Hearts and Minds

by The card holder

Conventional Methods

Author's Note:

Another quick heads up, this time for text message colors:
Ryuji
Ann
Yusuke
Makoto
Futaba
Haru
And Akira is in code text
just ignore how code text apparently gets formatted completely differently between here and in the main writing space thanks knighty

When Akira awoke the next morning, there was already a conversation waiting for him on his phone.

So, we heading back to Equestria today?

I mean, we did promise Twilight.

I admit, I am rather excited to be going to a convention. I don't think I've ever gone to a proper one, before.

I am also clueless about what to expect.

I've been to one before, but I was so young at the time that I don't quite remember the details.

Don't worry, I've been to a few in the past 5 years, and they're a lot of fun.

Did you cosplay?

Oh man, I wanna hear this, too!

Shut up, both of you!

Note: Ann has taken part in cosplay.

Futaba!

Wouldn't our thief outfits count as cosplay, of a sort?

I think we're getting too far off track. Should we meet at Leblanc to head over there?

Akira put down his phone for a moment and listened, hearing the unusual sound of the cafe being somewhat packed.

It's kinda busy here...

Yeah, had to turn the bug off, it was too much white noise. We can meet at our house instead. Not like anyone else is here during the day.

Then it's settled. Meet you all there shortly.

As Akira put his phone away, Morgana chose that time to hop onto the bed with him. "Alright, you all ready to head out?"

He nodded, and started walking out of the attic, Morgana jumping into his bag at the same time he was grabbing it.

For once, every table in the cafe was occupied, with at least a few conversations sprinkled between them. Despite this, Sojiro was clearly capable of handling it, as everyone was already served and he was simply making conversation with someone at the counter.

Akira gave a parting wave to him as he passed by, which Sojiro returned, not breaking in his own conversation.

Of course, Akira was the first one to arrive at the Sakura household, and he wasted no time before heading up to Futaba's room, where she was (naturally) waiting on her computer.

"Okay, honest opinion," she asked the moment Akira got inside her room. "Thoughts on Equestria?"

"It's... something."

"I know right? It's like a cartoon."

"I didn't feel special at all..." Morgana commented.

"Well, I doubt any of the ponies can turn into a bus," Futaba joked, before her face turned serious. "Right?"

While Akira pondered this question, Ryuji and Yusuke made their appearance. "'Sup, you guys ready to roll?"

Futaba ignored him. "Inari, what are you carrying?"

Yusuke shuffled the bag he was holding, which appeared to be squirming ever so slightly. "I was curious to see how a lobster would contrast with their nature."

"You seriously still have that thing?!" Ryuji shouted.

"It turns out lobsters are rather low maintenance pets."

"Don't you need, like, a fish tank, though?" Futaba asked.

"I simply filled a plastic tub with water. It seemed to take well to it."

At that moment, Makoto, Ann, and Haru entered the room. "Hey, we all here?"

Ryuji grumbled. "Yeah, Yusuke and his pet are ready."

Makoto paused. "Pet?" She looked at Yusuke. "Don't tell me, you still have that lobster?"

"That's what I said!"

"I don't see the harm in bringing it along," Yusuke defended.

"Maybe you should leave it behind..." Haru suggested. "I don't want it to end up scaring the locals."

"B- But, it's harmless! I even put rubber bands on its claws!"

Akira sighed.

"Leave the fish, Yusuke."

"Actually, lobsters aren't-"

Yusuke cut Futaba off. "Very well. I suppose I can... leave it behind. You don't mind if I leave it here, do you, Futaba?"

"Wait, what?!"

Ann shook her head in bemusement. "This group never ceases to amaze..."

"Enough chit chat," Morgana said. "We ready?"

They gave the affirmative as soon as Yusuke had tucked his bag away, and Akira pulled up the nav.

---

This time, when they reappeared, it was in front of Twilight's castle. Thankfully, their sudden appearance didn't seem to be noticed by any of the locals, although they still got some worried glances their way once they were finally noticed.

"Huh, I don't see Twilight anywhere..." Makoto said.

"Think she's already at the station?" Ryuji suggested.

Yusuke nodded. "It's a possibility."

Akira went ahead and started walking in that direction.

"Don't want to be late, right?"

