The train ride to Canterlot was taking a lot longer than I expected, especially since I have to take care of my two extremely annoying siblings, Scooter, and his twin sister Sparks. Oh, I'm sorry, I havent properly introduced myself. My name is Crimson Skye, but everypony calls me Sonni. Oh, these things, they're nothing special, just my FLIGHT MACHINES! Errhem... sorry, pegasus pride. Heh...

"Are we there yet" asked Scooter, a young, blue unicorn with a purple and pink mane.

"Shut up, Scooter! You are ruining my beauty sleep." Yelled his twin sister Sparks. She is a little taller than her brother, but definitely equally annoying.

"Keep it quiet, guys, or I'll go all beserko on both of ya'lls blank flanks!" I said, trying to get them to stop fighting.

"Calm your horses Sonni, you have no cutiemark either, remember?" Said Scooter, sarcastically. I slowly exhaled, a little annoyed.

"Just make sure you're on your best behavior once we get to Canterlot. Remember what happened when we visited Uncle Cosmo?" I said, hoping to bump some sense into them. I knew i was expecting the impossible. Asking the twins to behave, pffft, who am I kidding, the closest I've ever gotten them to behave properly was when they sleep, and sometimes they don't even do that right. Well, they are my younger siblings, so I have to love and tolerate them to death.

I know, I know. You're probably asking yourself 'how in the wide, wide kingdom of Equestria is a pegasus related to two unicorns?' Well, the truth is, we're not related at all. I never met my real parents, or at least I don't remember them. I was simply a homeless little filly walking along the streets of Ponyville when Sparks and Scooter met me. They introduced me to their parents and eventually I became part of the family.

I grew up being the odd one out, the outcast. Being the only no-horn winged freak in the family, I was always feeling out of place. Sometimes, when started teaching the twins spells and other forms of magic only unicorns could do, I would fly all the way to the farthest corner of the roof and stare at the clouds, imagining how amazing it would be to soar up into the sky. But every single time I asked , he would just say no. How ironic, a family named "the Skyes" prohibit me from flying into the sky.

One day, when the Skyes were still asleep, I secretly went to the highest point in all of Ponyville, Sundown Peak. Once at the top of the highest cliffside, I braced myself, took a glimpse at the height of the fall, took a deep breath, and without hesitation, took the leap. Down I went, plummeting straight down at an incredible speed. For some strange reason my wings were snapped shut and wouldn't open for the world. Just as I thought my life was coming to an end, I heard a big explosion emanating from behind me. In a split-second, my wings opened up, catching a massive wave of air, which caused the most excruciating pain I have ever felt in my life. At the last moment, when I could literally smell the ground, I managed to level myself and take off, flying at super-fast speeds.

After a long, excitingly amazing flight through Ponyville, I landed back at Sundown Peak. The rush of adrenaline would have caused me to take off again, but something held me back. A massive rainbow, the full spectrum, flew over my mane in a majestically colorful way. The happiness that filled my heart was so great that without hesitation I looked down to my flank, but to my dismay, no cutiemark.

"Crimson!" Yelled Scooter, popping straight out of my flashback. "My sister is being a total jerk."

"No I am not!" Replied Sparks, blazing in red hot fury.

"I don't even wanna know." I exhaled, not wanting to take any part whatsoever in their never-ending sibling warfare.

"Dear passengers, we are approaching our final destination, the Canterlot Grand Station." Said the conductor in a very monotone tone of voice.

"You hear that guys, we're almost there." I said, hoping that it would shut them up. Surprisingly enough, it actually did. They instantly turned as silent as silence itself. It all seemed too good to be true, so I turned back to see what was happening. That was when I noticed why they were so quiet. Out in the distance stood the massive towers of the Canterlot castle, protruding from the side of a colossal mountain.

"Wow..." Exclaimed the twins.

"It is pretty impressive, isn't it?" I said, trying to sound as serious as possible while looking at the amazing beauty of the majestic city of Canterlot.

"Oh my word! Oh My Word! OHMYWORD!" Said Sparks, contemplating the awesomeness of the incredibly huge Canterlot Grand Station.

"Hey, look! They have restaurants, IN THE STATION ITSELF!" Yelled Scooter, running from booth to booth, trying to get as much free samples as possible.

"Dumb Scooter, you are always thinking of food. A sophisticated pony would-"

"Sonni, Sparks is trashtalking me again!" Complained Scooter.

"Sparkiana Nicole Skye, apologize to your brother this instant!" I commanded in the most parental way possible.

"Make me..." She replied, insultingly.

"Fine, have it your way." I said with a mischievous grin on my face. In less than a second, I had taken Sparks all the way up to one of the support beams. That's one of the perks of being the only pegasus in the family, I am the only one who can fly. "How about now?"

