> MLP X Persona: Odyssey > by Phoenixacezero > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Awakening. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not own MLP FiM, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona. MLP FiM belong DHX and Persona belongs to Atlus. I walked down a mysterious hallway till I reached a Blue door with an interesting golden design. I opened it and saw room blue room with a smiling creature wearing black tuxedo sitting on a blue couch near a table; he had long nose, pointy ears, pale skin and a black unibrow over his big eerie bloodshot eyes; to his left was a young griffon wearing a black and blue bell hop outfit; he had slicked back light silver feather and dark silver pelt, pale skin and yellow eyes; In his left claw was a brown hardback book. Behind them was a transparent glass stained window showing a giant scale in the distance.I took seat in a chair with interesting backrest. "It seem we have a guest. Welcome to the Velvet Room," The long nosed creature greeted me, his voice oozing with ominous yet sophisticated tone." My name is Igor, It is nice to make your acquaintance." The griffon introduce himself in a young yet serious tone" And I am Stein and like my master I am also a resident of the Velvet Room." " Now tell us, what is your name?" " I'm Spike... Umm what is the Velvet Room," I calmly ask him." Is it a restaurant or some sort of secret club?" Igor chuckled "I allow me to explain. The Velvet Room is a place that exist between dream and reality, mind and matter... It been years since we had a guest. Only those who are bound by a "contract" can enter this place. It might be that such a fate awaits you. " "So I'm dreaming all this?" "Yes," He calmly replied. "Tell me, do you believe in Fortune telling?" "...Depending on the source," I answered. "Then..." Igor held his right hand over the desk and small dim blue orb of light appear. In the middle of it was a deck of blue tarot cards with a black and white mask insignia on it. "May I tell you your what fate awaits for you?" I nodded my head yes.Igor dragged his hand across the desk and 7 tarot cards appeared. I recognized it as the spread as the Star Spread that Pinkie showed me. "Now let see what lies in the future" -Igor flip over a card and on it was a picture of a bottle with crown over it,- " The Empress in the upright position. This card stands for immediate future. This card means to nurture or create something. and the beyond the future is..." -Igor flip over the card revealing a tree with it branches connected to a heart and two strange creatures on each of it ,- "The Lovers in the upright position. Interesting.... It seems that you will need to give your guidance in helping someone make a choice.During the coming days, you will enter into contract and we will be waiting when that day come." My head became dizzy as my vision swirled. I opened my eyes and see Owloiscious sitting at the foot of my bed staring at me. "That was a weird dream." I got up and headed toward the castle's map room. I opened the door and saw my friends were gather around the large round crystal table and a plate of pancakes covered in gems just waiting to be devoured. Rarity and Starlight Glimmer were gossiping,Twilight and Fluttershy were discussing about different birds of prey,and Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hoof wrestling with each other while Pinkie Pie acting as the ref for the match. "Someone finally got up. Morning, Spike," Twilight Sparkle greeted me. "uuuhhh~ Morning guys"I said, "You won't believe the dream I had last night." "What kind if dream was it?" Pinkie Pie asked me, "Was it an really good dream, a bad dream, or one those weird dream that scar you for life." I describe the dream that I had last night to them while I ate my pancakes. About the mysterious Velvet Room,Igor and Stein, and my fortune. "Sound like something near the beginning of a video game," Rainbow Dash joked. "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Maybe you'll get a deus ex machina and enter into ponies mind to help with their problems; or maybe you'll have to climb a tower, fighting monster, and fight powerful boss monsters appear on the full moon; or maybe you'll get power after performing a ritual heard from a rumor and have to decide on what type of world we all should live in." We all laughed at Pinkie Pie's suggestion. I mean sure there were times strange things happened, but something like that happening is highly unlikely. Yet again we faced a jealous Luna, the embodiment of chaos, an army of shape-shifters, a tyrant that wanted to enslave the Crystal Kingdom, a hoard of Pinkie Pie and saw alternate timelines. "Speaking of rumors, did y'all hear about the weird mirror rumor that been going around?" Applejack asked. We all looked at Applejack in confusion. "What are you talking about?"Starlight ask Applejack. " I know what she talking about, " Rainbow dash replied, "There a been rumor floating around lately. According to some ponies, if you chant "Mirror, Mirror let me see the other me." three time and then say "other me please speak to me." in front of a mirror alone at night; your reflection will be replaced by silhouette of an unknown creature that supposed to be you. This earned it the name Soulmate from Wonderland" I began to picture how it would happened. About a lone pony trying it and their reflection getting replaced by an odd looking creature. I laugh at the thought and slowly considered trying it for just laugh " Cool." Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head "Yeah, but it still a rumor, so I don't know if it real or not. Well I'm off to practice a new stunt," Rainbow dash flied through the castle window "So what everypony else got plan for today?" Twilight levitated some books"I'm going to do reading; I also might head to bookstore later on to check if they have any new books." "Me, Fluttershy, and Applejackare going to help out at Sugar Cube Corner," Pinkie Pie said as she grabs Flutterhsy and AJ into a hug. "I'm heading to the Crystal Kingdom to see Sunburst," Starlight said. "I need to gather some gems to finish an outfit I'm working on," Rarity said. I smiled and put my arm on my chest. " Need some help milady?" Rarity beamed me a gentle smile "Yes. Thank you for offfering." The Gem quarry. This is the place me and Rarity would go to hunt for gems. This was also the place where Rarity got kidnapped by Rover, Fido and Spot; three diamond dogs who wanted to use her not only to locate, but dig them up as well. But we didn't have to worry about that anymore especially after Rarity gave them