"Correct me if I'm wrong," The girl with the swirly, purple hair finally said after a moment of silence, "But did that THING just speak...?"
"Oh yes," the amulet spoke up, causing everyone to jump again (save for Fluttershy, who was out of the room cowering in the corner out of fear), "I am quite capable of speaking, Rarity, element of generosity..." Rarity's eyes widened with unknown fear of the amulet as it addressed her name as well as her harmony element, even though she didn't know how. The amulet's eyes shone brightly for a couple of seconds, illuminating the dimly lit room, and then faded away as quick as it came.
"Analysis complete." The amulet announced, "Greetings, Elements of Harmony. And greetings to you, Descendant of Kin. I am Carbon, at your services..." My heart skipped a beat when I realized that the amulet was talking about me when it said "Descendant of Kin".
"Excuse me?" I asked, confused and a little frightened, "What do you mean by Kin?"
"Allow me to explain, Kin." Carbon responded before it's eyes turning a deep shade of purple, and emitting a beam of light on the wall in front of them, creating a holographic image of six dragons in a circle around an altar made of stone, which made my blood run cold.
"I think I have heard about the altar before..." I stated, but no one seemed to hear me.
"Wait a second." Twilight stated, dragging a protesting Fluttershy into the room as she did so, "Are those the Six Dragons of High Magic?"
"Yes they are." Carbon confirmed, "One for each of the different high magics: Light, Dark, Elemental, Chaos, Spirit, and Harmony." After a moment of utter astonishment from the group, Carbon continued. "Long ago, the Six Dragons of High Magic were created to be guardians and protectors of their chosen realms. For a couple thousand years, the realms remained balanced and in check by the Six. But, not all things last forever…" The image shifted, and began to single out two of the dragons, who were now shrouded in dark auras. "The Dragons of Chaos and Darkness soon began to realize their true powers and potential when working together, so they formed a pact with each other. The result was the birth of many monsters and dark creatures; were-beasts, vampires, ghouls, every monster that could go bump in the night. And with this newfound army of horrors, they attacked the other realms." The image then shifted to the original, however, there were no dragons, only the altar which was cracked in two, with dark eyes surrounding the area. "One by one, the Realms of the High Ones fell to darkness and chaos; pandemonium and destruction ran amuck like wildfire, and all hope seemed lost for the very existence of this universe." Fluttershy hid her face in terror at this statement. "However, within the darkness, there was a light of hope." The image shifted again, depicting a light emitting from the cracked remains of the altar. "The Dragon of Harmony, the creator of the Realms of Good, rose up and created the first first of the races of Harmony: Humans, Ponies, Griffins, all the mortal races that were able to do good and set the worlds right again. And what led these races, were the Kin: Special entities, one from each Race of Good, created by the Dragon of Harmony with the power to restore order and tranquility to the realms; to serve as the last hope and final act of defiance against the dark ones." The image shifted a final time. The eyes were gone, and the dragons were back. But this time, the two that had dark auras were now replaced with what looked to be draconic sarcophaguses, bound in chains. "The remaining Dragons of High Magic bound their two brothers into celestial prisons, and cast them into the nothingness from whence they were all born from. However, this came with a price. For the act of binding them, the Dark Ones took the knowledge and ability to use magic away from the race of mankind; the most powerful of all the Arcane, and rendered them Arcane-less. Finally, peace and tranquility was restored to the Realms once more. But this victory had it's costs…" The image then faded to reveal a depiction of a stone arch, which seemed to be a portal powered down. "To ensure that a cataclysmic event wouldn't happen again, the remaining Dragons of High Magic locked the realms away from each other; severing the connections and, to making sure that the Dragons that fell from grace never wake again, erased the memory of the Kin from their descendants, rendering them inexistent in the minds of normal mortals…" With that final statement, the image faded, and the light subsided.
"So what does this have to do with me?" I asked, still confused, crossing my arms.
"You are a descendant of a Kin." Carbon stated, "But, in order to be a Kin's Descendant, you are not simply born to be one: you must possess the spirit of one."
"So ya tellin us that this here fellow has the spirit of a Kin?" The Country girl said, examining me.
"I have a name, you know…" I grumbled.
