, I was the only candidate...I did draw the shortest straw, after all, even if I believe Skull cheated, somehow." He answered.

"What is she working on, again?" Pinkie asked.

"...I have not even the faintest clue." The young man answered with a sigh.

"WE'RE BACK!" Ryuji declared while they were still fading back into Reality.

"Got both Shadows." Akira added.

"Oh! What did they turn into?" Yusuke asked.

"High Pixie and Inugami." Haru answered.

"Uh, I hoped for something more imposing."

"Me too, buddy." Ryuji answered.

"What's important is the final result."

"Joker's right, come, we have a diary to read if we want to find the code we need."

"What about Navi?" Ann asked, and in answer the Door to the Velvet Room opened to let the heavily-mumbling hacker out as she marched back to her computer with a lightning fast thank you thrown at Lavenza.

"Na-"

"Can't talk! Almost done! Let me work!" She answered while hastily drawing the drapes obscuring her workstation closed.

"O-Okay." Haru stuttered, unsure.

"I guess she won't help us." Makoto said, sighing.

"Sorry about this, Lavenza." Akira said.

"It's okay, if it is necessary to stop Ruin, I will help you as much as I can." The short girl answered with a kind smile.

"Thank you." The young man answered while gently patting her head.

"Hehehe!" The girl let out a cute little giggle at the action.

"We helped too, Inmate." Justine said.

"It would only be proper for us too to get our reward." Caroline added as both girls took off their hats.

"..." without a word, Akira simply did as asked, and patted their heads as well.

"Loli magnet." Ryuji muttered while fake-coughing, and getting an elbow to the liver from Makoto in answer.

"Belladonna-oneesama wishes to meet you, but I don't know why. Please come visit the Velvet Room as soon as you have done stealing this Treasure. Please, be careful." Lavenza asked before she and the Twins disappeared inside the Room and made the door fade away.

"Uh."

"Oooh! Are you meeting your in-laws?" Pinkie asked.

"Ssssh!" Fluttershy tried silencing her once saw the glare Ann sent her at those words.

"OH MY GOD, GUYS! WE ARE IN TROUBLE!" It was then that Spike entered the ship in great hurry and scared beyond reason.

"Spike! Calm down! What's happening?" AJ asked.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! It's horrible!"

"Some details, maybe?" Ryuji asked.

"I-I was spying on Twilight as usual, and then Dash came in, and then they talked, and there was Conversion Potion crates everywhere and-"

"May I suggest breathing between words?" Yusuke tried saying, unnerved.

"DASH IS ABOUT TO MAKE CONVERSION POTION RAIN FROM THE SKY!' Spike finally broke and shrieked with a high-pitch tone of hysteria.

"...What?" Makoto asked, horrified.

"Apparently she had some 'Awesome Secret Plan' to, in her words, help a lot of people in a single move. She asked Twilight for help and both managed to create a version of the thing that won't lose effect if mixed with water! Dash plans to mix it with rain water and cause a deluge...AND NONE OF THEM TALKED ABOUT THAT STUFF RAINING ON HUMANS ONLY!" The dragon answered, near tears.

"Oh my God!" Haru gasped, horrified.

"How long do we have before that happens?" Akira asked.

"...Two days." Spike whispered with a gag of revulsion.

"Okay, Fuck escaping! We will take the Treasure and fight Dash, I am not taking chances!" Ryuji declared.

"Skull is right, we are dealing with Corruption too, this time, we can't risk it." Morgana admitted.

"I'll go call Miss Tempest, she is good at cracking codes!" The pegasus changeling said while hurrying outside.

"Why is Twilight going along with this?" Fluttershy asked.

"You haven't seen her lately, she is getting scary! Her fixation for studying Humans and New Foals and the effects of Conversion on both Humans and Ponies is getting sickening, I don't know what is still stopping her from vivisecting whoever she gets her hooves on, but everyday I fear that she will start doing that as well!" Spike answered, looking absolutely scared.

"The incident with the Conversion Gas and those ponies must have sparkled her curiosity." Yusuke guessed.

"We'll deal with the mad scientist once stopped Dash! Now help me!" Makoto called them over while already scanning the pages of Dash Diary.

The next day - Airport -

"This is insane, we don't even have a real code to use." Makoto said while spying on the real Dash with a pair of binoculars.

"I know, but we are too close to our deadline." Haru answered, tensely.

"Why must we always have to have a Damocles Sword dangling above us every time we have a Treasure to steal?" Yusuke hissed in contempt.

"I blame Karma." Akira answered.

"We are ready, Navi! Send the Calling Card! And I hope your Secret Weapon is ready too." Ryuji said to his phone.

"...Is not ready yet…" Futaba admitted.

"What?!" The Phantom Thieves yelled as one.

"I am still converting it in a way that will let us use it inside the Palace! I just need a couple more minutes!" She answered.

"We'll need to hope it will be ready when we will need it." Ann muttered.

"And that it will actually work as intended…" Futaba added with a small voice.

The Phantom Thieves forced themselves to ignore that remark, even just to not lose hope.

"In the meantime, I am sending the Calling Card! Get ready!" The Hacker finally declared, and once took control of every screen of the airport, she proudly displayed the Phantom Thieves Logo on every one of them.

And at the same time, several internet forums in the human side went swarmed as well in copies of it, while in the pony side Lyra and Tempest, helped by Thorax, made sure not a single pony could miss Lavenza's voice reading it aloud, once again pissing off Celestia to the point of Madness.

Not a single pony or human missed the new Calling Card, especially Rainbow Dash that was surrounded in red screens and went almost deafened by the message being played all around her from every speaker at max volume with each word accompanied by an ominous echo.

To Rainbow Dash, the Prideful bringer of Despair masquerading as a Hero!

A blind mare preferring to escape Reality and hide behind the Lies created by her Twisted Delusions in a childish tale of Wish-Fulfillment.

You are the Corrupted Element of Harmony who relishes in the destruction of Humanity to satisfy her endless need for acknowledgement and praise.

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

We will teach you that Loyalty goes beyond one's own selfish wishes.

And we will take your distorted desires without fail.

From,

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

As soon as the message ended, Dash could be seen blanching in horror and falling on her butt to look around herself with a lost expression.

"NONONONONONONONO! I-I-I AM A HERO! A HERO!" The mare yelled, crying profusely as the Calling Card went played over and over and over.

"TO RAINBOW DASH, THE…"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Dash yelled as she kept smashing to pieces every screen she saw.

"It's done! The Treasure has took shape!" Morgana said in triumph.

"PHANTOM THIEVES!" It was then they heard the answer from Dash Distorted Self.

"You dare challenge the Guardian Protector of Dash City?! Come if you have the guts! I won't stand for such insolence from some petty criminals, I will destroy you!" They heard the Shadow roar in anger before her presence faded away.

"It seems like we caught her attention, very well, everything is ready then." Yusuke said with a pleased tone.

"Joker?" A voice said from Akira's radio.

"Yes?" The young man answered.

"Tempest here, I don't think anypony has ever seen Celestia this angry. Unfortunately the good news finish here because Cadence herself is getting there on Celestia's request! You better have a plan to keep Dash safe, because love-obsessed she may be, but Cadence is still an Alicorn!" Tempest alerted them.

"Damn it! Okay! We'll come up with something! Thank you for warning us!" Makoto answered.

"I am on it already!" A new voice rang-out from right outside the van.

"That voice...Pinkie!?" Haru said, shocked.

