Hello, fellow readers! We have reached the climax! Let's waste no time and see what we got:

TheBeatles211: The one from the movie was too cartoony, honestly. I also don't really go with giant designs. To answer the question, see for yourself.

Also, when it comes to the Persona movesets, it's gonna be a hybrid of their skills from any games they appeared in along with any that they can learn from either fusion or leveling up. Don't worry, I still followed the eight slot limit that the games do.

So, with that said, let's begin!

Chapter 6: Blooming Shadow

By now, the rest of the students made it to the entrance that lead to the courtyard with the girls at the steps watching in awe at what was happening. As the blue light around Yu and the flames around Ren started to form behind them, two large humanoid figures appeared.

The one behind Yu came off as a warrior, with a steel mask hiding his face aside from his yellow eyes and wore a long black coat that reached past his knees. He held what looked like a spear made of steel with a straight blade at the end.

The one behind Ren came off as more of a thief, a gentlemanly one at that despite his appearance. He also wore a mask covering his face with red marks where his eyes and mouth would be, wearing a red and black 'suit' with a white scarf that was complete with a black top hat. However, it seems that he was chained up at the moment.

And those weren't the only things that was different. While Yu still wore his suit, Ren had a complete wardrobe change.

He wore a black ankle-length tailcoat over a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black jogger-style pants, red gloves, and black-brown winklepickers. He held the chains tightly in his left hand as he looks at Sunset with a confident smirk.

Morgana recognized his trademark Phantom Thief attire, "Go get her, Joker!"

"Joker?" Twilight repeated, mainly since she is as confused as the others.

"Long story short, he and I have a group that uses codenames to hide our identities when we infiltrate palaces in a corrupted individual's mind." Morgana explained, "I use Mona for mine."

"That's pretty sweet! Are you guys like spies or something?" Rainbow was very excited at that.

"I think we have bigger things to worry about right now." Applejack tried to get them to focus on the threat.

Joker then held out his hand and let go of the chains, releasing his Persona as it unfurled his black feathered wings that created a strong gust of wind.

"You ready, Seeker?" He asks his partner as he held his knife in a battle stance.

"Whenever you are, Trickster." Yu casually answered as he got into his battle stance as well.

Sunset sees the Personas and glared at the users, "It doesn't matter what magic you use, I'll show you just how insignificant you are!"

She then swung the hammer into the ground, creating a shockwave that made the concrete and dirt break like ice as it went towards the two. Joker dodged it as he leaped over the ground with Yu blocking the shockwave. Joker landed on the cracked ground as he looks to see Sunset sprint at him, the sledgehammer at the ready. Quick to react, his Persona flew over to him to block the swing with his wings.

"Arsene! Smile for the lady!"

Knocking Sunset back with his wings, the red marks began to glow a sinister red to her. It seem to have an effect as she stopped for a moment, allowing time for Joker to land an attack. He swung at her shoulder, hoping for her to drop her weapon only for it to not leave a mark, but she felt the pain as she grunted at it. She shook off the attack as she swings again, Joker rolling pass her to avoid the attack before she followed up with a swing down at him.

"Izanagi!"

Yu's Persona leaped into the fray, blocking the attack from her as Joker jumped away, summoning his Persona back into what looked like a black and white bird-like domino mask as he places it on his face. Sunset growled in annoyance as she swung once more, slamming the hammer against Izanagi's spear that didn't even budge in his grip. Yu then appeared behind her and delivers a swing to stun her for a moment.

"Now!"

Joker jumped back in, the two deliver a short team combo before leaping back for their Personas to finish the attack.

"Eigaon!" "Raimeizan!"

Arsene pointed his finger to fire an orb of dark energy as Izanagi swung to fire a crescent shockwave of electricity, the two hitting Sunset simultaneously. A cloud of smoke was around her for a moment before her aura flared like wildfire. The aura channeled into her hammer before she swung with all her might, sending a wave of dark energy at the two. Yu got in front of Joker to block the incoming attack, the wave washing over them as it didn't stop its momentum towards the school.

"Brace yourselves!" Pinkie shouted.

Once again, Twilight's crown shined with energy once again as Morgana started to glow. Feeling a familiar power flowing through, he launched himself towards the dark wave as his body transformed. The girls watched as blue flames appeared once again with a powerful gust of wind to hold the dark wave back for a moment before the attacks cancelled each other out. Yu and Joker managed to defend themselves as the dark energy subsided, sensing a power behind them that Joker recognizes.

"Morgana?" Joker saw the familiar cat form he knows from the Metaverse.

The cat changed from his normal form to his bipedal one, wearing a black suit and mask with a utility belt and a yellow bandanna wrapped around his neck.

"Whoa, my power has returned! Watch out, Mona has joined the fight!" He was indeed excited to be back as his Persona stood behind him.

