Twilight Sparkle paced around the tear in space-time before her studiously as Spike followed her.

"So... What're we looking for again?"

"From our past experiences, it usually takes a single second in Equestria for an entire adventure in this mystery dimension, so why hasn't Cadence come out already?"

A familiar voice rang out

"Twilight! Spike!"

The two turned to a relieving sight. Shining Armor ran quick as he could to their side.

"Princess Celestia is recovering now, you both should get some rest too! I'll handle it from here."

Twilight shook her head.

"Sorry, Shining Armor, but I can't. Cadence hasn't come out yet... That's not a good sign. Usually we come out as soon as we go in."

"All the more reason for you to stay! Equestria needs you both, safe and sound. I don't want... I don't want anymore of these on you."

He brought a hoof up to her cheek before it went down to her throat, the scars Dio left behind, seeing these wounds made the unicorn visibly shake.

"I'm your older brother and Captain of the Royal Guard. It's my job to keep these things from happening, and my duty to family. Princess Celestia is worried about you. Can't you go see her?"

Twilight opened her mouth to object. How could she stay when her childhood friend could be hurt or worse? However, as she thought this, she couldn't help but think of how it was for Shining Aemor.

Reluctantly, she nodded and began to make her way to the castle. Spike began to follow her but stopped at Twilight's words.

"Spike, I need you to go with him. You and I have the most experience, both in and out of the game, so they'll need your help."

Spike widened his eyes with a shake if his head.

"I can't! What if I get sent back there again?! I-I don't want to cause anymore trouble!"

"Spike. That wasn't your fault. Dio used his vampiric bud on you, and was the last of his kind, even if you get sent back I believe you'll be more helpful than I could be. Now go."

"... Y-Yes ma'am!"

Spike saluted before he pivoted to Shinig Armor, the two smiled briefly before their attention turned to the spatial anomaly. Shinig Armor's horn lit up with magical energy.

"So... How do we do this?"

"We go in, play a weird game of chess for our friends and an Element of Harmony, come out."

"... That's it?"

"Oh! And your magic is gonna be sucked away every second we spend in there. You gotta be careful or... Well I never seen what happens if you run out."

"Princess Celestia is as powerful as can be and she had to be carried to her chambers... But that doesn't matter! We can't let Cadence go through something like that alone!"

"We won't! Let's go!"

My Little Pony: Friendship is a Bizarre Adventure

Part 4: ~Diamond is Charitable~

Episode XVI: Terror In Morioh Town!

Reimi saw Koichi and Senset return to the entrance of Ghost Alley, Sweetie Bell ran in circles around her as she chased Arnold, hood up and stains gone. Reimi then noticed Josuke and Rarity and smiled.

"Hey again, I didn't think you'd be back so soon. You brought friends?"

Josuke and Rarity blinked at the sight of the ghostly trio. A mere glance before they noticed Arnold's throat.

Rarity paled as much as her near ivory skin allowed as Josuke's eyes widened.

"T-That's... Uh... Whoa..."

"Koichi. Senset. This, isn't funny..."

Reimi folded her arms with a sigh as the other kept quiet.

"I guess I'll explain it again, not that I mind all that much. You probably think this is some prank by the sounds of things, but we're very much dead, I'm afraid. I'm Reimi Sugimoto, and this is my sister Satō Sugimoto, but we just call her Sweetie Bell. Our guard dog is called, Arnold."

Sweetie Bell bowed her head with a curtsey. Josuke blinked himself out of his shock and rubbed his neck.

"S-So you two- er, three, all haunt Morioh Town?!"

Sweetie Bell tilted her head and looked up to Reimi.

"Do we... Haunt the town? Isn't that... bad?"

Reimi nodded.

"We do haunt Morioh Town, but only Ghost Alley and the entrance to it, most people can't even comprehend the place though. It seems only those who are dead or something special about them are allowed to see it. Besides, it's not like we want to haunt and scare people, we want justice."

Senset then glanced to Koichi.

"Stands... This is, kind of a breakthrough about what Stands are now, doesn't it?"

Koichi shook his head.

"I-I don't really care for that right now! Ms. Reimi, tell them what you told us!"

Reimi nodded and declaimed their story to the Diamonds. Josuke listened intently with a somber expression.

"Alright... I think I get it, but are you sure those two are still in Morioh? It just doesn't seem right for them to stay."

