//-------------------------------------------------------// PERSONA! -by Magatsu Orpheus- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// 54/S, 1015 //-------------------------------------------------------// 54/S, 1015 "So, Rainbow... Care to explain your dynamic entrance?" The tall one with wings and a horn asks. "First off, my name is Colors, secondly, where the Hell am I?!" I yell, understandably very confused by the fact that there are like a hundred other me's with slightly differing appearances. "No, you're either Rainbow Dash or a Changeling with poor acting skills." She says matter-of-factly. "You're wrong, I'm Colors." "No, you're not 'Colors'! You've never been 'Colors'!" "Why you gotta be so stubborn?!" At that moment, another me with long pink hair and yellow fur comes in to break us up. "Calm down! We need to discuss this peacefully. Shouting will get us nowhere." At that point, I was inclined to agree with her. So, we civilly stop bickering, and civilly walk over to a bakery, all the while civilly glaring at each other. "So, Rainbow, could you please explain where you've been the past year?" "Stop callin' me that!" "Sorry. But could you please answer the question?" "I was in the TV World. Well, then I went to the human world, but that was only after a few months." "The human world... I see. But what is this 'Tee-Vee World'?" Interesting. The tall one knows what the human world is, but not what the TV World was. "It's the subconscious of all living creatures given form as a parallel dimension." "...What." Well, she clearly isn't the smart one in her group. "Geez, you dense or something? I said it's the sub-" "I heard what you said! But there's no way such a thing can exist! It's impossible!" "...So that's a yes on the 'dense' thing." "UGH!" After making absolutely no progress, we see it's getting late and decide to call it a day. "So, will I be staying in a hotel, or...?" "You'll be staying in your house." "I don't have a house." "Rainbow Dash's house." "...I'm not her. Why should I-" The tall one seems annoyed at that. "Quit it! You're Rainbow Dash! I know it, everypony knows it! SO QUIT LYING!" She's breathing heavily, and leveling a glare at me. But one thing she said sticks out the most to me... "...'Everypony'?" I manage to stay composed for only a second, quickly breaking down and laughing hysterically. "What? What's so funny about that?" After I manage to compose myself, she wordlessly leads me to the other girl's house (which is amazingly airborne) and lets me in, slamming the door once I walk in. I notice a certain presence I can feel, and decide to try something. A Tarot card appears before me and I slice it with my wing. "Issun-Boshi!" A blue aura surrounds me and I see above me the inch-high samurai himself. My Persona, Issun-Boshi. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Return //-------------------------------------------------------// The Return One might say it was a perfectly average day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the skies were clear... But it, in fact, was anything but a normal day. For you see, Princess Twilight Sparkle had called a meeting in the town square, claiming she had a very important announcement. As for what said very important announcement was, nobody in Ponyville had known save Twilight herself. So, as she took the stage with a forlorn expression on her face, the question on everyone's minds was: What's happened? "Ahem... as you know, a year ago, almost to the day, Rainbow Dash went missing in a mysterious incident." Twilight said, letting everypony know immediately what the subject was. "Unfortunately I must give some bad news. Since Rainbow's disappearance, we've found no hints as to where she could possibly be. The only progress we've made, is that we now know it is unlikely she's anywhere in Equestria or the surrounding countries. But wherever she is, there is nothing more that the government of Equestria, nor our allies Griffonland and Zebrica, can do to find Rainbow Dash. So it is with a heavy heart that I announce, the investigation into the whereabouts of Rainbow Dash has officially ceased. She has been presumed dead as of the 54th of Summer, 1015." The crowd started shouting, not believing that there's any way Rainbow could have simply vanished off the face of the planet. The only ones somewhat calm were her best friends, the Elements of Harmony. They had been more shocked than anything. Surprisingly, the one who seemed most apparently hurt was Rarity. Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact she had never spent much time getting to know Rainbow. Though, that's not to say her other friends were unhurt. Fluttershy was driven to tears. And Pinkie seemed to be in denial. Applejack had tried to seem strong, but if one looked closely, it was obvious she was grieving just as much as the others. "I know it's hard to believe. I know it seems like we're just giving up. But believe me when I say, this is out last resor-" Twilight was cut off by a bright blue light, and a blue door appearing from thin air on the stage, next to her. The door opened, revealing none other than Rainbow Dash, wearing a pair of headphones, connected by a cord to her saddlebags. She opened her eyes, took in her surroundings, and said, "What the Hell...?"