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.

7. Chapter 7

Hello again!

The response to the last chapter seems fairly positive, but I didn't expect that many reviews of people giving their votes for the sequels. And with the way the voting has gone, I may have an idea for not just one, I'm thinking of making this thing a trilogy.

I will clarify that in those options, when I said the Mane 6, I did mostly mean the human versions of the Mane 6.

There were a lot of questions of logistics when it came to a few of the concepts that I wish I could explain, but it would give away a lot of things. Everyone's reviews were helpful in seeing what people would be interested in, so thank you all for your insight.

Last thing I'll say, this story has reached over 100 favorites, and 16,000 views! That's just something incredibly exciting to me and something that I'm very thankful for. So I appreciate all of you for sticking with the story and sticking around to support it.

I've actually had this chapter done for a few weeks now, but for some reason my anxiety made me really nervous to release it...but oh well, can't be afraid of criticism.

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.

And one last quick note: "Song lyrics will be in Italics"

Sunset Shimmer's Castle - Hallway

Joker had to think fast.

He and his fellow Phantom Thieves were being slowly backed into the cognitive locker that stood locked behind all of them, the Shadows that were approaching them had started to point their spears towards the thieves, while more Shadows started to run in from around the corner, Mona ran forward as blue flames started to surround him.

"Zorro!" Mona called his Persona forth, not wasting any time as a blast of air flew towards the Shadows as a result of the masked swordsman spinning his blade. Most of the Shadows got sent backwards a few feet, while two in the front were sliced to ribbons by the blast of wind. While Mona had a slight moment of triumph, about three more Shadows rounded the corner. Joker looked back to see how the Elements were faring.

Fluttershy had instinctively hid behind Rainbow Dash, who was on her feet and ready to fight, Joker figured that she wasn't flying due to her still being exhausted from earlier.

Applejack also seemed quite tired, though she was holding on…Mainly for the sake of holding Pinkie Pie by the collar as the pinkette was trying to rush in, screaming things like "Lemme at 'em!".

Rarity and Twilight were readying whatever magic they could muster in the moment, just in case things got dicey, while Spike stood in front of Rarity in a protective stance, ironic since his baby dragon body barely covered her at all.

Seeing that the girls were holding it together, Joker turned back to help out Mona, who had continued trying to force back the shadows with wind skills. Joker put a hand to his face, as a blue flare symbolized the changing of his mask.

"Garuda!" Joker called, ripping off his mask as a bird-like creature, covered in gold armor flew out of the blue flames that summoned him. Joker called upon the bird god and cast Garudyne, and with assistance from Mona and Zorro, they were able to make a larger dent within the encroaching crowd of Shadows, but they could both tell that it wasn't going to be enough.

"At this rate, we're gonna run out of stamina fast…Joker, have any good ideas?" Mona anxiously said to the leader of the team. Joker looked around for any way to get the team out of the situation as fast as possible, he then looked back down at Mona as a solution popped into his head.

"I'm not sure if it's a good one, but I have one." Joker replied as he stepped in front of the cat. "Mona, I need you to transform and grab the others, I'll buy you some time." Joker stated as he fired off another blast of wind magic towards the Shadows as he dodged an oncoming spear thrown by one of the guards. Mona sighed as he caught onto Joker's plan.

"Guess it's better than nothing…" The cat said as he ran back towards the newest members of the team. "Alright people, what you're about to see is gonna seem REALLY weird…" Mona tried to tell the team, however Applejack seemed to scoff it off.

"At this point Ah don't think anything will surprise us anymore…" Applejack replied, letting go of Pinkie Pie's collar. Mona shrugged and turned back towards the front.

"Don't say I didn't warn you…Morgana, TRANSFORM!" Mona yelled to the heavens, jumping into the air. A cloud of smoke appeared from Mona's location, and quickly faded away as a cat-like bus landed down in front of the team. "Everyone, hop in!" Collectively, almost everyone's jaw dropped at the sight of Morgana's bus form.

"Ah spoke too soon…" Applejack said to herself as Pinkie Pie pushed past her towards the doors to the sentient vehicle.

"Ooh, shotgun!" Pinkie shouted to the group and she ran into the bus and made herself comfortable in the passenger's seat. The girls quickly piled into the car, besides Twilight and Fluttershy.

"How in the world can you do that, Mona!? What is this? Is it some kind of cognitive magic? Or something your personas allow you to do? Oh, you've got to tell me how!" Twilight geeked out at the possibility for more study material, however Mona was growing impatient.

"Escape now, questions later! We need to go!" Mona yelled out, causing Twilight to flush red with embarrassment and make her way into the back seat of the bus. Mona then turned his headlamp eyes over to Fluttershy, who seemed to notice the only empty seat was the driver's seat. "We still need someone to drive! Fluttershy, can you do it?" The sudden pressure put on Fluttershy overwhelmed her in the moment.

"M-Me!? W-Well…I have my license, b-but I'm not s-sure I can-" Fluttershy tried to stammer out, but she was cut off as she turned her head to see Joker getting kicked in the stomach by one of the Shadows.

Joker landed on his back, but quickly rolled backwards to get back up on his feet. He dusted himself off, and with dagger in hand, quickly jumped back into the fray.

Fluttershy remembered her conversation with Akira earlier in the day, how he helped her out even though he barely knew her, the fact that he was willing to let her lean on him for help in the future. Ever since she and Akira met, he's been fearless, selfless, and extremely kind, and he was risking his life right now to make sure they were safe. He reminded her of when she had met Rainbow Dash, when she would jump in front of Fluttershy to save her from bullies, but she knew he needed her as well. Fluttershy took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. She turned back to the Mona Bus and got into the driver's seat.

The other girls were certainly surprised by the look of sheer determination on Fluttershy's face, Rainbow Dash didn't know what brought this on, but she was very proud of her friend regardless.

"10 and 2, now let us through!" Fluttershy yelled out a modified version of her classic driving safety rhymes.

Fluttershy pressed her foot down on the brake pedal, and slowly put her other foot on the gas pedal, causing the Mona Bus to start revving up. Joker heard the sound and turned his head to see the source, a smirk creeping onto his face when he saw Fluttershy in the driver's seat. Their eyes connected and with a nod from Joker, they knew it was time for action.

Fluttershy took her foot off the brake, causing the bus to shoot forward. Joker bent down and sprung upwards, backflipping over the bus, which zoomed past his old position, colliding with the pile of Shadows in front of them, causing them to immediately disintegrate upon contact. The oncoming bus caused Shadows to either dive out of the way to save themselves, or get sent flying from the impact.

Joker didn't expect Fluttershy to go as fast as she did, so he threw his grappling hook towards the bus, attacking itself to Mona's tail, and dragging him through the air.

Once the bus made it past the initial wave, Fluttershy made a hard right turn, causing the bus to tip slightly, and everyone who didn't have their seatbelt quickly was sent to the right side of the car. Joker twisted his body just in time so instead of his back connecting with the palace walls, he was able to land on his feet, running along the wall while trying to keep up with the car, which was running over stray Shadows that hadn't joined the group that had cornered them yet.

Rarity looked out the back window and noticed Joker being pulled along by his grappling hook, she turned towards the front and yelled up to Fluttershy.

"Darling, slow down! Let Joker inside!" Rarity called out to the focused driver. Her words reached Fluttershy, who's eyes widened and instantly slammed on the brakes, causing the car to screech to a stop and nearly flip over itself.

The sudden stop caused Joker to be sent flying towards the back end of the bus, but Mona was able to shapeshift to open up the back side, causing Joker to fly past everyone in the back seats until he slammed into the back of the front seats. Joker pulled himself up to show the girls he was ok.

"Thanks for the save, Fluttershy!" Joker said with a thumbs up, knocking Fluttershy out of her focused state.

"O-Oh! It was n-nothing…" Fluttershy replied while a blush crept onto her face. Rainbow Dash looked back through the once again closed back window of the bus to see the army of Shadows running around the corner, trying to catch up to them.

"Hate to interrupt, but we need to keep moving!" Rainbow Dash called to Fluttershy, who instinctively panicked and floored the gas pedal again. The Mona Bus sped forward down the hallway once again.

Shadows kept filtering in down the hall and tried to stop the bus, but the ones that weren't run down by Fluttershy, were hit by Pinkie Pie, who was leaning outside of the passenger window, swatting the Shadows with an overly large cartoon hammer, shouting "10 Points" after every hit.

Pinkie Pie looked down the hallway, and her eyes went wide. She ducked her head back inside the car and turned towards the thieves in the backseat.

"You all might wanna hold on to something…" Pinkie told the group with a sheepish smile. The group collectively raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"Um, why?" Spike asked with nervousness lacing his tone. Pinkie then pointed towards the front windshield, showing the room filled with tables that they had to sneak through earlier.

"Because this ride is about to get a little bumpy." Pinkie cringed as the Phantom Thieves braced themselves for impact. Twilight held Spike close to her as she kept one hand firmly on the seat. Rarity and Rainbow Dash took hold of the grab handles on their respective side of the bus, while Applejack had one hand on the seat, and the other on Joker's shoulder. The leader of the team held both hands onto the front seats as the bus collided with the tables in front of them.

The sudden impact caused many of the tables to break apart, one of them leaning over on its side, which Fluttershy accidentally used as a ramp, causing the bus to soar through the air briefly before crashing through a rail and landing on the second floor. The team looked back up to notice they were unharmed. Fluttershy turned back to the group to check in.

"I-Is everyone ok?" Fluttershy asked, not noticing her foot still down on the gas pedal. Rainbow Dash dusted herself off and looked back towards her friend.

"We're all good, nice driving Fluttershy-"

"Watch out!" Rarity gestured for Fluttershy to look where she was driving, which she discovered was straight towards the flight of stairs they had come up when they first entered the palace. With no time to slam on the brakes, the Mona Bus flew off the edge of the staircase, the steep drop making everyone inside briefly scream in panic.

The bus connected with the floor, making Mona slightly bounce back up as the bus hurtled into the castle's front entrance. The impact caused Mona to transform back into his normal feline appearance, while the Phantom Thieves were sent flying out into the courtyard.

Joker was able to adjust in the air and land into a somersault, he heard Mona screaming behind him, and quickly turned to catch Mona by his head in his gloved hand. Setting the cat down, Mona breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back up to his savior.

"Phew, nice catch, Joker!" Mona said with a smile, before they both looked around and noticed that they couldn't see the others. "Hey, where'd everyone else land?" They both looked around anxiously until they heard a voice call out to them from above their heads.

"Up here!"

Joker and Mona looked up to see the other members of the team flying above them, the ones that couldn't fly were being held onto by the ones that could. Rainbow Dash flew to the ground quickly, arms crossed, and a smirk very apparent on her face. Twilight flew down next, with Rarity in tow.

"Thank you, Twilight, if any dirt had gotten over this outfit I would have screamed…" Rarity said with a clenched fist, Twilight smiled in return. Fluttershy slowly descented, allowing Applejack to touch the ground with her feet before letting go.

"Fluttershy, out of all those drivin' rhymes ya got, don't ya have one for keeping your eyes on the road?" Applejack asked, slightly annoyed. Fluttershy floated down to the ground obliviously.

"Well of course, both eyes on the road will lighten your load-" Fluttershy stopped when she saw the annoyed expression on Applejack's face. "Hehe, s-sorry-" the girl was cut off by the sound of screaming coming from above them.

Everyone looked up to see Spike, covering his eyes as he was held up by Pinkie Pie, who was somehow twirling her hair around like helicopter blades, which were keeping her in the air.

"I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna…wait, what?" Spike questioned, uncovering his eyes. He looked up to see who had caught him and his eyes shot wide open. "Pinkie, how are you doing that?"

"Hehe, something I saw in a game once!" Pinkie Pie said with a closed eye smile. Spike decided not to question it, as he'd seen Pinkie Pie do many weirder things.

"Ok? Can you let me go?" Spike asked the party girl, who put a hand to her chin, seemingly thinking about his words, was confused until he seemed to realize the error in his phrasing. "No no, I don't mean right now-"

"Ok!" Pinkie Pie answered, letting go of Spike, who quickly fell towards the ground, once again screaming, only to be caught by his tail by Applejack. Spike was still screaming as he realized he had not been caught yet again, he then looked up at Applejack and laughed nervously.

"Hehe, thanks AJ." The dragon laughed as Applejack set him down gently. Pinkie Pie stopped her hovering and gracefully landed in a gymnastics pose, then grabbing and holding up a sign that had the number 10 on it. Everyone seemed to roll their eyes at Pinkie's antics. Joker took his position in the middle of the group to give his debriefing of the situation.

"We made it out unscathed. Nice driving by the way, Fluttershy." Joker said to the girl, who blushed heavily at the praise. "Now let's go over what we need to do tomorrow."

"Well the main thing tomorrow is making sure our performance goes off without a hitch." Twilight replied, writing down everything on a notebook she had fished out of her bag.

"Right, and if it goes well enough, we'll be able to post it online to distract from Sunset Shimmer's smear campaign. Applejack, do you think Applebloom would let us borrow her camera for the day?" Joker asked the cowgirl, who thought about it for a few seconds.

"Ah dunno, she's awfully protective of that thing, but Ah think Ah can convince her."

"Let's hope so, no matter what we do to restore Twilight's reputation tomorrow, we can't let it fade over the weekend while Sunset Shimmer would have time to strike back at us." Joker turned his attention back to the rest of the team. "Speaking of her, we need to figure out Sunset Shimmer's locker combination, but how do we do that without arousing suspicion?" Joker put a hand to his chin, Pinkie Pie immediately raised her hand.

"Ooh! Twilight should use her magic to probe into her mind and find the combo from inside her head!" Pinkie suggested, which resulted in a sweatdrop from everyone.

"I wish I could, but it seems that without my crown, I can only use my magic here in the Palace, so more than likely someone will have to witness her putting the combination in." Twilight responded with a defeated sigh.

"And how do we manage that? I imagine Sunset Shimmer's mind is on high alert, she'd notice any of us watching her from miles away!" Rarity surmised, Mona seemed to have an idea pop into his head.

"Well, what if there was a set of eyes she couldn't see?" Mona suggested, bringing everyone's attention his way, when he saw the apparent confusion, he decided to elaborate. "Well, I already spend the majority of my day inside his bag. So if we have someone in a disguise, wearing a backpack with me inside, I'd have a good view of the combination without drawing Sunset Shimmer's attention." Mona explained.