Reimi pointed across the street at the local town map. On it were a small but growing number of missing person's posters.

"I don't know their faces or names, but I do know their targets, young women. Beautiful women too. Girls no younger than Sunset or your friend there. I'm not asking for much, simply that awareness be made!"

Josuke raised his hands as Reimi began to raise her voice.

"Y-Yeah! I get that! I'll see what we can do, maybe Jotaro can help us or even Dashie, right Rarity? ... Rarity?"

No one but Sweetie Bell had really noticed Rarity's mortified expression until now. Her hands over her open mouth with broadened eyes.

At this point in the conversation, tears had already fallen as she leaned away from the ghosts, her eyes fixated on Sweetie Bell.

"Is something wrong, ma'am?"

The little girl didn't seem to mind, but as the hood fell down from a gust of wind, both gasped as Rarity witnessed a glimpse of what was hidden behind the cloth.

Reimi caught the hood before it could fall all the way, but Rarity had seen enough.

"... I... I'm sorry, I..."

Without another word she ran off. Reimi sighed as Josuke and Koichi reached out for Rarity, a groan from Senset as they watched her run.

"H-Hey! Rarity...! Well, this kind of stuff messes with her, so don't take it personal."

"R-Rarity! I... I thought she'd be used to something like this..."

Reimi shook her head at Josuke.

"It's fine. It'd actually be pretty weird to be impersonal with a faceless kid, right? We heard what we needed to hear so, you should go and help her. We'll be around."

As Josuke ran of after her, Koichi and Senset looked at each other.

"I know this is gruesome... But, something felt off about Rarity."

"You're telling me Koichi, Rarity's not as fragile as she looks, maybe it's that Element they were talking about on the way here?"

Neither of them could be sure as they shrugged and bid farewell to the ghosts. Josuke followed Rarity into a small alley and found her sitting by the side of a dumpster, as if trying to hide herself from him. Was it him?

No, he didn't know who or what, but Josuke had an inkling about what put Rarity in such a state. He opened his mouth but silenced himself under the sounds of unrestrained wails.

He wished Crazy Diamond could fix people's moods, but there were some things that couldn't be handled with a fist, gentle or not. He sat by her side an offered himself.

"Hey... Don't run off like that, you scared me."

She leaned into him as she desperately tried to put herself together. She attempted to speak, but Josuke simply hushed her.

"Let it out first, then tell me what's wrong."

"A-Aah...! I... I can't believe this... Rai-R-Rainbow Dash... She told me... We may find, the familiar faces in this world, like mirrors..."

She held onto him tighter.

"In Equestria, I have a sister named Sweetie Bell... So seeing her here... Even if that's not my sister I can't... I just, can't..."

Josuke simply held onto Rarity as long as she needed him. He opened his mouth, but not to calm down Rarity, instead he shouted out at a figure that had appeared at the end of the ally that approached them.

"Oi! You weren't there before, don't get any funny ideas!"

He summoned Crazy Diamond with a fist ready to strike, but the figure jumped back with a familiar voice.

"W-Whoa! Whoa, whoa, Josuke! It's me! Okuyasu! Chill!"

Okuyasu stepped out from the shadows with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry about comin' out of nowhere! You wouldn't believe what just happened to... Hey, what's up with Rarity? If she's feeling down, you guys should go home, not cooped up in some alley!"

"A-Ah, you're right. C'mon, Rarity..."

As the Diamonds left Okuyasu alone he turned away and glance around him before his eyes changed with a blink into an insect's. His mouth opened as mandibles slid out with a flick of a serpentine tongue.

Before long, the creature's whole shape changed into Hazamada just as he left, running into Koichi and Senset. Koichi was surprised at the sight.

"O-Oh! Hi, Hazamada! Where've you've been lately?"

The older boy shrugged with a small scowl.

"Like that's any of your business, what were you guys doing by that alley?"

Senset folded her arms at him with a raised brow.

"Like that's any of your business, what were you doing IN that alley?"

The two glared at each other before Koichi put himself in between them.

"No fighting! It's been a long day, and even then we should still tell him Senset, he's a Stand User too!"

Senset gave a reluctant sigh, which in turn caused Hazamada to have a pleased smile on his face, and she began to tell Hazamada all about Ghost Alley.

Curiously, Hazamada turned his head back at the alley and saw the ghosts re-enter and vanish.