The Persona was a rather muscular humanoid figure dressed in black, wearing a suit of armor complete with a high collar cape. He waved his rapier in a Z pattern as he was ready to fight.

Joker smirked as Yu kept his gaze on Sunset in case she tries to attack, "Your turn, Mona!"

Mona smiles as he raises his paw, "Zorro, Garudyne!"

Zorro delivers a strong swipe of his rapier as a small tornado flew across the courtyard, going around the two before hitting Sunset, trapping her in it.

As this was happening, Fluttershy finally notices the crown glowing. "Twilight, your crown!"

Twilight looks at Fluttershy in confusion before seeing the others looking at her crown too. She then takes it off to see the star have a faint glow.

"What's happening?" Her question was answered as the glow got brighter, the energy spreading to the other girls.

"Twilight, it's your magic!" Spike came to the conclusion that this is like the other elements activating along with hers.

As that was happening, Yu took the opportunity and summoned his Persona once more. "Maziodyne!"

Thunderbolts rained down upon the tornado, causing smoke to appear once more as the sledgehammer flew in the air before landing in the grass. Once the smoke settled, Sunset laid on the ground for a moment before she struggled to even lift herself up.

"N-no... I can't be defeated..." She muttered to herself, Yu and Joker only looking at her with their guard still up.

"I already told you earlier, you won't achieve anything like this..." Yu reminded her.

Sunset lifted her head to send a leer at him, "I don't need your pity!" She growled.

The two then sensed a large increase in power behind them, looking back to see the girls glow in white energy. The crown on Twilight's head shined as two swirling rainbow beams go into the air to form into one, firing down upon Sunset as she looked on in horror.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Her yell was drowned out as the rainbow spun around her in a tornado with beams of light shooting out from the inside.

The wind around it was intense as Yu and Joker held their ground, looking on in awe. "So this is her power?" They both said to themselves as the rainbow shined brightly, blinding them.


Sunset opens her eyes to see herself in a distorted world, which she recognized despite the differences from the real one.

"Is this the school?" Sunset looks around to see the statue destroyed, with a cracked mirror in its place.

Tempted to investigate it, she walks slowly to it as she feels that she was being watched. As she stepped closer, her reflection began to show on it which she looks at in horror. The reflection stared back with haunting yellow eyes.

"What... happened to me..." She raised her hand to her face as the reflection did the same.

"Don't you see what's in front of you?" She jumped at the sudden voice, looking around frantically for the source. "I say it's an improvement."

"...Where are you?" Her question was answered as the mirror suddenly shattered, the glass landing on the cracked concrete below it.

She stepped away from it slowly, only to bump into something. Or rather... someone.

"I forgot how easily you were able to scare." The voice spoke, which she recognized as her own.

Slowly turning around, she saw herself standing there, yellow eyes and all.

"You took so long to toughen up. It was annoying..." Her reflection was mocking her?

"W-why... are you..." Her reflection started to walk forward, making her step back each time.

"All those years of embarrassments gave you quite the life, didn't it? How sad is it that you ran away to a one-way trip to another world, or so you thought?"

Sunset was quiet as her reflection walks around her, speaking in such passive-aggressiveness that it was scaring her now.

"Who are you!? What do you want from me!?" She finally yelled at her other self, making it stop in its track.

"I thought it was obvious. You blamed everything on everyone that you thought made you go to this world. If you didn't run, you would only get seen as second best." The reflection continued on her ramblings, "I wanted that crown to get what I was BORN with back! I felt so helpless when I lost it! If only I did have it to CRUSH those morons!"

"What?... I don't..." Sunset was petrified now, her reflection chuckling to herself as she smirked.

"All right, slowpoke. Here's the deal. I'm your REAL self. I know EVERYTHING about you." Her reflection stepped closer to her, now in front of her face.

"E-everything?" Sunset muttered.

"Yes. The stuff you had pushed to the very back of your mind. Is it clicking now?" Her reflection pointed to her head in a mockingly way, smiling as she sees Sunset getting the picture now.

"N-no... no..." She mutters to herself.

"Come on, speak up. I can't understand you." Her other self held a hand up to her ear, waiting for what she has to say.

"Y-you... you're not..." Sunset felt herself getting angry at... herself. Finally fed up with everything that has happened, she shouted at the reflection with such venom.

"YOU'RE NOT ME!"


The light finally faded away, the rainbow energy dispersing into the air as the Persona users looked at what was left. However, what they saw shocked them.

Sunset was unconscious on the ground... as her shadow stood in her place. Her whole body cloaked in a dark aura with glowing yellow eyes, Shadow Sunset had a devilish smile on her face.

