*Rainbow Dash’s POV*
Well, my group and I were on our zeppelin traveling before my compact went off as I opened it, seeing Emmy. I’m surprised they have these kinds of compacts in Neighpon.
Zipp spoke "So you're Rainbow Dash huh? You don't seem all that fast to me."
“*Deep breath in, deep breath out* Don’t let the looks fool ya.” I quipped before talking to Emerald. “Yo.”
Emerald spoke "Dash! We got trouble! Sunao’s kidnapped!"
Sunao’s the detective Emerald and the others met before, he was a transformed changeling and a detective prodigy that’s about the age of a freshman in high school. Well, alicorn hunt or No alicorn hunt, I NEVER leave my friends hanging!
“Don’t worry, Emerald. We’re on our way.” I assured as I ended the call before teleporting all of us and the zeppelin to Ineighba. “Alright guys. We got work to do.”
We met up with Emerald, Seiko and the others at Junes.
Zipp asks "Uh, what's a changeling?"
“Kinda like a buggy alicorn.” I said with a shrug.
Zipp spoke "There aren't any other species except ponies in my world."
“Say what now?” I asked in confusion.
Zipp spoke "I don't want to talk about it..."
Anywho, we talked over what we’re gonna do, and went into the TM World as Karei summoned Himiko to find Sunao’s location before finding him.
“Alright guys, let’s go!” I declared.
Micah spoke "We should've brought Danyelle with us..."
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
Zipp spoke "He was talking about those weird beads..."
“Guys, they’ve been doing this kinda stuff longer than us, and without those beads. We’ll be fine.” I assured my group.
Zipp spoke "If you say so... Skittles."
I let that slide as we went off and arrived at something… real techy.
Kanji asks "What is this place?"
Kaze asks "It’s all sci-fi… Heyyy, doesn’t it remind you of those secret hideouts in live action shows?"
Kanji spoke "Oh yeah… Hehe, I used to watch Featherpony all the time when I was a colt."
“Featherpony?” I asked in confusion.
Karei spoke "I hear that those are really tough shoots. A lot of actors do their own stunts, like jumping through fire themselves."
Zipp asks "No. Seriously?"
Kaze spoke "*Smile* Well, it’s every male’s dream to do that stuff."
Kiko asks "You’d do that to save me?"
Kaze spoke "You bet."
Kiko giggled at that.
Emerald spoke "Yeah, I can understand jumping through fire. They’re action based, like Kung Fu movies. And just the phrase “secret hideout” has this exciting ring to it."
Seiko spoke "I totally hear you."
Miran spoke "Me too."
Goryuu spoke "Same here."
Emerald spoke "Actually, when I was a kid, I had my own secret place near the mountain by Shima’s house. I’d pretend that a legendary Kung Fu master was teaching me special techniques. Hwataaaa!"
Kaze spoke "You got it all wrong… But hey, so this secret hideout thingy came from Sunao’s mind? I guess our proper colt detective isn’t as grown-up as he looks. Alright, let’s get going."
Micah spoke "And something tells me Kaze has a major crush on Kiko."
Kaze spoke "Not gonna deny that anymore, since I had to face my shadow."
Micah asks "A what?"
“Memory spell?” I suggested.
Phantom spoke "In simple terms, it's the darkness in one's heart."
Seiko spoke "More specifically, it’s a part of you that you try to hide and deny."
Phantom asks "Like the fact Rainbow hates pies so much that she refuses to touch one?"
I spoke "Shut up Phantom!"
A bolt of red lightning split the sky before a laugh was heard.
I spoke "Oh StarClan no...."
The dark alicorn laughs "Oh, it ain’t just that. You try to be loyal to others all the time, because you don’t wanna be alone! So you don’t get isolated while doing whatever you want."
“No! Stop! Stop it!” I yelled.
The dark alicorn laughs "What? I thought I was talking crazy, or I do know everything about you, because I am you."
“No! You’re not me!” I shouted as that copy of me laughed.
“You right! I ain’t you anymore!” The dark me laughed as she got bigger. “I’m a shadow, the true self. I’ll destroy anything and anyone I want, starting with you and the pink party pony!”
Micah hisses "WE WON'T LET YOU HURT OUR FRIENDS!!!"
Spottedleaf spoke "TIL EQUESTRIA ENDS!"
The OC-verse Mobian Guard minus OC-verse Ben and OC-verse Danyelle spoke "MOBIAN GUARD DEFEND!!"
OC-verse Rainbow flew out from the warp ring as well, ready to help me out.
Emerald spoke "Tomoe!"
Emerald summoned her persona as ice struck Dark Dash, knocking her down.
Karei spoke "She’s weak to ice! Give it the cold shoulder!"
Teddie spoke "Bear-sona!"