The others fell in step behind him. They still gawked at some of the town's scenery, but the novelty was already starting to die down. That still didn't stop Yusuke from attempting to frame every other street they came across with his fingers, though.

The train station was just as busy as when they arrived in Ponyville the previous day (that is, not very), which made it very easy to spot Twilight and Pinkie at the ticket booth, along with a third pony hovering in the air next to them, her mane and tail a vibrant multi-color palette.

Even while behind them, the thieves could tell that something was wrong. "Looks like they're having some kind of argument..." Ann observed.

By the time they got close enough to hear, the rainbow pony spoke up. "Can't you just, like, blow it out of the way or something?"

The pony behind the ticket booth nervously shook his head. "The trains would still be delayed by a day, since we'd have to rework the entire schedule. Plus, the amount of ponies needed would-"

The rest of his explanation went unheard by the thieves as Pinkie noticed them and immediately started hopping towards them, her suitcase bouncing on her back as she did so. "Hiya, Phantom Thieves!"

"Hello, Pinkie!" Haru greeted.

"What's the issue here?" Morgana asked, trying to look over to where Twilight and the other pony were still talking with the ticket pony.

"Apparently there was a small landslide on the tracks between here and Trottingham, where the convention is, so now trains can't go through until they fix that, but it's gonna take a while, so now Dashie is getting upset!"

Right as Pinkie finished explaining, the pony apparently known as 'Dashie' let out a groan of frustration. "Why does stuff like this always happen!"

Before she could continue her rant, she finally noticed the gathered thieves behind them. "Uh, who are you guys?"

"They're the ones I told you about, Dash," Twilight said.

Dash blinked. "Oh right, phantom thieves or something." She landed and scuffed the ground with a hoof. "Well, looks like we won't be able to go today, anyway."

Morgana smirked. "Don't be so sure. It's my time to shine!"

"Oh right, I forgot that Mona could do that!" Haru said.

The ponies just gave confused looks. "Do what?" Twilight asked.

Instead of answering, Morgana simply jumped high into the air next to the tracks. There was a puff of smoke, and then when he came back down he was now in the form of a black and yellow van.

The ponies reacted predictably. Dash in particular shot back into the air, backing up several feet in the process. "W- What the hay?!"

"Oooh, neat!" Pinkie commented.

"All aboard for Trottingham!" Morgana's voice came from the van, sounding no different from usual. While Twilight simply looked on, speechless, the humans started walking towards it as if this was a normal occurrence.

As the others hopped inside, Ryuji turned around and beckoned to them. "Come on, we got room for three more!"

Pinkie was the first one to react, happily hopping towards the van and jumping in the backseat alongside Haru and Futaba. Eventually, Twilight and Dash shook off their shock long enough to also enter the van, Dash also squeezing into the backseat behind Ryuji, Yusuke, and Ann, while Twilight took her place at the front, next to Akira. The ponies' bags were barely able to squeeze in with them, but they managed.

"Everyone ready?" Makoto asked, hands already planted on the steering wheel.

"W- Wait, I still have several questions!" Twilight pleaded.

"We can explain on the way!" Futaba unhelpfully answered. "Hit it, Queen!"

The engine roared to life (with a notably feline edge to the sound) and the van started moving at a decent pace, driving parallel with the train tracks. Once they were moving, Yusuke was the first to begin proper explanations.

"While in this form, Mona is able to transform into a car," he said. "To this day, we are unsure of the exact reason for it."

"It's served us well, though," Morgana spoke up, his voice coming from where the radio would be. "At least, as long as the driver is capable..."

This time, Akira spoke up.

"Are you talking about me?"

"No offense, Joker," Ann added, "but your driving is kinda... erratic."

"I still have no clue who you people are!" Dash piped up. "Or why your cat can turn into something like this!"

Makoto looked over to Twilight. "Didn't you tell her about our story?"

"Not in detail," she admitted. "Just that you 'stole hearts' as a vigilante group in your own world."

"Hey, I like the sound of that!" Ryuji commented. "We're totally vigilantes!"

"You know that means we're criminals, right, Skull?"

"Like you're one to talk, little miss Medjed!"

"Touche."

"Anyway," Dash broke in, "that still sounds like a bunch of horseapples to me. Stealing hearts? Really?"

