Ponysona 4, the Campaign.

Tilt sits sweating in the front seat of the ambulance - Soul was her guest, she was her responsibility. She looks down at her phone, and hammers out texts on the spot.

Alice:
Call the ambulance, 1-1-9. Shiro not the only one. Get Daikon too.

Tilt pauses for a second, then adds a little more.

Soul said something happened to Shiro. Found out seconds before message. Confronted. She passed out. Said she was with Melody.

Then she flicks through her contacts to Rumour.

Rumour:
Get to hospital. Bring your work. Soul passed out. Breathing shallow. Heart rate low. On way there in ambulance now.

She looks back at the shallowly breathing pegasus.

Sicklier than she looked. Tell you more when you get here.

To: Pinball
From: Alice
Carrying Shiro to the hospital. Not too much of an emergency, even with him not waking up. More like he's a heavy sleeper.

To: Tilt
From: Rumor

Oh no! Aaaah, I feel bad for doing stuff to her ;A; Right gonna fix some rumors I spread then head there ASAP!!!
----
Melody and Zeela can hear Koishite slamming a door on the back of the shop, some things shaking.
---
George notes a small white pegasus colt take his wallet, dump out the bits needed for the book and a few extra, and fly after him, a bit of a ways behind though. "Mister! You've got some cards in here!" The colt slows down quite a lot, obviously tired looking.
----
Icing notes a blue light on his phone, almost like the color of the velvet room's door.

Icing looks to his phone. It wasn't another text message reply, that got his little ringtone. Those were excellent. Empty comments, empty platitudes. It meant he might not be so far gone as he may have thought, if even the ones he was quite certain hated him bothered with a reply, no matter how sparse.

But the blue light... Well, no one ever said that Icing was a coward. Apparently they had a scuffle with Arcana the other day... He thinks. But it was important to get both sides of the story, even if the others were happy to just take whatever side might be the most comforting. Shiro and Kuro, Arcana and Marie, the Shadows and the Ponysona... Each had a tale to tell, and then it would be up to an arbitrator to determine the validity of the concerns. So Arcana was using them. So what? Ponies used ponies all the time, and he wasn't exactly being subtle about it. Kuro used ponies too: Alice and Daisuki or whatever his name was. And clearly both endorse abuse of the Shadow, whom all they seem to desire is an excess of their dominant emotion, though they are quite sentient in their approach on how to get it.

But what mattered now was information. Even at his worst, the safety of himself, his compatriots, and gathering information were always his top concerns. Icing picked up the phone, examining it.

Zeela at this point just went to work dusting up the place as best she could... Figuring that trying to get any more answers at this point in time was only going to get more questions and two few of any answers.

Melody kept cleaning, moving to make sure the things that had shaken weren't going to fall...And as she got close, if she could hear anything from the backroom, well, that'd be nice too. She thought for a moment, glancing at Zeela. "Uhm, so, yeah...I've got something...That I thought maybe I should let you know..." she started, thinking for a moment.

Perception check:

"Oh? What could that be Mel?" Zeela responds giving Melody her full attation... Well as full as she could give while she worked that is.

"Well, there was a little incident earlier...N-Nothing too bad, mind, but...Well...That Soul mare? I...Sort of had to tell her my secret...Y-you know the one..." She looked down, still doing her duties, but she figured the zebra might want to know. "So I mean, at least with her, you don't...Have to-Well, you know. Don't have to lie for me," she 'explained' a bit, considering her options.

Zeela stopped with a bit of shock over hearing this... "Thank you... For telling me... We'll talk more about this... Later... In privet..."

George slows down and goes back to collect his wallet.
"Oh! I'm sorry I thought I just had bits in there."

The colt, who George can identify as Ivory from earlier, Flies beside George, a bit of a panicked look on his face. "Alice messaged me about Shiro, that who you're checking on?" The colt mumbles under his breath, "Can't be. Don't let something happen to him too... I won't be able to take it....."
---
The mares can both hear Koishite grumbling loudly and throwing things in the back room, Melody making out bits and pieces of what is said. "Bucking corperates.... buy out... keep this shop for her... buck the suits she needs somewhere to come back to....."
---
Icing's phone sort of shimmers for a few moments and ripples, before a text bubble appears on the screen, followed quickly by another, and another.
"Hello?"
"Icing?"
"Is this phone working?"