"Simple, but it'll get the job done. We should do this in the morning in case Sunset gets angry after our performance at lunchtime. Who's locker here is closest to Sunset's?" Joker asked the girls. Rainbow Dash raised her hand.

"My locker is pretty close to hers, it gets annoying when she lectures Snips and Snails, albeit hilarious."

"Great. Rarity, do you have anything that'll make Rainbow Dash a little less…noticeable?" Joker asked, pointing out her vibrant, rainbow colored hair. The fashionista already seemed to be thinking about it.

"We'll definitely need a hood of some kind, but that should be easy to find."

"How about the three of us meet up in the morning so we can be ready for when Sunset Shimmer gets there?" Joker asked again, and smiled when he was met with nods from both parties. "Then after school, we'll head back here and keep moving."

"You got it!" Rainbow said with a thumbs up. Joker pulled out his phone and the team started to walk back towards the statue as he hit the button to return home.

"Now returning to the real world from Sunset Shimmer's Palace, thank you for your hard work."

Canterlot High - Courtyard

As the Phantom Thieves returned to reality, and the Castle in front of them shifted back into their high school, they now knew they could finally breathe a sigh of relief as any Shadows that were still possibly in pursuit couldn't get them now.

Akira looked around to make sure nobody had seen them exit the Metaverse, and once he confirmed the coast was clear, he looked back to the rest of the team, who had all turned back to their original forms. Rainbow Dash looked at her back, almost disappointed at the lack of wings.

"Ugh! After being in that Palace, the real world seems just so…lame!" Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, while Rarity checked to make sure that every part of her look was pure.

"I for one find the lack of Shadows hunting us down quite pleasant." Rarity claimed. Spike also shared Dash's disappointment, as he growled at his canine body.

"Yeah, but it's hard to adjust back to four legs again!" Spike yelled out in frustration, shaking out his fur. Rarity bent down and scratched the dog under his chin.

"Well I think this form is adorable." Rarity replied with a playful tone, leaving Spike a bumbling mess while Rarity continued to scratch him.

"Me? Cute? Well maybe it's not that bad then…" Spike said, a smile glued onto his face. Applejack looked over to Akira with a bit of concern.

"That's what ya do every day on your world, Sugarcube? Sneakin' around those palaces?" Applejack asked the boy, who chuckled at the question.

"We have a few days off, but more or less." Akira replied with a smirk, Mona popped out of his backpack to share his two cents.

"Once the Phantom Thieves set their mind on a goal, they won't rest until it's done, especially when it comes to changing hearts!" Mona triumphantly shouted, making Akira roll his eyes. Pinkie Pie seemed to be both very amused, and ticked off.

"It's a lot more fun than boring old exams!" Pinkie shouted, making Akira have flashbacks to the many exams at Shujin he had to pass, and Ryuji had failed. Pinkie Pie then turned her attention to Twilight. "Though being a princess sounds like tons of fun too!" Twilight rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, Rarity seemed to light up at the prospect.

"Oh I can only imagine! Glamorous dresses, royal balls, a bright castle to live in! It must be fabulous, Darling!" Rarity was giddy at the thought of living like royalty, Twilight sighed as she thought about her position.

"It's not an easy job, there's a lot of responsibilities you have to deal with…" Twilight looked back out to the group in front of her, remembering the many adventures she and the other Elements of Harmony have had in Equestria. "But I know some pretty amazing ponies that make everything worth it!" Twilight said, covering her mouth after she realized she said the word ponies. Rainbow Dash found this very funny.

"Pony Princesses…I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that being real…" Rainbow Dash said between laughs. Everyone else joined in on the laugh, all except Fluttershy, who seemed to have her head down mostly as she was twiddling her thumbs. Akira noticed this and decided to talk to her when they split for the night.

"Alright everyone, let's call it a night. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, meet you out front before school starts?" Akira asked, leading Rarity and Rainbow Dash to nod their heads in agreement. "Then get some rest, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

The Phantom Thieves started to walk their separate ways, though Fluttershy remained frozen in the same spot. Akira turned to Applejack as she started to leave.

"Head back without me, Applejack. I'm gonna talk to Fluttershy for a minute."

"Alright, partner. Don't be too late, or Granny may start dinner without ya!" Applejack replied before walking in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Akira turned back around and walked towards the frozen Fluttershy, who hadn't noticed that everyone had left, or that he was now standing right next to her.

"Hello? Earth-to-Fluttershy!" Akira said while waving a hand in front of the girl, knocking her out of her trance and making her jump back.

"Ah! A-Akira! Where did e-everybody go?" Fluttershy questioned, looking around to only see the two of them in the courtyard.

"They went home for the night, and you were stuck to the corner like a street light. I wanted to make sure you were ok." Akira gave the girl a look of concern, Fluttershy looked back towards the ground.

"I-I was just thinking…"

"About what?" Akira questioned. Fluttershy tried to get the words out, but couldn't find the strength to do so. She looked back into Akira's gray eyes, Fluttershy started to calm down at the sight of them. She knew she could trust him, now she just had to trust herself to be vulnerable.

"Do y-you remember what M-Morgana told me this morning? About h-how the Phantom Thieves gave him a place to b-belong? Fluttershy asked. Akira only nodded in response as he recalled their conversation in the woodshop. "Well it m-made me think about where I-I belong as well…"

Akira knew that this conversation was going to be emotional, so he sat down next to the Wondercolt statue in the courtyard and gestured for Fluttershy to join him, which she reluctantly accepted.

"It feels so s-strange, everyone else is able to m-move past what happened between us…b-but I don't feel like I've changed at all…"

"What do you mean?" Akira asked with a head tilt, Fluttershy closed her eyes as she recalled her memories from the past year.

"During F-Freshman year, I felt a-alone anywhere that wasn't with my friends…everyone else would either make f-fun of me, or they would pretend I d-didn't exist…But with my friends, I-I felt like I could do anything."

Akira couldn't help but relate to what she was saying. His entire time at Shujin has revolved around people labeling him as a criminal, and once that drama passed, they merely forgot about him. The Phantom Thieves were the only thing keeping him sane while he was at school. However, he figured there was more to Fluttershy's story.

"Then, a-after we split up…I l-lost any confidence I had. When someone called me a mean name, R-Rainbow Dash wouldn't rush to defend me anymore. When I was feeling sad, P-Pinkie Pie wouldn't be there to cheer me up. No one talked to me, n-nobody wanted to be friends with me…I didn't belong anywhere. Even in Sunset's c-castle, the other girls are able to fight those monsters, while I can't do anything…" Fluttershy said, looking off to the side away from the boy next to her. Akira knew the effect loneliness could have on someone, so he put a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"Fluttershy…" He tried to speak and comfort her further, but Fluttershy spun her head back around to face him.

"But j-just now, in the Palace, when you s-stood up to those shadows to buy us time, it reminded me of those times when Rainbow Dash would p-protect me. I only found that courage I had when I knew y-you were protecting us! I promised myself that I-I'd stop running away, but I still c-can't do anything by myself-"

"There's no shame in relying on your friends." Akira bluntly stated, Fluttershy was knocked out of her stupor and looked directly into Akira's eyes.

"B-But how can I become stronger if I always need them?" Fluttershy questioned. Akira thought about his own experience, how lonely he was when he started at Shujin.

"Because it works both ways. Back home, I was an outcast at my school because of my criminal record. It was lonely, everyone spread rumors about me, avoided me, everything you can think of. Then I met this guy named Ryuji." Akira thought of his best friend, the person who was there for him since day 1 at Shujin, who helped his own rebellious spirit grow. Fluttershy seemed very interested in where this story was going. "Ryuji was an outcast like me, your average delinquent, an athlete, he's basically my Rainbow Dash. He stood up for me when nobody else would, but there were a lot of times when he needed me."

"R-Really?" Fluttershy had always needed the help of other people, so the concept of mutual help was somewhat foreign to her.

"Really. And even though it may not have happened yet, there will come a time when your friends will need a shoulder to cry on, and you may need to offer yours to them. You use the experience of relying on others to be ready when others need you, and you proved that you're capable of that today." Akira stated, which made Fluttershy jump back a bit.

"I-I didn't do anything!"

"You drove us out of there, got everyone to safety! And how did you get the courage to do that?" Akira asked, leading Fluttershy into the answer she already knew.

"B-Because my friends n-needed me…" Fluttershy said, a sudden feeling of pride rushing through her, something she wasn't used to. Akira could see the change within Fluttershy and smiled at what he saw.

"Exactly. You're stronger than you think, Fluttershy. Sometimes you just need a reason for that strength to show itself." Akira told the girl, who stood up with a growing smile on your face.

"Y-You're right…I'm not there yet, but I'm getting s-stronger!" Fluttershy claimed, excitedly clenching her hands into fists. Akira stood up and was met with a hug from Fluttershy. "Thank you, Akira!"

"Anytime."

'I sense a newfound resolve from Fluttershy…"

CONFIDANT RANK UP - Fluttershy: The Priestess, Rank 2

The two then separated from their hug, Fluttershy looked around to make sure no one had seen them to save herself from the embarrassment. Akira looked proudly at Fluttershy, seeing how far she's come in just one day.

"It's getting late. Go get some rest, you've earned it, Fluttershy."

"O-Ok, have a good night!" Fluttershy responded, turning around to start her walk home, before turning her head back to Akira.

"A-And Akira? Hopefully I can m-meet this Ryuji one day!" Fluttershy said before continuing to walk her path back home. Akira couldn't help but think of what would happen if the timid Fluttershy met the brash boy that he had come to know.

"Heh, maybe one day." Akira whispered to himself as Fluttershy walked further away. As Akira watched Fluttershy disappear behind a street corner, Akira's thoughts couldn't help but drift to the thought of his friends back home.

How much time had passed over there? Was everyone safe? These were a few of the questions weighing on his mind as he went to sit back down right at the entrance of the portal back to their world. His head rested back on the side of the statue, causing the red and black circles to ripple on impact.

Morgana climbed back out of Akira's backpack and looked at him with concern.

"Hey, are you alright?" Morgana asked, making Akira look back down at his feline partner.

"Yeah, I just hope everyone's doing ok over there…" Akira solemnly said, Morgana could tell what was going through his partner's mind, and decided to use what Akira had just told Fluttershy against him.

"I imagine they're just fine. They're all strong, and you showed them just how strong they are." Morgana pointed out, making Akira sharply turn his head over to the cat, wondering what he had meant. "Every one of them had been considered an outcast in some way. But you showed them that they could rise above society and take back their lives, including me! And now you're doing the same for these girls in this world!"

Akira couldn't find any argument to Morgana's logic and looked forward towards the street as Morgana continued.

"They've believed in you ever since they joined the team, and I know you believe in them. They'll be alright." Morgana finished, which calmed Akira down. He flashed an appreciative grin towards the cat, who climbed back into his backpack.

"You're right. Thanks, Morgana." Akira grabbed his bag and stood up, seeing Morgana smiling right back at him. He started to walk towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. "Come on, let's eat and get to bed."

"Hey! That's my line!"

Path of Adyeshach

The silence throughout the subway tunnels of Mementos was deafening to the Phantom Thieves. Everyone was anxious as the time continued to pass, they knew that something was blocking Joker and Mona from getting back through, but they didn't expect it to take this long for them to make it back.

Oracle hadn't moved from her spot in front of the mirror, getting her hopes up anytime she saw a spike of activity. She really wished she had brought one of her handheld consoles in with her to help destress, but she was out of luck.

Fox was sitting on the stairs leading up, with dozens of crumpled up sketches around his feet. Every time he had tried drawing the scenery around them, he noticed a distinct lack of vibrancy and life, for a place so extraordinary.

Queen and Noir were standing next to the mirror, talking about their plans after they graduate from Shujin. Before the Phantom Thieves, the two had rarely talked, save for passing interactions in the hallways, but now they considered each other best friends. Noir couldn't help herself to steer the conversation to talk about their leader, as she knew the effect it would have on the now-blushing Queen.

Panther and Crow were standing towards the gate that lead to the next level, discussing just how far Mementos actually goes. Panther suggested that there couldn't be much more to the subway tunnels as they had to come to a stop eventually. Crow however theorized that since Mementos was created from the collective unconscious of the masses, it could theoretically go on for as long as it wants.

Lastly, Skull was sitting down towards the bottom of the steps, loading up ammunition into his shotgun. He looked towards the mirror that Joker and Mona had jumped through with a look of determination in his eyes. He stood up and started to walk towards it, shotgun still in hand. He pumped the action of the gun, the sound drawing Panther's attention towards him.

"Uh, Skull? What are you doing?" Panther asked, drawing the others' attention as he kept walking towards the mirror.

"I'm going in."

Skull's announcement sent the room into a panic.

"H-Huh!?" Futaba shouted out in confusion as Queen and Noir tried blocking off the blonde boy's path. The other's slowly starting to walk towards him as well.

"Joker and that stupid cat should've been back by now, someone's gotta go help 'em!" Skull yelled out, about ready to charge into the mirror before Queen stepped in front of him. Fox tried talking more sense into the boy.

"There's a distortion over there blocking their path, remember? I'm certain Joker and Mona are ok and working on a way to come back." Fox held onto Skull's shoulder, before Skull shook free and turned back towards him.

"But if it's taking 'em this long, then it's gotta be something big! I'm not just gonna sit here and let them just rot in some weird mirror dimension!" Skull tried stepping around Queen, but with every step he took, Queen matched it, her eyes not leaving him the whole time. "Queen, let me through!"

"I can't, Skull. I can't let you go in there." Queen calmly said, Skull, however, was starting to lose his temper.

"I thought if anyone was gonna agree with me, it'd be you! You're just gonna wait here hoping he and Mona come back, after everything we've been through with them? Well, unlike you I'm not just gonna wait around-"

"Joker trusted me to protect all of you, and I'm not about to let him down!" Queen yelled back into Skull's face, with a fury that most of them hadn't seen since she had awakened to her persona in Kaneshiro's bank. Skull instantly recoiled in shock. A moment of silence fell over the Phantom Thieves, who didn't truly know how to respond to what just happened.

"Mako-chan…" Noir said, putting a hand on Queen's shoulder. Queen didn't care about Noir using her real name at the moment.

"Believe me, Skull, if Joker didn't put me in charge, I'd rush right in after him…but he trusted me to look out for all of you. And I'll be damned if I fail him now!" Queen stated with authority.

