My Little Phantom Thief: Equestria Girls

by WhiteLightningWolf

After Joker and Morgana jump through a mysterious mirror found in Mementos, they find that it was a portal to another dimension, with a new high school. To get back home, Joker and Mona must change the heart of the Palace Ruler that resides there. Watch as Joker makes unlikely allies at Canterlot High, and fights daunting shadows to change the heart of one Sunset Shimmer.

4. Chapter 4

Hello there!

That was a little bit for those who found my Revenge of the Sith reference in the last chapter. But anyways welcome back to My Little Phantom Thief, I've been gone for...Quite a while, college and other things have kept me busy but it's time to get back to the grind!

Since I uploaded the third chapter, it's already started to increase in followers, favorites, reviews, and this story was actually added to a community AND passed 1,000 views so thank you all so much for joining me on this journey through the weirdest idea I've ever had.

I did make a few edits to the last chapter since I made some dumb errors that I should have noticed before but hey I fixed some of 'em now. But thanks to JeaSonDash for pointing out some of those errors to me that I was able to fix, along with being my guide through the world of MLP, and thanks to Twinightprawn, Atlus Ultima, and plenty others for giving positive feedback, it means a lot, you guys!

Anyways I've talked for long enough, so I'll get to it. This chapter may be a bit longer cause I have a lot of things I want to knock out so we can get to the more original stuff.

LET'S GET ON WITH IT

Disclaimer: I don't own any assets from the Persona series, or MLP, they're owned by ATLUS and Hasbro respectively. Also any shadows that are references to other series, I don't own those either

Warning: There is mild language in this chapter, most people don't care, but if you do, you've been warned.

Sweet Apple Acres - November 12th: 9 Days Till The Fall Formal

When Akira opened his eyes, he could tell it was still fairly early in the morning, as the window next to his bed had little to no light coming through it. Akira could feel Morgana laying on his stomach, a normal position for the two each night. The boy sat upwards, expecting to be greeted by the sight of his workbench near the foot of his bed, but instead saw nothing in front of him. The usual morning sight of wooden walls and a bare roof was replaced by purple wallpaper, a white ceiling, and a dresser on the other side of the room.

Akira then remembered his situation, this wasn't his room in Leblanc's attic, this was the guest room of Sweet Apple Acres, the apple orchard that was his temporary home in this new dimension. He then remembered every instance that happened yesterday. His and Morgana's arrival in this world, stepping in Sunset Shimmer's way, meeting Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight, and entering Sunset's Palace and learning about another world called Equestria that was run by magical ponies.

Akira had hoped that all of that had been one weird dream, but it was all too real.

The Phantom Thief grabbed his phone that was on the nightstand next to his bed and looked at the clock in the top right corner of the screen.

'6:30…School doesn't even start until 8. I can't get back to sleep either, what to do…?' Akira thought to himself. He then pats Morgana's head, trying to wake up the cat who seemed to be in the middle of a pleasant dream.

"Mmmm...Fatty Tuna…" Morgana snored out, making Akira chuckle as the cat's usual dreams were either about sushi or their teammate Ann. Akira rubbed Morgana's head a little rougher than before, causing the cat to stir awake. "What the-? Ugh...Why do you always have to interrupt my good dreams?"

"Coincidence." Akira simply answered, making Morgana groan, and then he noticed how dark it was as well, even with his superior cat-like night vision.

"Why are you up so early anyways?" Morgana asked the teen, who got out of bed and went to go change.

"I don't think I could have gone back to sleep if I wanted to...besides, our second day at CHS starts at 8." Akira said, grabbing his normal clothes out of the dresser and beginning to change. Morgana tilted his head at the name.

"CHS? What are you-" Morgana started to say before his eyes widened, remembering the events of yesterday. "Oh, right. I forgot…" The cat finished with a sad look in his eye, Akira threw on his white blazer and walked over to Morgana, patting him on the head again.

"Hey, what did I say last night? We're gonna be ok." Akira told his partner, who gave a smile back at the boy before Akira grabbed his bag and started walking out of the room. "C'mon, let's get some breakfast." He motioned for Morgana to follow him, who immediately followed him at the mention of food.

Akira quietly exited the room, noticing that the door across the hall that was the entrance to Applejack's room, was still closed, and a sound of snoring could be heard from behind the door. Akira knew that Applejack was still asleep, and assumed that the rest of the house was just as still as they walked down the stairs.

Reaching the kitchen, Akira opened up the refrigerator and the two Phantom Thieves looked inside. Most of the food that the two saw in the kitchen seemed to have apples in it some way or another, and most of them were actually desserts, but that seemed to be a common theme in this family. Akira found what looked to be a leftover piece of apple crumble, which he decided would be good enough for now. Morgana jumped up on the table as Akira grabbed a fork and sliced a piece of the apple crumble off for the cat. Both thieves dug into their breakfast, finishing it pretty quick, but it was satisfying for the time being.

Akira noticed on the counter next to the fridge was a coffee grinder, surprising the boy, as the only one he'd ever seen was the one in Leblanc. Akira walked over to the grinder and noticed a jar full of coffee beans right nearby. Akira took a handful of beans and examined them, recognizing exactly what type they were due to his time brewing coffee through Sojiro's expertise.

These were Colombian Narino beans, which made sense to Akira that the Apple family would have this due to the fruity flavor that the beans gave off when brewed correctly. Akira looked back and forth between the beans and the grinder, a smile quickly growing on his face. Morgana noticed the two items as well and sighed, knowing what was about to happen.

Akira pulled up his phone and gave a look at the clock, noticing that barely any time had passed by. He then put his phone, his face now having a full smile.

"Yeah, I've got time…" Akira said before grabbing a handful of coffee beans and getting to work.

A Few Minutes Later

Akira took in a big whiff of the newly-made coffee, the aroma pleasing his senses. He quickly poured himself a cup of the brew and took a slow sip. Akira felt pure bliss as the creamy brew touched his taste buds, the blend of fruity and nutty flavors dancing on his tongue that negated how hot the coffee actually was. Akira set the cup down on the counter and pumped his fist in victory, knowing he just made a perfect brew that Sojiro would have been proud of.

The boy turned back to Morgana, who rolled his eyes at his partner's antics, but he couldn't blame Akira since brewing coffee might be the only thing they have to remind them of home during their time in this world. Akira pushed up his glasses as Morgana smiled.

"Even in a different world, you never get tired of coffee, do you?" Morgana chuckled, while Akira smirked in response and took another sip of his cup before responding.

"Living at Leblanc has changed me in more ways than one…" Akira told the cat, causing both of them to laugh, thinking of all the good times they've had living in the attic of the café in Yongen-Jaya. Their fit of laughing died down as they both sighed as Morgana thought about their situation.

"So, what do you think of all this "Elements of Harmony" and "Magic of Friendship" stuff?" Morgana asked the student, who kept drinking his coffee.

"If we were in this same situation a few months ago, I would have thought I'd be going insane…I mean, Pony Princesses? Who would believe that? But I also would have said that about a cognitive world where you could change someone's heart by stealing a Treasure while having to fight dozens of Shadows, so anything's possible." Akira stated with a chuckle, and Morgana had to agree. The situation seemed impossible to believe, but they really had no reason to not see Twilight's story as the truth.

"Hehe, I guess you've got a point there." Morgana replied, realizing how crazy their lives truly were. Morgana's eyes then lit up, a smile approaching his face. "Hey Akira, you know how those Shadows we saw in Sunset's Palace were different from any we've seen in our world?" Morgana asked, and now that Akira thought about it, he was right. The creatures they had seen yesterday when entering the castle resembled nothing like any shadows Akira saw in any other Palace, or even Mementos.

"Now that you mention it, you're right…we didn't know their weaknesses, and got lucky on two of them, but who knows what other kinds of shadows are in there..." Akira pondered with his hand on his chin. Morgana smirked, having an idea.

"If only there was a way we could figure out more about the shadow's, maybe even use them to our advantage…?" Morgana said with a sarcastic tone, leading Akira to the same solution he had. Akira's eyes widened and a smirk formed on his face when he figured out what the cat was trying to say.

"You mean...persuading some of them to join our cause…?" Akira looked at his partner with hopeful eyes, Morgana nodded with a smile on his face.

"Exactly! With your power to wield multiple Personas, I think we can gain an advantage in the Palace, and we might be able to bring them back to our world and surprise everyone!" Morgana said with enthusiasm as these new possibilities were opened up to them. Maybe this world wasn't so bad after all. The two were then brought out of their scheming when they heard footsteps coming down the set of stairs. Akira already knew who this was before they came any closer.

Applejack walked in the kitchen from around the corner, already changed into her everyday attire, her arms lifted over her head after giving a big yawn. Akira remembered from yesterday that Applejack was supposedly one of these "Elements of Harmony" that Twilight had brought up after they left Sunset Shimmer's Palace. He still wasn't quite sure what this meant but he knew that befriending Applejack was going to be important if they wanted to go home. Applejack then opened her eyes and saw both Akira and Morgana looking right at her. She put her arms down and spoke.

"Good mornin', Sugarcube." Applejack said to the boy and his cat. "What are ya doing up this early?" Applejack asked with a drowsy tone of voice. The boy took another drink out of his coffee cup before answering the girl.

"I couldn't fall back asleep even if I wanted to. Besides, don't wanna be late for school." Akira responded, swirling the brew around in it's mug. Applejack noticed what he was doing and became curious.

"Makes sense Ah suppose, whatcha got there?" Applejack questioned while getting closer to the boy. Akira held up his cup for the cowgirl to see.

"Coffee. I saw you all had some beans available and decided to make some." Akira said with a blank stare. Applejack then looked over to the counter by the coffee grinder and noticed a pot nearly full of coffee.

"Wait, ya know how to make coffee?" Applejack walked over to the pot and looked it over, Akira smiled as he finished his cup, setting it down on the counter right next to the girl. He then looked over and told her the story.

"Yeah. I learned how to a couple of months ago, but I've been trained by the best." Akira replied with a smug smile having grown on his face. Applejack noticed the look of pride and flashed her own grin in return.

"Is that so? Well, Ah'll be the judge of that…" Applejack said, grabbing a mug out of the cupboards, Akira gladly grabbed the pot of coffee and filled her mug. Applejack looked at the brew, blowing on it a little bit to hopefully cool it down before she took a sip.

Akira watched in anticipation of Applejack's reaction, trying to analyze every expression that came across her face. Applejack clicked her tongue a few times, getting a feel for the taste, a smile briefly came to her face as she took another sip. Akira's smile only grew, knowing his brew was a hit. Applejack looked at the coffee with a gaze of pleasant surprise.

"Well Ah'll be...The Sweet Shoppe has nothin' on you, partner!" Applejack told the boy, who's smug smile had reached full 'Joker Smirk'. Applejack started to walk over to the counter and found a stool. "Mind if Ah finish this?"

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." Akira joked, making Applejack roll her eyes before sitting down and drinking the home brew.

A few more minutes passed as Akira was cleaning up after himself. Applejack was mostly through her cup while the two had sat in an awkward silence, Morgana frequently looking between the two. While trying to come up with a way to break the ice, Akira remembered something from yesterday that Sunset was about to say to Applejack before Akira had stepped in between them.

"It makes sense why Dash would ditch a loser like you-" Akira remembered Sunset start to say. He was curious as to who this "Dash" person was, Akira had a feeling that this might connect back to that photo of younger Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and those three other girls. Akira looked at Applejack and spoke up.

"Hey Applejack, can I ask you something?" Akira asked, making Applejack look at the boy in confusion. Akira walked over to her and kept speaking. "I don't know if it's too personal, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Applejack took another sip of her coffee before looking at the boy with a raised eyebrow.

"Well now ya got me curious…" Applejack replied, awaiting Akira's question. Akira sat down next to Applejack and decided to go for it.

"Right before I stepped in between you and Sunset Shimmer, she started to talk about someone named "Dash", who is that?" Akira questioned. Applejack's eyes went wide, not expecting that kind of a question, which caused her to look down at the floor. Akira knew right then he might have crossed a line as it seemed to be a painful memory for Applejack. "Crap, I shouldn't have asked that, I'm really sorry-" Akira was about to say, before Applejack looked back up and cut him off.

"Nah, it's fine. After what ya for me yesterday, ya deserve to know…" Applejack replied as she looked into Akira's eyes, sighing as she was about to tell her story. "Sunset was referring to a former friend of mine, goes by the name of Rainbow Dash…" Applejack said, Akira raised an eyebrow at the most peculiar name he had heard so far.

"Rainbow Dash…?" Akira asked. He then remembered that the girl right below Applejack in that photograph had hair that was the colors of the rainbow, could this be the same girl?

"Yup, ya might have seen her at school. She's the captain of pretty much every sports team at Canterlot High…We were real close..." The girl replied with a frown apparent on her face. Akira knew by this and a few of her words that this wasn't the whole story.

"You said that she's your "former friend"...If you don't mind me asking, what happened between you two?" Akira asked, putting his hand to his chin and listening intently. Applejack looked away again, recalling the bad memory.

"Ah was runnin' a bake sale during freshman year, but no one really seemed to care about it...that's when Rainbow Dash told me that she would get the softball team to make an appearance there to help promote it. Ah told everyone Ah knew that they were comin', got everyone real excited, but then not a single one of 'em showed up, not even Rainbow Dash…" Applejack told the Phantom Thief, who looked at the girl with a gaze of sympathy.

"Applejack…" Akira wanted to say more, but couldn't find the right words in this situation. He noticed Applejack's green eyes start to well up with tears.

"Ah...Ah couldn't believe it when it happened...Ah felt betrayed...that mah best friend went and made a fool outta me…" Applejack managed to get out, trying her best to not let any tears flow. She was surprised when she felt Akira's hand on her shoulder as her green eyes met his grey ones.

"In a way...I kinda know what that feels like…" Akira told the girl with his own sad expression on his face. Remembering what was going to transpire when he returned home to steal Sae Niijima's Treasure, how he knew that they were going to be betrayed by the newest member of the team, Goro Akechi, and how Akira was going to have to let himself be arrested.

"Y-Ya do?" Applejack asked with surprise in her voice, not expecting Akira to have any idea what it was like. Akira nodded in response.

"Yeah, I do...There was someone I had grown very close to over a short while, and funny enough I knew they were going to betray me in the long run, but I hoped the bond we shared would be enough to make him reconsider, but I was wrong…" Akira said, looking over to Morgana, who knew what he was talking about. The two had known for quite a while about Goro Akechi's eventual betrayal, but Morgana saw how much it pained the team leader to see who his friend truly was, or if they were even friends at all.

"Akira…" Applejack was surprised to hear the brief story, she didn't want to push the boy for details as she could tell it was hurting him. Akira turned back to Applejack and continued to speak.

"It's a challenge...but it's one that you can overcome. You just gotta keep fighting every day to keep yourself going, and hopefully, everything will turn out as it should. Who knows? Maybe you and Rainbow Dash repair that bridge between you two, time will tell though." Akira said, a smile coming back to his face, a smile that Applejack had to admit, was pretty infectious. The country girl gave a small chuckle and smiled back.

"Well Ah don't quite know about that last part, but you're right. Ah gotta keep pushing...Thank ya, Akira, Ah really needed that." Applejack said, wiping away a tear from her eye and taking another sip of coffee, Akira simply smiled in response.

'I feel like my bond with Applejack is growing deeper…'

CONFIDANT RANK UP - Applejack: Strength, Rank 2

The two teenagers were then pulled out of their thoughts when they heard an older voice from around the corner.

"Well good morning you two." Said Granny Smith, who Akira, Applejack, and Morgana turned to see enter the kitchen. "You're awake awfully early." Granny told the two as she shuffled further inside.

"Good mornin', Granny! Did you know at all that Akira could make coffee?" Applejack wondered if this Granny knew this information before taking in the boy. Granny looked confused and then glanced over to the pot of coffee on the counter and the cup in her granddaughter's hand. Granny smiled at the boy and walked over to the counter to pour herself a cup. Akira put his hand behind his head and tried to play it off.

"It's just a hobby that I picked up a while ago." Akira said with a hint of embarrassment as Granny poured her cup and looked back at Applejack.

"Applejack, dear? Ah have some clothes that were out drying on the line, could you bring those in for me?" Granny Smith asked the girl, who had now finished her coffee and got to her feet.

