Ponysona 4, the Campaign.

Shiro skids along the ground, Arachne above him spreading her arms out wide as he calls out, "FULL SCAN". For a moment, Shadow Sugar seems to freeze in place, a bright white series of squares surrounding her for moments, before she continues moving again.

Full Scan Status:

Daisoujo pants a little bit, staring at the shadow, and her blades seemingly flying around, before glancing at Alice. The pegasus glares at the Shadow and slams down on his Persona card, the persona above him... slightly different, though hard to note just what. ((DC 40 perception)) "DON'T YOU DARE. HAMAON. HAMAON. HAMAON." Three sets of white lances shoot from Daisoujo's persona, spearing the shadow's wings as she lets out another screech of pain.

"Feel my hatred. SOLAR SLAM!" Dai spread his wings out, and another set of spears slam into Sugar's sides.

Spoiler:

Turn Start
HP=24, Pips=1, All Clear

Pestilence gives one last swipe to the Shadow and leaps back to Soul. A tiny bit of the Shadow's essence can be seen floating alongside the Persona, swirling around Soul until it dissipates.

Used Cold Touch --> Pestilence used Light
1D8 => [ 3 ] = 3 #drain --> 2D6+6 => [ 6 +6 ] +6 = 18 #light
Total 21, +3HP to whatever

Turn End
HP=30+10, Pips=1, All Clear

Combat Talents:

Icing let himself be nicked by a flying wing-blade, nodding to himself at the sensation.

The slight stallion nods primarily to himself. "This is... Hmm. I think I get it. Sinestra, kill this savage, we do not need it anymore. Off yourself, shadow."

Sinestra gives yet another weak slash at the shadow, its power really not all that impressive. At least it backed the swing with a magical debuff, Icing giving a boiling glob of sugar to Sugar in the meantime. A particularly nasty blob, full of a remarkably high grade grain alcohol, the merest whiff of which is enough to make a normal mammal go blind.

[Sugar is suffering Vulnerability 3, and takes 15 damage. Sugar is blinded, (save ends)]

Status Page:

Action:

Moveslist for reference:

Sugar took the damage and let out another loud moan of pain, before her neck-manacle falls off, and the harpy-esque shadow glares down at the others. "As you wish Master" Sugar's voice drops to a low, seductive tone, and the manacle latches onto Icing's neck instead, and she lets out a maniacal laugh. "You will obey what your servant tells you, after all, I wish to be my own master, don't I?

Spoiler:

"You will cause the most damage you can to.... George~, Master, and you will not hold back." A large shock runs through the collar, into Icing's body. It doesn't hurt him that much, but he finds his will to disobey Sugar's words gone for the moment, the others noticing a slight cloudiness in his eyes.

Turn Start! (HP:19 PIPs: 2 Condition: Green)
Damn that doesn't look good. What the Shadow said though, I'd better brace myself.
George started to patch himself up, with angel chipping in aswell.
Targeting self with Patch up and Dia.

Actions:

Roll:

Total: healed self for 13 HP.
Turn End! (HP: 30 PIPs: 4 Condition: Green)

Sugar's chained legs broke free as she let out a loud screech, blade wings shining in the blood red light from above and almost dripping with newly made venom. Sugar giggles softly and slashes her wings at the party, Shiro and Dai diving out of the way as he laugh gets more and more maniacal. "I AM CHAINED TO MY OWN DESIRES, AREN'T I ME!? I CAN'T KEEP MYSELF FROM WANTING OTHERS TO CHOOSE FOR ME, RIGHT?!"

Spoiler:

Sugar's blades quickly find themselves into her own sides, a shrill shriek of pain sounding through the party as her laugh slowly receededs into it's former seductive purr. "And you all will do what you want to me.... won't you?"

Spoiler:

The harpy shadow's blades detach from herself, poised above each and every member of the party like a rain of steel and blood. "And I'll do what I want to you~"

The blades sharply drop, landing on each member of the party as the steel cuts into their flesh, Shiro and Alice screaming loudest as they half-fall to the ground, shaking.

Spoiler:

Alice slowly, but surely, starts to stand and glare at the shadow, panting as she leans on an injured Tilt for support, Dai tending to Shiro's wounds. "Y-you... You think you can beat me at this? You are a SHADOW of sadism... And you are definately no masochist if your pony self is any indication." Alice pulls out a large scythe from hammerspace, slashing at her tarot cards and a slightly-different Alice appears over her head. "Feel your OWN pain. AKSHA ARTS!"