Skull remembered the path that Queen had taken to even be here. The weight of the world was forced upon her by her sister and Principal Kobayakawa, she didn't wish to be seen as useless. And now that he knew just how important Joker was to her, he could tell she didn't want to be useless to him either. Skull stepped backwards and looked over to the side.

"I'm sorry, Makoto…didn't mean to get in your face like that." Skull said sheepishly, rubbing his arm. Queen looked around to see the other members of the Phantom Thieves looking at her with concerned stares. She turned back to face Skull and took a deep breath.

"No, I'm sorry, Ryuji. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I wish we had a way of knowing they are ok, but Joker made a promise, and he doesn't go back on his word…" Queen stated, trying to make sure Skull wouldn't try any further to jump through the mirror. It took a few seconds for Skull to consider her words, but eventually he backed off.

"You're right, that bastard always has a way of keeping his promises. I'll trust you." Skull said, putting away his shotgun. Queen breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the issue was resolved.

"Thank you. It may take a while, but I'm sure Joker and Mona will be back soon. If we end up waiting more than three hours, we'll head in, ok?" Queen suggested. The group all looked around at each other to see who would respond first. Panther was surprisingly the first to speak up.

"Agreed." Panther replied, and as soon as one affirmation was given, the rest of the group quickly gave theirs.

"It's settled then, we'll stay put. But once we've reached the third hour, we'll go in." Queen stated, as everyone went back to what they had been doing, except Crow, who stepped off to the side, face turned away from the other thieves as he thought about what he just saw.

'Interesting…It seems without their fearless leader, the rest of the Phantom Thieves don't know what to do with themselves…' Crow thought to himself, a sadistic smile forming on his face that was hidden from the others. 'Good, then after I deal with Joker, these idiots will line up like lambs for the slaughter…'

Canterlot High - Front Entrance - November 14th: 7 Days Till The Fall Formal

After a good night of rest, Akira and Applejack walked to the front of the school, preparing for a crucial day for them.

They stood outside the doors of the school, early enough to the point that they were sure the only people in the school were the ones who met early for clubs. Akira was messing around with a video camera that Applejack was able to get from her younger sister.

"So, Applebloom had no problem with us using her camera?"

"Nope, though she had one condition…" Applejack said, Akira looked up into her eyes, hoping Applebloom wasn't driving a hard bargain.

"And what would that be?"

"Ah believe her exact words were "If ya record somethin' awesome, Ah get to upload it", she and her friends have been lookin' for a way to get views on whatever website they use." Applejack recited her little sister's quote. Akira found the idea interesting as Morgana poked his head out to give his two cents.

"If they have a decent following here at school, it'll be great for maintaining Twilight's popularity over the weekend." Morgana said as Akira continued to mess with the video camera. Applejack looked down at her feet, deep in thought.

"Say, Akira…" Applejack started to say, making Akira and Morgana turn their heads upward. "What if this plan doesn't work? What if we aren't able to change Sunset's heart? Ah know Twilight will be stuck here for a while if she doesn't get her crown, but what if ya don't change her heart?"

Akira wasn't expecting this question, it's something he hadn't even thought about himself too much. He put the video camera in his bag as he replied to the cowgirl.

"Well, we only have one shot to change Sunset's heart when the time comes, and if we don't, Morgana and I will be stuck here till who-knows-when." Akira stated, Applejack then blushed at the thought of his constant presence.

"If that happens, Ah know you're more than welcome to stay with us on the farm Sugarcube…" Applejack said, avoiding eye contact with the boy, who somehow didn't notice the blush deep on the farm girl's face.

"Thanks for the offer, AJ." Akira's thoughts then turned back to his teammates. "But then the Phantom Thieves would have to find a new leader, once they realized we wouldn't be coming back-'' Akira stopped in the middle of his sentence as a thought came to his mind. Morgana noticed this right away as a bead of sweat ran down Akira's face.

'Akechi!' Akira mentally cursed himself. 'I can't believe I just left them with the guy planning on backstabbing us!' Akira tried to contain his panic as best he could as the other two with him looked concerned.

"Partner? What's wrong?" Applejack asked, making the boy snap back to reality and wave off their concerns.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just in my own head for a second…" Akira said dismissively, but both Morgana and Applejack could tell something was off.

"Are ya sure-"

"Hey, you guys!"

They looked to see Rainbow Dash call out to them, with Rarity by her side. Akira was thankful for their arrival, so he could avoid further questioning from Applejack. He noticed Rarity was holding both a large gray hoodie in one of her arms, and a normal looking black backpack in the other.

"Glad you both could make it, ready to go undercover?" Akira asked with a sly smile, which only hyped up Rainbow Dash even more.

"Heck yeah! Morgana and I got this, easy!" Rainbow Dash held up her hand to the cat, who gave it a high five with his paw.

"We'll have that combo in no time!" The cat replied. Rarity walked forward and presented the hoodie and backpack forward.

"This was the biggest, dullest, most overbearingly bland thing I could find." Rarity said, giving her own critique on it. "It'll definitely work for hiding Rainbow Dash, and just to be sure she doesn't recognize your own backpack, I found this old one that Sweetie Belle used a few years ago." Rarity explained as Rainbow Dash took the hoodie, immediately trying it on, while Akira took the backpack to switch Morgana from his own to the new one.

"I didn't even think of that. Good going, Rarity." Akira commended her for going above and beyond what he had asked. Rarity simply flipped her hair in response to the praise.

"Thank you, dear. We want to make sure this goes off without a hitch, correct?" Rarity responded, receiving a nod from Akira as everyone watched Rainbow Dash put on the oversized hoodie. Rainbow Dash put up her hood, concealing most of her face and all of her rainbow colored hair.

"Well? Whaddya think?" Rainbow Dash asked the group how her disguise looked, Rainbow Dash made sure to pull on the strings of the hoodie to cover up even more of her face.

"Well Ah definitely wouldn't recognize ya." Applejack said, to which Rarity agreed. Akira made sure that Morgana had enough room within the new backpack to be able to breathe, and get a good view out of.

"Everything good in there, Morgana?" Akira asked his partner in crime, who had ducked his head into the bag to see how well he could hide. After a few seconds, the cat poked his head back out and coughed a few times.

"It's really dusty in there, but it will do. We won't be there too long, not with my skills!" Morgana triumphantly claimed. Akira smiled, seeing their operation was off to a good start, he turned back around to signal he was ready to continue.

"Alright, are we ready to do this?"

"Yeah! She'll never see it coming!"

*The camera cuts to Pinkie Pie on her drum set, hitting a sting (badum-tss), before it cuts back to the scene*

Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack and Rarity, looking for their affirmation.

"You both coming, or what?" Rainbow Dash's question caused Rarity to pull Applejack towards her quickly, surprising Applejack.

"Actually we're going to stay back here!" Rarity suddenly said, Applejack looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"We are?"

"Yes we are! Someone has to keep watch for Sunset Shimmer, and we'll text you to let you know when she arrives. Also I have to have a conversation with Applejack here…" Rarity explained with a sly smile, leading Applejack to sigh, as she could assume it would be a similar conversation as to the one they had the day before.

Akira and Rainbow Dash looked at one another with raised eyebrows, but they had to admit that Rarity's idea to warn them of Sunset Shimmer's arrival was a good plan.

"Ooook? I guess we'll wait for your signal, then have Rainbow Dash and Morgana get in position." Akira stated, concerned more on the task at hand than asking further questions. He gave the backpack with Morgana inside to Rainbow Dash, who swapped her own for it.

"Sounds like a plan. Good luck in there, you two!" The wave goodbye from Rarity caused Akira and Rainbow Dash to turn around and walk into the school, heading through the hallways.

As soon as they were gone, Rarity turned to look at Applejack with a furrowed brow. Applejack sighed again as she prepared for the lecture.

"Ah know what you're gonna say-"

"What did we talk about yesterday? He won't be here for long!" Rarity scolded the cowgirl, who sat down on the nearby railing.

"Exactly! It's not like he's always gonna be 'round here, so why bother? And Ah tried to say somethin', but Ah think it made 'em start worryin' about somethin' back in his world…" Applejack put her head down at the last part, hoping she didn't cause the panic that Akira received. Rarity said down next to Applejack on the railing.

"I suppose that would make it rather difficult." Rarity calmed down as Applejack put her head in her hands.

"Ah mean, Ah've only known 'em for what, three days now? Ah can't feel this way already? Right?" Applejack asked, and Rarity, being the romance expert of their group, decided to teach her something.

"There's no time limit on emotions, Applejack. For some people it takes years to feel that way about someone. But for others, all it takes is one look." Rarity patted her hand on Applejack's back as she looked up from her hands.

"Ya mean, that junk they say about "first sight" is real?"

"Sometimes. But unlike what the movies will tell you, those feelings need time to grow into true lo-"

"Please don't say that word!" Applejack shouted out, making Rarity slight jump before restating her words.

"R-Right, they need time to grow into…very strong feelings." Rarity said after trying to think of the right word. Applejack needed a bit more explanation.

"So what're ya tryin' to get at?"

"My advice to you, dear: Sit on the feeling for a few days, then see how you feel about him, and if you still feel the same, ask him to be your date to the Fall Formal." The suggestion from Rarity caused Applejack to stand up and look at Rarity with a blush, and panic all over her face.

"W-What!? Date to the-That's crazy talk!" Applejack started to hyperventilate, but Rarity stopped it by standing up and grabbing Applejack by the shoulders.

"Maybe it is, but you may never get another chance!" This statement made Applejack look back into Rarity's eyes as she could tell Rarity was serious. "After the Fall Formal, there's a chance we may never see him again. Or there could be someone back in his own world that's just waiting for a chance, but you have one right now and I don't want to see you pass it up!"

Applejack was truly surprised by her friend's insistence on the subject, while Rarity looked back out towards the street.

"Just think about it, Darling. You'll know what to do." Rarity finished her thought as she went to go on the lookout for Sunset Shimmer. Applejack was deep in her own thoughts as she stared out at the street.

'Ah don't even know if he has someone back home…He probably wouldn't be interested in a cowpoke like me.' Applejack thought to herself, kicking over a rock in frustration as images of Akira entered her mind.

He was everything that girls her age would dream of. A dashing rogue, who had a heart of gold on the inside. She didn't quite understand the gravitation towards that type before, but now she knew the appeal. The past few days she'd known him so far he's saved her in one way or another, either from Sunset, or physical danger, or from herself. She didn't know the exact words for what she was feeling, but it was teetering towards the L word she avoided just moments ago. There was one thing in her mind she knew for sure.

'Feelin's are weird…'

Canterlot High - Hallways

Rainbow Dash could barely hold in her laughter as she and Akira walked through the halls. They were about halfway to their destination, and every time the two had passed another student in the hallway, Rainbow Dash would make sure her hood covered most of her face. Once the students would pass by without a second thought, Rainbow Dash would try really hard to stifle her giggles.

Akira didn't quite understand what Rainbow Dash was doing, or what exactly it was that she found so funny, Morgana even poked his head out of the bag on Rainbow Dash's back to look at his partner with a raised brow.

Rainbow Dash looked ahead to see another student walking their direction, this one wore a blue football jersey and a visor. Akira inferred based off the stereotypical attire the students wore here that he had to be a member of the football team. Rainbow Dash lowered her head slightly so the hood would cover up her face, and as the jock passed by the two without a second glance, Rainbow Dash started snickering to herself again as she looked behind her.

The athlete turned a corner to disappear from their sight, and as soon as he was gone, Rainbow's chuckling turned into a full cackle as she slapped her knees to show just how funny it was to her. Akira jumped back slightly at the loud laughter, before his curiosity got the better of him.

"What's so funny?" Akira asked. It took a few seconds for Rainbow Dash to calm down, but once she did, she looked the boy right in the eyes.

"Haha, sorry bout that man, it's just…They didn't recognize me!" Rainbow Dash looked at him like it was the craziest thing she'd ever experienced, Akira laughed to himself this time.

"Wait, are you telling me that THE Rainbow Dash doesn't like getting recognized?" Akira joked, making Rainbow Dash laugh along with him.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves! When people recognize me as "The Amazing Rainbow Dash", how can I not like it? I'm just that awesome!"

"You've got a point there." Akira replied as their laughter subsided. Rainbow Dash looked back down the hallway towards where the football player had turned.

"But nah, I don't mind being recognized. I just don't like it when they act like they're my friends…" This sudden admission by Rainbow Dash caused Akira to whip his head in her direction, not expecting the shift in tone.

"You're serious?"

"Yeah, these guys all act like I'm their best bud, just because I'm the captain of most of the sports teams here. They know of me, but they don't know me, y'know?"

"No?" Akira rhymed accidentally as he tried to decipher her meaning. Rainbow Dash sighed and looked back into his eyes.

"I mean that they only care about the Rainbow Dash that dominates on the field, they don't really care about Rainbow Dash the person…" Rainbow Dash said with a defeated expression that Akira had never seen from her yet. "After Applejack and I had our fight and our friend group separated, I thought I'd be fine since I thought I could be friends with my teammates. But, they never tried to get to know me, it was always the same stuff! "Great game, Rainbow Dash! You're awesome, Rainbow Dash!" but that was as far as it would go, if they thought I was so cool, why wouldn't they actually try, y'know, talking to me?"

"Maybe they were intimidated? You are the captain of pretty much every team." Akira suggested, the explanation made sense to Rainbow Dash, but he could tell it wasn't satisfactory.

"Maybe…But after that I felt like I couldn't really talk to anyone. The girls, my friends, were the only ones I had felt truly alive around." Rainbow Dash stopped walking and leaned up against the nearby lockers, Akira stopped as well, looking over to see they were right next to locker 616. Rainbow Dash continued with her thought. "See, everyone always expects me to be the best at whatever sport I'm playing, but when the girls would show up to my games and cheer me on, it gave me motivation to be the best! When we broke apart, I was still the best, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't feel right…"

Akira thought about her story for a second, he imagined Makoto might feel a similar way. She had always been held to a level of excellence by her sister, and by the school. And while she was able to maintain it, it was starting to wear on her, he imagined Rainbow Dash must be feeling the same. Akira could see the sad look grow on Rainbow Dash's face as she went further into her own thoughts, and he had an idea on how to snap her out of it.

"And what about now that you have them back?" Akira bluntly asked. Rainbow Dash did a double take, wondering what Akira was trying to say.

"Huh?"

"You said it didn't feel right when your friends weren't there. Well now they're back, and your friendship is stronger because of it. So what are you gonna do now?"

