Rarity had completely forgotten about the advice the others had given her. She was too focussed on her dresses. It had been six days since they had visited her with that warning. That night, she put down her red glasses, locked up her back room and went to bed. She expected to wake up in her bed, so she could resume her dress making. Instead, she woke up in complete darkness, a loud cackle echoing all around her.

"Where am I? What's going on? Somepony help me!" Rarity screamed. She had completely forgotten that this would happen to her. As she tried to figure out where she was, she could feel something was standing in front of her. She just didn't know what it was.

"Oh Rarity, such noise isn't becoming of a mare like you now is it?" The voice chuckled. He enjoyed tormenting ponies and he felt that Rarity was an easy target.

"How dare you! I am a sophisticated mare and I expect to be treated as such." She glared at whatever was in front of her, which only made it chuckle even louder.

"You honestly think that, don't you? That you're the perfect lady. So well-mannered. So poised. So generous. Well you'll soon have to face the cold hard truth. I think I'm going to enjoy this." He stopped laughing as a vortex opened up beneath Rarity's hooves.

She started to feel herself sinking and screamed, only for her mouth to be covered by a phantasmal hoof. "No need to scream. Everything will be alright, after you face your true self. That is, if you survive." He laughed manaically as the last of Rarity's body sank through the vortex, sending her to her own Shadow's domain.

Crimson and Bleeding Heart finally managed to arrive, but all they were greeted by, was the same entity that had welcomed them twice before. "You two really enjoy being late, don't you?" The mysterious creature began to float in circles around the pair of them.

"That's not important. Tell us what you did with Rarity!" Crimson shouted out, not knowing what direction to look in.

"Seriously? Are you that dense?" He laughed at Crimson, trying to cause him to lash out. "Surely you know what I did. I simply led Rarity to her Shadow. She's now going to encounter the truth within that heart of her's. Maybe she'll live. Maybe not."

"How can you be entertained by this?! You're nothing but a monster!" Bleeding Heart shouted. Even he was beginning to lose his composure.

"A monster? Well perhaps I am, but what does that make you, Bleeding Heart? Have you not yet considered who I am?"

"I know you're a Shadow, but that doesn't mean you're anything like me. I'm not a cold-hearted psychopath. Not anymore." He stood strong, not wanting to let the Shadow in front of him bring him down.

"Oh, if only you knew the truth." He laughed again and another vortex opened up in the floor.

The pair of them began to fall through, not bothering to resist anymore. They knew that he had information, but wasn't going to tell them that easily. The two of them lost consciousness as the last of their bodies passed through the vortex.

Crimson woke up to see his room empty. He climbed out of bed and went to go and look for Bleeding Heart. Walking down the hallway, he heard a noise coming from the study. It sounded like the rustling of a page. He opened the door to see Bleeding Heart looking through the journal. "Why are you looking in there?"

Bleeding Heart did not move and continued looking through the pages of memories. "There's something about what he said to us. If we only knew the truth. I have a feeling, I know what he meant, but the answer must lie in here somewhere." He continued to flick through the pages, looking for any possible answer, only to find nothing that stood out.

"That isn't important right now. We need to go and save Rarity!" Crimson smacked him round the face with the journal, trying to knock some sense into him. "Now come on. Lets wake up Rainbow Dash, find Twilight and get over to the Carousel Boutique as soon as we can."

Bleeding Heart stood up and walked out the door, Crimson walking behind him. "You're right, Crimson. Lets go!" He knocked on the guest bedroom door only to see Rainbow Dash charge out of it.

"You heard Rarity in your dream too? Come on. She's in danger!" She flew downstairs and waited by the front door. The pair of them nodded at each other and followed her downstairs.

Once they all knew what the plan was, they ran to Twilight's library. After a few minutes of running, they arrived at the door, only to see a note written on it, addressed to Crimson. He looked at it and read it out loud. "Went to Carousel Boutique. Meet me there." The three of them didn't waste any time and continued running to the Carousel Boutique.

As soon as they arrived, they saw that the door was wide open, they ran in and found Twilight standing there. "I'm glad you're here. I assume you all had the same dream as I did." The three of them nodded and let her continue. "Well I got here about fifteen minutes ago and found the vortex. Its in Rarity's back room." Twilight then led them into the back room and found the vortex in the middle of the floor. It was coming out of Rarity's glasses, much like what happened with Rainbow Dash's circlet.

Crimson stood out in front of the other three, facing them with his back to the vortex. "Are you all ready for this? We don't know what to expect, so we need to all be willing to face whatever we find." The others nodded and with that, Crimson turned to face the vortex, slowly passing through it. The others then followed along behind him.

They arrived in what looked like a large fashion studio. The entrance behind them was sealed, much like before. They looked around to see that there were mannequins placed all around the edges of the room. In front of them stood a large runway and at the back two deep red curtains were drawn, hiding what was behind it. At the end of the runway, a white unicorn was sitting down, holding her head in her hooves.