"Finally... free from my shackles..." The shadow looked down at her other half, "No matter what she did, she never knew how weak she actually was."

The shadow then picked Sunset up effortlessly by the jacket before throwing her straight at the others. Joker was swift as he put away his knife to catch her, leaping away as Mona held the fort for him.

Joker then hands her to the girls, "Watch her." He simply said before heading back.

The trio of Persona users held the front lines as the shadow of Sunset started to transform. Yu is still trying to process how the two got separated from each other.

"Hold your ground! This won't be a cakewalk!" Mona warned the two.

The shadow's appearance changes, her skin turning slightly darker, her teeth changing to sharp fangs, and her hair becomes wilder as her attire changes to a red dress with gold streaks and red boots with a gold flame design. Her yellow eyes looked at them with animosity as a pair of black demonic wings unfurled from her back.

"I've had enough of you! Prepare to be EXECUTED!" The shadow declares as she flew up into the air, her wings keeping her afloat.

She then conjures a large fireball over her head before firing at the trio, with Mona countering with using Garudyne again. The tornado and fireball collided, forming into a fiery twister that then disperses as Joker went next, pulling out his handgun to knock the shadow out of the air. He fires three times, seeing that it wasn't normal bullets, but ones that was cloaked in magic.

The shadow was quite quick however, using her powers to stop the bullets before sending them back at the group. They were quick to dodge them before Yu went up next. "Vorpal Blade!"

Izanagi swung his spear to conjure multiple streaks of light that went towards the shadow, hitting it dead on as she grunted in pain. Joker follows up with summoning Arsene again, "Let's start a rebellion!"

Arsene uses a skill with the same name, a purple stream of energy surrounding Mona for a moment before entering him. "Thanks!" Mona was grateful for the boost.

Summoning Zorro once more, he calls his next move. "Here comes a miracle!"

Zorro conjures a cartoony boxing glove near the shadow as she was recovering from the previous attack. It sprung at her to hit dead on, knocking her out of the air to the ground. Yu knew what they should follow up with, shouting it out.

"Time to go all out!"

The two had the same idea as the trio jump at her at once, making a cartoony smoke cloud appear around the shadow as black streaks jump in and out. After a few secs, the three jumped back as a mushroom cloud signaled the end of the group attack. They look back at the dust settling, knowing it's not over yet as the dust then disperses from the shadow's wings as she yelled in anger.

"Why!? Why won't you pest just GO AWAY!?" She steps on the sledgehammer that was near her, making it flip up into the air before grabbing it into her hands.

Channeling her power into the hammer, she swung mightier than before as the hammer slams into the ground to create multiple fissures and destroy the hammerhead at the same time. The energy that she used conjured up intense flames that came through the fissures towards the trio, which were trying to keep their balance from the powerful attack before an aura surrounded them, levitating them back fast enough to avoid the fires' reach. Once they landed, they look back to see Twilight sigh in relief before going over to them.

"You guys all right?" She asks them, which they simply nodded back.

A strong gust of wind got their attention as the shadow rose back into the air, her aura becoming black flames as she raised her hands into the air.

"All of my suffering that created my strength... I won't allow this! I refuse to be WEAK AGAIN!" The shadow sounded desperate now as she conjures a fireball twice the size of the previous one over her, the black flames surrounding her channeling into the attack as the three watch.

"Twilight, get back!" Yu ordered, which she shook her head this time.

"I'm helping too!" Her answer was final, the crown shining again as the aura from before surrounded the trio.

They felt a new power surge through them, similar to a group buff spell, as they look back at the shadow. "We got this! Time for a team attack!"

The three summon their Personas to then use their strongest attacks simultaneously, combining into one as the shadow fired her attack at them.

"Magarudyne!" "Black Viper!" "Wild Thunder!"

A giant viper head lunged from the ground as several large orbs of wind and electricity, combining into the viper as it channeled the orbs into itself.

The two attacks collided in the air, creating a massive shockwave on impact that shattered the windows of the school. The students took cover from the shattered glass as smoke spread through the area.

The shadow was shocked not only at the fact that her attack was stopped, but the viper was still coming at her full force.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed in horror as the viper opened its jaw, biting down upon her before exploding on impact.

Thunder roared in the sky as wind blew the surrounding clouds away, the only thing falling to the ground from the smoke was the shadow which is now back to normal.

The four were breathing heavily at this point, hoping that the fight has ended now after that combination attack. Behind them near the others, Sunset started to open her eyes, vision blurring at first before Pinkie stood over her.

"Hey, she's waking up." She said to get the girls' attention.

Sunset heard her voice, turning her head to see the five girls near her. She sat up, struggling a bit as the girls help up to her feet.

"Are you all right?" Fluttershy asks her.

"Y-yeah... I think so..." Sunset was still a bit dizzy from being unconscious.

