A Medicine Cat among Ponies

by Kitsulestia

Entering the Labyrinth's Shadow Part 1

*Rainbow Dash’s POV*

Okay, so Twilight got me, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Danyelle here to meet some creatures at sunset, and for some reason, Spottedleaf and Luna was with her.

Even Noble, Atem, Celestia, Pyre and the Pillars were there too.

Yellowfang asks "What's goin' on?"

Twilight spoke "Let’s just say, it’s a surprise for you guys."

Azure spoke "We all heard the roaring though and thought it was a rogue dragon."

I noticed an earth pony guard mare. “Hey, isn’t she the new recruit?”

Twilight spoke "Yeah, this is Sleuth Brawlmane."

Luna spoke "But that's not who we want you to meet. Okay Goliath, you and the others can come out now."

We then suddenly saw gargoyles as Fluttershy gasped at the one on all fours.

Luna spoke "These six are Goliath, Hudson, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington and Bronx."

Fluttershy then leapt at Bronx and started cuddling him before I noticed the blinds on the windows were closed.

Twilight spoke "I don't know how well the rest of MeadowClan will handle gargoyles though."

But then we heard a bell tolling.

Spottedleaf spoke "A bell? Last I checked, this castle never had a bell."

Twilight spoke "I never put one in though!"

Rarity gasps "*Yelp!* I saw a spider-! Wait, it’s gone already?"

Okay, something tells me we should head back to the entrance and find out what’s going on.

Danyelle spoke "Something's not right..."

All of us went to the entrance door and opened it, only to find something strange. We were in Yasoponi High School as it looked like there was a School Festival going on.

Rarity spoke "Hmm? There’s a clock tower outside to the right."

Twilight gasps "What in the?! Broad daylight?! Then how are…?!"

Twilight and the others who knew the gargoyles looked at them.

Luna asks "It’s day, but they’re not stone?"

Goliath spoke "Something is off here."

We looked behind us, only to find the door we got here through to be just a velvet blue fortune tellers tent.

Danyelle spoke "My guess would be that genie magic has been used... *nose twitches* Trixie no doubt."

Mossfire was being a cranky kit, setting his nursery on fire again.

Twilight spoke "I don’t know. Something tells me Trixie isn’t behind what’s going on this time."

A genie mare spoke "Now I know why I was in that velvet room."

We looked at the tent when Trixie suddenly came out of it.

Trixie spoke "Looks like fate brought you all and your new friends here."

Danyelle giggles "Still a genie eh Trix?"

Trixie spoke "Well, come in and find out what's going on."

We went into the tent, only to find ourselves in a room way bigger than what it looked like on the outside. We were in the Velvet Room, on a a platform with stairs and rotating gears as we saw three doors with two locks surrounding them. One of the lights on the door was blue/pink, the light on the second door were yellow, and light on the third door was magenta/blue/orange/red/purple/pink. We then saw Margaret and earth pony Marie.

"Everyone, sidebar." I said as we huddled up. "Something tells me that this Margaret and pony Marie are from the past, AKA, that yellow door."

Twilight asks "I see, so we can't reveal anything about the future, right?"

Spottedleaf spoke "Seems like that to me."

Trixie spoke "Well, these doors are our exit to the real world. But you might need help, especially from a group that Luna knows well."

Luna spoke "*Gasp!* You mean that door with the blue and pink light is..."

Trixie spoke "Yep. Met them myself and they certainly remind me of that Seiko stallion. And before you say anything, he's from the past too, so he and Miran aren't alicorns yet."

Sunny asks "What's going on?"

A voice asks "Huh? Who're you guys?"

We turned around to see a male Ornithian with dark grayish-black feathers, gray-colored eyes, a feather goatee, a navy blue baseball cap with a white Triquetra symbol on the front, a red brassard of SEES on his left arm, a black high school uniform with a blue collared dress shirt underneath, a silver necklace, a chain attached to his pants, a white belt with an intricate silver buckle and black patterns along the belt.

The Ornithian spoke "Wait, Luna? I thought you couldn't come out that night."

