Ponysona 4, the Campaign.

"Gah!" Brash exclaims, clearly surprised. "I, uh, mean.... hay."

Tilt is about to call out to Arcana when she sees the others look alarmed. And then she remembers Star trying to do something with his card that she wasn't fully sure what it was meant to do, but certainly more than a normal playing card would do.

"...That's your boss, isn't it? And we've screwed up big time, haven't we?"

"Honestly... I have no idea..." Zeela said with a good deal of worry in her voice. "This is basically only our first 'mission' since we meet him..."

Melody paused for a moment, looking at Arcana, blinking a bit. "Ah, yeah, you could say he's our boss...But...What's up, Arcana? Is something wrong...?" She looked a bit concerned...She'd never seen him outside the Velvet room...Was this connected to Star's inability to manifest a Persona? If so, Tilt may have been right on the nose...Or-...Actually, maybe she should hear him out rather than panic. "Yeah, I think we messed up a bit, but it all worked out...Right?" A few sour notes didn't totally ruin a performance...Right?

Arcana pushes away from the door and the party can see him flicker a bit as he smiles softly. "Congratulations on saving Tilt and Star. However it seems one of you has done something I regret to inform you of." Arcana moves to Star and with a small flash, a black X appears on Star's forehead out of magical ropes. "You lied about accepting your shadow and, as it seems, still disbelieve everything here."

"... Like I would? All of what he was saying I knew." Star scoffs a bit. "And I knew it was wrong. I'm powerful without my drugs and I only took them to be more powerful. I'm definitely a good unicorn and I'd never desire to be an Earth pony"

Arcana rubs his temple and grumbles out, "Oh for tarot's sake... Fine then." Arcana gestures the the exit. "If you really think so, then you'll be of no help."

"Fine."

Right before he walks in though, Star's horn glows black and he teleports away. "... What the buck?"

"...I thought the Shadows were supposed to be part of who we were or something, you're telling us he bluffed his other self...?" Melody blinked for a moment, though, seeing Star...Teleport away!? "What in Tartarus...Uh...Okay, that was weird..." She looked at the others for a moment, a confused look on her features...

Zeela's eye twichs at seeing this... Then facehooves... "Arcana... Please tell me you are joking and totally fully understand what had just happened before our eyes?"

"Um.... what?" Brash asks, hoping Arcana will have an explanation of some kind.

"He didn't bluff. There are three endings to fighting your shadow. One is ignoring it completely, like Star has done. One is to accept it, like what Tilt has done, and the last is to be defeated by it." Arcana sighs. "The first just makes your shadow remain dormant, the second creates a persona, and the last..."

"As for what happened, he teleported away and I have no idea where he teleported to. That's simply it."

"... I can't see him with Arachne..."

"Lovely."

"And let me guess... Next time we see him he's like taken over the true source of shadows or something..." Zeela deadpans with a sigh. "After growing up with my dad, and how greendale went... I'd expect something that lame of a plot-twist to pop up given how my life is going right now. Also talking of my future... I've of late felt a bit diffent and kinda fear it might be linked to a potion I drank using a vial gotten from this TV Realm... Acrana you got any clue if well... Me going from, firebreath, to now having the power to set myself ablaze to be anything worrysome? Like I shouldn't worry about a future where I wake up, like turned into a fire elemental or something... Right?"

(OOC: I am the best at forshadowing... )

"There are plenty of fantastical creatures, Zeela." Icing comments with a very slight smile. "Even beings of ice that consume hatred and let off frost from the feeding. I am sure if you were a fire elemental there would be a way to keep on living and thriving."

He wasn't going to touch the "everything I touch turns to ash" angle with a ten-hoof pole. That would be needlessly cruel, since she seems to have some emotional issues. Time for jokes and time for serious, after all.

"Ah, I don't figure you're gonna turn into a fire elemental anyway...Kind of depressing, though...We were doing so well and then he...Does that. Hopefully we can find star and talk some sense into him?" Melody lowered her head, a little frustrated at this turn of events...If what Arcana said was true, then they hadn't gotten through to him at all...Which was clearly an issue..."Maybe...We should worry about it later...If Shiro can't sense him, then he...Probably left, right? ...Right?" She really wished she could feel more confident about that as her ears pinned themselves back in nervousness.

George shuts his beak and is silent for a few moments longer before interjecting.
"I uh I know this is probably a bad time what with Star and all for this but I'm now wondering if a fire-elemental would be officially treated by a veterinian or a doctor."

Tilt blanches. "For want of a nail." she says, the words dry in her mouth. She levitates out her own card and stares for a moment at the horse on it. Then she presses it tightly against her chest, and quietly tucks it back away.

"I... I think I can understand. It's pony nature. When we see a pony in pain, in trouble, especially a pony we care about, we want to run over and help them up, let them lean against us. But that's not what your shadow is about."

She looks down, and touches her chest, then moves her legs a little.

"I read a story once. About a pony that fell very sick. So sick she was sick for a whole year, and once she was cured she couldn't walk any more because her legs wasted away. So her four very good friends picked her up, and carried her around so that she could still see the world outside. One day the wise master was visiting the village, and saw these ponies carrying their friend around, and asked 'Why are you carrying that pony around?'. Her friends replied 'Because our friend was very sick and now she cannot walk'. The wise master thought, and then pointed at the first friend. 'You are not allowed to carry your friend any more.' she said, and in the village they all lived in her word was law, so the friend had to let go. The wise master left. The next time she came to the village, the pony was still being carried by three of her friends, but this time she was holding herself up a little bit with one leg as well. This time the wise master pointed to a second friend and said 'You are also not allowed to carry your friend anymore'. The next time the wise master came to the village the pony was pulling herself along with her forelegs with the help of two friends, and so on until finally on the fifth visit the pony was running and playing with her friends again. When they saw the wise master they all ran over to thank the wise master for healing their friend, but the wise master shook her head. 'Your friend healed herself, once she was allowed to stand on her own.'"

