Ponysona: Arcana Crusaders

by Phoenix Kitten


Strength.

Sweetie Belle had zoned out of Spike's scolding and was talking with Nightmare in her head as she trotted next to her adopted niece.

Sugar Cube looked around, spotting an unopened candy bar that somepony had dropped and darted over, picking it up and stashing it in her saddlebags, letting a pleased giggle escape her mouth.
Her ears perked as she heard some of the other fillies from school yell out.

"Hey Sweetie!"

"Sweetie Belle!"

Sugar watched as Sweetie's head swiveled in the direction her friends their friends were approaching from.

"Oh no you don't." Spike half growled as he stepped in front of the two charging fillies and suddenly became as hard as a brick wall.

Sugar couldn't contain her laughter at the sight of the two fillies slamming head first into Spike's chest and bouncing back a good six hands, which earned her a brief glare from the three older fillies.

"Sorry girls, Sweetie isn't going to be able to play today. Twi and Rar are out on a date at one of the restaurants in the fancy part of town so I have to look after Sugar Cube and Sweetie."

"Aww come on Spike." Scootaloo begged.

"Yeah. Ah promise we won't need to keep her around for long." Applebloom made a cute face to try and confuse him.

Sugar Cube blinked in surprise when she saw the dragon turn away and look at the ground in thought for a few seconds. She swore she saw abit of a blush on his scales.
She looked at the others. Apparently she hadn't been the only one to notice because Applebloom was doing something similar by hiding her face in her tail while Scootaloo wore a grin that could only be described as 'shit-eating'.
A quick glance at her aunty revealed a slightly confused look, which was typical.

Spike coughed and drew all their attention back to him. "Well regardless, I have to say no. I'm sure whatever it is you need her help with can wait, and maybe you won't need immediate medical help afterwards."

"Argh!" Scootaloo grumbled. "Is anypony going to let us forget that?"

"I told you two it was a stupid idea to build that thing and then test it yourselves." Sweetie scolded.

"Well it would have been safer if Ah had been allowed to finish it!" Applebloom argued.

"I don't even know why any of you thought it would be a good idea to build a..."

"Enough! We agreed not to mention it again! So why are we mentioning it again?" Scootaloo angrily stomped.

"Good point." Sweetie nodded as she took some papers from her saddlebags and gave them to her fellow crusaders. "Here's todays homework. Why don't you occupy yourselves with this until tomorrow?"

"Fine." Scootaloo said as she sagged.

"Sounds good to me." Applebloom nodded subtley towards the clocktower near the center of town.

Sweetie nodded slightly.

"Alright then girls. I have to get these two home and fed... and maybe cleaned in Sugar's case." Spike said as he waved and started walking back in the direction of Carousel Boutique.

Sugar waved Applebloom and Scootaloo off with Sweetie before falling into trot behind her draconic brother.
With a smirk she poked her aunty with her tail.

"What?" Sweetie whispered.

She giggled and whispered back. "Didn't ya see?"

"See what?"

Sugar beamed. "There's somethin' goin' on between Spike and Applebloom. How could ya not notice?"

"I thought she was just embarrassed her ploy seemed to work."

She gave her aunty a light shove. "Oh please, it's about as obvious as you were when you were 'pretendin' ta hit on Scoots at aunty Fluttershy's weddin' reception." She chuckled when Sweetie turned a light shade of red. "Got a thing for wings eh? Or just the filly attached to 'em?"

"Hey. My preference is my business." Sweetie shot back, still whispering. "Besides, I am older than you."

"Pfft. By what? Three years?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm four, you're seven."

"And Spike's two in dragon years."

"Really?"

"He is a baby dragon."

Later that evening...

"Damn it!"

"Watch your language Sweetie" Spike scolded.

"Coming from the dragon who taught me how to curse in Neighponese." She muttered. "I accidentally gave my homework sheet to one of the other crusaders..."

"Really?"

"Uh huh. Should I go get it?"