Luna spoke "Junpei! That means the others are here too!"

Spottedleaf was growling suddenly since she had gotten a message from Card Trick via telepathy.

We went outside, only to meet up with the Investigation Team and another group, accompanied by two earth ponies. But as Trixie said, Seiko and Miran weren't alicorns, which meant they and the Investigation Team are from the past.

Twilight hid her wings with magic, as did the others and I.

Spottedleaf notices a pond nearby before going over to it.

Spottedleaf spoke in an unknown language. "Vocate venti fortunate, Ex ricae Oberonis, Et hic navis frugum regate, Ad orae Avalonis."

Spottedleaf suddenly vanishes.

Brooklyn suddenly vanished as well.

Seiko spoke "That won't work. You can't get out other than the doors that are locked by those two remaining locks. Which means there are two labyrinths left, but teleportation or any means to skip floors are completely disabled."

Twilight spoke "That wasn't teleportation..."

A minotaur bull with a beanie cap spoke "Look I tried getting to the gate and jumping over the walls, but I only wound up back here. You can't get out unless those three doors are unlocked."

Goliath spoke "Guess brute force is out of the question too."

"Anyway, who are they?" I pointed out the big question.

Luna spoke "Oh, that other group are friends of mine I met in the Dark Hour while I was still trapped in the moon. Somehow during that time, I was freed and in control of myself on their home island while the Dark Hour was activated."

Luna introduced us to her friends, the leaders were similar to Seiko, the stallion having dark blue hair unkempt at the front, covering his right eye, blue eyes and a light build, known as Yukan Sonzai. And the mare, being Yukan's cousin, having auburn hair, which she had in a high ponytail, along with silver barrettes which form the Roman numeral XXII, and striking red eyes, known as Hapu Tsuno.

Yukan spoke "Wow, I don't know how I can tell, but you guys are strong."

Hapu giggles "Heehee, I'm sure we'll try to get along."

Celestia wingslaps her sister on the back of the head.

Luna spoke "*Whispers to Celestia* I know the Dark Hour is no more when we came from, but seeing them brings back memories."

Danyelle asks "Dark Hour?"

A female hippogriff with waist-length red hair that has bangs covering the left side of her face with a curly mid-back length hair strand resting on her left shoulder and her eyes are brown with hints of red came up. “I am Kori Shitagaki, a member of SEES and third year of Gekkhoofkan High School. The Dark Hour is a phenomenon that occurs for an hour every night as a time anomaly that takes place during 12:00 AM, and serves as the 25th hour hidden between one day and the next. As the phenomenon takes place, non-Persona users are transmogrified into coffins and remember nothing that happens during the Dark Hour once they awaken. Because of this, the general public is unaware of its existence. My team, myself and Luna are on a journey to end the Dark Hour.”

Danyelle spoke "I'm Danyelle Hikari, age 19. Keenest and strongest of the Abyssinian branch of the Alicorn Alliance."

Kori spoke "Odd, I’ve never heard of any Alicorn Aliance."

Sounds like these guys are from the past too. We got introduced to a lot of creatures. A male Kirin known as Dorai Hono, a gryphon hen known as Yukari Takeba, a male dragon known as Akihiko Sanada, a female dagonian known as Fuuka Yamagishi, a male gryphon known as Yoso, being Yukari’s brother, a young male diamond dog known as Ken Amada, a young female ornithian known as Isamu Iori, being Junpei’s younger sister, a Minotaur bull wearing a black beanie known as Shinjiro Aragaki, a Shiba Inu dog known as Koromaru and a Hokkaido dog known as Tasuma. Needless to say, Fluttershy was simply adoring Koromaru and Tasuma.

Danyelle spoke "It's a long story and can you focus Shy? We need to get out."

Seiko spoke "Danyelle's right, and there's two more labyrinths get get through. The next one's at the second-year Class 4's display."

Danyelle was growling since something bad was gonna happen.

