Persona MLP: The Nightmare Hour

by Ninestempest

The Calm

 
 
I wake up with a start, my heart racing.  I glance around my surroundings and find myself somewhere startlingly normal.
It’s my room.
I throw off my covers and sit on the edge of my bed.  I shake my head for a few seconds, trying to alleviate myself of this pounding headache, but it’s to no avail.  I was… I was in the other world for a bit… but I got home… and… eugh.  Can’t focus, need water.  I hop off my bed and head downstairs towards my kitchen.
Just as I reach the bottom of the stairs, my doorbell rings.  Given the door is only a few feet away from me at the base of the staircase, I decide to answer it.  Just as my hoof is about to touch the door handle I realize that this is somepony at my door, after I’ve been missing for what felt like two days.  Given that I returned at night, I doubt anypony would know of my return yet.  With a glance to my clock, I also notice that it’s earlier than most ponies in Ponyville wake up.  Could it be whoever threw me into that world?  Do they somehow know that I got out?
I gulp and decide to open it anyway.  If I can trust my hazy memory, I did walk a bit through Ponyville the previous night, so it’s possible somepony saw me.  I reach out to the handle and pull open the door slowly.
I find a stallion at my door that I don’t recognize.  His white fur and golden mane give me the impression that he’s a royal guard, and his stature matches the image.  Standing tall with a completely serious expression, he examines me with glaring, crimson eyes.  “So… you’re Cornerstone?”
I figured someone that knew me would be checking on me, not some stranger.  Wondering just how much he knows about me, I decide to toss out a lie.  “Yeah, that’s me.  Just got back from visiting my parents in Canterlot.”
“You left awfully abruptly,” he replies in an instant.  “Everypony was worried about you.  They thought you had been kidnapped.”
His tone is dead serious, and his quick reply catches me off guard.  I let out a dry chuckle.  “Well, I apologize for not leaving any word.  I’ll be sure to let everypony know I’m okay later today.”
“I am glad you weren’t kidnapped.  I advise you tell Twilight and the police of your whereabouts the past four days.”
“Four days?” I gasp.  When he raises an eyebrow at me, I chuckle again.  “Haha, right, time flies when you’re having fun,  it didn’t even feel like four days, ha, ha.”
“Right… well, take care of yourself,” he says as he turns to leave.  “We wouldn’t want somepony else to wind up dead now, would we?”
And like that, he’s gone.  I shiver.  Something about him felt… off.  How did he know I was back already?  And if ponies knew I was missing, surely they would have checked every method of transportation I could have used, right?  And if he’s the killer, why would he tell me to go to the police?  Nothing about this makes sense.
My stomach grumbles loudly, reminding me of how long it’s been since I’ve had a nice, warm meal.  Now wide awake after that conversation, I decide it’s pointless to try and get any more sleep.  I head to the kitchen to make a breakfast that will hopefully quell my stomach’s growls.
 
 