"Sure thing, Granny." Applejack started to walk out of the kitchen before turning back to Akira. "Thanks for the coffee, Akira!" Applejack said with a wink before walking out and heading outside, making Akira smile at her and Morgana simply rolled his eyes, surprised at how oblivious his partner was. Akira grabbed Applejack's cup and took it over to the sink to wash it. When they heard the door close from Applejack stepping outside, Granny Smith spoke up.

"Ah overheard your conversation…" Granny said plainly, Akira and Morgana turned to look at the elderly woman in surprise. Granny gave a small chuckle at the look she received. "Ah just wanted to thank ya...Applejack's had a real tough time at school ever since she and Rainbow cut ties with each other, she hasn't been able to trust anyone there enough to make friends, but ya might have just started to crack through that shell of hers…" Granny smiled at Akira who then turned away with no expression on his face.

"I guess I just know what she's going through, in a way." Akira put the coffee cup in the sink before walking over to Morgana, petting the cat who was looking at Akira with sad eyes. "Back home, I didn't have too many friends, I felt like the world was against me, like I was an outcast." Akira then turned back to his guardian and finished his thought. "But I found out that sometimes all you need are a few good people, and you'll make it through."

Granny smiled at Akira's words, noting the sincerity in them, she could tell Applejack's situation was indeed familiar to the boy. Their conversation was interrupted by a yellow and red blur running into the kitchen, which slowed down to look through a cabinet. Akira and Granny were able to see that it was Applebloom, who quickly grabbed what looked like a granola bar, and started running towards the door while glancing at Granny Smith.

"Bye Granny! Ah'm off to school!" Applebloom yelled as she took off towards the door, Granny started to laugh as she put her hands on her hips.

"You're leavin' already? Ain't it a little early for that?" Granny asked the young girl with a smirk on her face. Applebloom opened the door and looked back to her grandmother.

"Ah'm meetin' up with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, we're gonna start makin' our next video!" Applebloom replied, shoving the granola bar into her face. Akira looked at the girl with confusion.

'I seriously should be used to these names by now…' The boy thought to himself, Granny simply shook her head and gave a slight laugh.

"Just don't go too fast now, ya hear?" Granny requested of the girl, who nodded before running out the door. Granny turned back to Akira with a small smile. "Kids these days, don't think Ah'll ever understand 'em…" She joked, making Akira chuckle a bit before another figure walked into the room, this time at a much slower pace compared to Applebloom. Big Mac strode into the room, rubbing his eyes after having been woken up by his younger sister's hyperactive movements. Granny greeted the eldest of her grandkids. "Good mornin' Mac! Sleep well?"

"Eeyup." Was the only thing that came out of Big Mac's mouth.

"Is that the only thing this guy says?" Morgana asked no one in particular, but he knew only Akira could hear him. Akira thought he'd be polite to the boy and greet him as well.

"Good Morning, Mac." Was all Akira could think to say, but it was enough to get Big Mac to look in his direction, slightly smile and send a nod of approval Akira's way. It wasn't a verbal response, but it was at least acknowledgement. Granny then pointed over to the pot of coffee that the Phantom Thief had made.

"Akira here made us a pot of coffee, Mac. Want to try it with me?" Granny asked, holding her cup up high.

"Nnope, Ah never was much of a coffee drinker…" Mac told the group. Akira and Morgana were both shocked that Mac just spoke a full sentence.

"Huh...Guess I was wrong." Morgana said with his mouth slightly agape, Akira just chuckled and smiled back at Mac.

"That's alright, I know it's not for everyone." Akira gave Mac a look of understanding, which made Mac smile at the boy again in return. That was when Applejack walked back into the kitchen with a basket full of clothes in tow. Applejack turned towards Granny Smith and spoke.

"Where do ya want me to put these, Granny?"

"Oh just put them on the counter, dear, Ah'll take them upstairs in a little bit. Besides, you three should get ready to go…" Granny said, pointing to the nearest clock, which caused Applejack, Big Mac, and Akira to turn and look at the time, 7:25.

"Oh my, Ah gotta grab my bag!" Applejack yelled, turning towards Akira and Mac. "Can you both wait for me by the door for a minute?" She asked the two, both boys nodded in approval as Akira grabbed his bag, allowing Morgana to quickly jump in and hitch a ride. Applejack ran upstairs as Granny went towards the laundry basket.

"Y'all have a good day now!" Granny said before taking a sip out of her coffee cup, she then looked down at her cup in shock. "Oh my!" She said with a smile on her face. Akira smirked as he and Big Mac walked towards the door, knowing that Granny Smith liked his brew as well.

Akira and Mac sat by the door, waiting for Applejack to come join them so they could walk to Canterlot High together. While they waited, Akira thought to himself about today's agenda.

'Alright, at some point today I need to meet up with Twilight so she can tell me her plan to deal with Sunset Shimmer. Hopefully we can go to the Palace again today and actually start our infiltration…' Akira thought to himself, remembering yesterday's events vividly. Akira then remembered the unusual shadows that appeared in Sunset's Palace. 'I've never seen shadows like those before...but if this dimension's Metaverse works the same, maybe I can use the power of the Wildcard to get these shadows on our side…' Akira finished, flashing his classic Joker smirk. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Applejack walking down the stairs, staring intently at her phone. Akira smiled at the girl.

"Ready to go, Applejack?" Akira asked, making Applejack look up at the boy before she spoke up.

"Oh, sure. Say Akira, did you meet that Twilight girl at all yesterday?" Applejack questioned, making Akira raise his eyebrow at the country girl.

"Yeah, I met her after school...why do you ask?" Akira replied, causing Applejack to turn her phone to Akira's face, showing him a video that seemed to be going viral. Morgana popped out of Akira's bag to get a look at the video as well. Neither of them could have predicted the contents of the video.

In the video, they saw Twilight sitting in what looked to be the Canterlot High library, with a confused expression on her face, typing on a computer with just the worst typing form They'd ever seen. They then started to hear a voiceover from the video, they recognized the voice as Sunset Shimmer's.

"Twilight Sparkle wants to be your Fall Formal Princess…" The voiceover of Sunset started, before the video zoomed in on Twilight's face and then changed to show Twilight sitting on the floor in a pile of books, picking up one of them with her mouth. "But what does it say about OUR school if we give someone like this…" The voiceover continued as the video showed Twilight being blinded by a copier. "Such an important honor…" The voice trailed off as the video ended.

Akira and Morgana were horrified by what they watched, any doubt they had of Twilight being a pony from a parallel world went right out the window after they saw her mannerisms. Akira could assume that from the rising view count of the video, the entirety of Canterlot High has probably seen this, making Twilight's campaign for Princess of the Fall Formal seem like a pipe dream. Akira looked up at Applejack and spoke.

"Hey, can you send me that?" Akira asked, which received a nod from Applejack as she texted him the link after she got his contact info the night before. Akira knew what his first goal would be when he got to school.

'I need to find Twilight…'

Canterlot High - Courtyard

After a brief walk, Akira, Applejack, and Big Mac arrived outside of CHS. The three teens had been mostly silent on their walk, as Akira and Applejack's minds were focused on the embarrassing video of Twilight, while Big Mac was his usual silent self. Applejack then decided to break the silence and turned her attention towards Akira.

"Ya ready for your second day, partner?" She asked the Phantom Thief, who looked back at her with a small smirk.

"If it's as exciting as yesterday was, I don't think I'll have a problem." Akira replied while flashing a smile at Applejack, who started to giggle in response, a light blush coming to her cheeks as she recalled how the two first met.

"Ya got a point there, sugarcube!" Applejack said, though she didn't know why her heart seemed to beat faster as she saw Akira smile and heard his joke, she brushed the feeling off, labeling it as her early morning exhaustion. "What class are ya going to right away?" Applejack asked the new student. Akira remembered that he put the folded up copy of his schedule in his back pocket. He pulled out the piece of paper and looked at his first class.

"Looks like I've got history first thing in the morning." Akira was slightly worried about this class, seeing as this dimension's historical events were more than likely nothing like his own worlds, but he settled down as he remembered he and Morgana weren't going to remain in this dimension long enough for him to be tested on the subject. Applejack looked slightly disappointed.

"Darn...Ah've got math first…" Applejack told him while looking dejected, but she quickly lifted her spirits after a second. "Maybe Ah'll see ya later in the day though!" Applejack said, her smile returning to her face. Big Mac noticed that the first bell was about to ring and walked ahead of the younger teens without either one of them noticing.

"I sure hope so!" Akira replied, still smiling at Applejack. Morgana simply shook his head in Akira's bag, he couldn't believe that his partner wasn't noticing the signals Applejack was sending his way, he had taught him better than this. Applejack turned back towards the school, noticing first that Big Mac was no longer with them, and then looked at the time on her smartphone, and she panicked when she saw the clock, it was 7: 50.

"Aw shoot, we gotta get goin'! Don't want ya to be late on your first day, sugarcube!" Applejack yelled while running up the steps to the school, she opened the door and turned back to Akira. "Ah'll see ya later, ok?" She said, giving Akira a wink. Akira flashed a thumbs up in her direction.

"You can count on it!" He replied as Applejack went through the door, refusing to show the ever growing blush on her face. Akira started to walk up the steps as Morgana just sighed inside the bag.

'First Makoto, now Applejack? He really is hopeless…I wonder how the others are holding up?' Morgana thought to himself as the two Phantom Thieves entered Canterlot High for the second time.

Path of Adyeshach

About 15 Minutes had passed since Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, dove into the strange mirror to save their feline companion, Mona, from whatever world was through that mirror. This left the rest of the Phantom Thieves behind in the world of Tokyo's collective unconscious, Mementos. All of the thieves had pushed their masks up onto their foreheads so they could all relax a bit. Panther and Noir had been discussing clothing brands, with Oracle typing away at her laptop right next to them. Fox had been examining the current level of Mementos from his usual artist perspective, holding his hands up like a frame, hoping to capture any inspiration for his next painting. Skull and Crow had leaned up against the nearest wall, Crow had been standing while Skull was sitting in a slouched position. Queen stood still in front of the mirror, praying that their fearless leader and feline teammate would jump back through at any moment, but she knew it wouldn't be that simple. Skull seemed to groan as his boredom increased.

"Ughhh...How long have they been in there anyways?" Skull asked the group, feeling ready to take a nap. Fox looked away from the scenery to turn towards his impatient teammate.

"I believe it's been about 15 minutes…" Fox answered, which caused Skull to look at the artist with wide eyes.

"For real? I swear it feels like it's been ages…" Skull looked over to the mirror that was the object of his current frustration, as his best friend was currently missing in action, and he didn't quite understand why he wasn't back yet. "Shouldn't Joker have been able to just grab Mona and come right back?" Skull asked again, this time Crow stood straight up and looked Skull in the eyes.

"Perhaps it's not that simple, we don't know what awaits on the other side of this mirror, maybe something over there is preventing Joker and Mona's return…" Crow hypothesized, making all of the Phantom Thieves turn towards the detective with confusion.

"What makes you say that?" Panther asked their newest teammate, who simply smiled at the girl.

"It's just a hunch I had." Crow replied with a frown, and he was about to continue, before Oracle ended up interrupting him.

"Hold on, I think Crow may be onto something…" Oracle said, typing away as usual. Noir walked towards the young girl and knelt next to her.

"What do you mean?" Noir questioned, looking at the computer screen, but not being able to make heads or tails of the information.

"I've been trying to analyze this mirror, and all I'm able to see is that it leads to a different location, but something is blocking me from figuring out exactly where it goes to. So it's entirely possible that there is something over there that is preventing anything from coming through the one side, and it seems you can only get rid of it from that side..." Oracle tried to explain as best she could. Skull then got to his feet and walked over to the girl.

"So you're saying that Joker and Mona are trapped over there until they get rid of whatever is keeping them there?" Skull questioned, his frustration growing by the second. Oracle hesitantly nodded, making Skull turn back towards the mirror in question. "Then dammit we should go through there ourselves and help them out!" Skull yelled out, trying to convince the team.

"No!" The thieves heard a female voice among them cry out. They all turned to see Queen, standing in front of the mirror with her fists clenched. "If we went in after them, we would not only be stuck on the other side of the mirror as well, but there would be no one to protect the mirror in case an enemy came to destroy it while none of us would be able to stop it." Queen said, trying to maintain order within the group, she didn't know how Joker was able to do it for multiple months, she was already struggling with the pressure and it hasn't even been half an hour. Skull heard what the girl was saying, but it didn't sit well with him.

"So...all we can do is sit back and wait?" Skull asked while shaking his head, he hated feeling powerless, which he hadn't truly felt since his former run-ins with Kamoshida.

"That would be correct…" Fox answered the hyperactive Phantom Thief. Skull shook his head and retook his spot against the wall. Queen sighed as everyone present seemed to be filled with concern and worry. Queen looked for a way to ease the tension in the air, but couldn't think of anything that would satisfy them all. Crow ended up being her saving grace.

"I don't think we have any reason to be worried." Crow stated to everyone in the room, who turned their attention back to the detective prince. "Joker is more than capable of fighting improbable odds, remember how he handled that rigged battle arena in Niijima-san's Palace? Not only that, but Mona is a more than capable fighter in his own right." Crow had the rest of the thieves recall how Joker had held off waves of multiple powerful shadows by himself in order to progress through the palace. Joker had barely broken a sweat during the fight. This recollection lifted the spirits of the Phantom Thieves.

"Right! Fighting impossible odds is kinda his thing…" Panther spoke up, joking about Joker's natural showmanship. Skull stood back up, a smile coming to his face.

"Heh, Joker's one tough son of a bitch...I'm sure there's nothin' over there that could take him down!" Skull yelled out, pumping his fist in the air, the belief in his best friend fully restored.

"And if Mona-Chan's with him, I'm certain they'll be ok." Noir continued the cheers of praise for their teammates in her usual calm tone. Fox held his hand to his chin and gave a small laugh.

"This is truly inspirational…" Fox said quietly, trying to capture this feeling in his mind so it could be put onto a canvas later on. Queen smiled at everyones sudden hope, as she turned back towards the mirror, her thoughts solely focusing on their fearless leader.

'We all believe in you two...Please, come back safe!" Queen thought to herself, before going back to guarding the mirror.

Canterlot High - Main Hall

As Akira and Morgana made their way through the halls of Canterlot High, trying to find Akira's first class of the day, Akira pulled out his phone and rewatched the video of Sunset Shimmer's smear campaign against Twilight. Judging by all of the students looking at their phones and laughing, he assumed that the video had already made it's rounds. Akira was able to talk to Morgana, knowing that their conversation would be lost amongst the already noisy halls.

"Do you think Twilight knows about this, Morgana?" Akira asked the cat, who shifted around in the bag before giving his answer.

"Seeing as she looks to be clueless around technology...I'm gonna say no…" Morgana replied, cringing at Twilight's technological ineptitude that he remembered being shown. Akira sighed before putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Fair point…" Akira's thoughts then turned to the picture of the supposed "Elements of Harmony" that he and Twilight had found while in Sunset's Palace, he had remembered the faces of both Applejack and Pinkie Pie appearing in that photo, along with three other girls, the one with rainbow colored hair and an athletic look he assumed was this Rainbow Dash that he had learned about from his conversation with Applejack, but he still had no idea as to who the other two girls were.

Akira didn't have long to think about this information before he felt someone grab onto his arm and pull him into a poorly lit corner of the halls, the sudden pull knocking Morgana off of his feet in the bag as well. Akira let out a small yelp of surprise before a purple hand covered his mouth. He opened his eyes to see that it was Twilight Sparkle herself that pulled him into the barely visible part of the hall. He didn't have time to even voice his surprise before Twilight started to talk.

"I'm glad I found you Akira! I spent all of last night trying to find some good information, and using that, I was able to come up with a plan for us!" Twilight started to say, while Spike's head popped out of Twilight's bag, handing the girl a book. Morgana then popped out of Akira's bag as well to see what was happening.

"Mornin' guys! You miss us?" Spike asked the two Phantom Thieves with a teasing tone. Akira, who by now was used to talking animals, just looked at the two with worried eyes.

"Good morning, Spike...and Twilight, that's great, but-" Akira was going to tell Twilight about the video, but the girl cut him off rather quickly.

"I know! I'm happy I was able to find as much as I did!" Twilight said as she opened the book and started flipping through the pages, Akira and Morgana both sweatdropped at how excited Twilight seemed to be. Twilight eventually stopped flipping the pages and shoved the book in his face to show him something. "I found this in what they call a "yearbook"..." Twilight continued. Akira didn't pay any mind to the fact that she didn't know what a yearbook was, but instead focused on the large photo that was in the pages of the year book, it was the same photo of Twilight's friends that he had just been thinking about.