an earful. After a couple of hours, we manage to find tons of gems and decided to stop for today. We sat down on a couple rocks and enjoying the gentle summer breeze that blew through the quarry. We spent some time talking. "And that why Twilight afraid of Quesadilla." Rarity looked at me with a disturbed look on her face"After going through that I would be afraid of quesadilla as well. " " Yeah. Twilight was so afraid that she... " I stop and realized that I almost let something slip that would caused Twilight to be very pissed off at me if she found out."Ah um... So what new?" "Well Sweetie is still meeting up with the other Crusaders, Fleur is working on a talent show to raise money to help patient with blood cancer, Derpy and her sister Dinky got a pet Siberian husky," -A frown appeared on her face- "... Then there Flare Tyson." Flare Tyson was an earth pony boxer part of a local gym in Ponyville. He's was a good fighter, until he got caught using an illegal drug. He manage to get some rehab and return to the ring. " What about him?" Rarity let out a sad sigh and looked down at the ground "He got accused of cheating by his beaten opponent." "The guy probably got mad caused he lost and made up an excuse." Rarity rubbed the her forehead "Yes. Macho Joe kept on aggravating him and Tyson left before he lost it." I looked down at the ground in sadness. I know how Flare Tyson felt. After I went on a rampage due to letting my greed control me, some ponies saw me as a monster and treated me a such. If it weren't for my friends, Who know what would do then. "Hopefully everything works out for him." "We just have to have faith and pray that it does work out for him." I gave Rarity a weak smile. My stomach decided to ruin the moment by letting out a growl. Rarity looked at me with a coy smirk on her face and I felt a warm blush crept up my face. "Someone's hungry." I rubbed the back of my head and chuckled a little bit "Come on, let's go get something to eat," Rarity said. We headed back to Ponyville and relaxed for a while before going our separate ways. The full moon shined brightly into the bathroom as I stood in front of mirror. I took a deep breath and started to chant. "Mirror, Mirror, let me see the other me. Mirror, Mirror, let me see the other me. Mirror, Mirror, let me see the other me. Other me-" "Wait a moment," A mature feminine voice spoke. I looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from and see a shadowy figure of a pony in the mirror looking at me. I couldn't make out much except for her height and her different colored eyes; one that was a vivid violet and the other was the color of an amazonite. " ... Interesting." " Who are you?" I said stepping back a bit out of cautiously. "Just a curious mare," The mysterious mare said in a calm voice "... Go ahead." I looked at her in confusion. "What?" "Do the ritual if you want, but if you do we will observe you. If you decide to refuse, I will go find somebody else. Farewell," The mare vanish and my reflection returned. I slowly processed what just happened and began to weigh my choices, but in the end.... "Mirror, Mirror,let me see the other me. Mirror, Mirror, let me see the other me." Curiosity outweighed my fear. "Other me please speak to me." After I spoke those words, my head started to ring.I looked in the mirror and saw not my reflection but a tall shadowy figure. "I art thou...Thou art I...Reach out to me and harness thine inner strength. " I felt my head spin and my legs turn to jelly. As I fell, my vision swirled until everything went black. I stood there. I just stood and stared at the decapitated head of a green unicorn and the terrified expression he had on his face. His grey mohawk being dyed a crimson red and his knife resting on the side of the road and the remains of the rope underneath my feet. I ran in terror and tried to process what just happened. When I got home, I went into my room and find out what happened back there on the computer. I found some articles with information on events similar to what happened to me. Feeling tired,I decided to turned off the computer and go to bed. As I fall asleep with one thing was certain: I was saved. Meanwhile a figure looms over the corpse, levitating the the knife and rope. The sun shined in my eyes and slowly got up. I looked around and saw that I in Starlight's bed. Was it all a dream? What was thatthing? I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was 10:30 AM. I headed to the Map room and saw Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight and Twilight with concern expression on their face. "What's wrong?" The room went silent until Rarity broke it "Spike... someone was murdered." A chill ran down my spine at what Rarity just said. Somebody, that we might or might not know got murdered. " Who the pony that got killed?" my heart raced "Macho Joe," Rainbow answered. My eyed widen with surprise "Macho Joe. As in the unicorn that goes to the same gym Flare goes to." Rainbow Dash nod her head " Yeah. A jogger found his decapitated corpse this morning and came running back into town screaming. The police are investigating into the matter." " Still the thought of that there murderer running lose doesn't help ease the nerves." "Hopefully they find the culprit soon before someone else get killed," "Or worse," Starlight replied, shaking with fear. " Worse," Fluttershy squeaked, her breathing becoming rapid. My head filled with images of what could happened if they didn't find the guy. Twilight Sparkle looked as she gave Starlight a stare that a mother would give their foal for doing something bad. " Don't suggest stuff like that . " I looked over to the left of Rarity and saw Applejack calming down a rapid breathing Fluttershy shaking in. "Sorry." Starlight said, "It just I read this horror novel while on my trip." Twilight Sparkle sighed " Until the the case the is solved we have to be careful. We still don't know what kind of murderer we're dealing with. If anyone find anything that might help report it." 3 days had passed and the murder still hasn't been solved. The investigation team ask all everyone that had a grudge with Macho, but no luck. They even asked Discord, but he had zero reasons and was sick at that time.I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was the was Macho Joe getting decapitated and what would happened if this pony didn't get caught. I got up from my bed and silently sneaked outside. I walked through the silent street of Ponyville hoping the cool breeze will soothe me, but to no luck. " Why is this happening?"