"Whoa... So, how do they know the killers' are still here? It's not like they meet their victims, right?"

Koichi rubbed his neck.

"T-They see his victims pass by I think... I have a complicated feeling. It's so weird, like something isn't right."

Senset folded her arms as she glanced off to the side with a frown.

"You and me both. What's going on in this town?"

Hazamada shook his head at them both with a scoff.

"Psh!~ I feel great! You two are probably coming down with something!"

"Shut up, Hazamada!" "Y-You don't have be so loud about it..."

Within Ghost Alley, Reimi and Sweetie Bell heard a new voice, the voice of a new spirit passing. A painful whine with a broken cough. The ghosts all looked to the sky to see the spirit of Toshikazu Hazamada fly to the heavens.

His head turned all the way with a twisted neck and a large gaping hole where his heart was meant to be. His arms bent awkwardly, as if forced back, yet it all faded away as he passed on to the afterlife.

Reimi held onto Sweetie Bell with tears in their eyes.

"T-That's not right...! We just saw that schoolboy...! Why would they kill him? H-How did they kill him?! H-Have they gone further off the deep end, or was he one of Little Rohan's friends, what does this mean?! Why was that boy killed, by our murderers?!"

Late that evening, Meuda Yoshikage woke that night with a jolt, a sudden thud on the door to her house. She hurried to the entrance, picking up speed with each pound door, she shushed loudly as she opened it.

"Shhhh!~ Quiet! You'll wake Yoshi up... My, my. You've grown a lot in such a short time, my little Thorax. Larger than any other before you."

A putrid beast roughly as tall as herself lumbered in. A large head with a smooth horn, developing branches similar to a beetle, investors eyes that dimly glowed, an unhinged jaw to allow a pair of shiny pincers within the mouth to flex as a serpentine tongue flicked out.

A strange mint green froth bubbled down the jaw. An exoskeleton that had a muscular tone to it, thick and dark as oil, the legs had odd holes in the legs with backward knees and a pair of hooves. Two arms with clawed hands that hung low.

On the back were a pair of seemingly torn wings under a flexible shell. Hunched over, it hovered around Meuda, a violet glow emanating from it's chest.

"... It must be the work of that jewel. What takes weeks upon weeks has only taken you hours. You, I will surely keep, now please refrain from drooling on the wood."

"... Y-You..."

"?! D-Did you just...?!"

The creature sucked the pincers back in. A guttural yet light voice uttered out.

"... You keep... Me...?"

"This isn't right... I've made plenty like you before and none sentient nor intelligent enough to... Is that jewel so powerful it can enhance my Stand Ability?"

She placed a hand on the chest of her creation. She found herself surprised further.

"Is that... A heartbeat? You have internal organs now... Vital ones. I'd love to dissect you and see how this occurred! But it's too late. Go outside and hide as a dog. You can still change, yes?"

It nodded as it flashed a sudden light. A black Great Dane sat in front of her.

"Good boy.~ Out you go. If anyone stops by or comes to knock, kill them please, just like you did that boy."

Sunday. A day of rest and preparation for the following week to come. However for Rarity, it was yet another day on the hunt for the Element of Harmony.

Josuke had taken her with him to the bank to withdraw money for bus fare... However, he had nothing within his account, and only twelve hundred yen in his wallet.

Shocked, he began to breathe heavily as he paled with sweat trickling down his brow.

"D-Dammit...! DAMMIT! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!"

Rarity jumped at the abrupt shrieking and pulled Josuke to the side.

"What in Equestria has gotten into you!? Don't make a scene in such a public area!"

"B-But...! All my money, it's all gone!"

"Wait what."

Rarity snatched his wallet from his hand as she searched it with a growing panic.

"T-There's not even enough for bus fare! There's not enough for our materials! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH HERE FOR MORE ICE CREAM!"

"R-Rarity, now you're the on being loud...!"

"Found it."

Josuke and Rarity stood still and silent as they glanced around.

"You heard that too, didn't you Darling?"

"Y-Yeah... It was a real weird voice that said-"

"Found it!"

Rarity yelped as she pointed to a trash bin beside them. A miniscule figure resembling a bee's abdomen scurried out from underneath the bin before running off into the street. Josuke chased after it with Rarity close behind him.

"Y-You think that's a Stand trying something fishy?!"

"With a tone like that? It sounds so greedy!"

