Personas of Harmony

by EricStarstorm

Chapter 13: Field Trip

"The Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked, her eyes widening in surprise. "That seems a bit far off for a school trip."

"Oh, not at all!" Cheerilee replied. "I did some checking up. The train ride doesn't actually take that long!"

"Well, yeah...I've taken the trip a few times myself." Twilight thought for a moment. "Not to be rude, but why exactly are you telling me this?"

"Well, after the kids spoke so highly of you...I was wondering if you and your friends could be chaperons for the trip. It isn't that big of a class, but...it can be quite a handful."

"Hmm...okay, I get it. When's the trip?"

"The morning after tomorrow. The trip is only for that day."

Twilight looked over her shoulder into the library. "Spike, can you check our schedule?"

Spike opened a drawer on Twilight's hutch and pulled out her calendar. "Looks like we still have four days."

Twilight nodded and turned back to Cheerilee. "Looks like we're free, then."

"Wonderful! Even if you're the only one who can come, I'm sure the kids will enjoy it." Cheerilee's smile grew even wider. "I'll be waiting at the schoolhouse. Let me know what they say so I can make further arrangements, all right?"

Cheerilee turned and left. Spike walked over to Twilight. "Hey, that means we get to see Shining Armor and Cadence again, right?"

"Of course!" Twilight replied, beaming. "I don't think I've seen Shining Armor since the coronation."

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go ask the others!"

---

The morning of the trip, the group got up early to get to the train station. They got there before the class or the train, so they took some time to talk while they waited.

"It's been entirely too long since we last visited," Rarity said. "Why, I've nearly forgotten what the palace looks like!"

"Ah wonder if it's still jus' as well-kept as it was last time," Applejack added. "Ah imagine th' crystal ponies're keepin' it in good shape fer th' Equestria Games."

"That reminds me...am I the only one who's curious about where Shining Armor has been?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We didn't see him when Twilight went into the human world."

"Hmm...you have a point there," Twilight said. Her expression grew concerned.

"We'll find out later," Spike said. "Where's Miss Cheerilee? The train's going to be here any minute."

Rainbow flew above the train station, then came back down after a few seconds. "She'll be here in a minute or two."

"Ooooh! I don't know what's better--visiting the Crystal Empire, or going with the school ponies!" Pinkie shouted. She started hopping in place.

"Calm down, wouldja? Yer gonna scare 'em if ya ain't careful," Applejack scolded.

Pinkie Pie continued hopping, but her expression turned to a normal smile, and her jumps were only about half as high.

"Good morning!" Cheerilee called in a sing-song voice as she entered the train station. The children followed behind her. "Sorry to make you wait."

"It's cool," Rainbow said, waving a hoof dismissively. "The train isn't here yet."

The kids finished filing onto the platform. Many of them were excited, but due to the time of day, a few still looked tired.

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "I shined my hooves till they hurt last night!"

"Oh, Miss Cheerilee...I am a bit curious. Might I inquire as to the purpose of this trip?" Rarity asked.

"History, of course!" Cheerilee replied with a huge smile. "The Crystal Empire was gone for a thousand years! It's practically a gigantic museum! I've been trying to schedule this trip ever since the Crystal Heart was recovered."

The intercom suddenly crackled to life. "The train from the Crystal Empire is arriving. Please stand clear, and do not approach the train until it has come to a complete stop."

Just as the speakers turned off, a large, crystalline locomotive pulled up to the station. It slowed down to a stop after a few seconds. The doors to the passenger cars opened, and several ponies exited. One of them, to the group's surprise, was a tall pink alicorn.

"Princess Cadence!" Twilight exclaimed, a smile growing on her face.

Cheerilee recoiled in surprise and bowed. The children followed suit, exchanging confused glances as to why their chaperons didn't.

"I heard about your school trip," Cadence explained. "I was going to meet you at the Crystal Empire station, but I got antsy. You're Miss Cheerilee, right?"

Cheerilee and the class rose. "Yes, your Highness! The children have been looking forward to this."

Cadence smiled. "Well, I'll have to make sure I don't disappoint them!" She turned to Twilight and the others. "It's so good to see you all again."

"Th' pleasure's all ours, yer Highness," Applejack said, tipping her hat politely.

"Yeah, all ours! YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY!" Pinkie Pie shrieked.

Twilight looked at Pinkie like she was crazy, but Cadence couldn't help but laugh a bit. Twilight cleared her throat. "We can talk more on the train. We don't want to miss our chance."

"Oh, you're right!" Cheerilee exclaimed. "All right, kids! Onto the train you go! Single file, please!"

The class began to file into the passenger cars. The adults waited until they were all aboard before entering themselves. After a few minutes and a few more ponies' entrances, the doors closed. Another minute later, the train started moving.