-I rubbed my head in frustration- "First that strange hallucination and now this." "What weird hallucination?" I turn around and saw Rarity with a concern look in her sapphire eyes. "Rarity what are you doing up?" "I couldn't sleep," she said, "I decided to take a walk to clear my mind." "Same here. Care to walk with me?" Rarity nodded gently, " That would delightful." We continue our peaceful night walk through Ponyville. "Spike, you said you had a weird hallucination." Rarity said in a curious tone. "Yeah. I tried that rumor. Before I finished it, a shadow of a pony appeared and after I said "other me, please speak to me." my head started to ring and when I looked in the mirror I saw this tall shadowy figure and I swore I heard a voice. Maybe I coming down with something?" " Hopefully it not to serious, I can't stand the thought of you being gravely ill." I smiled at what she just said "Thanks Rarity. "You're... Huh?" Rarity stopped in her tracks " What's wrong?" " Over there." I looked in the direction of where Rarity was pointing and saw a cloaked figure run passed us. "Who was that?" "I don't know... I think I'm going to follow that pony?" Rarity looked at me with a surprised and confused look"What?!" "I know it sound crazy, but if that guy the murderer, I want to try and least catch the perp. That way you and the others can be safe." I ran off, stealthily following the guy all the way to the entrance of the Everfree Forest. Why would this guy head to a dangerous place like this. I continued to follow the pony from the bushes. He stop and remove his hood reveling a pale brown earth stallion with platinum blond hair with dark red streak and magenta eye. It was Flare Tyson, the stallion Rarity told me about. What is he doing here? " I see you came Flare Tyson." a cocky voice said I looked at the direction of the voice and saw grey unicorn stallion with blue hair. "What do you want?" Flare Tyson asked, " Why did you call me here?" The shady Unicorn chuckled " Simple. I got some nice photo you might be interested in." He levitated some photos in front of Flare. Flare's eyes widen in surprise. " It would be a shame if the police got these," the unicorn said. "But it was an accident,"Flare sorrowfully spoke "I didn't mean to kill him." My eyes widen in agape and heart broke. Flare Tyson was the killer. But how could he done it. The last time I check Earth ponies can't use magic. The mysterious pony chuckled "True, but proof speak louder than words and I got ton of proof beside this one, including Macho's knife and some ropes. ("Macho's knife and some ropes? What is this guy up to?") " ....You..." -Flare looked at the unicorn and his face filed with rage- " You took them didn't you." "Yeah and I can make them reappear along with many other pieces of evidence that can help you or ruin you for life. Suddenly I felt a strange presence. I looked at Flare Tyson and saw a blue fog surrounding him. "PERSONA!" a buffed white creature materialized above from him. It was wearing a boxer robe with a light blue flame design, dark grey pads, a battle helmet in the shape of a lion head, an ancient golden Cloudsdale battle skirt with blue hem and dots, and a pair of blue gloves with dark grey blades on them. " Agi." Flare shouted I watched as the warrior raised it hand and ember swarm around and form a tower of searing flames rose in front of the unicorn. I stumbled back in shock. "YOU BEST HOOF THEM OVER TO THEM OR I'LL TURN ASHES!" The unicorn screamed in terror and teleported away.I heard a scream and look in the direction and saw Rarity shaking with fear; unfortunately Flare notice her as well. Aristodemus charged toward her and I knew what was going to happen. Rarity was going to get her head cut off. I rushed toward her side pushed her out the way. I felt time slow down and my life flashed before my eyes. I knew it was reckless but as long as she safe, I don't care if I die... "I WILL PROTECT HER!" "I am thou." a voice echo in my head. "Huh?" I felt a sensation surge through my body. Aristodemus stop it attack. "What the?! Why is this dragon is... But I thought they need to hoard to do that!?" Flare said in confusion. "Thou art I. Call out to me and unleash thine strength" An image of Igor, Theodore flashed in my mind and stop at the image same figure I saw in the mirror just before it started to crack "Per... So...na. PERSONA!" Shatter! A blue fog fiercely swirled around me as particles gather together. An elegant young male voice echo out through the forest, " I am thou... Thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come... I am Perseus, the Destroyer of the Wicked... I shall protect you and thine love ones in times of conflicts." I look at the figure that levitated above me. It was a white bipedal creature with an athletic build. Perseus had medium hair red as the rose and was wear a light purple butler outfit over a pale sage torso, a fire ruby necktie, a dragonic futuristic visor with a lens that had a similar color as my eyes, green shoulder armor pads, claws like hands and light purlple legs conjoined like a doll. In it right hand was a sword and a heart shaped shield bracelet on it's left wrist. I looked at Artistodemus and knew what Perseus and I should do. "PERSEUS!" Perseus charged toward Artistodemus and swung his sword at Artistodemus and struck his head. It stumble back a bit, but recovered and try to slash off Perseus' head, but blocked the blade with his shield. The two warrior kept on exchanging blows for blows. For some strange reason my body was aching in the same places where Perseus was getting hit at. "AGI!" Flare shouted. The brawny warrior raised it hand and ember started to appear around Perseus. I told Perseus to get out of the way and he manage to do that, but not in time enough to get out unscratched. The flame erupted and burnt his right leg and a sudden pain surge through me and I grab my right leg in pain. Perseus dropped his blade. " Spike!" Rarity said with a concern look of horror on face. I shook it off and got back up. "BUFU!" Perseus raised his hand and fired a small spark at Artistodemus and trapped it in ice. He picked up his sword and pierce the frozen titan in the heart. Flare Tyson's eyes widen as Artistodemus crumbled and faded away into nothingness. "PERSONA!" Flare Tyson shouted, "...Huh... ARTISTODEMUS! Flare kept shouting Persona and Artistodemus like a broken record, but nothing happened. The fighter collapse on the ground in defeat. " It over isn't it. I lost." Flare said. I walked up to him "Flare." "WHAT?!" he snapped," Are you going to gloat or are you going to do what that pathetic shit of a pony was going to do. I shook my