"No!" She screamed. I flew her up even higher.

"Now?" I said.

"NO!" She replied. I took her up higher.

"How about now!?"

"Crimson Jedediah Skye, put me DOWN!"

"Umm, lemme think about it, NO!"

"Ugh, you're such a bully."

"Umm... , is that you up there?" Asked a strong, masculine voice from down below me. Just then, a sudden rush of embarrassment hit me so hard, I could have fallen over. I gently brought Sparks down and fixed my mane. I then cleared my throat and introduced myself.

"Hi, my name is Crimson Jedediah Skye, and you are? Wait a minute, whoa! Yo-you're S-Ste-Steelwing!" I stuttered, realizing who has called my name.

"The one and only..." Said him, the fastest pony on the face of Equestria. Some ponies say that he is the first and only pony able to move faster than light itself.

"Th-this is such an honor… wait, is it really true that you can fly so fast that not even light can catch up to you?" I asked excitingly.

"So, you've heard the rumors?" He replied, with a question instead of an answer.

"You're only like the most popular pony in all of Equestria!" I yelled, not realizing that I was making a fool of myself in the midst of all these upper-class ponies.

"I'm flattered, really, but there is much more important matters at hoof." Said Steelwing, looking a bit nervous.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, a little confused.

"You have heard of the legend, right?" He said, looking even more nervous than before.

"What legend are you talking about." This time fully confused.

"The Legend of the Dragon Knight"

"Excuse me, did you say dragon knight?" I asked.

"Hold on, I know somepony who can help explain this better than I can. She a real nice unicorn, one of Celestia's best students, by that matter. She's really smart, just like you… ." Said Steelwing.

"Honor Roll, huh? (pause) So you'ved read my records?"

"You are a very talented Pegasus, ."

"Please, call me Sonni."

"The Canterlot Library?! Out of all them wonderful and awesome places we could go to, we go to the library! You all are lame." Complained Scooter. He's never liked libraries, especially big classy ones like this. To him that just means extra boredom.

"This is the reason we came to Canterlot in the first place, so deal with in and SHUT UP!" I commanded.

"I hope she's still here. She came from Ponyville at short notice and might have been a bit too stressed." Said Steelwing.

"Hold on, she's from Ponyville too?" I asked.

"Yes, and what do you know, that's her right over there!" He pointed towards a young, studious purple unicorn, paying her undivided attention to a book she has on her hooves. Next to her stood a small dragon.

"Twilight Sparkle, it's been such a long time since the last time I saw you!" said Steelwing, while possessing a big, friendly smile.

"Stee! Is that really you? My you've grown a lot since the last time we met." Said the unicorn.

"Likewise, but can I see that your study habits haven't changed a bit… and is that Spike?"

"Hi , it's a pleasure to see you again" said the dragon in a very polite manner. Wow, I thought to myself, a dragon with manners, that's not something you see every day.

"Umm… Stee? Who's that?" said the unicorn, pointing her hoof straight towards me.

"Oh, him, I forgot to introduce him to you. This is Crimson Jedediah Skye, the pony I told you about." Said Steelwing, introducing me. Then the unicorn trotted towards me and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Crimson." She said.

"The pleasure is all mine, and please, call me Sonni." I replied in the friendliest way possible.

"Shall we get going, we have a lot of explaining to do." Suggested Steelwing.

Once we got inside the library, Twilight asked Spike to get a certain book in order to fully explain what Steelwing couldnt.

"Wheres Spike, he's been taking an awful lot of time looking for that book of yours, Twilight." Said Steelwing.

"I'll go check on him." I said, hoping to do something else than sit around in utter boredom.

"Found it!" yelled Spike, holding a bright, orange book entitled 'The Legend of the Dragon Knight'. I guess I don't have to go looking for him after all. Spike then brought the book to the table, "Here you go, Twilight."

"Thanks Spike. Alright, we've called you over to Canterlot because it seem Equestria is on the brink of destruction. Based on the legends," she said, opening the book and going straight towards a certain page with such confidence that it was obvious that she had read this before, "Near the end of time, evil will be awoken, but will be defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Thanks to me and my friends, we don't have to worry about that one. What we have to worry about are the lines that follow, which state that one day the Elements of Harmony will be destroyed by a greater evil than ever faced before." She paused for a moment, then went on. "There are some good news about this whole 'end of Equestria' thing. The legend says that a new set of elements will rise up, such elements that represent Equestria from even before the kingdom was even formed. These elements, called the Elementals will be led by the powerful Dragon Knight, the controller of the powerful element of fire. These powerful elements will unite with the Elements of Harmony, creating incredible power that will get rid of this terrible evil. "

"I don't understand, why am I here?" I asked. There isn't really anything an orphaned Pegasus could do to save the fate of Equestria.

