Persona: Innocent Wish

by Trismegistus

Chapter 9: FES

Author's Note:

For those who don't know the 'FES' in Persona 3 FES is supposed to be short for FEStival, which is why i used it as the title for this chapter.

Two weeks had passed since the team had entered the lake with Vox. Not much had happened since then. Despite their best efforts, Blaze and Arata were unable to explore the lake any further. Every time one of them attempted to jump in, they just floated on the surface. Even Vox was unable to enter. The team concluded that they probably needed somepony new to go in first, before they would be able enter.

Arata and Blaze continued their research on shadows and other possible leads in books; the lack of exploration had given Arata a fair amount of free time. In his off time, Arata had gotten closer to Tonic, Camphor, and Marigold. He had also started reading books he acquired at the library. His understanding and knowledge seemed to increase as he read through them.

Over the past two days the town had made an abrupt transition from its usual quaint and mundane atmosphere to a lively and festive one. Arata was a bit confused by the change, and decided to ask Camphor about what was going on.

“Hey Camphor, do you have a minute?” Arata called, knocking on his room door.

“Yeah man, come on in,” Camphor coughed. Hesitantly Arata opened the door, and was hit with a wall of smoke. After he got passed the entrance, he found Camphor lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and rolling one of his many dreads. “What can I help ya with duude?”

“Did you know your room is filled with smoke?”

“Yeah man, its incense. I was totally gonna open the window but I kinda forgot,” Camphor chuckled.

Arata walked over to the window and slid it open “Why is everypony around here getting so excited?”

Camphor put his dread down, and sat up to face Arata. “First the singing, now this huh? Things must be pretty different in Nippony.” He paused and smiled. “It’s the Summer Sun celebration brah! It’s like the biggest event of the year!”

“Oh, but doesn’t Princess Celestia raise the sun every day?” Arata asked hesitantly.

“Wow man, that’s harsh. Why did ya have to go and crash my vibes like that?” Camphor looked a bit down.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean any offense…” Arata apologized. Camphor’s shift in mood had caught him off guard.

“Nah little man, I’m just messin with ya. It’s like the solstice; longest day of the year. Plus who doesn’t like a good party?”

“I guess you have a point. So what exactly do we do?”

“Well the actual celebration is being held in Ponyville this year; so we don’t have to worry about entertaining the Princess.” Camphor began playing with his dreads again. “It’s just a big party. It’ll give ya a chance to get to know more ponies dude.”

Arata thanked Camphor, and then headed off to the E.W.E.F camp. Everypony there seemed pretty excited too. Penzance had given everypony the two days prior to the festival off so they could ‘Properly partake in the festivities’.

Arata found Blaze and Vox in the equipment tent. Both of them seemed to be in high spirits since their last trip to the lake. Blaze had been much more relaxed. He claimed this was because Vox now had a persona, and she could now protect herself. Vox on the other hoof was relieved that Blaze had quit protesting her going into the lake.

“Hey there kid, what’s up?” Blaze greeted.

“Blaze, quit calling him kid. You know he’s only two years younger than us.” Vox scolded.

“Oh, so you two are my senpai,” Arata responded.

“Your what?” Vox asked.

“Senpai, it’s a title, out of respect.” Arata added, “I wanted to know what you two were doing for the Summer Sun celebration? This is the first time I’ve been around for it.” Arata seemed embarrassed to admit this, but he was glad he finally had the courage to do so.

“Wait, Really? They don’t do this in Nippony? She raises the sun for everypony; not just Equestria.” Vox said with just a hint of aggression.

“I’m not entirely shocked.” Blaze added. “I’ve heard of something similar in Saddle Arabia, but it’s nowhere near as big as the celebration here.”

“And each town in Equestria is given the honor of hosting the beloved Princess,” Chimed in the ‘Major General’s’ regal voice. “And this year that honor went to Ponyville. But that does not mean that we should put on any less of a show!” Penzance had appeared at the tent’s entrance and grinned eagerly.

“I was wondering why you gave us time off.” Vox said in her usual playful manner.

“The E.W.E.F will be helping with the festivities this year! We will be decorating the town, running the booths at the festival, and Blaze has agreed to help put on a play describing the history of the day!” Penzance was more excited than anypony had seen him in a long time. “Which reminds me Arata, would you rather help Blaze or work at the booths with myself and a few other ponies?”

“Sorry sir, Vox has already volunteered to help me with the history research and presentation. Arata’s going to be working with you,” Blaze seemed almost happy about this; a little too happy in Arata’s opinion.

“Very well then, Arata, follow me and we shall commence with preparations!” Penzance led Arata out of the tent and back toward Foalsdale.

Arata was surprised to find most of the E.W.E.F in front of the town hall. The majority of them were dashing about setting up booths for the various activities that they were going to hold. Although they were greatly outnumbered by the E.W.E.F ponies, there were a few locals setting up what appeared to be food stalls and the occasional game. The festival wasn’t until the next night, and everypony looked like they were well prepared for it.

