> Persona 5: The Phantom Thieves of Crystal Prep
>  by Golden Flare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Suspect confirmed! Cuff him!"

You felt something tight and metallic wrap itself around your wrist before you were knocked unconscious with a punch in your face.

...

......

.........

You felt like you were splashed with a full bucket of water...oh wait, you were. You find yourself in a confined room with three detectives who don't look very happy and your hands felt bound by a pair of handcuffs with the chair you were sitting in.

"So. Finally decided to join us in the land of the living, huh?"

You look up defiantly at the detective who spoke.

"Still don't get it, do you kid?"

The detective kicked you out of your chair and you fell to the floor with a groan and cough. He was handed a clipboard by one of the other detectives as he read off your list of crimes.

"Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons...manslaughter? Hmph. And all that violates your probation." He walks over to you with the clipboard and hands it to you along with a pen, "This is a confession written under your name. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't expect to walk out of here in one piece. We're going to MAKE you understand. One must take full responsibility for their actions."

You take them in both hands and scribble your signature on it and hand them back to the detective, who escorted you to an interrogation room with a table and two chairs and forcefully seated you on the chair facing the door.

"Someone will be coming to interrogate you further. Too bad. I really wanted to pummel you some more."

He left the room and you behind to think on what happened.

How did it all come to this? Why can't I remember? My memory's fuzzy...





Soon enough, someone DID come in, but it wasn't who you were expecting, you were expecting a prosecutor to confirm the story and evidence that was given to them.

You were not expecting Twilight Sparkle's mother, Twilight Velvet.

Oddly enough, you could recall that she wasn't just a prosecutor, but head of the Prosecutor's Office. You knew you were in trouble now.

She glares at you from across the table as she sits down, "Alright then, let's get started, shall we?" just then, she catches a needle out of the corner of her eye, knowing immediately that you were drugged with a truth serum, "Those bastards." she returns her attention to you, "I want to hear the entire truth from you. Why do this to begin with? Why risk your probation? What is the point of this whole thing?"

You hold your head, Why is she asking me these questions? I can't...wait. I can feel...pieces of my memory come back to me.

Velvet noticed your struggle and realized that you're just a kid, she decided to tone it down a little, "Okay...if you can recall, start from the beginning. And remember, we don't have much time."

You began to remember something...something that set things events into motion to begin with...

...The day you were charged with assault and taken to court.





You were taking a nightly walk around the community like you always do to clear your head, but a woman's scream broke the calm and quiet. Sensing that someone out there needed help, you ran towards the direction of the voice, hoping to get there before something bad happened. As you got closer you could hear voices.

"Get away from me!"

"Bitch, get your ass in the car!"

"Stay back or I'll call the police!"

"Lady, I OWN the police! They won't help you!"

Soon, you found the arguing couple (though in this situation you use the term loosely) and decided to intervene, making yourself known in the process.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?! Get lost, kid!"

Suddenly, you pull the man off the woman and throw him to the ground with unknown strength and incentive, the man started to get up as he growled.

"You little punk! I'm gonna sue!"

Not long after he said that, you heard sirens behind you and before you knew it, you were being dragged into a police car on false accusations.





Another memory surfaced and it showed you in a courtroom awaiting the verdict.

"...Guilty."

You ended up in a juvenile detention center for quite some time until you heard that you were being granted a probationary period, giving you a whole year to be on your best behavior until your sentence is lifted.

But unfortunately, things only went further downhill for you.

You found out that you have been expelled from your school and your parents decided to ship you off to Canterlot to live with a family friend of theirs, Cadence, the dean of Crystal Prep Academy. Speaking of which, you also learned that with your previous grades, you'll be attending said academy for the time you're on probation. After you packed all of your things, you gave your parents a hug and kiss goodbye as you headed off to catch your flight to reach your new place of residence for the next year.

After recalling those memories, you return your focus to Velvet for her take on your explanation, "I see...that's how it started, huh? What more can you remember?"

You try to remember what came after that, the flight was pretty boring and there was a kid kicking your seat the entire time, but eventually you arrived at Canterlot at the exact estimated time. After you got off, you looked around the busy streets waiting for a local bus to take you to this Cadence's humble home.

And that's when things got weird...
> 4/9 (Sun.)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/9, Sunday, Partly Cloudy
Afternoon

You received a chime on your phone and pull it out to see what it was, strangely enough, it was an app that you haven't even downloaded or even heard of. Curiosity getting the better of you, you press your finger on it to see what it does.

And you know the old saying: "curiosity killed the cat".

The moment you pressed the app, it was like time itself slowed down and stopped altogether. In the distance, you were able to make out a blue flame beyond the crowd, but it didn't feel like a flame. You stared at it for a little bit until it started to take shape of something you've never seen, then an playfully evil face emerged from it and the flame broke away to reveal yourself with a furrowed brow and a manic smile gracing your face.

Just then, in a flash of light, everything returned to normal, even the flame was gone. You looked back down to your phone and deleted the strange app without hesitation. With that done, you continued your trek to Cadence's home with the address marked on your phone.





After about an hour of walking, you finally arrived at Cadence's home; it looked to be a two-story house in a calm suburban neighborhood. With a little nervousness in your body, you walk up to the door and rang the doorbell, after a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a woman with pink skin, purple eyes with light blue eyeshadow, purple, pink, and gold hair, wearing a casual outfit that consists of a white t-shirt, dark purple sweatpants, and slippers.

She examined you up and down until she finally acknowledged you, "Are you the guy I'm supposed to be watching for the next year?"

You nod.

She hummed, "You know, for a problem child, you're actually pretty punctual. Anyway, come in, I'm just starting dinner."

You accept her invitation and step inside the house, she walks into the kitchen as you admire the interior; despite it being a fancy house, everything was surprisingly modest, normal couch, normal TV, everything in this house wasn't extremely fancy, but usable.

"Hey, are you coming to help? I could use another pair of hands."

Deciding that you did enough looking around, you wander into the kitchen and help Cadence with dinner, which consisted of macaroni and cheese, pork chops, and Caesar salad, and big helpings of it all too. You asked her if this was all for you two, and she giggled.

"No, my boyfriend and his family are coming for dinner tonight."

You suddenly became anxious, Cadence noticed this and placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Don't worry, I told them you were coming and that you weren't going to hurt me."

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and Cadence laughed.

"You worry too much, you must be scared of your predicament, aren't you?"

You didn't answer, you didn't get a chance when the doorbell rang again.

"Shoot! They're early! I'll get the door, you stir the macaroni!"

You nod and she rushes to the door, you began to stir the food lightly, so you don't wreck it. After Cadence let her family in, she guides them to the kitchen.

"...Dinner isn't completely ready yet, but I have someone helping me with it." Cadence introduces you to her boyfriend's family and you simply waved.

"So...this is the problem child we heard about?" A white skinned guy asked with caution in his tone and holding a pinkish-purple girl who looks to be your age.

"Shining Armor! Be nice!" A gray skinned woman chastised.

A blue skinned man stepped forward, "Now then, you're the new kid with the criminal record, right?" you nod hesitantly, he smiled, "Well, I think you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, if that wasn't true then you wouldn't be helping Cadence right now. You're okay in my book."

Everyone else smiled at you, except for Shining Armor and the girl, both of which seem to still be cautious of you. Soon enough, dinner was finished and you all sat in the dining room to eat, everyone initiated in dinner conversation, but you remained quiet, not wanting to interrupt, you may be sitting at dinner with these people, but you were still considered a criminal.

"...What about you?"

You look up from your food to see everybody at the table staring at you as Twilight Velvet addressed you.

"Huh?" you say with confusion.

"What do you plan to do while you're here? My daughter's going to Camp Everfree for a week, and you have school tomorrow, surely you don't intend to completely focus on your studies instead of having fun."

You should choose your words carefully...

"...I don't know. I'll have to see what this place has to offer." you answer.

Mrs. Velvet beamed, "Oh, there's plenty to do here! You just have to find what suits you best!"

You nod in confirmation and continue eating.

"Oh, and dear?"

You turn to Mrs. Velvet.

"Try not to be so reclusive. Just because you have a criminal record doesn't mean you should shut yourself away from everyone else."

You were rendered silent for the rest of dinner, as you now had a lot on your mind.





4/9, Sunday, Partly Cloudy
Evening

Not long after dinner, everyone began to leave, but the girl from before stopped to speak with you briefly.

"Um...thank you for helping Cadence with dinner...my name is Twilight...Twilight Sparkle...well, have a good night."

She and the rest of her family left, leaving me with Cadence, who walked up to me.

"Alright, time for bed, school is tomorrow and we both need our sleep. I'll show you to your room."

You decided that it was best to get some sleep, you had a feeling school wasn't going to be easy in the morning. Cadence brought to her guest room upstairs, it didn't have much, just the necessities you need to get by.

"Good night, kiddo. See you in the morning!"

With that, Cadence left you alone to your devices. With nothing to do, you decided to plop onto the bed and rest for the night. Just then, you received another chime, you grabbed your phone and saw the same app from before, you deleted it again because it was really starting to weird you out and went to sleep.

4/9, Sunday
Velvet Room

You awoke with a gasp and viewed your surroundings, it appears that you were in some kind of prison with blue velvet walls.

This is a weird dream, but...why does it feel so real? you thought.

A giggle grabs your attention to the door of your cell, you see two young girls, most likely twelve years of age, both of them wearing blue and black prison warden outfits and an eye patch on a different eye than the other. Beyond them you see a man with pointy ears, bulging eyes, bald with gray hair along the sides of his head, a big smile, and the longest nose you've ever seen, wearing a black suit, everything about this guy screamed business, seriousness, and playfulness all at the same time.

"Welcome, Trickster...to my Velvet Room." he spoke in a deep voice.