Akira's question seemed simple enough to answer to Rainbow Dash. Obviously she was getting her motivation for her athletic achievements back. But the more she thought about it, her friends meant more to her than just simple motivation, they were the best part of her life, and she had been blind to that until now.

"Now…I know I've got a lot to make up for, but now that I've got my friends back, I'm not gonna let them go, and I'm gonna start living again!" Rainbow triumphantly said. Akira found her attitude infectious, as he couldn't help but feel pumped.

"Good to hear, we're gonna need that energy in the palace. And, Rainbow Dash?" Akira grabbed her attention, Akira could already see a new fire in her eyes that was different than before. "We wouldn't be able to do this without your help, without everyone's help. So, thank you."

"If anyone should be thanked, it's you, dude. You and Twilight did what we thought was impossible. And you're both trying to stick it to Sunset Shimmer in the coolest way possible! You two coming here may have been the best thing to happen to this school in a long time." Rainbow Dash said as she stood back up and flashed him a competitive grin, holding out her hand in a fist. "But if you really wanna thank me, let's have our rematch this weekend!"

Rainbow Dash's energy still affected Akira. Her competitive spirit made him want to push himself to his limits, and a rematch with the girl would do just that. Akira smirked as he bumped his fist with Rainbow Dash's.

"You're on!" Akira accepted the challenge, making Rainbow Dash's face light up with pride.

'I sense a newfound resolve in Rainbow Dash…'

CONFIDANT RANK UP - Rainbow Dash: The Chariot, Rank 2

As their fist bump concluded, Akira felt a buzz in his pocket. He pulled out his phone, seeing a text from Rarity, he already had an idea of what the text was about.

Rarity: Sunset Shimmer just walked through the doors and is heading your way!

Akira quickly looked around the hall, making sure that Sunset hadn't already gotten within eyesight. Once he saw the coast was clear, he replied to the text with a thumbs up, he then turned to Rainbow Dash, a smile on his face. Rainbow Dash could already tell what was about to happen.

"Go time?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Go time. Let's get in position." Akira's answer excited the girl, who looked behind her towards her temporary backpack.

"Alright! You ready, Morgana?" Rainbow Dash asked the cat, whose muffled voice could be heard from inside.

"You bet!" Morgana replied, followed by a sneeze from the feline. "Man, is it dusty in this thing!" Morgana's sneezing made Akira slightly worried they might blow their cover, but he didn't have any better plans at the moment.

Akira walked away and around the corner of the hall, making sure he wouldn't be in the line of sight, while Rainbow Dash and Morgana parked themselves in a position where Morgana could see the lock on Sunset's locker.

They were all set in position, now it was just time to play the waiting game.

A Few Minutes Later

Rainbow Dash tapped her foot impatiently, she was told that it was go time, yet she had been standing there for mere minutes, which had felt like an hour with the added stakes of everything.

Morgana had been on the lookout for Sunset, his eyes being the only thing one could see from his spot in the backpack. Rainbow Dash was getting impatient as she pretended to be on her phone, she whispered back towards the cat.

"She's still not here yet?"

"Not yet, but it should be any second now…" Morgana reassured the jock, who was trying her best not to pace around the hall. She hated sitting still, especially when something big was about to happen…even though her job now was to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

"Well you would think-"

"Shhh, here she comes…"

Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide, and her body went stiff as she heard the news. She slowly turned her head to the right to see if she could get a look, and sure enough, Sunset Shimmer was walking in their direction.

Just from looking at her, Rainbow Dash could tell that Sunset Shimmer was on edge today, she assumed that it was her run in with Akira yesterday that had her temper at a boiling point. Rainbow Dash still had a hard time believing the idea that the person that had bullied them for most of their high school careers, was also from this other world of magical ponies. Rainbow Dash tried her hardest to suppress a laugh at the thought, but a few audible chuckles made it out.

Sunset Shimmer heard this and looked in her direction, making eye contact with the one eye Rainbow Dash looked at her with, a scowl on her face. Rainbow Dash's heart rate shot up as she quickly turned her head back to her phone, hoping that Sunset would go away.

Seemingly taking pride in causing another student to fear her, Sunset Shimmer smiled to herself, before continuing her walk towards her locker. Rainbow Dash breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Sunset Shimmer passed her by. Morgana came out of hiding to see Sunset Shimmer stop in front of her locker, the cat shook his head as he knew a lot was on the line here.

'Ok, Morgana…You've got this.'

Just as Morgana started to focus on the task at hand, he could hear the sound of other students starting to walk throughout the hallway, and a few of them were heading their way. Morgana mentally cursed as he knew with students walking through the hall, his job was about to get a lot harder.

'Crap! It's alright, just focus…' Morgana set his eyes on the dial lock of Sunset's locker as the girl's hand went towards it.

Before they had gotten in position, Morgana had Rainbow Dash make sure that the dial on Sunset's lock had been set to zero, so if he couldn't see the numbers, he could estimate by the amount of turns what number it would be.

Sunset Shimmer turned the dial so that it made two full rotations, and after that she had stopped on the first number, which Morgana could see was just over halfway between the zero and five, Morgana made an educated guess as to what it was.

'Between zero and five, closer to five…the first number has got to be three."

Taking a mental note of the first part of the combination, Morgana shifted his attention back to the dial lock, which Sunset Shimmer began turning to the left. However, just as the rotations were slowing down, a few students walked in front of Morgana's line of sight, cutting off his sight at the only thing he saw was the dial had gotten close to the number thirty-five.

By the time the students had all passed by, Sunset Shimmer was already going to pull the lock open. Morgana believed that his time had run out, but he regained his hope when the lock didn't open, even after multiple attempts from Sunset.

"Stupid thing!" Sunset cursed, resetting the lock so she could start over. Morganna was thankful he could get a second chance at this.

"Come on, Morgana. Hurry up…" The Rainbow Dash whispered to the cat.

"I'm trying…" Morgana responded as he turned his focus back to the dial. Sunset once again turned the dial twice to the right, and Morgana was now certain that the first number she landed on was three. This time on the next pass around, no students got in the way, so Morgana could have a clear view as the dial landed just ahead of the number thirty.

'Thirty-one! Second number is thirty-one!' Morgana thought with excitement as Sunset Shimmer started to turn the dial back towards the right towards the last number. Morgana's nose started to flare up as the dust inside the backpack crept into his nostrils. 'Oh come on! Not now!'

Sunset's turning of the dial was coming to another slow stop, but as Morgana tried to lean forward to look closer, the dust was too much for him to handle as he felt a sneeze coming on.

"Mrroowwchoo!" Morgana sneezed, the sound filling the air of the hall that had just gone silent. Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide as she turned her head to see Sunset Shimmer's head perk up in response to the sneeze.

Sunset felt something was off, she could tell right away that sound didn't come from a human. She suspected the person across the hall that she had seen right before. She quickly turned around, thinking Twilight and her mangey little mutt was spying on her, but she saw nobody within her line of sight. She looked both ways for a sign of anyone running away down the hall, but still saw nothing. Sunset scoffed at herself.

"Must be hearing things…" The girl said to herself as she opened up her locker, grabbing her academic necessities out of it. Little did she know that Rainbow Dash was hiding up against a doorway to one of the nearby classrooms.

Rainbow Dash wiped a bead of sweat away from her forehead as she calmed herself down from the close call they had just endured. The athlete heard the sound of the locker door closing, so she poked her head out to see Sunset Shimmer walking away from her locker, with a few books kept under her arms. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief, walking out of her hiding spot as Sunset Shimmer disappeared down the hallway.

Akira heard the locker door shut and jogged up next to Rainbow Dash. He could see the nervousness on Rainbow Dash's face, so he decided to check in with her.

"Hey, you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're ok, but that was a close call…" Rainbow Dash said, wiping another bit of sweat away. Morgana poked his head out of the backpack yet again, and Akira could see the look of frustration on the cat's face.

"How'd it go, Morgana?"

"I only got two of the numbers! I'm sorry guys, I screwed this up…" Morgana pouted with a frown on his face. Akira mentally cursed before speaking again.

"It's ok, Morgana. I'm sure we'll get another chance." Akira replied while patting the feline's head. Rainbow Dash looked towards Sunset's locker and noticed something.

"Uh, guys?"

"But what if we don't? How else are we gonna get that final number?" Morgana replied as he and Akira both didn't hear Rainbow Dash's call.

"Guys…"

"Well, then we might just have to guess, there's a one-in-forty chance, right?" Akira suggested. Rainbow Dash had enough of quietly calling their attention and yelled.

"Guys!" Rainbow Dash's yell grabbed the attention of Akira and Morgana quickly. They gave the girl a quizzical look.

"What's up?"

"Look! The lock!" Rainbow Dash pointed out. Akira and Rainbow Dash walked up to it, and noticed the position of the dial, it being currently set on the number twenty. "I think Sunset Shimmer forgot to reset the dial."

Akira couldn't believe their luck if this was true, what had seemed like a loss, may have just turned into a godsend. Morgana couldn't believe his eyes either.

"No way…well there's only one way to test it." Morgana looked at the two humans, as Rainbow Dash picked up on the meaning.

"Waitwaitwait! You want us to break into her locker?"

"No! We just need to unlock it, how else are we gonna know we have the right combination?" Rainbow Dash knew Morgana was right, but she wasn't too comfortable with the idea of it. She looked towards Akira with a nervous smile.

"Akira? Could you try it?" Rainbow Dash politely asked. Akira took one look at the locker and sighed, someone had to do it.

"Alright, what's the combination?" Akira put his hand on the dial while Morgana read out the combination.

"Try three, thirty-one, twenty!" Morgana shouted out the numbers, which Akira quickly put to memory. He rotated the dial to the right twice until he got to the number three, then towards the left one time, stopping on thirty-one, then to the right once more, landing on twenty. Akira put his hand on the lock, ready to see what happened.

"Here goes nothing…" Akira said to himself as he quickly pulled down on the lock, and with one loud sounding click, the lock was now open. Seeing the open lock brought a huge smile to everyone's faces as Rainbow Dash pumped her fist in the air.

"Yes!"

"Phew, that's a relief!" Morgana sighed, glad that not all hope was lost. Akira had to admit he was curious as to what Sunset Shimmer was keeping in her locker if a barrier formed in her palace based off of it. He was tempted to open the locker door, but decided against it, mostly in fear of Sunset Shimmer knowing that they had tampered with her locker in any way.

"Great work you two, and nice eye, Rainbow Dash." Akira said, closing the lock and stepping away from the locker door. The compliment made Rainbow Dash smirk as she folded her arms under her chest with confidence.

"Eh, all in a day's work!"

"Even if we got really lucky…" Morgana added on, simply glad that everything worked out, but he yelped in surprise as Rainbow Dash took off the backpack he was riding in and gave it to Akira, who traded it for her own backpack.

Rainbow Dash then quickly and smoothly took off the overly large hoodie, which she also threw towards Akira.

"Thank goodness, that thing was starting to get pretty heavy." Rainbow Dash stretched her arms out, while Morgana switched once again from the dusty backpack to Akira's bag.

"And now I'm a lot more grateful that you keep your stuff clean." Morgana told his partner, who rolled his eyes at the comment.

"I don't do it for you." Akira joked, making Morgana stick his tongue out in response. Akira then pulled out his phone to let everyone know the good knews.

Akira: We got it. The combination is 3-31-20.

Akira waited a second before he heard his phone make a dinging sound as a reply came through in the group chat.

Pinkie Pie: YAY! Good going you guys! :D

Applejack: Had a feeling you'd get that pretty easily!

"If only she knew the half of it…" Morgana said, looking at the conversation over Akira's shoulder. A few more messages popped up on the screen.

Rarity: Exquisite, I had no doubt ;)

Fluttershy: Was it scary? Did she nearly catch you?

Rainbow Dash laughed as she saw the conversation on her phone, quickly typing her response.

Rainbow Dash: There were some close calls, but nothing we couldn't handle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fluttershy: Good job, Morgana!

Morgana snickered as he saw the animal lover's message.

"Glad to know someone recognizes my talents!" Morgana claimed, Akira once again rolled his eyes as they then turned back to the messages.

Rarity: Great to hear, Darlings. Feel free to throw away that old backpack and jacket, it has served its purpose.

Pinkie Pie: I still think a cardboard box works better when it comes to stealth missions.

Applejack: Pinkie, we've been over this…

Pinkie Pie: OH COME ON!

Akira and Rainbow Dash laughed at the interaction they were witnessing, but he decided to get them focused back on the task at hand.

Akira: Anyways, now we set our sights on our little show. Everyone knows what they're gonna do?

Pinkie Pie: Yup! We choreographed the whole thing!

Akira looked up at Rainbow Dash to make sure the statement was true, which the jock responded with a thumbs up.

Rarity: I've got all the outfits ready to go.

Fluttershy: Are we sure the other students are going to like this?

Rainbow Dash: With how catchy our song is? They'll be singing along in no time flat!

Rarity: It's entertainment, and a reason to rally against Sunset Shimmer, the entire school will be talking about this for months.

Applejack: It'll also help that my sister will upload everything online. You still got that camera, right Akira?"

The boy fished around in his bag for a second, pulling out Applebloom's video camera. He nodded at the sight of it, before putting it back next to Morgana.

Akira: Yeah, I got it.

Applejack: Good, if we lost that, Applebloom would throw a fit.

Rainbow Dash: If she's anything like Scootaloo when she's ticked, it's not pretty.

Applejack: Trust me, it ain't.

Rarity: How about we meet outside the cafeteria after lunch period begins to run over the plan once before going in?

Rainbow Dash: Works for me!

Pinkie Pie: Okay!

Applejack: Sounds like a plan!

Fluttershy: Ok, I'll make sure to tell Twilight, since we have homeroom together.

Akira: Good thinking, Fluttershy. I'll see you all there, and let's show some school spirit.

Pinkie Pie: GO CANTERLOT WONDERCOLTS!

Rarity: Thank you, Pinkie Pie…

Akira and Rainbow Dash chuckled at the scene playing out in their group chat, but the laughing stopped when they heard the school bell ring. Rainbow Dash sighed and looked at the boy across from her.

"No rest for the wicked, right? See ya!"

"Right. See you soon, Dash." Akira said before walking towards his first class.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but roll her eyes at the nickname, normally she wouldn't allow someone she recently met to call her that, but with everything Akira's done, she was willing to make an exception.