"H-Hey that's...!"

Josuke pointed ahead as a second figure ran out to the first one's side. Okuyasu vehemently chased after them.

"O-Oi! Get back here! That was my hundred yen coin!"

Rarity's eyes widened as they ran alongside him.

"Okuyasu, you're after one of these things too?"

"Yeah! I was gonna get me a drink from a vending machine, but dropped my coin before I could get it, then that tiny thief slid out from under the machine and snagged it! It's gotta be a Stand, right?"

"Of course, darling! I just hope pocket change is all they're taking...!"

Josuke exclaimed as he saw a great number of the miniscule thieves.

"W-Whoa... T-There's so many of em...!"

Rarity expressed great distaste with a groan.

"There's no way anyone or thing could have multiple Stands at once, correct?"

"Keicho, his Stand was similar to this, so they gotta be running back to the User. Oi, Okuyasu, where's that greedy sis of yours?! She'd be able to tell us all about these damn things!"

Okuyasu stopped abruptly with a confused expression as he stared straight.

"She's right over there?"

Senset stood alone by a tree in the park. She rubbed her hands together with an eerie smile as she giggled to herself. All Seeing Eye activavted as she spoke.

"This is GREAT, Shigechi! With our Stands working together like this, we can get legally scam the whole damn town out of it's figurative and literal wallet!"

A nasal laugh sounded as a shorter round boy in a school uniform waddled out into view. His head grew short spikes of light hair and a face of a developing child, an innocent smile with teeth that had fallen out and yet grown in, even a nostril trickling with unwiped snot. He beamed at Senset.

"Ruh-Really? My Stand helped out dat much?!"

She turned with a face as bright as his own.

"Yeah! The best part of it all is that this totally legal! Gyaaaahahahah!~" "Shishishishishishi!~"

Rarity shouted sternly as she stomped over.

"Oh, puh-kff! I should have known you would be behind such a hairbrained scheme!"

Senset turned paled and shocked until she noticed Rarity. She leaned back from the strict glares from Josuke and Okuyasu.

"Oh shut it Fragility, this is uh, just a way for me to get money for us all! Ain't that right, Shigechi?"

She winked at the boy who scratched his head. A dumb sigh from him as he lightly knocked against his scalp.

"Buuuuuuut, you said this was ours, and ours alone...!"

"Well, duh! You get your cut, and I get mine, which I'd distribute amongst my friends here!~ In that way we get our share equally to do with whatever we want!"

"Ooh!~ Okay, that's conceivable."

Josuke shoved a finger in Senset's face, unlike the others who relaxed, he stood his ground.

"Wait a minute there. I've watched you closely for awhile now and I learned something, a tell for when you lie."

"What're you talking about Rooster H- Josuke!"

She inwardly cursed herself as Josuke snarled with his hands closed into tight fist, one still right in her face with Crazy Diamond faintly flashing into sight. It was a gamble she had to take.

Josuke was more observant than she'd like him to be, and she couldn't afford any subtle weaknesses to be known. He spoke through clenched teeth.

Rarity and Okuyasu on top of him to hold him back with their Stands restraining his.

"You're on thin ice after that baby store stunt...!"

"That was like, a week ago, c'mon! You've got a rich dad and Pinkie! Your nephew has to be loaded since he's been living in the most expensive hotel in the whole town! Pinkie's directly connected to an international pop band that's been around for a good few years! You can't be serious about being so broke after my little prank, right!?"

"You're the one with omnipotent Stand. You tell me if I'm overreacting."

All Seeing Eye shifted and the pupils dilated as Senset eyed Josuke head to toe. She deactivated the Stand as she folded her arms.

"I'm not apologizing."

Okuyasu and Rarity pulled Josuke back as Senset gestured to Shigechi.

"I'm gonna safely assume you're all here because my friend's Stand here, **[ Harvest ],** took a yen coin or two? Impressive right?~"

Rarity shouted at them both.

"Thievery isn't impressive in the slightest, and that pile is more than one or two coins!"

Shigechi frown as he flailed his arms.

"It ain't stealin' it's all found on the floor, anyone could pick it up but they don't, so we do!"

Senset patted his head with a sneer.

"Exactly!~ And besides, we're not JUST looking for cash, we're looking out for any suspicious activity! Like anything that could be our two murderers."

The Diamonds glanced between each other as they tensed up. Senset pointed at them with a frown.