To their surprise, they could see AJ run beside her and Fluttershy following them from the sky.

"What the hell are they doing?!" Ryuji screamed.

With the mares -

"I am a Hero! SHUT UP!" Looking about to lose it completely, Dash kicked another monitor to pieces.

"Dashie?"

"PINKIE!" The mare yelled in both relief and surprise at seeing her friend there with her.

"Hi!" The party lover answered while showing a sad smile.

"Everypony is looking everywhere for you! Why are you here? Have you seen AJ and Fluttershy?" Dash asked while nearing her.

"Uh-hu."

"Awesome! Let's go get them! Those Phantom Thieves are dangerous! They must have some evil plan, we need to stop them!"

"Ah'm here, Dash." AJ said from behind her.

"AJ! Thanks Celestia-"

Puff!

As soon as she turned around, AJ blew some blue dust on the mare's face, making her immediately start swaying on her hooves.

"Sorry, sugarcube, but Celestia is tha last mare I wanna thank right now." The farm mare answered as she watched her friend collapse in a deep sleep.

"What are you doing?" Akira asked, once finally tried contacting Fluttershy's earpiece under Futaba's suggestion.

"W-We used some sleeping powder Lyra gave us, J-Joker. T-They are already waiting for us for recovery." The shy pegasus answered while helping Pinkie to tie and gag Dash tightly.

"We already planned for this form of extraction, we just did not expect you three to carry it out!" Lyra answered while several changelings swarmed the place to help the non-flying mares reaching the flying ship waiting not too far away.

"Sorry! But Dash is our friend, it's our duty to help!" Pinkie answered.

"Damn Ponies! You guys go, we will take them all to safety!" The Abyssinian governing the ship said while already departing as soon as Dash was brought onboard.

"At that speed they should be able to escape. We should go, before Cadence arrives." Yusuke suggested.

"Phones out, guys!" Ann prompted, and as one, The Phantom Thieves disappeared from the real world to enter the Palace.

By the time Cadence will arrive, the changeling/abyssinian crew will have already ditched the ship and gone underground, taking Dash and the other mares with them to a secret location.

"She is not here…" the Alicorn Princess of Love muttered with narrowed eyes, for some reason feeling the need to give a last glare to an abandoned van close by, before returning to Celestia and inform her that yet another Element of Harmony disappeared.

With the Phantom Thieves - Palace Safe Room near the elevators -

"We are in. What about you, Navi?" Akira asked as soon as he and the others exited the Safe Room.

"I got in as well, at the moment the conversion for the Anti-Dash Weapon is at 90%, should you start fighting, you'll need to pull through without it until I am done." The girl answered.

"I trust you, Navi." Akira answered.

"Thank you."

"Focus, guys! The Palace is at maximum alert now!" Morgana warned them.

"The elevators are here, let's go." Ryuji prompted.

Once up to the restaurant, the Phantom Thieves rapidly sneaked past the guard-dressed Shadows that had swarmed the place to reach the deserted Museum and then the penthouse, from which they then descended towards Dash secret base.

"You know? I believe all this is a sign that Dash is hiding her insecurities behind overblown ego and bravado. I mean, every other building beside this is pretty and grandiose only on the outside while inside they are just empty boxes. As if to further underline her greatness by comparison." Yusuke said.

"Sorry, but at the moment I find myself unable to justify her!" Ryuji answered while he and the others perused the long list of possible codes.

"That mare has written every 'Success' in her life as if it was a World-changing event! How are we supposed to find the right one?!" Makoto hissed in contempt.

"Try with the Wonderbolt one." Haru suggested.

"Which one? Her first show? the date of when she was admitted in their ranks?...Spitfire Birthday date?" The girl answered with a growl.

"Yes."

"That's not funny...Let's try with the date of when she got admitted." Makoto hissed while pressing the various buttons, filling the tiny screen above the numpad in "####" marks.

Blargh! Immediately an angry-sounding sound effect alerted them the code was wrong.

EEE-OOO-EEE-OOO-EEE-OOO…!

Soon followed by a loud alert while the cave went tinted red in its entirety at regular intervals by red lights.

"Damn it! She even has a security system! Keep trying!" Morgana growled between clenched teeth.

"Dash Birthday." Makoto muttered while tapping numbers as fast as she could.

Blargh!

"Damn it! Her first air-show."

Blargh

!

"I hate that mare! The battle against Nightmare Moon."

Blargh

!

"Hurry up!" Ryuji yelled while looking at the elevator in dread.

Blargh

!

"I am trying! I am trying!"

"..."

"Something on your mind?" Yusuke asked, noticing in awe how Akira acted unfazed as usual while looking at the true form of the Treasure.

"The Treasure is a picture framed in a simple frame, I can't make out the details, though." Akira answered.

"You think the Treasure itself may hold a clue?"

"It is the biggest trophy there, in the exact middle, for everybody to see."

"True. But how do we check its content?" Yusuke asked.

Wham!

"Damn it, I can't break it open!" Ryuji cursed as his hammer kept bouncing on the reinforced glass.

"I am not surprised, Skull." Morgana answered with a sigh.

"Sorry." Akira said while grabbing the cat from under his tiny arms.

"Uh?!"

"I am going to throw you up there, tell us what kind of picture is the Treasure." Akira instructed.

"W-W-What?! J-Just promise you will catch me, okay?" Morgana begged.

"Of course." the young man answered, before throwing the cat as high as he could.

"Meeeow! Dash and the others in strange dresses!" Morgana yelled as soon as he was in front of the Treasure.

"Define strange, please." Yusuke asked as soon as their Mascotte landed safely in Akira's waiting arms.

"What can I say...Colorful, elegant, with lots of ribbons...I don't know, they have their hair styled in that picture." He answered, uncertain.

"Some sort of Gala?" Haru asked.

"How am I supposed to know?! I never went to one!" Morgana answered.

"There is no Gala in my list!" Makoto shrieked.

"I will leave the Palace for a moment, just the time to ask Confetti, Claws and the others! Wait for me!" Futaba suggested.

"Too dangerous!" Yusuke answered, shooting down her idea immediately.

"There is no other way!"

"Throw me again! I'll see if there are more details in the picture!" Morgana said while jumping in Akira's arms.

"Fly!" The young man said before throwing the cat upward again.

"A table! Seats! A diner of sort!" Morgana yelled as many details he could."

"What else-"

"Doughnuts!"

"Doughnuts...There is a Doughnut Joe date Dash had circled in red, for some reason!" Makoto said with an elated tone.

"Was that the one with 'Remember!' Written next to it?" Akira asked, curious.

"Uh? Yeah! That one! How did you remember?" Makoto asked while using that date as the code.

"It looked important." Joker answered with a shrug.

Ding! Ding!

A happy chime rang as the glass panel swung open.

"WE DID IT!" Morgana yelled in relief, and gladly accepting being thrown up again to grab the Treasure.

"Why do you think that picture is so important?" Haru asked while they all jumped aboard the Morgana Car.

"Just like with AJ, it must represent an important memory for Dash." Yusuke answered.

"Something about never forgetting herself?" Akira suggested.

"Herself?" Makoto asked while spending forward.

"The Treasures up until now were all mementos they were given by others as a way to always remember their origins/values." Akira said.

"A plush toy given by a mother to give a mare hope to one day be a mother herself...A Pet Rock given by a worried sister that wanted part of her family to not lose sight of who she is...And a family picture to always remember to a wayward mare that no matter what she will always have a home and loving family to return to." Yusuke said, sighing at the realization.