"I was skeptical of it, too," Yusuke said. "But I was much more open to the idea after I awakened to my persona."

That got Twilight's attention. "Persona?"

"A manifestation of one's inner rebellious will," Morgana explained. "By removing the mask they wear in their hearts, these guys can awaken to their true potential, and that power lets them fight and travel in palaces."

"And that 'removing the mask' bit is literal," Ryuji added, reaching forward to pat Akira on the back. "I swear, it was horrifying watching this guy do it. Still not sure why you decided to tear it off like that."

"It itched really badly."

His response got more than a few laughs around the van. Ryuji especially couldn't keep the smile off his face. "You're so full of shit, man, you know that?"

"Hey, I just realized!" Ann spoke up. "Oracle didn't have to tear a mask off her face! That's so unfair!"

Futaba just giggled mischievously in response.

"So... could you use your personas now?" Twilight asked.

"We can only summon personas within palaces," Haru answered. "It probably has something to do with when our outfits change..."

"Oh, cool, your clothes change?" Pinkie spoke up. "Whaddya guys look like, huh? Huh?"

"They're kinda... hard to explain," Ann admitted. "If we manage to get inside a palace, you'll probably get to see them."

Before any further questions on the subject could be raised, Makoto began talking. "Hey, I think I see that landslide you guys mentioned."

Sure enough, the train tracks they were driving alongside were suddenly blocked by a rather large pile of rocks, trees, and other debris, all of which no doubt rolled down from the adjacent small mountain. There was already a team of ponies on the scene to help clear it, all of whom gave the van confused looks as it passed by.

"You know, something I've been wondering," Ryuji asked once the rubble was out of view, "how come some of you have wings, and others have horns, but some have neither?"

Twilight slipped into an almost teacher-like tone. "Ponies are mostly separated into three different races: Unicorns, who can use magic with their horns; pegasi, who can fly and manipulate weather; and earth ponies, who are much physically stronger than the other two, despite having no horn nor wings."

"What about you?" Futaba said. "You have a horn and wings."

"Well, there's a technical fourth race, commonly called alicorns, who are able to wield the strengths of all three races," she explained, somewhat sheepishly. "They're far more rare, but are not unheard of. As for myself, I was born a unicorn, but a few years back I kinda... got promoted, I guess you could say?"

"That must've been quite the shock," Makoto noted. "And judging by the castle back in Ponyville, I suspect you had more than a little authority suddenly thrust upon you?"

A small nod was Twilight's only answer.

"Well, she took to it pretty well, I'd say," Dash chimed in. "Far as I care, she's still the same Twilight I knew since before that happened. Only difference is now I don't always have to come down to her to talk."

The group fell into silence after that, but it wasn't long before Akira broke the silence.

"There."

Up ahead, they could see the outskirts of a town, with more than a few signs directing visitors to a large building, which was covered in decorations themed after the Daring Do books.

"Aw yes!" Dash celebrated. "We made it!"

Once they were close enough to make out the crowd filtering in and out of the building, Makoto eased the van to a stop.

As soon as everyone was out, Morgana vanished in another puff of smoke, before being replaced with his usual catlike self. "I gotta say, driving on the grass here feels sooooo much better than train tracks!"

"Riiight..." Twilight didn't even care to question the statement for the time being. "Anyway, the hotel we're staying at is pretty close. We'll go ahead and get everything situated there, first."

"Aw, can I go straight to the convention? Please?" Dash begged, sounding like an overly excitable child despite looking about the same age as Twilight.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Fine, give me your suitcase."

Dash pumped a hoof in celebration before starting to fly towards the building. "Come on, guys, let's see the floor!"

"Ooh, I wanna go, too!" Pinkie said, immediately plopping her own bags on Twilight's back, who grunted with exertion.

The thieves, stifling their laughs, hurried after the flying rainbow pony and the bouncing pink pony ahead of them, leaving Twilight to carry all the bags towards the hotel. "Always left to me..." she grumbled to herself.

In the meantime, the others had started to merge with the crowd surrounding the building, although the collective height advantage made it easy for the group to stick together. "Oh man, I wonder if she's already here!" Dash said excitedly.

"She?" Ryuji questioned.

