Crimson woke up to find himself in a familiar place. He looked around, and realised that he was back in the Velvet Room, with Bleeding Heart sitting by his side. He turned to face Igor, who began to speak.

"Welcome once again, my interesting guests. It seems that you have both progressed on your path to the truth. I have brought you back here, because it is time for your contracts to become acknowledged." Igor turned to face Margaret, who took over in their explanation.

"Bleeding Heart. Your contract is with Crimson. You have vowed to protect him in his endeavours, which ties you to his journey. I am aware that you are bound by the fact that you are parts of the same soul, however, a contract was still formed." Bleeding Heart nodded and looked at Crimson.

"What about my contract? I don't remember making a contract with anypony." He rubbed his head in confusion.

"Your contract lies in the bond that you have made with your new friends in Ponyville. You made a promise to each one of them, Twilight Sparkle in particular. You promised to save her when she was confronted by her Shadow. Although you may have already rescued Twilight, others will be put in danger in the same way."

"I think I understand. Its a little confusing though." Crimson kept rubbing his head.

"There is no need to concern yourself with the minor details. What is important, is that you keep moving along your path to the truth. Look down at the cards on the table. Each one represents somepony close to you. The card in the centre represents yourself. Notice how only one of them is complete."

Crimson looked down at the table and saw seven cards arranged on it. There were six laid out in a hexagon pattern and one in the middle. The one in the centre was the world, but it was still blank. The only card on the table that wasn't was blank, was the magician. What suprised Crimson the most, was that instead of the normal image he saw on it before, there was now a picture of Twilight on it.

"This is Twilight. How did she get on this card?" Crimson picked it up and stared at it, examining the image.

"It is as I said. That card represents a close friend of yours. This deck has connected with your soul, meaning that the cards, are manipulated by you. Your soul and the souls of those that you bond with, will connect to the cards, changing their images. They also act as a home for each Persona. Didn't you notice when your friend's Persona took the form of a card?"

"Alright. I get it now. This also explains why my card is still blank. Its because I haven't yet found my Persona."

"Exactly. Your card and the cards connected to your friends will fill with an image when a Persona is there to form it. Now that we have everything covered, I believe it is time for you to awaken. Farewell." Crimson's vision became blurry and he soon lost consciousness as his dream came to an end.

Crimson awoke the next morning to the sun shining down on his face. He climbed out of bed and walked towards the window. Looking out at the morning sky, he felt a glimmer of hope. He remembered that he was able to save Twilight and took solace in the fact that she was not killed by her Shadow. He walked downstairs to find Bleeding Heart reading a letter in the living room. "Who's the letter from?" he asked while trying to peek at the letter.

"No sense trying to peek. It is addressed to you after all." Bleeding Heart passed him the letter and continued to speak. "I don't know who its from. Judging by its content, its not from any ponies around here."

Crimson began reading the note aloud. "Well well Crimson. Looks like you're not as pathetic as I thought you were. Watching you and your Shadow will be very entertaining. Just because you saved Twilight does not mean the game is over. Care to know the next player's identity? I'll give you a hint. The answer lies at the end of the rainbow. See you in the Shadow's world." Despair could be seen all over Crimson's face. He knew who was next and he knew who wrote the letter.

"Any ideas, Crimson?" Bleeding Heart walked towards the window and just stood there staring outside. "I have a feeling we are dealing with a force more powerful than anything we could ever imagine."

"I know who sent this. It was that thing watching us when we first saw Twilight in that dream. I don't know what it is exactly, but we can probably assume that it is a Shadow. If it is, I don't know whose Shadow it could be." Crimson began pacing across the room, thinking of what to do next. "I suppose we need to go and make sure Rainbow Dash is okay. After all, it was fairly obvious that the hint was talking about her."

"Good idea. If she is still around, we need to warn her. If she isn't, then we will need to go into the world through the journal. After all, her posessions will all be in Cloudsdale, which we cannot access without taking too much time." Bleeding Heart opened the door, and walked out, waiting for Crimson to follow.

The pair of them walked around Ponyville for a while looking for Rainbow Dash. They asked a few of the other ponies that they found in town, but none of them had seen her. They asked a couple of pegasus ponies coming down from Cloudsdale, but even they hadn't seen her.