"Hey, Cadence...I've been wondering," Twilight said, feeling a bit uneasy. "Where has Shining Armor been?"

"He's been around," Cadence replied. "For one, he insists on continuing his duties as guard captain. That's not the only reason, but I think he should explain the rest himself."

Twilight sighed. "Can't you tell me anything else at all?"

"Let's talk more later, okay? I promise, you won't have to leave the Crystal Empire today without an explanation."

Twilight was about to reply, but several of the students came up to the two. One of them was Dinky. "Princess Cadence, can you tell us how you became a princess?" she asked.

Cadence looked over to Twilight. Twilight shrugged with her wings, and Cadence turned back towards the children. "Of course! It all started when I was even younger than you all..."

---

As soon as the train's doors opened at the Crystal Empire train station, the kids practically fell out--as if they were a mess stuffed into a closet. The adults followed, with Cadence being the last to leave. As the ponies looked towards the crystal palace in the distance, they could swear that it was brighter than the sun itself.

"You totally called it, AJ!" Pinkie exclaimed. "The crystal ponies must've used Rarity's hoof polish."

"All right, everypony, listen!" Cheerilee called. The class turned to face her. "I know you're all very excited to see everything, but please don't get separated from the rest of the class. If you do somehow lose track of us, wait by the Crystal Heart. It'll be easy to see you there. Also, if you want to buy a snack or a souvenir, that's fine--but don't ask to go into anypony's home! Invasion of privacy is unacceptable under any circumstances, and we're here to learn. Any questions?"

The class was silent. Cheerilee nodded to Cadence, and she cleared her throat. "If you want a tour of the palace, follow me. Your teacher will be going around the city itself."

About half of Cheerilee's students went over to one side, preparing to follow Cadence to the palace. As soon as everyone was ready, they all began to walk towards the city.

Twilight walked beside Cadence. "Are you really going to give them a castle tour?"

"Actually, that responsibility will fall to Flash Sentry," Cadence replied. "But I have to lead them to the gates, at least."

Twilight nodded. "And then we'll go see him?"

"Relax, Twilight. He's in the palace, and I'm absolutely positive that he'll be delighted to see you."

---

As promised, Flash ended up taking the kids on the castle tour. Twilight and Cadence made a beeline for the throne room to see Shining Armor. As they got closer, however, Twilight began to feel conflicted. She wondered if she should tell him about what had been going on in Ponyville over the last few weeks.

"What do you think, Spike?" Twilight asked suddenly, surprising the little dragon.

"Uhh...about what?" Spike asked, rapidly regaining his composure.

"Should I tell Shining Armor about..." Twilight stopped herself as Cadence turned to her, a curious expression on her face. "Umm...never mind."

"What are you talking about, Twilight?" Cadence asked.

"It's, uh...it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Cadence looked concerned for a moment, but decided to drop the issue. Spike leaned over to whisper in Twilight's ear. "You know he'll believe you, Twilight. There's no reason not to tell them."

"Even so, something's stopping me," Twilight whispered back. "I can't place it, though."

The rest of the trip was made in silence. By the time they reached the throne room doors, Twilight still hadn't made a solid decision.

Cadence opened the door with her magic, but only a little bit. She stuck her head into the throne room. "Shiny, I'm back!" she called.

"Welcome back!" Shining Armor's voice replied. "Where are the kids?"

"They're in good hooves," Cadence said. She opened the door further, and Shining Armor's eyes widened as he saw Twilight and Spike.

"Twily?! Spike?!" Shining Armor took his helmet off and got up from the throne. "Where did--did you come with the class?!"

"Wait, you didn't know we were coming?" Spike asked.

"Ohh dear," Cadence said mischievously, poorly feigning remorse. "Did I forget to mention that to you, Shiny?"

Shining Armor ran over and gave Twilight a tight hug. "I really missed you guys! Are your friends here, too?"

Twilight returned the embrace. "They're serving as chaperons today."

The two siblings separated, and Shining Armor gave Spike a noogie. "And look at you! Man, you're starting to look like a real dragon, Spike!"

"Whaddya mean, 'starting?'" Spike asked, pushing Shining Armor's foreleg away and grinning.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you since my coronation!" Twilight said.

Shining Armor's expression grew pensive. He stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. "I'll explain everything. Why don't you come in?"

Twilight and Spike exchanged a confused glance, and everyone went into the throne room. Shining Armor closed and latched the doors behind them. "What's this about?" Twilight asked.

"About three days after you were crowned...we stumbled on something big," Shining Armor explained.

"We, who?"

"Me, Cadence, and a few guards. We were investigating Sombra's version of the palace to try and figure out how he got his dark powers--after all, the magic he was using is usually only usable by alicorns. In the depths of his dungeon...we found this."