Teddie summoned his persona as he attacked with ice as well.
OC-verse Rainbow attacked with fire.
Karei spoke "Careful! The enemy’s strong against fire!"
Seiko spoke "King Frost!"
Seiko summoned King Frost as a blizzard of ice hit the Shadow, knocking her down.
Umbra Chain spoke "Now is our chance to strike."
Seiko spoke "Now!"
Umbra Chain spoke "Very well."
The group did an all-out attack on the Shadow, dealing a lot of damage.
Knuckles threw a boulder at Dark Dash, knocking her out of the sky.
Dark Dash spoke "GAH!!! You’re really starting to piss me off! Just die already!"
A tornado then blew through, attacking us.
Sonic used his airbending to redirect the tornado back at Dark Dash.
But the attack was nullified.
Umbra Chain spoke "Killing Shadow."
Umbra then attacked Dark Dash very quickly before shadows of her appeared and surrounded Dark Dash from all sides, then slashed her all at once.
I spoke "This mess is my fault though! I have to accept my darkness."
Dark Dash started glitching. “*Angrily* What?”
“Look, I didn’t wanna be alone, so that’s true. When I was a filly, Fluttershy might’ve needed me, but I needed her too. So I need my friends as much as they need me, so that’s still cool, right?” I said as Emerald smiled.
Dark Dash snaps "*Glitching more* Oh cut the crap! You think you can say all that and just accept me!"
Umbra Chain spoke "Chain Reaction."
Umbra Chain slashed Dark Dash multiple times, before the Shadow was wrapped in chains as they tightened, tearing the shadow apart as it turned to a golden-eyed me.
“So it’s true. You’re me, and I’m you.” I said as my shadow transformed into some kind of being before it turned into a card and went into me.
Elsewhere, Twilight had also accepted her inner darkness and so did Sunset.
Teddie spoke "Huh?! I don’t know how, but I smelled Shadows outside the TM World not too long ago!"
I spoke "Everycreature has a bit of darkness inside them. Luna doesn't since her darkness is a completely separate pony."
Emerald asks "Hold on, you’re not tired?"
“Nope.” I answered.
Shima asks "Maybe it’s because she’s an alicorn?"
I spoke "Exactly plus I sense that Applejack ran into some trouble with a mafia over in New Mareidian...."
Well, I know they’ll be okay. We went into the hideout, went through a whole bunch of mazes, before going through the final door on the 8th floor, finding Sunao and his shadow.
Kanji spoke "Sunao!"
We saw a huge dissection table as Sunao turned towards us, away from his shadow that wore a lab coat way too big for him.
Sunao spoke "Ah. It’s about time you arrived. Dealing with this child has been quite a pain…"
Other Sunao spoke "*As Sunao started walking away* No! No, no, don’t go!"
The shadow was acting like a scared foal.
Sunao spoke "It’s useless speaking with you. I need to go back now…"
Other Sunao spoke "*Like a child* Why? Why’re you leaving me here!? Why am I always left alone!? It’s so lonely… I don’t wanna be alone!"
Shima spoke "*In understanding* Shima-kun…"
Yeah, I understand what he’s feeling too.
Sunao spoke "You were the same face as me… It’s as if you’re implying we’re one and the same. But the difference between me and you is…"
Other Sunao scoffs *Like an adult* Why delude yourself? I am you. These childish gestures are no mere affectation… They’re the truth. The fools all day it, don’t they…? “You’re only a child,” “Keep out of our business, kid,” and so forth. No matter how many cases you spend hours cogitations over, no matter how many crimes you solve, you’re a child in their eyes. It’s your brain they’re interested in. The grey matter locked up in that skull. As long as they need it, you’re an ace detective! But once you’re done, it’s back to the playpen with you. You haven’t the means to deal with society’s two-faced nature… You’re just a lonely child."
Kaze and Kiko spoke "Sunao…"
Other Sunao cries "*Like a child* I wanna be a grown-up… I wanna be a big colt now… Then they’ll see who I am… I… I want a reason for me to stay…"
Sunao spoke "That’s enough. I can find my own reason for living…"
Other Sunao scoffs "*Like an adult* Hah… I’m telling you that’s impossible. You are but a child. How can you change that essential truth?"
Sunao spoke "S-Stop it…!"
Other Sunao scoffs "At your core, you admire the sort of “strong” and “cool” stallions who populate detective fiction. But in trying to emulate them, you must know that in truth, you’re nothing of the sort, you’re a child. There’s no avoiding first principles… Admit that you’re a child, and admit that there’s nothing you can do about it. Now then! Our analysis is complete. Let us begin the body alteration procedure. You have no objections, do you… “Sunao” Mushi?"
Sunao spoke "Stop it!"
