Crimson woke up in total darkness. The only thing he could see was himself, barely. This time Bleeding Heart was not with him, but he knew it was a dream. He started walking through the darkness, knowing that he could face anything within it. A voice began to call out to him.

"Please somepony. Help me. Its so dark. I can't see anything. Where am I?!"

Crimson thought for a moment and recognised that it was Twilight's voice. He started following her voice, running as fast as he could through the darkness. He was getting closer. He could tell. The only problem was that he still couldn't see her. He tried calling out to her to see if that would help him find her.

"Twilight! Can you hear me?!" He shouted at the top of his voice, hoping Twilight could hear her.

"Crimson? Is that you? Please, help me. I'm scared. What's happening?" Twilight was close to bursting into tears. She was terrified.

Another voice emerged in the darkness, but neither of them recognised it. "Aww poor Crimson. Unable to help one of his friends, even though she is right there in front of him. This is going to be fun. Here is a warning to you Crimson. You think that Bleeding Heart merging with you was enough to end your suffering and get rid of your Shadow. Well guess what? You're wrong." The mysterious voice began to laugh maniacally, almost as if it was taunting Crimson.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to Twilight?!" Crimson was starting to get angry, but was still able to prevent himself lashing out aimlessly.

"You'll find out eventually. I would recommend trying to save your friend Twilight first. After all, if you don't save her soon, she could die."

"Die?! Please! Don't do this to me! Crimson! Help me!" Twilight began screaming and her voice began to fade, as if she was disappearing.

"What did you do to Twilight?! Bring her back here and let her go!" Crimson was clenching his teeth, much to the delight of the creature looking down at him.

"She isn't going anywhere, at least not yet. I took her to a place that was created from the truth within her heart. If you don't find and save her in time, I'm afraid her own darkness is going to kill your precious friend." It began to chuckle.

"What is going on here?! Why are you doing this?!"

"Consider this a test. If you really consider these ponies as your friends, then surely you will be willing to risk your own life to save theirs."

"What's the real reason?" Crimson wasn't going to fall for a lie as pathetic as that.

"Its fun. I enjoy watching others suffer. After all, it makes me stronger. I feed on hate. I feed on anger. I feed on sadness. All of these negative emotions fuel me, making me more and more powerful."

"I'll never let you get away with this! I'm going to save her!" Crimson started running, looking for a way out of this horrible nightmare.

The entity looked at him struggle to find an exit. "Fine. I'll help you out. Oh and before I forget, you have two days to save her. Good luck Crimson." It cackled as Crimson began to sink into the darkness beneath him. It seemed to swallow him whole and Crimson started to scream before he blacked out.

Before he knew it, he woke up in his bed, flailing his legs in a panic. Bleeding Heart appeared and calmed him down.

"What happened in that dream Crimson? I tried to enter your dreams but something stopped me."

"Twilight. She's in danger. If I don't save her in two days, she's going to die." Crimson looked down. He was the only one who could save her, but didn't even know what to do.

Bleeding Heart recoiled a little. "Its just as I feared. Crimson, I think your true Shadow is behind this."

"What? My true Shadow? That doesn't make any sense. It said in my dream that it loved seeing others suffer. I have never felt that way in my life." Crimson put his hoof under his chin and started to think.

"Its because your Shadow has had too long to grow. It originally manifested as a Shadow that had a personality comprised of your hidden feelings. However, as a Shadow grows, its personality becomes warped. Shadows grow by feeding on other Shadows. They merge together, combining their strength and their minds. This means that your Shadow has absorbed so many others, that now all it has, is a taste for blood. Therefore it is likely, that it is using your friends as a means to increase its own strength, while mentally breaking you." Bleeding Heart looked out the window, trying to think about this more as he looked at the sun rising on the horizon.

"So we may be dealing with something that has far more power than we could handle?" Crimson looked deeply concerned. He had to save Twilight, but didn't know if he could handle it.

"Sadly yes. However, we must press on regardless. We may or may not encounter your Shadow while saving her. That is a chance we have to take. All we need to do now is find her. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

Crimson thought for a moment. "My Shadow said that she was taken to a place that was created from the truth within her heart. Does that mean anything?"

"It is likely that she was taken somewhere in the Shadow's world. However, we cannot determine where in that world she is. You see, there are multiple entrances. We could enter through the journal, but we may or may not be anywhere near her when we arrive. We could try to find the entrace that was used to pull her in, but we may not find it quickly enough. I will leave the decision to you. Should we enter through the journal, or look for the other entrance?" Bleeding Heart looked straight at Crimson, waiting for him to announce their plan.

"It said we have two days to save her. Do you think we should use today to look for an entrance, and if it doesn't work out, use the journal tomorrow?" Crimson felt that this was an ideal suggestion. It was risky, but so was any other plan he could have made. Twilight's life was on the line. He didn't want to make any mistakes.

"That seems acceptable to me. We should head over to the library later. That is the only location I can think of that the entrance would appear." Bleeding Heart started to walk downstairs, with Crimson slowly following behind.

Crimson ate his breakfast as quickly as possible then they proceeded to run down to the library. If they were going to save Twilight, they knew they had to act as quickly as possible. Next Chapter: The Magician's Illusion Estimated time remaining: 54 Minutes