"And now a picture of a group of friends smiling together after a party, maybe a reminder for Dash about what is really important between Friends and Fame."

"These Treasures must be the last cry of help of their Hearts from under the weight of Corruption." Morgana guessed with a sad tone.

"Then let's hurry and bring that small spark out to safety!" Haru said.

"Almost there!" Makoto answered as the light signaling the end of the tunnel rapidly turned bigger and brighter.

CRAAAAAASH!

And as soon as the Mona Car exited the tunnel, a small but incredibly fast something slammed on the van's side, launching it aside and making it roll on the floor until the dazed Morgana was forced out of his transformation.

"You really thought that I was about to let you go on your merry way? WITH MY TREASURE?!" the Distorted Dash hissed with a venomous tone.

"She was waiting for us, of course! It was strange she ignored the Alarm!" Yusuke guessed with a frown.

"She used it as a bait." Akira added.

"Precisely! And since I have you here where I wanted you, it's time for me to put an end to your reign of Terror!" Dash declared while forcefully calling back to her the Treasure to hide it under her costume.

"Don't think we are afraid of you! If we can't steal your Treasure, we will take it by force!" Makoto declared.

"Oh, yeah! I can't wait to kick her ass! I effin' hate prideful shits like her!" Ryuji added, smirking.

"Fools! Justice always triumph! And I embody the Supreme Justice of Dash City, there is no way for you to win this fight! But I am not about to take any chances…" Dash answered as a dark aura enveloped her body.

"Scoota-Jet! Tank-Tank!" The mare yelled, making the entire Palace tremble heavily under the strongest earthquake the Phantom Thieves had ever felt.

"Scoota-what?" Haru asked, confused.

"What's she doing now?!" Morgana chorused.

"Guys! You won't believe what is nearing you!" They all heard Futaba yell in disbelief.

Wraaaaaaaaah!

Blowing apart every skyscraper with ease, a giant turtle-shaped tank rolled towards them with no intentions to stop, and right behind it, a giant Fighter Jet painted orange and purple similarly zeroed on the Thieves.

"Consider yourself lucky! I am going to use my strongest weapon to destroy you all! Dash Zord, Transformation!" Distorted Dash declared while mounting the jet.

"...Dash-Zord?" Ann couldn't help but mutter while the two vehicles combined together to form a truly giant Robot designed to look like a stereotype samurai and sporting the same sunglasses-like visor of Dash superhero mask, it even turned cyan coloured like her fur once done.

"Of course she has a giant Megazord." Haru answered with a groan.

"She can easily say it's our fault, she did come to Japan after all." Akira added at the same time.

"That sounds offensive to my japanese blood, somehow." The girl admitted.

"We'll tease Dash about it once freed her from her Distortion! Now hop aboard!" Morgana answered while transforming once again…

This time in a cat-eared helicopter!

"What the eff?!" Ryuji gasped in shock.

"Presenting you the Mona-copter! Now that I accepted my being an Attendant of the Velvet Room, my powers have fully awakened!...Cool, eh?" The cat answered, smugly, while taking air as soon as every Phantom Thief was on board, and just in time to avoid a giant punch from Dash Robot.

"I never piloted a helicopter!" Makoto shrieked while trying to keep the thing flying.

"Then now it's a good Moment to learn! LOOK OUT!" Futaba warned them while she too was forced to pilot her flying saucer Persona into a daring nosedive to avoid another giant punch.

"Stay still! I want to squash you!" They heard Dash order from inside the robot while trying to swat the helicopter mid-air like a fly.

"Over there! Land on that rooftop! It should be high enough to let us face her!" Yusuke instructed.

"You want us to fight a giant robot by ourselves?!" Ryuji asked.

"We don't have other options, unless Mona can transform into a giant robot himself."

"I wish I could." Morgana answered, bitter.

A bit of a crash-landing later and the Phantom Thieves could take their fighting stances, standing on a rooftop high enough to easily reach the Robot's head.

(In the meantime that annoying Theme Song of Dash kept playing in the background at high volume.)

"How long before your secret weapon is ready, Navi?" Akira asked.

"Three minutes! Conversion is at 97%!" she answered.

"Then I guess we'll have to hold on as much as we can!" Makoto answered.

"Johanna! Rakukaja!" She then said, summoning her Persona to raise her own defensive abilities.

"Justice will prevail! Sword of Punishment!" Dash declared, and a giant sword momentarily appeared in the robot's hand as soon as she raised it to the sky, and with a mighty swing, she brought the blade down without mercy.

"Dodge!" Akira yelled while tackling Ann out of harm's way before she could be cleaved in half, while behind him the rest of the Phantom Thieves scampered away as well.

Boom!

With a deafening crash the skyscraper almost got cut in half completely, making the entire structure tremble and whine.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

"Get down the robot! Fight me like a mare!" Ryuji bellowed while shooting the thing, and watching the bullets do no damages whatsoever.

"Evildoers deserve no mercy! Righteous Wind!" Dash answered as the robot's mouth opened.

"That is an area attack! You can't dodge it! Block!" Futaba warned them an instant before a storm exited the robot's mouth to wash over the entire rooftop.

WOOOOOM!

"Gaah!" Akira hissed in pain as many small cuts opened all over his body even if he managed to take a defensive stance just an instant before the attack commenced.

"Joker!" Ann yelled, now looking extremely pissed.

"Carmen! Maragion!" The young woman roared in blind fury, making a sea of fire surge like a raging storm to assault both arms, the chest and the head of the giant Robot, unfortunately without even scratching its paint.

"Useless! This only shows that my Justice is the right path! No Evil will ever win as long as I breath! HAMMER OF JUSTICE!" Laughing in superiority, the robot's fist went raise again high in the sky to then Slam down with full power.

BOOOOOOOM!

Even if the Phantom Thieves dodged the actual punch, the massive explosion it caused on impact still heavily damaged them, with the added bonus of destroying the rooftop making them fall inside the building and on the floor right under it.

"Gah!" Makoto gasped in pain.

"Damn it, Navi! We can't hurt that thing!" Ryuji yelled in anger.

Bra-Craaaaaash!

Not wasting time, Dash piloted the robot to give a wide shoving gesture with an arm, demolishing what remained of the building's top so to once again bring the Phantom Thieves outside and fully face them.

"Have no fear! It's finally time for OUR THEME SONG TO PLAY!" Futaba declared with a savage smile as she pushed a button in front of her with extra emphasis.

"Ah, our Theme Son-WHAT?!" Makoto yelled in disbelief.

Grrrrfzfzfzffffffff!

The sound resembled static noises of a radio out of tune, so loud to actually cover Dash' song and give the impression Futaba was actually hijacking the music itself.

"WHAT?!" Dash yelled with wide eyes.

"Sorry, girl! This is OUR SHOW NOW!" Futaba declared, proudly, as her Persona herself started broadcasting her secret weapon.

The music played loudly enough to cover Dash' theme, soon turning into the only music that could be heard.

"Proudly presenting you: The Phantom Thieves Theme! Lyrics sung by Belladonna, base melody created by myself and finished product mixed by Vynil Scratch AKA DJ PON-3!" the Hacker declared with a wide smile.

"Hey! I like it!" Ryuji admitted with a wide grin.