A few days have passed since my return to Ponyville, and I find my confusion further mounting.
I was indeed gone for four days.  While I may not have had access to the sun or moon in the other world, I definitely only got tired enough to sleep once.  Does this mean that time passes differently there than here?  I would think that a place that only exists for one hour every night would last maybe four hours if I was gone for four days, but that isn’t the case either.  Right now, it appears as though time passes half as fast in the other world as here.
Furthermore, it appears that not many ponies noticed my absence.  Twilight was probably the most worried, but I feel like anything that happens that completely defies her schedule might worry her.  Besides her, only a couple other ponies even realized I was missing.  The police seemed to have no idea I was gone.  Was that stallion actually just worried about my disappearence?  A complete stranger?
I set out from Ponyville’s town square towards the only pony that would have noticed my absence: Lyra.  If nopony else realized I was gone, she would still know that something was wrong.  Despite her aloof disposition for the past two weeks, something tells me that she still cares.  If she does, then seeing me safe and sound should put her at ease.
After a few silent minutes of walking through Ponyville, my gaze drifts up towards a nearby home, and I instantly recognize it as where Bon Bon was found.  The same house that Frigid Sonata lives in.
I stop myself.  Twilight thinks Frigid Sonata could be the culprit.  I wrote that off rather quickly, but now that I’m here… perhaps a few questions wouldn’t hurt.  I turn towards the home and make my way down the front walk.
I knock softly on the door, and after a few moments, I hear a shambling of hooves and a mare’s muffled voice from inside.  The door opens in an instant, revealing the mare I was looking for.  “Well hey, it’sh Cornershtone!” she says.
I feel like something about her is off, and before I can put more thought into it, she burps.  That’s when I smell it: the scent of alcohol on the breeze, and her breath.  “H-hey, Sonata.  Are you… okay?”
“Oh, I’m great now that you’re here!” she says with a wide smile.  “You uh, wanna come in or something?”
“No, actually, I was just stopping by to see how you were doing.  You seem, uh….”
“I’m great!  Really,” she insists.  “I was jusht enjoying a nice, expensive bottle of wine, all by my loneshome.  I was about to go shee if any friends wanted to join me but… you’ll do.”  She gives me a look I could only describe as suggestive.  “You’ll do just fine.”
I immediately feel my cheeks heat up.  “I-I’m not much of a drinker, y-you’ll have to forgive me,” I say, trying to avoid her gaze.  “And besides, I was just on my way to see a friend—”
She scoffs.  “Of course you were.”  Whatever smile she had suddenly turns to a frown.  “I’m just some washed up musician who can’t compose a damned thing.”
Her sudden change of mood also seems to have come with greater awareness, as she suddely sounds a lot less drunk.  “Wh-what do you mean?”
She shakes her head.  “N-never mind me.  I’m just thinking out loud.  But…” she looks up to me again, this time with a warmer smile.  “I’m glad you said hi.  That’s more than anypony’s said to me in a while.”
I feel the blush fade from my face as I try to reply, but she retreats inside, closing the door behind her.  As I shrug and turn to leave, a voice enters my mind:
 

I stop and spin around, looking around for the source of the voice, but just like in the other world, I find nothing.  It was exactly the same voice as when I heard about my Persona.  Something about this voice is beyond my understanding; I haven’t thought much on it, but last time that voice spoke, it talked about my Persona.  I know what that word means, and I understand what it meant by “façade to overcome life’s hardships.”  But I’ve never heard the name Janus before… so what does that mean?  And I only then acquired it?  And now it says I’ve established… a bond?  I can only assume it refers to Frigid Sonata, and… she’s the devil?
I let out a frustrated grunt, though if I were in my own home, it might have been more of a scream.  All these stupid, mysterious voices in my head, and I don’t have anything resembling an answer.  I decide to just push those questions out of my mind as I continue onto Lyra’s house, though I make a note in my head to visit Twilight later and see if she can make anything of this nonsense.
After several more minutes of lonesome trotting, I find myself before Lyra’s home.  Much like every other house in this neighborhood, nothing much sets it apart, except for her cutie mark on the mailbox.  I approach her door and knock softly.  While it is the afternoon, there’s the possibility that she’s practicing, or taking a nap, and I wouldn’t really want to disturb either—
The door is thrown open and she jumps right into me with a tight hug.  “Cornerstone!  You’re okay!  You’re here and okay!”  she nearly yells into my ears.  “Twilight came by asking for you and I didn’t know you were gone and I was scared that you were—”
I cough, my throat closed off by Lyra’s intense grip.  “Can’t… breathe…” I sputter.
She releases me instantly.  “Oh, sorry!  That’s my bad!”
Once I’ve caught my breath, I say, “Well, I’m glad you were at least worried.  I was beginning to think nopony in Ponyville cared that I left.”
“About that…” she looks up to me with curious eyes.  “Where did you go?”
I clear my throat.  “I, uh, had to visit my parents.  Only for a few days, but they needed help with, uh, some home decorating, and such.  Yeah.”
“Ah.”  Lyra’s enthusiasm drains away.  Her sharp change in mood takes me by surprise.  Why would this make her upset?  Shouldn’t she be happy that I’m safe?  “Well, I just…” she gulped.  “I thought you were, uh, somewhere else, that’s all.
“You mean, you thought I was kidnapped.” I say.
“Whaaaaaaat?” she bursts out laughing, though even I can tell how hollow it is.  “Don’t be silly.  I just, you know, wasn’t sure where you were.”  She looks inside her home, as if something might inspire her to speak.  “Actually, I gotta get back to composing.  I’ve got a lot of work to do!”
Lyra then abruptly steps back into her home, but I hold out a hoof to stop the door.  “Wait, Lyra—”
She pushes my hoof aside quickly and just says, “I just… I don’t think we should be friends anymore.”  She then slams the door.
I feel my heart sink into my chest.  “N-not friends?  Wait, Lyra!”  I reach up to knock a hoof on her door, when I hear the voice in my head yeta gain.
 