You tried opening the door, but it was no use, it felt like it was bolted shut.

"So you've come to, inmate." one of the girls said.

"The you in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream." the other spoke.

"You are in the presence of our master, stand up straight!"

"Welcome." the man said, "I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dreams and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well. I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."

"Let me out!" you demanded as tried the door again, but you stopped when the more abrasive girl hit the bars with an electric baton.

"Know your place, inmate! Who do you think you're talking to!?"

"Still, this is a surprise...the state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a 'prisoner' of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."

"Ruin?" you ask.

"I speak of the end of everything. However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated toward freedom...that is your only means to avoid ruin...do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

"I'd rather avoid ruin." you answer.

"Allow me to observe the path to your rehabilitation." suddenly, the two girls turned about face to you, "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."

"Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like." Caroline dared.

"The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators...that is, if you remain obedient." Justine explained.

"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion." Igor took over the conversation as Caroline and Justine turned back to him, "Now then, it seems the night is waning...it is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually..."

Suddenly, a loud bell rang all throughout the Velvet Room, startling you.

"Time's up." Caroline said, "Now hurry up and go back to sleep."

You tried the door one more time, but you passed out before you could do anything.
> 4/10 (Mon.)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/10, Monday, Sunny
Early Morning

You woke up from the most strangest dream you've ever had in a long time.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Hey, you awake? Breakfast is ready! Hurry up, we gotta be at the school early!"

That was Cadence.

You chose not to dawdle and head for breakfast. It was simple, waffles with maple syrup, you honestly preferred simple breakfasts like this. As you sat down, Cadence spoke up.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Your school uniform!"

You raise an eyebrow.

"Crystal Prep has a strict dress code, all students must wear their uniforms during school hours."

You sigh, you hated schools like that, all severe and serious about who wears what, but you know it couldn't be helped. You continued eating your breakfast as Cadence brings down your new uniform for school, you change into it and prepared to leave with Cadence. As you two were on the road, she chose to fill you in at a stop light.

"Okay, when we're at CPA, you refer to me as Dean Cadence, I don't like being so formal, but Principal Cinch demands it, especially since she's been extra intense after the Friendship Games."

Friendship Games?

Did something major occur?

"Also, come to me if you have any problems. One last thing, you don't have to like her, but at least tolerate Principal Cinch, but above all, do NOT trust her, she tried to blackmail Twilight to compete in the Friendship Games."

Blackmail?

This Principal Cinch sounds like she could be trouble, you make a mental note to be wary of her. The light turns green and you two continued toward the school. As you arrived, you couldn't help but gawk at the scene before you; the school looked absolutely fancy, shimmering crystal walls, a barred gate to keep intruders out, this place was the pinnacle of schools.

Cadence giggled at your reaction, "Enjoying the view?" but then her amusement turned into seriousness, "But don't be fooled. The students are still growing accustomed to making friends and Principal Cinch has made the teachers more strict in their teaching, so be careful."

You nod and you both get out of the car, heading into the school. Inside, you can almost taste the tension in the atmosphere; someone was cautious of each other, the teachers glared at every student that passed by, all in all, it didn't look pleasant.

Cadence grabbed your wrist, "C'mon, we should go to the Principal's Office to get your schedule."

You followed her lead and went to the Prinicpal's Office, ignoring the tense students, staff, and faculty.





As it turns out, the Principal's Office was on the second floor of this school and was only accessible through a staircase separate from the rest of the school.

Talk about an ego. you thought.

Cadence opens the door and guides you to a stool in front of the principal's desk, the chair behind said desk was turned so the back was facing you, no doubt the Principal was trying to make a dramatic appearance.

"Principal Cinch? The new transfer student is here." Cadence said.

"Good." Cinch spun her chair to face you both, "Your name is," she addressed you by your given name and family name, "is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." you respond.

Cinch nods, "Glad to see that even a criminal can speak to a principal respectfully."

You couldn't tell if that was a compliment or an insult, it felt like a mix of both.

"You had phenomenal grades in your previous school, did you not?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And do you have any special talents that may contribute to this school?"

"Um...none that I know of, ma'am."

"Hmm..." Cinch leaves her chair and walks over to the trophy case along the side wall, "In case you did not know, Crystal Prep has a reputation, a reputation that must be maintained, as it is responsible for everything we have here, for everything our students have done here...even one who turned her back on this school for friendship."

You can feel the murderous intent coming from Cadence, but she kept her calm exterior.

"But that is a tale for another time. Back to brass tacks, you will be here for an entire year, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." you answer.

"I have a good feeling about you, a good feeling that you could excel better than Twilight Sparkle ever did." Cadence's dangerous aura intensified, "You better keep your record clean, child, or I shall clean it myself." she hands you a piece of paper, "Here is your schedule, I looked over your previous school's records and found several classes for you to take. But before you leave, Cadence, could you step outside for a moment?"

"Of course." as she leaves, she turns to you and mouths, "Watch yourself".

The moment you are left alone with Principal Cinch, she sneers smugly, "I think it's time I was honest with you. You see, the real reason I let you into our school was to reform and reintegrate a criminal like you back into society, something that Canterlot High has never done. So, let me offer you a deal: in return for keeping your nose out of trouble and focusing on your studies, I will use the influence I have with this school's reputation to guarantee your approval into any college of your choice..." you were about to speak, but Cinch continued, "...Though I suppose I could also simply...expel you."

Your eyes went wide at Cinch's proposal, Cadence was right, she truly IS underhanded!

"What do you think I should do?"

...

......

.........

You HAVE no other options!





4/10, Monday, Sunny
Morning

After THAT little episode, you went on your way to your first class and sat down at a secluded desk. The teacher was going through his morning lecture, which you paid close attention to, didn't want Principal Cinch to expel you for ignorance, did you?





4/10, Monday, Sunny
Lunchtime

Lunch period came around and you got your food already; some fancy stuff that you've never heard of, but you knew it was edible. You sat down at a separate table from everyone else and began eating. As you were halfway through your food, five girls came up to you with hesitant looks on their faces.

"Umm...is it alright if we sit with you?" the lime green haired girl spoke to you.

You swallow what you have in your mouth, "May I ask why?"

"We assumed you had no friends here since you're new and thought we'd give you some company." the girl wearing glasses answered bluntly.

You blinked, "...Um...okay, I guess?"

The five newcomers joined you and you all ate together in silence. The anxiousness in the air was so obvious that you'd have to be blind not to see it.





4/10, Monday, Sunny
After School

The final bell rang and everyone left school in a hurry, except for you, you were waiting for Dean Cadence to pick you up. Just then, you were approached by one of the girls you met at lunch, you recall her name was Indigo Zap.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey..." you mimic cautiously.

She sighs, "Sorry if...we came on too strong."

"Huh?"

"We're trying our best to understand friendship, but thanks to Cinch, she's slamming with so much work that we can't even try! I mean, she wants us to be disciplined, but she's WAY too strict, even for this school! Sometimes it feels more like we're in one of those army drill camps."

Just then, a chime came from your phone, and when you pulled it out to see, that app was back again.

"Huh? What's that app?"

Suddenly, you felt the world around you warp and distort into something else, but you don't know what it was.

"WHOA!! What the...!"

You look toward Indigo and saw the school change into what looked to be an armed forces' base of operations.

"What happened to the school!?"

"I don't know...but I think we should check it out." you suggest.

"You think so?"

You shrug, "Wouldn't hurt to try."

"Well...alright, if you say so."

The two of you entered the base to see what was going on, but little did you two know that you were in for a world of danger...





Present Day

You clutch your head as finish your memory.

"I see..." Velvet spoke, "So you accidently stumbled upon a different world...through a cellphone app."

"You sound like you actually believe me." you remark.

"That's left to be decided. Now, what happened in that other world? The Metaverse, as you call it?"

You try to remember what happened beyond the point you and Indigo entered the armed base...





4/10, Monday
Metaverse

After entering the base, you immediately notice the walls were draped with flags baring the Shadowbolt mark of your school, which in itself was weird. All the students around you two were dressed in outfits similar to the school uniform, more so like combat suits, and marching through the hallways like soldiers in a war.

"What's going on!? What happened to the school!? It's all...warfare like!" Indigo said.

"I don't know." you answer.

"This is too weird for me! Let's get outta here!"

"Agreed."

You two began to leave the premises, but you were stopped by several of the Shadowbolt Soldiers.

"Freeze!" one of them ordered, "Why aren't you two in uniform!?"

"Uh...we kinda are?" Indigo said.

"That may be a uniform, but it's not ours! Troops! Apprehend them!"

The troops advanced on the both of you and used their assault rifles to rifle-butt you behind the heads. You heard one last thing before you completely blacked out.

"Take them to the cell block!"





...

......

.........

"...ey...ake up..."

...

"...Wake up..."

...

"...Dude, wake up!"

With a gasp of air, you awoke and sat up, hyperventilating to regain any lost air when you were unconscious, after you got enough air, you looked around the prison you two were in, "Where are we?"

"My guess, a prison cell." Indigo said.

You sigh, "This was a bad idea."

"No shit, Sherlock."

After that remark, two guards accompanied by Principal Cinch arrived, but something about Cinch was different, instead of her usual business-like attire, she wore a Shadowbolt military outfit that made her appear to be an admiral and she had golden yellow eyes.

"Principal Cinch!? What's going on here!? And what's with that getup!?"

One of the guards punched Indigo in the face, knocking her to the floor, "Show some respect for Admiral Cinch!"

"Ugh..." Indigo groaned in pain.

The other guard saluted to Cinch(?), "Admiral, what should we do with these two?"

"Since these two don't know how things work around here...shoot them both dead." Cinch(?) ordered.

The two guards each pulled out a handgun and leveled them at yours and Indigo's heads.

"W-What...?" Indigo was in shock.