"Rarity!" Twilight called out to her and ran up to see if she was alright, the others following a moment later.

"Twilight! Please, get me out of this horrible place. I'm hearing voices and its starting to get very frightening." She held onto Twilight as another voice could be heard around them.

"Oh look. More ponies here to serve me. This pleases me so." The curtains started to divide to reveal another Rarity, with bright yellow eyes, sitting down on what looked like a jewel encrusted throne. "So, which one of you wants to serve me first?" She cackled and stared at Crimson. "You look like an obedient little colt. Get over here and massage my hooves."

"Not gonna happen. We're here to get rid of you, not cater to your every whim." Crimson glared at her, standing his ground.

"You mean you don't want to serve me? Even after all I did for you!? I give you all so much, yet I never recieve anything in return. You are all so greedy. When will you ever learn how important it is to give and take. I've given, so its time for me to take back what I deserve! Isn't that right, me?" She smirked and stared at Rarity, who was now avoiding eye contact with her Shadow.

"No. Its not. I'm not like that. I don't feel that way at all. Its not right for a mare like me to be so greedy. I would never treat my friends like common slaves!" Rarity stood up, looking at each of her friends, to find that their attention was focussed on her Shadow.

"Oh? Well what about Rainbow Dash? You force her to wear your dresses even though you know how much she hates it. You're me. Accept it. You're not a Canterlot lady. You're just a Ponyville commoner who can't accept her lifestyle." She laughed, while still sat upon her throne, looking down at the five of them.

"No! None of that is true! You are nothing like me and you never will be!" Rarity stood back as the imitation of her began to change.

"Oh you are going to regret those words, you pathetic mare." Shadows began to surround and merge with her. While she was transforming, Bleeding Heart moved Rarity back and created a barrier around her. Rarity nodded, putting her trust in them completely.

The darkness surrounding Rarity's Shadow began to fade, revealing the effects of the transformation. Although her coat had not changed, her mane and tail had grown longer, became straight instead of curled and had also changed from purple to black. The most notable change was the huge black dress that now enveloped her body. She remained sat on her throne as if she didn't wish to fight, but her facial expression showed differently.

"I am a Shadow, the true self. You will all bow down to me, or die in resistance!" She waved her hoof as a taunt, to which Rainbow Dash immediately responded.

"I'm not gonna bow down to a Shadow like you!" She charged straight at Rarity, only to be stopped by a wall of mannequins that appeared around her, which caused her to stop for a moment. In that split second while Rainbow Dash had her guard down, one of the mannequins knocked her back a fair distance and she hit the ground with a thud in front of the others.

Rarity's Shadow laughed. "Did you honestly think I would let an unsophisticated mare like you get anywhere near my beautiful dress? You troublesome foals! Lets see what you do now!" The mannequins moved almost instantly and surrounded the four of them, each ready to attack. "You hit them, and they will hit you twice as hard. Good luck getting to me." She laughed maniacally as she watched the battle unfold.

"No more pain. I've had enough! I'm not letting anypony else suffer because of me!" Bleeding Heart's horn began to glow and all of the mannequins all flew back and smashed against the wall, breaking into several pieces. "If you want to fight, do it on your own!" He stared at the Shadow who stood up from her throne.

"A lady never fights. She always has somepony fight for her. Now you get to meet your opponent." Her horn began to glow as the mannequin pieces all floated towards her and began to merge together with surrounding Shadows, forming a large pony statue, covered in steel armour. The statue then began to move its head and looked down at them.

"What in Equestria is that?!" Twilight shouted as Shining Star appeared next to her.

"It is essentially a giant Shadow. We will not be able to defeat it by normal means." Shining Star looked up at the giant statue.

"How do we beat it then?! If its too strong, then what are we gonna do?" Rainbow Dash looked at Shining Star, only to have Crimson speak up with the answer instead.

"Its not gonna be easy, but I know how to stop it. Look at Rarity's Shadow. Her horn is glowing which means she is making it move using her magic. If we can stop her, we stop the statue." Crimson turned to the others and they all nodded in approval.

Suddenly, they heard the statue move as it attempted to crush them with one of its hooves. They all leaped out of the way, which left a huge hole in the ground. Lightning Storm then appeared next to Rainbow Dash. "Come on Rainbow Dash! Lets keep that big bully busy!" The pair of them flew up and began circling around the giant statue, which began to capture its attention.

The others began to rush towards Rarity's Shadow, but before they could reach her, the statue moved one of its back hooves and kicked them all towards the wall. Crimson stood up and shook his head. "Looks like that statue can divide its attention. We won't be able to trick them that way."

Twilight then got up and whispered something to Shining Star. She then approached Crimson and Bleeding Heart. "I have an idea. Just wait for our signal. You'll know what to do." She smiled and ran towards the statue, Shining Star next to her.