'What a coincidence…' Akira thought, examining the photo a little closer now that he had more time to look at it. Twilight was eager to continue, and kept speaking.

"It's the same picture of my friends and fellow Elements that we saw in that Palace! Apparently in this world, they all used to be best friends when they started school here, but over time they all seemed to betray each other's trust in one way or another, which broke their friendship apart…but then I asked myself why was this same picture in Sunset's Palace...?" Twilight continued with her newfound knowledge. Akira noticed that a few students had noticed them in the hall, took one glance at Twilight, and started laughing before walking away, which led to Akira trying to find any way to get Twilight to listen to him about the embarrassing video.

"I-I don't know, but Twilight there's something you should-"

"But do you remember the title of that book we found this picture in?" Twilight interrupted again, leading Akira to just shake his head in frustration. Morgana frowned at Twilight's hyperactive display.

"She seems really excited about this…" Morgana told his partner, who simply nodded his head in agreement as Twilight continued with her explanation.

"That book was called "Princess Sunset's Conquests' ', which it would seem weird to have this picture in that book...until you realize that Sunset Shimmer must have been the reason they all stopped being friends! If that is truly the representation of somepony's heart, like you said, then Sunset Shimmer must view breaking their friendship apart as an accomplishment, right!?" Twilight asked Akira with a big smirk on her face, showing she was proud of this revelation, Akira and Morgana admitted that the deduction did match up with other pieces of evidence, though neither of them were used to the word "somepony".

"I mean, that would make sense…" Akira replied, he realized that he might as well let Twilight finish with her explanation because she would keep interrupting him no matter what.

"Exactly! So here's my idea, we should help the girls set aside their differences and be friends again, not only do we need more allies if we want to beat Sunset Shimmer, but with them working together again, I know for a fact they could convince enough people to vote for me!" Twilight said with a large smile, which quickly fell to a small frown as she looked at the floor. "Also...I just can't stand seeing them hate each other, it's not right!" Twilight said as a fire lit in her eyes when Akira looked into them, he could sense a surprising amount of determination coming from the supposed Pony Princess. "So...I know you barely know them, but please, could you both help me with this?"

Akira could tell Twilight meant business from just looking at her, even Spike seemed to be shocked at Twilight's courage. Akira retreated into his own thoughts for a second, recalling the conversation he had with Applejack this morning.

"Ah...Ah couldn't believe it when it happened...Ah felt betrayed...that my closest friend went and made a fool outta me…" He remembered Applejack telling him how she felt after Rainbow Dash's supposed betrayal, which thanks to Twilight's detective skills, he figured their falling out was actually Sunset Shimmer's doing. He saw how hurt Applejack was just from the memories alone, and if that's how all of these girls, even Pinkie Pie, feel about one another, then he couldn't just sit by and let Sunset get away with this corruption. Plus, he made a deal with Twilight earlier, he couldn't just abandon her when she needed their help.

"Alright, where do we start?" Akira asked Twilight, who looked surprised at the Phantom Thief's answer.

"Wait...Y-You'll actually help me with this, somepony that you barely even know?" Twilight questioned as she lightly backed up. Akira tilted his head to the side, a smile now on his face.

"Of course, that's what friends are for, right?" Akira replied while adjusting his glasses. Once Twilight heard the word "friends", it seemed like she was about to cry, not expecting that word out of somepony she met just yesterday. But Akira could tell that his words made the Princess of Friendship very happy. Morgana then chimed in with his own words of approval.

"Besides, what kind of Phantom Thieves would we be if we didn't help out those in need…?" Morgana told the girl and her dog, trying to maintain a cool attitude, which caused both Twilight and Spike to slightly laugh before Twilight spoke up.

"Well I'm glad we have the righteous Phantom Thieves looking out for us…" Twilight said in a teasing manner, making both Akira and Morgana join in the laughter, but Twilight continued shortly after. "But seriously...Thank you two so much…" Twilight finished as she quickly ran up and gave Akira a light hug, catching the leader of the Phantom Thieves off guard, before he accepted it and hugged the girl back.

'I feel my bond with Twilight growing deeper…'

CONFIDANT RANK UP - Twilight Sparkle: The Magician, Rank 2

Twilight let go of Akira after a few seconds, looking back up into the boy's bright silver eyes with a smile, which Akira returned as he looked back into her purple orbs. Twilight felt her heart rate increase and a slight blush come to her face after the two looked at each other. Twilight looked around for any excuse to leave and was able to find it quickly.

"O-Oh! Look at the time! The bell's about to ring, don't wanna be late!" Twilight said as she was about to run off before she turned back to look at Akira. "After school I'm gonna try and find one of my friends, Rarity, who I've heard usually ends the day with a science class. Meet me there when you can, ok?" Twilight asked the two with a smile, in which Akira gave her a thumbs up in response, Morgana also noticed the dreamy look that appeared on Spike's face when he heard the name Rarity. "Great! I'll see you then Akira!" Twilight yelled before running away, questioning why she felt so weird just then, Spike waved goodbye to the two before retreating back into Twilight's bag. Akira smiled as he watched the girl run off before remembering why he had wanted to find her in the first place.

'I guess I'll tell her about the video later…" Akira said to himself as he watched the girl running off, noticing the students looking her direction and laughing as Twilight ran past. Akira was slightly agitated with the student's behavior, noticing how no matter where he was, high school students were basically the same. Morgana ended up snapping Akira out of his stupor by slapping his partner's head with his paw.

"Twilight wasn't joking about the bell, you'd better get to class!" Morgana yelled to him, making Akira's focus shift from Twilight's distant form to a nearby clock, he had about 2 minutes to get to class.

"Crap...thanks Morgana!" Akira told his companion before starting off back into the hallway, Morgana had a smug look on his face.

"Where would you be without me, Joker?" Morgana said with his usual cocky tone, which caused Akira to roll his eyes.

"I can't even imagine it…" Akira replied before beginning his jog towards history class, Morgana put his head back down in the school bag as their trek before the first bell began.

Unknown to the two, a pair of green eyes had been watching them from a different corner of the hall, they hadn't heard what Akira and Twilight had talked about, but they were able to assume that the two were plotting something. She ran a hand through her bright orange hair and smirked as she watched the disappearing form of Akira.

"It seems like that new boy and Twilight Sparkle have become fast friends...but no matter what they do, nothing can stop me from winning what's rightfully mine!" Sunset Shimmer laughed to herself before walking down the other end of the hallway. It didn't matter to her what those two had planned, she had already ruined Twilight's public image to the point where no other student would even consider voting for her. Just another week and she'll be crowned as Princess of the Fall Formal again. And once she got a hold of the crown…

She would destroy Twilight Sparkle.

Canterlot High - 2 Hours Later

Akira walked out of his home-ec classroom feeling slightly overwhelmed. While math and science seemed to be consistent across dimensions, this world's history and home-economics style were completely foreign to him. He had to try and comprehend all of this new information and the same time and his brain was not picking any of it up, but he took solace in the fact that he didn't exactly need to remember it all in the long run. He took a sigh of relief as Morgana popped his head out of the bag.

"How are you holding up there?" Morgana asked with a slightly worried expansion, he was just thankful that he didn't have to learn the same information. Akira looked back at his partner with tired eyes.

"I'll be fine...I guess I just wasn't ready for how...different this would all be." Akira replied with a slight laugh, he wasn't upset at all, he just couldn't wrap his head around any of it, he hadn't heard a thing about this supposed "Crystal Empire" before now, but apparently it was a big deal in this world.

"I hear that...but at least it's over for now and you get to go and relax in homeroom-" As Morgana finished his sentence, a blur of pink popped up in front of Akira's face, before it quickly spoke.

"Hiya!" Pinkie Pie yelled in surprise, causing Akira and Morgana to yelp and jump back a little bit, but after seeing who it was that jumped out in front of him, Akira bent over and took a large breath.

"Pinkie...You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Akira told the hyperactive girl, who still had a large smile on her face. Morgana had fallen on his back in the bag and was in a state of slight shock. Pinkie Pie gave a light giggle, which Akira had to admit sounded very cute.

"Aw, I'm sorry Aki! I just couldn't help myself, I love surprising people! That's why I throw so many surprise parties for people whenever I get the chance!" Pinkie replied while sticking her tongue out at the boy, who had now fully recovered from her surprise.

"That actually makes a lot of sense…" Akira said to himself before remembering what Pinkie Pie just called him. "Wait… "Aki"?" Akira questioned about the new nickname. Pinkie Pie just shrugged her shoulders.

"I dunno, I just like giving my friends nicknames!" The hyper girl replied as Akira chuckled at her reason.

"Fair enough, I could get used to it." He said, turning back to the pinkette, who flashed the boy one of the brightest smiles he's ever seen, it was obvious she was happy he accepted the nickname. "Anyways, what are you doing here, shouldn't we both be heading to homeroom?" Akira asked her, and Pinkie Pie responded by putting her hands on her hips and winking at her classmate.

"Don't tell me you forgot about our deal, Aki?" Pinkie asked, making Akira recall his memories of yesterday and remember the promise that he had made to Pinkie Pie.

"The trouble is that I usually have to set it up by myself since I don't have that many friends, so I always feel lonely while putting everything up and it usually doesn't take too long but by myself it usually takes every homeroom period in the week..." He remembered part of Pinkie's rambling from yesterday, which allowed him to remember their deal. Akira had promised to help her set up the gym for the Fall Formal, and she wouldn't bring up the fact that Akira had Morgana to anyone.

"Oh yeah, that's right! You want me to help you set up the decorations in the gym!" Akira remembered, making Pinkie Pie vigorously nod her head.

"Yup! You got it, lets go!" Pinkie said, about to head towards the gym, which caught Akira slightly off guard.

"You mean right now? Don't we have to check in with Ms. Cheerilee first?" The boy asked, not sure if Pinkie was acting so hyper to the point of forgetting basic information.

"Oh I already talked to Ms. Cheerilee and told her you'd be helping me decorate, so we can head straight there!" Pinkie told the thief before grabbing his arm and starting to pull him towards the gym. "Come on!" She yelled before breaking into a full on sprint towards the gym, pulling Akira behind her, surprised at the raw strength the party girl held as he stumbled trying to keep up with her.

"W-Woah, hold on!" Akira yelled back, trying to get Pinkie to stop running. Both of their yells garnered a lot of attention from other students, who made small passing comments questioning why the new transfer student was hanging around someone as "out there" as Pinkie Pie. Akira didn't hear any of these comments as he focused on keeping himself upright. Morgana, who was still hiding in the bag, was being bounced off the walls like a game of tennis.

"Hey! S-Slow down you two!" Morgana shouted from inside the bag, but the pleas fell on deaf ears...Mostly because Pinkie Pie couldn't hear or understand Morgana. The duo ran down the halls of Canterlot High, only slowing down to go around the corners, and for Pinkie Pie to say hi to other students, who saw who the greeting came from and turned away quickly. After a few minutes of sprinting, Pinkie led Akira through a set of already open doors before finally coming to a halt.

"Here we are!" Pinkie said without a bit of exhaustion traced in her voice, letting go of Akira's arm and holding her hands out to show off the gym. Akira wasn't in the same condition as he was bent over, putting both hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Morgana then popped his head back out of Akira's bag while taking a large breath, getting some fresh air after the bumpy ride. The cat then flopped over Akira's shoulder.

"Ugh...I think I'm gonna be sick…" Morgana was able to get out between breaths. Pinkie Pie seemed to hear the sounds Morgana made, which just sounded like "meows" to her, and walked over to the cat, and started to rub the top of his head.

"Aww did I go a little toooooo fast, Morgana?" Pinkie asked the cat in a playful tone, Morgana started to look up at her angrily.

"What do you think-mew...Mew-meeeoooowwwww" Morgana purred as his anger quickly shifted to a relaxed state as Pinkie rubbed his head. Pinkie Pie then took her hand away and gave Morgana a cute smile.

"What a silly kitty…" Pinkie said as she walked back to the center of the gym. Morgana, still in a state of nirvana, replied.

"Yeah…" Morgana agreed with bliss, before realizing what he had just agreed to. "Wait, I'm not even a cat!" Morgana yelled out as Akira was finally able to stand up as he took in the view of the decorated gym.

The first thing Akira noticed was the nearly overwhelming number of balloons scattered around the gym, and no two balloons in a group were the same color. The balloons were tied to numerous tables around the room that Akira assumed would hold refreshments once the Fall Formal came around, they already held a few bottles of some kind of drink. He also noticed a few balloons that were all the way up on the ceiling, which also held a few multi-colored drapes that went all around the gym, and right in the middle was a disco ball being held up by a singular rod in the middle of the ceiling. Over to his left he could tell was a place to take pictures, he could tell by the background props, camera, and light fixtures all set up next to it. A few pumpkins were placed on the stage, something that helped add to the "Fall" theme. And to top it all off, Akira was sure there were over two hundred streamers placed around the walls of the gym. Akira was taken aback by it all, he couldn't believe that Pinkie Pie had done this all herself.

"Wow…" Was all Akira was able to muster out of his awe of the decorations. Pinkie Pie noticed Akira's reaction and started to giggle.

"I'm happy you like it!" Pinkie replied while jumping up and down with happiness at his silent praise. Akira just looked over at the pinkette with shock all over his face.

"You did this all by yourself?" Akira asked the bubbly girl, who nodded her head up and down very quickly, but Akira noticed that Pinkie's large smile started to soften at his revelation. Akira remembered that Pinkie Pie had been in the photo that Twilight had been investigating. He knew right away there was something more to all of this, he'd have to ask her about it in a bit, but right now he could tell that Pinkie needed encouragement more than him pressing for information at the moment. Akira closed his eyes and smiled at the girl. "It's amazing, consider me impressed!" Akira must have said the right words, because Pinkie's smile went right back to its original state and a small blush graced her cheeks.

"Thank you!" Pinkie replied, going back to jumping up and down. Akira laughed and looked around the gym again, then he turned back to Pinkie Pie.

"Well, we came here for a reason, didn't we? What can I do to help?" The leader of the Phantom Thieves asked, ready to be put to work. Pinkie Pie, noticed this willingness, and with a slight grin she moved up to Akira so fast that he couldn't comprehend it right away, a serious look then donned Pinkie's face.

"Alright, Private Akira! I need you to go fill up those confetti cannons and make sure they're ready to go when the Princess of the Fall Formal is announced!" Pinkie Pie told the boy as she put her hand up to the top of her head in the form of a salute. Akira laughed and decided to play along.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Akira said, mimicking the same arm motion that Pinkie had done with a smirk on his face as he quickly went to work.

When the bell finally rang, Pinkie was watching with a large smile as Akira immediately reached his hand into a bag of confetti and started laying it all inside with a kind of proficiency she hadn't seen before. Pinkie couldn't slouch however, as she grabbed a bag of streamers and a nearby step ladder and started hanging the streamers over the windows. Morgana at this point had jumped out of Akira's bag and was watching Pinkie and his partner work from a snack table, he then noticed a balloon that had fallen from the ceiling due to a lack of helium. Morgana felt a sort of feline instinct and started to paw the balloon back and forth between his paws, and knocking the balloon all over the table. Akira looked to his side and saw the antics his feline partner had partaken in, and started to laugh. Morgana looked at the now laughing Akira before quickly feeling embarrassed and he struck the balloon off the table before turning back to Akira and giving him a blank stare.

"J-Just...Pretend you never saw that…" Morgana said to the teen, who was still laughing, if only slightly.

"For a human, you have a lot of cat-like tendencies…" Akira said quietly, hoping Pinkie Pie wouldn't hear their conversation. Morgana's cheeks puffed out in slight anger.

"It's this stupid form, I won't have any cat-like traits once I'm human again...I hope…" Morgana replied, looking down with a slight frown. He desperately wanted to get back home now, then they could continue their dive into the depths of Mementos, where Morgana would hopefully regain his lost memories. Morgana was brought out of his thoughts when Akira's hand patted the top of his head, he looked back to see Akira smiling right at him with a smile and a gaze that told him that everything would turn out right in the end, almost as if he could read his mind. Morgana smiled back at Akira, knowing that whatever would happen in the future, his best friend would be right by his side to take it head on with him.