"We have examined you're records, Crimson. You were chosen by Celestia herself to aid in this quest for the Dragon Knight." He paused for a second. "She hoof-picked Equestria's finest, wait until you meet the rest at the Royal Assembly"

Celestia arranged for me and the twins to stay at the Canterlot Royale Suite, or the "royal sweet", as Scooter calls it. It was AMAZING, with a heated pool, king sized beds with the softest pillows, and don't even get me started on the view.

"Hey Sonni, you'll never guess what I just found!" yelled Scooter, entering the room with a sudden burst of excitement. We originally asked him to look for ice, but we were certain that he would get off task.

"Lemme guess," said Sparks, grinning, "It's the Royal Food Court, isn't it?" There was a hint of sarcasm on her voice.

"Hey, I heard that they make the best enchiladas in Equestria here, I couldn't miss such a thing." He said, once again trailing off in his own little food-related fantasy.

"All you EVER think of is food!" yelled Sparks.

"Guys, stop it, both of you." I said, even before Scooter said a word to Sparks. "If you two fight, or argue, or do anything by that matter, I will fly you both to opposite sides of Canterlot!" That shut them up.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A gentle tap, repeatedly knocking in a zesty beat.

"Messege for Mr. Crimson Jedediah Skye and company" said a voice from outside.

"That's us!" I said cheerfully as I opened the door. Outside stood a small little pegasus in a royal uniform. His loud, strong, low-pitched masculine voice did not match his small size.

"Princess Celestia requires your attendance at the Royal Courtroom. It is imperative you attend. This is concerning a legend of this so-called Dragon Knight."

"I will be right there." I promised, turning around to face the twins. "Guys, get ready, we have to go."

The courtroom was huge! Mosaics covered the walls, giant chandeliers hung over my mane, and the floor was tiled in beautiful designs, making one feel as if inside a painting, a beautiful work of art, finely crafted to symbolize the nature and beauty of Equestria.

The room was full of many different ponies. Some were pegasi, some were unicorns, but most were land ponies. Out in the distance, I could see Twilight Sparkle. Great, a familiar face in the midst of all these strangers. I trotted towards her, the twins following obediently behind me. Wow, what a shocker. As I reached the spot where she was located, I noticed that she had saved three seats, one for each of us.

"Hi Sonni, I'm glad you could make it. Now that you're here, let me introduce you to my friends, the ones I talked about before. Do you remember?" asked Twilight, motioning towards three ponies sitting next to her.

"Yes, how could I forget the powerful Elements of Harmony, who fearlessly defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and the terrible King Sombra. Yeah, I've heard of them, you ponies are legendary!" I said, showing my eagerness to meet these amazing ponies.

"Alright girls, I would like you to meet Crimson Jedediah Skye." Said Twilight, shoving me towards the group. "Alrighty then… Sonni, meet Applejack."

"Howdy there partner!" said an orange land pony wearing a cowpony hat while waving my hoof up and down in a polite Equestrian hoofshake.

"Nice to meet you." I said to the kind land pony.

"Crimson, I would now like to introduce you to Rarity." Said Twilight, dragging me over to a well-dressed unicorn with the nicest looking mane I have ever seen.

"Salutations," she said, "it is an absolute joy to meet you, Mr. Skye.

"Please, call me Sonni." I said, correcting her. The term 'Mr. Skye' makes me feel old.

"Alright, moving on. This cheerful pony over here is Pinkie Pie, the life of the party, isn't that right Pinkie?" she said wile dragging me over towards a very happy land pony with a pink, curly mane.

"Ohmyword, ,eherm,ImeanSonni,heehee!MynameisPinkaminaDianePie, ,itsapleasuretomeetyou, ,Iknowprettymucheverypony, , 'renotmyfriendthatwouldmakeme realsad,andyoudon'twannamakemesad,doyou,huh,doyou…DOYOU?!"

"Erhem, sorry about that, Sonni, she kinda gets overly excited. Let me introduce you to somepony a bit more… how do I put this… quiet." She paused for a second, taking a look around. "Umm… Fluttershy, come here sweetie, I have someone I want you to meet." Down from underneath a table came out a yellow pegasus with a pink, flowing mane. She looked at me, and then blushed, turning away timidly.

"Hi there!" I said in the friendliest tone of voice. The pegasus turned back towards me, but tried to hide between herself, like a scared puppy, bringing her head down in a shy, but awkwardly cute kinda way. Then she looked up, her mane covering her left eye.

"Umm... hi…" she said is a tone that sounded more like a whimper than a greeting. "I… I'm…Fluttershy…" she then said in a soft, sweet voice.

