Chapter 13: A Metropolis of Wish-Fulfillment.
The return of the world’s greatest Thieves! Chapter 13: A Metropolis of Wish-Fulfillment.
Rainbow Dash’ Palace – Streets -
The song was always the same, every time The Distorted form of Dash intervened to stop a crime, something happening every five minutes apparently, the same Theme Song would play over and over and over again as a background of the action; everything then looked like an episode of a kids show with the Superhero-Dressed Mare spouting some cliché lines about justice and then defeat the Villains and return back inside the penthouse of the ginormous skyscraper topped by the giant neon sign with Rainbow Dash cutie mark on it spinning like a lighthouse of sort.
In an isolated alley, hidden from view thanks to some well-placed garbage bins, The Phantom Thieves kept taking notes on the Distortion’s schedule, trying to gauge when to better enter and leave the mare’s base.
“With a level of criminality this high, I am impressed people are still happy to live here.” Yusuke commented as yet another robber went stopped by Distorted Dash.
“We are inside her delusions, she believes herself to be a great Hero, so she needs lots of Villains to defeat.” Ann answered, rolling her eyes.
“A Hero she may be, but she clearly is no Deku, she is way too prideful for that.” Ryuji commented.
“We are inside her damn Fanfiction: she saves everybody and everybody loves her.” Makoto added with a frown.
“That will be a problem, then.” Akira admitted.
“Why, Joker?” Morgana asked, confused.
“You fear her conviction to be an Invincible Hero will translate as her being actually Invincible?” Futaba asked.
“Yes.” He answered.
“Then let’s hope we won’t have to fight her, this time.” Haru said with a sigh.
“For now we need to focus on finding a way inside, and to do that, we need Dash to leave long enough for us to look for an access point.” Yusuke commented while watching the Distorted Mare once again fly out of the tower, tirelessly fighting ‘Villains’ again and again.
“Just get close to the building, for now, look from afar for an entrance, then big or small, you’ll be able to get inside with whatever distraction Dash’ Mary-Sue’ Self will produce.” Futaba answered.
“Wouldn’t that be Mare-y Sue then?” Ryuji asked, smirking.
“...”
“...”
“That joke was bad, Skull. And you should feel bad.” the Super Hacker answered with a deadpan tone.
“Screw you, guys.” the young man answered with an annoyed grumbling.
Meanwhile – with Rarity - “Shibuya 109” Shopping Mall – Storage rooms area -
The recently-added underground storage area had been recently transformed into a single wide room by its new owner once every wall had been blasted away and the clothes in there used for spare parts, and now everything was covered in long drapes and other carpets of fabric, making the place look like a giant spider’s nest, but with cloth instead of webbing.
“UUMF! UUUUMF!” a scared Night Guard Mare kept trying to break free of the bright-red cocoon of fabric holding her upside-down.
“Your force of Will is impressive, you break free more often than the others, but nothing I can’t fix.”
“HNNNNF!”
“No, no, no! You shouldn’t move around so much, Darling! I used the smoothest fabric I could find, but even then you may ruin that beautiful skin of yours if you keep moving around like that...And we don’t want that to happen, yes?” Rarity said with a condescending tone, and at hearing her voice the Night Guard’s eyes widened in pure fear while she doubled her efforts.
“Why are you scared? You are going to be part of something beautiful! Divine even!” Rarity said while nearing the mare to lock eyes with her.
“UUUUUUUHM!” now utterly desperate, the mare gave it her all to at least bite her mouth free from the silk gag in her mouth.
“Sssh! Everything is fine, my dear...Relax...” Rarity ordered with a soft voice, and the hypnosis once again took effect making the guard drop asleep in a matter of seconds.
“Sleep well, my darling. Sleep helps the skin remain youthful and healthy, and I need your skin to remain as beautiful as it is now, because we are almost ready.” the Unicorn mare said with a beatific smile while watching the various cocoons around her and the mares hidden inside them.
“The Skin is here...The Back Hooves too...Then the Mane, the Nose, the Teeth, the Face and the ears...I only lack the Front Hooves, the Horn and the Eyes...If only Fluttershy was here, her eyes have always been so nice! But I am a patient mare, there is still lots of time before the Full Moon, and I want my Rebirth to be as much Beautiful and Poetic as possible! And for that, every piece must be carefully chosen.” she declared before walking towards the row of stallions chained to the wall and showing empty eyes.
“Your time to shine instead will come later, once I am done, I will use you all to create my own King, one fit for a Queen such as myself!” the mare purred caressing the cheek of one of the bound, unresponsive ponies.
Dash’ Palace - “Secret Base” of Distorted Dash – Entrance hall of the skyscraper -
In the end, the Phantom Thieves had to wait for a giant robot to pop-up out of literally nowhere for the Distorted Mare to defeat in a slightly-longer fight than normal, just long enough for Morgana to force a window open for them, and as soon as they entered the main hall, they all had their first unrestricted view of Rainbow Dash...”PECULIAR” style of decorating.
In that hall there was Rainbow Dash’ paraphernalia simply everywhere: giant banners with her face on it covered the every wall and even more hanged from the ceiling, in the middle of the room stood a giant fountain with at its top three statues of Rainbow Dash that kept spitting water in the cutie-mark-shaped pool under it, a dozen of giant marble statues of the mare in various ‘action poses’ littered the ground floor and at the opposite side of the room from the entrance stood a huge staircase with golden railings (those too decorated by golden replicas of Dash’ head) leading to a trio of elevators that were the only way to reach to higher floors; the walls were painted bright cyan like Dash’s fur and decorated in slightly darker blue silhouettes of Dash’ cutie mark, the sofas were decorated with Dash’ faces, the floor was pure-white marble with a long and wide deep-blue carpet creating a path from the door to the staircase and decorated with Dash’ cutie mark repeated hundreds of thousand times on it.
“...”
“I don’t think that Tacky is enough to describe this.” Haru commented with a scrunched nose.
“You okay, Fox?” Makoto asked.
“I...I am fine, Urg! I just...I just feel part of me shrivel and die the more I look at this...This INSULT to good taste.” Yusuke answered, gagging.
“I fear that it’s your Artist Side dying a little.” Ryuji offered.
“I believe so, yes.” the other answered.
“That bad?” Futaba asked, curious.
“Worse.” Ann answered, grimacing, and sending her a pic with her phone.
“...DEAR GOD!”
“Let’s just hurry to the next floor, maybe there things will look less horrid.” Haru offered.
“We’ll have to fight those Shadows to reach the elevators.” Akira said while pointing at the two guard-dressed Shadows standing in front of the elevators.
“May as well, I will express my displeasure about this abomination on them.” Yusuke declared.
“I’ll take care of the left one.” Akira said as he sneaked under the Shadow on the left while Yusuke moved under the one on the right.