“What the hay is going on?!” I yell.  “How have I established a bond if she just decided to not be my friend?!”  I stomp my front hooves on the ground and let out a frustrated grunt, when I notice a few ponies walking by, giving me strange looks.  I give a little wave, which is appaerntly enough to satisfy them as they continue talking with one another.  “I’ve gotta get to Twilight’s… none of this is making any sense.”
 
 

 
 
By the time I reach Twilight’s house, the sun has already started to set.  I would have arrived earlier, but my stomach called to me, and I had to get some dinner first.  Hopefully, she won’t mind me stopping by so late.
I approach her home and knock.  Twilight’s violet glow takes hold of the door, opening it immediately.  “Come in!” she yells.
I step inside and glance around at my surroundings.  The main hall of the library is set up like a laboratory, something I’ve never seen her do before, though I’ve heard about it.  Various flasks, jars, and glasses rest with other equipment on a few tables, and chemicals in a wide variety of colors rest in some of the containers.  Then I notice Twilight jotting down some notes at the other end of room.  She glances up to me and says, “Oh, Cornerstone.”  She sets the quill and paper down.
I raise an eyebrow.  “You sound disappointed.”
“I was just expecting somepony else, that’s all.”  She starts making her way around the table and towards me.  “Did you need something?”
“I have a strange question… but I’m not sure if you can help with it.”
“Well, I won’t know until you ask.”
“Right.  Do you know what an Arcana is?”
She tilts her head.  “Arcana?  Can you… be more precise?”
I gulp.  “Oh, it’s just a word I heard tossed around town.  Something about somepony representing the Devil Arcana, or a Fortune Arcana… that’s all.”
Twilight brings a hoof to her chin in thought.  “Hmmmm….” She turns her head towards the staircase at the back of the room and yells, “Spike!”
“One second!” a voice replies.  After a moment the baby dragon emerges from the upper floor, slowly walking down the staircase as he snacks on what appears to be a small sapphire.  Once he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he finishes it in one bite, then asks, “Sorry, just having a little snack.  Did you need something?”
“Do you remember when Pinkie was really into fortune telling?”  Twilight asks.
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember where the book she borrowed is?”
He nods and darts off to a random bookshelf, plucking it out nearly instantly.  “Wow,” I say aloud without even thinking.  “That was fast.”
“I have a lot of practice finding books as fast as possible,” he says with a chuckle and looks at the front cover.  “I think this is the one.  ‘Fortune or Fluke? Find Your Fate With Fortunetelling!’”
Twilight scoffs.  “Right, this thing.”  She takes it in her levitation and flips through several pages.  As she’s looking through, I notice Spike return to the upper floor, probably not wanting to bother Twilight in the middle of… whatever she’s doing.  “I never bothered with this thing because it doesn’t even try to hide that fortune telling is just a lot of mumbo jumbo to get ponies’ attention, and possibly some of their bits.”  She stops on a certain page and floats the book over to me, which I then take up in my own magic.  “There’s what you’re looking for.”
It’s a chapter entitled, The Major and Minor Arcana: How Cards Can Seal Your Fate.  “Pinkie took my fortune with tarot cards once, but it was just a bunch of random stuff that never came true, or made any sense.”  I nod as I look through the pages, looking for the words Fortune or Devil, in hopes of making things more clear.
“Wait, you said ponies around town were talking about this?  Is Pinkie at it again?” Twilight asks.
“I don’t think so,” I say.  “It was just idle gossip I heard while I was eating out, nothing more.”
Twilight nods.  “Well, if you’re curious, you can borrow the book.  It’s not really something I’m going to read anytime soon.”
“Right.”  I flip through a few pages, mostly disinterested and not quite finding what I was looking for yet.  “Can I ask why, uh, you have all of this equipment out?”
“I’m glad you asked, actually!”  Twilight says with asmile.  “I think I’m about to make a huge breakthrough.  Maybe tonight, even!”
“In what?” I ask, looking up from the pages before me.
“I may have found a way to prove that the dark hour exists!”
My eyes go wide in surprise, and I find myself strangely hesitant.  This should be nothing but good news for everypony.  Once Twilight proves it exists, it’s only a matter of time until she can figure out a way to give ponies access to it, and once they do, they can find out who the killer is, especially if they only use that time to kidnap ponies.  It certainly was when they kidnapped me.
Yet something makes me nervous.  All the dark hour has been is a period for my—and probably others—kidnappings, and for some reason, the idea of Twilight being aware of the hour frightens me.  She’s smart, but this is a murderer that’s succeeded twice.  This isn’t something her—or anypony else for that matter—knows how to deal with.  It like she’s putting herself in unnecessary danger.
Nevertheless, I nod in response to Twilight’s excitement.  “How do you even go about that?
Twilight grins and says, “With just a little careful observation, I was able to figure out that there’s a strange… flux in the magical energy in and around Ponyville, every night at midnight.  In fact, it’s at the same time that all these nightmares tend to strike everypony in town.  It’s difficult to explain, but I feel like that flux could be a doorway into this special hour, and that somehow, this ‘hour’ and the nightmares are connected,” she explains.  “In fact, once I prove that connection, I think I may have to start calling it the Nightmare Hour.  If my hypothesis is correct, those ponies might be suffering through those terrible visions for a whole hour every night…we just don’t see it.”
That idea makes me shiver.  “Well then, I’m glad you’re making progress.  Maybe you can find a way to stop those nightmares.”  When I look back down to the book after I finish speaking, I realize I’m at the right page.  There’s a section near the end of this chapter dedicated to the explanation of all the Major Arcana, which include Fortune and Devil.  I scan through them, and while I find their meanings and symbols—both of which leave me slightly worried—they don’t exactly explain anything beyond themselves.  No mention of mysterious voices, or Persona, or anything like that.  I sigh, closing the book and setting it back on the table.  “You can keep this, Twilight.  I don’t think it has quite what I’m looking for.”
She nods.  “Right.  Fortune telling is kind of strange.  Was that it then?”
I nod.  “Sorry to just barge in here and not chat, but I’d like to get home before too long.”  I yawn.
“I’m just glad I could be of help!” Twilight calls out as I head towards the door.  She turns back to her notes, already acting like I’m out of the room.  “Augh, I just need one more thing… if only I had just a little more information,” she says just loud enough for me to hear.
I stop as her words fall on my ears.  A little more information...
What if I told her I knew about the Nightmare Hour?
Those feelings of dread rise up in me again, but I push them back down.  The less time this “Nightmare Hour” spends being a mystery, the less time Twilight is in danger.  As soon as she figures this out, she can start finding a way to get other ponies into it, and then we can all start looking for the murderer.  It’s perfect.
“Twilight… I actually have something to tell you,” I say as I turn away from the door and back to her.