"...Start with Ms. Zap, since she has shown such blatant disrespect of me." Cinch(?) commanded.

Indigo was frozen with fear as were you, the gun pointed at your head was also incentive to remain where you were. You watched helplessly as the guard aiming the gun at Indigo pulled back the recoil hammer and readied herself to pull the trigger. Just then, you heard an unfamiliar voice.

What's wrong? Are you just going to watch the closest thing you have to a friend die? Are you surrendering her to save your own skin? Death will claim her if you don't do something. Was the choice you made a mistake?

You immediately remembered the incident with that aggressive man and defenseless woman, "No..."

The guard placed her finger on the trigger.

Fine then...I have accepted your answer.

You felt your body pulsate and you scream as a rush of power was coursing through your veins.

Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I...thou art willing to commit several disgraceful acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! Show thy strength to ascertain all on thine own, even if thou became chained to Tartarus itself!!

You glared at your enemies with defiance and determination.

"Fire on my mark!" Cinch(?) ordered.

"...I will end your madness." you uttered.

"Huh? What did you say to me, child!?"

Your enemies' focus turned to you.

"You wish to die first? Very well!"

The guard pointing the gun at you pulled back the recoil hammer.

"Ready!"

The guard readied her trigger finger.

"Aim!"

You felt something within you grow.

"FIRE—"

And explode outward in a sudden gust of wind, knocking the guards away from you and Cinch(?) and Indigo stared at you in shock. You felt something stuck on your face, it felt like a mask, it was black with a red gem above your face, and it fit solely on your eyes, leaving your mouth uncovered, you desperately tried to take it off and when you did, you felt your skin peeling off your face, once it came off, the upper part of your face was covered in blood.

And you immediately felt the change.

The power.

With a manic smile, you looked up at your aggressors with golden yellow eyes and a blue aura emitted from you as the blood vanished and your whole body was coated in the same aura and took shape as something else as it appeared above you and your eyes returned to their normal color, you felt like it was a part of you, so you didn't resist as you unleashed a powerful wave of energy and blew away the guards. Cinch(?) tried to step away as Indigo stared at you in shock and awe.

"So...awesome..." she uttered.

You continued to stare with that same smile, knowing that this battle was already won. The blue aura finished forming and dissipated to reveal another being; a warrior wearing golden draconian armor, complete with a helmet that covered the entirety of its face and armored wings, wielding a golden shield and a unique sword.





"I am the god of thunder, Zeus!" he declared, "I am the rebellious side of your soul. If you so desire, I will lend you my strength to escape this trial."

"Give me your power." you said.

"Hmph...as you wish."

Cinch(?) spoke in shock, "What are you...? What in the hell ARE you!?" she regained her composure and barked her orders, "Guards!" they stood up, "Start the bloodshed with that one!" The Shadowbolt Soldiers transformed into two floating carved pumpkins each wearing a wizard's hat and cloak and carrying a lantern, "You shall feel the full might of my army!"

You felt the world slightly shift around you into a small battlefield.

"Despise the enemies before you! Change that hatred into power, and unleash it!" Zeus advised.

You felt your emotions well up within you, and you released it as a bolt of lightning that hit one of the strange Jack-o-Lanterns, whom of which charged at you in retaliation, doing significant damage to you.

"Swing your blade!"

You had no idea what he was talking about...until you noticed the knife with lightning bolt shaped blade in your hand. You took a chance and rushed towards the Jack-o-Lantern you attacked with the lightning, sliced upwards as you jumped into the air, and stabbed it on top of the head, making it vanish in black mist. The last enemy tried to mow you down, but you jumped out of the way.

"This power of mine...is yours! Kill them however you want! Run wild to your heart's content!"

You finished off the last opponent with a powerful knife attack, making its fate the same as its comrade. You felt yourself grow stronger and, for some reason, your pockets heavier with money. After the battle ended, the world warped back to the prison cell and you took notice of your new attire; you were wearing a black full-body suit with dark blue kneecap guards and a black cape-like coat with dark purple in the interior along with the mask you recently ripped off your face over your eyes.

"What the hell was that!?" Indigo demanded.

Cinch(?) began to approach you to with a handgun of her own, "You vile brat!"

Indigo got up and body slammed Cinch(?), "Ha, ya like that, ya blackmailing whore!?"

You saw a key ring that she dropped, "Lock the cell!"

"Huh? Oh, right!" Indigo swiped the keys and locked the door behind her as you two exited, "Got it!"

"Insolent children!" Cinch(?) roared as she got back up.

"What happened back there!? And what in the creator's name are you wearing!?" Indigo asked you.

Suddenly, in a flash of blue, your school uniform returned to you.

"Whoa! It changed!?"

Cinch(?) banging on the bars broke the two of you from your conversation, "You devil kids!"

Indigo growled, "Agh, this is too messed up! Let's get outta here before we have to deal with a welcoming committee!"

You two began to run as Indigo dumped the keys in a nearby wastebasket, Cinch(?) kept yanking on the door to open it, but to no avail.

"Goddamn thieving whiners!" Cinch(?) saw her reinforcements arrive, "After them! Do NOT let them leave here alive!!"

As you and Indigo continue through the hallways, you noticed some of the walls are marked, "CELL BLOCK C".

"Hey! Stop messing around and let's go!" Indigo shouted, "I found a stairway! C'mon!"

You two enter the stairway and climb up until you reached the very top, you burst through the door only to find more prison cells and the walls marked, "CELL BLOCK B".

"DAMMIT!!" Indigo cursed.

"Hey, who's there?"

That was a voice you didn't recognize.

You look over to one of the cells and see a strange cat-looking thing standing on two legs instead of four like normal.

"Lemme outta here!" it said.

"Sweet Faust...a talking cat thing!" Indigo shouted.

"What!? I'm not a cat!" it argued, "Anyway, keep your voice down! The Shadows will find you if you keep that up!"

"Oh, man...this is getting to be too much! Let's just keep looking for the exit!" Indigo said in a frantic tone.

"Wait!" it called, "If you break me outta here, I'll show you the way out!"

"W-What!? You gotta be yankin' me!"

"It's the truth, I swear!"

"What do we do, man!?" she asked you.

"Hey, did you hear something?"

"I think it came from this direction!"

It sounded like rough voices headed this way. The guards are catching up!

"Listen, you can stumble around until you get caught again, or you can take your chances with me and actually get somewhere!" the cat made a convincing argument.

"A-Alright, alright!" Indigo opened the cell door and the cat thing came out and stretched.

"Ah, it's good to be free again!"

"Alright, ya freaky cat! Get us outta here!"

"I told you I'm not a cat! And I have a name! It's Morgana!" it said.

"Let's just go already!"

Morgana led you and Indigo to another stairway, after climbing it you burst through the door and came face to face with two more guards.

"Oh, crap! They found us!" Indigo shouted in fear as your strange outfit appeared once more.

"Amateur!" Morgana jumped over her and stood in front of you two, "Hey, kid, you can fight, right?"

You nod.

"Then let's go! Come! Odin!"

Morgana glowed the same blue aura as you and another being came forth; it was a tall, elderly man with an extremely long beard, wearing Nordic garments and shoulder guards with a long spike protruding out of each one, wielding a gold staff.





"Y-You got one of those things, too!?" Indigo asked him.

The guards morphed into more creatures; the Jack-o-Lantern from before and a winged demon.

Morgana crossed his arms, "Hmph. We will promptly shut them up!"

The battle begun once again as you and Morgana prepared to fight while he pulled a sword out from...somewhere.

"Damn Shadows...they've taken up intercept positions! It means they're holding nothing back and are serious to kill us! I'll back you up, so fight like your life depends on it! Let's go!"

Because it kinda does. you thought.

You summoned your other self, Zeus, and called down a lightning bolt like before on the Jack-o-Lantern.

Morgana smirks, "Hmph, I knew you were an amateur. This is how you fight! Odin, show them your power!"

Odin came out and a gust of wind knocked the Jack-o-Lantern completely off balance, which surprised you.

"Strike at an enemy's weakness to knock them down! Use that opening to strike again! That's the most basic of basics! Remember it well! C'mon, let's hurry and get through this!"

You nod and prepare yourself for a retaliation response, but none came as Morgana attacked again, perhaps he had a point.

"Persona!" Odin came forth again and struck the flying demon, but it didn't fall flat like the Jack-o-Lantern. The demon attacked Morgana as the Jack-o-Lantern rose up and attacked him.

Now it was your turn, you couldn't screw this up!

You called Zeus and finished off the demon with another bolt of lightning as Morgana followed up with an attack with his sword, destroying the freaky pumpkin. You suddenly became even stronger, as if you "leveled up" inside a game, but you knew better. After that battle was over, you took a breather from fighting so hard.

"Not bad. Your Persona's pretty powerful." Morgana complimented.

"Persona...?" Indigo questioned, "Are you talking about the people that come outta you guys all dramatic like?"

"Yes. You saw how the kid here ripped off his mask when he summoned it, right?" Morgana began to explain, "Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that..."

But he didn't get a chance to continue as you transformed back to normal.

"What the...? He changed back again..." Indigo noticed.

"Hm, it looks like you don't have full control over your power yet." Morgana said, "The transformation shouldn't normally dissolve like that. After all—"

"Ugh, stop already! This doesn't make any damn sense!"

"Can't you just sit still and listen for one second, Goggles!?"

"That's not my name! It's Indigo Zap!"

"Hold up! There's no time for me to lecture either of you! You wanna escape this place without being in tiny pieces, right? Let's move! Oh! Before we continue on, take these. Use them carefully, alright?"

Morgana hands you three little jars, they look like medicine, so you stuff them into your pockets with your newly acquired money.

"Okay, let's get moving. The exit should be one more floor up."

The three of you start running to find another stairway to lead you to the exit.