Bleeding Heart and Crimson both stood there and watched as the two of them ran to either side of the statue and began to use their magic to attack it. They both wondered what they were planning. After all, Shining Star had said that attacking the statue would be useless. The statue began to attack the pair of them, however Twilight and Shining Star were easily dodging the attacks. When Rainbow Dash and Lightning Storm saw an opening, they also followed suit and attacked, redirecting the statue's attention once more.

"I think I get it now. I know what they were planning and I know what we're meant to do." Crimson smiled and looked at Bleeding Heart, who returned the smile with one of his own. They both stood there, waiting for Twilight's signal. After a little while, Twilight stood back and used her magic to create a giant flash, which blinded both the statue and Rarity's Shadow. Bleeding Heart realised that the flash was the signal and started running towards the blind Shadow. Crimson also started charging at her and the collision caused Rarity's Shadow to be sent flying towards her throne. She smashed into it so quickly, that the throne was knocked over, leaving Rarity's Shadow unconscious and unable to control the statue. Without her magic to animate it, the statue then began to break down and fall to the ground, shattering upon impact.

Rainbow Dash and Lightning Storm both floated down to the ground. "Is it over?" Rainbow Dashed asked, looking at the remains of the statue that almost killed them.

"Not just yet." Bleeding Heart said as he lowered the barrier around Rarity. He walked up to Rarity and led her to the collapsed throne. Her Shadow then woke up and slowly got up, revealing her mane had turned back to its original state and her dress had been badly torn. "You have to accept her, Rarity. Its the only way."

Rarity looked at the Shadow standing in front of her. She didn't want to accept it, but she knew that Bleeding Heart was right. It truly was the only way. "I guess my generous nature does sometimes make me feel a little underappreciated. Sometimes I do wish that somepony, anypony would give me a little something back. I can't really deny that I sometimes feel this way, but I wouldn't ever be as forceful as that. So, what I'm saying is, you really are me, despite the gothic fashion sense."

At that moment, the Shadow in front of her began to change. Her torn, black dress began to change into a white, elegant ball gown. A diamond then appeared on her head, which then transformed into a golden tiara which was encrusted with various jewels. She then began to speak to Rarity. "Rarity, you have shown the strength of heart required to face oneself. You have unlocked the facade used to overcome life's hardships. I am Queen Diamond." She then began to glow and then vanished, a card appearing in her place.

Rarity picked it up and handed it to Crimson. "Is this, for me?" She asked curiously as she looked at him.

"Yes. This card, the Empress, contains the Persona that you just obtained. You managed to face yourself and conquer your Shadow, just like the rest of us." He handed the card back to her, as they proceeded to walk towards the vortex that would take them home.

When they arrived in the Carousel Boutique, the vortex behind them closed and Rarity picked up her glasses. "I'm sorry I put you all in such danger. I shouldn't have rejected who I really am. Can you ever forgive me.

The four of them nodded and then Crimson spoke up. "Its not surprising that you rejected it. Nopony wants to accept their Shadow. We all have things we want to hide away. I'm just glad we were there to save you."

"Exactly. You're our friend, Rarity. We would do anything to help you. After all, you always do the same for us." Twilight smiled and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was looking down at the floor. Twilight gave her a little nudge to encourage her to say something.

"Yeah, Rarity. We may have our fights, but we're still friends. I'm not gonna let some nasty Shadow take one of my friends away." She looked back at Twilight, who gave her a gentle nod.

"Well, Rarity. I think its time you got some rest. I expect you to avoid doing anything strenuous for a few days. That includes making your dresses." Bleeding Heart stood forward.

"What? You can't be serious, darling. I need to keep making my dresses. Its my job after all." Rarity felt a little weak, but wasn't too willing to give up work, even for a few days.

"Well for now, the Carousel Boutique is closed. I'm serious, Rarity. I can see that you're struggling to even stand up. Come on, lets get you to bed so you can rest up." Bleeding Heart, along with the others, led Rarity to her bedroom. They helped her into bed and then Bleeding Heart turned to Twilight. "Twilight, can you make sure that Rarity gets her rest? We can't take any chances."

"Of course. Spike can watch the library for a few days. Would you mind letting him know on your way back?" She sat down beside Rarity and smiled. The three of them walked out of the Carousel Boutique and headed towards the library.

After delivering Spike the message to keep an eye on the library, Crimson, Bleeding Heart and Rainbow Dash returned to Crimson's home once more. Since she didn't need to stay there anymore, Rainbow Dash packed her things and went back home to Cloudsdale. Crimson decided that it would be a wise idea to get some extra sleep tonight, so he went up to his bedroom and climbed into his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

Bleeding Heart however had other plans. He returned to the study and began to read through the journal again, analysing every single word and continued to read all night long.