"Now last but not least, I want you to meet…" she paused, looking around, as If she had lost something. "Umm… where's Rainbow Dash?"

Just then, an incredibly fast gust of wind zipped through the middle of the room, soaring over our manes, leaving behind a multi-colored trail, such that resembled a rainbow. Then, suddenly it stopped, sending papers and other debris flying everywhere, and there standing before us was a blue pegasus pony with a rainbow-colored mane wearing jet-black shades.

"You called?" she said, looking at Twilight, lowering down her shades like them Follywood movie star ponies.

"By a matter of fact, yes I did... showoff." Said Twilight, a bit annoyed. Then she turned towards me. "Crimson Skye, I would like you to meet Rainbow Dash."

"What up Mr. Skye?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Please, call me Sonni." I said. How many times do we have to go through this!

Just a minute after, trumpets started playing, announcing the entrance of her majesty Princess Celestia. As she walked towards the pedestal, everypony kneeled down, bowing in reverence to the princess.

"You make take a seat." Said her majesty. As if under a spell, everypony sat down simultaneously.

"Shhh, the ceremony's about to start!" said Twilight, rocking back and forth in her seat, paying close attention to what Princess Celestia was about to say. Little did she, or any of us, notice that in the shadows were a pair of eyes that were watching our every move, creeping in and around the most unexpected corners…

The assembly took less time than I expected it would. Celestia divided the audience of over a hundred ponies into groups of twelve, in order to cover more land in this quest for the 'Dragon Knight'. Luckily, I was placed in a group where I knew pretty much everypony. Our group was made up of me and the twins, Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Steelwing and his friend, a pegasus named Stratosphere, and shy, sky-blue unicorn named Aquamarine.

"So, where do we look first, I'm thirsting for adventure!" said Rainbow Dash, looking a bit too excited. Twilight told me that she liked adventure, but I didn't think she was obsessed.

"I think we should use the legend itself as a guide, that way we could find the 'Dragon Knight' easily." Twilight was making a good point, the more we know about the 'Dragon Knight', the easier it'll be to find him, and the best place to find information about the legend is…

"Please don't tell me we're going to the library again." Said Scooter, highly disapproving.

"Well, I do suggest we go to the Canterlot Library. It's one of the largest of its kind, so there's bound to be a lot of information on the legend." Suggested Twilight.

Everypony agreed that it was a good idea. Everypony but Scooter. As we trotted through the streets of Canterlot, we discovered that it was rush hour, that there was no way of going through the high amount of ponies, desperate to find food before their lunch break comes to an end. We all then came to a consensus, deciding to take a shortcut through the alleyways of the city. There was one slight problem. After every single step I took, I felt the awkward feeling that something was watching us"

"Is it just me, or does it feel like we're being followed" I asked nervously. Everypony looked at me like if I were crazy. Then, in less than an instant, a dark, shadowy body rushed behind us at an amazing speed.

"Whoa! Did anypony else see that!?" Asked Pinkie Pie, terrified, causing everypony to around frantically. Then we saw them. Hidden in a corner, so far away from us that I could barely even see them, stood two shadows, or at least that's what they looked like. If I were to go into deep description, I would say that they looked like normal ponies, only pitch-black, with shadowy smoke emanating from their extremities and were their mane should be. As one of them noticed that we were watching them, it grinned, showing countless rows of razor-sharp teeth. Then it darted towards us.

"I suggest we RUN!" screamed Rarity, blasting off faster than I could respond. In a split-second we were all running, as fast as we could. I looked to my right to see Rainbow Dash flying right next to me, yet I was running. Apparently the sudden rush of fear that filled my body made me forget that I had wings, but before I could take off flying, I heard a high pitched shriek coming from behind me. I looked back to find out that the shadows were catching up to us, jumping from wall to wall, leaping from building to building. Then, one of them managed to jump over us, landing in front of us, blocking our only exit. We were surrounded, with no plan of escape, until I came up with one. Hopefully she'll say yes.

"Twilight!" I yelled, "Do you know any teleportation spells?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid the magic is only limited to one pony." She replied while the shadows began to move closer, growling, revealing large claws and sharp fangs, locking their eyes straight towards us. That was the worst part. Their eyes, like a snake's, penetrated through one's body faster than a dual-edge sword.

"Come on Twilight, just try!" I said, keeping my eyes on the beast moving closer and closer, like a lion hunting its prey, only now, we are the prey.

"I-I can't, my magic is not THAT powerful." She said, trashtalking herself.

"Twilight, you're the most talented unicorn I know, please, give it a shot. Do it for us, Twilight. Do it… for me." I said, the shadow right next to me now, it's hot, fiery breath stroking my mane.