"Just make sure you don't tire out all your energy, okay? There's still a chance that we'll have to fight again."

As you three continue to find the way out. Indigo notices other people within the compound, some of them being students from your school. After dawdling for too long, you and Morgana had to fight again, but luckily you won yet another battle and pressed forward to the next stairway. Once you climb up, and make sure there weren't any guards behind the door, you enter and notice two things; one, the walls are marked with the words, "CELL BLOCK A", and two, there's a hardly noticeable, beat up vent cover propped up on the wall nearby.

"Hey, where's the exit!?" Indigo demanded.

"Amateur. This is the most basic of basics." Morgana lectured.

"A ventilation shaft?" you guess.

"That's right! As I thought, you're a natural at this." Morgana praised. "I used this entrance before I got caught, if you follow it straight out, it'll take you outside this base."

"Alright, let's go!" Indigo began to crawl, but then realized if you go behind her, you'll look under her skirt, the thought made her blush, "Hold on...you go first."

"Just hurry up and get going already!"

"What about you?"

"There's still something I have to do. We're going our separate ways."

"Don't get caught again, Morgana." you said.

"Heh, you be careful too, kid. See ya."

As Indigo requested, you went in first and she followed, but if you two stayed any longer, you would've heard Morgana's mumbling.

"Those two seem useful...especially the kid, if my judgement's right..."




4/10, Monday, Sunny
After School

You felt the world warp back to normal as you and Indigo find your way back to the front gates of the school.

Indigo was panting as she was out of breath, "Did we...make it...?"

You looked at your phone as an automated voice spoke from it, "You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."

"Returned? I guess that means we got out safely."

"Most likely." you said.

Indigo sighed exasperatedly, "Good." she then focused on you, "The hell was all that...? That base, then Cinch, and now a weird cat!" she clutched her head, "What's going on here!?"

"There you are!"

You both turn to see Cadence running up to you.

"I was so worried! Where have you been!?"

Indigo began to explain, "We were just leaving the school, when all of a sudden there was this—" you place a hand on her shoulder and slowly shake your head, "What are you...!?"

"Give us a minute." you say to Cadence as you pull Indigo to the side, "If I told you what we just saw, would you believe me?"

Indigo opened her mouth...and couldn't think of what to say. She knew you had a point.

"Fine." she relented.

You nod and turn back to Cadence, "I got lost in the school and Indigo was showing me the way back."

"Y-Yeah. That's right."

Cadence smiled, "Well, I'm just glad you're okay and that you're making friends. We should get home now, though. It's spaghetti night."

"Yeah, I gotta get going, too. My folks will worry if I'm gone too long. See ya, pal!"

Indigo ran off into the direction of the city as you and Cadence got in her car and drove back home.




4/10, Monday, Sunny
Evening

You were completely exhausted before, during, and after dinner, so you immediately went to bed afterwards.

That armed base...

What WAS that all about?

And Morgana...what's his deal?

You decided to think on this another day.

Tonight was dreamless...
> 4/11 (Tues.)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/11, Tuesday, Cloudy
Early Morning

You wake up well rested and head down for breakfast, just plain cereal this time, as you and Cadence got ready to head out the door, your head felt like it was thrown into the ocean as you lost your balance and hit the floor, Cadence panicking the whole time.





4/11, Tuesday
Velvet Room

You find yourself in your cell from the other night and Caroline, Justine, and Igor were before you again.

"About time you've come to. On your feet, inmate!" Caroline ordered, banging on the bars with her baton.

"Our master has something important he'd like to discuss with you." Justine said.

"To start, I apologize for abruptly bringing you here against your will, and would like to celebrate our reunion. It appears that you have finally awakened to your powers. Your rehabilitation can now begin."

"Powers?" you ask.

"There is no need to understand for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, the power that you have awakened. A Persona is like a 'mask'—a facade that you use to shield the real you as you face life's trials. I have high expectations for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Do not worry yourself. You will come to understand it when the time is right. By the by, have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between realities and Palaces."

"Metaverse? Navigator?"

"...I bestowed upon you so I could train you as a thief."

"The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, inmate!" Caroline said.

"Devote yourself to your training and you will become a fine thief." Justine added.

Igor took back over, "It must be disheartening to use the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who are beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief."

Once again, the loud bell rang.

"Hmph, it's time. Go back to your daily routine, inmate."

The Velvet Room fades out as you return to the waking world.





4/11, Tuesday, Cloudy
Early Morning

You open your eyes to find yourself back in your temporary home with Cadence pressing against your chest and giving you mouth to mouth.

She stops when she sees you come to, "Oh, thank the creator! You're okay!"

"Ugh...sorry, I don't know what happened." you lied.

"It's okay...you don't have to go to school today."

"No. I have to. Cinch is pretty much holding me at gun point about this."

She sighs, "Alright, let's go then."

You two head out to the car and to the school.





4/11, Tuesday, Cloudy
Morning

The teacher begins his morning lecture.

"Alright, class, today we're going to be talking about mythical gods. Hey! Kid!"

You completely focus on the teacher.

"It's been said that Zeus is the God of Thunder, but what is he also the god of?"

"...The Sky."

"Hm! I see someone has done their homework! Yes! Zeus is the God of Thunder AND The Sky! Good work!"

It seems you are recognized by your classmates.

You feel your knowledge grow.





4/11, Tuesday, Cloudy
After School

As you walk down the steps to the front gate, you see Indigo conversing with Cadence. You can't hear what they're saying, but walk to them anyway.

Cadence turns to you, "...And there he is now. You two be careful."

With that, Cadence walks away and you ask Indigo why she just left.

Indigo answered, "I convinced her to let me walk you back home."

"Why?" you ask.

Indigo narrowed her eyes, "Because there's something we need to talk about."

You sigh, knowing that this was going to happen at some point, but you didn't think it would be this soon.

Indigo pulled you to the side so nobody else could hear you two, "Look, I tried to tell myself that what we saw was a dream, but I couldn't. It was too real for me to dismiss, so I need your help."

You thought about this for a moment...

"Okay, I don't have any homework tonight, so I'm free." you answer.

"Really!? Alright!" Indigo cheered, then went back to keeping her voice down, "So, after doing a lot of thinking...I think your phone might have a link to that armed base."

You pretended to look skeptical, since you remember what Igor said.

"I'm not playing around! Here, lemme borrow your phone for a sec."

You pull out your phone and she just swipes it out of your hand. She scrolls through the applications in it until she find the red app marked with a weird eyeball.

"Huh? What's with this weird-looking app? Is that supposed to be an eyeball?"

"It looks kinda cool." you comment.

"I don't think that's the word I would use to describe this thing...wait." she taps it and it comes up, she proceeds to check its search history and finds what she's looking for, "I was right! This is a navigation app! This is the thing that took us to that base! Look!" she shoves the phone in your face, "The search history doesn't lie!"

You read the search history to yourself as it comes up and it shows that you were indeed that base, "...So it is."

"Let's try it out!" Indigo taps the selection on the search history and it reads back what was said yesterday.

"Cinch...school...strict...camp...beginning navigation." the Metaverse Navigator spoke.

"Sweet!" Indigo said, "Now we just gotta follow this and..."

Suddenly, a familiar warping sensation surrounds you and Indigo as the armed base appears again.

"Hey, did you feel that...?" she then looks at the base, "It worked! It's the base from yesterday!" Indigo ran up near the front entrance, "We made it back...that means everything that happened yesterday was real!" Indigo noticed your attire changed back to the black disguise, "Gah! Your clothes!"

You look at yourself and nearly jump out of your skin.

"That happened last time too, didn't it!? What's with that getup!?"

"No clue, honestly." you answered.

"What the hell's going on here!? This makes no goddamn sense!"

"Hey!" you both turn to see Morgana approach you two, "Stop making a commotion."

"It's you!?" Indigo asked.

But Morgana continued like he didn't hear her, "The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be...to think you two would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."

"What is this place? Isn't this our school?"

"Yup."

"But it's some kind of army camp!"

"This camp IS the school. But only to the camp's admiral."

"The camp's admiral...?"

"I think you called her Cinch. This is how her distorted heart views the school."

"Cinch...distorted...?" Indigo got frustrated, "Explain it a little better please!"

Morgana sighed, "I shouldn't have expected a muscle-head to get it."

"What did you call me!?" a scream came from inside the base, "What was that!?"

"It must be the prisoners captive here."

"You serious!?" another scream came out, "Shit...it's for real! We didn't see many of them, but they looked like some of the weaker hearted students of CPA."

"Most likely on Cinch's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here." Morgana turned to you, "What's more, you two escaped yesterday. She must've lost her temper quite a bit."

"That bitch...!"

"Indigo...?"

"...This is BULLSHIT!" Indigo ran up and started pounding on the door, "You hear me, Cinch!?"

Morgana sighed, "Doing that isn't gonna open the door, you know...still, it seems you have your reasons."

Indigo walked up to him, "Hey, Gormana!"

"It's Morgana!" he corrected, irritated.

"You know where those voices are comin' from, right...?"

Morgana looked unsure, "You want me to take you to them?" He turned back to you again, "...Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if he comes with us."

You nod with no hesitation, "Let's go."

Morgana jumps, "It's settled then!"

Indigo looked genuinely excited as she spoke, "For real...!? Thanks man."

"Alright, let's do this. Follow me!"

Morgana lead the two of you back to the vent you escaped from the first time, giving a brief explanation about how to go about entering the camp.

"This is our infiltration point."

"Hey, isn't that where we escaped those prison cells last time...?" Indigo asked.

"That's right. Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery."

"How are we supposed to know stuff like that...?"

Morgana started crawling into the vent, "I'll make sure to teach you as we go. Come on, follow me!"