"NOOOOO! IMPOSSIBLE!" Dash yelled as her own music finally stopped playing altogether, and the mare's shock/horror at that was no different from Yaldabaoth's own when the bastard's Rays of Control failed to even scratch the Phantom Thieves.

"Very nice beat." Yusuke admitted.

Then the vocals kicked-in!

"Time to test your theory, Navi! CAPTAIN KIDD! ZIO!" Ryuji said while summoning his Persona to launch the lightning attack at the robot's giant right arm.

"KYAAAAH!" And gaining from its pilot a shriek of pain that helped an elated smile bloom in the teens' faces.

"IT WORKEEEEEEEEED!" Futaba yelled.

"GET HER!" Morgana bellowed with a savage expression, and as one, every Phantom Thief summoned their Persona at the same time.

"ZIO!" Ryuji yelled, making another lightning bolt rain from the sky to hit the robot right arm again.

"Gah! You won't stop me! Justice will triumph! Sword of Punishment!"

"Incoming! JOHANNA!" fearless in the face of danger, Makoto did not waste time once dodged the sword strike like the others, she actually summoned her Persona to run over the blade and jump high enough to reach the robot's face.

"Freila!" The sizable nuclear explosion not only blinded Dash, bit also took away a good chunk of the Robot face, dazing its pilot enough for Makoto to safely land back between her friends.

"Good, she is weak to nuclear and lightning." The young woman said with a pleased smile.

"Very well. Persona, Shiisaa! Zio!" Akira answered before summoning the lion-like Persona next to him and attack the left arm.

"DAMN YOU! RIGHTEOUS WIND!" Having finally lost every semblance of sanity, Dash spat the attack name with a raving tone.

"AOE Attack! Defend!" Futaba warned them while also boosting their defences.

WOOOM

!

"Even her attack power decreased!" Haru said in surprise has the damages caused by the attack were reduced significantly.

"We took over her Power Fantasy, as soon our music took over, she subconsciously stopped considering herself invincible." Yusuke answered.

"Good to know. Persona, Alice! Megidolaon!" Akira answered while summoning the short girl in the blue dress.

"The enemies of my beloved Onii-sama must die!" The Persona declared, and with an almighty magical explosion, the right arm of the robot went finally destroyed, making it fall down to the ground reduced to scraps of metal.

"Dude, why that Persona likes you this much?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan tone.

"I don't know. " the other answered.

"FOCUS! Just like with Pinkie, that robot is just something Dash is piloting, you'll need to first destroy that if you want to fight her for real." Futaba reminded them.

"We are already working on it, Navi. Goemon! Giant Slice!" Yusuke answered, summoning his Persona to open a big wound on the robot’s chest to show a giant, vaguely heart-shaped engine right in its middle.

“I believe that is the power source of the robot.” the Artist guessed.

“Good to know! Milady! Triple Down!Haru answered as her Persona gave a spectacular show of its fire-power by showering the Robot’s chest in bullets and explosive rounds that damaged the machine’s core and further enlarged the hole around it.

AAAARGH! I am not defeated yet! HAMMER OF JUSTICE!

Punch incoming!” Futaba yelled as she herself took distance.

This time the Phantom Thieves were ready, other than taking more distance from the punch, they also raised their guards and prepared the Healing Skills/Objects to use immediately after, meaning that even while landing on the lower floor once the one they were standing on collapsed, their wounds old and new were already healed.

BOOOM!

And just like before, Dash guided the giant robot into destroying whatever visual obstacle with an uncaring shove of the remaining arm of the metal giant, once again destroying everything above the teens, it was also starting to rain, and with no longer a roof above them, the entire floor went soon soaked.

“I have a plan.” Morgana whispered.

“I am listening.” Akira answered.

“I saw sparks and smoke come out from that arm’s shoulder the moment she lifted it to deliver a punch, I want you all to goad Dash into using that sword attack of hers, I plan to run up that and reach the shoulder and attack it directly.”

“You want to go Shadow of the Colossus on her?!” Ryuji asked in disbelief.

“It’s the only way, if I manage to destroy the arm, she will only have that wind turbine left, but by then we’ll be free to damage the core until the robot collapsed, and that will force Dash to fight by herself.

“I’ll see what we can do, Mona.” Makoto answered with a nod.

“Thank you, guys.”

Said that, while Morgana took position, Makoto stepped forward to point an accusing finger straight at Dash.

“It’s over! Look at that tin-can! It’s falling apart like your so called ‘Justice’! Give up and handle us the Treasure and we will spare the city!” the young woman declared.

“What the Eff?!”Ryuji hissed.

“She is playing the role of the comic book Villain, Skull. I think we should follow her example,” Yusuke said while he too stepped forward.

“Such beautiful Chaos! So many colors of grief! The choice is yours! Give us the Treasure, or I shall use this entire city as my canvas for a breath-taking Painting of Despair!” Yusuke declared, trying to sound both hammy and yet Elegant at the same time.

You...” as expected, they heard Dash growl through her teeth, and they could swear they could actually hear said teeth violently grinding together.

“What a better way to let her follow the Script of the Superhero than following one ourselves?” Haru added with a chuckle while stepping forward herself.

“I am Noir! The greatest Phantom Thief! And I shall steal whatever catches my fancy, for I deserve everything beautiful under the sky! Give up the Treasure, it will be the centerpiece of my collection!” She declared while behind her Milady summoned rose petals and a spotlight around the girl, just like it did during Haru’s Awakening.

You dare...Being so bold...AS TO MAKE DEMANDS!?” Dash roared while summoning the giant overly-ornate sword in the robot’s hand.

“Demands? I am a Pirate, little pony! I don’t make demands! I just steal whatever the Eff I want, that’s all!” Ryuji answered, and one could swear Captain Kidd behind him puffed-out its chest in pride at those words.

You...You...YOU-

KRAKATOOOOOOOOM!

The brightest and loudest lightning everybody there had ever seen seemed to literally cut the sky in two for an instant, and behind Joker a GIANT shadow appeared between the clouds in the shape of a being with six wings and a huge halo standing with slightly open arms and carrying a gun big enough to probably shot Dash’s entire robot as a bullet.

The thing holding that gun was several times bigger than the robot itself, so big that Dash' Palace seemed unable to contain its massive body.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

A far away, smooth (sexy) and Diabolic laugh momentarily echoed all around them before both laugh and shadow disappeared as if they were never there.

“…” Akira simply finished adjusting his gloves and dropped the smirk he was showing while all that happened.

“...fuck...” Dash whimpered with a small voice.

“Did Joker just stole the scene while saying freaking nothing?” Ryuji muttered in awe.

“That’s our Leader for you. I believe his Persona Satanael is eager to return.” Yusuke answered with a sigh.

“No shit.”

“...I see...There is no hope left then! I will give it my all and destroy you! SWORD OF PUNISHMENT!FULL POWER!” Dash declared as the core of her robot turned cherry-red from overheating while she forced the arm all the way back ignoring the whining of protest of its abused metal.

BEGONE! CRESCENT MOON OF HOPE!

“Wrong choice of words! I am the holder of Humanity’s Hope!” Morgana yelled as the Phantom Thieves dropped on the lower floor thanks to the cleave mark of the mare first swing.

To their relief, that showed being the right choice as the new attack brought with the sword opening a second vertical hole cutting the skyscraper in two a secondary effect: an explosion of fire demolishing the entire floor above them in a sea of fire.