Canterlot High - Outside the Cafeteria

Akira and Pinkie Pie walked through the hall as the homeroom period came to an end. Pinkie Pie had been practically bounding along with excitement, while Akira couldn't help but laugh at her cheerfulness.

"Oooh! This is so exciting! I'm kinda nervous, are you nervous, Aki? I imagine after fighting all those Shadows the nerves don't get to you as much, so I don't know why I asked. I just really want this to go well! Oh, I hope it goes well! What if I forget the words, or the dance, or someone drops a chandelier on top of us!" Pinkie yelled out, listing off hypothetical ways their plan could go off the rails. Akira laughed and shook his head.

"Pinkie, slow down, and the cafeteria doesn't even have a chandelier anyways."

"It could still happen! If there's a will, there's a way…" Pinkie narrowed her eyes while Akira rolled his. Akira then looked ahead to the alleged meeting point for the team, he could tell where it was as Rarity and Rainbow Dash were already standing outside. Rarity was the first to notice them.

"Ah, there's two more. Now we're just waiting on Applejack, Fluttershy, and the soon-to-be Fall Formal Princess." Rarity said as Akira and Pinkie joined the group. They then heard the sound of running down the hall and turned just in time to see Applejack skid to a stop in front of them.

"Ah'm here! Sorry bout that, Ah had to talk to Mr. Cranky Doodle for a minute."

"All good, AJ. Just need the last two and we're ready to go!" Rainbow Dash said, her smile only got wider as she looked down the hall. "Speak of the devil, there they are!"

The group turned to see Fluttershy and Twilight down the hall, deep in a conversation where it seemed like Fluttershy was intently listening to a story from Twilight.

"And the manticore showed her its paw, and sure enough, there was a thorn stuck in it."

"S-So that's why it was so upset…" Fluttershy was deeply engrossed in Twilight's tale, which hadn't quite finished.

"Yup! So she yanked the thorn out, and the manticore let us pass!"

"Amazing!" Fluttershy beamed at the story's ending, not even realizing they had reached their objective. "O-Oh! H-Hello, everyone…"

"What was that about a manticore?" Applejack asked, to which Fluttershy was quick to explain.

"T-Twilight was telling me a few things about the v-version of me in her world. I was a little curious, s-so I had to ask…"

"It was the day we had all met, well, in my world. I remember I was so against making friends that day, yet here I am, the current Princess of Friendship…funny how things work out." Twilight reflected on how she used to act before moving to Ponyville, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

"I'll say. It's been quite a ride over the years!" Spike exclaimed, his head popping out of Twilight's backpack. The idea of learning about their alternate selves seemed interesting to a few members of the group, Pinkie Pie especially.

"Ooh, ooh! Mememememe! What's Pony Pinkie Pie like?!"

"I'd be willing to bet that they're the exact same." Morgana said with a laugh, as he made his own presence known. Applejack looked back and forth between Twilight and Pinkie Pie.

"Even just knowing two Pinkie Pie's are out there makes my brain hurt…" Applejack stared nervously at their pink friend.

"Oh pfft, even I know the world isn't ready for two Pinkies…" Pinkie Pie then turned to face the camera and winked. "Yet…" A shiver ran through many of their backs when they heard Pinkie Pie's foreboding message.

"As curious as I am to know if your world's Rarity is just as stylish as this ones, we don't have much time to get this done." Rarity stated as she started to rummage through her backpack. Pulling out six sets of Canterlot High sweaters and Wondercolt ears, handing five of them to the other girls.

As the girls quickly put the sweaters on over their normal clothes, Akira fished the video camera out of his backpack, making sure that it was ready to go.

"So, who's starting this whole thing off?" Akira asked the girls, who apparently had everything all planned out. Rarity pointed right back at Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie will be in the lunch line, once she gets to the end, make sure you're rolling. By the way, Pinkie, did you bring your speaker?" Rarity's question was quickly met with a speaker being shoved in her face by the pinkette, the speaker already had an MP3 player plugged inside.

"Here ya go!" Pinkie shouted as Rarity set the speaker down at her feet.

"Oook, thank you, Pinkie. Akira you'll have to make sure to bring this in with you, and Twilight's backpack."

"Huh? My backpack?" Twilight looked confused along with Spike, who was still inside the bag.

"Yes, someone's going to have to press play on the music, and with the rest of us busy, we knew just the dog for the job. I'll point to you when you need to press it." Rarity smiled at Spike, who started to bumble.

"W-Well I mean, y-yeah I got this, I w-won't let you down!" Spike mumbled. And now that all the positions and set-up was covered, it was time to execute their plan. Akira decided to do a little hype up speech.

"Everyone knows what they've got to do, so let's get this done. Remember, this isn't just about beating Sunset Shimmer, and more than just getting Twilight the votes she needs. This is about bringing this school back together, that we're more than just our cliques, that we're Canterlot Wondercolts!" That last part felt strange to Akira, as he still didn't feel like a true student at the school, but it seemed to ring well with the others.

"Heck yeah! Let's show 'em they don't have to be afraid of Sunset anymore!" Rainbow Dash responded with her usual excitement.

"Cause we sure ain't scared of her!" Applejack added on.

"They're gonna hear our cheers all the way in Manehattan! C'mon Fluttershy, give us a good cheer!" Pinkie Pie looked towards her reserved friend expectantly. Fluttershy got nervous as everyone was looking in her direction. She took in a deep breath and let it all out.

"Yay…" Fluttershy's cheer almost sounded like a whisper, while the others lost some enthusiasm, Pinkie Pie didn't.

"We'll work on it!"

"Hate to cut this short, but we're wasting time, the song won't be effective if we don't have time to finish it!" Morgana told the group as he looked at a nearby clock. They all agreed the time was now.

"Thank you, everyone. Let's do this!" Twilight told the team, and with a uniform nod, they slowly trickled into the cafeteria.

Canterlot High - Cafeteria

Akira was the last of the group to walk into the cafeteria, carrying both Twilight's backpack and Pinkie Pie's speaker. Nobody's eyes were on him as everyone was focused either on their food or whatever conversation they were having. Akira put down the speaker and the backpack holding Spike right next to each other in the corner of the room.

"All set to go, Spike?" Akira whispered down to the dog, who was antsy at the opportunity.

"I'm all good here!" Spike said before retreating back into the bag. Akira took a deep breath as he got into position.

Akira saw the girls had placed themselves at random tables throughout the room. Pinkie Pie was working her way through the lunch line, Rainbow Dash had gone with the jocks, Applejack with her brother and sister, while Rarity and Fluttershy sat with a different set of cliques. Twilight wasn't in the room, only because she would be making her grand entrance later. Akira opened up Apple Bloom's camera and was ready to record.

(A/N: Whenever songs happen in terms of the story or if there's a specific track that fits with the scene, I'm gonna say the specific video to find on youtube. Such as now.)

(Song: Cafeteria Song (Helping Twilight Win the Crown) From Equestria Girls.)

The girls all made eye contact with each other, showing they were all ready to go. They grabbed their Wondercolt ears and put them on one-by-one. Pinkie Pie reached the end of the lunch line, as she and Akira made brief eye contact. Akira hit the record button and focused the camera on Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie took her tray and started to hit it against the counter to a syncopated rhythm, she had done this a few times before Rarity started to join in, stomping her feet from underneath the table, adding in a clap at the end. By now a few of the students started to notice the commotion, and were confused as to what was happening. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all added on to the beat as Akira made sure to get each of them in view of the camera.

Rarity quickly turned her head and pointed towards Spike as she got back to keeping the beat. Spike moved right away, pressing the play button on the speaker with his paw as he kept his head up to watch what was about to unfold.

The girls had gotten up out of their seats as the music swelled, still clapping along to the beat, until they started to skip through the aisles of tables, grabbing every student's attention.

"Hey, hey, everybody. We've got something to say!

We may seem as different as the night is from day!"

The girls all gathered in the middle of the room to begin their synchronized choreography. Akira made sure to get closer to the group as they started to sing their different harmonies.

"But you look a little deeper, and you will see

that I'm just like you, and you're just like me. Yeah!"

While some of the girls started to hit different poses, Rarity ran up to Akira, blowing a kiss to the camera and turning it to show Applejack and Pinkie Pie running down the aisle, hand in hand, while the others started to interact with the different students, who still had no idea what was happening

"Hey, hey, everybody, we're here to shout

That the Magic of Friendship is what it's all about!"

The students around them were starting to move to the music. Akira was surprised that not only their plan seemed to be working, but that it was working this fast. He kept the camera rolling as Applejack took a pair of purple glasses off of a girl with blue hair.

"Yeah, we thought we were different as the night is from the day

Until Twilight Sparkle helped us see another way!"

The girls then ran back towards the center of the room to continue their choreographed routine, while many of the other students started to look at each other in surprise at the mention of the girl who had been made fun of throughout the week. As he kept the camera focused, Akira couldn't help but think of a dream he once had that reminded him of the scene in front of him.

"So get up get down, if you're gonna come around

We can work together!

Helping Twilight win the crown!

So get up get down, 'cause it's gonna make a sound

If we work together.

Helping Twilight Sparkle win the crown!"

Rainbow Dash stood up on a chair, then rode it down, making it slam on the ground to the beat. Rainbow Dash then slightly grabbed the camera Akira was holding, guiding it in a circle as she continued to sing, then spinning Akira around to focus on Pinkie Pie, who had snuck up on Akira and filled the camera screen, before going up to different students to spread the message.

"Hey, hey hands up now, we're sending a message to the crowd!

Hands wave up, then come down.

We party together all-around!"

Pinkie then turned Akira back around to see the girls all lined up, each of them taking a quick solo line in the song as they grouped together.

"Generous, honesty,"

"Laughter, kindness, loyalty!"

"Twilight helped us each to see"

"All that we can be!"

The girls started to dance their way around the room again, interacting with as many students as they could. Akira was shocked when the chorus started again, as many of the students around the cafeteria started to sing, or clap along.

"So get up get down, if you're gonna come around

We can work together!

Helping Twilight win the crown!

So get up get down, 'cause it's gonna make a sound

If we work together.

Helping Twilight Sparkle win the crown!"

Pinkie Pie and Rarity made their way towards the cafeteria doors, Akira turned the camera to make sure he didn't miss the reveal. As soon as they knew the camera was on them, Pinkie and Rarity opened the doors to reveal Twilight, in the same get-up, as she walked through the doors and began to sing.

"I'm gonna be myself, no matter what I do!

And if we're different, yeah

I want you to be true to you!"

Twilight walked past a familiar face in the crowd, giving Flash Sentry a confident glance. Flash then grabbed his electric guitar and played along to the music, which sparked a big reaction from the crowd, as many of the students who were still on the fence started to join in. Akira was slightly surprised, but made sure to keep the camera on Flash for a second to fully get the effect. He then turned just in time to catch a shot of Twilight climbing on top of a table in the center of the room.

"If you follow me, we'll put our differences aside.

We'll stick together and start working on that school pride!"

Akira quickly grabbed a nearby empty chair, and stood on top of it to get a better shot of the entire cafeteria. While Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy stood on different tables around the room, encouraging students to clap along with the song, which many of them were. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were handing out pairs of Wondercolt ears and tails to the students, who all eagerly put them on, joining in with the vocals of the chorus.

"Jump up! Make a sound! (Hey!)

Stomp your hooves, turn around.

Start now, make a change,

Gonna come around"

"Jump up! Make a sound (Hey!)

Stomp your hooves, turn around.

Canterlot Wondercolts,

Help her win the crown!"

The leader of the Phantom Thieves could only stare in disbelief, the scene he just witnessed feeling like something out of a story book or a musical. With one song, these students went from making fun of Twilight at every turn, too scared to stand up, to be themselves. At both his original high school and Shujin, students always kept their heads down, trying to fit in with everyone else. He was so used to the ideology of standing out being a bad thing, not having it be celebrated. But as the chorus repeated again, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if he had been here all along.

'Maybe this place isn't so bad…' Akira thought to himself, as Flash and a few of his friends set up their instruments to help play out the rest of the song.

(End of Song)

The crowd of students all cheered as the Elements of Harmony were out spreading the word to vote for Twilight, and judging by the amount of people wearing the headbands Rarity and Pinkie Pie had passed out, it was being well received. Many other students tried to line up and speak with Twilight, who was flushing red with embarrassment before the girls lifted up Twilight and started parading her around the cafeteria.

Akira stopped the recording on the video camera, and moved over to find Applebloom still sitting at a table with her older brother. Akira snuck up behind her and set the video camera down on the table, surprising the young girl.

"Thanks for letting us use that, Applebloom. Hope my camera work is good enough to upload." Akira smirked at the girl, who grabbed the camera and looked back at him with a big grin.

"Ah shoulda known y'all would use that for somethin' big! That's gonna get a TON of views! Thank ya, mister!" Applebloom enthusiastically grabbed the camera and started to review the footage. Akira then turned to see the Elements of Harmony, still spreading the word to vote for Twilight. The boy stared on for the moment, happy that this group was so quick to accept him in this world. Twilight then noticed Akira staring from across the room, she then started to wave him over.

Akira waved off the request, thinking that this was Twilight and the girl's moment to shine, he hadn't done much. However, Twilight was persistent, and her waving drew the attention of the others. After seeing Akira's resistance, they all joined in, trying to get him to join them. Akira smiled and breathed a sigh as he walked towards the girls, who gave out a loud cheer as he joined them.

Applejack held out a set of Wondercolt ears towards him, which he took from her hand. He held them out in front of him as the girls looked at him expectantly. He remembered this exact same scenario two days ago when they had come back together again. He looked back up and put the ears on, resulting in another cheer from the girls. Akira then went to go talk to various students, telling them to vote for Twilight. He looked upwards towards a banner at the entrance of the cafeteria that read "Go Canterlot Wondercolts!" in bold letters, he laughed to himself as he accepted one fact.

'Like it or not, I'm a Wondercolt too.'

What Akira didn't notice was a certain female watching the boy and the rest of the group, peering through the glass of the door to the cafeteria.

Sunset Shimmer couldn't believe what she had seen, all of her hard work on her original video to smear Twilight's image, all thrown out the window by a silly little song and dance about school pride. She watched both Twilight and Akira smiling and laughing through the glass and Summer just couldn't stand it anymore, something had to be done about those two. And after a few seconds of scheming, she had a perfect idea to make sure that they wouldn't succeed.