head, " No. I want to know what happened that night. Why did you kill Macho Joe?" Flare explained everything to Rarity and Me. On the night of the murder Macho Joe attacked Flare as payback for losing. Artistodemus answered his desire to survive and attacked Macho Joe. On the day the murder was discovered, he got a letter from that that unicorn threatening him to come here.When he learned about what really happened, he tried to intimidate the unicorn into handing it over to police, but it failed. Then Rarity got involved, he tried to grab her to see how much she heard and get her to back him up. "In the end I became a villain." Flare said, " The pony everyone wanted me to become. After all; that what they wanted right." "No!" I snapped at him. "Not all pony wanted you to become a villain let alone a killer." Rarity said "Some us wanted to see you climb to the top." "Listen I know how you feel." Flare looked at me in confusion "How?" I let out a sad sigh. "On my birthday I received many gifts from my friends, but soon after I started to craved more stuff and started hoarding everything I could get my claws on and became a monster. After I turned back to normal, some of them viewed me as a monster. I felt so much rage, but realize something. I could let that rage consume me and become the monster that those ponies wanted me to become or become somebody that I could be proud of." Flare looked at me with forlorn look with his face, "Too bad I'm going to become a jail bird soon." "You don't have to," I said, “I heard entire the conversation between you and the blackmailer.” Flare looked at me with skepticism “Really? You're not lying, because if you are, I'm going to kick your butt.” I nodded my head confidently "Yes.I can testify for your innocence, but we have to make a dash to the police station so that stallion doesn’t get there first." Flare looked at me and gave me a weak smile. "Thank you big guy." "Huh?" "Um Spike, it seem during your courageous stand, it seem that you have grown." Rarity said. I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, it was mature for me... Wait, why my voice sound different." I looked into a lake nearby and saw that I've change. I was taller, my face looked bit broader and I had a pair of giant wings. I tried to process what happened and three words enter my mind. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" To be continued > Awakening aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why was am I dreaming about this place again and of these two? It looked the same as it did four days ago, four days since I last visited the Velvet Room. "Welcome. It's nice to see you again," Igor greeted me, "Oh ho, it seems that you not only grown since we last met, but also awaken to your power." I tilted my head in confusion "Power?" Igor chuckled "Yes. The power I'm referring to is the ability to summon your Persona." I looked at Igor in confusion. I recall Twilight talking about persona but that couldn't be it, "What a Persona?" Stein let out a disgruntled groan "You’re kidding me right. A Persona is a manifestation of your psyche and used as a mask responds to the tribulations in life. " "Okay (Didn’t have to be rude though) so can I summon anything else besides Perseus?" "No," -Igor chuckled- " but I do sense another power.” "Huh?" “As of now, this power is still dormant, but when the time comes we shall assist you. Now, do you have any other questions?" "...Why was Flare Tyson unable to summon Aristodemus after I defeated it.?" I asked Igor, "Did I cause him to lose his Persona?" "Yes, but only temporarily,” Igor answered. he waved his hand and an image of me and Perseus, connected by a blue thread appeared in the window, “Since your persona is a part of you and should it take damage you will also feel the pain inflicted to it,"-Igor waved his hand and a huge cut appear on Perseus and the line connected between us disappear almost completely- "Should a persona take damage that would ensure death, the connection between user and their Persona will temporarily severed until the persona recover from it wounds. Still, this safeguard has its limits, so I highly advise you to master your ability and come up with a strategy that will lessen the odds of that happening, especially if you should come up against other Pesona-users with skills that exploits your weakness.” “That good to know. Thank you for answering my questions.” “Your welcome,” Igor said, “Now then, take this." Light shined in my eyes. I looked up and saw a faint orb of light appeared above my head. The light faded away, I saw a black and white butterfly pendent. It gently fell around my neck. "When the times comes, you will be called back here again. Until we meet again." .... I woke up to the gentle morning breeze and the sight a work desk with some sewing material placed near a lone brown wall in an elegant light purple room. After battle, Flare went to the police and we told them what happened that night. It took a while, but the police went to where he lived, but he managed to escape. They did and recover the photos Monty had. When I reached Rarity’s home, she noticed how fatigue I was and offered me to stay at her boutique for the night. As I got up, I felt something around my neck. I traced my finger along grabbed it and pulled it up to my face. It was the pendent from my dream. (“What was this doing here? I mean it was all a just a dream, right? Am I still dreaming? Twilight did tell me about one time about dreams that seem like the ponies awake. There got to be a way to confirm that this whether I’m awake or still dreaming.”) “There one way to find out.” a familiar voice echo in my head. (“Perseus?”) “Bingo!” he said cheerfully “Now back to your current question aka is this a dream or not? To answer that question, think of something that would be impossible. If it real or just a dream.” I look around and tried to come up with something saw Opalescence resting on one of the mannequins. I slowly walked up to her. I extended my arm toward her and tried to pet her. Opal looked at me with a disapproving gaze and swiped her claws at me. (“That answer my question.”) I walked downstairs. I looked around and saw Rarity talking to Twilight. When Twilight noticed me, her eyes widen with surprise. “Spike?!" I let out a weak chuckle, “Hey, Twilight.” “Please tell you’re not hoarding again and that pendent a gift,” she said, her concern in her voice “You know what happened last time.” “I’m not hoarding again.” “It’s true,” Rarity replied, “It happened when Spike protected me from that monster Flare Tyson summoned.” Twilight looked at us with confusion and disbelief, “What?” “It’s a long explanation,” I said to her, “But before I can explain, I need you to calm down.” Twilight did the relaxation technique Cadence had taught her and sat down. I closed my eyes and summoned Perseus. He flew over to Twilight and petted her. Twilight’s eyes widen in surprise, “What is that?” “This is my Persona, Perseus. As for the monster Rarity mentioned it was Flare’s Persona; Aristodemus.”