"Yeah... that'd be a good idea. Take Owlowicious with you. He'll make a great guide in the dark. And he needs to go to the bathroom."

"Ewww..."

Meanwhile...

"She knew something!" Snips complained to his brother.

"Obviously. But what can we do?" Snails asked, looking up from his magazine. "And stop pacing... you'll leave a groove in the carpet."

"We should investigate their clubhouse at the next Rainbow Dash fanclub meeting."

"That's not until next week though."

"I know. So we should start planning now."

"If you say so."

At Sweet Apple Acres, the Crusaders clubhouse...

"I'm here girls!" Sweetie announced as burst through the clubhouse door.

"Sweetie?" the other two fillies shouted in surprise.

"Sorry. I accidentally gave my homework sheet to one of you." Sweetie panted.

"Did you gallop all the way here?" Applebloom asked.

Sweetie nodded as Owlowicious landed on her back.

"Well that's some good exercise." Scootaloo nodded to herself. "So we gonna head into the comic?"

"Do we have enough time?"

'Nightmare?'

'Yes?'

'The time distortion from the comic?'

'Is fairly small today. For every hour you're in there only one minute will pass.'

"Yes we do."

"Alright then!" Scootaloo stood up. "Grab your weapon Appleboom."

"Way ahead of you." Applebloom smiled as she grabbed a pitchfork from under the table while Sweetie retrieved the comic and opened it to the next blank page before diving in, followed by her friends.

The trio landed on the same rooftop and leapt off the side like they did before, landing in the street below.

Applebloom stood on her hind legs and hefted the pitchfork over her shoulder. "Looks clear for now."

"Spoke to soon. Here comes the welcoming commitee." Scootaloo said as she pointed towards a group of approaching creatures.

"What do we even call them?" Sweetie asked.

"Well... they're gooey blobs on the ground... Shadows?" Scootaloo suggested.

"That works." Sweetie shrugged, forming her tonfa.

"You girls relax. Ah got these." Applebloom smiled maliciously. "No pony uses mah body like a hoofpuppet."
She held the pitchfork out in front of herself and charged forward, knocking the five shadows aside and stunning them.

"Are you girls ready for some payback?" She called out.

"I am! What about you Sweetie?"

"Hay yeah! Let's go all out!"

The shadows had somehow clustered near each other as the three fillies ran in and started pummeling them into a thick, black tar, leaving behind a skull shaped black mist as the shadows evaporated.

"And done." Applebloom proclaimed as she shouldered the pitchfork again.

"Well that works." Sweetie nodded.

"Sweet!" Scootaloo half shrieked

Sweetie looked down the road and saw the spot that Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara had been chased down two days ago. "Come on crusaders... we have a job to do."

"Gaia!" Applebloom shouted before she rammed her pitchfork through the card that appeared, summoning her Persona.
The minor earth goddess appeared and shot a bolt of fire straight at the the charging automaton.

"This thing is a shadow?" Scootaloo asked as she pushed herself into the air, over the lance like appendage of the robot.

"I think it's like a shadow possessed suit of armor." Sweetie called out as she summoned Nightmare to hit the chaotic clockwork contraption with a bolt of lightning and knocking it off balance.

"Let's go!"

"Okay!"

"Alright!"

"Allow me!"

"Who the hay..?"

When the mist evaporated the three crusaders found themselves staring down a disheveled Silver Spoon, a pipe clutched in her hoof like a short sword.

"Oh thank Luna! You're actually real!" She cried out, the pipe slipping from her hoof. "Diamond and I got separated while those... those things were chasing us and then this weird fairy thing showed up and encased them all in ice... I've been running from it ever since."

"Fairy thing... did it say anything when it appeared?" Sweetie asked.

"Y-yeah... something stupid like 'I am you and you am I' or something similar...can we get out of here before it shows up again?"

"In a minute." Scootaloo told her.

"I art thou, thou art I." Sweetie said.

"Yeah! That!" Silver Spoon called out. "You've seen it too?"