"It wasn't right for us to shield Star from facing his own shadow. When my shadow attacked me, I was scared, but I also saw what it was doing, and no matter how much I hated it, no matter how much it hurt, it was me. I knew it was me, I understood it was me, and it was thanks to you all being there that I survived long enough to realise it. Without that, I would have been him."

She looks to the others.

"We have unknowingly sown a bad seed, but we did so with the best of intentions. There cannot be a bad result, even if we must suffer longer for it."

Arcana stares at Tilt, making a very... shocked and gaping face. "... For one who had been brought into the shadow's realm by chance, I... I'm surprised at just how..." He shakes his head. "How... wise you are, my little Fortune. I think you'll make a good addition to this group, if you agree." Arcana flickers again, and his eyes shine white. "... Mister Power's teleported to his home... somehow. At the very least he'll be there within an hour your time. I don't believe he'll listen to you, and he'll ignore any signs of this realm." Arcana sighs and shakes his head, going back to normal. "But that is one pony. It might be a while before the next shadows gain enough power to come forth. Remember, your bonds between each other and various ponies will bring you strength." Arcana shakes himself off, a few almost glitch-like appearances. "Visit the Velvet room after you create and strengthen more. Miss Fortune- that is an ironic pun- though, can visit sooner if she decides to join." Arcana turns to the door to leave, and unless stopped, disappears through it.

"And the lack of a yes or no answer about my possible messing with magics that I in retrospece totally shouldn't have... Is not going to help me sleep tonight..." Zeela mutters.

Perception check:

"I don't think anypony can answer that for you, Zeela," says Tilt, "But I think if there's anything I've learned to understand after meeting myself, it's that the truth will never hurt you for accepting it. I don't know when or how you'll find it, and what form it'll take, but it's in there, waiting for you."

She turns back to the departing Arcana. "One thing, Arcana. Why are you flickering like a bad TV signal?"

Brash stares at Tilt and Arcana then, drawing a conclusion becomes clearly aggravated and asks, "If anything we do can't actually help then why the hay are you telling us to go deal with this stuff? Do you think we like risking our well being just to be told that we bucked up because we did what you told us we had to do!?" By the time he finishes, he's clearly glaring at Arcana.

Arcana turns. "When Tilt was faced with it, she you had helped her, even unintentionally, but fighting her. However with Star, you kept him from realizing it himself. While he was saved, he hadn't fully faced himself and still denies who he really is- which is a fault that lies in him and him alone. To put it simply, while Tilt realized herself with your help, Star had not. Star simply put on a farce and ignored what his shadow said, fooling you without saying the words to make his shadow stronger. Using Tilt's story as an example, you were the ones holding Star and Tilt up. In Tilt's circumstances, it was gradual, like the story. You spoke with her to face her shadow, then faced it with her, then helped her realize that it was herself. However with Star, it was as though the girl in the story just sat there instead of learning. She didn't try to use her legs at all. It wasn't your fault, star is simply stubborn and hot-headed, unwilling to change just because he admitted something, going straight back to disbelief right after. And while that is detrimental in the long run, it was his choice." Arcana frowns and moves to Brash. "I'm deeply sorry that what I said came off as telling you all that you did wrong. Again, the fault lies in Star.
Your task is to aid the ones brought in here, whether others or yourselves, in facing the parts of themselves they despise. Only those who wish to acknowledge who they are, and if capable desire to change will. Those who deny in the end, or acknowledge but don't want to change, won't."


((Trying to explain it... Tilt changed from facing herself. Star didn't change. That's really what I mean.))

Brash sighed and replied, "Well... that just sucks then."

"So sometimes, if we follow by these tales, we need to force a conflict, even if it may seem like a bad idea at the time. At least we saved him and he lives, we will not need to worry about his shadow going hostile, at least for a while." Icing notes, mostly to himself, considering how best to work out this system so he would not need to put ponies at unnecessary risk.

"Not the best lesson to learn, but those are the rules of this game. To what end is this game, if you do not mind my asking once more?"

"While this isn't a game, the end is to keep the one empowering shadows from making one strong enough to break the divide between your realm and this one. That is also why you must face your owns when the one powers yours." Arcana flickers a bit more ((15 Perception got a glimpse straight through him.)) "I do not know who the one is though."

Tilt gives Arcana a questioning look. "This isn't your home either, is it? You're not supposed to be here, that's why you look like you're coming apart."

"You're above us, you're not a pawn, but then you're not the princess, either. You're... maybe a knight. You can see in directions we can't, not even in a lifetime. But in the grand scheme of things you're still a small piece."

Arcana stares Tilt down, almost piercingly (Roll an endurance check) and his eyes shine slightly white, "Once again, you seem to be more astute than an average athlete." He smirks at her and chuckles. "Truly, you may consider yourselves pawns if only because going through hardships you will come up stronger and able to defeat your opponents." Arcana moves over to Tilt and smiles at her. "I like you, Fortune."

"Huh? What? Where the hay did that come from!? How did you know that? I haven't heard anywhere near enough info to make a stab in the dark like that and you just.... seemed to somehow know what's going on... what, a couple hours after getting involved?" Brash stared at Full Tilt suspiciously.

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Just because I have OOC knowledge of how Ping arrived to that conclusion, which still strikes me as weird to be so sure about IC, Brash has no idea how that conclusion was arrived at.