As Morgana continued in, Indigo turns to face you with a slight regretful look on her face, "So, uh...sorry for, you know, dragging you into all this." She then looked fierce, "But I can't forgive that bitch Cinch running us ragged just because we sided with Canterlot High during the Friendship Games!"

You believe you have found the answer to your question from before.

Something major happened during the Friendship Games that caused Principal Cinch to be much more strict and ruthless. But at the same time, you still do not have an answer for what EXACTLY happened that day.

Indigo's expression shifted into something like gratitude, "Really though, thanks for coming along. I owe you big time!"

It seems you will have to ask about what happened at the Friendship Games another time, right now you and Indigo had a mission.

Indigo suddenly blushed when she remembered what almost happened last time, "Well, a-anyway, you go on in first."

You raise an eyebrow in confusion.

Indigo narrowed her eyes, "Do you seriously wanna look up my skirt?"

Your eyes widened in realization, making you blush as you shook your head furiously.

"Good choice."





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block A

After crawling through the vent, the group of three reentered the cell block they previous escaped from.

"Geez, this place is as creepy and depressing as always." Indigo commented.

"I know. Now, make sure you guys do exactly as I say, alright?" Morgana advised, then ran in a certain direction, "...Follow me!"

You two did as told and followed Morgana to what looked to be the main lobby inside the base.

"Uh...didn't we come here when we went through the front door...?" Indigo asked, then jumped as both the base and the school shifted together for a moment and went back to the base, "What the...!? Was I drugged or something at lunch!? I just saw double! Was that Crystal Prep!?"

"I told you already, the place is your school." Morgana explained again, "Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around. You never know when a Shadow might pop up out of nowhere. Come on, let's go!"

The both of you followed Morgana once again and found a different stairway that led to the lower cell blocks.





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block B

You three climbed down the steps into the second cell block, but then had to hide when a military guard was patrolling the area and nearly spotted them.

"Damn...I had a feeling there would be guards here...it looks like we won't be able to avoid conflict from this point forward." Morgana griped.

"Y-You serious?" Indigo asked, suddenly not so sure this was a good idea.

Morgana then developed a determined expression, "Oh well. I'll just teach you the basics of battle right now. You had better remember all of this. As a rule of thumb, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attack them from behind whenever possible. You'll need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them. If you succeed in doing exactly that, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to move in for a preemptive attack."

You process all the information at once, and in a way, it makes sense to you. You mentally noted all of the intel and prepare yourself to launch a sneak attack.

"So we're gonna ambush them and go for the first hit...I like it!" Indigo said, regaining her confidence.

"Uh, you do know you're just going to be watching, right? You can't use a Persona." Morgana pointed out, "Anyway, let's go!"

You nod and wait for the guard to turn its back, once it did, you charge in from behind, jump onto its shoulders, and tightly gripped its mask.

"I'll reveal your true form." you say with finality.

With one firm yank, the mask ripped clean off the guard, making it morph and beginning the battle with, not surprisingly, another jack-o-lantern.

"Great job! The first move is ours!" Morgana said.

You nod and summon your Persona, calling down a lightning bolt on the enemy.

Morgana was up next and summoned his own Persona, "Witness my resolve!" with that, a gust of wind tore through the Shadow, destroying it. "Yeah! Victory!"

You felt yourself grow stronger, and even more money weighed in your pockets, along with an item or two as you three pressed on forward. Your group continued through the prison block, Indigo immediately realizing that the prisoners were missing.

"Where they all go!? Dammit, they were here last time!"

"Quiet down!" Morgana hushed.

"Wait, I remember there were more of them deeper in...!" Indigo ran off after saying that.

Morgana turned to you, "They must've been transferred already..."

Indigo rushed back to you two, "Crap, I hear a lot footsteps coming this way!"

"It would be a problem if they discovered us now." Morgana went to the door across the hall from where you stood, "Hey guys, let's hide in this room. We should lay low until they pass by."

With no hesitation whatsoever, you all ran into what seemed to be a safe room.





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block Safe Room

Once you've all settled in, Morgana spoke again, "The Shadows probably won't come in here."

"What makes you say that?" Indigo asked.

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak."

The room briefly warped into a classroom in the school before returning to its usual state, shocking you and Indigo, "A classroom...!?" she asked.

"Do you get it now? This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

Indigo looked around, "This is Cinch's reality...? This shit makes no sense at all!"

"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a 'Palace'."

"A Palace...?"

"This is happening because she thinks this school is her own base of operations."

"So, it became like this because she just thought of it like that!? Hahaha...that selfish whore!"

"You must really hate this Cinch gal."

"Hate doesn't even cover how I, or the rest of the school feels. EVERYTHING is that bitch's fault!"

Morgana turned away, "I don't know what happened between you, her, and the rest of the school you go to, but don't let your emotions get the better of you. Her flunkeys are everywhere inside." Morgana then addresses you, "You're curious about your outfit, aren't you?"

Indigo faces you, "Yeah, I'm curious as hell about it too."

"That's also because of this world."

Indigo sighed, "More junk that makes no sense."

"Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his or her Palace. A school can turn into a camp like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within."

Indigo groans in frustration, "UGH! I'm so fed up with all of this! I'm more curious about you than his clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?"

Morgana glares at Indigo, "I'm a human—an honest-to-god human!"

Indigo glares back, "No, you're obviously more like a cat!"

Morgana looked unsure, "This is, well...it's because I lost my true form...I think."

"You think?"

Morgana smirks, "But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means." he then frowns, "Well, I ended up getting caught though..." his gusto returns, "Besides, I've been tortured by Cinch too! I'm gonna make her pay for sure!"

"What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy..."

"If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along." Morgana faces you once again, "I'll be counting on your skills this time too, rookie. Got it?"

Indigo turned to you again, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna force it all on you. I thought it might help, so..." Indigo pulled out a pistol, surprising you, "I brought this just in case! It's a model gun though, so it only makes sounds!"

"That's a toy!"

Indigo looks confident, "But it looks totally real, so it'll at least fake them out. I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: 'You can't be too prepared.' Huh? Huh?"

Morgana deadpanned, "So you were planning this from the start...well, fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration."

You walk over to Indigo and take the medicine and farce weapon.

Morgana spoke again, "Hm, there are probably still troopers making their rounds outside. Let's use this time to sort through our current situation." Morgana began the explanation, "Well...the prisoners aren't in their usual cells, so I would have to assume that they've been moved to a different location," Indigo raised a hand to speak, "and no, I don't know where or why." she lowered her hand back down, "So I say we eavesdrop on the troops and see if we can gather some more intel. But we have to be quick and quiet, got it?"

You nod and inch yourself near the door, pressing your ear against it until you heard voices...





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block B

Luckily, there were three guards standing just outside the door conversing with one another.

"Hm, I thought I just heard something move over there...probably just imagined it." Guard #1 said.

"And what of the prisoners?" Guard #2 asked.

"They're all in the Torture Chamber, being interrogated for information. I'd assume they'd be shrieking in pain by now." Guard #3 answered.

"Very well. By the way, I heard we may have intruders in the base. Be on alert." Guard #2 advised.

The three guards split up to search for any intruders as your group exited the safe room.

"Did you hear that?" Morgana asked.

"They said Torture Chamber, right?" Indigo asked to confirm.

"I think that's just below the third cell block. Let's go!"

You pressed on ahead, but then stopped when you saw a little roadblock.

"Shoot. There's a guard on duty here...the way to the Torture Chamber should be just down the few rows of stairs its guarding..."

"So...now what? Should we fight it?" Indigo asked.

"Seems so. Just don't let it notice you beforehand...if it does, the Palace's security level will rise."

You make a mental note to stay hidden from enemies whenever possible.

"A-And what do we do if that happens? Run away?" Indigo asked, nervously.

"Well, the security level will go back down if we can beat more enemies without getting noticed." Morgana answered.

"That's...pretty complicated."

"Fine...I'll put some info together about the security level." Morgana began, "Understanding this is crucial to Palace Infiltration, so make sure you read it carefully, okay?"

Morgana passed around some notes about security levels and the like, we read through them carefully, and you both handed them back to Morgana, ready to take on the next enemy. Once the guard's back was turned, you rushed forward and pried at its mask.

"Show me your true form!" you say.

You tore the mask off once again and began another battle with two opponents, both of which were some kind of walking flowers, summoning Zeus as you had the first attack, launching a bolt of lightning at one of the enemies.

"Take this! Persona!" Morgana declared as Odin attacked the same enemy with a blast of wind, but didn't kill it.

It was now the enemies' turn as they each attacked you and Morgana once.

It was time for your retaliation as you fired yet another bolt of lightning, killing the first flower thing, "Go down!"

Morgana spoke, "Okay! Scratch one enemy!"

But the victory was brief as the other freaky flower attacked him, forcing him to heal himself with his Persona.

Your turn came again as you brought down another lightning bolt on the enemy, who retaliated by attacking you, but it missed.

"Nice one! They can't land a hit!" Morgana complimented, then charged at the enemy with his sword, dealing significant damage.

You did the same with your knife, slicing and stabbing until the enemy died, making you two victorious once more.

"Nice work, team!" Morgana said as you felt more strength, money, and items come to you.

You all then went down the stairs to continue finding the prisoners.





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block C

"The Torture Chamber is just further down, right?" Indigo asked.

"Yeah. Just make sure you watch out for any guards along the way." Morgana advised.

You three made your way across the third cell block, but had to stop when you almost got spotted by two troopers. You all hid behind the corner of the wall and eavesdropped on them.

"Hey, seen any intruders so far?" the first guard asked.

"No, nothing yet..." the second guard answers.

"Shoot..." Morgana whispers, "I had a feeling that there would be a lot of enemies. It'd be impossible to dodge all of them..."

"So what's the plan? Take them down like before?" Indigo asked.

