Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to find that she wasn't in her bed. Instead, she found herself in a complete darkness, unable to see a thing. All she heard was an ominous voice. "Well well. Looks like we finally meet, Rainbow Dash."

"Who are you?! Where am I?! Let me out of here!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that someone would hear her.

"You foolish filly. You may as well quit wasting your breath. Nopony will be able to save you now. Not even your little hero, Crimson." The voice began to cackle as Rainbow Dash became more and more aggitated.

"What do you mean, hero?! I don't need a hero!" She lashed out, hoping to hit whatever it was that was taunting her, but to no avail.

"Now now. Trying to stop me already? That's not how this game works. I'll tell you your part so you don't get confused. You're about to go and meet your true self. The aim of the game, is to reject it as much as possible." The voice's cackle turned into a maniacal laugh.

"Nice try! Bleeding Heart already told me everything. I know that you're just trying to get me killed!" Her pulse began to rise. Rainbow Dash did not know exactly what would happen, but she refused to let her fear get the best of her.

"Killed is such a nasty way to say it. I see it more as, I'm giving you an opportunity. You see my dear, everypony has a side to them that they don't want to admit to. They live thier lives, hiding who they really are. I'm simply helping you to stop living a lie. Is that so wrong?" The voice grew silent as a vortex slowly opened up beneath Rainbow Dash's feet.

"Of course its wrong! Twilight almost died because of you!" Before she could finish what she was saying, she began to sink into the vortex. "No. Not now. Please, not now. Crimson! Bleeding Heart! Anypony! Help me!"

Crimson and Bleeding Heart were still lost within the darkness. By the time they had found where she was, Rainbow Dash had already been taken to her Shadow's domain. The only one there to greet them, was the mysterious voice that had just sent Rainbow Dash to face her Shadow. "Where is Rainbow Dash!?" Crimson had only one thing on his mind, and was slowly losing his composure because of it.

"You do realise that you're too late to join this game, right? You're going to have to wait until tomorrow if you want to play." The voice cackled again, as if to taunt the two ponies standing in front of it.

"This is not a game. What you are doing is killing innocent ponies. Why are doing all of this?!" Bleeding Heart was infuriated. He couldn't stand to see anyone else suffer.

"Why? Simple. I'm doing this because I find it entertaining. These pathetic ponies aren't worthy of the lives they have, so I'm helping them prove their worth. They either stop living a lie, or they die by the hooves of their Shadow. I give them a chance. Its their fault if they make the wrong choice." The voice went silent once more as another vortex opened up beneath Crimson's feet.

"You will never get away with this. We will save Rainbow Dash!" Crimson noticed he was falling through the vortex, but did not resist it. He knew where it would lead him. He began to lose consciousness as the last of his body fell through.

He woke up in his room, Bleeding Heart looking straight at him. "You know exactly what must be done, don't you Crimson?" Bleeding Heart looked more serious than usual.

"Yes. We need to go and find Twilight first. I promised that she would get to assist us." Crimson climbed out of bed and ran downstairs, Bleeding Heart following him closely. Crimson then grabbed his bag and ran out of the door. Bleeding Heart ran alongside him and they headed for the library at top speed.

Once they arrived, they instantly barged in to find Twilight already wearing her bag. "I'm glad you're here. I saw Rainbow Dash in my dream last night. She was calling out for help, but I couldn't reach her. I assume this means she has been taken."

They both nodded in silence and walked out of the library, Twilight following behind. They then ran back to Crimson's home and as soon as they arrived, went straight into the guest room. They saw Rainbow Dash's circlet laying on the floor, with a colourless vortex floating above it. "Are you ready, Twilight? This is going to be very dangerous. You can still turn back if you want." Crimson asked, still worried about her safety.

"I'm ready. You both saved me. I want to help. If I have a Persona, it means that I need to be there alongside you two." Twilight stood strong, her resolve matching Crimson's. Crimson and Bleeding Heart both nodded and they walked through the vortex.

They arrived in what looked like a giant arena. Twilight felt like she recognised it. "This looks an awful lot like the Cloudiseum, but its so dark. All the clouds are grey. Wait, how are we able to walk on these clouds? We aren't pegasus ponies." Twilight felt like she was going to fall, but was suprised that she didn't move an inch.

"We are in the Shadow's world. Normal physics do not apply here, Twilight. These are not real clouds. They are simply an illusion, created by Rainbow Dash's heart." Bleeding Heart began to walk towards the centre of the Cloudiseum, passing over what looked like nothing but air. Twilight was even more surprised to see Bleeding Heart literally walking on air. "It is as I said. This world has its own physics. This gaping hole in the clouds is merely an illusion."

Crimson followed Bleeding Heart across the clouds and then over the air to the centre of the Cloudiseum. Twilight then slowly walked up to the edge of the clouds. She placed a single hoof over the hole and saw that she really could not fall through. After spending a brief moment to adapt to the world's physics, she walked across the air and joined the others.