"I-I'll try." Said Twilight. Closing her eyes, she began to cast her spell. She tried, but only a few sparks came out. She then sighed in disappointment.

"Try again, I believe in you, Twilight. I know you can do it." I said, putting all my confidence on her capabilities on performing that spell. The shadows were now basically on top of us. Closing her eyes, she tried once again, and once again, only a few sparks came out, but then she tried harder, and harder, until rays of light started pouring out of her horn, facing every direction. Just then, a strong wind filled blew between us, intimidating the shadow monsters. I looked back towards Twilight, noticing that a big, extremely bright white orb appeared just a few inches from her horn, and was getting larger gradually. She then started to hover, releasing a massive amount of light. As the orb became larger, a tear came out of her eye, blown away by the wind. The shadows then came back, I could see them in the distance, this time, they brought friends. Hurry Twilight, I thought to myself as the shadows got closer.

Just then, Twilight was surrounded by purple and blue beams of bright light and began to hover into the air. She slowly opened her eyes, which glowed in blinding white light. Beams of light began to surround me as well. Then, all out of the sudden, the floor vanished and everypony fell, fell down, straight down unto the floors of the Canterlot Library. The fall hurt, a lot, but at least we were far away from those horrible monsters.

"Is everypony okay?" asked Stratosphere, rubbing his leg in pain.

"Ouch…" I heard from behind me.

"Has anypony seen my hat?" asked Applejack.

"You mean this ugly- err… unique little thing?" said Rarity, holding Applejack's hat away from her body as if it was some sort of rancid fruit.

"There you go again insulting my belongings!" said Applejack, suddenly jerking her hat away from Rarity, adjusting it over her mane.

"Girls, please, stop fighting." Said Fluttershy quietly, so quiet that only I heard her, and that was because she had fallen on me. "Oh, my bad. I'm so sorry, are you alright?" she said, as she noticed that she was squishing the living pulp out of me.

As I stood up, I looked around, keeping head count. "One," i said counting myself, "two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven…" I couldn't find Twilight anywhere. "Umm, guys, have anypony seen Twilight?"

Everypony then looked around, looking for the missing unicorn, but to our dismay, Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be found.

"Twilight!" "Twilight!" Twiiiiiliiiiight!" we all yelled, searching for the missing unicorn.

"She should be somewhere around here." Said Stratosphere. "Its virtually impossible she could've gotten too far. I mean, we all fell around the same area."

"Great, just when things start to get good, we lose the only pony able to understand the legend." Said Scooter, disappointed.

Then, out in the distance, within the farthest reaches of the library, I noticed a purple unicorn, pacing back in forth in terror.

"Twilight!" I said happily. The unicorn heard me, turned around to face me, stared at me for a second, then darted away, running at full speed. "Huh? Twilight, get back here!" I said, and without hesitation, flew after her.

"Twilight, what are you doing?" I said as I caught up to her. She did not stop, instead she ran faster, as if she were trying to get away from me. What did I do wrong? I need answers, and she's gonna give them to me. I flew even faster. "Twilight, stop running!" She would not stop, so I did what was needed to be done. I noticed an empty table so I flew towards it, charging at full speed. As I approached the table, I rapidly switched directions, bouncing off the table, and at an incredible speed, I tackled the unicorn straight towards one of the bookcases. Books were scattered in every direction, making a huge mess.

I came out from beneath a large pile of books, spitting out an encyclopedia that got stuck in my mouth because of the force of the impact. "Twilight, what in the name of Equestria were you thinking?!" Twilight, who was laying on the floor, slowly turned around to look at me, her stare was confused, as if she had no idea what I was talking about.

"Umm…" she replied. Then I realized I was being a jerk. Twilight just saved us from being mauled by those crazy monsters, I should be happy that has returned. Only that she didn't look quite the same as the Twilight I know. Her mane was a pale shade of purple, instead of the vibrant violet mane she used to have. Her eyes, her eyes were a different story. They were no longer those beautiful purple eyes, always focused and determined, but instead they were a dull shade of grey, replacing her attentive and dedicated look with a blank, confused stare. I reached towards her head with my right hoof and slowly stroked her mane, removing a loose strand of hair covering her left eye.

"Twilight," I spoke to her once again, this time with a soft gentle voice, "are you okay?" She just looked at me with that blank and confused stare.

Then, with a scared and defenseless glance, she moved back and said "Who's Twilight?"

"Twilight, honey, don't you recognize me?" Asked Applejack, trying to prove me wrong.

"Umm… I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have never seen you in my entire life." Answered Twilight, looking so confused that if I didn't know she was her, I would have mistook her for somepony else.

"See, I told you, she can't remember anything." I said, proving my point.