We also met a mechanical pony known as Aigis, another friend Luna knows, along with the two earth ponies. One of them being a filly, a freshman high-schooler with long wavy blonde mane and tail with white flower-shaped hair clips scattered throughout them, and lime green eyes known as Rei, and the other being a young stallion with short, dark-brown hair, lime green eyes, a dark complexion, a spiked collar, torn black cape and a blue watch on his front left leg known as Zen.

We soon got to the display, with the sign saying "Evil Spirit Club."

Aigis spoke "This seems to be a haunted house attraction."

Ken spoke "It doesn't look that scary from the outside."

Isamu spoke "Yeah! Bring it on!"

Emerald asks "...Do we have to go in?"

Kaze spoke "Oooooh, are you scaaaared? It's just a Culture Festival display."

Yukari spoke "I hope so..."

Danyelle growls "Kaze, quit picking on my cousin."

Kiko spoke "Don't pick a fight with my boyfriend."

Fuuka spoke "I kind of wanted to go in..."

Karei asks "You don't mind scary stuff, Fuuka-chan?"

Fuuka asks "It scares me, but that's what makes it kind of fun... Can you not handle it, Karei-chan?"

Karei spoke "Maybe if I was with everyone else, but it's too creepy alone! I've never felt so relieved that I can only produce backup."

Yukari asks "Why can't my Persona do backup...?"

Dorai spoke "Don't worry, Yukari. I'll keep you safe."

Yukari spoke *Blushing a bit* Oh, uh... thanks. *Turns to Sunao* You seem like you'd be fine with it, Sunao-kun."

But Sunao was quiet. "Yes? Oh, pardon me, were you asking me something!?"

Yukari asks "Were you lost in thought there?"

Sunao spoke "Yes, er, well... I was thinking about optical illusions. Commonly known as pareidolia, it's the phenomenon where shadows look like faces and figures, and..."

Seiko spoke "...You're scared."

Miran spoke "Still as honest as ever, Seiko."

Sunao spoke "N-No-I'm just saying that paranormal experiences can be negated by science!"

Kaze spoke "Yeah, yeah. Aww, it's okay. There's no need to be scared."

Sunao spoke "S-Stop that!"

Brooklyn spoke "Looks fine to me."

Lexington spoke "If you say so."

Fuuka spoke "*Giggle* You all get along so well."

Danyelle spoke "He started it."

Shima spoke "Mm-hm, our friendship may be our greatest strength."

Yukari spoke "I see... That sounds nice. .........Oh, we should probably get going! Just standing around won't help."

Emerald spoke "Hrgh... We're really going in? We are, huh..."

Goryuu spoke "I'll protect you.

Emerald spoke "*Blushing* Nngh... Th-Thanks... I'll try to keep it together so I don't cause trouble... No! No, I can't!"

Zen spoke "Only two more to go. I'm sure that another guardian will be protecting something in the depths here. Rei, there's no need to frightened. Don't worry. I'll protect you."

Rei spoke "...Mm.

Aigis spoke "I will protect Rei-san as well."

Yukan spoke "Same here."

Hapu spoke "Me too."

Zen spoke "Yes, that would be helpful."

Teddie spoke "I'll protect Rei-chan too!"

Zen spoke "No need."

Teddie spoke "Teddie discrimination isn't cool!"

Koromaru yips "Arf."

Teddie spoke "...Having a mutt being nice to me doesn't make me happy at all, you know!"

Koromaru whimpers.

Yukari spoke "Hey, Teddie. Will you stop picking on Koro-chan? C'mere, Koro-chan. I'll pet you!"

Koromaru yips "*Tail wagging as Tasuma nuzzled him* Arf!"

Dorai asks "See, Koromaru? Tasuma likes you too. Isn't that right, girl?"

Tasuma yips "*Happily* Arf!"

Teddie spoke "Teddie discrimination isn't cool at all!"

Danyelle kicks Teddie in between the legs.

Teddie asks "Hey! What was that for?!

Danyelle spoke "Looks like it doesn’t hurt you as much as usual, but you still feel it. Plus you had it coming.

We soon went into the labyrinth on the 1st story. And the place was spooky already as an abandoned school inside.

Junpei spoke "Ooh, I thought this was gonna be amateur hour, but this is pretty impressive."