A few minutes passed by as Akira finished filling the confetti cannon to the brim, he stood up and brushed his hands together, proud of a job well done. He looked over to Morgana who had been looking inside the cannon to see how full of confetti it actually was. The cat turned back towards Akira and spoke.

"Wow, the Fall Formal must be a really big deal here if they celebrate it this heavily...I pray for whoever ends up having to clean this up…" Morgana said to no one in particular, Akira just chuckled as Pinkie Pie walked over to see Akira's handiwork, and after taking a look inside the cannon, she smiled at her classmate.

"Good job, Aki! You catch on pretty quick!" Pinkie told the Phantom Thief, who pushed up his glasses with a smirk on his face.

"I've been told I'm quick to adapt…" Akira replied, referencing the power of the Wildcard given to him via Igor, which really allowed him to wield multiple Personas and not much else, but Akira liked to think it helped him out in more ways than one.

"Good, cause we're not done yet! We've got some time and a lot of balloons to blow up!" Pinkie Pie said while bounding towards the stage. Akira shrugged his shoulders and followed Pinkie, sitting next to her on the stage. Pinkie handed a pack of balloons to Akira and started blowing into one of her own balloons, before quickly tying it up and putting a string around it before letting it float to the ceiling. Akira followed Pinkie's lead and started blowing balloons while trying to keep up with Pinkie Pie's speed, only slightly lagging behind.

After about 25 minutes and what Akira assumed was over a hundred balloons he had blown up, he laid down on the stage, trying to regain his breath. Morgana sat next to his partner, impressed at how he was mostly able to keep up with Pinkie Pie. After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie had come back to the stage after putting every balloon in their desired spot. She sat down on the stage next to Akira and started swinging her legs back and forth.

"All done, Aki! I decided to take it easy on you today so you get a feel for what's coming next!" Pinkie Pie said with a smile that seemed almost sadistic to Akira, who sat back up and looked in her direction.

"That was the easy stuff?" Akira asked the energetic girl, who quickly nodded her head, the smile never leaving her face. "I guess that makes sense, seeing as it was just the balloons that sucked the energy out of me…" Akira continued, rubbing the back of his next.

"Yup, you get used to it after a while though..." Pinkie Pie said, but Akira noticed that her smile started to falter again, Akira decided it was now or never to get some information.

"Pinkie, why do you keep doing this all by yourself?" Akira asked the girl out of the blue. The question appeared to catch Pinkie off guard, as she looked at Akira with a hint of surprise.

"Huh?" She replied, not sure if she had heard him correctly. Akira shifted his whole body to turn towards Pinkie.

"Why do you keep doing this all by yourself? I'm sure plenty of people would be willing to help you decorate if you just ask…" Akira questioned for the second time, this time he knew Pinkie had understood him, as she turned away from his gaze and he saw something that he never thought possible out of the girl. Pinkie's face turned from it's usual smile, to a very prominent frown. Pinkie Pie started to stutter over her words, trying to find any way to dodge the question.

"W-Well...I...It's kinda…" Pinkie Pie tried to find an excuse, but nothing was coming out. Akira knew he had to reassure the girl that it was ok to talk about it, that she could confide in him. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, which caused Pinkie to turn around and look straight into Akira's calming grey eyes. Pinkie immediately stopped trying to get words out as she just looked at the boy. Akira tried to encourage the girl.

"It's ok, you can tell me…" Akira told the girl with a small smile of his own, shocking Pinkie Pie even more. She was going to ask if Akira was sure of that, but he was able to predict ahead and eased her worries even more. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye…" Akira said while trying to recreate her hand motions. Pinkie's mouth was agape, he just made a Pinkie Promise...and she knew that he knew he wasn't allowed to break it. Akira let go of Pinkie Pie's shoulder as she looked down at the floor. Pinkie knew there was no turning back since he made the Pinkie Promise, so she sighed and began her story.

"I used to have help decorating, quite a bit actually...It was during Freshman year, I only had a few friends, but they were the best friends I could have asked for. We did everything together, and I mean everything...and they would always help me decorate for school events over the year. But one morning I got a text from my friend Fluttershy, who volunteered at the animal shelter in her spare time, animals are kinda her thing, ya know?" Pinkie Pie asked, in which Akira nodded in understanding, who now had Morgana sitting in his lap.

Akira made the connection that Fluttershy must have been one of the other girls in that picture. Pinkie Pie continued on.

"Anyways, she had been planning a silent auction to raise money for the shelter, but she texted me one morning saying that she actually wanted a big party instead of a silent auction...and I wanted to help her out, so I brought as many fireworks and noisemakers as I could to the shelter and tried to brighten up the party, but everyone just gave me mean looks, and when I tried to talk to Fluttershy, she just walked away and hasn't talked to me since…"

Akira was surprised, he wouldn't expect that kind of behavior out of someone named Fluttershy, but something seemed off. He had remembered that Applejack's story with her and Rainbow Dash was a similar circumstance. A close friend going back on their word, it wasn't something that happened too often in those friend groups, as they usually made up pretty quickly. Another force was at play here, and if Twilight's theory was to be believed, it was Sunset Shimmer's doing. He decided to ask Pinkie about her other friends.

"But she wasn't your only friend, didn't the other help you or support you at all?" Akira asked. Pinkie Pie didn't move her line of sight as she just sighed.

"They did...or at least Applejack did." Pinkie Pie started, Akira's eyes widened as he heard the name.

'So they are connected! Looks like we're on the right track…' Akira thought to himself as Pinkie Pie continued with her story.

"I thought my other friend Rarity would still help me decorate, as she would ask to help me out a lot of the time...but after a while, she just stopped showing up, I would pass her in the hallway and she would just give me glares, and everyone starting treating me like some...weirdo...I don't know what happened. And ever since Applejack and Rainbow Dash stopped talking, Dashie cut ties with me as well…" Pinkie said, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Akira heard the name Rarity and remembered that was who Twilight was going to search for after school, and now that he seemed to have the names of the other "Elements of Harmony", and partial pieces of how their friendships broke apart, he could help Twilight's plan go smoothly. Morgana looked up at Akira with conviction in his eyes.

"It all seems too convenient for this world's versions of the "Elements of Harmony" to break apart instantaneously, this has to be Sunset Shimmer's doing!" Morgana said, making Akira nod towards his partner before looking back at Pinkie Pie, who's head went in her hands.

"I just don't get it...w-why would they just betray our friendship like that!?" Pinkie asked what Akira guessed was the world in general. "W-Was it my fault? Did I d-do something bad?" Pinkie asked again, and after hearing this, Akira couldn't stand seeing the usually cheerful girl in such emotional pain that she must have bottled up for years.

"Pinkie Pie." Akira called to the girl in a stern voice, causing Pinkie to look back up at the boy with red eyes, tears not quite flowing but they were just about ready to burst. Akira never took eyes away from hers as he did his best to console her. "Remember what you told me yesterday when I was feeling homesick, about how all I could do was smile?" Akira asked, and he received a nod in return after Pinkie Pie wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Now do you think a bad person would have said those words to me?" This question caught Pinkie slightly off guard, she wasn't really able to come up with the answer until Akira motioned his hand for her to answer him.

"N-No…" Pinkie was able to get out in between sniffles. Akira smiled back at the girl.

"That's right, and think about what you tried doing for Fluttershy, you were trying to help out your friend...That doesn't sound like something a bad person would do…" Akira continued, noticing that Pinkie Pie's tears were starting to dry. "Pinkie, if presented with the same situation again, would you have done things differently?" Akira asked the pinkette, who turned over to think on the question, before quickly turning back to Akira.

"No...I was only trying to help my friend!" Pinkie Pie responded, her usual energy coming back to her eyes.

"Exactly, Pinkie...sometimes when you start to regret events from the past and you doubt the actions you took back then, you just need to stop, remember all of the good you've done, and smile…" Akira finished, flipping Pinkie Pie's own advice against her. Pinkie looked at Akira with her mouth wide open in shock at his words. Slowly her mouth turned from a face of shock, to a small smile with her eyes starting to tear up again, but this time it wasn't out of sadness, they were happy tears.

"W-Wow...Thank you, Aki..." Pinkie Pie replied, wiping her tears away, before her smile had fully come back and she stood up in her own kind of power pose. "You're right! At the end of the day, there's no one I'd rather be than me!" Pinkie Pie said with full confidence behind her words. Akira looked up at the energetic girl, proud of her revelation.

'I can feel a newfound resolve coming from Pinkie Pie…'

CONFIDANT RANK UP: Pinkie Pie: The Fool, Rank 2

Akira stood up along with Pinkie and flashed her another smile.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Akira told the girl, who looked back at the Phantom Thief with a newfound sense of admiration.

"It's thanks to you, Aki!" Pinkie Pie responded, winking at Akira with her hands behind her back. Akira waved away the notion.

"It's nothing, that's what friends are for." Akira stated, causing Pinkie to giggle at his response. Before they both knew it, the bell rang again, signaling the end of homeroom and the start of their lunch period. Pinkie instantly jumped for joy.

"Ooooh! Lunchtime!" She said before zipping over to grab her backpack with a burst of speed, before landing back in front of Akira and Morgana. "Alright, let's go!"

Akira sighed as he grabbed his bag, Morgana already hopping inside as he and Pinkie Pie started to walk toward the exit of the gym. Morgana poked his head out of the bag and spoke to his partner.

"Hey, that was a really nice thing you did just then…" Morgana told his partner, who knew he couldn't respond, or Pinkie Pie would hear him, so Akira just smiled in response. Morgana continued with his thought. "But on another important note, we got some information as to why the "Elements of Harmony" broke apart...and so far, Applejack and Pinkie Pie's stories have some similarities...And I don't think that's a coincidence." Morgana finished, referring to Twilight's theory that their falling out was actually due to something Sunset Shimmer did. Akira narrowed his eyes as he went into his own thoughts.

'If these "Elements" really do exist like Twilight says, then it would make sense for Sunset to get them out of the picture since they would pose a threat to her rule over the school...It's starting to all make sense now." He thought as he and Pinkie Pie walked towards the cafeteria.

Canterlot High - Cafeteria (5 Minutes Later)

Akira looked down at his lunch for today, which consisted of a light salad, and a mixture of more fruits and vegetables. He had noticed that wherever they were, there seemed to be a lack of meat products. Akira guessed that this was due to it being a parallel universe to Twilight's home, Equestria if he remembered correctly, since he couldn't imagine colorful talking horses eating other animal meats, he assumed the same principle applied here. Akira shrugged at the sight of the meal.

'It's no yakisoba, but it'll have to do…' The Phantom Thief thought to himself as he took a few slices of his banana and quietly set them down in his backpack, allowing Morgana to have a quick snack as well. Morgana appeared to be grateful for the food, but he hung his head in slight disappointment.

"What I wouldn't give for some sushi right now…" Morgana said to no one in particular before chowing down on the banana slices. Akira heard the cat's complaints and gave a slight chuckle. He then looked back up to see Pinkie Pie sitting down at the table with her own tray, which seemed to hold a variety of fruits and a small slice of pie. Pinkie stretched her arms out with a big smile before sitting down.

"Well Aki, I think today was a big success!" Pinkie Pie said before shoving the entire slice of pie she took straight into her mouth, chewing and swallowing within a matter of seconds. "We only need to hang about a hundred more streamers, thirty-five balloons, about four more tables, AAAAAANNNNDDDD hang the lights!" Pinkie said with her trademark smile ever apparent on her face.

Akira felt a few drops of sweat running down his forehead when Pinkie mentioned just how much more work needed to be done, but he knew as long as he was here he should continue to help Pinkie. Especially considering that the Fall Formal was next friday, and he didn't want Pinkie to carry that workload all by herself.

"We at least made a dent in it all today." Akira said with a calm smile in response before digging into his salad. Pinkie simply gave an "Mmmhmm!" as she had her mouth full of food. Akira looked back towards his food and kept eating, until they both heard footsteps approach them and a female voice with a southern dialect was heard.

"Ah beg your pardon, is that seat taken by chance?" They both heard, causing Pinkie and Akira to look up to see Applejack standing in front of them with her own lunch tray in her hands, and a small smile on her face. At the sight of Applejack standing over them, Pinkie Pie gave a loud gasp.

"Of course not, Applejack! We have no problem with it, right Aki?" Pinkie asked, turning towards Akira. Applejack's eye slightly twitched at the nickname as an unfamiliar feeling seemed to sweep over her.

"Ah'm sorry Sugarcube, but what did she just call ya?" Applejack also questioned the boy with quite a bit of confusion. Pinkie Pie was now pretty curious at her response, as she thought Akira and Applejack were total strangers. Akira laughed off the situation.

"Just a friendly nickname, that's all. C'mon, have a seat, AJ." Akira said while slapping his hand on top of the table, gesturing for Applejack to sit down. Applejack heard his own nickname for her and returned a smile as she sat down next to Pinkie Pie, who had been looking back and forth between the two after Pinkie heard Akira's nickname for her.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! How do you two know each other?" Pinkie asked the both of them, Akira turned towards the pinkette and forgot he hadn't told her about his living situations.

"Oh yeah, I never told you. For the time I'm here, I'm staying with Applejack's family." Akira responded, gesturing over to Applejack, who was slightly blushing before she herself spoke up.

"Akira also helped me out yesterday by uh...telling off Sunset Shimmer." Applejack added on while tilting her hat down to hide her face as she said the last part quieter as to not draw any unwanted attention, but still loud enough for Pinkie to hear, and she heard it, responding with another gasp.

"Not only are you two LIVING TOGETHER…" Pinkie started to yell, causing a few heads to turn towards the source of the sound, making Pinkie slightly chuckle and lean towards Akira to whisper to him. "But you stood up to Sunset Shimmer!?" She questioned with a concerned look in her eyes.

"What else was I supposed to do? Sit back and watch as she tormented Applejack? Sorry but that's not happening" Akira replied, his smile from before slowly turning into a frown, Applejack still had. Pinkie Pie quickly backed up and waved her hands in front of her face.

"Nonononononono not at all! It's just that…" Pinkie started to say, retreating back into herself a little bit, an action Akira assumed was a rare sight around here. "Y'see Sunset Shimmer is known to hold grudges against people who stand up against her...and by grudges I mean she tries to find any possible way in her power to ruin their lives, like that video of Twilight Sparkle!" Akira cringed as Pinkie reminded him of the video of Twilight that Applejack had shown him this morning, right then and there he understood.

"Ah guess when Twilight announced that she'd run for Fall Formal Princess, Sunset didn't take too kindly to the competition and tried to pull out all the stops to smear her name…and by the looks of things, it's workin'." Applejack said while pointing over to the table behind them.

Akira turned around to see a large group of male and female students, the guys wore letterman jackets while the girls wore cheerleading uniforms, allowing Akira to make the assumption that this was a group of jocks. He then noticed that a lot of them had their phones out and were watching the video of Twilight and were openly discussing the contents while laughing.

A few of the students then looked over to the far side of the cafeteria and started to chuckle even more. Akira, along with Morgana who had popped his head out of the bag, followed their eyes to see the topic of discussion sitting at a different table. Twilight had been sitting there, holding a fork and knife in her hand, while looking absolutely clueless. Across from her sat another girl, who had long light pink hair, a yellowish tint to her skin, and was wearing a white tank top with a green skirt.

Akira assumed that Twilight hadn't had to use utensils before due to the fact that she wasn't used to...well...being a human, along with no longer having magic.

"Guess she's not used to having opposable thumbs...like, at all…" Morgana quipped before putting his head back in the bag. But Akira noticed he hadn't seen the girl sitting across from her from around the school at all. He looked back to his table and noticed Applejack and Pinkie Pie looking in the same direction he was, except Pinkie looked very grumpy, holding a frown while crossing her arms.

"Seems like she and Fluttershy became buddy-buddy pretty quick…" Pinkie said with a surprising amount of malice behind her tone. Akira was pretty surprised to hear that the girl sitting across the room with Twilight was actually Fluttershy, the main cause for Pinkie Pie's sorrows and one of the fellow elements of harmony.

'Well, that's another one to cross off the list…' Akira thought while looking at Fluttershy, who he saw sink back in her chair as she noticed many different gazes being directed at her table. It was then Akira started to think about her behavior from Pinkie's point of view. 'I don't think that girl has a mean bone in her body, and she supposedly just left Pinkie in the dust? Something doesn't add up…' he finished his thought as Applejack turned back to Akira after seeing Twilight fumble around with a fork and spoon.