"You poor thing!" Murmured Rarity, squeezing Twilight in her hooves as if she would never see her again.

"Umm… Twilight. Do you, umm… by any chance, umm… remember me?" Asked Spike, his energetic green eyes meeting Twilight's dull, gray eyes, as if he were about to cry.

"No, I-I don't seem to remember anything." She said, with no emotion in her voice, as if she was just a machine, with no feelings, no emotions… no soul.

Then it all made sense. No… soul...

"Steelwing, come with me." I said, trotting over towards the history section of the library. When we got there, I instantly turned towards a section titled "Ancient Equestria", looked under the F column, and pulled out a freakishly large, dark-orange or light brown, beat up book entitled 'Forgotten Kingdoms of Pre-Equestrian Times'.

"Yes! They have it." I exclaimed in victory. "Umm… Steelwing, I'm gonna need your help carrying this book, its kinda he-heavy." I said, struggling to carry the gigantic brown book. He instantly leaped over to assist me. We then brought the book over to where the rest were. If only this book wasn't so heavy, I thought to myself while a streak of sweat tickled down the center of my face, making its way right between my eyes. We then put the book down on the table very carefully, but Steelwing sneezed, loosing grip of the book, causing it to fall, and with a loud thud, crush my right front hoof.

"Ahghghgg!" I screamed in pain as I tried to lift the book from my poor little hoof, who was already tired from all that running away from monsters and tackling runaway unicorns.

"Im so sorry!" said Steelwing, but by the way he was giggling, I could tell that he wasn't.

"It's all g-good." I said, a tear sliding down from my left eye. Then without hesitation, I flipped through the hefty pages of the giant book, gently rubbing my hoof in misery, until I finally found the page I was looking for.

"The Shadow Clan?" asked Stratosphere, reading the inscription that stood out in big, bold letters.

"I have a feeling that this is the cause of all the terrible things that have been happening. It all made since after Spike asked Twilight if she remembered him. Listen up everypony," I said, turning my attention towards the big book, "what I am about to say will clear all existing doubts of this strange situation. It says here that ten thousand years ago, when the kingdom of Equestria was nonexistent, the world was controlled by three clans. There was the Earth Clan, protectors of land, the Sky Clan, conquerors of the heights, and lastly, the Water Clan, guardians of the seas. One day, a small group of shadows started rising to power. Over time, the dark group began to expand, becoming more and more powerful, and eventually, under the rule of a Shadow Princess, they started taking over the other clans. These groups of evil conquerors called themselves the fourth clan, but are often referred to as the Shadow Clan. They were highly powerful, and their harsh and cruel techniques were exceedingly successful in the conquering of other clans. They soon took over a large piece of land, covering the entire span of modern Equestria. Their rule over this land was dark and depressing, mostly because of the fact that in every place the Shadow Clan conquered, its inhabitants were forced to work for the princess. But wait, that's not even the worst part, it says here that if somepony decided to not do his job or if one was no longer useful, its soul was removed and given to the princess as a source of power."

"Are you suggesting that Twilight's strange behavior is caused by this old mare's tale of a magical shadow clan that gobbles up souls? You have to be kidding me." Said Steelwing in disbelief.

"Well, all the evidence is pointing towards this 'Shadow Clan' Crimson was telling us about. The monsters that chased us seem awfully similar to those in that legend." Said Aquamarine, who hasn't said a thing all day until just now.

"Sadly, I think she's right. If there is any sort of evil force trying to keep us from finding the Dragon Knight, it seems a little too much like the Shadow Clan this legend speaks of." I said with a hint of desperation on my tone.

"If Twilight lost her soul, how is she still alive?" asked Sparks.

"Because her soul hasn't been consumed yet." I said, reading the book. "It says here that after a pony's soul has been extracted from his or her body, it was then stored in a so-called 'Cauldron of Judgment', where it would sit until the princess is ready to devour it."

"That doesn't answer my question." Said Sparks, rolling her eyes. If only my sister was less insisting. I exhaled, skimming through the pages of the book, looking for a logical explanation to all of this.

"Aha! It then says later on that when the ponies were stripped away from their souls, the remaining soul-less bodies were then used as mindless slaves." I said, a little disturbed.

"Excuse me, but did you just call me a mindless slave?!" said Twilight, clearly insulted.

"No, I mean yes, I mean… you're misunderstanding, I didn't mean to-" I paused for a second. "You know what, forget it, we have no time to waste, and arguing is getting us nowhere close to getting your soul back."

"And how do we do that?" Asked Rainbow Dash. Great, I thought to myself, the one time somepony asks me a question that I don't know the answer to just so happens to be the way to save another pony's life. I then turned to my best and greatest friend, the one I know won't let me down… books. I scrolled through the pages until I found something that looked like it might help, but sadly, I was a bit too late…

Just when I thought things could not get worse, they did. As I read through the book, I heard a shocked voice from behind me. It was Applejack.