"It should have said something after that. 'I am so-and-so, deity of blah-blah.' Did it say anything like that?"

"I... I think so... why?"

The three crusaders looked at each other and nodded.

"Nightmare!"

"Tempestas!"

"Gaia!"

Silver Spoon's eyes widened as the three creatures erupted from the crusaders bodies.

"This is why."

"K-k-k-k...." the frightened filly stammered.

"Keh..."

She clenched her eyes shut, a voice ringing through her head. 'Khione... goddess of snow.'
"Khione, goddess of snow!" She shouted out, her eyes flying open as the card appeared in front of her and shattered, summoning a pixie like creature wearing a battle armor made of permafrost, her wings assembled from millions of snowflakes, her hair was a constant blizzard.

Sweetie and Nightmare nodded to each other. "Just as I thought."

Gaia and Tempestas nodded to their fellow deity who curtly returned the nod.

"Wha... wha...what is that thing?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Your Persona." Applebloom told her.

"Per... per...persona?"

Before Applebloom could respond Scootaloo cut in. "Before we get into that... Do you have a weapon or some equivalent back at your home?"

"Huh?"

"What?" Sweetie and Applebloom asked at the same time.

"Time out Scootaloo!" Sweetie yanked her friend over with telekinesis. "What are you asking her that for?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "She knows where Diamond was last, she's got a Persona. We may as well let her help us look for her."

Sweetie opened her mouth to argue but couldn't find any words. "Well...." She glanced around. "Shit...that actually makes sense."

Scootaloo smirked in triumph and trotted back over to Silver Spoon. "So do you?"

"Ye..yeah... my dad used to be a royal guard before he met my mom... he still has his old training sword I think." Silver Spoon answered. "I play around with it sometimes when Diamond and her dad go off to do business... whenever he catches me he scolds me and then tells me that I was holding it wrong or something."

"So that's how she's been fighting off the Shadows." Sweetie said and turned to Applebloom.

"Perfect. You have a Persona, you have a weapon. How about you help us find Diamond Tiara when we come back here later?" Scootaloo asked, extending her hoof down to help the filly up.

"W-w-well... what if I say no... if I'm too scared?"

"Then we do it without you, it'll take longer and she might not survive, or she might think we're fakes made by the shadows and gallop further in, getting lost forever." Scootaloo told her.

Silver Spoon looked thoughtful for a second before taking Scootaloo's hoof and shaking it.

Scootaloo smirked. "Alright Crusaders! Flanks in gear, let's get out of here!"

Silver Spoon gave her a grateful smile and picked up the pipe she had been using.

The four persona's all faded back into their wielders bodies as the four fillies began searching for an ambulance.

Applebloom and Scootaloo watched as Sweetie Belle and Owlowicious trotted off, Silver Spoon was being escorted home by Appleblooms big brother, Jensen Macintosh.

"Ah can't believe they bought that bunch of manure we told 'em. Wanderin' around lost in the orchard." Applebloom shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm not complaining." Scootaloo yawned.

"Neither am Ah... Ah just can't believe they bought it."

"Well... whatever... I'm turning in for the night. You should do the same. As long as Big Macintosh is taking Silver Spoon home we don't got nothing to worry about."

"Ah guess... g'night Scootaloo."

"Night Applebloom."

Sweetiebella Marie Belle: Level 5.
Persona: Nightmare: Level 5/ Arcana: Judgement.
No change to equipment.

Applebloom Anne Apple: Level 4
Persona: Gaia: Level 4/ Arcana: Chariot.
Weapon equipped: Pitchfork.

Scootaloo Cassandra Darling: Level 4
Persona: Tempestas: Level 4/ Arcana: Fool.
No change to equipment.

New party member.
Silvia Liza "Silver" Spoon: Level 3
Persona: Khione: Level 3/ Arcana: Strength
Skills: Bufu, Tarukaja, Kill Rush.
Equipment:
Body: faux pearl necklace
Hooves: nothing
Accessory: fancy glasses
Weapon: short lead pipe.