Shining Armor walked over to the throne and took a large box from behind it. Twilight heard a series of locks opening inside it, and it opened to reveal a blinding--and familiar--light. After their eyes adjusted, Twilight and Spike recoiled in surprise.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Spike exclaimed. "Is that what I think it is?!"

"It leads to another world," Cadence said.

"Another world? Is the other world really foggy and full of weird monsters?" Twilight asked, her irises shrinking to the size of pinpricks.

"Actually...yes. How did you know?"

"We've been to that world, too!"

Now it was Cadence's and Shining Armor's turn to be surprised. "You WHAT?!" Shining Armor demanded. "How did you find out about it?!"

"There's this white book in Celestia's personal library in the ancient castle. We went there to try and find information on how the serial killer in Ponyville was murdering his victims!"

"We thought this was the only entrance...did you find what you were looking for?"

"You...could say that, yeah. Do you know about the Shadows?"

"You mean the duplicate of me?" Shining Armor put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Yeah...I think that thing called itself a Shadow."

"You faced your own Shadow?! How...how did that end up?"

Instead of replying with words, Shining Armor put his hoof back on the ground and closed his eyes. Spike and Twilight nearly fell over with shock as an Arcana card appeared in the air. It depicted a king in front of a purple and green stain glass window, with a scepter on one side of him. It descended to Shining Armor's face, and he blasted it with a magic laser. A flash of blinding light ensued, and when it cleared, floating above Shining Armor was a man completely covered in armor wielding a massive two-handed sword that seemed to glow with power. "This is Arthur," Shining Armor said.

Twilight's jaw was hanging open. Spike recovered from his surprise first and jumped down from Twilight's back, then closed her jaw for her, snapping her out of her reverie. "I...think you need to see this," she said. Her own Arcana card appeared, and she shattered it with her own magic laser, summoning Merlin. Shining Armor and Cadence recoiled as well.

"H-how...did you face your own Shadow?" Cadence asked.

"I'm not sure how it happened. When I first explored that world, I was almost immediately put into a difficult position...he appeared before me all of a sudden, just when all hope was lost. He saved my life."

"Just what's happening in Ponyville?" Shining Armor asked. His surprise was gone--it was replaced by concern. "All we know about is the murders...but it seems like something bigger is going on."

"The murderer is throwing his targets into the other world," Twilight explained. "We don't know why, and we don't know who it is...but we managed to stop his third attempt with our Personas."

"'Our' Personas?"

"Oh, yeah...Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy have all gotten Personas from facing their own Shadows. Fluttershy was the murderer's third target, too."

"If he's doing that, then does that mean he's counting on the victims' Shadows to kill them?" Cadence asked.

Twilight nodded. "That's what we're thinking, anyway."

"This is unforgivable..." Shining Armor glared. "We'll do whatever we can to help you fight back."

"Hold the phone there," Spike interjected. "This is Ponyville's problem. We should be the ones to solve it. Besides, you've got your hooves full running this place!"

"I can't just do nothing as you put yourselves in danger!"

"We're not saying you should," Twilight replied with a gentle smile. She put her hoof on Shining Armor's shoulder. "The best thing you can do is keep running the Crystal Empire, just as you've been doing. If the ruler of the Empire gets in on this case, it'll probably cause an uproar all across the country."

"Yeah! Just leave it all to us!" Spike exclaimed, showing off his muscles.

"...Is that supposed to be reassuring?" Cadence asked, grinning and holding back laughter.

Shining Armor didn't react to this. He thought for a moment before nodding slowly. "Fine...but if you need help for any reason whatsoever, write to me. I'll do whatever I have to. No matter what it takes!"

"I know you will. Thank you," Twilight replied.

There was a knock at the door. Twilight and Shining Armor dismissed their Personas as Cadence hastily closed the box and put it back where it was before. Once everything was seemingly normal, Shining Armor opened the door for Flash Sentry, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and the half of the class who had elected to take a castle tour.

"And here we have the throne room," Flash announced. "I hope we're not interrupting, your Highnesses."

"Not at all," Cadence replied. "Please, come in. Feel free to look around."

Pinkie and Rarity walked over to Twilight, and the three of them went to the side of the room to allow the class to move around more freely. "How are things going, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"We'll have to talk about that later," Twilight said. "The tour going okay?"

"It's super-duper-fantastariffic! And SUPER SHINY!" Pinkie yelled, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Well, enjoy it while you can. It'll be time to leave in another couple of hours." Twilight waited for Pinkie to calm down before continuing. "It's too bad we couldn't have come during the Crystal Fair, huh?"

Suddenly, one of the children came up to the three adults. Twilight instantly recognized her--it was Diamond Tiara. Upon seeing her, Rarity looked a bit uneasy. Diamond Tiara, on the other hand, was looking much better than she had been when Twilight last saw her.