GAH! YOU WON’T DODGE IT THIS TIME!...UH?!” the mare hissed in horror as she failed to raise the robot’s arm again.

IT’S STUCK! GO BEFORE SHE BRAKES FREE!” Futaba yelled.

“Hop on! JOHANNA!” Makoto ordered while summoning her Persona.

“Got it!” Morgana answered, immediately jumping on the motorcycle head to be carried up to the giant robot’s shoulder.

“GO!” the girl yelled jumping high in the sky.

ZORRO!” the Cat roared over the storm raging on the city, and with a duo of clanging sounds, both Morgana and Zorro started mercilessly attacking its metal on whatever weak point they could find and reach.

“Let’s help her! Arsene! Cleave!Akira said while attacking the robot’s core with both his Persona and his gun.

“Don’t have to tell me twice! Let’s break it, Captain Kidd!” Ryuji answered, he too unloading every bullet he had against the smoking engine while his Persona kept ramming it with the ship it was riding.

“MAKE ROOM! FREILA!” Makoto, having just landed back between her friends, immediately re-summoned Johanna to let loose a big explosion that made the robot stumble back, thing that forced the robot’s damaged arm to stretch enough to produce a loud cracking sound as more armor plaques fell from the shoulder area.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

In the meantime they could hear Morgana and Zorro relentlessly hammering at the arm, and as Futaba confirmed, making its energy readings fall continuously with a steady rhythm.

ARGH!… I understand now...” Dash said as energy started converging towards the Robot’s core making it light-up in a white aura of energy.

“What’s she doing now?!” Ryuji asked.

This is where my adventure ends...The final sacrifice for the well-being of Dash City.” Dash said with a serene tone as she dropped the sword and used the remaining arm of the robot to hug the building, forcing Morgana to jump down and bringing the robot’s core extremely close to the Phantom Thieves.

She is going to blow herself up!” Futaba shrieked in horror.

For some reason I am not angry...I am...Happy...Of having defended Dash City to my dying breath.” Dash said as now the light around the Robot’s Core had become truly blinding, they could now even see through the robot glass visor a lone tear fall from the mare’s eye.

“That psycho is playing the ‘Martyr Hero Scene’!” Haru yelled with wide eyes.

“Let her play out her fantasy! In the meantime we will get to safe distance!” Morgana answered while turning into her new Mona-Copter form.

“Could have done that when Pinkie blew-up!” Ryuji commented while he and the others hurried inside.

“Blame Igor, HE suggested me to try and see if I could turn into something that flies only after AJ’s Palace!” Morgana answered.

“Hold tight, I still don’t know how to pilot this!” Makoto ordered as they rapidly left the scene, uncaring of Dash continuing her mad monologue.

Dash City...This is my final gift to you...Farew-Where are they going?!” and immediately breaking character as soon as she saw the small helicopter already outside the blast radius of her self-destruction.

Oh, those little pieces of sh-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Phantom Thieves watched as the mushroom cloud slowly formed from the titanic explosion that even managed to temporarily stop the rainstorm around them, and no matter the great distance they managed to put between them and Dash, the shock-wave still almost threw them on their asses.

“That was a big one!” Ann admitted.

“You think she is dead?” Akira asked.

“Unlikely, the Palace is still standing and I refuse to believe such a prideful Distortion was able to enact something as selfless as sacrificing her life to bring us down. The fight is not over yet." Morgana answered.

As on cue, the robot’s head slowly descended on the same rooftop they were on thanks to the engine clearly hidden inside the neck area of the thing, and once landed, Dash dismounted from the thing to calmly glare at the assembled teens with a furious snarl on her face.

You even had to ruin my Sacrifice Scene, you others are really a bunch of selfish Villains.” the Distorted Mare declared.

“Of course you had a plan to survive that, heaven forbid you actually do something nice for the others instead of yourself!” Haru answered.

Do nice things for others? FOR OTHERS?! They should thank me I actually waste my time saving their sorry plot everyday! Where are the parades for my greatness, uh?! The parties celebrating my victories?! The crowd asking me for autographs?! You know what it means to fight Sombra or Discord with only ‘The Power of Friendship’?! Tirek stealing my Pegasus Magic freaking hurt, and NOPONY THANKED ME FOR DEFEATING HIM AFTERWARDS!” Dash answered, almost foaming at the mouth.

“You don’t help others to get a medal. You help them because it’s the right thing to do.” Akira answered.

“The right thing to do!? I have enough of that! I want recognition and praises for my Heroic Deeds! PONY AND HUMANS HAVE TO KNEEL AND THANK ME FOR ME GRACIOUSLY WASTING TIME IN HELPING THEM!”

You shitty brat! I am going to sue! And you, bitch...You know you better testify against him...We’ll see how much you like playing Hero now.” Shido’s words echoed inside Akira’s head, making him growl.

“I am a Hero. The others around me are just there to cheer for me! They are just a pair of hands and hooves whose only duty is to applaud me! I DECIDE WHAT JUSTICE IS! I AM THE ONLY JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER THIS WORLD NEEDS! THIS WORLD IS MINE! MINE AND MINE ONLY!” Dash said with a maniacal glint in her eyes.

She was just like Shido, a blind monster seeing in herself the Savior of all, while everything and everybody around her were just toys for her to rule over in her sick view of what the world should be; and unknown to her, such similarity had every single Phantom Thief see red from their anger alone.

“NOW BE GOOD KIDS AND KNEEL! KNEEL AND REPENT EVER GOING AGAINST THE DA-” POW!

She never finished her rant as Akira’s punch landed squarely on her jaw with inhuman fury, making her hero helmet fly off and launching the mare back.

“You remind me of Yaldabaoth and his favourite puppet. I hate that memory.” Akira admitted with a low voice.

“...My-My helmet! The symbol of my duty as a Hero!” Ignoring him completely, Dash scampered towards the fallen headgear to cradle it to her chest once seen that the sunglasses-like frontal panel had shattered to pieces once hit the ground.

“Big deal.” Ryuji answered, uncaring, while giving an encouraging pat on Akira’s back as soon as he rejoined them.

Y-You broke it.” Distorted Dash muttered while crying.

“You okay?” Ann asked while utterly ignoring the mare.

“I’ll be, just some bad memories. Sorry about that.” Akira answered.

"It's okay."

YOU BROKE MY HELMET!

“YES WE BROKE YOUR DAMN HELMET! Grow-up and understand that you don’t help others for self-gratification but to-”

SILEEEEEENCE!” What Makoto was about to say went eclipsed by Dash’ roar, and for an instant the Palace trembled.

You won’t ruin my ideal world! I won’t let you! I...AM...A HERO!” the mare’s voice came out like a distorted, guttural moan as he body bloated and transformed.

She gained a bipedal stance and claws in place of her frontal hooves, muscles grew unevenly and grotesquely and her mouth became filled in sharp fangs.

GRAAAAAAAH!” the now Monster Dash roared in madness.

That’s her true form! I’ll play the music again just in case!” Futaba said.

This my world! My music plays, not yours!" Dash grumbled in answer as a new theme song played, only now dark and out of tune, reflecting the madness of the Palace Owner.

Ufufufufu! Silly girl...I had the volume dial at 5...Let me just turn it up to 11!” the Hacker answered as the same song she created went blasted at double to volume for an instant.

(AN. Play the music again from here, if you wish)

GAAAH!” Monster Dash roared in pain as her new corrupted theme went destroyed as well by the Phantom Thieves’ one, and as soon as hers disappeared, Futaba finally lowered the volume to bearable levels.