"A.K. Yearling!" she answered, doing a small flip out of joy. "The author of Daring Do herself!" She leaned in close to Ryuji, although still spoke just loud enough that the other thieves could hear, as well. "Plus, keep it a secret, but she's also Daring Do herself!"

"Woah, for real?!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"So she writes stories about herself under a false name..." Haru summarized. "How charming!"

By now, they had entered the building itself, which was just as packed as the outside. From wall to wall, there were all kinds of booths set up, selling all manner of Daring Do merchandise. T-shirts, plushes, small figurines; the list went on.

Dash had a massive smile stuck on her face, and the thieves couldn't help but join in on the happiness. The air was charged with the buzz of energetic fans, and it was impossible to not get at least a little caught up in it.

"Well, look who it is!"

The group turned to the new voice, and Dash let out an adorable squeal. "A.K.!"

She lunged forward and grabbed the newcomer in a small hug, which was reciprocated fully. Once that was done, Dash turned around. "Here's the mare herself!"

Ryuji scratched his head. "Uh, she looks like half the cosplayers here."

A.K. shrugged. "Makes my life easier if I can just blend in with all the fans. Last thing I need is to be constantly swamped by fanponies."

She gave the thieves a once-over. "Never seen anything like you guys, though. You friends of Dash?"

"Something like that," Makoto answered, cutting off both Ryuji and Pinkie, making sure to give both of them a look that said 'Don't mention the phantom thieves'. "We were invited to tag along to the convention."

A.K. tipped her pith helmet. "Well, make sure to enjoy yourselves. I'm gonna see what kind of me-themed merch I can pick up."

As she left, she was almost immediately lost within the crowd. Before Dash could lead the group somewhere else, however, another pony walked up to them from the crowd.

"Okay, everything's set at the hotel," Twilight said. "Did you find Yearling yet?"

"Uh-huh!" Dash nodded excitedly. "She's still just as awesome as ever!"

"Oh, idea!" Pinkie said. "Her house is nearby, we should go wait for her there and throw a party for her!"

"That sounds nice," Twilight admitted, before turning to the thieves. "Will you be coming, as well?"

"I don't see why not," Yusuke said. "Truthfully, I'm not sure how much of this commotion I can bear."

"I kinda like it!" Ann said. "Just like the cons back home!"

"I'm honestly surprised you're doing so well, Oracle," Morgana commented. "I thought you hated huge crowds."

"Joker helped me with that," she explained. "Besides, everyone here is an adorable pony! I can't be scared by that!"

"Well, it's settled," Twilight said, turning around. "I guess we're throwing a small party."

Akira chuckled.

"Let's do it."

The ponies led the thieves back out of the convention center, heading back the way they came into town. However, at the town edge, they instead divert into the nearby forest, which eventually led them to a rather nondescript house in the middle of the woods.

"We're here!" Dash exclaimed. "How you wanna set this up, Pinks?"

"Easy! I'll just need tables here and here, maybe a cake- no, wait, a pie! Okay, and then..."

As Twilight summoned the appropriate things with her magic, with Dash helping to arrange them afterwards, the thieves simply watched from next to the house.

"Our second day here, and already sitting in on a party," Ryuji commented. "I'm likin' this."

"Still, be cautious, Skull," Morgana warned. "We have a job to do, after all."

"Right, right, palaces," he shot back. "Still, a little bit more relax time never hurt anyone."

As the two of them bickered, Akira shook his head with amusement and leaned back against the house.

The moment he did, however, his phone started going off, getting the attention of everyone there.

"Wait, Joker, you're getting a call?!" Futaba asked.

Akira quickly whipped out his phone, only to find the metaverse nav pulled up. "A destination is directly ahead."

The thieves shared shocked looks. "A destination..." Haru started. "Does it mean a palace?!"

"Wait, here?" Twilight asked, having overheard the commotion. "But, I'm not noticing anything strange."

Morgana hopped up on Akira's shoulder to get a better view of his phone. Akira himself, meanwhile, pointed himself straight at the house, only to see the app point directly ahead.

"The palace is... her house!" Morgana said.

"Wait, what do you mean a 'palace'?" Dash scoffed. "It's just a normal house!"

Curious, Akira reached his hand to the doorknob, only for it to ripple in an all-too-familiar fashion when he did so.

"This is it."

Ryuji was the first one to act after the revelation. "Well, we found a palace. Let's get inside and start busting it up."