“Off with your mask!”
“Show me your true self!” both young men yelled as one once jumped the two unaware guards to tear-off the mask they wore as face.
When the two creature’s bodies exploded into thick ichor, what surfaced were two tall beings with a muscular human body, a howl head and big angel wings on the backs.
Andrass
“Two Andras, You will do fine.” Yusuke declared.
“This city is under Rainbow Dash’ Protection, we can’t let you stop her.” the first owl-headed monster said with a haughty tone of voice.
“We feed on the dark emotions born in battle and we can’t permit to anybody to stop this endless war between Good and Evil!” the twin demon added, and at that both unfolded their angel wings to hover slightly above ground.
“Hn! It’s the first time I hear a Shadow admit being just a parasite feeding on a Palace’s power. Your lot usually cook-up some sort of excuses at least!” Morgana answered.
“Be quiet, Fool! We won’t stand for this lack of respect!” Andras 1 answered, scoffing angrily.
“Bite me.” the Cat replied, smirking.
“I shall teach you manners! BUFU!” the same Shadow answered with a growl, and summoning an ice javelin in its hand to throw it at Morgana.
“Zorro!” the Cat answered by summoning his Persona to deflect the attack by cutting in two the projectile.
The downside of fighting an Andras, out of many Shadows, was their ‘Hollier-than-thou’ attitude that was unbearable, as the monster kept talking relentlessly during the entire battle, contrary to the other Shadows that preferred to just focus on killing the Phantom Thieves.
“This battlefield shall never know peace! RAKUNDA!” Andras 2 yelled while rising in the air and cursing Makoto.
“Agh!”the girl growled as she felt her body become weaker due to the defence-lowering curse catching her.
“HOY! That’s my girl you are cursing, bastard!” Ryuji answered with a mad roar and blasting a hole in the Andras’ wing with his shotgun, forcing the monster to drop face-first on the floor.
“Right! They are weak against guns!” he then said with a tone of wonder.
“Eh! My Hero!” Makoto said with a mocking tone while helped by him to stand back up.
“Just doin’ a man’s work!” Ryuji answered with a smug grin.
“Just shut-up and fight, Skull.” she answered, chuckling amused.
Not too far from them, Akira, Ann and Yusuke were brutalizing the other Andras with an hail of bullets that forced the flying howl-man to scamper around to try avoid the giant shower of lead.
“BUFU!” finding an opening, the monster launched a desperate counterattack against Ann, only to watch in dismay as the girl’s Persona melted the ice javelin in midair by summoning a small pillar of fire in front of her.
“CARMEN! Agilao!” Ann ordered, and in answer her Persona blew a kiss to the Andras to summon right under it a big pillar of fire, and from its core, the birdman flew out covered in flames and shrieking in agony.
“Where are you going? Tentarafoo!” Gorgeous and merciless, the girl added insult to the injury by inflicting Confusion to the Shadow, and scrambling its brain so badly it could no longer tell right from left, or Up from Down.
“Daamn, Panther! Zero Mercy!” Futaba commented, chuckling.
“May I? I want to fight too!” Haru asked with a cute pout and her giant battle-ax shining ominously behind her.
“Be my guest!”
“Thank you!…KYAAAH!” the girl offered a grateful, adorable smile in answer...And then she dropped it in favour of a cruel snarl right before beheading the Andras with a wide, furious swipe.
“...My dear, I know your new responsibilities in your job were stressing you heavily before Celestia even arrived, but must you really vent your frustration on these poor Shadows?” Yusuke asked with an overly-gentle one.
“But it heeeelps!” she answered with a long whine.
Sigh! “Very well, feel free to continue...With moderation.” he conceded.
“Thank you! MILADY!” Haru answered, and again dropping the cutesy act to assault the poor Andras.
“This is madness!” the Shadow shrieked in answer, and dodging the Persona wild attacks while cradling its severed head to its chest.
At the same time, and not too far away, Morgana was assaulting the other Andras in tandem with his Persona Zorro, forcing the owl-man to use his only remaining wing as an improvised shield.
The other wings had long turned to shreds after a second shot of Ryuji’s gun…
“TAKE THIS!” Morgana yelled in triumph as his last attack gave the finishing blow to the Shadow’s wing that finally broke apart, leaving the monster open for Zorro to cover in dozens of deep cuts in a flurry of motion.
“ARGH! I am not defeated yet! Bu-”
“BUFU!” before the thing could try to attack back, its companion launched an ice attack of its own, unfortunately that Andras was still under the effects of Ann’s confusing Skill, meaning that the Ice Javelin traveled at high speed towards its fellow Shadow, interrupting it mid-casting.
And the resulting chaos left them open to the Phantom Thieves All-Out-Attack immediately after that left the two Shadows dazed, and hurt, on the floor after the sudden beating they received from the teens.
“Hold up!” Akira ordered while jamming his gun on the Forehead of Andras 1.
“Don’t move, buddy! Or we’ll shoot.” Ryuji added while he pressed the muzzle of his shotgun on the cheek of Andras 2, who was still holding its severed head in its arms.
“You may have defeated us, but we will never follow you!” Andras 1 spat in defiance.
“Why not?” Akira asked, honestly curious.
“We thrive on the battlefield, we follow the flow of battle! Peace for us is an unbearable, disgusting idea!” the thing answered.
“We are fighting Celestia, we will stop her plans no matter what.” the young man answered.
“...A fierce battle? One so intense to turn certain defeat into unexpected victory?” the Andras asked, leaning slightly closer.
“Yes?” getting from his friends some unhelpful shrugs in answer to his questioning look, Akira answered, just a tad unsure.
“Curious answer, as expected from somebody as strange as you…Very well, I shall become your mask for the time being, see to not die too soon.” the Andras replied, getting back to its feet to offer a small bow to Akira.
“TRAITOR!” the other Andras roared in answer, so angry it almost dropped its own head to the floor.
“I am merely choosing a more fitting battlefield.” the thing answered, nonplussed.
“YOU FOOLS! You won’t stop her! Dash will keep this war against Evil ongoing forever! We will thrive! You others will just be destroyed!” Andras 2 declared in anger.
“SILENCE! My new Master won’t be talked like that to! Bufu!” Andras 1answered, striking down its old partner with an ice javelin that pierced the other Shadow’s severed head, making it shriek and run away.
“Well, I guess we can call that a loyal Persona...” Morgana commented, unnerved, while they watched the remaining Andras dissolve and enter Akira’s mask.
“Even too much. So? Shall we continue?” Yusuke answered.
“We definitely should, but those elevators look way too small.” Ann said, unsure.
“We won’t all fit into one,” Haru confirmed.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to split in two groups then, for reasons of weight.” Morgana said.
“You mean that we are fat?” the girls of the group asked with narrowed eyes.