-I recalled Perseus back into me- “Do you recall the night of the murder that happened four days ago.” Twilight calmly nodded her head “Yeah. To be honest I’m still trying to figure out why it happened? I heard that they’re holding a police conference.” “I know the reason why,” I said, “and who done it.” “Huh?” “It was Flare,” I said, “Macho Joe was still mad about his lost and decided to get revenge on Flare by attacking him. He pinned Flare down with a rope and was going to kill him. This caused Flare to fully awaken to his Persona and save himself from being killed.” Twilight tilted her head and looked at me with puzzled look on her face “If what your saying is true, then what happened to the knife and more importantly how did you find this out?” “Last night, I couldn’t sleep last night due to what was happening. I decided to get some fresh air and clear my head. I ran into Rarity and we decided to take a stroll together. While we were talking, Rarity noticed Flare Tyson wearing a cloak. I decided to follow him. I found out that a unicorn named Montey Hush set him up by stealing the knife. He was going to blackmail Flare with pictures and if it had worked... well I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if Flare hadn’t gotten mad and tried to threaten him.” “I think I can fill in the rest,” Twilight said “Rarity followed you to make sure you didn’t get hurt and when she saw Flare’s Persona, she accidentally alerted him and became a target. And you decided to try and protect her.” “Yeah, sort of,” I answered “After I decided to do that, that when my Persona awakened. It was also the same time that my growth spurt happened, but I did not notice because I was focused on the battle. It was only after the battle Flare and Rarity pointed it out after I fought against Aristodemus. I won the battle due to Perseus using an ice spell and freezing Aristodemus. After battle, Flare told us everything and turned himself in. The unicorn that tried to blackmail him is being searched for and not for just one blackmail. Turns out, Montey Hush been blackmailing others ponies as well.” “And including Macho.” A gruff voice answered I turned around and saw a muscular Pegasus standing in doorway. He had an orange pelt, well-magenta mane, and tail. He was a bit taller than Big Mac. His beard and the stern glint in his aqua green projected a strong aura of authority. “Airron,” Rarity said “Wait. You said that it wasn’t just Flare that being blackmailed.” Airron calmly nodded his head “Yes. While we were searching through Montey, we found out that he had been blackmailing Macho Joe as well.” I clenched my fist in rage, (“So this guy is the reason that Flare almost got killed?) “As of now we’re gathering his other victims and questioning some suspects that might be involved with Montey’s blackmailing operation.” Airron replied “That with that said, I want you to testify the moment we apprehend him.” “If it means seeing Montey behind bars, I’ll do it.” I answered. “Very well,” Airron answered “We’ll notify you when in it happens. Now for my reason for being here,” I tilted my head in confusion “Is the dress I order done Miss Rarity?” He said. Rarity went out of the room and returned levitating a black vest and a matching skirt. She put them in a bag and hand it over to him, “I hope Lassie like her gift.” Airron pulled a bag from his saddle bag and placed it on the table. He opened it, revealing some bits. He grabbed some and put them to the side. He grabbed the bag with his wing and bow “Thank you,” He grabbed the rest and left. “Rarity!” Sweetie Belle ran into the room “Rarity, I saw a guard leave house. Is everyth-” When Sweetie saw me, she in stopped her track and let out a terrified scream. “Don’t panic,” I said, “I’m not hoarding this time.” “Then why are you like this?” she said. I scratched the back of my head in confusion, “I don’t know. All I know is when it happened and what happened before and after it.” Sweetie tilted her head and looked at me with curiosity, “What happened last night?” “Well you see...” it was at that moment I realized something. This was going to be a recurring theme, “I explain, but first we need to gather the others.” Sweetie Belle nodded her head in agreement “I’ll go get Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.” “Good. Tell them to come to your sister boutique. Also bring Big Mac if you see him.” “Okay.” Sweetie raced outside. “I’ll go get the others.” Twilight said. “Thanks.” Twilight ran out and headed to gather the rest of our friends. Rarity let out a chuckle “It seem somepony going to be the center of attention today.” “Yeah,” I answered casually, “I’m just hoping that it will be easy to explain to them as it was with Twilight.” “They might panic at first” Rarity said, “But I’m sure the others will listen to you.” I smiled a bit from Rarity’s reassurance “Thank you.” “Your welcome.” Soon everypony showed up. Applebloom, Scootaloo, Applejack, and Big Mac were stunned when they saw me. Fluttershy panicked and would have ran away if Twilight hadn’t stopped her. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash jumped the gun and thought that I was hoarding again. As for Starlight was just surprise by my growth spurt. Even though they had different reactions, I knew they had one emotion going through them...curiosity. I told them everything. Why I went out last, why I followed, the truth behind the murder, and about my new power. I showed them the skills I that had now, including a new one called Sakukaja. “So, we now know how and why the murder the happened and led to what happened last night.” Twilight Sparkle said. “Because of that jerk, Montey Shot.” Scootaloo answered. “Considering what Montey has done, jerk would be a compliment for him.” RD said with venom in her words. “But this does raise some questions?” Twilight said. “Why do Spike and Flare awaken to this power?” Big Mac answered. Twilight nodded her head in agreement “Correct. They’re also the matter of Spike’s growth spurt though I do have a theory.” Everypony fixed their attention on Twilight, “The last time this happened, it was because of us accidentally igniting Spike’s desire to hoard things. After