"Twilight? Sugarcube, wake up." Having no idea of what was going on; I curiously turned around to find Twilight lying motionless on the floor, surrounded by her friends, who stood there, looking down at the still unicorn with depression and sorrow.

"What's going on?" I asked, extremely confused and worried at the same time. Then Applejack walked towards me, taking of her hat and sliding towards her chest in a sign of defeat. I knew what was going on, but I chose not to believe it. It just can't be. This cannot be happening. Applejack then looked up, tears on her face.

"Crimson…" she said. "Twilight, she won't wake up. We've tried everythin' but she just ain't wakin' up." My gaze instantly flew towards Twilight's frozen body. It just can't be true.

"Check her pulse!" I said, my heart skipping countless beats. Steelwing rushed towards Twilight, knelt down, and reached for her right-front hoof. He sighed, closing his eyes in disappointment. This is not a good sign, I thought to myself. "Is she alright?" I asked. Steelwing looked up at me, and shaked his head.

"I'm afraid not… I am so sorry." In that moment, my heart shaped in two, my legs gave out and I fell down, straight to the ground, crying in utter agony.

"Crimson." Said Scooter, trying to comfort me. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"No its not!" I replied between tears. "Twilight is dead, and it's all because of me!" I paused for a second. "If only I hadn't told her to do that spell, if only I would've sucked my fear and faced those monsters, she would be still with us." I stopped to catch my breath, then slowly and quietly said, "I'm sorry, Twilight. It's all my fault… all my fault… all… my….. fault…"

I then broke out into a pool of tears for so long until I eventually lost track of time. Twilight is dead and it is all my fault. Those nine horrible words kept on mocking me, beating me up, until finally I was left helpless, demolished, crying beside a dead body. Not just any dead body, Twilight Sparkle's dead body. Then, involuntarily, I looked forward unto Twilight's dull, motionless corpse. As I moved closer to Twilight's face, I whispered the words. "I love you…"

Time flew by as I cried below the dead unicorn

"Crimson, we should go." Steelwing suggested. I looked up at him, then down at Twilight, desperately searching for options. There wasn't much I could do. Then it hit me. The perfect idea.

"I got it!" I yelled. "You might think I'm crazy when I say this, but we have to go to the same place these monsters came from. We HAVE to get Twilight's soul back.

"Are you nuts, we don't wanna end up like her!" complained Sparks.

"It's the only way to bring Twilight back, or at least that's what im hoping. It would be a shame if we were to risk our lives for nothing."

"Wanna know what I think. I think you're CRAZY!" She said. "Risking all our lives for a girl! You've lost it this time, Crimson, big time."

"Well, that's the least we could do, she saved all of our lives. So, what do ya'll say? Are ya'll in?" I asked.

"Umm… I don't think it's a good idea to go to the horrible, horrible place were those scary monsters came from." Said Fluttershy, shivering in horror.

"If it means saving Twilight, then we go no matter what." I said.

"That a little drastic, don't you think?" Said Steelwing, looking as terrified as Fluttershy. He then glanced at me and smiled. "But I have to say, it takes a lot of courage to think of doing such a thing. I might even say that you have the chivalry of a royal knight."

"Thank you, but I'm just doing this to save a friend. You all would've done the same thing. It was my fault, and I'm going to fix it, or die trying." I said, opening the book. "It says here that the Shadow Clan was on the brink of being ultimately defeated by the united forces of all three clans, called the Threefold Clan , but when Threefold Clan's troops were finally reaching the shadows capital, the city of Eclipse, it randomly fell apart, turning to ashes. The entire city was mysteriously destroyed, leaving behind a hollow, pitch black mountain flooded with caves. Nopony knows what happened to the Shadow Clan, but everypony that has ever entered the ruins of the city of Eclipse has inexplicably vanished, and was never heard of again."

"And you expect us to go in there?" Asked Applejack, scared stiff.

"Precisely." I answered. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Sign me up. Cant wait to do away with this 'Shadow Clan'!" Said Rainbow Dash, swinging her hooves into the air as if she were fighting with an imaginary boxer.

"It's settled then. Pack your things, guys; we are going to the forgotten ruins of the city of Eclipse." I said, taking in the fact that this was definitely the craziest thing I have ever decided to do in my entire life...

The city was a lot spookier than I had ever imagined. Everything was either pitch-black or a deep shade of grey. The smell of ashes filled the air in an overpowering and suffocating manner. There were sharp, pointy rocks protruding from the buildings, and for some strange reason I kept getting the eerie feeling of being watched.