Spoiler:

Sugar lets out a loud howl of pain as Alice's persona fires out a large number of cards, and the unicorn filly drops to the ground, almost completely spent. Shiro tosses her a dia vial from a personal supply, which cracks on the filly's horn and heals her for a little, not enough energy to do anything more than that.

Spoiler:

"Aieeeugh!" screams Tilt, bearing the brunt of the assault on the chin and tumbling backwards. At least I was my strength. she mutters, the reverb seeping slowly into her voice as she climbs back onto her legs and shakes away the pain. Can you say so much? Red Hare is nowhere to be seen now, as Tilt gallops down towards Sugar like a mare possessed, her hooves slamming against the floor like a pony ten times her weight.

Take THIS!
Take THIS!

She plants her hooves into the floor with a crash, swinging around and smashing into Sugar's chin with both hind legs, sending the shadow sprawling to the floor.

Spoiler:

Melody gasped, sprinting to try and dodge the attacks, but it was impossible to dodge the hit...She screamed in pain, sinking to her knees for a moment as she was cut deep...And that poison burned...A lot...But she forced herself to stand again, staring up at the Shadow..."No...I refuse...To fall here!! You like pain, huh!? Then feel this...!!" She readied her axe...She didn't have much fight left in her, but she charged again, pummeling Sugar with her guitar in a discordant series of notes, her eyes and her ponykinetic aura flashing green for a moment in her frustration. She even focused, trying to ensure that Sugar felt all the pain the party had just experienced, trying to completely overwhelm her...But after a moment, her strikes slowed, and she stepped back, swaying uncertainly before collapsing to the ground, unable to continue fighting. She'd put everything she had left into that attack...

 

Combat Data:

With Melody's repeated slashes of her guitar, and overwhelming amount of pain and anguish that she sent her way, sugar lets out a final scream of pain, collapsing and impaling herself with the remaining wings, a spray of dark orbs floating out from the wounds as she shrinks down into her pony shape. Her wings are torn and scattered around her, her mane and make up is in a mess and she's laying down, looking up at Icing with fearful eyes more than the alluring ones she always looked at him. "N-no... Please... I don't want to fade away......"

Tilt stumbles backwards, the pain still winding its way through her body, like sitting down without walking after a run. "Aiegh, hooh, hooh, it's... it's over..." she mumbles to herself, checking on Melody next to her, and the ponies that came over to help. She nods to Alice and Daisoujou as she gives them the once over and binds some of the worse wounds.

Once she's done, she walks over slowly towards Sugar, slumped on the floor. "Fade away? Do you have so little trust in your other half?" she asks, softly.

Spoiler:

George forced himself to his feet despite his own injuries and made his rounds of group, putting more effort into treating Melody since she was unconcious.
Roll! (Heal: Treating the party's injuries. Activating more effort! for Melody.)

Roll:

Then right there, a loud explosion was made and a pegasus-shape flies into the room at high speeds. Before anypony could react to this event, the fireball speeds by overhead and rams into the wall, revealing said fireball to be Zeela as she slides down to the floor... The Winged Zebra's pride was hit harder though...

Soul doesn't spare a glance to the fallen Shadow, instead staring at Icing. She winces as George treats her frail frame, mending the single(admittedly bad) injury she sustained in the fighting(the exploding goop doesn't count). At this point his trained eye is able to spot what the others were not able to the night before: Soul Spinner shows signs of severe malnourishment for at least a month, scars from wounds that underwent rapid healing and the strangest case of leyline deficiency he's ever seen.

Luckily for her, a Zeela-shaped fireball rains pointless, pointless destruction from the ceiling before he can question her about it, distracting him not a second after he finishes touching up her bandages. She pushes away from the uncomfortable silence, not giving him time to voice his concerns. She gives a single look to Zeela, and says the only appropriate thing, "Pffft! HAHAHA! Your mane! Oh by the stars your mane!" Recovering, she heads to Icing, who is still considering his darker half.

"Hey Icing. Just wanted to let you know that...whatever you decide to do with her, you have gained an ally in me. I may not approve of your methods, but you acted admirably in battle tonight." She looks at her forehooves for a moment, then leaps up to give the earth pony a full wing-hug. "I may not follow the way of the Legion as much as other pegasi, but I still grew up with the teachings. I now consider you, and all of the others here, to be a part of my own Legion. Going through battle together like this, it is only right." She backs away before the hug can get too uncomfortable for him. She knows that some ponies still care about their personal space, even if she doesn't.