"See? I'm not trying to make a quick buck, that's on the side, Shigechi's amazing Stand could survey Morioh Town from top to bottom in every nook and cranny!"

Okuyasu gasped and nodded.

"Ooh! So he'd be able to know whatever whenever! That's real smart, only you'd come up with that!"

Senset grinned with a wink as she knelt down and pulled Shigechi into a one armed hug.

"That's right! We're like Omnipotent meets Omnipresent! Together there ain't a thing we can't do!"

The snotty boy blushed and giggled happily.

"Shishishi!~ I'm useful and smart!"

Josuke folded his arms with a huff.

"Well... I guess it ain't all that bad... After all, you're doing a good thing here, helping society by putting the leftover money back into circulation. In fact...~"

Rarity noticed a familiar glint in Josuke's eye.

"Darling what're you planning?"

"Rarity? You have that bank summary I told you to hold? It's like a receipt for all the money I lost!~"

She took out the document from her purse and handed it to him. Josuke sneered as he looked it over before he shoved it in Senset's face.

"I think that if what you're doing is really right? Then why not help a friend out and payback what you owe?~"

She rolled her eyes and began to read it over. Her smug attitude gradually fell away as the color of her face faded into a sickly pale shade.

"... HOLY SHIT! T-That's...! I-I didn't know I used that much money! I-I wasn't trying to make you fucking bankrupt!"

Josuke now held the pompous sneer as he pocketed the summary and he pointed at the partners in crime.

"I ain't taking a single coin from Shigechi, you though, you better hope he's feeling generous today!~ Cause as of now you're in debt to me!"

"Ngh-...! Nnnnnoooooooo!"

"Yes."

Rarity shook her head disapproving the exchange.

"If I may be so bold to offer a compromise? Why not instead look for something like a winning lottery ticket? I see the things in trash bins all the time, surely one of the lower tickets could be found?"

Okuyasu sang out cheerfully.

"Hey!~ I had the same idea! We may get lucky and even find a real good one!"

Senset rolled her eyes frowning skeptically.

"As if! Sure, I found a few tickets that could make ten thousand, or fifty thousand yen, but even I gave up on that due to the sheer amount of lottery tickets are out there!"

She then pointed accusingly at Okuyasu and shouted.

"Besides! YOU have plenty of money already, where'd!"

She shrank back as Okuyasu shoved his own finger at her.

"That's because YOU kept putting it into savings and stocks without telling me! I virtually ain't got any pocket change!"

"H-Hey...! I'm telling you we're gonna be millionaires, just bear with me...!"

Josuke pushed them apart with a cool sigh.

"Oi, just act like adults and just let the other so their thing. You two ain't gonna take care of each other forever anyhow."

Senset stuck her tongue out at Okuyasu, which he replied with pulling an eyelid down, both gained a deadpanned expression from Josuke.

He snatched Senset up by her neck and dragged her away.

"Yowch! What're you grabbing at me like that for!?"

"For someone with a photographic memory, you sure as shit can't think. We're gonna go get that money you owe me and I know how. C'mon!"

"U-Ugh...! Wh-What about Shigechi!?"

Shigechi shouted.

"Y-Yeah! What about me?!"

Okuyasu swung an arm around the fat boy and smiled brightly.

"You and I are gonna hit the town! I'll pick up the slack my baby sis left for ya! We're gonna pick this town dry, legally! Don't forget about the tickets though!"

"Shishishishi!~ Pick the town clean, legally? I like that!"

The two boys began to cackle together as Rarity shook her head.

"I guess I'll watch over these two so they don't break the law... Why do I have such a bad feeling though?"

The two groups went their separate ways, both into town with their own paths before them.

Princess Cadence panted as she began to feel weak. Her wings flapped slower, her breathing ragged, her chest felt heavier than ever.

She landed at the foot of the board. She knew she had plenty of strength left, even after so long, and yet she was so tired.

"A-Aah...!"

Her legs gave way. She fell against another pony who helped her up. Shining Armor supported her as Spike helped her stand on her own.

"Don't worry about a thing now, I'm here."

"Princess Cadence! Your Calvary has arrived!"

Shocked she replied with agape silence. Then, a teary smile, eyes brimming with confidence as she turned her head to the board.

"Thank you, both of you, now I know we can win. Things have gotten complicated, and it only seems to get worse but... Together we can do this!"