"It's not that simple. We still have a ways to go, so we need to conserve our energy."

"Damn...I wish I had one of those Persona things...maybe then I wouldn't be so useless...but all I got is a stupid toy..."

"Huh? You mean that gun?"

"Yeah, it may look real, but...it doesn't shoot anything."

Morgana looked starry-eyed, "I see...maybe there IS a way...we can use it to take down those enemies!"

"What!?" Indigo whisper-shouted, "Are you even listening to me!? That thing doesn't even shoot pellets, let alone bullets!"

The troopers started walking in your direction as Morgana spoke with confidence, "Don't worry, I'm sure this'll work. Attack away, kid!"

You nod, "Leave it to me."

"Wait, man!" Indigo protests, "I just said it's not gonna work!"

You charge at the enemies and attack, starting yet another battle, this time with another walking flower and a new enemy, a pixie-like one.

"You have the gun, right?" Morgana asked you, "Point it at a Shadow and fire!"

You were confused at first since you knew it wouldn't work, but you trusted Morgana enough to know that he knows what he's doing, so you took aim and pulled the trigger, firing off a few bullets at each of the Shadows, the pixie-like one dropping flat while the flower hardly felt it.

"How about that!? Surprised?" Morgana began, "Be mindful of how much ammo you have left!"

You nod and call forth your Persona, launching a lightning bolt at the pixie thing and killing it.

"Alright, I'll show you my weapon too!" Morgana pulled out a large slingshot and fired multiple rounds at the flower, but didn't defeat it.

The flower charged at you and dealt some damage, to which you returned the favor with a knife attack.

Morgana finished it off by calling Odin and attacking with a gust of wind.

With yet another victory, you felt stronger and even more money filled your pockets, but no items this time.

Indigo rushed up to you two, "Whoa! Did that stupid toy shoot real bullets!?"

Morgana faced her, "This is a cognitive world. As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing that toy was so realistic looking."

Indigo looked confused, "...You lost me."

Morgana smirked cockily, "I wasn't expecting someone with your brains to understand." Morgana then turned to you, "How about you, kid? Did you get what I said?"

"It's simple logic." you reply.

"Heh, just as I was expecting."

"Wait, if it's better having something realistic, then why do you have a slingshot!?" Indigo began asking him, "And it was just as strong as a goddamn gun! What about your whole cognitive whatever!?"

"W-Well, um..." Morgana sighs, "Fine, you can choose to understand it however you want." then it looked like something had just popped into his head, "Oh by the way, we should decide how we divvy up our roles in battle from here on out."

Indigo sighed, "He totally dodged my question..."

But Morgana continued regardless, "As you can see, there are quite a lot of enemies. It'll be important to coordinate our moves well. I can keep providing intel for us, but you should decide how we fight, kid."

"What do you mean by, 'how we fight'?"

"Basically, what we do in battle. He can order us directly, or let us decide what we do...though I guess I'm the only other one fighting right now..."

You take note of Morgana's advice for team tactics and how you can control the tide of battle. After that was over, you all moved on to find the prisoners and eventually find the door to the Torture Chamber just below one more set of stairs, but it's being guarded.

"A guard...I'm pretty sure that's where we need to be going too..."

Indigo looked excited, "You guys gonna take it down again?"

"I guess that's our only choice...but wait, this might be a good time..." Morgana smiles, "Okay! I've decided! I'm going to teach you two a special way to fight enemies!"

"Is it a new technique?" you ask.

"Something like that! Let's go!"

You charged at the trooper guarding the stairs and attacked, initiating another battle with another pixie-like Shadow.

"Listen, there's a distinct flow to battles. Let me show you. After all, seeing is...something? First, knock down all the enemies! Everything starts at that crucial step!"

You nod and fire your gun, knowing it's this particular Shadow's weakness, knocking it down.

"Alright! Now rush on in for an All-out Attack!"

You two charge forward and relentlessly attack the enemy until it died completely.

"The show's over." you say.

You felt even more strength and money come to you as the battle ended.

"Mm, that went really well! You're definitely fit for this."

"Wh-What was that super-move thing you just did!?" Indigo asked.

"I told you, it's called an All-out Attack." Morgana began, "If you manage to knock all the enemies down, you might be able to use it to beat them all at once."

"Yeah...that was over quick..."

"It's a concentrated attack on defenseless enemies, after all. Now as I mentioned before, I want you to be the head of our command. You can decide when we use this."

"Alright." you respond, taking note of this "All-out Attack" tactic.

"Strike the enemy's weakness, knock them all down, then do an All-out Attack! That's the ideal pattern!"

You all climbed down the stairs and found the entrance to the Torture Chamber.

"Alright, this is it!"

Indigo read the label on the door, "Crystal Prep's...Torture Chamber...of Interrogation...? What kinda bullshit is this!?"

You ignore Indigo's outburst and enter through the door with your teammates.





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Torture Chamber of Interrogation

The moment you three entered, you heard shouting down the hall.

"That voice...where's it coming from...?" Indigo asked.

You all followed the voices down the hall to a set of iron bars, where they have gotten louder.

"Hey, is it coming from in there!?"

Your group looked through the bars to see the prisoners either getting beaten or electrocuted by the troopers, torturing them for intel.

Indigo stomped a foot, "Dammit! This is bullshit!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?" Morgana chastised her.

Indigo growled, "But this is BEYOND messed up!" she looked around the wall of bars, "How do I open this...?"

"Stop it...!" a male voice meekly said, making you all turn to him, you recognize him as Trenderhoof, "Leave us alone...it's useless..."

Indigo was shocked, "Huh!?"

Another prisoner walked over, this time it was a girl, you recognize this one as Frosty Orange, "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys!"

Indigo gripped the bars and glared at the mindless prisoners, "Are you telling me you wanna stay in a hellhole like this!?"

"Wait a minute...were you planning on taking these people out of here?" Morgana asked.

"We can't just leave them here!" Indigo argued.

Morgana shook his head, "How stupid can you be...?"

"What!?"

"These are only humans in Cinch's cognition. They aren't real humans that have entered from reality. They're different from you two."

"Cognition...?"

"It means there's no point in saving them! They're different from the real ones in the real world. You could say that these are extremely similar-looking dolls."

Indigo slumped, "The hell!? Why does it gotta be so complicated!?" she stood straight, "So the school's a base of operations, the best students are soldiers, and the weak ones are prisoners...It's so on point that it almost makes me laugh." she scowled, "This really is the inside of that skank's head...!"

Morgana gets closer to the bars and cringes at the display of torture, "Still, this is horrible. It must mean she treats them as prisoners in the real world too."

"In the real world too...?" Indigo thinks for a moment, then a lightbulb goes off in her head, "Wait, I know these guys..." Indigo went wide-eyed, "They're students of the trigonometry class—the one Cinch supervises!"

"They must be physically abused every day...there's no way they'd be so beat up normally."

"Don't tell me..." Indigo became angry, "They're going through similar shit in reality!?"

"Most likely. I mean, this proves that Cinch think of them as prisoners."

Indigo furrowed her brows in thought, "So it might be for real...I heard that Cinch is using physical punishment. They're just rumors, but...if they're true, wouldn't this be something to report to the police...?" Indigo pulled out her phone, "I'll use these guys as evidence. If it all goes well, we can take down that skank Cinch...!" then she noticed something weird, "...Huh? It's not working!? We can use the navigation app, but the camera's a no go!?"

"A navigation app...?" Morgana asked, confused.

"That's what we used to come here." she turned to you, "What about yours?"

You pull out your phone and try to access the camera.

......?

But the camera app won't open.

Morgana began to get fidgety, "Whatever you do is fine, but we're gonna get caught if we stand around like this. We need to head back!"

"Hang on a sec!" Indigo pressed her head against the bars, "There's no other way...I'll just memorize their faces before going home!"

Indigo looked around the interrogation cells to see multiple student being dealt many kinds of physical abuse with you and Morgana following her.

"Hey, are you done yet!? We're cutting it close here!" Morgana complained.

Indigo jumped, then scowled at Morgana, "Don't freak me out like that, you goddamn moron!" she calmed down and spoke again, "Anyways, I got all of them!"

"Then let's stop wasting time! We need to scram!"

You all got back to the exit of the Torture Chamber and left the area.





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block C

The second you three reentered the lowest cell block, Indigo spoke up, "Alright, we gotta get outta here, and fast!"

You all jumped when you heard a trooper's voice nearby, "The watch post near the Torture Chamber has ceased reporting! Chances of intruder activity are at a code red! All personnel, tighten security, and if you see anyone not in uniform, shoot to kill!"

A trooper ran into the cell block searching for intruders, gun in hand with an itchy trigger-finger.

Morgana cringed in fear, "Tch, we've stayed here too long...come on, let's get out of here!"

Your group ran away and climbed all of the stairs back up to the first cell block of the camp.





Palace: Crystal Prep Military Camp
Area: Prison Block A

"The exit's this way! Let's hurry!" Morgana shouted as you all continued running.

It seemed like you were going to get away without any repercussions...but fate had other plans, unfortunately.

The moment you got near the vent, you, Indigo, and Morgana were surrounded by troopers and none other than Cinch herself...no, not Cinch, her Shadow.

Shadow Cinch snarled, "...You brats again? To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're completely brainless!"

Indigo stepped forward, "The school ain't your army camp! I've memorized their faces real good. You're going down!"

Shadow Cinch smirked, "I guess it's true that some people don't know the saying 'let sleeping dogs lie.' How far the star player of the Friendship Games has fallen."

"The hell are you talking about!?"

"I'm talking about the 'Friendship Failures' who took the side of those CHS punks, ending everyone's dreams." Shadow Cinch innocently put a finger to her chin, "Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the other students who were dragged under with yours and your friends'...traitorous act."

"Ngh..."