"Do ya think she's seen that video at all?" Applejack asked, a frown still on her face from watching her fellow students all poking fun at the new girl.

"From when I talked to her earlier today...nope." Akira simply answered, grabbing more forkfuls of his salad. He looked back to the two girls across the room, deciding to dig as deep as he could into the situation with Fluttershy and seeing if he could get a read on her. "Do you think Fluttershy told her about it at all?" Akira turned towards the two at his table, hoping one of them would answer. Pinkie seemed too caught up in her own head to answer, so Applejack took the reins.

"Fluttershy? Naw, that girl is terrified of confrontation. Even if it's to tell someone to move so she can pass by, she won't do it." Applejack answered, unknowingly answering two of Akira's questions.

"That's right! Especially considering that she's avoided talking to me since Freshman year ended!" Pinkie said, almost yelling. Akira looked back over to the table that Twilight and Fluttershy were at, and he thought to himself. Just looking at Fluttershy, she didn't seem like the kind of person to just abandon a friend without any form of context, especially considering what the cause of their fallout was in Pinkie Pie's story. But he was more focused on Twilight, if she hasn't seen the video, then she has no clue that her reputation is being ruined further every second.

'At this rate, nobody else is gonna vote for her. I need to tell her about it after school so we can come up with a counter attack…' He thought to himself as their group continued to eat. He then looked back towards the other two and an idea came to his head. 'Maybe if we can get most of the Elements in the same room, they might be able to sort out their problems, and we can all work together on restoring Twilight's image!' Akira finished, a smile coming to his face as he looked up at the two girls.

"Someone needs to tell Twilight about that...how about we all go find her after school?" The Phantom Thief asked the two, trying to set the plan into motion. He had already agreed to meet Twilight in the science hall after school to look for another of the Elements, Rarity, so having a majority of the Elements in the room could help them solve their differences, or completely crash and burn, but it was a necessary risk to take. The two girls looked up at him with surprise on their faces.

"Pardon the question, Sugarcube. But why?" Applejack asked, having just finished her lunch. Pinkie Pie also held the same level of confusion, as she tilted her head to the side, her mouth full of her last bits of food.

"Because she's our best hope of breaking Sunset Shimmer's control over the school, and right now she's gonna need help digging herself out of this hole in order to get people to vote for her...and you both wanna see Sunset knocked down a peg, right?" Akira questioned the two. Who looked towards each other first before putting their focus back to the lone male, they both ended up giving a nod, making Akira flash his Joker grin.

"You have a point, Aki." Pinkie replied after swallowing the rest of her food, leaving everyone at the table with an empty tray.

"Exactly! If Twilight wants to win this thing she needs as much support as possible, and right now I think we're some of the only ones on her side." Akira looked back between the two, looking for any kind of answer as they both continued to stare at him. "Well, what do you think? Her...uh...locker is right outside the science hall, let's meet there." After finishing his plea, he waited for the response from Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who both seemed to be thinking about it pretty hard. Pinkie was the first one to respond, and she did so with a smile on her face.

"Since you've been helping me with the decorations, helping Twilight is the least I could do for you, Aki!" Pinkie answered, clapping her hands together, her smile as wide as ever. Akira flashed his grin in return, then turned towards Applejack.

"How bout you AJ? Wanna help take this school back?" Akira said, slightly going into his Joker voice. Applejack looked down for a second before looking back into his eyes.

"Ah'll help ya out, Sunset Shimmer won't know what hit her!" Applejack said with a newfound level of confidence while pumping her fist in the air. Akira looked at the two, who had a newfound sense of hope in their eyes, he then leaned forward towards the two.

"Looks like I'll see you all after school. Remember, science hall!" Akira told the two before they heard the school bell ring again. Signaling that their lunch period was now over. Pinkie Pie, quickly grabbed her stuff and started to go to her next class.

"I won't forget! See you two later!" She said, waving to the two before darting out of the cafeteria. Akira watched her run away before seeing Fluttershy walking out from across the room, he then turned back to Applejack, who was about to leave.

"Hey AJ, could I ask for one more favor?" Akira asked before Applejack had a chance to leave, she turned around and gave the boy a questioning look before he continued. "If possible, could you try and convince Fluttershy to come with as well?" He said, pointing across the room to Fluttershy. Applejack was taken aback by this request and looked over in the same direction.

"Ah'm not so sure that's a good idea, Akira...especially if ya want Pinkie Pie there." She responded with a lot of concern lacing her voice. But Akira went over and put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, not knowing that this action would make Applejack profusely blush.

"Just trust me on this one, AJ. It'll all work out." He said with a calming tone, as Applejack simply couldn't argue against his overwhelming charm.

"A-Ah'll see what I can do...but I can't make any promises."

"That's all I ask. I'll see you after school." Akira said before giving a quick two-finger salute and walking out of the cafeteria, leaving behind a flustered, but now determined Applejack. After walking out of the hall, Morgana had noticed no other student was nearby and quickly popped his head out of the bag to speak.

"You're pretty special, y'know that?" Morgana spoke up, causing Akira's head to turn around and meet the eyes of his feline companion.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Akira responded. Morgana had said this a few times to him now, but a lot of times the cat gave differing reasons as to why.

"Well...I don't know how to explain it. It's just...something about you makes it so easy for others to trust and believe in you. Like you just did with Pinkie Pie and Applejack!" Morgana started, making Akira just shake his head in response and give a light laugh, but Morgana wasn't done. "And don't think I don't see your plan...You're trying to get them all in a room so they can possibly talk it out, or connect the dots as to why they all grew apart in the first place." Akira chuckled again after this, Morgana always was able to catch on quickly.

"Heh, you got me." Akira said while walking down the hall, doing his best not to run across anyone who would see Morgana.

"I do have one question though...why are you so eager to help out? We aren't staying in this world." Morgana asked out of genuine curiosity, Akira slowed his pace, knowing the answer, but it was fairly personal.

"Well...a lot of it is because having the Elements as allies here helps us out a lot...it's also that I know what it's like to be alone in this kind of environment..to feel like the world is against you, and that you can't even trust those who you considered your friends…" Akira said, looking down towards the floor. Having flashbacks to the beginning of the year, where his classmates at Shujin Academy ended up spitting venom at him wherever he went, along with the eventual betrayal of his "friend", Goro Akechi, it's been an interesting, but very rough year for the frizzy-haired teen.

Morgana initially regretted asking that question, but he realized that even though his partner has had to suffer through a lot this year, he's come out of every situation stronger than before. He was truly proud of the boy.

"You're a good guy, Akira. I hope you know that…" Morgana reminded his friend. Akira simply gave a light smile, but no further response as he walked to his next class, waiting for the end of the day.

Canterlot High - After School

The final school bell rang for the day, and Akira shot out of the door, jogging towards the science hallway, hoping to run into one of the girls either on his way or once he got there. As he kept jogging, and Morgana was bouncing up and down in his bag, his thoughts wandered to his request to Applejack.

'I hope she was able to convince Fluttershy, or at least find her…' He thought to himself, seriously hoping that part of his plan would work. His other worry came from the fact that if she was able to convince Fluttershy, she and Pinkie might just be screaming at each other once they got in the same room.

Akira didn't have to run much farther until he saw someone he recognized, seeing a familiar head that held long purple and pink hair, and a dog's head poking out of their backpack. Akira recognized the duo as Twilight and Spike, they were standing right at the entrance of the hall. Akira looked around to see if he could notice any of the others, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, or even Fluttershy, but none of them were in the immediate vicinity. He then decided to call out to the supposed Princess.

"Hey, Twilight!" Akira called from down the hall, causing both Princess and pup to turn and look in their direction. Even from where he was standing, Akira could see that Twilight's expression lit up when she saw both he and Morgana, who reappeared out of the bag. Akira didn't want to waste any time on the search, so he jogged up to meet the girl at the center of the hallway.

"Akira, there you are! I was almost afraid you wouldn't show up…" Twilight replied with a small, shy smile. Spike then poked his head out of Twilight's backpack to put in his own two cents.

"She's not kidding, all she talked about the entire day was that she was hoping you two would show-" Spike said before having a purple hand shove him back into the bag, Twilight looking back at the two boys with a slight blush on her face.

"D-Don't mind him, his i-imagination has been running wild ever since that whole palace business yesterday!" Twilight told the two, trying to play off her embarrassment, but neither of them were fooled as they side-eyed each other before slowly turning back.

"Riiiiiiiiiight…" Morgana replied, wanting to get back on track. "Anyways, you said that you wanted us to help you track down one of these "Elements of Harmony" right?" The feline said, trying to get Twilight's focus back on the mission at hand. Her eyes quickly went from showing embarrassment to determination as she nodded her head.

"That's right! I'm hoping to find my friend Rarity, the Element of Generosity!" Twilight said with flare, which seemed to prompt Spike to poke his head out again, this time with hearts adorning his eyes.

"Not only that, but she's a real beauty as well…" Spike added on, dreamily putting his head in his paws, making Twilight roll her eyes. Akira lightly chuckled and looked back to his feline companion with a teasing smirk, which Morgana recognized its implications immediately..

"I guess we'll see, though I doubt she's as beautiful as Lady Ann." Morgana responded, lifting his chin up towards the sky. This caused both Twilight and Spike to look over with confusion.

"Lady Ann?" They both asked with quizzical looks on their faces. Akira turned back to the two and responded with a smile.

"One of our friends and comrades from back home." Akira replied with a slight chuckle, it seemed like Morgana and Spike had more in common than he thought. "But we need to stay focused. Twilight, you said your friend should be here somewhere?"

"Right! From what I heard, Rarity's last class of the day is somewhere in this hallway." Twilight said, pointing down the science hall that was filled with students taking things out of their lockers as they were getting ready to head back home for the afternoon.

"Any idea as to exactly which room she's in?" Akira looked back to her, trying to narrow down the possible options. Twilight responded by lowering her hand and giving a large sigh.

"That's…the part I don't know…" Twilight said while looking at the ground. Akira looked over to her, her current actions reminding him of when he had first gotten to know Makoto, and how she hated feeling useless to her sister or to the Phantom Thieves. Akira just smiled before putting a hand behind his head.

"Well we won't find her by just standing here, let's go." Akira said as he started to walk down the hall. Twilight put her head back up, now with a look of determination back on her face as she caught up to the Phantom Thief.

As Akira kept peeking into the classrooms, searching for a girl who matched the look of the girl with purple hair and whitish skin, having no success in the process, the whispers of their fellow classmates didn't go unnoticed.

"Look! It's that weirdo transfer student!" said one student, who was looking at Twilight.

"She can't be seriously running for Princess, right?"

"Wait, is that other transfer with her?"

"It's barely been a day! There's no way they're already dating..."

Akira paid these whispers no mind, as he was used to this kind of gossip at Shujin, but as he turned around he was surprised to see that Twilight was noticing the various whispers heading her direction. He could tell that their stares and laughter were getting to her, but she didn't know why. Twilight turned back to him with a look of worry and concern.

"Akira, why is everyone looking at me funny?"

This was the moment that Akira was terrified of, but the one he knew was coming. He knew he had to show her the video that Sunset Shimmer made about her. It was up to him to tell her that her reputation here was being ruined before their very eyes. Akira sharply turned to her and opened his mouth to speak…

...Or he would have, if an arm didn't reach out from one of the nearby classrooms and dragged Twilight inside…

Akira immediately got into a defensive stance, but softened a bit as he saw another feminine face looking at him from that same doorway. The first thing he noticed on this girl was her long, wavy purple hair, whitish skin, and deep blue eyes that were staring into his own. Akira had an idea as to who this way, but didn't want to make any assumptions. The girl then pointed to him and started to speak.

"What are you waiting for? Get in here!" The girl said with an elegant english accent. Akira had no real reason to argue, so he quickly jogged inside of the room, prompting the girl to slam the door shut and face both Akira and Twilight, who had been tossed to the back of the room, allowing Akira to get a good look at her attire. She wore a white blouse with a purple skirt and boots that both had blue gemstone designs on them, along with two golden bracelets around both of her arms. Twilight picked herself up and held a look of surprise.

"Rarity? Is that you?" Twilight spoke as Spike's head poked back out of Twilight's bag to confirm it for himself, as well as this confirming Akira's earlier suspicion. The girl, now known as Rarity seemed to rush towards Twilight, pulling out what appeared to be a strand of measuring tape. Rarity seemed to take down many different measurements of Twilight's body, which confused both Twilight and Akira. Rarity then jumped backwards and started to shuffle through what looked to be a purple bag of some kind.

"Perfect!" Rarity said to herself, pulling a green dress out of the bag as she walked back over to Twilight and pulled it down over her head. Akira tried his best to stifle his laughter as not only was the dress put on her, but a messy blonde wig now adorned Twilight's head as well. Rarity put a hand to her chin and examined her handiwork. "Oh yes, this is good...No one will recognize you!" This made Twilight look towards Rarity with even more confusion in her eyes.

"Wait, why wouldn't I want to be-"

"And we'll need a disguise for your dog…" Rarity continued as she went over to start scratching Spike's chin, who looked at the fashionista with hearts in his eyes. "Which is too bad, he really is soooo adorable!" By now, Morgana had popped his head out of Akira's bag to take a look at the scene, only to roll his eyes at seeing Spike being a literal lovesick puppy. Akira kept trying to stifle any kind of laughter before Rarity turned to Akira as well.

"And through association, you might need one as well…" She said, gazing all around his torso. Rarity then reached for his glasses and then took them off of Akira's face. Akira was now slightly scared for what she might come up with for him, but didn't notice her eyes going wide at seeing him without his glasses. Rarity and Twilight slightly blushed at the sight, as Akira looked quite handsome to them both without his fake glasses, though Spike hadn't noticed either girl's reaction. Rarity then put his glasses back on his face before turning away. "You actually might draw more attention to yourself if you ditch the glasses…"

Before Akira had any chance to question Rarity about what she meant, all three of them heard the door to the classroom open up. As they turned their attention towards the door, they saw Applejack standing there holding the doorknob. She instantly smiled upon seeing Akira.

"Akira, Twilight! There ya both are!" Applejack said as she walked into the room. Rarity looked away as she crossed her arms.

"So much for the disguise…"

"Ah've been looking all over for ya!" Applejack said, as another head popped around the corridor, Akira noted the light pink hair and yellowish skin.

"Me too…" A sheepish voice said, Akira recognized the girl from the earlier lunch hour. This had to be Fluttershy, and by her being here it means that Applejack was able to convince her to come with as well!

But now Akira was curious, where was Pinkie Pie?

"Me three!" A familiar voice said as a pink head of hair showed up hanging upside down from the door frame, causing Fluttershy to duck down in fear.

...Speak of the devil.

Pinkie Pie then swung down into the room and started to gaze at the outfit that Rarity had given to Twilight.

"I like your new look!" Pinkie told her. Akira noticed that Rarity, who had been standing right next to them, turned her chin towards the sky when Pinkie Pie came closer.

"I do have an eye for these sorts of things...not that you seem to care." Rarity responded, malice lacing her words.

'Well that came out of left field…' Akira thought to himself as Pinkie's expression swiftly changed to one of shock.

"WHAT!?" Pinkie Pie yelled out. Twilight had been looking between the two, trying to find out the reason behind this sudden shift.

"Why do you think she doesn't care?" Twilight asked the stylist. Akira could tell that asking this question was a bad idea...mostly because of Pinkie Pie looking like she's about to explode from anger, Applejack signing for her to cut it out, and Fluttershy covering her mouth in fear. Twilight seemed to take the hint and start waving back. "Nevermind…But why were you all looking for me? What's going on?" As Twilight questioned the group as she threw off the blonde wig, a look of nervousness crept onto most of their faces. Applejack then turned towards Akira.

"Ya hadn't told her yet?" Applejack asked, making Akira nervously rub a hand behind his head.

"Well, I was gonna...but then we kinda got sidetracked…" He replied, making Twilight look at him with concern.

"Wait, what hasn't Akira told me?" She asked, looking at Akira almost with a sense of hurt that he was keeping secrets from her. Pinkie Pie was the first to run forward and save the day, bringing out a bright pink laptop.