"Now, we need to find Rainbow Dash. She is here somewhere." Bleeding Heart, looked up to see a pegasus pony flying above them. "Rainbow Dash! Down here!" He called out to her and she looked down to see the three of them standing there.

She instantly flew down to greet them. "I am so glad to see you guys. I tried flying out of here, but there's something at the top stopping me. Its like I'm trapped. I tried using that vortex that brought me here, but its like something is stopping anything going through it."

"Well, we're here now. I also know what is keeping you here, or rather, who is keeping you here." Bleeding Heart looked around again and soon turned back to the others.

"Wait. What is keeping us here? Is it the same thing that was stopping me from leaving?" Twilight looked really curious and was struggling to understand everything about the world they were in.

"That would be me." A familiar voice could be heard by the four of them. They all looked up at the judge's cloud and saw Rainbow Dash, except this one had bright yellow eyes. "Yeah thats right. Admire me, ponies. You're looking at the number one flier in all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash!"

"Rainbow Dash, stand back. That's your Shadow. Twilight, get next to us now and help us protect her." Bleeding Heart stood in the middle as Crimson and Twilight stood by his side, with Rainbow Dash behind them.

"Aww, what's the matter? Not brave enough to come out and fight me on your own? I thought you were cool, but I guess I was wrong." Her Shadow began taunting her and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but retailiate.

"Did you just say I'm uncool?! Nopony calls me uncool!" She flew above the others, landing in front of them, ready to attack the other Rainbow Dash floating on the cloud in front of her. "I'm the coolest pony in all of Equestria!"

"Exactly. I'm the coolest pony that will ever live. The Wonderbolts are nothing compared to me. I should be the one running the show, not that pathetic Spitfire. As for my friends, who needs them? I don't need those guys slowing me down. If I didn't have those dead weight friends, my life would be so much cooler, not to mention faster. Speed is what its all about, and I'm gonna keep going faster and faster until everypony in Equestria is chanting my name!" Her Shadow began laughing.

Rainbow Dash stood back, confused by what the other Rainbow Dash had just said. "What? Who are you anyway?" She already had a very good idea of who that pony was, but she wanted to hear it straight from her mouth.

"You really are quite clueless aren't you? I'm you, and you're me. I know everything about you, Rainbow Dash, including how you really feel." She smirked, knowing that Rainbow Dash would not be able to last much longer.

"No. Its not true. I would never leave my friends!" Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and looked away, trying to ignore what her Shadow was saying.

"There's no sense trying to lie to me. It won't work. You've been lying to yourself for far too long. You only care about being the coolest and fastest pony in Equestria. Admit it, Rainbow Dash! You don't care about anypony but yourself." The smirk turned into an evil grin. She knew Rainbow Dash was at the end of her tether.

"No! You're..." Before she could finish, Crimson stopped her.

"No, Rainbow Dash! Don't say it!" Crimson was hoping she didn't continue, but he knew his hopes were short lived.

"Its not true guys. I'm not like her. She's not like me." Rainbow Dash was close to tears.

"Please, don't reject her. If you do, it will only make things worse." Bleeding Heart said in an attempt to reason with her.

"Well, Rainbow Dash. What's it gonna be? You gonna admit that I'm you, or are you gonna deny it and let me have some more fun?" She jumped down from the cloud and landed in front of them.

"I can't do it guys. I'm sorry." She turned to face her Shadow once more. "I refuse to believe that you're meant to be me. Its not true. You're... not me!"

At that moment, her Shadow began to laugh. Her form slowly changing as Shadows from all over the Cloudiseum began to merge with her. "This feels good. Thanks Rainbow Dash. I'll repay your rejection, with death!" A dark cloud covered the Shadow as her power started growing more and more.

Rainbow Dash flew back to the others. "I'm guessing this is what you guys wanted me to avoid. Well I'll fight alongside you."

"Oh no you won't." Bleeding Heart said as a dark barrier formed around Rainbow Dash. "You have no way of fighting a Shadow. Without a Persona, you will be killed almost instantly."

"Then why is Twilight here?!" As soon as Rainbow Dash asked that question, Twilight's Persona, Shining Star appeared next to her.

"I am Shining Star, Twilight's Persona. Twilight, are you sure you are prepared to face a Shadow?" She floated next to Twilight, ready to tackle whatever was within that cloud of Shadows.

"I'm ready. I know I can help and I am not letting the gift of a Persona go to waste." Twilight stood strong, focussing on the upcoming battle.

The clouds concealing Rainbow Dash's Shadow vanished. They could now see that her coat was now black, her mane and tail were now red and she was clad in a Shadowbolts uniform. "What do you think of me now!? Much cooler than I used to be! Now its time to get rid of yesterday's news." She looked at the three ponies standing there in front of her and floated up into the air. "I am a Shadow, the true self. I bet you can't keep up with my speed!" As soon as she said that, she vanished and appeared next to Bleeding Heart, kicking him in the side and knocking him into the wall of the Cloudiseum.

"What the...?!" Crimson tried stunning her with his magic, but she instantly vanished again.