Rei asks "Nnh… Are we really going through here?"

Yukari spoke "Hm, this might be a bit tough for you, Rei-chan… Then again, it’s pretty bad for me too… Haha… *Sigh*"

But then we heard something.

Yukari asks "Waaah! What the!? What was that!?"

Rei spoke "Nooooo!"

Some of us were spooked too.

Ken spoke "I-It’s okay. Something just fell from the ceiling… oh, it’s a spider."

Sunao asks "A spider…?"

Ken spoke "Don’t worry, it’s already gone away."

Broadway spoke "Ooh… It’s kinda scary to me too."

Rei asks "Nnh… What about you, Zen? Aren’t you scared?"

Zen spoke " I am not. Nothing scares me."

Ken and Isamu spoke "Th-That’s so cool…

Teddie spoke "Nothing scares me either. …Rei-chan. Nothing scares me either."

Rei spoke "Hrgh… I’m so scared…"

Teddie groans "Totally ignored!?"

Heifa spoke "Calm yourself, Teddie."

Danyelle spoke "I'm not scared of anything."

Kaze spoke "I bet you’re actually scared too, Ken."

Ken spoke "D-Don’t poke fun at me! This is nothing!

Isamu spoke "Foot, meet mouth.

Junpei spoke "Okay, then our brave Sir Ken gets to lead the way. Yep, that’s an order."

Ken asks "Wha-That’s not fair! Abuses of power like that shouldn’t be allowed, right, Kori-senpai!? …Senpai?"

Kori spoke "Amada… You’ll lead the way."

Ken asks "Huh!?

Akihiko spoke "When you walk single file, supposedly they attack the one in the center.

Sunao spoke "You’re thinking of snakes."

Kori spoke "Then I’ll take point!"

Sunao spoke "…Even Kori-san can’t handle it. This is a bit of a surprise."

Aigis spoke "What an excellent inference from Sunao-san!"

Sunao spoke "Er, it was obvious."

Hudson spoke "Aye, that may be, lass, but true nonetheless."

Emerald spoke "I’m not scared at all, you know!"

Kaze spoke "Whoa, she’s putting herself out there…"

Danyelle couldn’t help but smile at that.

Twilight groans "For the love of... I'll take the lead!"

But I’m sure the blinking red lights and the black surroundings were kinda reminding Twilight of ladybugs.

Shinjiro spoke "So we’ll put you two on point and take our time behind you."

Twilight and Emerald spoke "Huh!? Wait, I’m sorry!"

Danyelle spoke "Okay, Seiko, Yukan and Hapu will take point."

We moved along as we found scary stuff and spooky clues, but as we were close to turning a corner, Junpei and I heard something, like babbling.

Junpei asks "……? Did you guys just hear a baby crying…?"

Emerald spoke "H-Hey… Don’t say stuff like that…"

Yukari spoke "*Angrily* I bet you’re just trying to scare us. Again. For no reason. Because you never learn."

Zen spoke "No, I heard it as well."

“Same here.” I nodded.

Yukari spoke "What? No way…"

Junpei asks "…You don’t trust me at all, huh?"

Danyelle spoke "Quiet everyone!"

Rei spoke "Z-Zen! There’s nothing here! There’s no ghosts of babies anywhere! I mean, ghosts don’t exist!"

Zen spoke "I see. Then I take back what I said. I heard nothing. That is all."

Rei spoke "Yeah, of course there’s nothing here! ……Nope, there’s definitely something here! Nooooooooooo!"

Shinjiro spoke "Make up your mind."

Kanji asks "Should I go look around and calm it down?"

Kaze spoke "You’ll just make it cry."

Kanji asks "What the hell, man!?"

Shinjiro spoke "Hey, be quiet. You’re makin’ it hard to listen. …Let’s be careful here."

We then made the next few turns before hearing a rattle roll.

Yukari asks "Huh? What was that sound…?"

Danyelle spoke "For the love of Rising Sun, I know a half ghost...."

Phantom came out of Danyelle’s shadow. “Hey, it wasn’t me.”

Koromaru and Tasuma growl "Grrrrr…!"