"It's not that he didn't tell you...it's that he didn't get a chance to show you." Pinkie told her, opening up her laptop and sitting her down at a desk in front of it. All of them gathered around her to see her reaction. "Ooooh...It's really not that bad." Pinkie Pie told her as she pressed play, and the same images and dialogue Akira heard this morning had passed by yet again, causing him to cringe at every still image that had been taken. Twilight started to stand up, a look of panic appearing on her face as she slammed the laptop shut.

"I-I….I…" Twilight started to say, but couldn't form any other words.

"I take that back...It's pretty bad." Pinkie said, not softening the blow at all. Twilight quickly turned around in her chair to face everyone in the room.

"B-But this all happened yesterday! At the library!" She started to say, as she made the connections and realization sank into her face. "Has everyone in school seen this? Is that why they were all staring and laughing at me?" Twilight asked as she went full panic mode and started to sink into her chair. Akira stepped forward to give her an honest answer.

"It is high school...gossip travels fast." Akira responded, turning away from her face, not wanting to look her in the eye. Twilight turned back in her chair, fear plastered on her face clear as day.

"What am I gonna do…? No one's gonna vote for me after seeing this!" Twilight yelled out, gesturing to the closed laptop. Fluttershy stepped forward and put an arm around Twilight's shoulder.

"Um...Not that it'll make any difference, but...I'll still vote for you." Fluttershy said In a quiet tone, before the room was filled with the noise of Twilight slamming her head into the desk. Fluttershy decided to continue. "You were so nice to stand up for me when Sunset Shimmer was picking on me." Fluttershy finished. Akira smiled as he looked at Fluttershy, and he continued to think that there was no way Fluttershy was the mean person that Pinkie described in her story.

"If you still want to run, maybe there's something I could do to help!" Pinkie Pie offered to the distressed Twilight, who seemed to appreciate the offer, however, Fluttershy then bent down to her ear and told her something that threw Akira for a loop.

"Word of advice, don't accept her help. She doesn't take anything seriously…" Fluttershy glared at Pinkie, hands now on her hips. Akira was just surprised to see that amount of anger, small as it was, coming out of this harmless looking girl. Pinkie Pie stomped on the ground in return.

"Ugh! Why do you have to be so awful to me!?" Pinkie yelled in response, Rarity then walked past her and continued to fan the flames.

"Oh don't play innocent, Pinkie Pie! You are no better than she is!" Rarity accused, pointing between Pinkie and Fluttershy. Pinkie then grabbed Rarity's arms and screamed in her face.

"And WHAT is THAT supposed to mean!?" Pinkie roared before letting go. Rarity dusted herself off before looking towards Twilight and speaking.

"I would be glad to offer up my assistance as well…" She said with a smile, but as she turned back to Pinkie Pie, that smile vanished. "To someone who would APPRECIATE IT!"

Right after Rarity made this statement, all hell started to break loose. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity all started to argue with each other to the point where no one could actually make sense of their arguments. Poor Twilight was stuck right in the middle of it, and Akira could tell her anxiety was rising. Morgana poked his head out again to look at the scene and just sighed.

"They really don't like each other, do they?" Morgana asked his friend, who slightly started to clench his fist.

"Yeah...It's starting to piss me off…" Akira responded, Morgana noticed the anger coming from the leader and couldn't help but feel the same.

"Heh, you and me both…" Morgana said, staying outside of the bag to watch the ongoing chaos. They both noticed Spike escaping the fighting by diving back into Twilight's backpack. Their attention was called forth to Applejack, who was sitting right up front at the teacher's desk.

"Listen to y'all carrying on!" Applejack called out to the group, making them all turn towards her. "Y'all just need to get over it and move on!" She yelled out as she dropped an apple core into the trash. Rarity then marched over and pointed straight at Applejack.

"You mean like how you've gotten over what happened with Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked, anger ever more apparent in her voice. And just like that, Akira's knuckles turned white.

'That...was a low blow…' Akira thought to himself, remembering the story that Applejack had told him this morning, how she poured her heart out to him and left all on the table. Akira was about to march forward and protest, but Morgana noticed his anger and started to calm him down.

"Calm down, Akira, we won't get them to make up if you scream in her face…" Morgana told the boy, who seemed to remember the mission and took a deep breath.

"You're right...gotta focus on the mission." Akira resolved to himself, and as he looked back up, it seemed that Applejack had finished her side of the story to the group.

"She made a liar outta me, that's different!" Applejack told the group.

"Is not!" All of the other girls replied, except Twilight who was looking more scared after every passing second.

"Is too!" Applejack yelled in reply before joining in the shouting fest. Akira looked over to see Twilight sinking down into her desk, anxiety taking over her being. Akira knew he had to stop this now before things got any worse. He looked over to Morgana, who gave him a nod of approval before going back inside his bag. Akira stepped forward and got all of their attention.

"All of you, cut it out!" Akira yelled out loud enough for them all to stop in their tracks and look towards the boy. Akira pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and continued. "Thank you...You all were friends at one point, good friends! What made you go from best friends to constantly being at each other's throats, that's not what friends do!" Akira told them all, making them turn away from his gaze, he then looked over to Twilight, who rose out of her desk. "Twilight, do you still have that photo you showed me?" Akira asked, causing the others to look to Twilight with confusion in their eyes, she merely nodded and unzipped her bag, where he could see Spike's paw hand Twilight that same book she showed him this morning. Twilight opened it up to that same photo, causing the girls to look down at it.

"See? You all were friends once…" Twilight said to them, pointing towards the photo of their younger selves. Akira noticed that the expressions of the girls softened after seeing the photo, and Applejack started to sigh.

"The Freshman Fair...Y'all remember?" She asked, looking towards the others, who nodded and spoke their words of agreement. Akira decided to take the lead again.

"So you were all best friends, but then something happened. And from what we've heard, we actually think that "something" was Sunset Shimmer!" Akira told them all, causing a few of them to think for a second, but Rarity wasn't convinced at all.

"Well, it's a nice theory Akira...may I call you that?" Rarity asked him, to which he responded with a nod. "But Sunset Shimmer had nothing to do with it!" She said with authority. Akira wanted to say that they had evidence to prove he was right, but the evidence they had would take a LOT of explaining.

"She's right. Sunset Shimmer isn't the one who ruined my silent auction for the animal shelter by bringing fireworks and noisemakers! It was supposed to be a serious event, and Pinkie Pie ruined it!" Fluttershy said accusingly at the pinkette. Akira started to piece together the information in his head and decided to let it play out.

"What are you talking about!?" Pinkie yelled back, pulling out her phone to show her evidence. "I got a text from you saying that you didn't want a silent auction, you wanted a big party!" Pinky told Fluttershy, who looked shocked at this revelation. Akira smirked to himself, the pieces were falling into place.

"I-I never sent you a text…"

"You didn't!?" As Pinkie said this, it seemed like the others were finally starting to understand what Akira had been implying.

"You don't think she's the one who's been sending me those emails, do you?" Rarity spoke, making all eyes turn to her. "Everytime I volunteer to help with the decorations for a school function, I get an email from Pinkie Pie saying she has plenty of volunteers. And then I find out she's done everything herself!"

"Well I never sent you any emails…" Pinkie responded while taking a look at her phone, Akira smiled, seeing that they were starting to figure it out.

"Now don't you find that a little suspicious…" Akira asked them all, a big smirk plastered on his face. He turned towards Twilight, who seemed to realize the work Akira had put into the investigation, and was absolutely beaming. He responded with a smile in her direction, along with a thumbs up.

"Maybe she's the reason Rainbow Dash didn't show up for mah bake sale!" Applejack said with horror, looking towards Akira, who responded with a knowing glance. Twilight decided to speak up again.

"Didn't you ever ask Rainbow Dash why she didn't show up?" Twilight asked, making Applejack give a nervous giggle and put her hat to her chest.

"Ah guess...Ah kinda stopped talkin' to her at all after that…" Applejack replied, sadness and regret adorning her face. Akira looked towards the door and knew what the next step was here. He held the door open and looked at the girls.

"Well, there's no time like the present, right?" Akira said with a smile. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack all turned to each other for a moment, before they started to smile at each other and headed towards the door that Akira held open. Fluttershy walked out first, who looked Akira in the eyes for a second before shyly looking down the hall. Rarity was next, who gave the same smile, but flipped her hair when walking by Akira, though he had no idea what it meant. Then there was Applejack, who smiled and then tilted her hat down to hide an ever growing blush. Lastly was Twilight, who watched as the others walked down the hall, chatting with each other, she turned back to Akira with a bright smile on her face.

"We did it!" She said while doing a little jump for joy. Akira laughed at her antics before responding to her.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we've still got one more to go." Akira told the Princess, gesturing for her to catch up to her friends. She smiled in response before heading out of the room. Akira closed the door before he himself started to walk down the hall to catch up with the group. Morgana once again popped out of the bag to speak.

"Well that went way better than expected…but it seems I taught you well." Morgana said, surprise all over his voice, before going back to his usual confident tone..

"You could say that again…" Akira replied, putting a hand up to the cat, who responded by smacking it with his paw for their own version of a high-five.

"Hopefully Rainbow Dash will listen as easily as they all did." Morgana said as the two looked onto the reunited friends in front of them.

"One can only hope, Morgana…"

Canterlot High - Soccer Field

Akira looked out onto the field, looking at the girl launching soccer balls into a small goal from his spot on the nearby set of bleachers where most of the other girls had also taken a seat. They all watched as Applejack had gone out onto the field to talk to the girl, who had bright, rainbow colored hair, bluish skin, a blue shirt with blue boots to match, along with a pink and white skirt. The word "sporty" didn't even begin to describe the girl that the others identified as Rainbow Dash.

Akira looked over to see the rest of the girls sitting on the bleachers, Twilight watching ahead with anticipation, Spike right by her side. Rarity was simply looking at her nails, while Fluttershy, who Akira knew loved animals, had just gotten acquainted with Morgana, who was sitting in her lap as she petted him, the cat seemed to be enjoying the attention. Morgana was an instant hit with both Fluttershy and Rarity, much to Spike's chagrin. Akira smiled as he heard Morgana purr as Fluttershy scratched him behind the ears.

"Mrroooww...Right there…" Morgana said, sounding like he was in his own version of paradise. He heard Fluttershy giggle in return.

"Does that feel nice, Morgana?" She asked the cat, even though she couldn't hear his true response. The cat simply purred in response. Akira chuckled as he watched from a distance, the way Fluttershy acted around animals was too cute. Akira turned his attention back over to where Rainbow Dash and Applejack actually started to talk to one another.

"They're actually talking, that's a good sign!" Rarity said to the group, and Akira had to admit from the way he could see the two were talking to each other, it seemed at least somewhat amicable.

After a few more seconds of watching both Rainbow Dash and Applejack talk, they both surprised everyone present as they went in for a hug. Akira watched on with pride, knowing how much this friendship meant to Applejack. The girls beside him couldn't contain their excitement.

"Hugs! Hugs are always good!" Pinkie said, looking ahead with a bright smile. It wasn't long after that till Applejack and Rainbow Dash started walking towards the bleachers, allowing Akira to get a better look at Rainbow Dash. If her clothes didn't already give off a tomboyish feel, everything else about her certainly did, her sporty haircut, the half happy half smug look on her face, even her magenta eyes just seemed to show all of her spunk. Applejack looked towards all of her friends with a smile.

"Someone...and Ah think we can all guess who, had told Rainbow Dash that my bake sale had been moved to a different day! Dash showed up with all the softball team, and thought that Ah'd cancelled on her!" Applejack explained to the group. Akira easily put together the common themes from everyone else's stories, that definitely was Sunset Shimmer's work. Rainbow Dash then looked to Twilight with a smirk on her face, and started to walk towards her.

"So you're lookin' to dethrone Sunset Shimmer, and become Princess of the Fall Formal, huh?" She asked Twilight, who simply gave a shy smile and nodded her head. Rainbow then kicked up one of her soccer balls and started to bounce it on her knees. Akira couldn't help but see this girl as a more colorful version of Ryuji. "Gotta say, I'd really love to see that happen...I'll totally help you out!" All of the girls on the bleachers, along with Akira, smiled at this news.

'Wow, that was surprisingly simple!' Akira thought to himself, before Rainbow Dash looked forward with an almost sinister smile as she put the ball underneath her foot.

"All you've gotta do...is beat me in a 1-on-1…" Rainbow Dash finished, making Akira's head drop.

'...And there's the catch…'

"W-What?" Twilight asked, her bright smile shifting to a look of pure terror, that look also being shared by the other girls, who knew of Rainbow Dash's physical prowess.

"First to five goals, wins!" Rainbow said as she kicked the ball on top of her head, bounced it off, and sent her leg over her head to kick the ball into the goal, a streak of fire left in the ball's path. "1-Zip!" Rainbow shouted, declaring the new score. As Twilight got up off of her seat, Akira sighed as he prepared himself for the longest yet shortest soccer match ever.

As Twilight took the field and stood in front of her own goal, it was obvious to everyone watching just how nervous Twilight was. It was made very apparent by the violent shaking of her legs. Rainbow Dash started running forward, kicking the ball lightly as she went along, before going into a full sprint, kicking the ball into the air, and spinning around to give the ball a powerful kick straight towards the goal like a rocket. As the ball was making its way towards Twilight's face, she at first covered her head, but then went straight into a ducking postion as the ball sailed over her head and into the net. Rainbow Dash quickly celebrated before running to grab the ball from the goal. Akira gave a sigh before looking over to Pinkie Pie who flipped over the scorecard, showing the score was 2-0.

Akira was astounded by Rainbow Dash's athleticism. Even after all his gymnastics training with the first-year honors student, Kasumi, he still hadn't seen anything quite like that before. It was then he also realized that Twilight stood no chance in this match.

Rainbow Dash walked out of the goal, soccer ball in hand before setting it down next to Twilight's foot and stepping back, waiting for her to make a move. Twilight smiled as she went to go for a kick...until Rainbow Dash slid the ball her way, kicked it up behind her, and shot the ball into the goal with her back leg. Pinkie Pie flipped over the card again to make the score 3-0.

By this time, Morgana had jumped out of Fluttershy's lap and made his way back over to Akira, still watching the match the entire time. Morgana looked up to Akira and spoke.

"What do you make of her?" The feline thief asked, implying about Rainbow Dash,, making Akira turn down to meet him. He responded by whispering to his companion so that the other's wouldn't notice.

"She's really impressive, that's for sure…" Akira said, turning his eyes back to the match, where Rainbow once again set the ball down in front of Twilight, but this time she backed up to her own side of the field.

"Ya got that right, talk about a cannon of a leg! Not to mention that speed and athleticism…" Morgana said while looking back and forth between his friend and the match, before the cat gained a subtle smirk to his face. "Y'know...she would make an excellent addition to the Phantom Thieves…" Morgana said with a smile, causing Akira to look back at the cat and roll his eyes.

"I agree, but we can't just rope these people into life-threatening situations because we want them to…" Akira said, watching as Twilight started to run ahead with the ball.

"I know, I know...but that kind of power would be invaluable to the team…" Morgana finished. Turning their full attention back to the match, they all watched as Rainbow Dash ran up and stole the ball away from Twilight before running down the field and launching the ball into the goal. Pinkie Pie once again flipping the scorecard to show the score at 4-0. Akira noticed the heavy panting coming from Twilight as she stared at the rainbow haired athlete.

'She's exhausted, she's barely gonna be able to even run…' The boy thought to himself as the ball was being bounced on Rainbow Dash's legs before hitting Twilight in the face and landing at her feet.

Twilight looked down at the ball and made a mad dash for the goal, a smile now on her face as the girls all got excited at the prospect of a comeback. However, Twilight's exhaustion got the better of her as she went in for the kick, her hand-eye coordination still not used to the whole hands and feet idea, as she completely missed the ball and landed on her back. Everyone cringed on the sidelines as the ball rolled back in front of Rainbow Dash, who looked at it with a smile. Akira gritted his teeth as he thought of what to do.

'If she kicks that ball, it's all over, Twilight's on the ground and can't make any defensive play. She may not even have the energy to get up…' Akira thought as Rainbow wound up her leg to go for the final kick. Akira felt his inner Guts go into overdrive as he got up off the bench and ran towards the field. 'I've at least gotta try something!'

"Timeout!" Akira called as he raced onto the field. The girls and Spike all gasped at this move, Morgana simply started to chuckle. Rainbow looked over to the voice calling out to them and lowered her leg and looked over towards Akira who was sprinting over to Twilight.