Other Sunao asks “Sunao… Such a cool, masculine name! But a name doesn’t change the truth. It doesn’t let you cross the barrier between the genders. How could you become an ideal stallion when you were never male to begin with…?"
…Say what now?
Emerald asks "Wait, what’d it just say?!"
Kaze asks "Whoa! Did I hear that right or did things get wacky inside?"
Kanji gasps "So the dude isn’t… a dude then?!"
Needless to say, all of us were shocked to hear that.
OC-verse Rainbow spoke "Yikes... Let's never speak of this to the chakats though..."
Micah and I both nod since neither of us wanted to get iced by Blizzardstar.
Sunao spoke "I won’t throw a tantrum… That accomplishes nothing…!"
Other Sunao taunts "*Chuckles* Hahahaha! How often I’ve heard those words from the adults. “Throwing a tantrum won’t solve anything, Sunao-kun,” and other such bilge! They made you cry, didn’t they? Yet here you are, mimicking those same males. What exactly are you trying to justify?"
Sunao gasps "What…?"
Other Sunao spoke "It’s all right. You needn’t suffer anymore. That’s why you’re undergoing this body alteration procedure to begin with. You throw a tantrum, but it fails to change the situation a single bit… I can quite understand the feeling. After all… I am you."
Sunao spoke "That’s not true!!"
Emerald spoke "Don’t say it!"
Kanji spoke "It’s okay… Let the kid spill the whole thing. If not, Sunao’s just gonna keep hurting… So we’ll do what we always do, and kick some serious ass!"
Other Sunao spoke "*Chuckle* Ahahahaha! As if you know anything about me! You’ll kick my ass, huh? Fine… Go ahead and try, you lizard-brained imbecile!!"
Sunao’s started transforming.
Kaze: Save the discussion for later!"
Kiko spoke "Get ready!"
Karei spoke "Here it comes!"
The shadow then transformed into some kind of cyborg.
Shadow Sunao laughs "I am a shadow… The true self… What? More creatures tired of who they are? Then I guess I’ll add you to the operating table!"
Sonic immediately went into his super form.
Super Sonic spoke "You're going down!"
BGM: Live & Learn instrumental
Super Sonic flung chaos energy infused tornados at Shadow Sunao before dodging an attack.
The Shadow dodged the attack.
Kaze spoke "Go, Jiraiya!"
Kaze summoned his persona before the Shadow shot purple energy rings at him, hitting the persona as it hit Kaze too before the persona vanished.
Seiko asks "Kaze, you alright?"
Kaze: *Sounding different* Eh, Seiko? That you? I feel like so much has changed."
Seiko gasps "No, but you have changed. You’re really old!"
All of us were shocked at that.
Kaze asks "*Confused in an elderly voice* What’d ya say?"
Kanji spoke "Dude, you’re ancient!"
Goryuu spoke "This is bad!"
Teddie spoke "Poor old Kaze!"
Shima asks "Where are your teeth?"
Oh jeez! That attack practically turned Kaze into a living fossil! We took cover from the attacks.
A yowl rang clear.
OC-verse Danyelle spoke "GEKIGAMI!!"
A bolt of lightning hits Shadow Sunao.
Shadow Sunao spoke "No, no, that will never do. Patients must lie still for me to drill proper holes into them."
We kept fighting before Teddie was hit by that aging attack, with his suit growing mushrooms. I was hit by the ray too, but I wasn’t old. Wait… Uh oh! I’m a normal Pegasus again!
“Jing Wei!” I shouted as I shattered the card in front of my, summoning my persona as she shot crossbow arrows at the Shadow, who dodged them before it hit Seiko with the aging attack, much to our horror.
Karei spoke "*With hearts flowing around her* I don’t believe it! Even when you’re ancient, you’re still cool!"
Yep, Karei’s definitely got it bad for Seiko. Soon, Teddie remembered a power called Energy Shower and summoned his persona before using it on himself, Kaze, Seiko and me, returning us to normal.
Teddie spoke "Reenergized!"
Kaze spoke "Awesome!"
Seiko spoke "I feel like a new stallion!"
Seiko then summoned multiple cards as if they were in a fusion ritual.
Seiko spoke "Beelzebub!"
Seiko fused and shattered the cards, summoning a huge fly!
OC-verse Danyelle spoke "*sweatdrop* Good thing Renee's not here... She hates large bugs...."
The eye sockets of the skull on Beelzebub’s staff flashed red before Shadow Sunao’s blasters were frozen solid, slowing it down greatly.
Shadow Sunao growls "Why won’t you lie down and die!? You children can’t do anything at all!"
A glowing purple whip strikes Shadow Sunao.
Trying her best not to freak out, Renee spoke "I w-won't let you hurt MY FRIENDS!"