“NO! I-I-I Mean…J-Joker! Guys!” the cat uttered afraid.
“You are on your own, damn cat!” Ryuji answered, smirking, while the boys took the elevator on the left.
“Traitors!” the poor cat shrieked.
“We’ll put this aside, for now...” Ann said with narrowed eyes as the girls took the elevator to the right.
“Meeeeow.” Morgana gave a long, low yowl of defeat as he rode the middle elevator alone.
First Floor -
“An elevator that gets up of a single floor?!” Makoto hissed, furious.
“Must be the Palace itself making sure trespassers have not an easy time.” Akira guessed with a sigh himself.
“I already saw this corridor somewhere...” Yusuke said with a strained voice.
Once left the elevator the group saw they were in the middle of a long corridor with another stretching in front of them towards another set of elevators, the floor had a very low ceiling giving everything a suffocating look and the absolute silence surrounding them didn’t make it any better, the earth-colored carpet with geometrical patterns was just the extra flair on the claustrophobic feeling.
“Why this place looks like a scene from ‘The Shining’?” Ryuji asked with a low voice.
“Don’t know and don’t care, at the first ‘Come Play with Us!’ I am bailing!” Ann, looking extremely pale, answered.
“There is nobody in sight...L-Let’s just go to the next floor, shall we?” Haru asked with a trembling, fake smile.
“I never saw that movie,” Joker admitted, as the only one not looking in dread at the scene while traversing the long corridor.
“Why? It’s a classic!” Ryuji answered, shocked.
“It insists upon itself.” the other replied while walking forward.
“What?!”
“It insists upon itself.” he repeated.
“It insists...You can’t just describe it like that!” Makoto gasped.
“I can and I did.” Akira answered.
“Y-Y-You...That movie is a masterpiece!” Haru added, scandalized.
“It insists upon itself, I tried three different times to watch it, but could not get to even see half of it.”
“You haven’t even see it to the end?!”
“Uh-hu.”
“You can’t judge it then! Stanley Kubrick directed it! THERE IS JACK NICHOLSON IN THAT MOVIE!” Ryuji shrieked.
“Great actor and great director, I just don’t like the movie.” Akira admitted while opening the gate of the new elevator.
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!…
As soon as he did that, EVERY DOOR behind them opened by themselves and a duo of Shadows appeared at the opposite end of the corridor, right in front of the elevator they arrived in.
“Come play with us!” the Shadows said in chorus.
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” at that Ann let loose a blood-curling scream and boarded an elevator while pushing desperately on the buttons.
“No can do, we’ll have to fight first.” Morgana said as the Shadows turned into a duo of monsters known as Alice.
“T-Then let’s get this over with...” Ann conceded, unsure.
“It’s the first time we find one Alice roaming freely.” Makoto hissed in dread.
“Not just one, but two of them!” Haru added, equally worried.
“Their power is no joke! Be careful!” Futaba warned them between clenched teeth.
Alice
“Wait! I remember you!” Alice 1 said, stopping the fight before it could even start.
“Uh?” Akira uttered.
“You asked me to attack that bald muscled meanie! I missed you so much, Onii-sama!” the Persona answered while giving Akira a small curtsy.
“Uh?” the other Alice uttered unsure.
“Bald musculed meanie?” Ann muttered.
“I think she is referring to Shido.” Yusuke guessed.
“What were the chances of finding again the same Persona from years ago?” Makoto commented, impressed.
“Very slim,” Morgana admitted.
“I missed you too. Do you want to come with us?” Akira tried asking while kneeling down to meet the eyes of the short ‘Girl’.
“Is another meanie threatening you?” Alice 1 asked with narrowed eyes, and the Yandere Tone of her voice turned the blood of the other Phantom Thieves into ice.
“Yes, she is called Celestia, and she and her friends are very evil.” Akira answered.
“Then I will help you. They will die for us! Hahahahaha!” the Shadow answered with a chilling laugh as its body broke into light particles to enter Akira’s mask.
The other Alice simply gave another curtsy and faded away without too much of a fuss.
“Okay, we avoided a terrible fight thanks to Joker’s “Loli Magnet” Powers. Let’s move now before other Shadows arrive!” Makoto said while hurrying towards the elevators.
“Yes, we better get going.” Yusuke said while he and the boys boarded the rightmost elevator.
“Please don’t call it like that, it sounds too wrong.” Akira begged with a soft sigh.
“Sorry, Joker.”
“GUYS, WAIT! I found a Safe Room!” Haru called them from a side room not too far from the elevators they were about to use.
“Thank God! Let’s take a break, please?” Ryuji begged with a groan.
“Yeah, I need that.” Ann added, sighing.
“We can call it a day for now and return searching tomorrow if you want.” Akira offered.
“No, it’s okay. I feel like I can still continue, how about you?” Yusuke answered.
“Me too, I just need to catch my breath a little and then we can continue.” Makoto answered.
“Then it’s decided, we will rest a little and then continue search the Palace.” Morgana declared, and getting several nods in answer from the others.
“Shouldn’t we check the other rooms too before going up to the next floor?” Haru asked.
“We could, but it would be strange for the Treasure to be this close to the entrance.” Makoto answered.
“Fair enough.” Akira answered while the group entered the Safe Room to rest a little.
Half an Hour later – after a refreshing moment of rest inside the room -
“...I am still going to say that you cheated.” Ryuji said with an annoyed tone as soon as the door of the Safe Room opened again.
“How am I supposed to cheat while playing Uno?” Ann asked while they split in two groups to board different elevators.
“I don’t know how, you just did it.”
“Maybe you just suck at the game, Skull.” the girl replied, huffing.
“Whatever. Hey, Navi? What can you see from outside?” Makoto asked.
“Not much. The first twenty floors are just rooms, like an hotel, I can see them through the windows and beside Shadows several of them are just being used by those human and pony shades similar to the ones acting as citizens of this city, so I guess the Treasure must be kept in one of the highest floors. How high can you go?” Futaba asked.
“How high...How High...Rooms, Rooms, Rooms, SPA, OH! Let’s go to the SPA!” Ann answered once red the giant bronze plaque filled in buttons and the tiny names written above them.
“I don’t think that we’ll find Shadows there open to the idea of giving us a massage, Panther.” Haru commented.
“What about the sauna? It may be nice.” Ann asked while giving a ‘Look’ at Akira that made him grow a tiny, feral smile.
“Keep your head out of the gutter, Panther.” Futaba answered.
“You mean that you never wondered what it would feel like to do it inside a Palace?” she asked.
“Panther, please, just focus.” Yusuke, he and the others remaining in touch thanks to their phones, begged with a sigh.
“Yeah, especially since Mona is getting cringey.” Ryuji added.
“Shut up, Skull...” Morgana answered with a mopping tone.