She is all yours, if she tries again I will blast her deaf. Fight with your full power!

“Thanks, Navi!” Akira answered.

ME HERO! THIS DASH CITY! ME IS CITY HERO!” the Monster rambled madly while rising both fists in the air.

“God, she has Hulk Speech now.” Ryuji muttered in distaste, making the Monster roar even louder in fury.

ME USE HAMMER OF JUSTICE!” the Monster yelled while punching the terrain with both fists, creating a giant shock-wave that threw the Phantom Thieves to the ground.

ME HERO! YOU DIE! HERO PUNCH!” jumping high in the air, Monster Dash started falling down towards Ann with her fist cocked-back in a devastating punch.

Johanna! Captain Kidd!” Both Makoto and Ryuji yelled at the same time while tackling the Monster mid-air with their Persona before she could hit their friend and launching the mare away from her.

YOU WON’T STOP DASH! DASH IS HERO! DASH WINS! HERO ROAR!” as soon as she landed painfully on the ground, Dash drew back her head and then shoot a bullet of compressed air from her mouth.

Zorro!” Morgana intoned, using himself and his Persona to shield the others.

“Mona!”

“I am okay! Wind is the worst element to use against me.” the Cat answered with a pained smile, looking like he still took heavy damage.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

ARGH!” Dash roared in both anger and pain as Akira, Yusuke and Ann kept running around her to shoot the mare from every angle with their guns.

Her Weaknesses changed! I can say for sure that Gun Attacks are now more effective than before.” Futaba confirmed.

“We are fighting the real deal not a robot after all! Milady!” Haru answered while summoning her Persona AND taking out her grenade launcher.

“MAKE ROOM!”

Kyaaah!” Ann squeaked as she dodged just in time to dodge the deadly rain of lead her friend unleashed.

“Sorry!”

“Sorry won’t cut it, Noir!”

“Chocolate cake?”

“...That will!”

STOP ATTACKING DASH!” the Mare yelled while charging Haru while forcing herself to ignore the bullets her target kept showering her with.

Persona, Jack Frost! Mabufu!

Goemon! Mabufu!"

Both Akira and Yusuke yelled at the same time, and the combined wide-area Ice Skill momentarily managed to freeze Dash solid.

CRACK!

YOU CAN’T STOP DASH!”

“Yes, we can.” Makoto answered with an evil smile, already at an inch of the mare’s face with the front tire of her Persona as soon as she broke free from the ice.

Oh...” WHAM!

With a heavy and meaty sound the Monster mare went launched back, tumbling on the floor until she rolled close to the abandoned robot head.

DASH ALWAYS WINS!” the Monster mare yelled while easily lifting the giant robot head.

DASH WILL SQUASH DIRTY VILLAINS!” she declared before launching the thing at the Phantom Thieves.

WROOOM!

To the mare’s surprise, the small cat she had threw the giant head to had turned into a car right after dodging it so that Akira could jump in in the driver seat.

“FULL THROTTLE!” Morgana yelled as both ram the Monster, only for Dash to grab the front of Morgana car’s face to stop the cat-van dead in his tracks with the wheels spinning in place trying to push her.

PUNY CAR CAN’T SQUASH DASH!” the Monster Mare declared smugly.

“Who said we wanted to run you over?” Akira answered, smirking.

Uh?”

NOW! ALL OUT ATTACK!” Futaba yelled.

What followed for Monster Dash was a whirlwind of colours as the world turned into a blur while the rest of the Phantom Thieves assaulted her with a flurry of wild attacks…

THEN the car ran her over, pushing her body over the edge and making hundreds of kilos of Distorted monster fall for a couple dozen floors creating a deep crater on the street below as her body hit the ground with the power of a Meteor.

“It’s over?” Yusuke asked.

CRASH! BOOOOM!

Now it is.” Futaba answered once pushed the giant robot head over the edge as well with her Persona, so that the huge slab of metal could fall on top of Dash’s badly-beaten monster body and explode in a giant ball of fire.

“...”

“...”

What? I had to spend DAYS of sleepless work back and forth between Real World, Metaverse and Velvet Room to create a Theme Song to defeat hers. I am hungry, sleepy and annoyed. I deserved a bit of revenge.” the Hacker admitted with a small, guilty voice.

“We should give her at least this.” Ryuji answered with a shrug.

“Let’s go see what condition Dash is in, instead. Last thing we need is causing her a deadly Mental Shutdown.” Morgana countered, sighing in dismay.

Street Level – Dash crashing site -

The street was deserted, covered in holes and pieces of scrap metal from the giant robot self-destruction and with a myriad of small fires that were slowly being smothered by the incessant rain; the biggest crater of all though was the one Dash fall produced, wide and deep and already filling in water.

“Is she alive?” Ann asked.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

“She is.” Akira answered while climbing inside the giant hole, Futaba had long since stopped playing music, making the only sound heard the rain and the soft sniffling of Dash herself, finally back to her original appearances.

The mare was lying on her back, covered in bruises and with a black eye, her superhero costume was reduced to utterly dirty and tattered rags and hanging limply on her body, both her wings were clearly broken and positioned in strange angles, but she didn’t seem to find that painful.

“You okay?” he asked.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

The soft sobbing continued as tears and raindrops mixed on Dash face as she just looked upward towards the sky.

Surprising his friends, the young man lied down next to her uncaring of the water so to look at the sky himself, and done that, both stood in silence.

One after the other, every Phantom Thief silently decided to mimic their friend and Leader, and all lied close to Dash with their heads almost touching with how close they were.

Sniffle! Sniffle!

“...I-I-I just wanted a ‘Thank You, Dash’...Nothing more.” after what felt like an eternity, the Mare finally talked, with a voice utterly broken by hiccups and sorrow.

“People did not use to give you that back in your world?” Yusuke asked.

Oh, they did. But it was the empty Thank you, you know? The one your mom forces you to give to somepony. You don’t feel it, Y-Y-You just say the words.” Dash answered.

“Unfortunately I have no memories of my mother as I lost her when I was very young, but I still understand what you mean.” the Artist replied with a gentle smile.

S-S-Sorry.” the mare answered as more and more ichor left her wounds, slowly returning her to normal, back into being the real Rainbow Dash.

“It’s okay.”

“Why that photo is so important to you?” Haru asked.

B-B-Because my friends are the only ponies I know that when they say ‘Thank you’, they mean it...I learned it the hard way during the Grand Galloping Gala...T-T-That night was a mess, let me tell you.”

“That bad?” Ann asked.

A total mess. We all tried our best to get our wish come true...Me catching the attention of the Wonderbolts, AJ selling a lots of pies, Rarity finding her Prince Charming between the Guests and Fluttershy making friends with Celestia’s personal pets...We all had focused on making ourselves Happy for once, and as a result we ruined the party for everypony else and had to escape like thieves...No offence.

“None taken.” Morgana answered with a big smile.

We ended up finishing the night at Doughnut Joe in a small party for ourselves, and THAT was the nicest night of my life...The problems came out the day after...It was like we had never done anything good for anypony, all of them kept whispering behind our backs about the mess we caused during the Gala...A-A-As if we were assaulting the Guests with a machete to kill them. It was then that I started wondering: Are their Thank you real? Do they appreciate what we do for them?” Dash admitted, still crying and sobbing.

“So you have been doubting them ever since?” Makoto asked.