"'Friendship Failures'?" you ask.

Shadow Cinch sneered, "I'm actually surprised. You helping this rebellious soul without knowing anything about her? She and her friends betrayed me and crushed any hope for friendship for everybody in Crystal Prep, yet they still try to understand it, not realizing it's just a measly distraction from one's studies."

Indigo cringed in frustration, "T-That's not true! You're the one who nearly killed everyone!"

You and Morgana were genuinely surprised by that last comment. You now felt an even greater urge to know what happened that day.

Shadow Cinch continued, regardless of Indigo's accusation, "You've come along with this juvenile delinquent and now you're about to be dead...quite the unlucky one, aren't you?" Shadow Cinch scowled and turned to her troops, "Shoot them dead. And don't get blood everywhere, if you would be so kind."

One of the troopers that appeared to be a Troop General ordered the other troopers to attack, making them transform into tall, black goats with red eyes, green horns, white manes, and red veins glowing around their bodies, almost appearing to be demonic.

"Dammit!" Indigo growled.

Morgana charged forward to shield her, "Indigo, move!"

You went forward as well and begun another battle, except there was a downside to this one.

"Ngh...we're surrounded!"

"I'll kill you!" one of the troops bellowed, "I'll kill you because Admiral Cinch told us to! I'll kill because that's what she wants! It's our duty to obey her!"

The trooper charged at you and Morgana, nearly knocking you two out, but you two stayed stronger and tried to retaliate. But your attacks weren't getting you anywhere.

Morgana noticed the obvious, "There's more of them? This is bad..."

It was true, more troopers started coming out of the woodwork and attacked you and Morgana, finally knocking you both to the ground, unable to continue fighting.

The battle was over before it had even started.

Shadow Cinch walked up to the downed Morgana and stomped on his back, "Rgh...you piece of—"

You tried to prop yourself up, but the general stepped on your back and pushed back to the floor.

Shadow Cinch sneered at her victory and proceeded to taunt you all further, "I'm willing to bet that you came here on a whim and ended up defeated. Am I wrong?"

"No..." Indigo tried to say.

"What a worthless piece of human waste, letting your emotions take control...how dare you raise your hand at me. Although it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness during the announcement just after the Friendship Games?"

Indigo pounded the floor, "That's wasn't no announcement—it was a threat! And it's not just you physically abusing your own students, you just didn't want us to have friends!"

Shadow Cinch scowled as grinded the sole of her boot into Morgana's back, "Friendship is nothing but a distraction AND an eyesore to boot! I have friends in high places, and that's the only friends one should have in order to succeed!" she smirked again, "That Coach Wind Rider that got fired was hopeless as well. Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've only settled it with only increasing the school's curriculum by miles."

Indigo looked shocked, "...What?"

"Do you need me to deal with your little friends as well?" Shadow Cinch asked, talking about the other girls, "The school board won't do a thing about it anyway! I have complete control! I could even demolish Canterlot High if I so wished!"

Indigo groaned, "Dammit...am I gonna lose again...? Not only that we all can't make friends...the whole school's gone to hell because of this bitch...!"

"So that's why..." Morgana realized before grunting in pain by Shadow Cinch grinding her boot against him again.

"Once these two are dealt with, you're next." Shadow Cinch grinned devilishly, "Hahahaha...!"

"Indigo!" Morgana called to her.

"Stand up for yourself!" you shout.

Indigo looked conflicted, but then scowled in sheer determination, "...You're right. Everything that was important to me and the school taken by her...I might never get it all back...!"

Shadow Cinch smirked, "Stay there and watch. Observe as these juvenile scum die for absolutely nothing because they sided with a traitorous failure like you."

Indigo began to stand up, "No...that's what YOU are...all you think about is using other people to fulfill your own goals...you're the real scumbag, Cinch!"

Indigo walked towards Shadow Cinch, making her scowl, "What are you doing? General, kill her!"

Indigo pointed at her and proceeded to yell, "Stop looking down on me and everyone else with that FUCKING STUPID smile on your face!!"

...

......

.........

You made me wait quite a while.

Indigo felt a massive pressure in her head as her eye color turned yellow, making scream and roll around the floor in pain, clutching her head all the while, "A-Aaagh...!"

You want strength, right? Then the time has come for us to form a pact. Since you've been branded as a failure, why not spread your wings and change your fate...? The "other you" who exist inside demands it...I am thou, thou art I...there is no turning back...the wings of freedom are your strength henceforth!!

Indigo raised her head to reveal that a mask had appeared on her face; it looked like a pair of spread out black wings.

The Troop General glared at Indigo's defiance, "Hmph. What can you do...?" he pointed his gun at your head, "Cower in fear and watch!"

Indigo stood up and pried the mask off her face, making her bleed like you did and a burst of blue energy exploded from her as she roared, "Nnnngh...Hraaaaaaaaagh...!"

The rush of energy pushed Shadow Cinch and the Troop General back away from you and Morgana. After it had subsided, Indigo was hunched over, breathing heavily as something hovered over behind her; a woman with blonde hair, piercing yellow eyes, wearing draconian armor and robes, wielding a staff glowing on both ends, and bearing dragon-like wings on her back.





After she had caught her breath, Indigo whipped her head up, showing a toothy, confident smile.

Shadow Cinch growled, "Rgh...this one as well...?"

"Sweet...so this is what having a Persona feels like...this effing rocks!" Indigo took brief stock of her new outfit as you and Morgana stood back up; it was similar to the jumpsuit she wore during the Friendship Games, except it was ink black and around her neck was a bright yellow scarf bearing her mark: a dark purple cloud with a pink star in the center and a light blue lightning bolt below it, "Now that I'm even stronger than before, it's time for a little payback...alright, guys...let's rock!"

Her words seemed to greatly irritate the Troop General, "Ngh...don't taunt me, you little shit!" he slammed his fist down and morphed into a Japanese knight with red armor and horns on his head, wielding a spear and riding a horse of the same colors as the goats from before.

Indigo pointed at him with her smile still present, "Let's take him down...Parvati!"

The battle begun with a slight banter from the Troop General and Indigo.

"What insolent children that insult Admiral Cinch with irrelevant matters!" he ranted.

"Cinch's cognition isn't changing, right?" Indigo began, "Then I'll act like a real friend for everyone at CPA!" she then wore the mask she ripped off, "Game on, Parvati!"

The Troop General reared his horse back and two more of those goats appeared from plumes of dark mist.

Indigo took the initiative and attacked with her Persona, "Let's rock, Parvati!" she struck down one of the goats with a light-attributed spell, giving her the incentive to strike again at the other goat with another light spell, "Parvati!" when it died, Indigo struck again at the horseman with yet another light spell, dealing some damage.

It was your turn and you attacked the only enemy left with a lightning bolt from Zeus, which dealt quite a bit of damage. Now Morgana was up and called his own Persona to conduct a wind spell, but it didn't kill him just yet, "Time for my Persona!"

The Troop General horseman attacked with a swing of his spear, nearly slicing Indigo open.

"Whup him, Persona!" Indigo attacked him with a light spell again, bringing him closer to defeat as it was evident from his slouching over his horse.

You tried to use your gun to finish him, but it either missed or he resisted the onslaught.

Morgana used his Persona to heal Indigo from the damage she took earlier.

The Troop General charged at Morgana, almost killing him with a slice.

Indigo retaliated by finishing the Troop General off with another light spell.

"I am...the general...of the honorable Admiral Cinch..." the Troop General droned as he was close to death, "So why...did I lose...!?"

Indigo smirked under her mask, "It just prove that Cinch is just a sadistic, old witch!"

The Troop General toppled on his horse, eventually morphing back into his original form as Indigo was exhausted from the battle, proved by her gasping and panting.

"...How'd you like that!?" she gloated.

Morgana looked surprised, "Whoa...so Indigo had the potential too..."

Indigo panted, "Even if you apologize now...I won't forgive you...!"

Despite her failure, Shadow Cinch smirked, "I've already told you that this is my camp. I guess you still don't get it."

Suddenly, Dean Cadence, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare, wearing the camp uniforms, walked over to Shadow Cinch, got on their knees, and started bowing to her as if she was their ruler.

"Wh—girls!? And Dean Cadence too!?" Indigo said in surprise.

Morgana seemed to be interested in Sunny, "Oh...! Wha...what a meow-velous and beautiful woman...!"

"What's going on...!?"

"Something's...off." you say.

"Yeah, I agree, why are the girls and Dean Cadence here!?" Indigo asked as Shadow Cinch leaned down and smirked at her admirers, "Hey! Quit reveling this, you bitch!"

"How many times must I tell you in order for you to understand?" Shadow Cinch asked with her smirk still present, "This is MY camp—a place where I can do as I please. Everyone wishes to worship me." she then scowled, "...That is, everyone except slow-witted thieving brats like you."

"Girls, Cadence! Say something!"

"Calm down, Indigo! It seems those women aren't the real ones." Morgana intercepted, "They're the same as those prisoners—beings made from Cinch's cognition of them!"

"Hmph. Are you jealous that YOU are not being worshipped as I am?" Shadow Cinch sneered, "Personally, I'm not surprised. Real people don't worship problematic children like you."

Indigo growled, "Dammit...!"

Shadow Cinch's sneer intensified, "Troopers! Time to take out the trash!"

And just like that, many more troopers appeared out of the floor, serving as a wall to guard Shadow Cinch.

"We're outnumbered..." Morgana took note, "Let's scram before we get surrounded!"

But Indigo didn't like that idea, "We're not gonna do anything and just run away!?"

"Indigo, we can't die here, we gotta go." you said.

"Thank god you've got a level head." Morgana complimented.

Indigo hesitated, but then relented, "Ngh...fine." Indigo faced Shadow Cinch and glared her down, "We'll expose you for the witch you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us...!"