Sunset turned around to face her two minions and tell them her scheme, but was disgusted to see Snips and Snails wearing the ears and tail that her enemies had passed out. Even though the song was long over, the two were still dancing as the lyrics were stuck in their heads.

"Jump up, make a sound, stomp your hooves, turn around-" The two mumbled, but instantly stopped as soon as they saw the fuming face of Sunset Shimmer looking directly into their souls.

"Take those off!" Her yell made Snips and Snails fumble with the accessories, shoving them behind their backs. "I have something I need you to do…" Sunset said with a sinister grin. However Snips and Snails didn't seem too keen on whatever it was she had to say.

"S-Sorry, Sunset. But I don't think I want the chance of getting face to face with that Kurusu guy again!" Snails said while cowering in fear. Snips did the same as he explained himself.

"Me either! That guy freaks me out!"

Sunset put her head in her hands, she couldn't believe that this one guy was such a thorn in her side, thinking that he was also from Equestria made Sunset's blood boil, she wasn't going to let Twilight, Akira, or Celestia get the best of her that easily. She glared at the two boys, wondering what they were so afraid of.

"You two are useless…what's so scary about him? All I see is an average dork with glasses and some sort of hero complex!" Sunset questioned the boys, getting in their faces.

"When you had us tail him to learn about him, he caught me and Snips! He grabbed Snips before he could run, and he threatened him! And boy did it seem like he was telling the truth!" Snails explained to the girl, who stepped back, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Wait, he threatened you?" Sunset asked Snips, who seemed eager to tell his side of the story.

"Y-Yeah! The guy grabbed me yesterday, asked why we were following him. And when I didn't tell him anything, he told me that "he can be quite convincing" and that he "has a reputation where he's from!" and he was being all menacing!" Snips told Sunset, who seemed to think about the information.

"Come to think of it, I think he said something like that to me the day he got here…" Sunset reminisced of the moment Akira had stepped in between her and that country girl, Applejack.

"How about you just leave this girl here alone? And don't make me ask again…" The boy's words rang out in Sunset's mind. Just then she started to form another plan.

"Well maybe our resident White Knight isn't the sweetheart he seems to be…and maybe this reputation of his can be his undoing…?" Sunset gave off a light sinister laugh that only the three of them could hear.

"You know a way to get rid of him, Sunset?"

"Both him AND Twilight Sparkle. Last time we only thought of the student's opinions, and seeing how easily those can be swayed, we need something bigger. Something that the school faculty can't ignore…" Sunset tried to help them see the big picture, however the two peabrains still couldn't understand.

"I still don't get it…"

"Let's just say, Monday will be a really interesting day…" Sunset looked back through the glass at the two objects of her hatred, her gaze narrowing on Twilight.

'I spent years planning this moment, and I'm not going to have some wannabe Princess, or some pretending white knight come in and take that from me…enjoy the weekend, you two, while you can…' Sunset thought to herself before she turned and started to walk down the hall, Snips and Snails pulling themselves back in line and following behind.

Canterlot High - Hallway (Afternoon)

Akira thought it was crazy. Even after the final class of the day, pretty much every student he had seen was still wearing the Wondercolt accessories, including himself. As he passed by the students, he noticed they were either talking about the event, singing the chorus, or had the video pulled up on their phone. Applebloom must have found time to upload it. Morgana noticed all the commotion and decided to speak, knowing his meows would be drowned out by the other students.

"Gotta say, I figured Rarity's plan would work, but to have it work this well? Didn't see that coming." The cat's eyes scoped out the halls, while Akira couldn't help but laugh.

"Me either, I'd say today was a complete success."

"At least this part of the day, now we just need to progress further in the palace. Hopefully we won't have any interruptions getting that key." Morgana stated, and Akira could only hope that it was as simple as grabbing the key and going.

Akira walked towards an intersection in the hallway, when he noticed many of the students who had been in that intersection turn to the left side and start to clap and cheer. He stood still, waiting to see what they had been looking at. He started to chuckle when he saw what they were cheering for.

Twilight had been walking down the hall. He could tell the Princess wasn't used to this kind of attention, she had been blushing heavily and had her body hunched over, a nervous smile on her face. Akira and Morgana found the scene amusing.

"Seems like our resident Princess is having trouble adjusting to the royal treatment here." Morgana snickered, Akira rolled his eyes.

"If putting up with it means she wins the crown, I think she'll be ok." Akira looked back to the Equestrian, who was nervously waving at the students who had been praising her. Twilight was so focused on pandering to the crowd, she didn't look where she was going and nearly tripped over another student's shoe. Akira took a deep breath and walked towards her direction.

'Guess I'll be the royal escort…' Akira thought as he walked faster to catch up with Twilight.

Twilight tried to respond to as many of the students as she could, responding to many gestures, and applauses, and cheers. She kept tripping up over her own feet trying to twist her body to answer everyone.

"Hey Twilight! That whole thing at lunch was muy loco! (Pretty crazy)." One sunglasses wearing student said while pointing dual finger guns in Twilight's direction. Twilight turned his way and tried to copy the gesture.

"T-Thanks! You're pretty…muy loco too?" Twilight had no time to think about what she just said, as she ended up stepping on her own shoelace, and started falling backwards. When she expected her face to be met with the cold, hard ground, she felt nothing. She opened her eyes to see that Akira had caught her by the hand and pulled her back upright.

"Need a hand there, your majesty?" Akira joked. Twilight glared at the boy before sending her gratitude.

"Thank you, Akira. I guess I need to watch where I'm going…" Twilight said sheepishly, Akira patted her on the back, encouraging her to keep walking towards their destination of the practice field.

"I'm kinda surprised you're not used to this kind of attention. I mean, you're a literal princess back in your world, doesn't the adoration kind of come with that job?" Akira made sure he whispered that last part to the girl, who laughed while looking down at the floor, recalling memories of Equestria and her time in Ponyville.

"Well, yes. It is a part of the job, but I haven't been a princess for very long at all. Doesn't help that I feel like I barely deserve the title anyways…" Twilight said with a defeated slump of her shoulders. Akira didn't expect to hear that last part, Twilight had always seemed confident in her abilities, so what made her think this.

"How could you not deserve it? From what you told me, it's not exactly easy to become a princess." Akira almost spoke like a brother to her, wondering how she could talk about herself like that.

"Yeah, it may not be easy, but when you only become a princess because you had to fix a mess you created, it feels like a hollow victory…" Twilight shakes her head at the memory, while Akira was now especially curious.

"What kind of mess?" Akira asked as Twilight thought of a way to explain things in a comprehensible way.

"I'll spare some details, but basically I had accidentally casted an unfinished spell that altered the memories, and destinies of my friends. I tried everything I could to fix it, but nothing worked. I had just about given up, when I remembered just how much my friends meant to me. The Magic of Friendship worked its wonders and gave me an idea, and sure enough it worked." Twilight seemed to recall both sad and fond memories of the ordeal. Spike then poked his head out of Twilight's bag.

"Quite the emotional roller coaster, let me tell ya." Spike tried lifting the mood, Twilight gave a brief chuckle before her face fell again. Seeing his attempt at humor fail, Spike ducked back into the bag.

Akira was still surprised there was a world where magic was truly real, and you could cast spells without even trying. Then he remembered he lived in a world of cognitive psience and Personas, so he wasn't exactly normal. He let Twilight continue with the story.

"Seeing the power of our friendship helped me finish that spell, and sure enough, I turned into an alicorn, and with it, a princess." Twilight finished recalling the tale, a smile coming to her face at the memory. Akira looked at her with a smirk, finding the flaw in her original logic.

"Sounds to me like you earned it, even if you don't think you deserved it." Akira's statement left Twilight flustered.

"W-What? But I caused the problem! If the people of Ponyville knew that, I could never look them in the eye! Princesses are supposed to be perfect, which I am far from. Even when I first arrived in Ponyville, I thought the idea of making friends was silly, yet I get all this praise? They didn't see who I used to be…" Twilight said with disgust of how she used to act.

This was something Akira had heard many times before from his fellow Phantom Thieves. They had all despised how they used to be, complacent with life, blind to the injustice going on around them, or simply not having the power to do anything about it. But the Phantom Thieves was an outlet for their change, and had grown into new people they could be proud of. He figured Twilight felt a somewhat similar way, so he tried to help her see things from the current point of view.

"But they see who you've become." Akira stated what made sense to him, Twilight however didn't expect the answer. She was speechless trying to think of a response, so Akira continued. "Twilight, we've all done things, or acted a certain way in our past that we don't like once we look back on it. But being able to recognize that it wasn't how you should have acted shows just how much you've grown."

"I know I've grown, but I'm still not the perfect princess they need me to be!"

"You're right, and you'll never be perfect, because that's impossible." Akira said, making Twilight's head do a sharp turn in his direction. From her look alone, he could tell she wanted to ask what he meant by that, so he decided to elaborate. "You're not perfect, I'm not perfect, I'm sure even the other princesses in Equestria aren't always perfect…but what matters is that we try our best for the sake of others, that's what makes us deserving of our gifts."

Twilight was at a loss for words, she had to admit that he was right. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had admitted to making plenty of mistakes in the past, she had even witnessed one of them on her first day in Ponyville.

She thought about all the adventures she and her friends have had back in Equestria, and how many of the lessons in friendship she had learned had come from mistakes or misunderstandings. They had all grown as better ponies because of those moments, and the Magic of Friendship was stronger than ever.

"You're right…I'm no longer that little filly who thought she was above friendship. I'm proud of the mare I've become, and I've got my friends to thank for that!" Twilight proudly stated as she looked over to Akira. "I hope you know that includes you as well." Akira sent a smirk towards the Princess, laughing to himself about the equine words she was using.

"Thanks, Twilight. Glad to have two other-worldly friends here." Akira patted Twilight on the back, and she responded by playfully bumping into him, an unmentioned sibling-like bond between them.

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

CONFIDANT RANK UP - Twilight Sparkle: The Magician, Rank 3

After they were done laughing at their antics, they noticed they had already made it to the exit of the school. Twilight opened the door for her friend, looked back to him and spoke with a confident tone.

"Come on, that treasure isn't gonna steal itself!" Twilight said, while Akira was grateful nobody was in earshot to hear what she had said. Akira laughed, following the princess outside towards the meeting place of the Canterlot High Phantom Thieves.

Canterlot High - Soccer Field

While the last students still inside the school were filtering out, the CHS Phantom Thieves all gathered at the bleachers of the soccer field, talking amongst themselves over the operation that occurred today. They had all taken off the sweaters and accessories, handing them back to Rarity, who stuffed them in her backpack. Rainbow Dash had her phone pulled out and was showing Fluttershy the uploaded video of their performance.

"Oh check it out, here comes the best part!" Rainbow Dash pointed to the screen, as the video reached the part when Rainbow Dash rode a chair to the ground and then got in the face of the camera. "Hah! That's classic!" Rainbow Dash laughed while Fluttershy clapped, just happy that things had gone so well.

Everyone else had briefly glanced at the video, checking its view count compared to the video Sunset Shimmer uploaded to defame Twilight.

"We've already got over 700 views! That's amazing!" Pinkie Pie celebrated, even though Applejack had a more pessimistic view of it all.

"Yeah, but Sunset's video's got just over a thousand still..." Applejack dejectedly reminded the group, however Rarity would not let that deter her as she petted Spike, who was sitting on her lap.

"Her video may have more views currently, but think about it, Darling. Her video has been uploaded for a few days already now, ours was uploaded hours ago and it's already on its tail. By tomorrow I would expect to see that number be drastically different." Rarity explained, which seemed to make sense to everyone, other than Rainbow Dash who was still laughing.

"Oh man! I bet Sunset Shimmer is flipping out!" Rainbow Dash held her sides as they started to hurt from all the laughing.

"I-I just hope she won't try to s-sabotage us…" Fluttershy shared her worries while twiddling her thumbs. Akira had been wondering if she'd try anything as well, but wouldn't let it deter them from the goal.

"Even if she does, we'll be ready." Akira reassured the girl, who still seemed on edge. Morgana helped out by curling up in Fluttershy's lap, allowing her to pet him.

"We've had to deal with some pretty nasty setbacks in our world, so anything Sunset could do won't phase us." Morgana said before letting out a loud purr, enjoying the pets from Fluttershy.

"Yeah, and she can't use magic here without the Element, so I don't think she could do anything too bad. Right?" Spike added on from his position on Rarity's lap.

"But we can't underestimate her, she wouldn't have gotten this far if she wasn't smart about things…" Twilight pondered. Since Sunset was capable of driving apart a friendship like theirs with a few messages, she has to have other tricks for getting what she wants.

"We can worry about that later. The other students should have left by now, let's get to work." Akira stated, grabbing his phone and opening up the Metaverse Navigator. The girls all gathered around him for their pre-infiltration briefing.

"What's on the agenda for today, leader?" Rainbow Dash asked, putting on knee up on the bleachers.

"First things first, we need to make sure that locker door opens. The combination should be three, thirty-one, twenty."

"As confirmed by yours truly." Morgana held one of his paws to his chest. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as the cat boasted about their team effort. Akira kept going with his briefing.

"After that, it should be a straight shot towards that key. It's likely that there will be a Shadow guarding it, so be prepared to fight right away."

"Sounds easy enough, haven't been too much of a challenge yet." Applejack said with her arms crossed underneath her chest.

"As long as we're careful, we'll be fine. After we grab the key, we're gonna try making a straight shot towards the treasure room. However, I have a feeling there's going to be other security measures we'll have to deal with."

"I was thinking, if we enter the Palace from the same spot we're standing in the real world, why couldn't we just enter the gym and go into the Palace from there? Shouldn't we appear right next to it?" Twilight asked the two Phantom Thieves, who have had some experience in the matter.

"Theoretically that's true, we'd appear right there…but we don't know if it's exactly laid out like the school. If we tried that, we could get stuck on a whole different level of the palace, or end up surrounded by Shadows…or in some cases, fall from the sky, it's just too risky." Morgana replied, recalling a specific incident when investigating a certain artist.

Akira laughed at the memory, watching Ann, Yusuke, and Morgana descend from nowhere. Rarity grumbled at the information.

"Of course, it can never be that simple…" Rarity replied.

"We've still got plenty of time though, so if anything else gets in our way we'll just barrel through it!" Spike confidently said.

"We may have time left, but not forever. Remember, we need to have a clear route to the treasure by Wednesday at the latest. Any later and we won't have a chance to steal it before the Fall Formal." Morgana reminded the team as he hopped up onto Akira's shoulder.