"Oh buck me to Tartarus and back... I did all that work... And all I get is pain..." Zeela mutters to herself as she starts to fully realize what just happened.

Tilt holds a hoof to shield herself as Zeela makes her dramatic, if late entrance. "Zeela! There you are!" exclaims Tilt, bursting into giggle fits when Soul does. "You're a little late! And..." Her laughter dies away, and she looks meaningfully over to Melody, "She's pushed herself too hard." she adds, quietly.

"Soul, there's something you need to understand about these shadows. Sugar here is no less Icing than Icing over there. Our fight here was to keep her from killing Icing - the rest of it is his."

She steps back a little and addresses Sugar and Icing together. "It's okay. We all promised to accept you for who you are, and just because we won't be allies forever doesn't mean that's changed. Take all the time you need."

Icing looked down at the beaten shadow at his hooves. "Pain is an implication that a better state, a state of wellness, exists. It is why we feel it. We accept the bad to let the good be all the greater. That... That's half my cutie mark... And I forgot that somewhere along the line."

He steps on Sugar's wing. "We are both in pain. And we cause it in others... And that is not a good thing. But it is something to be worked on."

He hears the words of the others pass in one ear and directly out the other. This could be important, a balancing act if he was to do it right, and their reunions and advice went contrary to that goal. But at the same time... If it was just him, Icing was Icing... He could finally get a load off his barrel.

"I am pushed around. I am feeble at times. I have no magic, and no wings. I'll never accomplish anything of note. And Celestia will not particularly care either way. Oh yes, I am a bit bitter about the state of the world, when is the last time an earth stallion was seen doing something other than field plowing or food services? Society says be a good colt, act proper at school, and catch the eye of a successful mare, so I do. School says study hard, go to one club, be early; so I do. Father says to show up for work and to clean until 2 AM giving me only four hours of sleep each school day, so I do. Look out for strangers and help them as you can, so I do." Icing grinds his foot, the sharp wings cutting into his ankle and simultaneously making his shadow cry out in pain. It makes him smile through a grimace of pain, and his voice goes quiet, calming his rant.

"I get told to make friends with a bunch of madmares, so I do. The world says to stand up against injustice when no one else speaks, so I do. Morality states I should sacrifice myself rather than risk others... So I do."

He lets up off the wing, blood dripping from his fetlock, and brings it to his shadow's mouth, making her kiss it better.

"But the world says you alone can suffer your own burden, you alone can ask for help with your own problems... And I didn't. I've hurt Ever Ring, I've burnt Jacques Strap, I've poisoned Perky Wings, stars of the school teams, cheerleaders, bullies, big mares on campus, cocky colts... I've let them hurt, to fix the hurt they caused to others. And buck them all, they deserved every bit of pain I've dealt them, ever derisive laugh they got from incontinence, every game they've let the team down by not being able to play, making them the whipping fillies for their victims to gain some retaliation."

"But we all knew that. As you are so eager to point out though... I don't feel it when its happening to someone else who deserves it. But there is so much pain that we can't pass onto such easy targets. We all will feel deep painful troubles, but that doesn't mean it must consume us like it has threatened to for me. And though your methods are harsh, one thing is true in them, brutally so: Sharing pain lessens the load for everyone, even if one side really might have preferred it remain unshared. One dragon chili on a tongue can kill a pony, one in a stew gives it just an exotic sting. Those pinion attacks, focused, could have killed any of us, but you split them up, made sure to not cause any permanent harm. A painful lesson, but the memory of the bad in the face of better times will keep the education sharp in my mind, being so careful, stepping down when someone fell unconscious, when it got serious, though being as you are I know you could have kept on.... There's a time where it is alright to behave a certain way, and more importantly, times do exist when its alright to not need to behave perfectly, when it is alright to share pains and burdens with others who are good ponies, because they are good ponies... Like these ones here, helping shoulder a LOT of pain designated for me despite my being a donkey about the whole thing."