Constantly. Every smile became fake, every ‘Hoof Up!’ a mockery, I constantly felt like the butt of every joke...A-A-And it hurts so freaking much!

“You would make for a nice Phantom Thief, you know? You are just as screwed as we are in the head. I got labeled as Traitor from my Team because I dared stand-up to a power-hungry bastard of a teacher.” Ryuji said, smirking.

“I am of ‘Mixed Race’ and if that is not enough I am a model AND said power-hungry bastard constantly tried to get in my pants...And many thought he did get there regularly, and were more than happy to tell me that they knew.” Ann added.

“I latched to a man and elevated him as my Father-figure, somebody that unknown to me used the Love of me and other aspiring Artists to fuel his fame and hide the fact he had long lost his inspiration.” Yusuke said.

“I have always been treated like a commodity from my family, a pawn easily controlled.” Haru said.

“Easily controlled? I was supposed to just do what I was told! I was the tiny little doll between us!” Makoto countered, making both chuckle.

“They killed my mother because of her researches on the Metaverse scared the head of a conspiracy, and for years, I blamed myself for it to the point I actually believed my mother to hate me.” Futaba said with a sigh.

“...I saved a woman from being abused by that same man, a guy with delusions of godhood, and instead of thanks, I got sent to prison and had my life ruined forever.” Akira said after a short silence.

And you people still helped your world? Even after all that? Why?” Dash asked, honestly amazed.

“Because it was the right thing to do! We stole the Hearts of the wicked so that the innocent could live happily without fear of being oppressed and being used by them.” Morgana answered.

Even if they never thanked you for real?

“We knew people were happy, we did not need for them to vocally said it, because we could feel their Thank You from inside their Hearts,” Makoto answered, smiling.

So you were Heroes?

“Oh, not even close! Trust me, until the very end we had more enemies than friends! We hardly got any thank you notes!” Ryuji answered, chuckling.

Then how did you do that?”

“We are a small group of friends, no, a small dysfunctional family! each one of us knows that should there be problems for them, the others will waste no time to help.” Haru answered.

“We are very Loyal to each other.” Makoto added.

Loyal...” Dash said while taking out the Treasure to look at the picture.

...I miss my friends. This Conversion Mess separated us, and I don’t know what to do! I-I thought that if I made Conversion happen faster, then things would have calmed down and everything would have returned to normal. I-I-I was so convinced that nopony was getting hurt and that every resistance was caused by Evil guys...L-L-Like the ones of Blueblood group kept saying.”

“Blueblood? Futaba asked.

I don’t know the full details, but it seems like back in Equestria things are really bad, so Blueblood is between the guys pushing for this Conversion War to close fast. He also seems interested in this world, but I don’t know why.” Dash answered.

“We’ll stop this nonsense once and for all, there are forces at work that are wishing to Convert both Humans and Ponies into mindless drones, and the responsible of this is piloting even Celestia like a puppet, and with her, everybody else.” Morgana explained.

You mean like Nightmare moon? Twilight said that she was the result of something Corrupting Princess Luna.”

“It may be something similar, yes.” Yusuke answered.

T-T-Then you need the Elements Of Harmony! We will help you!” Dash declared jumping to her feet, eyes back to being magenta instead of black and gold as soon as the last traces of Ichor left her body.

“We have started our new Mission from you others for this reason, we need your help.” Akira confirmed as he and the others too stood-up.

“Then count on me! We are experts in dealing with bad guys!” Rainbow Dash said as the sky cleared and the sun started peaking from behind the clouds.

“We can’t wait to fight alongside you.”

“Here, take it. You need the Treasure, right?” the mare said while handing the small picture to Morgana.

“We do, thank you!” the Cat answered, happily.

“Thank you, Dash.” Akira echoed with a small smile.

“No, guys. Thank you.” Dash answered with a happy smile as her body broke into thousands of sparks of light, and as soon as the very last spark disappeared, the Palace started crumbling to dust with the various skyscrapers falling down by themselves.

“SHIT I ALWAYS FORGET THE PLACE SELF-DESTRUCT! RUUUUN!” Ryuji shrieked, and the others with him, as the Phantom Thieves as usual had to run for their lives to avoid the crumbling of the Palace.

And as usual in this new adventure of theirs, they never noticed the Humanoid figure made of smoke and Ichor writhe in agony and die together with the Palace while cursing whatever was the cause of its death.

And at each of those figure’s Death, the Entity inside Celestia grew madder and more dangerous, anger that would then seep outside and influence the Sun Alicorn herself, turning her into a raving beast for an instant wishing nothing more than discovering who was causing that rage and destroy them utterly before slowly calming down and recover her normal maternal bearing she was famous for.

Two Days Later – Flying Ship – Phantom Thieves HQ -

The Phantom Thieves, Tempest Shadow, AJ, Fluttershy and Pinkie were all sitting together in the belly of the ship while listening to the radio station playing from Futaba’s laptop.

“I am sorry! Everything I did, I did it because blinded by false promises of Peace! This is not Conversion, this is killing! We are killing whoever gets Converted! They have nothing inside, they are like dolls. And this thing works on ponies too! We need to stop before it's too late!..." the thing kept replaying Dash’ confession over and over for both Humans and ponies to hear, everybody now knew about the effect of the potion on ponies too and about the plan for Conversion Rain.

“Just got the news from Thorax’ spies in the Day and Night guards ranks. This confession forced the Rain Plan to be canceled for now. Celestia still can’t show her hand so she was forced to chalk everything up as a terrorist attack of some illegal group pushing for Conversion...Something about them hating Humans because inferior or such idiocy.” Tempest explained.

“This doesn’t mean they won’t use it when the time comes for Mass Conversion to happen.” Akira answered.

“That is a given, it is after all too much of a good idea to not use it. The Barrier is slowly reaching its critical size, as showed by the stuttering way it is advancing now. Soon Celestia won’t be able to artificially enlarge it and will have to get to drastic measures.” the horn-less Unicorn said.

“Last I heard was that now the thing increase at random intervals.” Yusuke said.

“Yes, Luna is saying that they believe it is a sign of the Barrier unstable nature, meaning that it may increase suddenly in an unpredictable manner.”

“Nice lie.” Ann commented.

“Quite, it should cover for Celestia’s need to take pauses in its enlarging to collect more power.” Futaba answered.

“Where is she getting that extra power, though?” Haru asked.

“New-foal Unicorns! Where else? Every time and human is Converted into a Unicorn they are collected by soldiers. The propaganda machine of Celestia covers it as them being taught how to harness their new Magic...But Sunburst managed to find the holding cells of those poor guys, it seems like some vines are connected to their horns to continuously siphon their Magic away to a secret location, not enough to kill them, but enough to probably ease the burden on Celestia.” Tempest answered with a furious snarl.

“So she is using those guys to keep the Barrier up while she recovers enough to further enlarge it, only for then needing more Unicorns new-foals to keep the system up. Soon not even that will be enough and the Barrier will collapse.” Makoto guessed.

“That was Starlight’s own theory exaclty, the two of them say that for now we can’t break them free, if the barrier collapses before you have done taking down every target before Celestia herself we’ll be in trouble.” Tempest answered.

“She was the Shadow you went out to hunt?” Pinkie asked.

“Yep, she was the one to turn into a High Pixie.” Ryuji answered.

“Good this she is on her side now.” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief.

“Who’s the next target?” AJ asked curious.