"Less talky, more sneaky. Castle time!" Said the impatient Pinkie Pie. The group laughed as they all got up to move

"That settles it then, time to get to work." Akira took the lead of the group, walking with them towards the front of the school. Akira looked back at the Metaverse Navigator for a few seconds as a thought came to his head.

'I wonder how many people in this world have distorted desires? If it's anything like ours, I hope the girls are ready for more fights after this one…' He thought to himself as they reached the front of the school. Akira wasted no time as he hit the button to bring them all to the Metaverse.

"Beginning navigation to Sunset Shimmer's Castle…"

Sunset Shimmer's Castle - Hallways

The Phantom Thieves had made their way back through the Palace, thankful that the security level had fallen back down to the point where there weren't any armies of Shadows coming after them.

They had made it back to the Safe Room they had found yesterday without getting spotted by any Shadows. Taking a quick moment to set their focus, the team headed out towards the locker door that had been blocking their path.

Stopping in front of the giant locker door, Applejack stood in front and cracked her knuckles, ready to turn the giant dial in front of them.

"Remember, three, thirty-one, twenty." Joker told the cowgirl, who nodded her head and gripped onto the lock, taking a deep breath as she used all of her strength to spin it.

"Tell me when to stop, partner!" Applejack said as she would spin again every time the dial would start to come to a stop. Joker watched as the dial made a full rotation quickly, he made sure she didn't go farther than that.

"Stop there, Applejack." He ordered, and Applejack made the dial come to a stop perfectly on the number three. Joker quickly looked behind him to check if there were any Shadows. He had trusted Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash with guarding them while they worked on the door, but he had to check for himself.

Applejack started to turn the dial the other way, quickly passing the first number again, and Akira gave her the word to stop just before the dial reached thirty, setting it at thirty-one.

"Just one more, AJ. Keep it up!" Mona yelled his words of encouragement towards the farmhand. Who gave the lock one last heave, spinning it wildly towards its last direction. Applejack was still able to see the numbers on the dial, and as soon as she saw twenty approach the center, she thrust her hand onto the dial to stop it in place, which ended up being right on twenty.

"Moment of truth…" Joker said to himself as Applejack took a second to make sure she had done it right.

A few seconds had passed, and everyone had looked towards the door. Joker and Mona were afraid that something had gone wrong, until they heard a click come from the locker door, and slowly but surely, it started to swing open, revealing the ongoing hallway leading towards their goal.

The girls and Spike all started to celebrate, surrounding Applejack and showering her with praise, mainly about her strength. Applejack claimed it was nothing as Joker and Mona stared ahead down the hall.

"Phew, glad we were right." Mona sighed with relief. Joker smirked as he stepped past the door, glad he wasn't seeing any Shadows in the immediate vicinity. The leader turned back to the rest of the group, gesturing down the hall.

"Looks like the way ahead is clear, let's keep moving." Joker pointed in the direction of their supposed destination. Rainbow Dash used her wings to fly above the others and start speeding down the hallway.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Rainbow Dash said before speeding off, while purposefully not reaching top speed to give her friends a chance. Applejack smirked at the challenge and got into a running stance.

"Oh no ya don't!" Applejack started to take off after Rainbow Dash, giving in to the idea of friendly competition.

"I'm no Eggman!" Pinkie Pie yelled out, curling up into a ball. Those still present were surprised as Pinkie Pie started to somehow rev up in her ball form, and suddenly shot forward like an arrow. Rarity's palm met her face as she watched the lunacy before her.

"I swear, I can't take you girls anywhere…" Rarity sighed before running off in the same direction. Fluttershy realized she was being left behind and quickly started to flap her wings.

"W-Wait for m-me!" Fluttershy pleaded, flying off in the same line, not amounting to Rainbow Dash levels of speed, but she wasn't a slouch in any sense of the word. Twilight and Spike couldn't help but laugh as Joker and Mona's eyes started twitching.

"Are they like that in your world too?" Mona asked the two Equestrians. Spike was the first to get over his laughing fit.

"Yeah, that's their normal. But that's their friendship for you!" The baby dragon responded to the bipedal cat. Twilight couldn't help but smile at the many memories of her friends.

"Yup, and I wouldn't change a thing about it!" Twilight proudly stated as she started to fly off towards the others, Spike following not far behind. Mona himself started to laugh as he watched the girls and dragon traverse down the hallway.

"Quite a team we've assembled, ay Joker?"

"They're something alright…" Joker replied as he thought that they wouldn't be able to do this without all their help. Joker then started to run in the same direction. "Come on, let's go, or are you the rotten egg here?" Joker said before taking off, leaving behind a few pink splashes and a fuming Mona.

"Oh hell no! Get back here!" Mona ran after his partner, kicking up his signature cartoony dust cloud, joining the rest of the thieves in their race towards the cafeteria.

The race was very short lived, lasting mere minutes. The thieves had all come to a stop in front of a large set of medieval looking wooden doors. Rainbow Dash had obviously made it there first, celebrating all the while, with Applejack making a close second. Pinkie Pie, Joker and Twilight had all tied for third, while Fluttershy, Rarity, and Mona came in next, leaving Spike as the last to make it. The dragon glared over at the group.

"No fair! You all have longer legs, or even wings!" Spike raged. Mona was going to retort about them being the same size, but Spike shut that down. "Don't even say it, Mr. I can turn into a bus!" Mona tried to come up with a comeback, but he had to admit Spike got him good, as he did use his bus form to catch up towards the end.

"O-Oh don't worry, Spike. I'm sure you'll g-grow to be bigger than any of us." Fluttershy bent down and patted the dragon on the head. Spike lightly growled, but appreciated Fluttershy's encouragement.

"That's right, so next time things will be different!"

Joker walked up to the wooden door and put his ear next to it, trying to hear if there were any Shadows inside. He could definitely hear loud footsteps, so he knew a Shadow had to be in the room, but he couldn't tell if it was just one or multiple. He turned around to the rest of the team, and put a finger to his lips, signaling for them to be quiet. Once he was met with silence, Joker slightly opened the door so he could peak in and see.

As soon as Joker could see inside the room, he instantly saw their foes. Three Shadow guards patrolled the cafeteria room, which had the tables cleared to the sides, showing that the Shadows inside were expecting them. There were two smaller Shadows, and one very large Shadow wearing golden armor. Joker instantly knew that this guard had to be holding the key to the throne room. Joker slowly closed the door as he turned back to his team.

"We're looking at three Shadows, one tough one, two weaklings. Shouldn't be too difficult of a fight." Joker told the team, who nodded in turn.

"This could be a trap though, Sunset and the Shadows knew we were heading this way." Twilight surmised, an idea which Joker hadn't even thought of.

"She's right, this could be a set-up of some kind. But from the way I see it, there's no other way to get that key." Mona thought before looking towards the leader. "What do you think, Joker?"

"No matter what, we'll need to be ready for anything." Joker said in the team huddle. "Is everyone ready?" Pinkie Pie's hand shot up at the question.

"Ready!"

"Let's get 'em!"

"Just lead the way, Darling."

Joker saw the affirmations of the team and flashed a smirk. He fished his pistol out of his coat pocket and stood in front of the door.

"It's showtime." Joker said, taking a deep breath, and kicking the door open. The Phantom Thieves rushed in, catching the attention of the three Shadows, who pointed their spears at the thieves as they lined up next to each other.

"Halt, intruders!" The Shadow wearing the golden armor shouted at the team. Pinkie Pie scoffed and pointed towards the guards.

"The Phantom Thieves halt for no one!" Pinkie exclaimed while Joker strode towards the front of the group, gun at the ready.

"You have something that we're looking for…" Joker said, spinning his pistol before pointing it at the Shadow's mask. "We'll take it off your hands." Joker's demands made the lead Shadow laugh maniacally.

"Fools! If you wish to take the throne room key, you'll have to take it by force!" The Shadow stated.

"Well lucky for you, we were planning on doing that anyway…" Rarity responded as she channeled her magic into her palms, the rest of the team took combat positions.

"So be it! Princess Sunset will reward us handsomely for your deaths!" The Shadows all started to transform, and soon enough where the armored guards once stood, now three similarly looking humanoid figures took their place.

The two smaller Shadows had a near identical appearance, sporting tattered clothes, grayish skin, and wild, shaggy hair. They stood about as tall as the humans in the room, but they could already tell that these things were far from human. They both held onto weapons, the one on the left holding a hatchet, while the one on the right clutched onto a makeshift club. They also noticed the almost lifeless eyes the creatures held, along with the razor sharp teeth that fit in the mouths of their distorted faces.

The bigger, stronger Shadow took on a similar appearance, albeit much larger. The shadow wore a tattered coat that reached down to its knees. It's gray hair going all across its face and the side of the head, much like a lion's mane. But what stood out to the thieves was the massive, bloody, spiked warhammer that the creature was wielding.

The three creatures let out a simultaneous roar, signaling they were ready to fight. Joker narrowed his eyes as he issued out battle commands.

"Twilight, Pinkie, you take the one on the left! Dash, Rarity, Spike, take the right! Mona, Applejack, you're with me in the middle!" Joker commanded, having the different groups scatter, Joker then turned back to Fluttershy. "Keep an eye out for their weaknesses, and let us know if they try anything drastic!" Fluttershy nodded as Joker ran back as he, Mona, and Applejack faced down the warhammer wielding Shadow. The fight for the key had begun.

Over on the right side of the battlefield, Spike and Rainbow Dash spared no time at all going to work. Rainbow Dash sped towards the creature, who tried raising its blade up to block its face, but was met with a swift kick to the jaw. Spike quickly approached from the other side, sliding on the ground and using his claws to swipe at the Shadow's ankles. The Shadow's legs buckled underneath itself from the scrape of Spike's claws, causing it to fall to the ground.

Rarity had watched her friends' onslaught of attacks from afar. And as soon as she saw the Shadow had fallen down, she decided to take her turn. Using her magic, she levitated the Shadow into the air, about five feet off the ground, before sending her hand downward, causing the Shadow to be telekinetically slammed into the ground. Rarity repeated this action a few more times, until the body of the Shadow stopped moving. Assuming the Shadow had been defeated, Rarity flipped her hair back in celebration. Spike went up to the body and poked it, seeing no reaction, he also assumed it had been finished.

"Heh, that's it? That was too easy!" Spike shrugged his shoulders, not noticing the Shadow slowly rising off the ground behind him, readying its club.

"Spike, watch out!" Rainbow Dash yelled out, trying to speed toward the dragon's attacker.

Rainbow Dash was a bit too late, as Spike was hit with a swipe from the creature's own claws, turning him around to see the Shadow raise up its club, and hit Spike in the side, sending him flying into the tables that were pushed off to the sides. The Shadow was then kicked again by Rainbow Dash, right dead in the forehead, which made it crash into the back wall.

Rainbow Dash dusted off her legs, staring angrily at the crater in the wall created by the Shadow. Meanwhile Rarity had quickly grabbed a now unconscious Spike, and started to work on healing him. Rainbow could only watch in surprise as the Shadow walked out of the hole it had created, seemingly not having a scratch on it.

"Um, guys? This thing isn't going down!" Rainbow Dash yelled across the room, only just now noticing that the other teams seemed to be having the same issue.

The Shadow on the left side of the field had been slowly making its way towards Twilight and Pinkie Pie, withstanding hits from a giant mallet and blasts of magic. No matter what they were throwing at it, it would just keep moving. The Shadow had gotten close enough to Pinkie Pie to try swinging its axe towards her, but it was blocked by a magical shield Twilight was just able to put up.

"I think we've noticed that!" Twilight yelled back to Rainbow Dash, as she hurled a beam of magic right into the face of the Shadow, which left a visible burn mark, but she and Pinkie Pie noticed its face begin to rapidly heal.

"Hey! Healing factors are for cheaters!" Pinkie Pie yelled, reaching behind her back, grabbing and slamming her party cannon on the ground and lighting the fuse.

After a second of waiting, the cannon went off, sending a huge pile of bubblegum cake batter at their enemy, slamming the Shadow to the ground and covering it up with the batter. Pinkie Pie dusted off her hands, proud of a job well done. Her celebration was cut short however, as she saw the clawed hand of the Shadow pierce through the cake batter, clawing its way to freedom as it continued shuffling towards the girls.

"Seriously!? Maybe the batter needs more milk…" Pinkie's rambling was cut off as she was able to dodge an axe swing just in time. Twilight started to panic as she didn't have any idea as to what the Shadows weakness was, so she looked over to Joker for guidance.

"Joker, any clue how to beat these guys?" Twilight asked, her neurosis starting to take over. However, Joker's team wasn't fairing that much better.

He and Mona had summoned both Arsène and Zorro, and were blasting the larger Shadow with wind, curse, and bless attacks every which way. Yet the Shadow seemingly shrugged off every hit and swung its warhammer down at the Thieves. Just as the hammer was about to reach its destination, Applejack had stepped in and stopped the hammer dead in its tracks, grabbing just before the head of the hammer. Applejack grit her teeth as she struggled against the might of the Shadow, who just laughed her off.

"Hmph! Impudent child, you're pathetic!" The Shadow yelled as it kicked Applejack straight in the stomach, flinging her back and sending her to the ground. The Shadow moved forward to finish the job, raising its hammer above its head, before it was sent stumbling back by two bullets hitting its face.

Joker drew his gun and shot at the Shadow every time it tried to advance on them, while Mona hung back and healed Applejack. Joker knew he would run out of ammo eventually and yelled back to Fluttershy for support.

"Fluttershy, any news on a weakness!?" Fluttershy looked around the room in a panic, hoping to see anything that would give her a hint to the Shadows weakness.

Fortunately, her luck was good, as she witnessed Rainbow Dash knock the lesser Shadow into another wall, which knocked a candle off of its mount on the wall, landing next to the Shadow. The beast looked over and saw the flame of the candle, which sent the Shadow into a frenzy, quickly getting up to get as far away from it as possible. Fluttershy now had an idea.

"F-Fire! It d-doesn't like fire!" Fluttershy yelled back. Joker took the news in stride and immediately grabbed his mask and summoned forth one of his Personas.

"I hope this works, Cerberus!" Joker called forth the guard dog yet again, not wasting any time as he cast Agidyne. Spouts of fire shot up from the ground and engulfed the Shadow. Flames ran all along the creature's body, it let out a loud roar, trying to put out the flames on its coat before it fell to one knee, knocking it down. Mona saw the result and praised their navigator.