“The highest floor here is the one labeled ‘Restaurant’, Navi.” Akira said.
“...I can see it, it should be the third highest floor, you will have other two floors above you, the very last one being Dash’ Penthouse.” Futaba said.
“This Palace is too streamlined,” Yusuke said with narrowed eyes, and his voice sounded tense even through the phone.
“You mean?” Ann asked.
“A skyscraper whose majority of floors is merely hotel rooms, then few themed rooms. This is too simple, Navi can you see if there are windows in the Penthouse?” Yusuke answered.
“I am already checking, the entire place is made of windows, there is not a single wall, beside the bathroom, that is not made directly out of glass. So I am almost sure the Treasure is not there.” Futaba answered.
“If not there, then where? Every other building here is pretty much a cardboard box, the city is pretty outside but empty inside.” Makoto commented.
TLING!
In the meantime, the elevators arrived at their destination: an entire floor dedicated to the restaurant of the building.
It wasn’t lavishly decorated, being instead pretty minimal in both table dressing and overall decoration, although everything was still ‘Rainbow Dash Themed’ with a giant ice sculpture of the Mare on every table along the mare’s cutie mark appearing on every piece of cloth, from the folded drapes at the windows to the napkins.
The four walls were entirely made out of windows so that the settling sun could colour everything in a golden-red light, and deep down, the Phantom Thieves had to admit the place was actually very nice as they stood in the third tallest floor of the skyscraper that still made sure they could see the entire city under and around them.
“Okay, this is nice.” Makoto admitted, impressed.
“Still too much Dash everywhere.” Akira added, grimacing.
“I think I had brunch in a restaurant identical to this once...” Haru muttered, unsure.
“...”
“...” everybody else looked at her with a half-lidded, deadpan stare.
“If I take you all there at my expenses, will you stop looking at me with those judgmental eyes?” Haru asked with an offended pout.
“Are you trying to buy us with outrageous quantities of expensive food?” Ann asked with her eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“...Yes?”
“Sold.” Ryuji answered with a non-committal shrug, meanwhile Akira behind him merely nodded.
“DUCK DOWN!” In that moment Futaba screamed at them with a horrified voice just a second before Distorted Dash landed on the patio of the restaurant to enter from there.
“Great Dash! Here! Here! Your table is ready! As always!” a Maitre-dressed Shadow immediately reached Dash to welcome her and escort her to a reserved table while talking with a thick Ital-American accent.
“Good! Fighting Crime always makes me peckish. Bring me my food!” the Distorted Mare answered with a haughty tone as she sat down.
“Everything for the greatest Hero of Dash City!” the Shadow answered as others, dressed as chefs, hurried to bring food to the Mare in a never-ending back-and-forth of plates.
Not too far away -
Hidden behind the empty tables at the opposite side of the room, the Phantom Thieves were crouching down so to not be seen, watching as their Target was seemingly ignoring the rest of the world in favor of stuffing her face with the grace of a pig.
“Dash City? Really?” Morgana muttered, cringing.
“The others told us she was prideful, but this is just ridiculous.” Makoto answered.
“It’s not different from any other Palace,” Akira commented.
“This is a bit more on the nose, perhaps.” Yusuke admitted with a thoughtful expression.
“It must be the Corruption, I remember you we are dealing with both things at once: one brings-out the inner Darkness of the victim and the other exacerbates their Darkest Desires and gives them physical form.” Futaba said.
“How do we get past them though? The only way up are those stairs!” Morgana hissed.
At the opposite side from their current position, the group of teens could see another door leading to a giant staircase doing an 180 midway in direction towards another room above the restaurant; unfortunately, in order to get there, they would be forced to traverse the entire restaurant, risking over a dozen Shadows and Dash herself to see them, and without having located the Treasure yet, that would spell disaster for them.
“Those Chefs and Waiters keep coming and going at precise intervals, so we can try to jump from cover to cover all the way there in the brief pauses between passages.” Haru offered.
“What if we wait for Dash to finish?”
“I don’t know, Panther, she is still eating like a bottomless hole, I don’t know how long we would have to wait.” she answered.
“And that would mean risking to be discovered at any moment. I say we try that.” Yusuke said.
“Get ready then, we’ll need to be fast.” Akira instructed.
“Yes.”
Taking position, each Phantom Thief choose a table to crouch behind, forming an ordinate line so that the one on the front would leave their place to the one behind them as soon as they switched hiding place.
“All ready?” Makoto whispered.
“Yes.” the others answered.
“Joker, you first.” Morgana, hiding behind the table right behind Akira, said.
“I’ll tell you when to move, you be ready to move, but remember: BE FAST.” Futaba instructed.
“Yes.”
“...”
“...”
“...Now.” the Hacker ordered just as the back-and-forth of waiters created a small window of time where nobody was around, and with Dash face-deep in a bucket of soup, nobody saw Akira move like a ghost from a table to the other so to pass to the other half of the room and sthealthily make his way towards the door leading to the stairs.
“Mona, you’re next.” Futaba said.
“Okay.” helped by his small sizes, the small Thief easily slipped through two giant waves of waiters exchanging the absurd mountain of empty dishes of Dash with new ones.
All in all it took five minutes for everyone to pass through and reach the stone staircase leading to the next floor, and luckily for them, they managed just in time before Dash could finish eating and get up from the table.
“Was it all of your liking, Great Dash?” the Maitre asked.
“Yeah, it was nice. Others will pay the bill, as always.” the Distorted Mare answered.
“Of course, we wouldn’t dare asking you to pay for all this. The citizens will happily cover for it, have no fear.” the Shadow answered with a generous smile.
“Good, I’ll be off then, Dash City won’t defend itself from crime after all!” Dash said, pleased, before zooming away at high speed.
“...She doesn’t even pay the bill...How cheap can somebody be?!” Ryuji said, incredulous.
“She can literally imagine herself as being the richest mare in the world, but still won’t pay and leave others cover for her.” Haru added, just as surprised as he was.
“We are close, just ignore her.” Akira chided them as he rapidly ran upstairs until he found a new door blocking his path.
“...”
“...No...You must be kidding...” Makoto whispered.
The giant door was a seven foot tall mahogany monstrosity, with every inch carved to represent Rainbow Dash during various heroic deeds, and next to it, a grandiose gold plaque detailing what kind of room that door led to.
Rainbow Dash Museum:
Museum dedicated to the greatest Hero who ever Lived: Rainbow Dash,
Witness the Glory of Dash’ City Greatest Hero: Rainbow Dash.Free entrance.
Come pay homage to Rainbow Dash, The Coolest Hero Ever!
“I-I can’t do this. I have a dignity, I can’t enter there.” Yusuke uttered in pure disdain.
“Now is not the time, Fox. We have a Treasure to find.” Morgana answered.