But then us alicorns, Seiko, Miran, Yukan and Hapu sensed an ominous presence behind us as we turned around before a baby dropped in before getting up.

Yukari spoke "Eek…!"

Emerald: Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Karei spoke "*Communications* Everyone, run! That’s an FOE!"

Fuuka asks "*Communications* Wh-Where did it come from…!?"

Shinjiro spoke "Figure it out later! We gotta run now!"

Yukari spoke "Y-You don’t have to tell me twice!"

We then started running for the nearest door from the “FOE” as we found a door and got to the other side of it as the chase stopped and we got away.

Junpei spoke "Whew… That was close."

Karei spoke "*Communications* No signs of the FOE anymore! I guess it won’t follow you through doors."

Danyelle was still on high alert, as was Spottedleaf.

Yukari spoke "I’ve had enough of this place…"

Fuuka asks "*Communications* Y-Yukari-chan, don’t lose heart… I’m curious, did anything out of the ordinary happen when you were walking around the area?"

Shima spoke "Hmm… We heard the sound of a rattle, right? A baby’s toy."

Zen spoke "It sounded like… a bell… It was a very mysterious sound."

Hudson spoke "Mysterious indeed, lad."

Shima asks "Maybe the FOE was drawn to that sound?"

Kori asks "…Either way, we couldn’t avoid passing through that area. If an FOE appears, run away with all your strength. Understood?"

Sleuth spoke "Yeah, and we better be careful of any rattle sounds."

Danyelle spoke "My sensei told me to never run from a fight though."

Karei spoke "*Communications* I know, Danyelle-senpai, but sometimes the best choice is to not fight."

Danyelle spoke "I've got dragons in my bloodline though, my tenth great grandfather was a dragon. Running away is cowardly though, I'm not one to run from a fight."

“Look, Dany, as much as I agree with you, sometimes the best, smartest and only thing to do would be to go as fast as you can.” I admitted.

Twilight spoke "Rainbow Dash is right, we know absolutely nothing about these FOEs. We’d be fighting a losing battle without learning more about them and getting stronger first."

Danyelle spoke "Stars above... I hate it when you're right Skittles..."

Akihiko spoke "I'm not one to run from a fight either, but fine.

We kept moving on, solving puzzles and dodging FOEs, using shortcuts in walls, even though some are one-way, before encountering a door that had some kind of lullaby playing behind it as we turned right while still running from another FOE. But then it suddenly fell asleep. Best to let sleeping foes lie as we kept moving, checking out a power spot before we kept moving. We soon got to a door, but it wouldn't open as we heard a giggle on the other side. We kept moving as we went past a door before...

Akihiko spoke "...Hm? What the-!? The door's blocked!"

We turned around to see the door we went through closed as something on the other side was holding it shut before we heard weird giggles again.

Akihiko spoke "What this is, it's proud of its strength. It's not budging an inch."

Emerald gasps "C-Could this be... a paranormal phenomenon!?"

Rei stammers "P-Paranormal phenomenon!?"

Emerald spoke "H-H-Hey, Kaze! Do something!"

Kaze spoke "What's with the sudden sexism!? I'm totally against that stuff!"

Fuuka spoke "*Communications* Th-That's an FOE!"

Kaze spoke "An FOE that holds a door closed? Boring, but also kind of nasty..."

Kiko spoke "You're telling me..."

Yukari spoke "A-Anyway! Let's hurry to the next room! I really don't want that thing chasing me!"

We kept moving and soon found the stairs to the next floor before heading down there.

Ken asks "We've reached another floor... What was that FOE all about?"

Isamu spoke "Beats me."

Seiko asks "Neither of you are scared?"

Ken spoke "P-Please don't treat me and Isamu like children! We're c-completely okay!"

Seiko spoke "I'm impressed, Ken. On the other hand..."

Rei and Emerald were holding each other in terror.

Emerald spoke "Rei-chaaaaan..."

Rei spoke "Emerald-chaaaaan..."

Seiko sighs "This labyrinth's going to require patience..."

Goliath spoke "Agreed."