Crimson looked down and his ears dropped. "She's already been taken, hasn't she?"

"We don't know that for certain. Rainbow Dash could still be around here. I remember that she was involved in a competition with Applejack. Perhaps its worth going to Sweet Apple Acres." Bleeding Heart put his hoof on Crimson's back to try and console him.

"Alright. I hope she's actually there." He started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres, while praying that Rainbow Dash would be there. As he came closer to the orchard, Crimson heard a rather large amount of shouting. He started running because he recognised that one of the ponies that was raising their voice was Rainbow Dash.

Crimson ran through the gates and immediately smiled when he saw Rainbow Dash standing there, yelling at Applejack. "Rainbow Dash! You don't know how glad I am to see you!" Crimson said as he started panting before he fell to the floor.

"What in tarnation? Crimson, why are ya so happy to see Rainbow Dash anyhow?" Applejack said as she helped him up.

Bleeding Heart walked through the gate and took over for Crimson. "Allow me to explain. Last night, Twilight was put in mortal danger. As you both know by now, I am Crimson's Shadow, an extension of his personality. Well, Twilight was attacked by her Shadow. We were able to assist her and as a result, save her life. We don't know who is responsible for what happened, but we do know that he is targeting more ponies. His next pony of choice, is you Rainbow Dash."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash could see that he was being serious, but they couldn't believe a word he was saying. "I'm sorry guys, but that sounds too wierd for me to believe it." Rainbow Dash said, looking rather confused.

"I'm with Rainbow Dash on this one. I know ya'll are two kind hearted ponies and ya wouldn't lie to us, but we just can't believe this. Unless ya have some proof that it happened." Applejack wanted to believe them, so she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and hand them an opportunity to prove that they were telling the truth.

"Very well. Crimson, shall we take them to the library?" Bleeding Heart was ready to make a move, but he wanted Crimson's approval first.

"Yeah. The proof will be there. Twilight is probably still bedridden and the book will still be out. I told Spike not to move it." Crimson started walking towards the library, with Bleeding Heart, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following them.

On the way there, they passed Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie Pie called out to the four of them. "Hey everypony! Don't forget about the party tomorrow. I made a huge cake!" She ran out of the door with a smile on her face.

"Pinkie, there isn't going to be a party. Not for a while." Crimson looked down, knowing that disappointing Pinkie was a risky thing to do.

"What do you mean no party?" Pinkie tried to keep herself calm and give him time to explain.

"Everything will be clear when we get to the library. Twilight and Spike are there now and we need to go and see them." Crimson didn't want to keep Pinkie out of the loop, so he explained the situation as they continued to walk.

By the time they arrived, Pinkie was extremely confused. "So, let me get this straight. Twilight got sucked into a giant encyclopedia and wound up in a giant spooky library. You guys went in after her after seeing her in a dream the night before. You then found her in a really dark room where another Twilight appeared and started trying to kill the real one. You beat it and then it turned into a white unicorn which then turned into a card and vanished. That sound right?"

"Well, yeah. Thats pretty much what happened." Crimson looked a bit concerned, thinking that Pinkie wouldn't believe it.

"Well I'm surprised, but I know you wouldn't lie to me. I believe you, Crimson." Pinkie smiled as she followed the others into the library.

Crimson immediately started walking up to Twilight's room and the others went up with him. He walked over to Twilight's bed to see her lying there, resting. "Its good to see you Twilight. How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better. I'm just glad I'm alive. I never got to thank you for saving me yesterday. Thank you Crimson, from the bottom of my heart." Twilight's voice was faint, but she was recovering.

"Twilight?! What happened to you?!" Rainbow Dash was shocked and a little worried. After all, Crimson had told her that she was going to suffer the same fate.

Twilight raised her hoof slowly and pointed at the encyclopedia, still sitting there on the pedestal, open to the same page it was before. "I was dragged into that book. I wound up in a dark library. I felt empty. I saw horrible things inside. I walked into a room in the back. I sat down and started to panic. Eventually, Crimson and Bleeding Heart showed up. Another version of me appeared. It tried to kill me. These two managed to fight it off and save me. The rest is a blur. All I remember after that is waking up here." She put her hoof back down and closed her eyes. "I think I should get some more sleep."