“No, I refuse! I will wait for you here. I can’t enter there and see real works of art RAPED by a delusional Mare wishing the world to revolve around her person!” the Artist replied.
“Just get in, you egomaniac Art Wanker!” Ryuji countered with a growl, and dragging the young man inside by the scruff of his neck once opened the door.
“NO! You can’t force me!”
“Ssssh! Stop trying to have every Shadow in there know we are entering!” Makoto silenced both with a hissing whisper.
“...There is nobody here...Why?” Ann commented once noticed they were the only ones inside that museum.
“This is strange, I still feel watched.” Akira added while studying the thick shadows above them.
“Maybe its just because everything in here has Dash on it, and the eyes keep following us.” Morgana answered, as she watched a replica of the famous painting representing Napoleon Bonaparte riding a horse, only with Rainbow Dash taking place of the man himself, she was even wearing the same clothes.
“A Pony riding a Horse? How does it work?” the Cat asked.
“The same way a ‘Pony Lisa’ works...It doesn’t.” Makoto answered while looking at the Rainbow Dash version of the Mona Lisa in front of her.
“The Scream of Dash…The Persistence of Dash...Rainbow Dash duct-taped to a Wall...The Dashes of Riace...She just modified every piece of art of our world to be about herself...” Yusuke said with a whimper.
“This Palace is not on the nose...This is a PUNCH on the nose.” Ryuji commented, grimacing.
The place was enormous, dimly-illuminated and every piece of ““““Art””””” displayed on the reddish-wood parquet covering the walls, there was even a giant bronze statue of Rainbow Dash in the middle with its wings fully opened so that people could use them as a bridge of sort once reached the upper part; everywhere there were copies upon copies of famous Human paintings and statues that had been edited to have the mare as its only Protagonist, and every eye (on canvas or sculptures alike) openly moved to follow every movement of the Phantom Thieves.
“Tacky or not, we have a Treasure to find. So start looking.” Futaba said.
“Right. Let’s break into groups. Me, Panther and Joker will look through the Egyptian area.” Makoto said.
“Me and Mona will check the Impressionism wing then.” Yusuke confirmed.
“And me and Skull will check the statues area.” Haru added.
“Be careful, and at the first sign of trouble, call for help.” Futaba instructed.
“Roger!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one before splitting in three groups.
Impressionism Wing -
“Found anything?”
“Fox here, beside the worst attempts at copying the works of Bernard Cohen I have ever seen, no Treasure here.” Yusuke said to his phone.
“Anything of value we can take home for extra cash at least?”
“I would not use a single painting here even as emergency toilet paper, Navi.” he answered with acidic scorn.
“Sheesh!”
“You are being too hard on Dash, Fox. Some of these are not THAT bad!” Morgana said.
“Then remember me to take you to a real Museum once done with Celestia, your ignorance about fine arts is awe-inspiring.”
“Yeah, yeah.” the Cat countered while rolling his eyes.
Statues Wing -
“Fox is having a Life Crisis, how about you?”
“I just saw too many stone dicks for my tastes.” Ryuji answered with a scrunched nose.
“In a bit less crude way?” Futaba asked with an annoyed frown.
“No Treasure here, Navi. But Dash’ ego is a bit too much even when it comes to male statues of herself...” Haru answered with a shy tone.
“What do you mean?”
“...Put it like this: in her ‘Male Version’ Dash gave to herself a bit of too much Male Pride, it’s a miracle the statues do not topple over with all that weight and length focused on the front only.” Ryuji said.
“Ewwwww!”
“Yes, her fixation to be the best in everything translates badly with statues.” Haru commented.
Egyptian Wing -
“Joker! Please tell me there is normal stuff on your side.” Futaba begged.
“Only more things shaped after Dash.” Akira answered.
“Yes. Sarcophagi, mummies, statutes and relics; all about Rainbow Dash.” Ann added.
“No Treasure?”
“No trace of it.” Makoto answered.
“This makes no sense! The only place remaining is Dash’ own penthouse, and Navi confirmed that every wall there is transparent! The Treasure must be here somewhere!” Morgana answered through Yusuke’s phone, and sounding deeply scandalized.
“I say we search Dash’ Penthouse all the same. If the Treasure is not there we will search the Museum, the Restaurant and the SPA.” Haru suggested.
“And what if it’s not in any of those places?” Ann asked in dread.
“Then I fear we’ll need to comb the entire city for any other ‘Secret Base’ Dash may have.” Yusuke answered.
“Let’s try the Penthouse first.” Akira said.
“Yeah, let’s go with that.” Ryuji answered, sighing.
“No. You are not going anywhere.”
A voice boomed as the main doors closed with a thundering WHAM! And a Trio of shadowy figures dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of the three groups of Phantom Thieves.
They were three identical Ponies dressed in a full-body purple costume, with a long purple cape, a wide-brimmed hat and a mask obscuring their face completely and only decorated by wide, and empty, cerulean eyes.
The only differences were that the one facing Akira, Makoto and Ann possessed a Unicorn Horn, the one confronting Haru and Ryuji possessed Pegasus Wings, and the one trapping Yusuke and Mona lacked both.
“Isn’t that ‘Mare-Do-Well’? The fake hero Dash’ friends tried creating to teach her humility?” Makoto asked.
“You guys are facing the three versions of her: Pegasus-Do-Well, Unicorn-Do-Well and Earth-Pony-Do-Well!” Futaba answered, voice full of worry.
“And we’ll need to defeat her to advance.” Morgana hissed.
“You won’t defeat me! I will capture the lot of you! For Dashie!” the three Mares-Do-Well answered as one like a single being, and her tone was full of worship.
“Dashie?” Akira asked, confused.
“I thought you two were rivals.” Ann commented.
“Aaah! I would never be her Rival! I want her to notice me, to like me, to be my friend, and for me to become her Side-Kick! She is so Brave and Cool! I did everything in my power to have her notice me, but I am not cool enough...But I am sure that if I capture you all, she will finally recognize me and we will become best friends and fight Crime Together!” the masked Mare answered, gushing lovingly while speaking about Dash like a love-struck fangirl.
“Even what is supposed to be her Rival in the Real World, here is just another fan Loving her to the point of obsession.” Haru commented while watching the Pegasus Version of the mysterious mare circle above her and Ryuji like a hungry vulture.
“It shows how deep Dash’ delusions go.” Yusuke commented with a sad tone, and watching in pity the earth pony version of the thing in front of him seemingly preparing to charge him like a raging bull.
“Enough talking, HAVE AT YOU!” evidently growing tired of their banter, three versions of Mare-Do-Well charged the Phantom Thieves at the same time.
With Akira – Battle against Unicorn-Do-Well -
“Scatter!” Makoto yelled as a bolt of deep-blue Magic whistled between her and Ann, forcing she and Ann to dive to the floor to avoid it.