Spottedleaf spoke "And my patience is about to run thin...."

Yukari sighs "I can't wait to go somewhere the sun shines..."

Kori spoke "Hey! What are you waiting around for? Let's get moving!"

Yukari spoke "...Sure."

We kept moving, finding strange things before finding ourselves in a dark room.

Kori spoke "If it's this dark and narrow here, our numbers are working against us..."

Teddie spoke "Oh, then you can step on me to go on ahead, you know!"

Emerald spoke "Stop that!"

Teddie spoke "Emie-chan, don't be so jealous! I gotta make the most of meeting such a queen with full-on adult charms! I'll rarely get the chance of being stepped on by a lady like her while in Ineighba!"

Seiko spoke "You know, that's true."

Kaze asks "Yeesh, you too?"

Applejack asks "*Bead of sweat* Was Ah always that blunt when Ah'm bein' honest, girls?"

The tip of Danyelle's tail was glowing with a white light, making it easier for the others to see.

Kori spoke "Greatly. Thank you, Danyelle-senpai."

Shima spoke "When we get back to Ineighba, I'll turn you into a mop, Teddie."

Teddie spoke "Please don't used my prided fur for something like that!"

Danyelle and Spottedleaf snickered at the thought of Teddie being a mop.

Kori spoke "Seriously..."

Yukari asks "Hey, Junpei... Doesn't Kori-senpai seem on edge?"

Junpei spoke "I guess she's scared after all? Looks like even she's got her cute side."

Yukari spoke "Well, she's never scared of Shadows."

Junpei spoke "Ah! That cutting Yuka-tan sarcasm!"

Yukari spoke "Wha-No! I hope I'm just imagining things..."

Junpei spoke "Eh, Kori-senpai never seemed to like loud folks like us. And now we have more of 'em, right? So maybe she's feeling overwhelmed."

Yukari spoke "Hmm..."

Junpei spoke "Is something up with you too, Yuka-tan? Maybe it's not Kori-senpair, but you who's bother by something."

Yukari spoke "That's... ...You might be right."

Luna asks "Is something troubling you, Yukari?"

Yukari spoke "You know how we talked at the clock tower about why we fight? I've been thinking about that... I wondered if everyone... if all of us are fighting to get rid of the Dark Hour."

Junpei asks "...Are you saying you have some other reason?"

Yukari spoke "No, I mean, that's it, but... I've got another, more personal reason too."

Junpei asks "Huh... I think you're right, though. Like, I'm fighting for Chidorita's sake too, you know?"

Luna giggles "You mean that kirin mare?"

Yukari groans "There it is again with "Chidorita"..."

Junpei asks "I'm the one who's talking about "world peace," but Chidorita's part of the "world" too. If we save the beings we care about, we'll eventually save the world too, right?"

Yukari spoke "Oh... Yeah... You're right. That didn't sound like your usual self, Junpei."

Junpei asks "*Bead of sweat* What do you think my "usual self" is like...?"

Yukari spoke "...Thanks, I feel a bit better now."

Junpei spoke "Ooh, a rare glimpse of her softer side...!"

Yukari spoke "...It's things like that which keep you from graduating from being a Junpei."

Junpei spoke "Stop using my name like a category! I'm a being, dammit!"

Dorai spoke "Hehe, don't push your luck, Junpei."

Danyelle snickers "Least I'm not a scaredy Skitty like that Absol-Mewtwo hybrid over in the Redux-verse is."

We kept moving, finding clues on papers, switchboards for lights as we turned them on after fixing them, keys while learning that Kori really is an ice queen and intimidation of an executioner, even spooking Danyelle. We had conversations along the way before finding a poster that said not to run in the hallways. BORING. But the moment I tried to run, a creepy doll FOE popped up, spooking me and some of the others before I backed off, causing the FOE to vanish. We really can't run in this area. We continued moving on before finding a light switch as we turned it on before the FOEs in the room vanished completely, which was a HUGE relief to some of our friends. We kept going before finding out some of the wooden floor's rotten, causing creaks every time we step on it. We accidentally got a rattle ringing as we got chased by a baby FOE again before we managed to make it fall asleep. But when we tried to sneak away, the creaking floor woke it up as it chased us again. Soon, we were caught between a rock and a hard place by two FOEs before escaping through a shortcut as we kept moving onward. We found a locked door and pressed some pressure plates in four areas to unlock it. We were still moving forward before finding the stairs as we went down, only to find ourselves in an abandoned hospital with the red lights being green instead.