"Okay Twilight. We'll leave you with Spike. Don't worry about a thing, okay?" Crimson held her hoof for a moment, in an attempt to comfort her.

"Wait. One more question before you all go. Is this going to happen again?" She held onto his hoof fairly tight. Crimson could tell she was worried.

"Yes. I found out that there will be others. The next is, Rainbow Dash." Crimson's ears dropped when he said that. He didn't want to tell Twilight, but he knew that she shouldn't be lied to about this.

"Then promise me that you will save her when the time comes. As soon as she is taken, please come and get me. I want to help. I know I can." Twilight opened her eyes for a moment to reveal a look of true determination.

"Alright, but only if you are well enough to go back inside there. Its dangerous." Crimson didn't want to put anyone else in danger, but he knew he would need help.

Bleeding Heart cleared his throat to get the attention of the others. "I assume that now, after seeing this, you believe what we were saying." Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all nodded, waiting for him to continue. He looked at Rainbow Dash and continued to speak. "Since we do not know when you will be taken, I will have to ask you not to return to Cloudsdale. We need to know where you are. There is a spare room in our home. You can stay there for the time being."

"Right. Anything else I need to know?" Rainbow Dash was a little worried, but didn't show it.

"When you get taken into the Shadow's world, do not let the things you see get to you. If you see another version of yourself, do not reject it." Bleeding Heart was adamant at this point and everyone could see how serious he was.

At that point, Twilight had fallen back to sleep, so they decided that it would be wise if they left. They walked outside and closed the door behind them. Applejack went back to Sweet Apple Acres and Pinkie Pie returned to Sugarcube Corner. "So, what should we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked, completely clueless.

"Is there anything you need to get from Cloudsdale?" Crimson asked curiously.

"Well I do want to get something from there if thats okay." Rainbow Dash flew up off of the ground, assuming that they would let her.

"Alright. Just make sure you are at our house within twenty minutes. We don't want you getting taken while we can't keep an eye on you." Crimson said as he started walking back to his home, Bleeding Heart following along behind.

"What do you think she went to go and get?" Bleeding Heart asked, trying to catch up with Crimson.

"Hopefully she went to go and get her most precious possession. After all, any item that she has a close bond with could be used as a portal to take her into the Shadow's world." Crimson started to wonder if she had anything like that.

After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived back home. They walked inside and not ten seconds later, Rainbow Dash was at the door. They let her in and Crimson noticed that she had a bag with her. "What did you bring with you?"

Rainbow Dash took off her bag, reached inside and pulled out a golden circlet. "I got this when I won the best young flier competition a few months ago. I wanted to have it with me. Its kind of a good luck charm." She set it down on the table next to them and continued. "So where am I sleeping tonight?"

"Follow me." Crimson started heading upstairs. Rainbow Dash grabbed her things and followed him up to the guest room. "Well, here's the guest room. I will be just down the hall if you need me during the night."

Rainbow Dash set the circlet down on the bedside table and put her bag next to it. "I'll be fine, but thanks for letting me stay here." She smiled and sat down on the bed. "I'm guessing we should get some sleep. It is pretty late."

Crimson looked out up at the clock and noticed that she was right. "Sounds like a good idea. Remember, I'm just down the hall. Anyway, goodnight Rainbow Dash."

"Goodnight Crimson." She closed the door after he left the room, climbed into bed, stared at her circlet for a little while and slowly fell asleep.

Crimson walked down to his room and also climbed into bed and fell asleep. Bleeding Heart then went up to Crimson's room and vanished, merging with Crimson's body.

The next three days passed by quickly. Each morning, Rainbow Dash woke up safe and sound. The three of them went to visit Twilight and then spent the rest of the day as a group. Things seemed to be calming down. Twilight was almost fully recovered and Rainbow Dash had yet to be captured. They all started wondering if she was going to be taken at all. That night, the three of them went to bed as they did before, but each of them woke up to something they did not want to see. Next Chapter: The Darkness of Fame Estimated time remaining: 34 Minutes