that incident and find very little information on dragon growth patterns, I assumed that most dragons can only grow when they age, magically or by hoarding; but after seeing Spike and hearing his story, it made me realize that other desires can affect a dragon’s growth if they’re strong enough. In Spike’s case, it was his wanting to protect us that triggered it.” “So, we don’t have to worry about Spike going on a rampage?” Fluttershy said, her voice shaking. Twilight hesitated and “As long as he doesn’t become obsessed with it, we should be fine.” “Okay,” Rainbow Dash got up and flew over to me “So we have guessed why Spike is like this. But we have no clue how Spike and Flare how they got this ability?” (“Otherworldly creature of themselves...!”) That when my mind went into overtime and replayed that day, (“That’s right. I’ve seen Perseus before. After I after I performed that ritual. Still did Flare also tried it or was it because of something else? If he did, that could also mean...”) “I need somepony to find Flare.” Everyone looked at me in confusion. Big Mac raised his hoof up “I’ll go, but what do you need him for?” “I need to ask him something,” I told him “If my guess is right, I think I know why it’s happening now?” Big Mac got up from his seat and walked toward the door, “Okay.” As Big Mac left, I realized something else and if my hunch were right, Flare Tyson could be an example of one of many things to come. “...I don’t think everypony can get one,” Sweetie Belle said. We all shifted our gaze on to her and looked at her in confusion, “It just a few of the kids from school tried it out and nothing happened to them.” “There probably some conditions that they have to meet in order to get one.” Flare said, “And I doubt anypony know what they are.” “Actually,” Twilight said, “I can think Princess Luna might be able to help us.” “Princess Luna?” Starlight said, “...that’s right. I recall somewhere in that most psychological research were based around her notes.” “Correct. Rarity, if I may.” Rarity levitated over some paper, ink, and pen to her. Twilight wrote down a message and gave it to me. Hopefully, she can give us some answer to what going on. I walked toward an old tree and was greeted by the variety of animals. Some were common animals found in Ponyville, others were from other land on Equis, and finally my pet the possum Tiberius. I gently petted them. I came here for a one reason- to relax. When Macho Joe’s death was announced, it caused an increase of nightmares and the problem with these types of dreams are that it’s based on possibility instead of ones that are caused by see or hearing something scary such as a tale of old mare looking for a rusty horseshoe or caused by the sight and sound of a furnace in a basement and fears like this can dull one ability to think rationally. It is probably going to be quite when words about the culprit spread start to travel the grape vine, which means, it’s time for me to relax. I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep. I awoke to something tapping my face. I opened my eyes and saw Tiberius poking my face with a scroll and another one beside him “Letters from Twilight.” I opened it up and read the letter “Dear Princess Luna. We just learn the discovery of a type of magical ability called....” I stopped as I saw the name. I checked again to see I read it right. (“How is this possible? They’re no way that ability should be obtainable.”) I continued to read it “Persona. So far, we only discovered few things about it based on the information given to us so far. One important fact is that to fully awaken though, they must be exposed to great amount stimuli such as a near death experience or the desire to protect. At it stand we don’t know what the methods or requirements are for one to acquire this power. As it stands, we only know two Persona users: Flare Tyson and Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike! We would also like to inform you and your sister that Spike has gone through growth spurt” I read the that part again to see if I read it wrong, but there was no mistake about it. I quickly got up and flew to my sister’s chamber to tell her the news. “SISTER! “ My sister stareed at me with concern “Luna, what is it?” I gave her the letter. She as she read it her eyes became wide as dinner plate and one word boomed out from her mouth “WHAT?!” Not soon after we sent the letter, the door swung opened and standing in the doorway was not only Princess Luna, but her sister Celestia and Discord and the moment they saw me, they gasp in shock. Celestia walked up to me. “Spike,” She said, “Is that you?” “Yeah. Apparently, dragons have other ways of growing.” “So, the part about you having Persona?” I summoned Perseus and he let out a light-hearted chuckle “Real as Twilight’s love for book.” “Why is this happening?” A wave of anxiety washed over the room after Celestia said those words. Twilight Sparkle walked over to her mentor “Is there something dangerous about this power?” Celestia shook her head “There are some, but that not what concern me.” “Then what is it?” “Usually when Persona involved, there a god behind it.” The room echoed with one collective answer, “WHAT?!” Most of our gazes shifted on Discord. The god of chaos looked around and waved his paw frantically “Hey, it wasn’t me. My paws are squeaky clean.” Rub them together and transform into two giant squeaking clean rats. Opal pounced out of nowhere and sink her fangs into his right causing him to wince in pain, “I can however think of few other entities that would pull this type of stunt.” “Right,” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, “and you didn’t pull that prank on Spitfire and she just produced those flies from her mouth on her own.” “He’s correct about the other entities part,” Luna said, “and that what makes it difficult. We don’t know who behind this, but we can find out the method that they’re using. To do that we need ask you Spike and Flare Tyson.” “Allow me,” Discord answer. He transformed into four splotches of multicolored ink. When they hit the ground, they all shot up and formed into Discord. Three of them were wearing SWAT uniform, while the one in front of them was wear a police sergeant outfit. “ALRIGHT YOU MAGGOTS!” -the police sergeant Discord snapped his finger and produced a picture of Flare Tyson- “WE’RE TRACKING DOWN THIS STALLION. ACCORDING TO OUR SOURCES HE HAS INFORMATION REGARDING A NEW POWER APPEARING IN EQUESTRIA! RETRIEVE HIM AT ALL COST!” They phased through Rarity’s walls and scattered across Ponyville “While there looking for him,” Luna said