Shima spoke "Huh? Did the scenery change? It says, "examination room"... This looks like a hospital."

Both of Spottedleaf's Personas automatically appear.

Spottedleaf spoke "We don't have time to be screwing around!"

Hapu spoke "Spottedleaf, please calm down."

Teddie spoke "Ooh, a hospital!? Kaze, where are the nurses? The pretty nurses!"

Kaze spoke "Hey, that's right! You gotta have nurses at a hospital-I mean, shuddup!"

Seiko asks "Rei, are you alright?

Rei spoke "Mm-hm... If I keep my eyes closed, I can't see anything... so I'll be okay..."

Zen spoke "Rei, you'll get separated if you do that."

Rei spoke "I don't wanna be left behind!"

Karei spoke "*Communications* Can everyone hear me? It's hard to communicate in here... And it's dark, too, so make sure you don't get separated!"

Kaze spoke "Whoa, even a teen idol's voice sounds creepy laced with static like that..."

Yukar asks "Huh? Karei-chan's seriously a real idol?"

Shima asks "She was on TM a lot. Do they not broadcast those shows in the city?"

Junpei spoke "Hmm... Now that you mention it. I feel like I have seen her before somewhere... Karei... Karei Shinai..."

Shinjiro spoke "I heard that name from a club owner friend of mine... Something about a secret show they held..."

Junpei: Seriously!? You mean Club Escapade at the Paulownia Mall!?"

Rarity asks "*Excited* A mall?!"

Karei spoke "*Commuications* A show at the Paulownia Mall? I did one there... but that was over two years ago."

Shinjiro asks "Two years ago?"

Naoto asks "H-Hold on a moment. Let me just confirm something... What year is it right now?"

Danyelle spoke "Uh, 2023."

Junpei gasps "What?! It's 2021!"

Kaze spoke "C'mon, a two-year difference is a bit much for a mistake."

Kori spoke "Hm... Could it be that our worlds are from different times...? Yamagishi! Run this by the beings in the Velvet Room!"

Fuuka spoke "*Communications* R-Right! ..."Ah, so it's revealed. We weren't hiding it, though." said Elizabeth..."

Emerald spoke "They could've told us before..."

Pinkie spoke "I think it woulda been a little TMI at first."

Fuuka spoke "*Commications* Margaret says, "I believe I told you that we have come from a different place and time than you." Oh, and Elizabeth says, "You are heroes who have been guided together!""

Yukari spoke "Huh... Anyway, we're from two years apart, right? Hmm, it's no big deal for them, but..."

Seiko spoke "Your Velvet Room seems pretty tou-Uh, fun."

Junpei chuckles "Hehe, you almost said tough just now, didn't you. Wait, that means we're older than you guys! Yesss! I always wanted the girls to call me Junpei-senpai!"

Shima asks "Huh? Why would we do that?"

Junpei asks "Eh...?"

Danyelle spoke "Time travel..."

Yukari spoke "Yeah, most of our two groups are still second-years. I don’t think we need to worry about stuff like that."

Junpei asks "Okay… but Sun-cakes is a first-year, right!?"

Sunao spoke "You may be older than me, but you’re not my senpai."

Junpei spoke "Oh, I see…"

Seiko spoke "…Senpai."

Junpe spoke "Don’t. You don’t have to say that. It’s creepy."

Seiko asks "Wha…!?"

Kori asks "If Persona-users from two years later don’t know about the Dark Hour… Could it mean we’ll be victorious in our battle to eliminate it?"

Akihiko spoke "…Don’t think too hard about it. If we stop being serious about this, it’ll bite us in the ass."