She reappeared next to Twilight and tried the same thing again. However, before Twilight was sent flying, Shining Star cast a barrier around her to absorb the blow before it vanished, allowing Twilight to run.

"You guys will never be able to catch me." She vanished once more, appearing on top of the judge's cloud.

Bleeding Heart got up and looked straight up at her. "I won't let myself be beaten by another Shadow!" Two dark vortexes appeared in the ground, causing Shadows to emerge and unite with him. A pair of pitch black wings formed on his back and he rose up into the air. "If you want to play with Shadows, then so will I!" He charged straight at Rainbow Dash's Shadow, who just stood there, smirking. Before Bleeding Heart could make contact, she vanished, leaving him floating in the air, wondering where she went.

She then reappeared next to Bleeding Heart and began to taunt him. "Don't you realise that you're never going to beat me. None of your tricks are even cool enough to touch me, let alone hurt me. You are such a waste of time. I should kill you here and now!" She started to fly around him at great speed, which began to form a tornado. Crimson saw that she was focussed on Bleeding Heart, so he aimed carefully and used his magic to launch a huge fireball straight at her. The fire knocked her back and burned a lot of her uniform. "What a cheap shot. You'll pay for that!" She vanished and reappeared next to Crimson. As she tried to launch him into the wall, he used his magic to teleport over to Twilight.

"Twilight. Shining Star. Listen to me. She may be extremely fast, but I figured out her weakness. She can't focus on all three of us. So when she uses that tornado trick on one of us, the others need to attack her." Twilight nodded, ready to act out Crimson's plan. Crimson then ran towards Bleeding Heart to tell him what the plan was, but he was stopped by Rainbow Dash's Shadow. She appeared in front of him, launched him backwards and then vanished once more.

"You can't get away from me that easily!" She appeared next to Crimson as he lied there on his side. "You're not gonna even try to get up? I should just finish you off!" She started to spin around him, forming a tornado once more.

Twilight saw this as the opportunity to strike, so she ran behind Rainbow Dash's Shadow and called Shining Star over to her. They both concentrated and unleashed  a huge beam of light upon her. The force of the magic was so powerful, it knocked her through the wall of the Cloudiseum, leaving a gaping hole in it.

"You think that's enough to stop me?" She climbed back through the hole, her uniform burned to cinders and her coat covered in burn marks and blood. She was about to attack once more, when the real Rainbow Dash shouted out.

"Enough! Stop it now!" She shouted and Bleeding Heart had a feeling he knew what she wanted to do. He walked up to Rainbow Dash and lowered the barrier around her. She then started walking towards her limping Shadow. "Stop the fighting. I have something I need to say." Her Shadow looked up at her, saying nothing at all. "I admit that I feel like the fastest and coolest pony in Equestria. I admit that I sometimes feel like I'm better than the Wonderbolts. I admit that sometimes my friends feel like dead weights, but I won't ever leave them behind. I guess what I'm saying is, you weren't wrong when you said all of those things before. I think I understand things a lot better now. You really are me."

The Shadow in front of her started glowing, the remains of her Shadowbolt uniform vanished into thin air. Her coat changed from pitch black, to a bright yellow. Her mane and tail changed from a deep red to a shining white. She then began to speak. "Rainbow Dash, you have shown the strength of heart required to face oneself. Your courage has unlocked the facade used to face life's hardships. I am Lightning Storm." At that moment, Lightning Storm vanished, a card appearing in her place.

Rainbow Dash picked it up and handed it to Crimson. "What is this thing, Crimson?"

"This is your Persona in the form of the Chariot card." Crimson smiled and handed the card back to her.

"You mean, I have a Persona now, just like Twilight?" She smiled a little. Rainbow Dash was pleased, but something was causing her to feel rather drained.

"Exactly. Now come on. We need to get you out of here. Now that there isn't a Shadow keeping the vortex closed, we can leave this place." Crimson supported her as the four of them started walking back towards the exit. One by one they went through and they arrived back in Crimson's guest room.

After the vortex closed, Rainbow Dash picked up her circlet and held it close to her. "I don't know how to thank you guys. All three of you saved my life."

"You don't need to thank us. Just get some rest. Being in that world for too long without a Persona can really drain you." Crimson helped her into bed and put her circlet on the bedside table.

"I'm glad you're alright, Rainbow Dash. Just do what Crimson says until you've fully recovered." Twilight smiled, while looking at Crimson.

"Today was hard on all of us, but we need to remember that this is far from over. If Crimson and I are correct in our assumptions, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will all be taken into the Shadow's world eventually. We need to keep a close eye on all of them." Bleeding Heart looked out the window for a moment and tried to focus his thoughts.

The others all nodded in agreement. Twilight decided to stay with them until it started getting late. She said her goodbyes and returned to the library. Crimson decided that it would be best if they all went to bed a little early. The two of them left Rainbow Dash to get some rest and went to get some sleep of their own. Next Chapter: More Steps Taken, More Lives Risked Estimated time remaining: 22 Minutes