Shadow Cinch smiled deviously, "Hahaha! I was starting to get bored of torturing the prisoners here!" she looked even more devilishly gleeful, "Come at me whenever you want, if you truly wish to die! Haaaahahahaha!"

Morgana turned tail, "Ignore her. Let's go!"

To make sure Shadow Cinch doesn't know of your infiltration point, you, Indigo, and Morgana decided to book it out the front door.





4/11, Tuesday
Metaverse

The three of you were hunched over, trying to regain your lost breath from running away, you DID run from the first prison block all the way to front gate, after all.

Indigo finally stopped panting as she spoke, "Anyways!" she finally realized what she was wearing, "I don't remember changing into this!"

You smile, "It looks good on you."

"R-Really!? Ya think so!?" Indigo seemed a little too enthusiastic at your compliment.

Though you kept your smile, you felt yourself sweat-drop.

"Did you find them!?" a trooper's voice inside the camp bellowed.

"Quiet!" Morgana quickly said.

"No. Search over there!" another trooper ordered.

"So what's going on!?" Indigo asked, exasperated, "I'm completely lost here, dude!"

"I told you already." Morgana began to explain again, "When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions."

Indigo looked at her mask, "Is this...a pair of wings?"

"Your appearance reflects your inner self. It's the rebel that slumbers within...not that you'll get it."

Indigo reluctantly agreed, "Nope..."

"Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is."

Indigo grumbled, "Easy for you to say." she gasped as she realized something, "Wait, we're in deep shit!"

"I said to be quiet!" Morgana whisper-shouted.

"We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Cinch at the real school..."

"That's quite sharp of you...for being an idiot." Morgana taunted, "Relax. The Cinch in reality can't possibly know about what happens in here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed—a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"...So, we're good?"

Morgana raised an eyebrow, "Did the Cinch in reality remember anything about the execution?" Indigo jolted as she realized he was correct, which made Morgana smile, "There you have it."

"Alright!" Indigo fist-pumped, "Now that we know that, all we gotta do is—"

"Wait." Morgana halted what Indigo was going to say, "I guided you as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me." you and Indigo were confused, "That's why I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything."

"Huh? Cooperate?"

"Don't you remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my true form! That's why we must delve deep into Mementos and—"

"Whoa, hold up a sec. What the heck are you talking about? We never said anything about helping you out."

Morgana looked surprised, "Huh? Don't tell me...are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?" he then turned to you, "Especially you! You're going to up and leave, even though you're already part of my master plan!?"

"Let me think about it." you say.

"Really?"

"Dude, of course not! We're busy!" Indigo said, interrupting your thoughts, but then smiled at him, "But thanks for everything, cat. You got guts, being a cat and all! See you around!"

You and Indigo ran off, leaving Morgana shocked at how this had progressed, "Hey! What the hell!? Ugh, seriously! Why're you wrapping this up like everything's all hunky-dory!?" Morgana then had an outraged glare, "Oh hell no! Get back here!...Grr...GRAAGGGHHH!"

But the both of you paid no heed to his outburst as you returned to your own world...





4/11, Tuesday, Cloudy
After School

"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back." Your phone said.

Indigo breathed a sigh of relief, "...Thank god. We're back." she turned to you, "I dragged you around a lot, huh? Sorry, pal. Ugh, I'm dead tired...how are you holding up?"

"I could use a nap." you reply.

"Me too...damn, I'm gonna sleep like a rock when I get home." Indigo then became excited, "But seriously, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I totally remember the faces of the people Cinch was treating like prisoners. The second we make them fess up to any physical abuse, Cinch is finished. So...wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?"

"Sure, I'll help." you said.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Indigo suddenly looked uneasy, "Hey, so...if you're thinking of laying low because you got a record, I don't think that'll help. Everyone already knows. They totally have you pegged as a criminal."

"How'd that happen?"

Indigo looked peeved, "Cinch opened her damn mouth!"

"Seriously?"

Indigo nodded, "No one but a teacher could've leaked it that fast! It doesn't matter if it's a student or a club; that bitch just wrecks things she doesn't agree with. Just like she did with me and my friends...!" Indigo appeared to be upset, "No one will take anything we say seriously anymore." she then got angry again, "Still, those rumors about her getting physical might be for real. And after seeing Cinch's distorted-heart thing in person, there's no way I'm just gonna sit back now!"

You nod, "Of course."

Indigo fist-pumped, "I'm counting on you! Don't worry; I'm psyched about this too!"

You can sense a faint bond of trust coming from Indigo...





Present Day

You conclude your flashback with another clutch of your head.

Twilight Velvet looked thoughtful, "Acting as a Phantom Thief would've been more efficient alone. You could've gone about it that way...however, you did not. There are merits to having associates...that's what you decided." Twilight Velvet leaned forward, "Am I wrong?"










I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Chariot Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power...


Indigo's stomach growled, "Oh...right. I haven't eaten anything since lunch. It'd be awkward to split up now, so whatcha say we grab a bite somewhere?"

"Sure, what kind of food, though?" you ask her.

"Meat, man. Just follow me." Indigo then smiled eagerly, "I totally gotta hear about your past!"

You nod and follow your new friend to the nearest meat restaurant.





You and indigo were chowing down on beef bowls as you explained your situation and how it landed you in Canterlot.

Indigo looked incredulous, "WHAT!? The hell, man! How much shittier can that asshole get!?"

"I'm still eating." you say.

Indigo instantly became sheepish, "Oh. My bad." she went back to eating as she spoke again, "So...you left your hometown, and...you're living here now, is that right?" you two ate a little more when Indigo voiced her opinion, "Ya know, we may be more alike than I thought."

You had a look of curiosity on your face, "How do you figure?"

Indigo smirked, "I don't got a record like you do." then she relented, "I mean, that's not it." she sighs, "I guess it's how we're treated like outcasts by everybody around us, like we don't belong." she closed her eyes, "I did something crazily loyal at the Friendship Games that Cinch didn't like." Indigo finished her food before she spoke up again, "You're living with the dean now, right? Cadence? It's rush hour right now, even in the suburbs, you should kill some time before heading on back." Indigo looked at your plate and served you more food, "What's up, man. You barely touched your food."

"I'm not helpless, you know." you say.

She just smiles, "Just let me do it. I gotta thank you for lending me a hand. Anyways, I got your back like you got mine from this day on." Indigo then looked serious, "As long as we do something about Cinch, I'm sure we'll both feel better about learning in school."

You nod.

Indigo jolted, as if she remembered something, "Oh, yeah!" she whipped out her phone, "Tell me your number. And while we're at it, your Chat ID too."

You pull your phone out of your pocket and exchange information with Indigo. As of right now, you have gained access to the Chat app, and will occasionally receive messages from those close to you. You two had finished exchanging each other's information when Indigo spoke once more.

"Just you wait, Cinch...we're gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let's hit up those guys and gals that were being kept as slaves. School Spirit Day is tomorrow, right? That bullshit was recommended by Cinch herself to keep the school board in the dark. Makes me absolutely sick. But thanks to Cinch's 'cover-up', we got no classes in the afternoon, and we can move freely around the school. Well, I guess we can work out all the details tomorrow..." Indigo smiled, "C'mon, you gotta eat, dude. There's tons of beef there."

You felt yourself sweat-drop at Indigo eagerness, but proceed to eat anyway.





Meanwhile...

A lone boy left the trigonometry classroom with an exhausted expression on his face; he had light golden skin, purple eyes, black hair that reached his shoulders, on his face he had a mustache and a goatee along piercings on both ears and his left eyebrow, wearing a similar Crystal Prep uniform to most of the student body. He had just finished showing his work for a massive equation that Cinch left behind deliberately for him, he was the best in the class and she wanted him to stay on top of his studies. This poor student goes by the name of Bronze Wing, and Cinch believes that he should thank his lucky stars that he's the only one that doesn't get physically abused by her.

Okay...keep it together, Bronze...you still have a few more days until the weekend...just hold on a little longer... he thought to himself.





4/11, Tuesday, Cloudy
Evening

After you and Indigo went your separate ways for today, you returned to Cadence's home where she waited for you on the sofa.

"Oh! You're home." Cadence smiled, "So, how did it go with Indigo? Did you two have fun?"

You nod.

"That's great!" she then became somber, "But don't forget why you're here; you aren't exactly a free man right now, so please stay out of trouble."

"I understand." you reply.

It was at that moment your phone started chiming, you dug it out and checked who it was. Unsurprisingly, it was Indigo.



Hey, I decided to message you to check if I got the right Chat ID.

Can you see this?

Yup.

Sweet! I'm gonna be counting on you tomorrow, got it?

Got it.

You're a real pal, dude...

Welp, see ya tomorrow!

Let's save the students from being used and abused by that bitch. You and me.



You end your chat with Indigo as Cadence keep the concern on her face, "I'm glad you're making friends, but don't dig yourself into a hole you can't dig yourself out of."

You nod.

Cadence stands up from the couch, "Tonight is Leftover Night, so grab whatever you want from the fridge and head for bed, School Spirit Day is tomorrow, and we both need our rest. Don't worry about leaving me anything to eat, I already ate a while before you got back." she walks up to you and plants a kiss on your forehead, making you blush slightly, "Good night."

She heads upstairs and you grab a quick bite to eat, a small snack though, you're already pretty full from the meat place you and Indigo ate at. With that done, you head upstairs as well and into bed, thinking about everything that has transpired today.

You just started harnessing your newfound powers.

Indigo had awakened to a similar power to yours and Morgana's.

And Morgana...he seemed pretty steamed when you and Indigo left him behind.

He mentioned something about "Mementos"...what could he have meant?

Either way, you'll probably find him tomorrow and apologize...

...After you and Indigo find evidence of Cinch's abuse and expose her during School Spirit Day.