Kori spoke "You’re right… But I feel as if I’ve seen hope. A future as bright as they are…"

Akihiko spoke "*Smile* Yeah…"

Kori spoke "Now then, let’s go!"

Spottedleaf spoke "TIL EQUIS ENDS!!"

Danyelle spoke "ALICORN ALLIANCE DEFEND!"

But when Kori stepped forward, a rustle was heard, making her gasp. “……!”

Junpei spoke "Oops, she froze up."

Kori asks "…Iori, you take the lead. You’re their senpai, no?"

Junpei spoke "Whaaaat!? This is tyranny!"

We moved forward, having conversations and beating Shadows before we entered a room as Karei warned us about FOEs hiding in there. We managed to avoid the FOEs as we kept moving before we stopped.

Kaze spoke "Whoa!"

Akihiko asks "Hm? What’s wrong?"

Kaze spoke "There’s something black down here…!"

Teddie spoke "D-D-Don’t tell me…!"

Aigis spoke "It is… a key."

Teddie spoke "Whew… I though it was a roa-"

Kaze spoke "*Horrified* Waaaaaaaaaah! Don’t say it! *Pant!* *Gasp!*"

Aigis spoke "…May we proceed now? We should pick up that key."

We picked up the key before it disappeared, like it melted into the shadows before it reappeared near our feet and hooves.

Kaze spoke "Wh-What’s going on here? …It’s no use. Looks like it’ll disappear how many time we try."

Kori asks "A key that melts into the shadows… What should we do about this?"

Shima spoke "The shadows…? What if there weren’t any shadows to melt into… If we didn’t let any shadows form, then…"

Sleuth spoke "We’ll need to take a path without turning on the light. Which means we may have to turn down the lights."

Danyelle uses her umbra magic to pick the key up but it didn't vanish.

Danyelle spoke "I can use shadow magic though."

We soon got to the black-marked door and used the Darkness Key to open it, and it looked like the key was a one-time use. We kept moving, seeing clues on papers, finding light switches to use as we later got to a room without any shadows, giving us breathing room to rest for a bit. We soon found a door to this so-called treasure room, and it didn’t look like it would open. So we thought back to the clues we found and did some actions to unlock it as we got through the unlocked door. But man, this dark hallway isn’t stopping right now.

Yukari groans "Geez… This place is really taking its toll…"

Junpei spoke "If you’re stressed out, let me show you something… *Puts on goofy glasses that Teddie made* Ta-daaaah!"

Yukari yelps "Eek!?"

Junpei asks "Whaddya think? Teddie gave ‘em to me. Were you surprised?"

Yukari spoke "Cut the crap!"

Junpei yelps "*Uppercutted by Yukari, knocking the glasses off his face* Ow!"

Kori spoke "Enough of your chatter, Iori. If you let your guard down, the enemy won’t hesitate to take you out."

Junpei asks "Huh? Are you scared after all, Kori-senpai?"

Kori spoke "Wha…!? Y-You fool! Of not course-course not!"

Yep, Kori’s scared.

Junpei spoke "You’re so scared that you’re fumbling your words…!"

Kaze spoke "Then again, it’s times like these that we gotta get fired up. We can’t let the gloom get us down."

“Got that right!” I smirked as Brooklyn chuckled in agreement.

Kiko spoke "Heehee! You always know how to see the silver lining, Kaze."

Rei spoke "M-Mmhm… L-Let’s… get fired up…!"

Shinjiro spoke "Sheesh… You’re obviously trying too hard. Here, gimme your hoof."

Rei spoke "My hoof…!? *Given something by Shinjiro* Cookies!"

Pinkie gasps "Cookies?!"

Rei spoke "They’re in the shape of Koro-chan and Tasu-chan’s faces! Thank you, Shin-chan!"

Shinjiro spoke "Thank Shima. You like sweet stuff, so she was frantically trying to make some for you."

Rei spoke "Really!? Thank you, Shimi! This looks really good! I’m drooling like a waterfall!"

I tasted one of those cookies, and WOW! This is good! “Dany, Spotty, you two have gotta try these!”

Spottedleaf spoke "Sorry but chocolate is bad for cats."

To be Continued...