Beelzebub started charging up energy.
Karei spoke "*Gasp!* It’s charging up for a huge attack, and it’s gonna be a big one! We need to get everyone outta here!"
Kanji grabbed Sunao as all of us got back to the entrance of that secret lab dungeon before a HUGE explosion went off from the attack, defeating the shadow and destroying the secret lab.
“Whoa! Now that was awesome.” I said in complete surprise.
Renee spoke "Holy shit dude...."
Emerald spoke "So… Sunao-kun was a filly."
Sunao groans "Ngh…"
Shima asks "Are you awake?"
Sunao got up. “Where am I…? I remember you all arriving, and… That’s right… You saw everything… *Facing her shadow* ……I lost both my parents in an accident. I was still young, so my grandfather took me in. I was inept at making friends… so I spent my time reading detective novels in my grandfather’s study.”
Other Sunao exclaims "*Like a child* When I grow up… I’m gonna be an awesome, hard-boiled detective…!"
Sunao spoke "My parents were proud of their job. I had no qualms about following in their hoofsteps… An inherited occupation can feel stifling to many, but I welcomed it. I yearned for the day I could be a detective myself… Perhaps I inherited that desire from them as well. I was always alone… Seeing that, my grandfather must have believed it was his duty to help me realize my dream. I secretly aided my grandfather with his clients… And before I knew it, creatures started calling me Junior Detective. At first, I was delighted. But not everything went so smoothly…"
Shima asks "What was that you said about “You’re only a child…”?"
Sunao spoke "Not everyone welcomes my collaboration when it comes to solving cases… My status as a “child” was sufficient to offend many of those whom I worked with. Were that the only issue, then it would have resolved itself with time… But though I will one day change from a child to an adult, I will never change from a mare to a stallion, even as a changeling…"
Shima asks "Do you not like being a girl…? Is that why you always dress like a boy?"
Sunao spoke "My gender doesn’t fit my ideal image of a detective… Besides, the police department is a male-oriented society. If they had the slightest “concrete” reason to look down on me, no one would need me anymore…"
Kanji spoke "You don’t know that."
Shima spoke "Hey… You must know already that what you yearn isn’t to become an adult or become a boy…"
“It’s much more than that.” I agreed.
Sunao spoke "……You’re absolutely right. *Faces Shadow Self once more* I’m sorry… I kept ignoring you, pretending you didn’t exist. But you are me… and I am you. You’ve always been inside me. What I should yearn for… No, what I must strive for isn’t to become a stallion. It’s to accept myself for who I really am…"
Shadow Sunao nodded at that before it transformed into a persona, then into a card as it went inside her.
Sunao fell to her knees in exhaustion. And come to think of it… I’m pretty beat too.
Sunao spoke "*Smile* In any event, you’re a devious bunch… I can’t believe you can’t something like this hidden for so long… Haha… No wonder the perpetrator has eluded the police… But it’s apparent now… This case is far from over."
Kaze: *Smile* That’s right… And you proved it, Sunao."
Kiko spoke "*Smile* I can definitely agree with that."
I knew something was off when that Gema guy was arrested. I felt like he was totally delusional.
Kaze spoke "Anyways, we can talk more later. We need to get you and Rainbow Dash out of here."
Micah asks "Uh, which Rainbow?"
I spoke "There's two of me but one's just a Pegasus."
Kaze spoke "I meant the alicorn."
OC-verse Rainbow spoke "Right."
Emerald spoke "But wow, Rainbow Dash. Your persona’s like mine."
I couldn’t help but smile as I hoofbumped/fistbumped with Emerald as Goryuu hugged her with Emerald hugging her back.
OC-verse Danyelle spoke "Mine's just as awesome too. I've got the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu."
A white wolf with red markings and an ink-black tail tip leaps out of OC-verse Danyelle's shadow.
OC-verse Danyelle spoke "Ammy's just one of 13 pieces of my Stand. That lightning bolt was caused by Gekigami, the thunder tiger."
Seiko: Do you have the power of the Wild Card?"
OC-verse Danyelle spoke "Oh Faust no, I was just lucky to get such a rare Stand."
Seiko spoke "Oh."
Well, a little later, we got out of the TM world as OC-verse Danyelle went off somewhere.
OC-verse Rainbow asks "What's a Wild Card?"
Seiko spoke "It’s hard to explain."
Sonic spoke "Come on, we need to head home."
OC-verse Rainbow spoke "You're one to talk ratboy, I could beat you in a race with my wings tied!"
Micah spoke "Oh sugar honey iced tea! Tonight's the Gathering!"
“Say what now?” I asked in confusion before I suddenly found me and my group in Canterlot. "What gives?! We were doing something actually important ya know?"
end