"Oh come on! I had the shot and everything!" Rainbow cried out as she started to bounce the ball between her feet. Akira stood over Twilight and held out a hand for her.

"Can you stand?" Akira asked as Twilight looked up to him, grabbing his hand as she let him pull her up.

"Y-Yeah...I'm...ok, I...swear." She said in between breaths, as she tried to walk forward towards the ball, but she started to stumble, and nearly fell to her knees, but Akira was able to catch her before she fell.

"You used all your energy…" Akira said to Twilight, who merely looked at the ground with a sad look. Akira looked up at Rainbow Dash, watching the two with an impatient look. Akira beckoned for Applejack to come over, which she did, wrapping Twilight's arm around her shoulder as Akira stood up and looked at Rainbow Dash.

"You're alright, partner...take some deep breaths." Applejack said to the exhausted Twilight, who nodded and started on some breathing exercises.

"We're changing players." Akira bluntly stated, looking at Rainbow Dash with determination. She seemed to ponder this for a second, as this was supposed to be a 1-on-1 just against Twilight, but she then looked up at Akira and gave a confident grin.

"Alright, I'll allow it. Who're you subbing in?" Rainbow asked the boy. Akira took a deep breath as he looked over to Twilight, who was staring into his silver eyes. Akira gave the Pony Princess a small nod of knowing while he spoke in his mind.

'We made a deal, it's time to hold up my end of it…' Akira thought to himself as he looked back to Rainbow Dash.

"You're looking at him."

This declaration caused the girls on the bench, along with Applejack and Twilight to gasp again, while Morgana just sat by and gave a big sigh.

"There he goes again…" Morgana said to himself, watching the leader of the Phantom Thieves sticking his neck out for one of his friends yet again, his admiration for Akira growing evermore.

Akira walked over to Applejack, taking off his white blazer and handing it to her, leaving him in his jeans and black t-shirt, showing off some of his muscles, which made most of the girls in the crowd blush. He didn't want to get grass stains all over it in case he fell over. She grabbed the piece of clothing, looked up to Akira, who had a wide smile on his face, smiled back, and started to walk Twilight back to the bleachers. Akira stood forward at center field, hands still in his pockets as Rainbow Dash walked forward with the soccer ball in hand.

"Alright then...Sorry, what's your name again?" Rainbow asked the boy, who backed up, with a smile still on his face.

"Akira Kurusu." He replied, hoping that his Phantom Thief training, along with his workouts with Kasumi and Ryuji would pay off right now, but he didn't have too much hope.

"Ok, Akira…" Rainbow replied, tossing the ball forward, landing right at his feet as she backed up towards her own goal. "Your ball."

Akira looked down at the ball next to his feet and tried to analyze his options against Rainbow Dash.

'There's no way I'm gonna be able to outrun her. And I probably can't fake her out or trip her up without doing the same to myself…' He thought as he examined the field, everything he was thinking of ending in a more than likely failure. As he was thinking, he heard cheers coming from the bleachers.

"Come on, Aki! You can do it!" He heard Pinkie Pie yell as he turned back to the girls. All of them standing up to cheer him on.

"You've got this, Sugarcube!" Applejack yelled, a hand still on Twilight's shoulder.

"I-I'm rooting for you!" Fluttershy "yelled" out to him as loud as she could, which sounded like anyone else's normal talking voice.

"Show her what-for, darling!" Rarity shouted with surprising enthusiasm. Akira also heard some mild barking from the direction of Spike, who was now sitting on Twilight's lap. Akira then looked over to Morgana, and even though he couldn't see his face, he could tell the cat was smiling. Akira then turned back to face an impatient looking Rainbow Dash, with a new confident grin on his own face.

"Well...I'm waiting…" Rainbow said as Akira kept looking for a possible opening, and after a while, he got an idea.

'If I slowly get closer and she comes out to steal the ball, I can quickly take the shot as she's going in for the steal...it's better than nothing.' Akira thought as he slowly started to jog forward, kicking the ball as he went. He decided to go to the left first to get in a good rhythm. As Rainbow Dash watched, ready and waiting for the shot, she was surprised to see him get closer, but turn the other way.

As Akira started dribbling the ball to the right side of the field, he noticed that Rainbow Dash was starting to move closer to him, starting out in a walk.

'Closer…' He thought as Rainbow started to go into a light jog. 'Closer…!' And after a few more seconds, Rainbow was running towards him, and stuck out her leg to kick the ball out from underneath him, but Akira had already begun the wind-up on his kick, his proficiency giving him the edge. 'Now!'

With the fastest kick he could muster, his foot connected with the ball and just barely rose over Rainbow's oncoming foot, soaring past it, aiming wide to the left. Everyone watched as the ball flew towards the goal, and a silence fell onto the field as the ball hit the left crossbar and bounced into the net.

Akira had to back up after his kick threw off his balance. But as soon as he set himself, he heard a roar of cheers coming from the girls on the bench. He turned around to see Pinkie flip the scorecard to make the score 4-1.

Akira looked over at a shocked Rainbow Dash, and walked backwards towards his side of the field.

"Four to one. Your ball." He said as he stopped about halfway between the center line and his own goal. He noticed a frown pull up onto Rainbow Dash's face as she grabbed the ball from her own goal, but a smile returned as she turned around to face him.

"Heh, nice play there, Kurusu!" She said to him, slowly starting to jog towards his side of the field. "Too bad you won't get another shot!" She said, breaking into a full on sprint. Akira planted his feet, just in case she tried anything sudden to get around him. But that was thrown out the window as Rainbow Dash tried the same kick that she used before on Twilight, as the ball was on a path to go straight over his head.

'If I don't stop that ball, we lose, no doubt about it…' Akira thought as the scene in front of him seemed like it was going in slow motion. There was only one option he saw that would keep the game going. 'This is gonna hurt…' He thought as he jumped up in the air, just high enough to the point where the ball that was flying at high speeds, collided with his forehead, making a loud whacking sound as the ball flew straight up into the air, Akira's head forcibly moved backwards.

The girls all got to their feet with worry as Akira landed back on his feet, even Morgana got up onto his paws, but settled down after seeing his friend land on his feet. The hit knocked his fake glasses off of his face as they landed in the grass. His head was looking down at the ground. Rainbow Dash cringed as she walked closer to Akira.

"Ah jeez...Oh man, I'm sorry about that dude, my kicks can be pretty tough, you ok?" Rainbow Dash asked, surprising herself with her concern for the boy, but she wasn't met with a response of words at first, just a small laugh coming from Akira. She tilted her head to the side in confusion as Akira looked up at her without his glasses, the determination in his steel-gray eyes making her heart skip a beat for a moment. "What the-?"

"You dropped your guard…" Akira said, slipping into his Joker voice, as he looked up to see the ball quickly descending towards the earth right in front of him. Rainbow Dash followed his eyes and looked up to see the same sight, but she was too late to react as Akira muttered one word under his breath.

"Showtime."

As the ball came into normal view for both of them, Akira was able to react faster as he reached his leg forward and kicked the ball past Rainbow Dash. The athlete instinctively dived for the ball, but couldn't reach it in time as it slowly bounced down the field and touched the back of the goal.

The girls were shocked for a moment, but they quickly turned into happy cheers as Pinkie Pie flipped over the card to make the score 4-2, there was still hope for Akira to make the comeback. Morgana sat by on the sidelines, shaking his head at the leader's antics.

"Pfft, What a showoff…" Morgana said, while still silently cheering for his best friend, who went over to where his glasses had landed in the grass, picking them up and pushing them back onto his face, a small red spot appearing on his forehead, showing where the ball had hit him.

"Four to two, you're up again." He said flashing his trademark Joker smirk, and walking back towards the same spot as before. Rainbow Dash shook off a light blush she received from watching the display and walked over to the goal to grab the ball. Turning around this time, she knew she had to get serious.

Without saying a word or any kind of taunts, she dropped the ball down and sprinted forward. She quickly ran up in front of Akira and started to dribble the ball between her legs. Akira knew he was already at a disadvantage so he started to back up towards his goal, keeping his eye on the ball the entire time.

Rainbow Dash saw this and moved over to the left side of the goal, making Akira pivot in his spot, watching as she crept ever closer.

'If she gets up close to me, I'm done for, I've gotta take a chance here!' Akira said as he took a step forward to try and steal the ball, but as soon as his foot came down, Rainbow Dash smirked as she wound up a kick and sent it towards the right side of the goal.

Akira tried to make a dive for the ball, but he couldn't get the proper footing down as his fingertips just barely missed the ball, as it curved around and hit the back of the net. As Akira landed on his side hard, the girl's optimism went down the drain as Pinkie Pie flipped the scorecard one final time to make the final score 5-2.

Akira watched the ball bounce inside the goal, mentally cursing at himself for not seeing that coming as he rolled onto his back to face the bright blue sky. Rainbow Dash pumped her fist in the air and jumped up high before she walked over to Akira's form lying in the grass and stood over him as he was breathing heavily.

"Phew...Good game, bro!" She said, holding out a hand to help Akira off of the ground. Which he accepted after he took a moment to catch his breath. After being brought to his feet and dusting himself off, the girls ran over to check on the two, Twilight holding Spike in her arms, while Fluttershy did the same with Morgana. Akira looked over to all the girls with a look of shame.

"Sorry girls, I couldn't do it…" He said to them all, causing Applejack to slap his shoulder with a smile.

"What're ya talkin' about? Ya did great, partner!" Applejack said, confusing Akira as Pinkie Pie was quick to back her up.

"Aki you were fantastic!" Pinkie Pie followed, Akira looked over to the others, who smiled and nodded their heads. Why were they happy? He lost.

"Not many people are able to score a goal on me, let alone two, so I'd say ya did good!" Rainbow Dash said, looking him in the eyes with a cocky grin before turning to Twilight. "So, what's the plan? How can I help you be Princess instead of Sunset Shimmer?" She asked the Equestrian, which confused everyone else present.

"But...we lost?" Twilight said, claiming what everyone else was thinking, Rainbow Dash just smiled and looked her in the eyes.

"Of course you guys lost, I'm awesome! Though you put me on the ropes for a minute there…" She said, looking at Akira with a friendly, yet almost flirtatious look that he didn't quite pick up on in his exhaustion. "But that's not the point, I'm not gonna help just anyone try and beat Sunset Shimmer...The Fall Formal Princess should be someone with heart, and determination. I think both you and Akira here proved that you've got 'em both…" Rainbow Dash finished before hugging a now smiling Twilight Sparkle, causing the other girls to cheer with glee. Akira put his blazer and bag back on and smiled at the sight, before Morgana perched himself back onto Akira's shoulder.

"That was...Surprisingly profound of her…" Morgana said with surprise, as he jumped back into Akira's bag, as he laughed at the cat's observation.

"You're telling me, maybe Ryuji could learn something from her…" He joked, causing Morgana to groan.

"Don't even get me started…" Morgana responded, sinking back into the bag and Rainbow Dash then walked over to Akira and held her hand out, hoping for a handshake.

"You've got skills Akira, I'd love to have a rematch at some point!" Rainbow Dash told the Phantom Thief, who looked at her hand and considered what to do.

'I've got to focus on changing Sunset Shimmer's heart, but training with Rainbow Dash might help me become even faster and stronger in the Metaverse, I see no reason not to agree…' He thought as he extended his hand towards Rainbow Dash's hand and shook it. "You've got a deal."

'I promised to have a rematch with Rainbow Dash…'

CONFIDANT ACQUIRED - Rainbow Dash: The Chariot, Rank 1

Rainbow Dash let go of Akira's hand then and turned around to the rest of the group standing before her.

"Alright, like I asked, what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked around, looking for a response, to which Rarity was the one to step forward.

"Well the first order of business should be restoring Twilight's fallen image…" Rarity bluntly stated, making Twilight sigh and put her head down. Rainbow Dash however seemed very confused.

"Her fallen image? Did I miss something here? I've been busy practicing" Rainbow asked, surprising the entire group.

"W-Wait...haven't you seen the video, R-Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked the athlete, who looked over at the animal lover with curiosity.

"What video?" Rainbow questioned her. Akira sighed and walked forward, deciding to be the one to explain.

"Sunset Shimmer got some...not flattering images of Twilight, and made a video to try and ruin her reputation." Akira told her, making her simply scoff it off.

"Oh come on! I'm sure whatever she made isn't that bad…"

The Sweet Shoppe - 10 Minutes Later

"Yeah nevermind...it is that bad…" Rainbow Dash said, closing the pink laptop as the rest of the group, minus Twilight, nodded in agreement. Akira took a sip out of his fresh cup of coffee as he looked towards the counter where Twilight had just gotten her drink. She immediately backed up into another guy, making her drop the cup to the floor and having whip cream land all over the guy's shirt. The guy had a black jacket on, fairly creamish colored skin, and wild blue hair. Akira noticed how Twilight blushed around this guy and was acting super nervous as their hands connected when going to pick up the cup.

Akira didn't know why, but he started to frown as he watched this interaction. The feeling seemed familiar, he remembered feeling it when he stepped in front of Futaba's uncle while trying to protect her...Is this how Sojiro feels whenever he sees someone talking to Futaba?

Akira continued to watch as Twilight backed up into the counter yet again, waving goodbye to the guy and walking back to their set of tables. Twilight sat down on the arm of the couch that Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity were sitting on, with Spike laying in Rarity's lap. Rarity seemed to notice this interaction as well as she started to comment on the blush that appeared on Twilight's face.

"Don't even think about it...You're already trying to get her crown, who knows what Sunset Shimmer would do to you if you ended up getting her ex-boyfriend too…" Rarity said, whispering that last part just loud enough so they all could hear. This revelation made Akira's eyes go wide and caused him to start coughing violently. It took him a few seconds to calm down before looking at Rarity with surprise.

"Her ex-boyfriend!?" Akira asked, looking at the rest of the girls, who just turned towards him and slowly nodded. Twilight however was also caught off guard.

"I-I'm not t-trying to! I don't even know- We just accidentally...Since when!?" Twilight somehow yelled while whispering. Fluttershy leaned forward to tell the story.

"Flash Sentry broke up with her a few weeks ago! I can't believe she hasn't done something awful to him yet…" Fluttershy said as all the group of friends turned their heads to see the boy, who Akira now knew as Flash Sentry, walk by. Flash then turned back to face Twilight and gave her a flirtatious grin. Akira definitely knew what that feeling from before was right now, as his brotherly instinct made him want to make sure he would do nothing to hurt Twilight. He didn't know why he was feeling this though, he's only known Twilight for a day now.

"Maybe she's just waiting until she has the power to do something really awful…" Twilight spoke up. Akira knew that she was right in that assumption and decided to put his own thought in.

"She must be waiting until after she becomes Princess to pull the trigger...She might even be planning on going for it the night of the dance." Akira said, taking another sip of his coffee. The girls seemed to follow this line of thinking, as Applejack stood up from her chair and got right to business.

"All right gang, we have a little more than a week to get Twilight the votes that she needs to be named Princess! Right now, folks only know Twilight from the video Sunset Shimmer posted online, we need to help them see her differently…" The group seemed to all be brainstorming their own different ideas, even Akira tried to think of something, but his thought process was cut off by a very loud Rarity.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Rarity yelled out, causing everyone in the group to jump back in surprise, and drawing the attention of everyone in the café. Rarity held a look of embarrassment as she looked around, all eyes on her. "Sorry everyone…" She said before everyone went back to their drinks. "I mean...Perhaps, I have a solution…" Rarity told the group as she walked over back to her purple bag. "Now this may be an absolutely preposterous idea, but…what if we wore these as a sign of unity?" Rarity said as she pulled out what looked to be a pair of horse ears on a headband, and horse tails made of what Akira hoped was fake hair.

"I already don't like where this is going…" Morgana said, climbing out of Akira's bag that was sitting on the counter. Akira just looked over and nodded to his comrade, looking at the rest of the group, it seems that they all were just as unsure as he was.

"Freshman year they were very, very popular, a way for everybody to show their school spirit! You know, "Go Canterlot Wondercolts!"" Rarity shouted with excitement while jumping up and down, looking around for any kind of signs of approval, before having her smile drop to a frown. "I uh...Haven't sold any in ages…" She then reached back into her bag and pulled out four other sets of the same ears and tails, handing them to the rest of the girls, who all put them on after a few moments of reluctance, smiles now on their faces. "I mean, the five of us are obviously very different, but deep down, we're all Canterlot Wondercolts! Sunset Shimmer is the one that divided us, while Twilight Sparkle and Akira Kurusu were the ones who united us again, and we're going to let them all know it!"

