Personas of Harmony

by EricStarstorm

Chapter 5: Investigation

Twilight hadn't been aware of just how hard she'd thrown Spike. When she left the gingerbread house, all she could see of him was a little speck of green on the horizon. She guessed that Spike might have continued running after the sudden expulsion from the building. She flew over in his direction. Soon, she got close enough to see that the poor dragon was balled up in the fetal position, crying uncontrollably. She flew faster, and before she knew it, she was right beside him. Spike apparently heard the sound of her footfalls, which caused him to open his eyes before recoiling in shock.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike exclaimed. He tackle-hugged Twilight so fast that it seemed as if he had been fired from a cannon. "I-I thought you were...dead...and I..."

Twilight felt fresh tears on her chest. She returned Spike's embrace and looked around for anything fuzzy she could use. Upon finding nothing, she pried Spike off of her torso and plucked a feather from her wing, then used it to tickle his belly. Spike's sobs were replaced with laughter. After a few seconds of this, Twilight put Spike on her back so that he could calm down. It took him a few minutes, but it happened.

"Are you hurt?" Twilight asked gently.

"Am I hurt?!" Spike demanded. "What about YOU?! You fought those...tongue...guys!"

"It's a miracle, but I'm fine. I had a little help."

Spike looked confused. "What do you mean? You were alone back there."

Twilight smirked. "At first, yeah...but take a look at this."

Before Spike could ask what Twilight meant, the same purple card from before appeared above her and gently floated down to her face. She fired another laser at the card, and in a blinding explosion of light, Merlin appeared before her. Spike was so surprised that he nearly fell off of Twilight.

"Whooooa!"

"You like?"

"He's so cool!...What is he?"

"From what I can gather, he's my Persona--a physical manifestation of...some part of myself. When he first came to me, he said we were one and the same."

"Well, that's fantastic! But how does that help you beat those monsters?"

"I'm glad you asked! Merlin, care to demonstrate?"

Merlin aimed his hand to the side, well away from Spike and Twilight. An explosion of flames consumed the floor where his hand was aiming, and Spike was awestruck.

"So let me get this straight," Spike began. "This guy is some part of you given physical form...and he's also a battle-mage?"

"That sounds about right, yeah," Twilight replied.

"That's the coolest thing I've ever heard! Oh man, Rainbow Dash is gonna be so jealous!"

At that, Twilight frowned and shook her head. "We shouldn't tell the others."

"What? Why not?"

"Because if we do, they might want to come here in the hopes of getting Personas themselves. I got extremely lucky with Merlin, but we can't risk anypony else coming here until we find out more about this whole thing. For all we know, he's the only Persona in existence!" Twilight's expression fell. "If our friends come in here, then they'd just be putting themselves in danger for no reason...and it'd be all my fault."

"But they'd listen to you! If you tell them it's too dangerous, they'll believe you."

"I'm afraid to take that chance."

Spike sighed. He knew that it wasn't right to keep this secret, but he could understand Twilight's reasoning. "Okay...okay, yeah. So what do we do now?"

"Well, we haven't done what we came here to do yet. We have to investigate the gingerbread house."

"But those monsters..."

"Trust me, Spike. Merlin will keep us safe!" Twilight turned to Merlin. "Right?"

Merlin nodded slowly.

"All right...I trust you. But can you just keep him out the whole time? I'd feel a lot safer that way."

"Of course."

"Okay, so...do you need me to point you towards the house again?"

Twilight beamed. "Actually, I can see through the fog now! I think it's because of Merlin, but I'm not positive."

Twilight flapped her wings and took off, then flew towards the gingerbread house. Merlin followed close behind. Due to Twilight's airspeed, the trip took mere seconds instead of minutes, and Twilight flew in through the hole in the wall. Now that there were no monsters, Spike and Twilight were free to observe the details. The house appeared to be divided into two rooms--one on the first floor, and the other upstairs. The downstairs room was painted pink, with a frilly bed and ornate furniture. It appeared to belong to a little girl. The second floor looked like an office. A mahogany desk adorned the center of the room, along with a single chair and papers strewn everywhere. Both rooms were covered with photographs. The girl's room's photos were of Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara, while the office's photos were of products from Barnyard Bargains.

"This is really creepy," Spike said pensively. "Is the first floor supposed to be Diamond Tiara's room?"

"I doubt that the real thing has this many pictures on the walls," Twilight replied, "but it's a valid theory. The question is, why is it here?"

"Maybe it has something to do with Filthy Rich's death?"

"That makes sense. We already know that Filthy Rich probably died in this world. But...what really strikes me as odd is that there are no pictures of Diamond Tiara in the office, or of products in her room."

Suddenly, two voices permeated the building, causing the duo to jump in surprise. "Daddy, can we go to the park today?" asked a young, female voice. Spike and Twilight recognized it as Diamond Tiara's.

"I don't have time today," Filthy Rich's voice replied. "You know I have to run the store."

Diamond Tiara let out an angry scoff. "But...you NEVER have time! Can't you just leave for a DAY?!?"

"I'm sorry. If I do that without it being a holiday, I run the risk of losing business."

"You...you..." Diamond Tiara sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "FINE! I'll just go with Silver Spoon! Who NEEDS your worthless flea market anyway?!?"

A few seconds passed. Diamond Tiara's presence seemed to leave. Filthy Rich's voice sighed deeply.