“Arsene!” Akira intoned, summoning his Persona to attack the monster.
“You can’t defeat me!” Mare-Do-Well answered summoning a Barrier in front of herself.
Clang! Even if the damage went greatly reduced, the combined attack of Persona and User managed to pierce through, opening a faint cut on the neck area of the creature, but nothing came out of it, signifying that they were basically fighting against an empty costume.
“There isn’t a mare inside!” Akira commented.
“You are fighting somebody’s clothes?!” Futaba asked, confused.
“So it seems!” Akira answered while dodging the giant gold sarcophagus Unicorn-Do-Well threw at him with a telekinetic blast.
“THIS WAY, MORON!” an angry voice answered from the mare’s blind-spot.
“YOU!” the monster roared back.
BRAAAAGH!
“ME!” Makoto answered, ramming the mare while riding her Persona Johanna and blowing through the new blue energy shield the thing tried summoning around herself and launching Mare through a trio of Egyptian statues of Dash and against the wall.
“Okay, we can smash through her shield then! That’s good news!” Ann said, elated, as from behind her Carmen kept pelting the downed monster in fire attacks while she was still trying to get up.
“DAMN YOU! You are ruining the museum!” and the thing in answer sent flying towards them a wide blade of energy that beheaded a Dash-headed Sphinx behind the teens, making her even angrier.
“I thought Unicorn’s barriers were tough.” Akira muttered.
“We are still inside Dash’ wish-fulfillment, nobody can be better than her at anything, even what is supposed to guard the way to the Treasure.” Makoto answered.
“So if she is here, it means the Treasure is close?” Ann asked.
“Exactly.”
“I’LL DESTROY YOU!” Mare bellowed as two clawed hands of condensed blue energy appeared at her sides, one trying to grab Ann and the other closing tightly into a fist to try and squash Akira with a mighty punch.
With Haru – Fight against Pegasus-Do-Well -
“SHE. ISN’T. STANDING. STILL!” Ryuji roared while hiding behind a giant stone-made head of Dash (literally parodying the heads of Easter Island) and popping out of cover only when trying to shoot down the flying Mare-Do-Well he and Haru were fighting with, but the monster was flying rapidly around the room, and coming down only in lightning-fast dives to try and flying kick them at random intervals.
“Try aiming for her wings! Maybe we can force her to land!” Haru answered while shooting like crazy with her grenade launcher and forcing the flying Mare to go through daring curves and loops to not be caught by the shrapnel of each Boom! Her bullets produced.
“IT’S WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO SINCE THIS FIGHT STARTED!” Ryuji bellowed in answer, shrieking in pain when Mare-Do-Well finally caught him on the chest with a flying kick that sent him flying on the notes of some harsh curses of the angry young man.
“CAPTAIN KIDD! GO!” once landed, Ryuji didn’t even try to get up, but immediately summoned his Persona that looked even too eager itself to flatten the monster with a savage charge that embedded the mare deep inside a near wall.
“Oow!” Mare-Do-Well groaned in agony from the deep hole she was in.
“Some damage, finally! Milady! DOUBLE DOWN!” Haru exclaimed happily.
“...That will hurt.” the monster muttered with a whimper as the Persona’s missiles and other explosive rounds were about to rain on her the instant she climbed out of the wall.
With Yusuke - Battle against Earth-Pony-Do-Well -
“GET OVER HERE!” the earth pony version of the mare roared as she charged forward like a bull, her body also covered by a thick blue aura adding more power to her charge.
“She keeps charging! Why she is not out of breath?!” Morgana howled in anger as it was only thanks to his agility as a cat that he could dodge the mad charges of Mare-Do-Well that kept easily blasting holes through the walls.
“If Joker is right, we are facing an empty costume, meaning that there are no lungs that will burn of muscles that will ache, she can keep charging forever!” Yusuke answered, gritting his teeth as he barely dodged a charging attack himself that demolished an entire side of the room.
“Do something then!” Morgana answered while his persona Zorro went blasted aside with the new charge, and him with it.
“Goemon do not betray me now...MABUFU!” as soon as the masked mare veered to charge Yusuke, the young man used a wide area ice attack on her hoping to freeze her solid even just for a moment.
“USELESS!” To his dismay, while the attack did some damage, showing that Mare-Do-Well was indeed weak against Ice, the monster did not end up frozen in a block of ice…
CRACK!
“GAAAAAAAH!”
Except for one of her front hooves that had turned stiff just long enough for the pressure of her charge to snap in two at the knee, making part of that leg fly away and the mare crash painfully on the floor until she skidded to a halt, thing that also opened a small tear in the face area of the costume so that both wounds could confirm that there was indeed nothing filling it.
“FOUND SOMETHING!/FOUND SOMETHING!” Both him and Ryuji declared at the same time to their phones so that the others too could hear.
“You first.” the artist conceded, smiling amused.
“I just managed to blast one of the bastard’s wings to pieces and she crash-landed! Body or not, this thing can’t do shit if a part is broken!”
“Same here, I managed to tear of one of her legs and she stopped charging. She is weak against Ice.” Yusuke confirmed.
“She is weak against Fire too! Carmen just blasted a hole in her torso!” Ann added.
“We are fighting against an animated piece of cloth, those two weaknesses should have been obvious.” Morgana admitted with a short chuckle.
“YOU FOOLS! I AM NOT DEFEATED YET!” the three Mare-Do-Well declared at the same time as an unseen force pulled them away from their respective battle and back into the museum’s main room where they fused together to form a singular, slightly bigger version of Mare-Do-Well sporting a single wing on her left side, a unicorn horn, a big hole on her chest and face and still missing the frontal left hoof.
“As she become an Alicorn?!” Haru asked in dread.
“No, for some reason her energy readings have not changed, her wounds too are still there so she has not healed herself either. My best guess is that this is her original form and she just separated herself in three to hunt you down.” Futaba answered.
“How can a costume alone do that? I thought that we would have seen the face of at least one of Dash’ friends hiding under the mask once damaged it...” Morgana wondered while the thing snarled at them in hatred.
“That would have been unlikely, Dash’ Element is still Loyalty, although buried deep under Corruption, she would never see her friends as enemies.” Makoto answered
“Of course! That thing is empty because you are fighting the representation of Dash ideal Rival! It has not an identity or a ‘Race’ because it was born as a Lesson in Humility that Distortion and Corruption gave life to and corrupted into yet another side of Dash’ delusions of Pride!” Futaba said in realization.
“It was supposed to be a faceless threat to her status as a Hero, a symbol of what she should have been and what she wasn’t, her friends created this thing to show Dash what a real Hero was supposed to be and as a way to keep her Ego grounded. We are fighting against an Idea, and unfortunately Ideas don’t bleed.” Yusuke added.