Rarity walked back over to her bag, grabbing two more sets of the false pony ears, setting some on top of Twilight's head, who looked at them with a smile, before she walked over to Akira and held out the pair for him, the girls watching him as he looked at Rarity, who gave him a soft smile.

"What do you think?" Rarity asked, the pair of Wondercolt ears still in hand. Akira looked past her, seeing all of the girls giving him bright smiles, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were especially curious about his answer. Akira's eyes then settled on Twilight, who looked at him with an approving smile, and a nod to go with it. Akira took a deep breath as he looked back to Rarity, took the headband from her hand, and set it on top of his head.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Akira asked, knowing that he looked completely ridiculous, Morgana's stifled laughter was a big indication of this, but the girls all seemed happy with his answer as they turned towards the center table yet again.

"Here's what I'm thinking...the students of Canterlot High are just as divided as we were, just into different social groups, I assume this also may have occurred as a result of Sunset's rule...But what if they had something that would unite them all together…?" Rarity asked, pointing towards the ears they all wore. Akira quickly caught onto her idea.

"Then they might unite together to vote out the person who caused that division!" Akira put forth, making Rarity smile with pride.

"Exactly! And what better way to unite them than to show that we're all united as Canterlot Wondercolts…" Rarity finished making her point.

"But how're we gonna do that with barely a week 'fore the dance?" Applejack spoke her concerns, which Rarity seemed to have a plan for as well.

"Have you ever heard of something called a "Flash Mob"?" Rarity questioned, and this time Pinkie Pie was ready with an answer.

"Ooh ooh, I know I know! It's when people randomly burst into song and dance out in public!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"More or less, so I propose we perform one of these "Flash Mobs" right during the lunch hour! That way every student will be present and there's no feasible way Sunset Shimmer could stop it!" Rarity suggested, which sounded good with most of the group as Rarity put a hand to her chin. "However, we will need someone to write the song we'll perform…"

"I-I could write it…" Fluttershy brought her voice forth, surprising everyone at the table. "I j-just might need some time to w-write it, maybe a day?" Fluttershy asked, as Rainbow Dash put her head forth.

"I can help you with that, Fluttershy! We'll come up with something awesome!" Rainbow Dash said with a thumbs up, surprising the timid girl.

"R-Really?"

"Of course! That's what friends are for!" Rainbow Dash spoke with a smirk, causing Fluttershy to almost start tearing up. Rarity then turned to Akira.

"Of course, we're going to need to have someone spread the word about Twilight's campaign...What do you think, campaign manager?" Rarity's statement caught him off guard slightly.

"Excuse me, what?"

"Her campaign manager! Meaning you'd be the one helping to get the word out about Twilight's candidacy." Rarity finished, the situation reminding him of his volunteering time with the former member of the National Diet, Toranosuke Yoshida. Akira looked at Twilight and gave a nod.

"Leave it to me."

"Excellent! That leaves Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and I to focus on decorations and any other effects we'd want during our performance…" She said, looking towards Pinkie and Applejack, Pinkie Pie could hardly contain her excitement as Applejack gave a tip of her hat. "Then I think we have a plan." Rarity said to the group, causing them to all turn and nod to each other. Akira then stood up, and grabbed the bag slowly to make sure that Morgana didn't get hurt.

"Alright, then let's get to work. Let's go Twilight." Akira gestured for her to follow him, the group seemed surprised, especially Twilight.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Twilight asked, standing up as Spike jumped inside her bag. Akira turned to her and tried his best to imply what he was hoping for.

"Back to the school, if we wanna get the word out about your campaign, then we should get to work on designing some kind of fliers, right?" Akira asked while bringing out his phone, implying to Twilight that he thought they should go investigate Sunset's Palace tonight. Luckily, Twilight picked up on this.

"Oh...Oh! Right! Yeah, we should totally go do that!" Twilight said in the most obvious tone he'd ever heard. "Well you heard him, we're gonna head back and go design some fliers...Let's go, Akira!" Twilight said as she waved goodbye to everyone. Akira looked at all the other girls.

"How bout we all reconvene tomorrow during Lunch? I'll see you guys later. AJ, I'll see you back at the house. Have a goodnight, girls!" The lone male said as he and Twilight started to walk out of the Sweet Shoppe to a chorus of "Goodnight Twilight/'Night Akira!"

As the two transfer students left, Applejack watched as Akira and Twilight walked side-by-side from out the window. A feeling of slight jealousy panging her as something about how they acted didn't feel quite right. She didn't notice Rarity leaning forward to see her expression.

"Aren't you the least bit curious as to what they're doing, darling?" Rarity asked the farmgirl, who blushed and looked over to her friend with a slightly defensive tone.

"T-They're just gonna go design some fliers, that's all…" Applejack told herself, but still felt that something wasn't right.

"That's what they said they were going to do, but I think there's more to this that meets the eye…" Rarity spoke to the entire group, who seemed slightly perplexed at her statement.

"W-What do you mean, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked what everyone else was thinking. Rarity leaned towards the others and gave her reasoning.

"Aren't you the least bit curious as to how Twilight knew our names without having met us before, or how Akira asked for you three to meet him in the science hall to look for Twilight to show her the video, yet they were also looking to bring us all together, and how Twilight conveniently had that photo of us from the Freshman Fair with her and bookmarked. I think they know more than they're letting on…" Rarity told the group, and they had to admit that she made some good points.

"Now that I think about it, that is a little wacky!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, Rainbow Dash then leaned back in her chair.

"Well what are we supposed to do, follow 'em?" Rainbow Dash asked. Rarity simply looked at the athlete and smiled.

"Precisely!" Rarity proudly stated, making the other girls look at her with confusion. Fluttershy then started to whisper to her.

"U-Um, doesn't that c-count as i-invasion of p-privacy?" Fluttershy questioned, but Rarity laughed it off.

"Oh not at all...So, what do you all think? Want to find out what they're up to?" Rarity asked the group, and was met with Pinkie leaning forward, wearing a detective hat, and a magnifying glass held up to her face.

"Detective Pinkie Pie is on the case!" She yelled out. Applejack then gained a look of determination.

"Ah wanna know what's going on as well!" Applejack cried out, her jealousy still apparent. Rainbow Dash just sighed and stood up.

"I guess we're doing this…" She said, Fluttershy standing up with her. Rarity then grabbed her bag and started to walk towards the door.

"Ladies, let's move!"

Canterlot High - Courtyard

As Twilight and Akira stood out in front of the statue outside of the school, Twilight couldn't contain her joy as she jumped in the air.

"We did it, Akira! They're actually all friends again!" Twilight yelled out as Akira laughed at her antics.

"Sometimes all they need is a little push in the right direction…" Akira said to the girl, who landed right in front of him, her smile refusing to fade.

"I can't thank you enough for your help, Akira!" She told him, causing a certain cat to pop out of his bag and gave a confident glare.

"Well he's lucky that he didn't have to go it alone!" Morgana said, pointing his chin towards the sky, causing Twilight to laugh.

"Of course, thank you as well, Morgana!" Said Twilight with a grateful grin. Morgana smiled in response.

"Always glad to help out a Princess." The cat responded, making Akira playfully roll his eyes. Spike then popped out of Twilight's backpack to give his own appreciation.

"With you two with us, there's no way that Twilight won't win that crown!" Spike spoke with certainty. Akira slightly chuckled at the dog.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've still got a treasure to steal…" Akira said as he pulled out his phone, opening up the Metaverse Navigator. Neither Akira, Twilight, Morgana, or Spike noticed the five heads poking around the other side of the statue as the girls had followed them all the way here.

"Oooh, did he say "treasure"?" Pinkie Pie asked in a louder voice than the others would have liked.

"Quiet down Pinkie, they might hear us!" Rainbow Dash said, covering Pinkie Pie's mouth with her own hand. Rarity continued to stare forward.

"Hmm...I swear I just heard another voice talking with them just then…" Rarity said to herself, Applejack gave her own look of confusion.

"Nevermind that, was Twilight really just talkin' to his cat?" Applejack quietly questioned the group.

"Oh, that's not that strange…" Fluttershy answered, making Rainbow Dash look to her with a deadpan face.

"No offense, Fluttershy. But I think you're the only one who finds that to be normal." Rainbow said before they all backed out of view when they heard Akira speak again.

"Well, let's get to it…" Akira said as he pressed down on the Metaverse Navigator, making the mechanical voice call out to them.

"Beginning navigation to Sunset Shimmer's Castle…" The MetaNav said as within a matter of seconds, the world started to shift before the girl's very eyes.

Sunset Shimmer's Castle - Front Entrance

Joker looked down at his attire, smirking once he saw his black coat and red gloves on. He looked over to Mona, who sure enough had transformed into his Phantom Thief form, but Mona's focus was elsewhere as he turned to see that Twilight stood there, fully transformed into the form they had seen when she first reawakened her power. Twilight stood there messing with her new wings, as Spike, who was back in his baby dragon form, started to do some stretches.

"Seems like you two were able to retain your forms from this world." Mona said, crossing his arms with a smile as he looked at the two Equestrians. They both looked over and smiled at Mona. Spike launched off a breath of green fire just to make sure.

"Oh yeah! I'm ready to roll!" Spike yelled out as Twilight and Joker looked towards the large castle that was standing in front of them, the red sky ominously looming above. Joker then looked back to Twilight and gestured towards the castle.

"So, where to first?" The leader of the group asked. Twilight stared forward with slight fear before giving his answer.

"I'd like to go back to those dungeons, maybe Princess Celestia and Princess Luna can give us a clue about what Sunset Shimmer's big plan is." Twilight told the group, who all nodded in agreement.

"Then let's get to work. Follow me." Joker said, running ahead, and leading the four of them inside the castle.

Once the coast was clear, the girls had all come out from behind the statue and stared forward at the castle.

"Oh my word…" Rarity started to say, but couldn't think of any other words to describe the sight in front of her.

"W-W-Where are we?" Fluttershy asked, cowering behind Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie then decided to jump forward.

"And where did this castle come from!?" Pinkie Pie yelled out in surprise, while Applejack's mind was on the outfit she saw Akira wearing.

"What was with that coat...and did Twilight have wings!?" She asked no one in particular, as Rainbow Dash walked forward, staring at the castle in front of them.

"An adventure inside a mysterious castle? Count me in!" Rainbow Dash said, running towards the castle entrance. Pinkie Pie right behind her.

"Yayyyyy! Castle adventure!" Pinkie Pie yelled, bounding after her. Fluttershy was next as she ran after Rainbow Dash.

"W-W-Wait for me!" Fluttershy yelled out before running off. Rarity then clapped her hands together and followed suit.

"Ooooh, now this is getting juicy!" She stated, following the others towards the castle entrance. Applejack just looked at the spot where she saw Akira stand before taking off after the others.

"Just what is goin' on here, Akira…?" Applejack said to herself before heading towards the castle doors with the others.

Sunset Shimmer's Castle - Dungeon

After a few minutes had passed since they had first entered, the group of four made their way to the castle dungeons with little to no resistance from any passing Shadow's. After another minute or so of looking, they had managed to stumble back upon the cells that the cognitive versions of Princess/Principal Celestia and Princess/Vice Principal Luna had been held captive in. Joker let Twilight take the lead in the moment as she knelt down to meet the eyes of the cognitive Princesses.

"T-Twilight? Is that you again?" Celestia asked her supposed student. Twilight nodded in response. "Why did you come back? It's t-too dangerous for you here…" Celestia said, obvious suffering traced within her voice. Twilight had to look at the ground for a moment to steel her emotions before looking back up at the cognitive princess.

"I came back here to ask you both some questions about Sunset Shimmer and this castle. I'm hoping you both have the answers we're looking for." Twilight told the two. Joker was listening very intently, making mental notes of everything being said. Princess Luna then looked over to Twilight.

"Very well...but you should ask them quickly, b-before any guards arrive here…" Luna replied, the pain in her tone making even Mona slightly wince. Twilight looked forward, a tear in her eye.

"Of course...first, how did you two end up here in the first place?" Twilight questioned, and it took a few seconds before Celestia started to respond.

"After Sunset Shimmer gained control of the Element of Magic, she marched up to our gates and demanded that we hand over our thrones. Of course we refused those demands, but…" Celestia trailed off, the memory fairly painful. Luna seemed to pick up where her sister left off.

"The power of the Element of Magic boosted her magical power to the point where it surpassed that of both my sister and myself…she easily defeated us, and locked us away here, making us waste away for our defiance..." Luna stated. This made Joker and Mona look at each other with wide eyes, just how much power did this crown have inside it? Twilight still looked forward.

"Didn't anyone else try to stop her!?" Twilight almost yelled out. Luna looked away from Twilight's line of sight.

"Yes...many others tried. But they stood no chance against her power in the end…" Luna said with a somber tone, this time Celestia continued where her sister dropped the question.

"Those who opposed her were either completely annihilated, or were forced to become one of her many slaves…" Celestia finished. This was more worrying to Joker and Mona, who realized that if Sunset Shimmer gets that crown, she might end up killing people...the stakes just got a lot higher for their success. Twilight seemed to accept the answer and moved onto her last question.

"If you could tell us...where can we find her treasure?" Twilight asked, swinging for the fences. Joker and Mona listened closely for any possible clue. This was met with a chuckle from Princess Celestia.

"I wish I could tell you...but I don't know." All four members of the group mentally cursed, as this got them nowhere. Celestia looked back up to Twilight. "Twilight...I beg of you...Don't fight her...I don't want to lose you as well…" Celestia said with regret in her tone. Twilight looked down, a lone tear falling from her cheek as she looked back up.

"I wish I could rescue you…" She said, looking back to Mona, remembering what he told her about cognitive beings. "But I can't do that...but we will steal her heart, I'll promise you that." She said as she stood back up, looking towards the group. Joker stepped forward to face her.

"Got everything you wanted to know?" He asked the Princess, who nodded towards the Phantom Thief.

"Yes. I now know that we need to do this, for everyone's sake…" Twilight responded, making Joker smile at her newfound resolve. "Let's get moving-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as they were met with a very loud scream, which sounded like it came from the other side of the castle. But this scream made Twilight pause for alarm as it was very familiar to her.

"Twilight! W-Was that-?" Spike asked her, making the same connection he did. She nervously nodded.

"I recognize that scream...that was Rarity, I'm sure of it!" This news made the two Phantom Thieves look at her with wide eyes. "B-But, there's no way she could have made it here, right?" Twilight asked the two. Mona looked at her with concern.

"Normally she shouldn't be able to wander into the Metaverse...but...it has happened before…" Mona said, making Spike start to panic.

"If Rarity's in trouble, then we've gotta go help her!" Spike told the group as he sprinted towards the sound of the scream. Twilight immediately flew after the dragon.

"Guys, wait! Ugh, I guess there's no time to discuss it, let's check it out Joker!" Mona told the leader, who quickly gave a nod as they took off towards the source of the scream.

As they made their way back to the main hall, the group noticed the door to the other side of the room had been swung wide open, it was also where they could hear the sounds of struggling coming from. Joker led the four of them up to the door where they peeked around the corner inside to see the last thing they were all hoping to see right now. The very real forms of Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, being thrown to the grounds of what looked to be a large library by multiple Shadow Guards. Spike tried to lunge forward to help out, but Joker held him back and motioned for him to wait for an opportunity.

As the girls were all thrown down to their knees, a distorted, booming voice could be heard from the back of the room.

"It seems that we have more intruders caught trying to infiltrate MY castle!" Called the voice from atop a staircase at the back of the room, and as Joker looked forward, he instantly recognized the shadow that the voice was coming from. Rainbow Dash seemed to look up and noticed who called out to them.

"Sunset Shimmer!?" She yelled out in surprise. The situation in front of them making two words run through Joker's mind…

'Oh crap…'

ANNNNND FINALLY DONE

This took...way longer than I care to admit. Mostly because I've been tied up with college business, social obligations and such, but hey! I'm back now! I hope the wait wasn't too annoying…

Ah who am I kidding, of course it was.

This chapter kinda took forever because there was so much I wanted to fit into it, but there's always a point where you've gotta end it. But I got quite a few reviews asking me to continue this story, so I decided to get cracking at it.

I won't babble on anymore since I made y'all wait for so dang long, I'm gonna get working on the next chapter ASAP.

See ya next time!