---
The two at the hospital can almost faintly hear the quiet singing of a certian filly- Alice- as she brings Shiro in to the hospital for care.

George crouched down and patted the foal's head.
"Don't worry. I'm only going down to the hospital to see what's going on and to help, I'm not even sure if it is Shiro or any other specific pony."

Suits...? Wait, was this connected to that stallion who wanted the store previously? Melody was a bit confused, but made her way back to Zeela, thinking. "I think...No, I know someone's been wanting to buy out the store, but Koishite was saying something about suits...Do you think someone's trying to take it from him in court...?" She spoke quietly, not wanting to let on she'd overheard...It was kind of worrying her though...Koishite might be gruff, but he seemed to have a good heart under it all, he didn't deserve to get screwed over.

"mmm... That could be what's happening to him..." Zeela said with a hint of worry, partly happy to get her mind off shadows, Melody's comment, and that oddity that she got in the mail from her dad.

"It's terrible if so, I mean, he's keeping it for somepony he cares about...Hmm...I think we may be able to help...I need to try and look into a few things though before we do, unless you happen to know what the law says about situations like this..." She looked worried, trying to puzzle things out. If they were trying legal action...Well, she wasn't too familiar with the legal code as it stood in Ineighba, but on the other hoof, standing around doing nothing wasn't a good idea either. He would be needing help himself. But first, they needed to make sure they knew what was going on.

"Well I guess as long as he knows that us 'kids' are here to help him. And can help him... He'll likely come to us given that we're the better option before him." Zeela comments as they talk and work.

Icing looks to the phone, and answers out of habit.

"Yes it works. Icing here, who am I talking to?"

"It's Marie. Long time no talk Icing." Somehow Icing can feel concern from the words as another bubble appeared. "I do have a few things about Personae, but.... The velvet room seems to be locked right now. I cannot enter it myself. Do you know why that might be?"
-----
Zeela and Melody hear another loud slam from the back, and Koishite appears with quite a few yen coins, grumbling quietly and tossing them in front of the girls. "Here. Your pay. Five thousand yen each." Koishite pockets the last of it, grumbling slightly. Seems That you'll need quite a bit of understanding to get him to open up (Understanding Rank 2 required.)
-----
Ivory glances at George, the pat calming him down slightly. "A-alice told me that Shiro, and 'Soul', were both sick and it scared me... I... Don't tell auntie this, I don't want her to worry, but I don't want another pony I'm close to....."

"You... Don't need to pay me..." Zeela comments as she slides the money back to the old stallion. "I think you'd need this more then me. I'm really just here to help."

(UNDERSTANDING LEVEL 2 GO!)

"I see, thank you for telling me. Don't worry I'll do everything I can to help them."
George turns to leave.
"I made a vow to help everypony I could and this time is no different. Thank you for giving me my wallet by the way."

Spoiler:

"Yeah...I get the feeling you'll need the money more than us..." Melody looked at him, tilting her head a bit and sighing. "Look, it's plenty obvious something's eating you...Please, I'm sure we can do something if you'll let us help..." She looked at him sincerely, hoping he'd open up...They were trying their best to assist him...

Icing looks at his phone. "I am not certain. I have gleaned from some others that there was some debate with Arcana, it may have a relation. It will be resolved soon, I am sure. What about personae did you wish to speak of?"

Ivory stares at George, and the griffon can notice a sparkle in his eyes as he flies after him. "You're actually kinda cool mister. More than I thought as a stuffy doctor." The words were completely innocent, but were spoken with almost reverence.
-----
Koishite looks at the two of you and sighs, taking the yen back and slips it in his pocket. "Thanks... Need to pay a lawyer to prove some old business thats' unfinished. Mainly the right to the shop. I don't know where the deed went to, and some bastard is saying that it's his. There's not really any proof either way." The pegasus sighs, for the first time looking his age. "This is her shop... I don't want it to be taken away."
-----
"Oh, not really much.
I heard from a shadow that George had found a book and wanted to see it.
I also heard that you had recieved multiple new personae since the last time we visited.
I wanted to talk about that, not really fit for phone-based."

George smiles at that.
"Why thank you Ivory and if you ever want to talk about anything you know where to find me alright?"

Icing shrugs. "I think I can get into the Shadow world tomorrow, if the room is still locked, I can meet you there instead, I will see if I can borrow his book."