calmly “I’ll ask you the questions. Please don’t leave out any information, regardless how minor it maybe. Understand?” -I nodded my head- “Good. Okay. Before awaking to your powers, has anything strange happened to you or did you try anything you usually don’t do?” “There was that strange dream I had?” “Strange dream?” “Yeah. I met a long nose human named Igor and a gryphon named Stein, but I doubt they’re behind this” “They said that I would have to guide someone.” -I then showed her the pendent- “They also gave me this.” “Doubt it him. While Igor is usually involved with in these types of matter, he’s more of a guide than an instigator. Anything else that happened after that?” “There is one. When tried out a ...!” then it’s dawned on me, “That’s might be it.” “What it?” “Well- “ Before I could answer, Discord returned with Flare Tyson “We successfully tracked down and brought him back to base.” “So,” Flare said as he looked at the Discord with a curious look, “What is so important that you needed to sic Discord on me?” “We’re trying to find out what causing every creature to become aware their Persona,” Luna answered “That why we brought you here. To shed some information on the situation.” “I’ll help anyway I can.” “The I’ll get to the point” I said, “Have you tried out a rumor called Soulmate in Wonderland?” Flare looked at me with a bewildered look “...Yeah. I was board and decided to try it out to see if it worked or not. After I performed the ritual, I saw strange silhouette that looked like...” “Aristodemus,” I guessed as my heart raced as I waited for his answer. Flare looked at me with a stunned looked on his face “Yes.” The room fell dead silent as everypony looked at me in confusion. The silence was broken by Rainbow Dash “How did you know what he saw?” “Because Flare isn’t the only one to try that rumor,” I replied, “On the night of the murder, I tried it out of just for fun. After I finished the chant, I saw a silhouette of Perseus in the mirror. After realizing I thought that maybe, just maybe...” “That rumor might be connected to your and Flare’s new power.” Twilight chimed in. “Yes. But if that the case then there could be a chance of that there are other users out there.” I nodded my head “Yes.” “Now hold your horses,” Applejack exclaimed “If that true, that mean that everypony who tried it also have this power.” “I don’t think it performing it will get it,” We shifted our gaze onto Sweetie “Some of my classmates tried it and nothing happened.” Luna shook her head “She right. One can only become a user if they have a strong enough body, soul, and mind can awaken to this ability naturally.” “Naturally?” Twilight asked, “You mean there another method.” “Yes,” Celestia answered, “It can also be awakened artificially, but doing so will cause the user to have little control over it. As a result, A Persona will sometime go on a rampage and in worst case scenario try to kill their user.” The room fell dead silent after that statement before Twilight broke it “Okay. We now know how Spike and Flare got their Persona. We also know now that there are others out there with this power. But we don’t have a lead on who might be behind this or a clue why they’re doing this.” “Actually,” I said, “I think I might have a clue who behind this?” Everypony looked at me with wide eyes, “Before I finished the ritual, a pony appeared in the mirror. They told me that they would be observing me if I went through with it.” “A pony appeared mirror” Flare asked, “are you sure you saw that?” “Yeah,” I replied, “Didn’t you see it to?” Flare shook his head “No. I just saw and heard Aristodeusm.” “Then why did I see them?” “I don’t know,” Luna looked at the mirror “but it looked like we got a probable suspect. If anyone find any more information or if anything happens, please contact us.” “This is going to be entertaining. Let see if you all can figure out before it happens.” To Be Continued > Recovery and Debt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIsclaimer. I do not own the rights to MLP FIm, Persona or Shin Megami Tensei. MLP FiM belong to Hasbro and Persona and SMT belong to Atlus. Stacks of books and papers covered the floor, chalkboards , and the humming of machines echoing in my ears . It was a song and dance I was all too familiar with. As long as I have known Twilight, whenever she comes across a discovery, she becomes mesmerized like a moth near a flame, lost in her own curiosity. “Spike,” Twilight asked me “Can you have  Perseus help me move this stack of books over there?” I calmly nodded “Sure.” I sent him over to the table and carefully picked them up. The stack was composed  of a few books Princess Celestia sent us over about Persona and stories about users, along with some complex books about psychology. Out of pure curiosity and boredom, I read one of the stories while Twilight was out. The one I grabbed was a story about a human named Ren Ayamia and the Phantom Thieves of Heart as they entered another world and stole the desire from the heart of their target. While I was reading it, I  daydreamed about being one of them and changing the hearts of criminals such as Monty. He is similar to Phantom Thieves’ target if not a palace ruler. Stealing his heart would be good. Perseus carefully  set the stack down “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight set up some targets in front of me, apart from each other. She grabbed a piece of chalk and drew a line right at my feet , “Okay, Try hitting the target without crossing the line.” “Alright,” I replied. My persona flew to my side and pointed at one of the targets , “ Bufu!”  The spell flew from his fingertips and hit the bullseye closest to me and it became encased in ice. I casted the spell, managed to hit the 2nd and the 3rd, but it barely managed to reach 4th and couldn’t travel further before exploding. She wrote down the results and set up some new targets. Each one made of a material“Alright Spike. Next let's test out how sharp Perseus’s khopesh is.” “Sure thing, Twilight. I have one question” I looked at her  “What’s a khopesh?” Twilight Sparkle points at Perseus sword “It is the name of the weapon Perseus uses. It was originally a tool that was used in the South of Equestria  as a way to harvest crops, but later used as a weapon for war.” “Huh,” Perseus replied “So that’s what this thing is called.” “Any more questions.” Twilight asked. We calmly shook our heads, “Arlight, then go.” Perseus zoomed toward the targets and started cutting them. As he did, It felt everything. The weight  of the sword as he swung it, the strength poured into every strike and impact as the blade collided with the targets. It was as if I was wielding it in my own two claws. “Interesting. Spike, come over here and see this,”  I walked over toward to her and looked at the graphs, “When you cast Bufu, you use up a bit of your magic energy, however when you used your kospepsh, you use of physical stamina as if you were holding it.” “That would explain why I lost so quickly,” We looked behind us and standing there under the entrance to the library was Princess Celestia and Flare Tyson, “I wasted most of my time crossing blades with Perseus.” “Flare, Princess Celestia.” “Princess Twilight,” Flare bows “Spike.” “Flare, how are you doing?.” “ We’re doing fine.” Twilight tilted her head, “Don’t you mean “I’m doing fine.” Flare shook his no “No. I meant we.” A familiar light formed around him and Aristodemus flew fourth from him.  “Aristodemus…huh?” I gazed upon the titan and noticed that he was different from before. His skin was now onyx, his armour and his weapons were now bronze dipped in crimson, and their flames were now  a burning orange. “He looks different.” “Different?” Twilight Sparkle scanned the hulking golem, “What did it look like when you first saw it.” “Well, when I first saw him he was mostly white and blue and not black and red.” “Yeah. I think this is what he originally supposed to look like.” “Originally…wait how did he change from that to what colors when I first met?” I gave them a description of what Flare’s Persona looked like when I first saw it and how it  “It sounds like you battled a reversed Persona.” I looked at Celestia in confusion, “Reversed Persona?” She nodded “A Reverse Persona happens when the user has difficulty or rejects an aspect or message of their Persona and accepts the aspect of its reverse meaning of their arcana.” (“Reverse meaning of their arcana…”)I looked at Flare and recalled what he said that , (does that mean Flare wanted to…I mean he was pushed back into a corner by Monty.)  “As a result fighting Reverse Persona tends to be dangerous as the users are not in the best mindset and will lash out if your not careful,” A familiar voice snapped out of my train of thoughts before I completely drifted into a dark place, “With that said, this brings to why I’m also here. I would like you,Flare, Twilight, and the other Bearers of Harmony to train alongside the guards.” Everypony stared at her like an idle cat reacting to a door opening, “Princess Celestia. Wait, did you say train with the guards.” Celestia nodded “ As it stands, none of the guards or any other ponies have any training or information on handling Persona users and you two are still getting familiar with yours. I’m hoping that if you all train together from times to time,” “Both groups will be prepared in handling any situation involving Persona ” Flare replied. Celestia nodded. He calmly shrugged, “If that's the case, I’ll join in. After all, I don't want to get hogtied again.” He looked at me  “I’ll go to,” Twilight levitated a notepad. “I want to lend my friends a fighting hoof and we need to gather as much information as would be helpful.  I didn’t need a minute to think about it. If there are other “If it can help, then I’ll join in.” “Very well. The training spot will be at the Castle training ground, beginning at 10 AM in  five days. Now if you excuse me, I have to go check up on a little project.” “I best be going before my boss blows a hole in the wall.” As he walked past me, he calmly said to me, “Meet me at Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow at noon.”    Sugar Cube Corner was busy today. Everypony was lined up inside of the tasty looking house to get their hooves on treats to satisfy their sweet tooth.  I was waiting to arrive. I decided to order a slice of pound cake and read more about the Phantom Thieves story. (“Man, These guys' Persona sound so cool. Maybe I should read their story when I have the chance. Question is which one should I read first. Arsene’s stories… maybe  Captain Kidd’s pirate adventure…Carmen…Goemon...or maybe…”) “Spike?”  A familiar voice broke my concentration. I looked up from my book and felt my heart skip a beat. “Rarity, what are you doing here?” “I was invited by Flare.” “Same here,” I responded, “Rarity, did Flare tell you why he wanted us to come here?” Rarity shook her head, “No. He just told me to come here. I’m guessing he also told you the same thing.” “And I'm also in the dark, but-”  I said,  “We’ll find out soon enough when he gets here.”  The door swung open and stand there was a tired Flare We were caught off guard by his words. Rarity spoke what was on our mind“Excuse me Flare, but what are you apologizing for?”  “For what happened that night in the forest.” “There is no need to apologize again. Besides, considering the situation, I would probably do something similar .” “True, but still I have to pay you back for what you did for me that day. If it weren’t for you two, who knows what I would have done.” “...you're not going to stop bothering us till we say yes?”  Rarity replied. Flare nodded his, “Okay…hmm. How about you help me and Spike gather gems. An extra hoof would be useful.” “Okay. ” He shifted his gaze toward me, “What about you Spike? What do you want?” I felt myself slip into deep thought. I didn’t help Flare because I wanted a reward. I helped him because I felt bad for him for what he went through. Still it would be rude to turn it down. I thought about for a bit then  “Can you teach me how to box?” He raised an eyebrow “May I ask why you want to learn to box especially considering you have a Persona and fire. ” “I want to learn to fight. I mean yeah I have Perseus, but what  if I get into a situation where I can’t use Perseus or my fire. I want to defend myself and anypony else if that happens.” “...Very well. I’ll teach you, but I’m not just gonna teach you how to box,” I was surprised by what he said, “Boxing has its weaknesses and not everypony going to follow Queensbury rules. I’ll teach you to box, but that will just be a basis. The end goal for this training is going to be how to street fight. It's not going to be easy, but if you're willing to put up with hard stuff, I’ll teach you.” “...Okay.” “Then we have a deal. We’ll start first thing tomorrow afternoon. Here-” He wrote down something on to a piece of paper and handed it to me, "Meet me at my place I feel a faint bond forming with Flare Tyson. “Now that's out of the way," He got up from his seat "I best grab some grub before the line gets any longer.” We spent the rest of our lunchtime eating pastries and talking about our jobs before leaving. To be continued