"Wow, good eye, Fluttershy!" The cat rhymed, as Joker moved to tell the others about their discovery.

"Everyone, hit them with fire attacks, then move to my position!" Joker's command got everyone's attention as they moved to incapacitate their foes.

Rarity had healed Spike back to consciousness. The baby dragon's head was spinning, and a huge blush reached his face.

"So this is what an angel looks like…" Spike said, still in a daze, while Rarity rolled her eyes and brought him back to his feet.

"You're not dead yet, Darling. However, we do need that fire breath of yours…" Rarity patted Spike on the back and pointed towards the Shadow. Spike instantly snapped out of his stupor and rushed towards the Shadow, which was being bombarded with punches and kicks from a speeding Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash saw Spike running towards them and quickly flew out of the way as Spike jumped up in the air with a deep breath, and let out a torrent of green flames from his mouth. The second the flames touched the gray skin of the Shadow, it instantly recoiled from the blast, and after failing to keep itself upright, fell to its knees. Seeing their success, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike fell back to Joker's position.

Twilight looked over at Pinkie Pie, who had disappeared from her line of sight. She heard a splashing sound and looked over in the Shadow's direction to see Pinkie Pie dousing the Shadow in some kind of clear liquid coming out of a red can. Pinkie Pie finished covering the Shadow and ran back over to the Princess.

"Hey Twi, got a light?" Pinkie asked, gesturing over to the Shadow. Twilight assumed Pinkie Pie knew what she was doing and conjured a small flame into her hand with her magic, before flicking it over towards the Shadow.

Twilight was surprised, as soon as the flame made contact with the Shadow's body, it exploded in a burst of fire. The Shadow tried everything to put itself out, but eventually succumbed to the inferno and fell to one knee. Pinkie Pie beamed with pride as she and Twilight made their way to the others. Joker and Mona looked on in fear at Pinkie.

"Pinkie, where did you get a gas can?!" Mona asked, looking absolutely terrified. Pinkie Pie simply turned to the two of them and winked.

"Found it!" Pinkie said. Joker turned away slowly from Pinkie Pie as he looked at the three downed Shadows.

"I'll ask later. Everyone, go for an All-Out Attack!" Joker commanded, and on his signal, everyone rushed forward at the three shadows.

The Phantom Thieves dashed from every direction imaginable, hitting with slashes, punches, kicks, magic, everything you could think of in a mad dash to destroy the Shadows. The damage was too much for the smaller Shadows, as they dissipated into thin air, while the large Shadow remained, but was in a very weak state as the All-Out Attack ended.

The Shadow tried to stand back up, using its warhammer as a crutch, but it was unable to manage it. Joker walked up to the creature and put his pistol to its forehead. The Shadow looked Joker in the eyes, a pained smile on its face.

"For a couple of brats, you're all quite strong…I believe you've earned this…" The Shadow said painfully, reaching into the pocket of its coat, and pulling out a golden key, handing it to Joker. The leader of the team quickly snatched the key out of the Shadows hands. The Shadow then closed its eyes, accepting its fate. "Now what are you waiting for? Finish me."

Joker narrowed his eyes as his finger slipped into the trigger guard. He thought about it for a few moments before he spoke.

"You hold a lot of power as well. How about we team up?" Joker asked the Shadow, confusing the girls as to what he was trying to pull, only Mona smiled as he knew what was going on. The Shadow stared up at Joker in surprise.

"Team up? Child, going up against Princess Sunset is practically suicide…"

"Well then it's either you die now, or have the chance to fight another day. And I think that would be a waste of your strength." Joker placed his words very carefully, trying to play into the Shadow's love of strength. Low and behold, it succeeded.

"Heh, you're a bold one, brat. Fine, I'll become one of your masks. I am thou, thou art I. You may call upon the strength of Urias when you need it." The Shadow stood up and slowly changed forms into one of Joker's masks. The mask then flew towards his face and merged with his mask. Joker smirked as he could feel Urias' power within him.

Gained the Urias mask!

Joker turned around and saw a look of shock on the girl's faces. He laughed as they tried to make sense of what just happened.

"Uh, partner…what was that?" Applejack asked, pointing right at Joker's new mask. Mona decided to explain.

"Joker here has the power to convince Shadows to join us, he can use them like Personas." Mona said, standing next to Joker, who rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I thought he'd be useful later down the line." Joker explained.

"So that's why you've got more than one of those things!" Rainbow Dash said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Aww, m-maybe those Shadows aren't so bad…" Fluttershy thought, now knowing that they had thoughts and feelings.

"I liked that guy's hammer! Wait, can he hear me through you? I LIKE YOUR HAMMER!" Pinkie Pie shouted in Joker's ear, making him recoil. Joker dusted himself off and showed them the key that Urias had given to him.

"No, he can't. Anyways, we have the key. If everyone's feeling ok, we should head towards the throne room and see if it works, or if there's other security measures." Joker suggested, which everyone was about to agree to, when they were interrupted by the sound of clapping behind the group.

They all quickly spun around to see the source of the sound was none other than the Shadow of Sunset Shimmer, who walked into the room with a slow clap as her bright white dress trailed behind her.

"Oh bravo, bravo! What a fantastic show!" Sunset's Shadow sarcastically said, laughing all the while. The Phantom Thieves got back into a combat stance, ready for anything the Palace Ruler might try.

"And what are you doing here? Tired of waiting already?" Rarity taunted the Shadow, who continued to laugh.

"I just wanted to congratulate you all on getting that key, it's a shame you won't be able to do anything with it…" Shadow Sunset said while looking at her fingernails. Rainbow Dash scoffed at her attempt at a taunt.

"What are you gonna do, send more of your Shadow pals in here? Like that's worked out so far…" Rainbow Dash quipped. Sunset's Shadow had a malicious smirk growing on her face.

"Something along those lines…"

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Mona said with worry in his voice. Shadow Sunset snapped her fingers, and in response the doors to the room opened up. Two guards slowly walked into the room, dragging in two other humanoid figures. Everyone in the room instantly recognized who they were, and Joker, Mona, Twilight, and Spike felt their hearts drop. Fluttershy was the first to speak up at the sight of the flowing pink, blue, and green hair.

"P-P-Principal C-Celestia!?" Fluttershy yelled with her hands now over her mouth. Pinkie Pie then noticed the other figures' blue-violet hair.

"Vice Principal Luna!?"

"How on earth did they get here!?" Rarity asked. Joker figured from their beat up appearance, this had to be the cognitive versions of Celestia and Luna that they had seen in the dungeon of the castle.

"They aren't real. Just fragments of Sunset Shimmer's cognition…" Joker reassured the team, however, Applejack was not convinced.

"Not real? But they look just like 'em!"

"We know, but they're just a part of the cognition, don't let it fool you!" Mona called out to the team, who steeled themselves in preparation for anything to happen. The Shadow guards shoved both cognitive versions of Celestia and Luna to the ground, Celestia reached out towards Twilight.

"T-Twilight! My s-student, run while you can!" Celestia pleaded with the girl, who took a step back in surprise. Luna then tried to plead with the Thieves.

"Please! Save yourselves-" Luna was cut off as the guard smacked Luna in the back of the head. Twilight took an instinctive step forward.

"Let them go, Sunset! Why did you even bring them here?"

"Princesses should help a fellow Princess, should they not? I figure these two might be able to help deal with you…" Shadow Sunset sneered at Twilight, while cognitive Celestia tried to stand up for herself.

"My sister and I would never help you!" Celestia shouted at the Palace Ruler, before being met with a backhand from the Shadow Princess.

"I said "able", I don't recall saying "willing"..." Sunset's Shadow claimed, twisting Celestia's head to look at Twilight. Luna shot a concerned glance towards the Shadow.

"Y-You don't mean…You wouldn't dare!" Luna concerningly yelled at Sunset's Shadow, who grabbed Luna by the chin and stared into her eyes.

"Oh I DO dare, my dear Princess of the Night…" Sunset's Shadow let go of Luna, who's eyes went wide at the realization, as Shadow Sunset stood behind her and Celestia, who were now kneeling on the ground with Sunset Shimmer grabbing their heads. The girls tried to think of a way to help, but couldn't think of anything. Rainbow Dash simply pounded her fist into her hand.

"Let go of them, or else!" Rainbow yelled at the ruler, who simply scoffed at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh of course, Rainbow Dash…anything you say." Sunset's Shadow let go of the principal's heads as she started to channel magic through her hands. Luna seemed to realize what was about to come and tried to warn the Phantom Thieves.

"All of you, go now-" Luna was once again interrupted, this time by a beam of light green magic that surrounded both Luna and Celestia's heads. The two principals cried out in pain, grabbing their heads, while the Thieves could only sit by and watch.

Applejack tried to run forward to stop Sunset, but was stopped by the outstretched arm of Joker. Applejack then tried to struggle away from his blockade.

"What're ya doin'? Ya just gonna sit there and watch?!" Applejack yelled at the boy, who turned to her with a calm expression.

"We don't know what she's doing to them, and I don't want her to turn it on you if you run in there!" Joker softly yelled, which made Applejack stop her advance at the sign of his concern. She reluctantly nodded and turned her attention back to what was happening before them.

After a few more seconds of being bombarded by Sunset's magic, Celestia and Luna stopped struggling and dropped their arms. Sunset stopped her magic as she eagerly awaited the results of her spell.

Celestia and Luna opened their eyes, to reveal their normal eyes had started to glow a bright green. Twilight instantly recognized the effects.

"S-She used a mind control spell!" Twilight shouted to the team, who suddenly got very nervous. Sunset Shimmer snapped her fingers, making the now controlled Celestia and Luna stand up.

"I'm glad you both see it my way. Now how about you both let out your wild sides…?" Sunset asked of her new slaves. Who started to walk forward towards the Phantom Thieves.

"Yes…" They said simultaneously in a monotone voice.

Shadow Sunset's mention of "their wild side" caused her to go into a panic, as she had an idea she knew what was coming.

"Everyone…you may want to get ready…" Twilight's warning made Joker slightly anxious. If she knew what may be coming, and was still nervous, it didn't bode well for them.

Soon enough, two swirls of magic started to surround Celestia and Luna, one was a bright orange, while the other was a dark blue. The magic around them started to spin violently, before forming a ball around the two. After a few seconds, a bright light shone from inside both of the magical balls containing the principals, creating a blast of wind that caused the Phantom Thieves to shield themselves.

"W-What's going on!?" Fluttershy yelled out, as Spike tried to walk towards the front without getting blown back.

"If it's what I think it is…it's very bad!" Spike gulped.

The light inside the spheres of magic shined even brighter, before humanoid outlines could be made out in each of them. The spheres rose up into the air, carrying the figures with them, and soon enough, the spheres started to crack, and then exploded in a blast of magical energy.

Joker uncovered his eyes at the first chance he could see what was going on, and upon first glance of who had come out of the spheres, he knew they were in trouble.

Bursting out of the sphere Luna had been trapped in, a completely different person emerged. A tall female figure with skin as black as night, with matching black wings coming out of her back. She wore deep blue armor that sported the symbolism of crescent moons all over every inch, along with a helmet that had a long horn protruding from the top. The last thing Joker noticed was the woman's hair, which shined a pure azure color, with sparkling stars, resembling the night sky. She smiled evilly down at the Phantom Thieves with a grin that made them shiver.

On the left, an even scarier looking woman was hovering in the air beside the first one. Blazing red and orange armor that donned imagery of the sun complimented the pearly white skin of the figure. The armor even covered her wings, which were the same size as the other women's and were spread out large. Joker was surprised that they didn't catch fire, especially since the bright red crown this woman had spouts of flame coming out of the top, acting like long elegant hair. Long, almost vampiric fangs were bared at the team, only adding to their fear.

The Phantom Thieves stood in awe of what they had just witnessed. Twilight had been shaking violently, knowing her suspicions were confirmed. Sunset Shimmer's Shadow saw the whole event and started manically laughing.

"N-No way! T-That's-"

"Please, allow me to introduce the Sisters of Destruction.,,Nightmare Moon, and her big sister, Daybreaker!" Shadow Sunset introduced the two newcomers, who channeled their own unique kinds of magic in their hands. Joker couldn't believe what he had just seen.

'Celestia and Luna can turn into that!?' Joker thought in a panic, as the ruler of the Palace turned around and headed for the doors.

"Now, I'll leave you two to deal with these pretenders…" And with a victorious smirk towards the Thieves, Sunset's Shadow walked out of the room, leaving them to stare down the two transformed Princesses, Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker.

Nightmare Moon surveyed their enemies, and thinking they barely posed a threat, turned to her equally evil sister.

"How nice of Princess Sunset to leave us a few weaklings to play with, don't you think, sister?" Nightmare Moon gave an evil laugh which sent shivers down all of their spines. Daybreaker smirked, putting a hand to her chin as she looked upon the group before them.

"Of course! But let's not rush it, sister…mother always said we were quick to break our toys!" Daybreaker channeled a large flame in her hand as she and Nightmare Moon got ready to attack.

Joker had faced many odds before that had seemed insurmountable, yet he had always overcome them. Yet, when he looked towards Twilight, seeing her now pale face, he realized what they were going up against. Two corrupted princesses from an alternate dimension who both held the power of the sun and the moon, and both of them were about to try and kill them all. With all of this information, a single thought came to Joker's mind.

'We're screwed, aren't we?'

ANNNND DONE!

As par for the course for me, this chapter ended up being longer than I ever thought it could be. And what a way to end it, with a cliffhanger right before everyone fights for their lives!

I have a habit of doing that, don't I?

Well I hope you enjoyed it either way.

I hope that song bit was at least somewhat entertaining, it's kinda hard to add onto a song that most MLP fans know.

Also, I've kinda had the idea of having a Nightmare Moon/Daybreaker fight in my head for a while now, and well, here it is! I had to do a lot of research to make sure that it didn't break MLP canon, but then I realized, it's the Metaverse, this kinda stuff would happen anyways.

Last thing before I sign off, I wanna thank everyone who sent in reviews for what they wanted to see for the sequel. And I'm not surprised to see that Rainbow Rocks (with the other Phantom Thieves) is ahead by a country mile. As I said in the beginning, I'm now thinking of making this series a trilogy, with the 3rd part taking place in the world of Persona.

Anyways, that's all I've got.

See ya next time!