"Hi there!" Pinkie shouted, waving her hoof up and down with the speed of a paint mixer.

"...Miss Twilight...you have amazing friends," Diamond Tiara said. She smiled. "This trip has been amazing so far. Thank you for coming with us."

"It was my pleasure!" Twilight replied. "You should be thanking your teacher, though. We wouldn't have come if not for her invitation."

"Yeah, but she wouldn't have invited us if you weren't such an awesome substitute teacher!" Pinkie exclaimed. "...But you wouldn't have subbed if Cheerilee's mom hadn't called her out...and THAT wouldn't have happened if not for the murderer! But the murderer is a big ol' meanie-pants, so no gratitude for ANYPONY!"

"Pinkie Pie, will you PLEASE calm down?" Rarity asked with an exasperated sigh.

Diamond Tiara snickered a bit before replying again. "Well, I should get back."

"Before you go..." Twilight's expression became concerned. "Have you slept at all?"

"Yeah. It took another day or two, but I think I'm starting to feel a lot better."

Twilight nodded. "All right, then. I won't keep you."

Diamond Tiara turned and vanished into the crowd again. Rarity's eyes were widened slightly, betraying her surprise. She saw Twilight staring and cleared her throat. "My apologies," she said. "It's just...she didn't make a single snide remark. I almost can't believe it, based on Sweetie Belle's accounts..."

"Ehh," Pinkie Pie said, shrugging. "All bullies grow out of it eventually. She's just faster than most."

"That concludes the castle tour," Flash announced. "We should go back to meet your teacher. It'll be time to go home before you know it."

The class followed Flash out of the throne room. Pinkie and Rarity followed, but about halfway to the door, the former turned to Twilight. "You coming?"

Twilight looked at Shining Armor, and he nodded. "Go on with your friends. I'll be sure to write to you this time, okay?"

Twilight smiled and put Spike on her back again. She turned and followed her friends out through the throne room door.

---

Cadence didn't board the train back to Ponyville, so it was just the school ponies and Twilight's group. Ponyville was still an hour and a half away, and many of the children were asleep. No one had much to do, so much of the train ride was spent just staring at the stars in the sky.

"Thank you all so much," Cheerilee said for what had to be the fifth time. "The children must be overjoyed! The trip was a rousing success."

"Well, you don't have to keep thanking us," Rainbow said dismissively. "I mean, why would we need a reason to go to the Crystal Empire? It's a great place."

"Plus, we didn't run into no trouble! That's a win in my book," Applejack added.

Cheerilee nodded. "It makes me so happy to see them this excited. Not much can compete with the vitality of youth!" Her smile faded a bit when she finished talking. "Though...sometimes I wonder if I'm really doing a good job as a teacher."

"Why would you think you're not?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well...it's just that I can never know for sure if they're actually learning anything. Sometimes I forget that they need to learn above all else. It's...difficult to explain."

"Well, allow me to dispel your doubts," Rarity said. "Sweetie Belle has become quite proficient at thinking through difficult problems. She tells me that she does so by emulating your own methods."

"Apple Bloom tells me all the time how much she's learnin' at school!" Applejack said with a wide smile. "She says you're a great teacher, and I don't have no reason to doubt her judgment."

"...Oh, am I supposed to say something about Scootaloo now?" Rainbow asked. "Uhh...she usually doesn't bring it up. She manages to get high C's, so..."

"That's good to know," Cheerilee replied. Her eyes widened a bit, and she stood up. "I'm sorry...you probably didn't want to listen to me ramble on like some boring housewife. I should check up on the students."

Cheerilee left the car, leaving the group with nothing but the sounds of the train carting them towards home.

Comments

[shinigamisparda]

Cherilee is next victim. Calling it now.

Well, I must say, this is the biggest plot twist yet! Another entrance to the world, and Shining Armor already has a Persona? This could be extremely interesting. Also, nice job mentioning Flash Sentry. I think most of the fandom either snubs him or forgets about him completely, and I'll be honest I kinda fell into the latter category. Also, nice to see Daimond Tiara doing better. Little filly needs it.

[EricStarstorm]

4192367 Let me ask you something...are you psychic?
I admit that I loved the whole "audience participation" aspect of that boss, and considering the location of the Shadow Fluttershy fight, I figured it wouldn't hurt to throw it in.

[ZeroChill]

Shining Armor facing his Shadow and getting his Persona is quite startling actually. I especially love the Persona of Choice that you gave him. Would that make him of the Emperor Arcana then?

I'm enjoying this fic so much so far.

[Jlargent]

I suppose I'm the only one that sees the irony in Shining's Persona and Twilight's. King Arthur and Merlin.

[EricStarstorm]

4195710 PURE COINCIDENCE, I TELL YOU

[Jlargent]

4198105 Yeah right.

[G2PLAY]

4198157 I c wut u did there