"Talk about mayor creepy." I heard Rarity say. "This 'Shadow Princess' obviously needs classes in home décor." She wasn't wrong, the city did feel as if it was a ghost, coming back from the dead to haunt us.

"Everypony watch out, we have a large gaping pit here!" said Steelwing. He and Stratosphere were leading the pack, as I was falling in behind them, carrying motionless Twilight.

"Are we there yet?" Asked Scooter.

"Yeah, what he said. Ugh, my hooves are getting DIRTY! Whose idea was it to come to this filthy place anyway? Oh, that's right, it was yours!" Complained Sparks sarcastically. Whose idea was it to bring the twins to this filthy place anyway? I thought to myself, letting out a faint chuckle.

"She's right, this place is disgusting!" complained Rarity.

"And I'm hungry!" Complained Scooter.

"And tired…" Complained Sparks.

"WOULD YOU STOP WHINING!" said Rainbow Dash, who was obviously as aggravated as I was.

"Relax, everypony." I said, trying to keep my temper. "It seems we have finally made it." Spike was right beside me, holding a handwritten copy of one of the articles from the big, brown book. He cleared his throat, letting out a small flame, and then proceeded to read the paper.

"It says here that the 'Cauldron of Judgment', which is where the souls lie until the Princess is ready to consume them, is located at the center of the city, straight at the heart of the Eclipse Castle." He said, pointing his claw towards a large mountain rising up from the center of the city. The massive mountain was jagged in many areas and covered with many different caves, resembling a slice of Swiss cheese. It was the most terrifying and unwelcoming structure in the entire city.

As we entered the castle, we were hit by a sudden rush of cold air. I could see absolutely nothing, not even when my hooves where right in front of my face.

"Rarity?" I asked.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Do you know any light spells?" I asked, hoping she would say yes.

"I'm afraid not." She said. I could hear the despair in her voice.

"What?!" I replied, shocked.

"I'm sorry Crimson, really, but I only know spells to expand light, but I can't create it." Explained the unicorn.

"I know a spell that can create light." I heard a soft, timid voice say. Suddenly a huge spark of light filled the room. I looked to see who had cast the spell. It was Aquamarine, who had remained so quiet that I forgot that we had brought her with us. But the spellcaster's identity wasn't the only thing that was revealed by the light. All around us stood what seemed to be an endless wave of shadow monsters. We were completely surrounded. There was absolutely no way out. Then, a large, dark smoke encircled us, and then, everything went spiraling down into obscure nothingness.

I don't know what happened, but I woke up in the middle of a large, white room. My vision was blurry, but I could see that there was somepony or something in front of me.
"Crimson… Crimson…. Crimson…" I heard a soft, sweet, familiar voice call my name. As my vision cleared up, I found myself standing right in front of Twilight Sparkle, her coat as vibrant as ever. She was standing there before me, smiling. "Wake up, sleepyhead." She said, her gentle voice echoing through the corners of the pure white room, a room so blank, that the only spot of color happened to be us two, me and Twilight.
"Twi-Twilight? I, I thought you were-"
"Dead? Don't be silly, I'm standing right in front of you. Just remember, Sonni, things aren't always as they seem." Then she slowly vanished, disappearing into the whiteness of the room.
"Twilight, Twilight come back… don't leave me… not again." I don't quite remember how, but I somehow found myself in a cold, rough floor. I looked around, trying to make since out of what just happened. It must have been a dream, I thought to myself, examining the properties of the room. It was a dark, gloomy room scattered with large, gray boulders. The air was humid and the room was awfully cold. The room was also creepily silent. The only sound in the room was that of a leaking boulder, up in the ceiling. I could fly up there, but there was nothing I could do to stop the water from hitting the cold, marble floor.
"Whe-Where am I?" I asked to myself, not realizing that I was speaking out loud, instead of keeping my thoughts inside my head. Things aren't always as they seem. Twilight's words circled around my head, baffling me, making my mind go in all sorts of different directions. "What could she have meant by 'not always as they seem'. Is it possible? Is it possible that she is still alive?"
"Dude, stop talking to yourself, its creeping me out." Said a low, rough female voice.
"Terra, be nice." Said a softer, more tender tone of voice. I turned around to see two land ponies. One was tall and brawny, with a brown coat and a jet-black, messy mane. The other was a lot smaller, but looked about the same age as the big one. She had a lighter colored brown coat with a flowing, hazel colored mane, which had green and yellow highlights. She also had a big, red flower on her ear.
"Hi, my name is Flora." Said the smaller pony. "And this is my sister, Terra. What's your name?"
I didn't trust them quite yet, so I came up with a made up name off the top of my head. "My name is Speedy Flame."