I wake up as calm as I ever have, though something feels odd.  It’s as if the ground beneath my hooves is shifting ever so slightly, tilting back and forth.  Wait, ground beneath my hooves?  Why am I standing up?  I open my eyes.
I’m in the Velvet Room.
After a few quiet moments of thought, memories of this place flood my mind.  Just as before, the room is a dark, velvet blue, and Igor is sitting alone in the middle of the room.  This time, I notice he has a deck of cards on the table before him.  I can only see the back of the cards, which are a mostly blue, geometric design surrounding a black and white mask at the center of the card.
“Do you know why I have brought you here today?”  Igor asks.
I lift my gaze from the floor and look up to Igor.  “I do not.”
He picks up a card off of the deck and shows it to me.  It’s the same Arcana that I saw when I got my Persona.  “I have brought you back here because you have formed a contract.”
I tilt my head in confusion.  I never signed a contract… but I did make a promise.  It was when I faced my Shadow… and that sword…
Now tell me, do you wish to dispel the darkness that plagues this world?
I nod.
“Very good,” Igor says.  “If you are to fulfill your destiny, then it is necessary for me to explain some things that will help you along your journey.  First, I shall explain your Persona.”
“My… Persona,” I echo.
“Your Persona has a very unique ability which will aid you greatly in your quest.”  Igor says.  “Indeed, it holds an ability I have never seen before in any of my other guests.”
“What is it?”
“It is called ‘Shapeshift,’ and allows your Persona to take on many forms.”  Igor picks up two more cards from the deck.  “I hold two cards in my hand: Devil and Fortune.  Do they ring a bell, perhaps?”
“Those…” For some reason, thinking back to when I heard those words makes my head ache terribly.  “That voice in my head said something about a bond….”
“Bonds of, uh, ponies, are true power.”  He clears his throat.  “The more friends you make, and the closer you get to those friends, the stronger your Persona will become.”  He tosses both cards at me, and they stop and hover just in front of my face.  “These bonds are called Social Links, and as you make more of them, the more possibilities you will have to Shapeshift.”
“Shapeshifting… is based on Social Links?” I ask.
“That is correct.  For now, the only bonds you have forged are of the Fortune and Devil Arcana.  Your Persona is also innately of the Fool Arcana.”  He tosses the Fool card to me as well, and it stops like the other cards.  All three then crumble into a blue mist before me.  “At any time, you may visit me and borrow cards that will enable your Persona’s transformation, but your heart can only hold three as of this moment.  As you grow stronger, I suspect you will be able to hold more, giving you options far greater.”
I nod.  “You say you brought me here because of a contract.”
“That is my reasoning, yes.”  Igor says flatly.
His tone catches me off guard.  It’s the first time I’ve heard him be something other than… well, mysterious sounding.  “I forged that contract days ago.  Why wait until now to explain these things to me?”
“Why, because the next step of your journey is about to begin, and it will be proof that you are willing to not only uphold your contract, but that you have the strength of heart to survive the trials to come, and fulfill your destiny.”
Before I can ask for clarification, I feel my eyelids grow heavy, and in a second, they close.
Then I wake up.
 