“Rarity. But we have no idea where to look for her.” Haru answered.

“Me and Lyra too are coming up empty hoofed, wherever she is, we can’t find her.” Tempest added with a growl of self-loathing.

“...I know where she is.” a new voice said from the door.

“DASH!” the Elements of Harmony yelled as one.

“I had to find her...T-T-To pay you back for helping me...T-To...To really help and-” before the mare could fully broke into tears, her friends swarmed her for a group hug that barely muffled the desperate wailing of the cyan pegasus.

Waaaaaaah!

“Another name to cross off the list. We are almost done.” Akira said with a long sigh.

“Once freed the last Element of Harmony, we’ll have to face the hardest targets of them all...” Makoto added.

“And then there will be Luna and Celestia...TWO quasi-gods.” Ryuji said with a sigh of despair.

“We can do this! We did it once, we’ll do it again!” Ann said.

“Is not like we have any other choice, time’s ticking. The fate of two worlds rest of our shoulders.” Morgana answered with a somber tone.

With Celestia-

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the Sun Alicorn fury was immeasurable, impossible to describe as her mane lately was more fire than hair as she restlessly marched back and forth inside the throne room.

“There is no need to be angry. We will stop the Phantom Thieves or whoever is trying to stand in our way,” Twilight answered, she was the only pony present, and the small Alicorn had deep bags under her eyes, but she still looked fully awake and not tired...On the contrary, there was a sinister light in her eyes.

“The Conversion Serum is still being produced?” Celestia asked.

“Production never slowed down of an iota, your highness.” the smaller Alicorn answered immediately, and her voice was as monotone as a robot.

“And the formula for the Conversion Rain? For the Conversion fruits?”

“Safely stored in my secret laboratory, your highness.” Twilight droned.

“Never lose it! Do it and I will send you all the new-foals and Converted ponies you want for your researches.”

“There is no need to worry, my research has top priority, NOTHING will steal the results from me.”

“Good! Are the new-foal stallions like you suspected?” Celestia asked.

“They even exceeded my wildest predictions, your highness.”

“Good, very good. You can go back to your lab, Twilight.”

“As your highness commands.” Twilight answered, while teleporting away.

“The Phantom Thieves are just as big a threat as I thought. Hoping for the Palaces themselves to kill them was a mistake. No matter! This only makes this Game more interesting. Bwahahahahahaha!” Celestia muttered to herself once she finally calmed down, looking with cold eyes at the sprawling kingdom under her resting on the floating island.

But the laugh that came out from her mouth was not hers, it was deranged, Evil and putrid.

And worst of all: Male and almost Robotic in sound.

EXTRA SCENE 1 - Ryuji's question, version B.

"The enemies of my beloved Onii-sama must die!" Alice declared.

"Dude, why that Persona likes you this much?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan tone.

"..." Akira looked lost in thought for an instant.

Mini flashback - Velvet Room – the day before they sent the Calling Card to Dash -

"As promised, this is my present for your last birthday that I missed; I could not give it to you due to you no longer having a contract with the Velvet Room. But now it’s finally the moment...Happy Birthday, My Trickster." Lavenza, wearing only a long blue ribbon covering her chest and crotch, said with half-lidded eyes full of Hunger.

"I hope you are well rested, Inmate." Caroline, """dressed""" in a swimsuit of whipped cream, added.

"Indeed, you are requested to give your best today." Justine, wearing only her hat and stockings, confirmed.

Then there was the Special Guest

"B-Be gentle...O-O-Oniisama." The Persona Alice asked while shyly toying with the choker and leash on her neck.

"...." Well, when in Rome...

Oooh!

Aaaah!

Onii-samaaaaaaa!

End of the flashback -

"No idea." Akira answered with a straight face.

"Ugh!" Somehow Ann felt supremely pissed, and unfortunately, she used Dash to vent her anger, making the Distorted Mare screams of agony echo everywhere in her Palace.

EXTRA SCENE 2 – Lavenza's lack of control -

Velvet Room -

Igor watched as the Trickster, one of his most curious affiliates to the Velvet Room, saluted Lavenza and the Twins with a kiss on their cheeks before leaving the room, and he could see the annoyed frown on the mortal girl ‘Ann’ at seeing the victorious smirk on the face of his Attendant.

Click!

“Lavenza.” Igor called-out.

“Yes, Master Igor.”

“Are you, perhaps, using the Velvet Room to sate your carnal urges with the Trickster?” he asked, fairly bluntly.

“N-N-NO! I-I-I would never commit such an act, Master Igor!” the girl said immediately, with a crimson red face.

“Good. I would not condone such lack of professionalism.” the long-nosed man said while nearing the brand new chair he had got for his job as Master of the Velvet Room, a clearly-comfortable chair he had got just yesterday and still had to try.

SQUELCH!

When he finally sat down and felt something sticky wet his posterior and back, his ever-present smile did falter a little, especially when a peculiar smell assaulted his large nostrils.

“M-M-Master?” Lavenza asked with a little voice.

“...” The man said nothing and slowly got up from the NEW AND EXPENSIVE chair he never got a chance to use and leaned a hand on the table to asses the damages.

SQUELCH!

Only for his smile to falter a bit more when his glove too felt sticky and wet, making him slowly raise his head to meet the horrified eyes of both Lavenza and Twins, the three of them showing the purest expression of guilt on their faces.

“My desk too?” he asked while pointing at his beloved desk that had been a fixed piece of the Velvet room decor for over seven hundred years.

“...Y-Yes...” Lavenza admitted while looking down in shame.

It was then that he saw Caroline and Justine steal a glance full of panic at the electric chair used for the Persona.

Surely they didn’t…

SQUELCH!...They did.

At least the guillotines were still…

SQUELCH!

...The Gallows…

SQUELCH!

No...At least the door itself…

SQUELCH!

That sounded VERY wet as if it was a favourite spot of theirs.

“Is there a single inch of the Velvet Room you and the Trickster have not defiled?” Igor finally asked.

“...No, Master.” Lavenza answered after a LONG silence and looking mortified beyond reason.

It was then that a horrible doubt assaulted Igor: the spare bedroom for his use for when he was needed to pull an all-night inside the Velvet Room! At least that one room had been spared from-

SQUELCH!

Igor’s smile disappeared completely.

Later that day - Real World – Flying Ship -

“So Igor kicked you three out?” Akira asked.

“Until he finishes cleaning everything and we learned the lesson.” Caroline answered.

Lavenza was instead curled into a tiny ball of Shame and hiding in a corner.

“It is not our fault if our beloved Inmate is the world greatest man.” Justine said, simply.

Akira had at least the decency of blushing a little under the combined judgmental stare of humans and ponies present.

Meanwhile – with Igor – Velvet Room -

There was fire everywhere, everything was burning as Fire-Element Persona kept appearing to renew the flames in the hope of utterly purify the place, behind the long-nosed man surveying the job, several crates of deodorant were waiting to be used once done burning the place clean after a couple more hours of 8000 degrees flames blasting the entire place.

“The new furniture will arrive shortly, in the meantime I will sleep inside the limousine.” Igor declared, finally recovering his old smile as the Velvet Room created the limousine he used to welcome one of his past guests, sure it was not exactly comfortable to sleep in it, but it was still-

SQUELCH!

“...Oh, God...”

END OF THE EXTRA SCENE.

NO, CELESTIA’S VOICE IS NOT YALDABAOTH.

What inspired Dash Monster Form