“But costumes get shredded, once broken the costume wings that thing stopped flying, so if we destroy the costume, we will defeat her.” Ryuji added.
“Good! We are already halfway done then! Let’s finish the job!” Makoto declared with a triumphant grin on her face.
“You won’t defeat meee!” using her last wing to cover for the absence of a hoof, the real form of Mare-Do-Well shoot forward like a meteor, only for the Phantom Thieves to dodge her and watch as she failed to destroy the Museum entrance door and only briefly stunning herself into immobility from the hit.
“Maybe she can’t leave the Museum, if so then she won’t be able to blast through the walls leading outside or to other floors, use it to force her to knock herself unconscious when charging and create an opening to attack her!” Futaba instructed.
“Roger!” the Phantom Thieves answered as one.
“Get down!” Ryuji screamed as his sledgehammer caught the mare’s chin with enough strength to force her to topple over yet again before she could get back up on her hooves, partly in thanks to her missing leg.
“You are wide open!” Yusuke assaulted her with his sword drawn, although Mare surprised him by using the tear on her “Face” like a mouth to catch the blade and hold him in place.
“NO! YOU ARE!” the monster roared back in defiance as her horn lighted-up to shoot him with a magic bullet.
“LET GO OF MY MAN, YOU HUSSY!” not amused by the thing, Haru’s battle-ax came down like a guillotine to try and behead Mare, only for the thing to react fast enough to avoid a fatal wound by letting go of Yusuke and pulling back her head by ‘rolling back’ her neck, unfortunately not fast enough to avoid the attack fully, thing that resulted in the costume’s horn being chopped-off in half.
“Nooo!” Mare-Do-Well roared in anger while finally returning to stand.
“We crippled her Unicorn self too! We are close at defeating her!” Morgana declared, while gleefully bombarding the mare with the bombs launched by his giant slingshot.
“I don’t need all four hooves to trample you to death!” Mare bellowed as she somehow launched herself in a new charge that destroyed the giant Bronze statue of Dash in the middle of the Museum.
“NOOOOOOOO!” she bellowed in horror.
“Oh, cry me a river! That thing was too ugly to be left standing.” Makoto said with a smirk while riding her Persona Johanna and revving the accelerator at random times.
“HOW DARE YOU?!” Mare-Do-Well roared in fury at the offence to her Idol.
“What? Offended I just said the truth about that Loser?” the girl asked with her smirk growing even more malevolent.
“Don’t you dare call Dashie a Loser! I’LL KILL YOUUUUU!” blinded by her fury, the living costume charged forward with her head low ready to squash Makoto against the wall and uncaring of everything and everybody else around her.
“How easy it is to rile-up a fangirl! Freila!” not even a bit worried by the charge, Makoto blasted the monster with a big nuclear explosion while also charging towards the running mare.
As the explosion teared away half Mare-Do-Well’s head, and at the same time, the young woman used the back wheel of her bike Persona to bounce off the mare’s back to avoid the attack and let her slam what remained of her forehead against the Museum, thus knocking herself unconscious again.
“Let’s finish this, she made us waste even too much time!” Futaba said with an annoyed tone while boosting the attack of her friends.
“Jack Frost!” Akira intoned, summoning the living snowman Persona to attack Mare’s back and encase her remaining wing in ice.
“Carmen!” Ann followed immediately after, and the combination of freezing solid and then being hit by a blazing ball of fire disintegrated the remaining wing of the costume.
“GYAAAAAAAAAH!” in answer Mare-Do-Well looked upward and released a loud scream of pain filled in anguish.
“I’ll personally finish this! Goemon! Giant Slice!” Yusuke declared as he charged the mare alongside his Persona, and the combined attack of his sword and the bladed pipe of the spirit finally beheaded the living Costume, making the empty face mask and hat slowly drift away while the rest of the costume deflated, finally defeated.
“It’s over.” Morgana said with a sigh as they watched the empty thing slowly melt into ichor and then evaporate until nothing remained.
CREEEEEEEAK!
As soon as the last traces of Mare-Do-Well disappeared, the Museum rapidly repaired itself and the two giant door at both ends opened by themselves in a loud cacophony of creaking hinges.
“The road is clear, I suggest you to hurry up and go before Dash decides to try visit her Apartment.” Futaba suggested while she still kept watch for the Distorted Mare’s whereabouts.
“Up these stairs, let’s go.” Akira said as he went up first soon followed by the other Phantom Thieves.
The staircase itself was ordinary, almost cramped, signifying that of course only Dash used that contrary to the one leading to the Museum about herself that instead was planned for a great multitude of visitors to pass through; it alsi meant that the Distorted Mare herself technically liked to take a stroll basking in her own Hype before reaching her less-than-humble abode.
And the place was luxurious indeed, outrageously so.
“Everything is still Dash Themed...” Haru commented, dryly.
“Does it still count as a surprise anymore?” Makoto answered while rolling her eyes.
“Not really.”
“Split up, we need every clue we can find about the Treasure.
“...Like a secret passage behind a bookcase?” Ryuji asked with a dead tone of voice.
“What do you...Mean...” Yusuke asked, before words failed him.
As Futaba had said, every wall was covered in windows, making the entire penthouse effectively see-through from every direction one looked at, except for a cubicle acting as bathroom AND a small rectangle of concrete right next to the bathroom covered by a single bookcase.
“Rainbow Dash and the Emperor’s Crown...Rainbow Dash and the Lost Minotaur Empire...Rainbow Dash and the revenge of Mondomezza...Wanna bet these are all real books Dash changed to be about herself?” Ryuji asked.
“I Think we saw enough of her Ego, Skull.” Ann answered.
“Rainbow Dash and the Philosopher Stone, Rainbow Dash and the Prisoner of Azkaban...”
“Apparently we haven’t seen it all yet.” the girl conceded with a defeated sigh.
“This Palace is really streamlined.” Yusuke commented.
“I think it’s perfectly in theme instead.” Akira countered.
“Uh?”
“She wants to be a Hero, and be recognized as such, while still playing the role fully.” the Leader of the Phantom Thieves explained.
“So her Palace follows the Cliche of the Super Hero genre, while also playing it in a way that satisfies (and represents) Dash’ Ego and Pride.”
“Yes.”
“This really is a damn Fanfiction...A very lazily written one.” Makoto grumbled annoyed.
“Let’s just see what’s hidden behind this thing.” Morgana answered, sighing, and somehow helping Akira and Ryuji swing aside the thing thanks to the hidden hinges built in, so to reveal a new elevator with just one button waiting to be pressed.
“We’ll have to cram inside...” Haru commented.
“Let’s get this over with.” Akira answered while moving Morgana to sit on his head so to stop the cat from getting squished to death between them.
And with a bit of forceful pushing, every one of them managed to get inside the small thing, albeit with zero breathing room.