"I wish things didn't have to be this way...but I want my little girl to have a good future. Her hating me is a small price to pay to ensure her prosperity."

Twilight and Spike waited for a few more seconds, but there were no more voices.

"Were those...Filthy Rich's thoughts?" Spike asked.

"It seems that way," Twilight replied. "I think I see what's going on now...this place is symbolic of Filthy Rich's hidden side. The first floor represents what he wanted, and the second represents what he felt had to be done."

"I feel so bad for them...this probably explains why Diamond Tiara is such a big bully."

"Filthy's heart was in the right place...but he was misguided. It's too easy to make that kind of mistake."

Spike and Twilight were both silent for a moment.

"We should stay on task," Twilight said. "We're here about the murder."

"I don't think we're gonna find anything else here," Spike replied. "We've heard and seen everything here. Besides, it's probably nearly sundown back home. We should leave."

"...Yeah...yeah, you're right. Looks like we didn't find out anything after all, huh?"

"Hey, it's fine! We didn't find out how Filthy died, but we do know that this house is somehow linked to him. Maybe we can come back after we learn more about how this stuff works! Who knows? We might figure out what we need to know with time."

Twilight was hesitant, but she didn't disagree. She sighed deeply. "Let's find the exit and get out of here, then."

"Don't worry. We'll work this out."

Twilight dismissed Merlin and flew out of the house. She looked around for any sort of exit. Eventually, her eyes stopped on a large white square in the sky. It appeared to be where they had entered from. She began to fly towards it. "So what do you think our next course of action should be, then?" she asked.

"I think our only option is to wait and see," Spike replied with a shrug. "We'll let Looking Glass take the helm for a while, and when an opportunity presents itself, we'll take it."

---

After the two companions got home, Spike went straight to bed. Twilight chose to stay up and go over what they had found in her mind.

"It seems like Filthy's subconscious thoughts appeared as that house," she said. "And then he just inexplicably died...but why? Why did the house even appear?...The only reason I can think of is that he somehow entered that other world. But...did he die there?"

Then Twilight had an idea. She knew of two people she could ask about this. She closed her eyes.

"Igor?"

Twilight heard a sound like that of a jingling sleigh bell. She opened her eyes to find that an ornate blue door had appeared in front of her. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew it would take her to the Velvet Room. She touched it, and everything went white. Again.

"I've been waiting for you," Igor said cordially. The light faded quickly to reveal the Velvet Room before Twilight. "It seems the events that I foresaw during our first meeting have all come to pass. Acquiring your Persona was the second part of the change."

Twilight decided to get straight to the point. "Igor, I have some questions for you."

"Then by all means, ask what you like. But your answers may not be so easily found."

"That world I went to today. What is it?"

"It is a world in which Shadows congregate."

"Shadows?"

"When someone dies, their subconscious thoughts--the ones they hide from others--take on a physical form. A Shadow can take numerous forms. These creatures run on pure instinct, and go wild when provoked." Igor chuckled. "If the Shadows were to have killed you, your own Shadow would have emerged."

"Okay, I think I understand. What about Merlin? Why did he come to me?"

"I am not certain of that myself. The normal method of obtaining a Persona is something you will discover soon on your own, and something that I cannot tell you at this time."

Twilight was used to not getting straight answers by now, so this didn't surprise her. "Can I assume you won't provide me with any answers about the case?"

"My humblest apologies. I cannot."

"Tell me as much as you can about Personas, then. Every little bit helps."

"Very well." Igor waved his hand over the table, and a familiar purple card appeared. A spectral image of Merlin then appeared above it. "Your Persona is named Merlin, as you know. He is a Persona of the Magician Arcana. Personas of this Arcana are revered for their magical power."

"Arcana? What's that about?"

"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed." Igor's smile grew. "An Arcana can be applied to any personality, and the path towards destiny can be defined and deciphered with it. It would be little exaggeration to call it an omniscient element in the understanding of the world around us."

"I...guess I get it. Sort of." Twilight cleared her throat. "Where do Personas draw their power from?"

"The power of the human--or pony, in this case--spirit is tremendous. If all of its power were drawn at once, the resulting Persona would have the power to create and destroy entire worlds--power exceeding that of gods."

"That doesn't explain the fireballs and the lightning."

"Personas draw upon the power of the spirit, and can bend it to their will. This is how Personas use spells and attacks."

"Okay, I get it. What about Personas and...you called them Shadows? Are they related?"

"That is correct. They are linked in that they are both a physical manifestation of thoughts and feelings. Shadows and Personas alike grow stronger along with your own heart."

Twilight tried to think of another question. Though she had a lot to ask, she knew that Igor couldn't answer any of it.

"There is no need to feel any sense of urgency. After all, you can come here as often as you like." Igor closed his eyes. "I'm sure that all of your questions will be answered with time. Until next we meet, my faithful guest."

White light engulfed Twilight's vision once more.

Comments

[shinigamisparda]

Now that's weird. If the book was found in Canterlot, how did Filthy Rich get inside? There must be another book.

Also, once again, poor Diamond Tiara. I wonder if she'll be a social link. The Hanged Man sounds about right.

[EricStarstorm]

4086097 I think you're thinking of the wrong castle. The book is in the ancient castle--y'know, the one in the Everfree Forest.

[shinigamisparda]

4086124 Ah. My mistake. I must've missed that.

[Efadd]

4086097
I agree that DT would be the Hanged Man/Stallion Link.