“Araahhtahh, you will be in charge of the ‘sun toss’ booth. When anypony lands three of the sun shaped rings on a cone they win a prize! I will be watching over the whole event and making sure everypony is having a good time!”

Arata spent the rest of the day helping with the set up. Although this all seemed strange to him, he was excited to play a part in it. Penzance’s excitement seemed to be contagious; everypony who stopped by the fairground was given a warm greeting by the Major General, and each one left with a smile.

…

When Arata got home, he found that the whole family was together with the addition of one of Marigold’s friends. It looked like they were all getting ready for dinner.

“Hey Arata, sup’ with you?” Camphor drawled as Arata entered the room.

“Just helping with the festival set up; who’s Marigold’s friend?”

“That’s Autumn Tail,” Camphor led Arata to the dining table, where they waited for the rest of the family to assemble. “How’s the explorer’s life been treetin’ ya?” Camphor asked.

For a moment Arata considered telling Camphor stories about the lake, but he had made a promise to the Penzance and his team that it would remain a secret. Even if Arata was allowed to be honest about it he probably lacked the expression to describe what happened; the more he thought about it the more crazy everything seemed.

“I’ve just been helping out with research; I’m not actually an explorer.” Arata humbly stated.

“Righteous, little man,” Camphor smiled. It wasn’t the response Arata was expecting, but Camphor wasn’t exactly a normal pony.

After a few minutes everypony else joined the table. Autumn Tail was sitting next to Arata, and seemed fairly excited. Tonic helped Panacea carry in the food, and the six enjoyed the meal. Over the past few weeks Arata had grown to appreciate these family dinners. It gave him something to look forward to at the end of each day, and they were nowhere near as formal as the ones he had back in Nippony.

After Panacea, Tonic, and Camphor had all left the dinner table, Autumn Tail decided to ask Arata some questions about his work.

“Excuse me mister,” the little filly next to Arata tugged on the E.W.E.F band that Arata had forgotten he was wearing. “Are you and adventurer?” she was smiling widely at him. Arata had gotten used to kids from around the town asking him what it was like to work with the E.W.E.F, and he had an answer prepared incase anypony asked.

“Nah, I don’t have the stomach for anything exciting. I just help research things the real explorers find.” Talking to ponies was still a bit unnerving for Arata, and giving this response usually kept conversations brief. He had considered the possibility that this may affect his ‘social links’ but they didn’t seem all that important to him.

“What do you do as a researcher?!” The filly was still grinning excitedly. “Is it like reading all of the old stories?”

“Yeah,” Arata chuckled. “How’d you know?”

“When I grow up I want to be just like Daring Do! She’s the coolest adventurer…” the filly trailed off, and looked guilty for a moment. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Huh, uh yeah, what is it?” Arata asked hesitantly.

“The other day I followed you to work, and the cool lake you were exploring!” She tried to speak in a whisper, but her excitement made that difficult.

Arata froze, so this was the pony that followed him. Not only that, but she saw them going into the lake. “You know it’s dangerous in the swamps?” It wasn’t much to say, but it was the best thing Arata could think of.

“But danger is nothing for a brave explorer like me!” she cheered.

“Have you ever been in real danger?” Arata asked, not sure if he was approaching the situation correctly.

“Um, no...” She hung her head.

“Next time if you want to explore promise to ask me first, okay?” Arata tried to reason with her. “We didn’t even know you were there with us, if something bad happened we might not have been able to help you.”

Autumn Tail could tell Arata was scolding her, “I’m sorry, next time I will ask you first. Maybe I can go swimming with you too?”

“Maybe,” Arata tried his best to lie; he couldn’t tell if it worked.

Marigold ran up to Autumn Tail, and dragged her off to play.

…

The next night, Foalsdale was a hive of activity. Everypony was outside, either at the town hall, or just walking about the town. In addition to the decorations the E.W.E.F had set up, each pony had decorated their home. Streamers hung connecting the roofs of the houses and lanterns hung on wires lighting up the whole town.

The festival had started about two hours ago, and was now in full swing. Arata had been running his booth, and every pony that came by seemed to enjoy themselves, even if they didn’t win. Penzance had been walking about the town making sure each pony was happy, and having a good time.

Penzance was now wearing his old guard captain’s uniform. Compared to his normal khaki colored shirt, the Bronze armor, with Celestia’s seal, and a plumed helmet made him almost unrecognizable. Of everypony in town he still seemed the most excited.

“Hey, Arata!” Vox called as she approached his stand. “Want to do something a little more exciting for the rest of the night?” Blaze followed, suspending two boxes with his magic.

“What do you two need help with?” Arata was eager to be part of the festivities and it showed with his response.

“We need you to be in our play!” Vox smiled “I need to run the sound equipment so I can’t do it, and Bullwhip, who’s normally Blaze’s go to pony for stuff like this, is off at the southern end of the swamp. So we need you to do it!”

“Sure! I can do that,” Arata smiled back.

“Great kid, meet us at the stage in about an hour,” Blaze smirked for a moment, “And prepare your most regal voice.”

…

“Those are your lines Arata, think you got it?” It had only been two hours since Blaze had first gone over the script for the show with Arata, and although they were able to run through the show twice, Arata was starting to wonder if he had the courage to do this.

