Ponysona 4, the Campaign.

"It is Icing Sugar, if that should please you. Friends call me Icing." The earth pony smiles to his new study buddy and holds out his hoof to shake.

Pearl shakes Icing's hoof happily and quietly hums while continuing to study.
----

Junes at midnight... The store seems to be closed, though checking the door results in it easily opening. The store is dark, but the televisions don't seem to be working: In that, you don't seem to be able to walk into them.

Melody was being slow, careful, and quiet...She did NOT need a background check performed...She poked their usual TV though, trying to get in and scowling in annoyance..."Well, I really hope George and Shiro aren't in already, they're gonna be really upset that we can't meet them..." she whispered to herself, wondering why the TV's had closed themselves off...If nothing else, if the midnight channel came on, they'd have a good look at who was on...

Rolls:

Brash flies up, having used his rocket boots as he had to leave the board at home for repairs, and skids to a stop before walking up to Melody and giving her a nod.

Zeela then appears seemingly out of nowhere and glomps both Brash Landing and Charming Melody.

Melody gasped for a moment in surprise, trying to whirl to see who it was...and breathed a sigh of relief, nodding. "Oh...!! Uhm, hay, Brash, Zeela...You startled me...Eh, heh...Uhm...So...Is it just me, or are the TV's not letting us in tonight...?" She blinked a bit, confused. She was glad to see them, though, and her smile showed it.

"My best guess is hopefully the TV is just waiting for all of us to get here or somethin'..." Zeela said with a hint of worry.

"Hi everypony." yawns Tilt, her horseshoes clip-clopping against the tiled floors as the unicorn walks up behind the party, still blinking sleep from her eyes.

Zeela nods to Tilt. "Well now that's four of us here..."

"Have any of you seen Shiro?"
George walks up while putting the top back onto a thermos.

"Awesome now we're down to just Icing to be left to join us..." Zeela comments.

"Hey, Tilt, George...We're still waiting on Shiro too...but, your little plan's hit a snag..." Melody poked one of the TV's with a hoof a few times to demonstrate the issue. "It's not letting us go in...I guess once everypony's here, we'll see how it works out..." She sighs a bit, thinking for a moment and looking at the others. She glanced at those assembled for a moment, a bit worried...It was late, as well, maybe she just wasn't doing it right...? There had to be a reason it wasn't working, even if she was drawing blanks...

Tilt blinks the sleep out of her eyes. "What is the plan, anyway?" asks Tilt, turning towards Melody, curiosity obvious in her voice and posture.

In case of dragged-into-tv emergency break spoiler

Spoiler:

"Odd, usually there is enough residual power to charge these." Icing walks up still in uniform, and presses the "power" button on one of the TVs as he approaches the group. "Lights from the televisions discourage miscreants and thieves. We keep ours on at the shop at all hours to make it seem somepony is watching it."

He was a bit winded, having run from the store to get here in time. Of course, that wasn't very far, you could see Junes from his store, but he wasn't the most fit of ponies. Still, he made a somewhat cursory effort to hide it after the guff last time he was running with the athletes.

The party can hear a slight buzzing noise as the clock ticks almost to midnight, the weather almost changing just for the night to a heavy downpour.

After the rain goes, the television buzzes to life, a picture of two ponies coming to life, one what seems to be an earth pony mare, the other a pegasus stallion. The television stays on, and Shiro's head pops out- aggravated- "What's taking you guys so long! You should've been able to come in immediately." His head slips back in, and the portal seemingly opens up.

Brash jumps through right away.

Zeela follows inside to the TV Realm. "Some reason the portal wasn't working until you popped out at us Shiro..." The Zebra said after she was on the other side.

Tilt follows, holding her breath.

"Hey, Icing, and...Shiro!? Wait, how did you-!?" Melody was cut off by him disappearing back into the TV...She looked carefully at the images on the screen though for a moment, trying to puzzle out who those two could be...Or rather, if she'd seen them before...However, she didn't have too long to dwell on it, and she followed the others through, glancing around for a second to make sure no other weirdness had happened.

Perception:

Shiro tilts his head, Arcana- once again fizzling like static- and Arachne there. "Hello again."

"That's wierd..." Shiro taps his chin as he yawns, Arachne covering his eyes.

Arcana glances at a rather large structure, far off in the distance of the realm, though nothing really visable or distinct. "It appears as though the one controlling and strengthening the shadows has given themselves a sort of base. That tower far off in the distance holds a strong magical resonance to the leylines in this land."

Shiro glances at it. "It also has a lot of bright specks of magic inside it, not just the one at the top."

"Yes, You all will most likely need to fight yourselves before even attempting to reach the tower, with how strong the magic within the realm is at the moment in that area."

Shiro translated, "He means it's a higher level than we are, and probably will be until you guys get your permasonas."

"... Quite. I also sensed two strong surges of magic just now, coming from that direction... Was there any indications that could fit under that?"

"So... Any way to help us find ourselves to face or something?" Zeela asked with worry. "Or some other type of training we can do to get stronger?"

Xel Unknown wrote:"So... Any way to help us find ourselves to face or something?" Zeela asked with worry. "Or some other type of training we can do to get stronger?"

Arcana points at Shiro, who's looking around with Arachne. "He seems to be the best bet to find your shadows. As for training," Arcana points to the Carnival in the distance, along with the school building. "Heading to places you have already defeated shadows from is a good way to train."

"Mmmm... Why Shiro?" Zeela asked not sure how the child can help in this matter of finding their own shadows.

Xel Unknown wrote:"Mmmm... Why Shiro?" Zeela asked not sure how the child can help in this matter of finding their own shadows.

"Because his persona is one of observation." Shiro stares around