Dash eyed the ripples on the door worriedly. "I- I'm not sure what any of this means, but if you're going in, I'm coming with you."

"Me too!" Pinkie said, bouncing alongside Akira and Twilight. "I wanna see!"

Makoto sighed. "Okay, if we're all ready...?"

Everyone gave their own affirmatives, Akira being the last one. Once that was settled, Morgana hopped back to the ground and they all walked into the door, the ripples opening up to let them in as their scenery changed...

"Plotting course to destination. Good luck."

---

The group moved only a few steps through the door, but Twilight gasped at the immediate change in scenery. Instead of the interior of a house, the area in front of them appeared to be a large, fenced-off compound of some kind, the skies above having an odd purple tint.

"W... What in the world..." she mumbled out, backing up slowly. "Where are we?"

"Okay, there's no way we didn't teleport somewhere," Dash challenged, turning to confront the thieves. "What did you- gah!"

Dash's outburst made Twilight and Pinkie turn around, and they both recoiled in the same fashion.

"Y- Your clothes!" Twilight stammered out.

The thieves only just now noticed the costume change, but reacted far more favorably. "Alright, we're back in action!" Skull said, pumping a fist.

"Yeah, this is what we meant by our outfits changing," Panther explained. "It does take some getting used to, I admit."

"But... why the masks?" Twilight asked, looking from one person to another, each one wearing a completely different outfit, each of them with a matching mask.

"It's part of their powers," Mona said. Oddly, he was entirely unchanged. "These outfits are the manifestations of their own rebellious will."

Dash made a few confused noises before throwing her hooves into the air. "None of this makes sense!"

"I know, right?!" Skull shouted.

"Quiet down!" Mona exclaimed. "The shadows will hear us!"

"Shadows?" Twilight asked.

Queen cracked her knuckles, making the ponies flinch backwards slightly. "We'll explain in more detail later. For now, we should get moving." She turned to Joker. "On your go, leader."

As Joker finished adjusting one of his bright red gloves, Twilight couldn't help but notice how vastly different he seemed here, purely in how he acted. While he was mostly laid back and had a soft smile before, here he had a constant defiant smirk on his face, and he carried his body with confidence and purpose.

Even his voice had gained a bit of a sudden edge.

"It's show time."

Comments

[BurningLance]

yay new chapter

oh i think i can hear the "Life Will Change" song that plays when the phantom thieves are stealing the "heart" in the game and at the final area before the final boss.

[Stonecrop Sedum]

It's show time indeed.

[xXIllusionFoxXx]

Ooh, i'm absolutely loving this! Any chance for more frequent updates?

[Nonameknight]

I am beyond glad to see a Persona crossover! I've only found one other Persona fic on this site that is well done and updated relatively regularly!

I'm loving this so far! It's well written, everyone is very in character and the idea of the Phantom Thieves in Equestria makes me so excited for the next chapter! Good job so far, I can't wait to see what happens next!

[HB_DS2013]

Of COURSE Skull and Pinkie would be the blabbermouths. Wait, I'll bet the ponies will get their personas (if they get any) akin to P4.

[RandomPerson65]

Please don't give the ponies Personas. It your fic, but I think the story would be better of if they didn't get a persona.

[Starlight Nova]

This story has sex or sexy moments in it, right? Where did you get your avatar?

[The card holder]

8484201
First, maybe
Second, just search "doom" on derpibooru and scroll through the pages

[the one guy on the left]

8480743
It's not a game, I'm not a robot A.I challenging you

[NanoSpace]

I'm really happy I found this, going to be intensely following this story and hoping updates aren't too far off. (Don't rush, want good quality but me wanna be selfish too)

[Super Ponyman]

"That must've been quite the shock," Makoto noted. "And judging by the castle back in Ponyville, I suspect you had more than a little authority suddenly thrust upon you?"

A little authority and a full on brawl from Tirek...

Holy crap, somepony bring Ackechi back! I need Crow and Black Mask Ackechi, Please?

[Super Ponyman]

Yusuke shuffled the bag he was holding, which appeared to be squirming ever so slightly. "I was curious to see how a lobster would contrast with their nature."

(SuperPonyman.exe has crashed)

Cause of crash: Excessive laughter at Yusuke and Lobster.