“I think I can do this, it’s just a history show there can’t be that many ponies watching right?” Arata timidly asked.

“If the Major General has anything to do with it we’ll have a full house.” Blaze deadpanned. “Oh and here’s the costume you’ll have to wear, sorry if it’s a little big”

Blaze slid Arata one of the boxes. Arata opened it to find the parts to a Princess Celestia costume. When he was told that he was going to play the princess he thought it was a joke. There was no way Blaze would have actually gone through with the idea. Sadly, Arata had misjudged his friend and was now putting on the crown, wings, horn, necklace, and cutie mark of the Princess. Blaze on the other hoof was dressing as Nightmare Moon.

“Curtin call’s in 5, I’ll go check with Vox to make sure everything is ready, remember Penaznce will give a short opening speech before we start.” Blaze disappeared off to the side of the stage leaving Arata alone dressed as Celestia.

It wasn’t clear whether or not Penzance actually knew he would be portraying the Princess, but that wasn’t the greatest of Arata’s worries. More pressing was the hundred or so ponies he was about to get in front of. Lately, Arata had experienced a surge of courage. Since his first visit to the lake he felt stronger, and more confident in himself. This was partly due to the persona that protected him, but he didn’t have that out of the lake. Out here he didn’t even have a cutie mark.

Arata heard the crackle of the microphone and Penzance clearing his throat.

“Good night everypony! It is my honor to officially welcome you to the Summer Sun Celebration festivities!” There was a brief pause and the crowd cheered. “Tonight we have two shows prepared for you, before the princess raises the sun: first a short play depicting the history of this celebration, and then a performance by Foalsdale’s own orchestra!” The crowd cheered one more time. Penzance remained onstage to deliver the opening lines of the play and the curtain opened to reveal Arata to the audience.

“Two Princesses, both alike in dignity,” Penzance began. “In fair Canterlot, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where Princesses’ blood makes a Princesses’ hooves unclean.” He continued for a few lines and then exited leaving Arata alone on stage.

Arata stood there staring into the crowd; all of the lines he had practiced escaped him. Everypony was smiling and happy, it wasn’t an intimidating sight, but even so he lacked the courage to be before this many ponies. In the front row he could see Tonic, Panacea, Camphor, and Marigold all cheering him on. Arata looked over to the side of the stage where Blaze was giving him the signal to start.

Putting his anxiety aside Arata stepped into center stage and began to speak. “Alas… poor …” Arata paused unable to remember his lines. His eyes widened as he stared into the audience and his anxiety returned. He turned to Blaze who was pantomiming his lines but Arata didn’t have enough understanding to recognize the hints. “… Oh, I remember,” Arata stuttered, “Alas poor Princess, I knew her Equestria. A filly of infinite jest and most excellent… excellent…” Arata trailed off again as he met the audiences stare.

‘Oh no,’ Vox thought to herself from the sound booth. Watching Arata struggle on was painful, so she decided to help him out a bit. She pulled out the script and reached out with her mind to Arata. ‘Arata, I’m sorry to use my magic on you again, but I’m going to read you your lines.’

Hearing Vox’s voice was a surprise. He wasn’t completely okay with the telepathic powers yet, but this seemed like an ideal time to use them. He began once more, this time with help from Vox.

“Alas poor Princess, I knew her Equestria. A filly of infinite jest and most excellent fancy. I hath borne her on my back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is!” Blaze entered the stage with a smile dressed in his costume and Arata continued, “Nightmare Moon, have you come to take power?”

“Yes Celestia the time of the sun has come to an end! Now every pony will know the glory of endless night!” Blaze shouted, in an accent similar to Penzance’s.

“No tyrant, I cannot let that happen,” Arata parroted Vox. “Now I will banish you to the moon!”

“You do not have the power to banish me!” Blaze shouted again.

Arata ran off stage and grabbed some colored streamers which he threw at Blaze, who then used his magic to levitate them toward him. The action scene that followed was bad. Blaze knew it, Arata knew it, the audience knew it, and Penzance knew it. Yet, when they finished and Arata finished his final lines they were greeted with a massive round of applause. The two ponies bowed and walked off stage as the orchestra entered.

Penzance was waiting at the bottom of the steps for them.

“Arata, Blaze, you both put on a good show.” Penzance tried to reassure, but it didn’t seem to be working. “Arata you tried and that is what’s important.”

“Thank you sir, but I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that without Vox. She was feeding me my lines telepathically.” It was at this moment that Arata began to understand the actual nature of Vox’s powers. It wasn’t something to be afraid of, and there was nothing intrinsically good or bad about it. He also realized that Vox had been there to help him when he needed it and he felt a faint bond forming between them.

A faint voice rang out in his mind, ‘Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Empress Arcana.’

Blaze and Arata found a place to watch the orchestra performance and were joined by Vox. After the performance finished the whole town cheered and the moment was here for Celestia to raise the sun. Penzance stood with the trio; his eagerness, and pride in Equestria overflowing.

Then the moment passed, but the sun never rose…