Icing rests his head against his opposite's. He seemed almost empathetic. Almost caring. "That strategically inept compassion is the key thing in how I know that you... Are me. Don't let that make you think you can just subsume though. I accept the core lessons, but I reject your extremism, I reject your harsh methods, I reject your frankly creepy advances. But those rejections are not emotional, base, soulful things. They are logical, acknowledgements that I could be better, an example of the worst parts of me that I must realize exist within myself before I can work on a solution to them, to reject them properly. I've worked Sinestra to the ethereal bone and he's not even truly part of me, you know I'm much harder on myself, come with me, and let us look forward to it."

Sugar lets out a small scream of pain as Icing steps on and grinds her blade-wings, wincing the moment he forces her to kiss it, and when he leans his head down to her...

Her eyes widen, listening to the words that Icing says, obviously taking them in... and she softly, tenderly smiles- not the sadistic or the seductive smiles she had earlier, but... a calm, peaceful one.

In a series of black and white lights, Sugar disappears, and instead a large humanoid, akin to Shiro's, with large wings and outstretched talons stands above Icing. Her wings are tipped with dull blades, and her feathers seem to be the exact same blades, only smaller, The harpy has a silver coloring to her feathers from the blades, and her hair is a pale shade of blue. On her face is a mask of a bird of prey, mouth opened wide.

Icing has gained the persona used to overcome life's hardships, the mask that shares and takes on pain, "Siren".

Siren leans down and hugs Icing with her wings, and only Icing can hear the words that comes from her.

Siren's Skillset:

Shiro and Tilt can feel their personae getting a little bit stronger after the fight, and the whole group can feel a new rush of energy.

Arachne's new moves:

Mars's new move:

Spoiler:

Pingcode wrote:Tilt holds a hoof to shield herself as Zeela makes her dramatic, if late entrance. "Zeela! There you are!" exclaims Tilt, bursting into giggle fits when Soul does. "You're a little late! And..." Her laughter dies away, and she looks meaningfully over to Melody, "She's pushed herself too hard." she adds, quietly.

Zeela's eyes widen as she runs over to see her marefriend's wellbeing.

Tilt's expression runs through a variety of expressions before finally settling on acceptance. And a little gladness that she'd never been one to focus on anything but her running - she had a sneaking suspicion that that was why she'd dodged that bullet. She walks up to Icing Sugar, and puts a hoof on his shoulder, smiling to him.

"Congratulations, Icing. You made it." she says, "You might still be a stuck up ponce who couldn't be more of a big city stereotype if you strapped a waffle cone to your head, but for today, I'm proud of you."

Pingcode wrote:Tilt's expression runs through a variety of expressions before finally settling on acceptance. And a little gladness that she'd never been one to focus on anything but her running - she had a sneaking suspicion that that was why she'd dodged that bullet. She walks up to Icing Sugar, and puts a hoof on his shoulder, smiling to him.

"Congratulations, Icing. You made it." she says, "You might still be a stuck up ponce who couldn't be more of a big city stereotype if you strapped a waffle cone to your head, but for today, I'm proud of you."

Zeela glares at Tilt for a second before she turned back to melody with a worried look.

"Nnnngh...But I don't wanna drain Mr. Snuggles, mother..." Melody muttered somewhat incoherently as she regained conciousness, opening her eyes and slowly pushing herself up. The last thing she remembered was they were facing Icing's Shadow, and...On that realization, she whipped around, blinking. "Where is it!? I can still fight, I'll-...Uhm...where'd it go? Did...Did we win?" She paused, seeming to realize the fight was already over...She'd missed the whole thing apparently. Probably for the best...

"I believe you had fought hard... I got too late to hit the Shadow and made such a good super-attack... And... Mr Snuggles?" Zeela comments as she gives Melody a hug and a nuzzle.

"Lucky you, you dodged the Shadow's big attack...Having poisoned swords rain down on me hurts a lot more than I thought...Note to self, make a better costume for fighting...And...Yeah...First pet I ever had...Did not end well...I was kind of...bad at caring for him..." Melody looked at Zeela for a moment, seeming to realize she'd said something stupid...She just hoped the others hadn't heard...She returned the hug, smiling happily, though after a moment, she let go, stepping back and realizing she'd forgotten a very important question. "Uhm...So...Did Icing accept it, or...How is this going?" She looked over at the others and Icing, trying to get a feel for things.

"I think he totally did..." Zeela comments knowing not to comment more about that "drain Mr. Snuggle" statement, assuming the hidden meaning on her own. "His Persona looks... Interesting... To say the least. Well one shadow down, one to go for tonight... And another whole dungeon to deal with asap."