“...Izh sombdy able to prss the btton?” Ryuji tried gurgling-out with his face pressing hard on the elevator’s back.
“I can try.” Yusuke said with a whisper of voice, partly thanks to Haru’s elbow painfully burying itself in his sternum.
“Joker, I know you love me, but now is not the moment of manhandling my ass.” Ann said with a disapproving tone and an adorable blushing face.
“That’s not me, my hands are holding Mona up.” he answered.
“Then who is?”
“That would be me, sorry, Panther, but I can’t move my arms now.” Makoto answered, looking bashful.
“I-It’s okay.”
“...A-A-Are you working-out, though? I-It’s very firm.” the other tried saying.
“Darling press that button, before things become even more awkward.” Haru begged.
“Yes, pardon me…” the Artist replied as he managed with some difficulty to sneak his arm forward enough to press the only button present, and to the Thieves’ shock the elevator did not descend, it literally rocked down at absurd speed on the notes of the teens scared screams.
When the thing finally stopped, having gone down what looked like being twenty floors in just a couple seconds, the Phantom Thieves found themselves in a futuristic-looking secret base hidden in what looked like being an artificial cave filled to the brim in vehicles and other Superhero style gadgets.
“THE TREASURE!” Morgana bellowed happily, exiting the elevator like a missile to see the formless blob of light that was the Treasure carefully held on display on a Trophy Wall of sort protected by a thick glass.
“Okay, we found it. Of course surrounded in Trophies proclaiming Dash’ Awesomeness.” Ann said, hands at her hips, while studying the absurd amount of gold medals and trophies all sporting Dash’ name in bold characters.
“We’ll need to find the right combination to open this thing, that is a numerical pad acting as lock.” Makoto said while pointing at the small metal square covered in numbers installed on a side of the wall next to the glass.
“What code could somebody like Dash use?” Akira asked.
“0000?” Ryuji answered, smirking.
“If not for the risk of making an alarm sound if we are wrong, I would actually try that.” Yusuke admitted.
“Your opinion of this version of Dash is THAT LOW, eh, Fox?” Futaba asked with a chuckle.
“Maybe I am a bit biased.” the other admitted.
“We’ll try asking for her to Dash’ friends in the Real World, for now let’s just focus on finding a way out. Now that we found where the Treasure is hidden we need to plan our Escape Route once stolen it.” Morgana proposed with crossed arms.
“Ok.” Akira answered.
“Guys...You will never believe what this place is called...” Ryuji said in disbelief once checked the name written above the elevator’s button.
“Uh?” the others uttered, confused.
“Apparently this is ‘The Dashcave’...”
There were no words to describe it…
The Cringe was just that intense.
The Dashcave.
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... *head hits desk*
"The Dashcave"...
Also Rarity seems to be going all "Silence of the lambs"
way with her "beauty" thing...
Keep it up at your own pace. We can wait.
The cringe is strong in this one. But now, I really can't wait to see the fight against against Rainbow Dash. And you know what? Let's play a game! Each time there will be a superhero reference in the fight, we will drink a glass of Whisky!
10370922
Why must you tempt me to kill my fanbase? It's already small as it is! 🤣
I knew she is full of herself, but decorating her heart in herself? That ego could hold up Cloudsdale easily.
10370925
For the fun!
I said it once, and I'll say it again: her smug attitude disgusts me. Anyway, great chapter. I look forward to what comes next.
10370816
Did it hurt when your head hit the desk?
10371064
not as much as dashcave
Glad to see this update this is one of the better TCB stories that don't follow the original premise and this is actually the one that made me want to look for the original, they aren't that bad the original author just uses a bit of faulty logic for certain parts which make the originals a bit dubious but not bad or dumb.
10370925
KO awesome chapter, the Phantom Thieves managed to find the Treasure within the weird of awesomeness that is Rainbow Dash and now they will have to sent the calling card to get on with the Boss Battle! Still surprise that you made Yusuke and Haru a couple in this story, good work!
Wow and you said your not good at fights but this is good wounder what her treasure would be. Also rarity going all mannequin from the silent Hill movie style huh creepy
Talk about Dodging a bullet on the first "Boss-Level" Shadows. Running into a pair of Alice of all Shadows and one being his old one at that. If it wasn't, that would have ended very much differently. Alice are considered Ultimate Tier Persona for a reason after all.
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
I can't even . . .
That's not possible, it's even stated in the game that the only app that works in the Metaverse is the Metaverse app.
10371841
You have a point, but this is Equestria. The answer is probably bull#### magic.
Great chapter. More when you can, please?
10371967
10371841
2 options.
1- just handwave it as the tiny comedic snippet it is and don't think about it.
2- The real Igor gave them and upgraded version of the Meta App that lets you take pics and communicate with others in the Metaverse to facilitate navigation.
If it is that bad, I can remove It.
I didn't think it would have been such a bad thing.
10372119
I personally am fine to let it go, for now.
But you could set up a spectacular gag, if you wanted to.
Since little miss Awesome-As-I-Wanna-Be is pissing everyone off...
Have them visit the velvet room before they steal the treasure, have Igor ask how the app upgrade is... have Futaba show him the result (aka picture) and Igor be like "Oh girls~? I have need for all three of you for this calling card~"
10372295
Do it.
Don't forget to show the picture to Rarity.
10372382
This is going to be good, I can tell.
I don't mean to brag, but I've just started my own fanfiction.
10377414
PM the Link please 😊
Poor Yusuke, I'm sure FOBequstria's old artist, Vivid Dreams feels your pain.
10378528
Pardon, but I'm unfamiliar with the person you're referring to.
10377414
Me to please
>>Error_404_EntityNotFound
He's an artist that use to work for Commander Firebrand aka Joshscorcher. Look up the FOBequestria youtube channel, he appears in a couple of them. He also make an appearance in Joshscorcher's "Newbie Dash" review, which I highly recommend watching.
Heads up!
New chapter is almost ready, and hopefully the Boss Battle against Dash will be outrageous enough to be a proper close to her Palace and enough to justify your waiting for my slow writing! XD 🤣
10394097
Hmm. That was quick.
10394393
The update or the Palace itself?
Because I don't like dragging things on and on, so I though that 3/4 chapters per Palace, plus a few extras, was a good balance 🤔
10394472
the pace is good for me (give or take ) I can't wait to see her fight question did you see kamoshidaman boss in PQ2 super hero boss
10395783
That actually was one of the things that inspired Dash Palace 🤣
10394472
The update, to clarify.
10396298
Oh! Okay!
Thank you for the clarification 😊
10395819
REALLY!?!? ok now this is gonna be good
I also have a confession.
I did not care, at all, for the god father.
👌
Well, RD’s palace represents the depravity of all fanfic writers- us. Especially those who are new to writing it.
.....I'm scared....
This. Is. PERSONA!