 

 
 
Half a day after my visit to the Velvet Room his words still weigh heavily on me.
This time, my memories of the place are as clear as day.  They no longer feel like a dream, hanging off the edge of reality.  He very clearly said that something would happen… yet today has gone by, and nothing has been out of the ordinary.  I’ve gone to work and found nothing amiss, checked on Frigid Sonata, and there’s just been nothing.  I tried Lyra’s door, and while she didn’t come outside, she at least said she wouldn’t see me.  So she’s at home, and presumeably safe.  I’m beginning to wonder if I should just go to the police and see if somepony has gone missing, but that makes me think of how suspicious I might make myself.  I was gone for half a week, and I didn’t actually buy tickets to Canterlot.  All they’d have to do is check that out, and see that I never left.  And that one stallion.  He saw me arrive in the night, which, as far as everypony knows, is when the kidnappings have happened.
I enter my home after a day of hard work.  As I sit down at my sofa, I think back again.  The final possibility just seems the strongest to me: if somepony were to be kidnapped, the police certainly wouldn’t know right away, that’s for sure.  But who could that even be?  The first three kidnappings looked totally unrelated, simply crimes of opportunity.  As far as I could figure out, the only thing linking us together is Lyra, but… it isn’t her, that’s just a coincidence.  I guess I could visit everypony Lyra knows, though, just in case they’re targetting her specifically.
But that can wait until tomorrow.  Once I feel a bit of energy come back to me, I head towards the kitchen, just to grab a quick snack.  I should check on Twilight, actually.  Her excitement when I told her I had been to the Nightmare Hour was overwhelming, though I feel bad for having to cut it short.  Despite wanting to help as much as I could, her questions just made me realize how tired I really was.  I said I’d go back today.  Spike said she was gone, and that she was at the market… but I didn’t see her there.  Wait… this can’t mean—
My doorbell rings as I’m standing dumbly in front of my refridgerator.  I make my way towards the door, curious as to who would be knocking at this hour.  It isn’t exactly late, but most ponies are at home by now.
I open the door, and see nopony.  That is, I see no ponies, and one baby dragon.
“Spike?”
“C-can I come in?”  He asks.
“Uhm, sure,” I say, motioning him inside, and closing the door as he enters.  “You seem frightened.  What happened?”
“Well, uhm…” Spike gulps.  “You know how I said earlier that Twilight was out at the market?”
I nodded, and gulp, hoping my most recent thoughts aren’t about to become confirmed.  “Right.  I looked around for her, but I didn’t find her.  I probably just missed her.”
“That was a lie.  Twilight…” Spike’s mood suddenly shifts as tears start to fall from his eyes.  “She’s missing!
My chest turns into a vise.  “W-what do you mean she’s missing?!”
“I-I mean I don’t know where she is!  When I went to bed last night, she said she was gonna head out and into town and see if she could find out anymore about that weird hour thing you two were talking about.  When I woke up this morning, she was gone!  I thought maybe she was just out all day doing something and didn’t want to wake me up to tell me, but it’s getting late, and… and she still isn’t home….”
I feel a terrible pain in my chest as Igor’s words finally find meaning:
Twilight’s been kidnapped.
And it’s all my fault.