Twilight look back to see Sunset awake, the trio looking back as well to see her too before they went over.

"What happened to you?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know... though, I had a really bad dream about... myself?" Sunset was still confused by what she saw.

"It's your shadow." Yu spoke up, getting their attention. "It reflects the feelings that you hide deep down inside. When you denied her, it was able to separate from you."

"H-how did-" Sunset was shocked at what he just said, which was very accurate to what happened in her dream.

"We saw it too many times." Joker mentions, which Mona nodded at. "Unless you accept it, it'll only attack again until it separates from you completely."

It didn't take long for them to figure out what he meant, which scares the girls.

"Be honest to yourself, it's still apart of you after all." Yu advised.

Sunset looks past them to see her shadow just standing there, staring straight at her with a blank expression. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she sees Twilight smile at her with a nod. With the others following behind her, she walks across the battle-broken courtyard as her shadow did the same until the two were face to face.

They stood there in silence for what seemed to be an eternity until Sunset finally spoke, "This is odd... talking to myself, literally no less."

"You told me that you represented everything I held deep down, always at the back of my mind. I didn't want to believe that I had such thoughts about others. When I came into this world, I was honestly no better than I was back at home. I wanted to make myself acknowledged by others, be seen as their equal. When those people made fun of me, I wanted to show them that I'm not a laughingstock, but I realized now that I am no better than them now. I always felt like that when the princess told me I still needed to learn, wanting to get a reward or something for everything I did."

Sunset then places her hand on her other arm, "I was quite a spoiled brat back then. I just wanted to be seen for what I wanted to be seen as... the best. However, I didn't realize until now that power shouldn't be gained by force, it has to be earned. Not used for revenge... but to better yourself."

She looks at her shadow once more, the blank expression still on its face. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... you are me."

The shadow simply nodded after all that as it started to disappear into blue light, entering into her until the light glowed around her. It only lasted for a moment until it faded completely, leaving her curious about it.

"Is this what you meant before?" Twilight remembered from when they talked about their Personas.

"Pretty much. Who knows, maybe she'll get one too." Mona wasn't so sure if the same thing would happen in a different world.

"Can we also get one too?" Rainbow sounded quite excited about that.

"Let's not test that theory..." Ren could only say since it would mean more shadows.

Sunset only stood there in silence, making Yu concern. "All you all right?"

She looks over her shoulder first before turning around to him, "I don't really remember what I did... and that scares me. I could have done anything when she took over and... I don't think saying sorry is enough. But, I-I just wanna say that I really am-"

Yu places his hand on her shoulder, "Whatever you did earlier was out of your control. The shadow twisted your emotions and desires to the extreme, making you do things that you wouldn't. You can only try to amend for what happened and learn from your mistakes."

"Yeah." Twilight agreed, "Right now, you just have to start over."

"Meaning... you forgive me?" Sunset was really confused by this.

"Well, that depends." Applejack stepped in this time, "Saying stuff is only half of it. But, if you actually do what you said, Ah say you're on the right track."

Everyone else agreed with that, letting Sunset see the big picture. "Yeah, you're right. Though, I think I should clean up my mess..."

"That would be a good place to start." By now, the principals and the students have stepped out of the school.

"Everyone all right?" Yu asked them.

"Don't worry, we kept our distance from the fight. But, you do have a lot to explain." Principal Celestia answered.

Mona then realized something, "Wait, when did you girls change?"

Yu and Joker looks to see what he was talking about. He wasn't wrong since they had more features that resembles a pony, like equine ears and longer hair. Rainbow, Fluttershy and even Twilight now had wings. Guess it was too chaotic for them to notice that earlier.

"Where should we start?"

And done! Oh my god, this was quite the chapter to write. First is how the battle would go, then how I should write Sunset's first phase without it being too over the top, how her shadow self would act, and finally how she accepts it. I wanted it all to fit the backstory I think she should have and is within how her character would react to it.

As for the movesets I gave the Personas, while they do have the eight slots, it doesn't always mean that they would have all eight shown in the fight. Same goes for the bosses, but they may not have eight moves in their arsenal. Probably five or six at least.

Here's the moves for Sunset:

Phase 1: Sledgehammer, Earthquake, Dark Wave, Rampage, Sharp Student, Firm Stance

Phase 2: Fireball, Mind Burst, Dark Eruption, Demonic Flare, Heat Bringer, Mage's Gift

Either they have the same name or similar names to whatever move I based it on.

And here's the songs I used when I was writing this:

Phase 1: Blooming Villain (Persona 5)

Phase 2: I'll Face Myself (Persona 4)

Obvious choices, but hey. These are awesome songs.

OK, so with all that, think it's about we wrap this up. See ya for the epilogue!