"Yes, Applejack, Element of Honesty." Carbon answered, "Though he may not appear to be one, I'm sure that his true self shall be revealed in due time."
"Sorry," I asked, "But what 'true self'?" Before I could receive the answer I sought after, a roar emitted from the door, and a loud bang was heard as the door began to give way to the force behind it.
"What the hell was that?" I asked before being pulled by Raine into the next room: a kitchen and door to the basement. The others followed suit.
"In here!" Raine ordered.
"Shouldn't we turn on the-" I started, before being rudely interrupted by Raine shoving me down the stairs. As I fell down the steps, I felt the key fall out of my pocket and clang on the ground next to me where i fell. Upon hitting the ground, I blacked out.
"…Kin." A voice echoed from somewhere far away, "Kin…wake up…"
"Who's there?" I asked the voice, everything around me pitch black. Suddenly a light shone through the darkness, and i felt myself fall from the darkness and into an endless blue sky. I shouted in fright.
"Do not be afraid, Kin." The voice echoed, "You'll be fine." As soon as the voice subsided, I felt my descent being slowed, and I landed standing up on a platform in the sky, appearing as a grassy knoll floating in a world of endless sky. As I looked around, I saw that the sky before me was broken into two halves: The first was daytime: Illuminated by a bright sun. But the other half was a starry night-sky, lit up by a full moon.
"Where am I?" I asked out loud. A familiar voice sounded from behind me.
"This is your soul, Jon." A metallic voice rang. I turned to see Carbon floating behind me, a blue aura surrounding him. "Right now, your soul is conflicted: One side wishes to stay in the light, while the other is being slowly consumed by eternal night. I will help you. But you must first accept that you may never return home again by me helping you…"
"What?" I stated, "Why would I not return home…?"
"Your world and your destiny are connected, but they cannot be together as one reality. So you must choose between the destinies of being in the light of hope, or the corruption of your seemingly inevitable light-to-darkness…" Carbon explained. "And in accepting my help, you will not be the same being." Before i could answer, i felt the wound on my arm burn intensely, and the night beginning to consume the day before me. "Choose now, or forever be lost to nightmares…" I looked to carbon, then back at the night, and then at the mark. Surprisingly, I felt the urge to actually say no, but a part of me knew that it was not the right choice. The burning on my arm intensified, and I cried out in pain.
"Help me, Carbon." I pleaded, "Just make the pain in my fucking arm go away!"
"As you wish…" Carbon said, suddenly flying towards me till he was face-to-face with me. Before I could react, as I was eye-to-eye with him, his empty eye sockets started to glow with a brilliant light for a couple of seconds, and i blinked furiously.
"I am awakening the Kin inside you." Carbon stated, "Refrain from blinking."
"How can I when you are shining that damn light there!" I angrily shouted. I managed to keep my eyes open long enough at that moment, as I felt something enter my head. Not physically, but mentally. I then noticed that the wound on my arm was being healed at a miraculous rate, the bandages falling off revealing just a scar in the shape of the wound. With that, the light suddenly subsided, and Carbon's aura was snuffed out. Carbon's form then started to disintegrate.
"Carbon!" I shouted, trying to grab Carbon, but I only grasped a handful of blue dust.
"Don't worry, Kin." I heard something say in the back of my mind, causing me to jump a bit "I am still here. Not physically, but as one with you…"
"Woah…" I muttered, "That was pretty cool! How'd you do that? And why?"
"In order to achieve your goal," Carbon explained, "You must have help from a higher power. In this case, to awaken your Kin Form, you must have help of a Dragon of High Magic: Me…"
"What…?" I breathed, not believing what i was hearing, "You're a Dragon of High Magic?!"
"I am Carbon, the Dragon of Spirit." Carbon introduced himself, "You should be grateful it wasn't a different one who is poking around your soul and mind at the moment, let alone one of the BAD ones…" Before I could say anything else, I felt myself being pulled into the sky once more, towards the bright sun. "It's time to wake up Kin…"
That was the last thing I heard before blacking out once more.
"Jon!" I heard Raine's voice call out, awakening me, "Get up!" My eyes shot open and I saw Raine hovering over me, a concerned look on her face. She helped me up, and I realized that the pendant was no longer there. "What happened to your Pendant? To Carbon?"
"Don't worry." I explained, pointing to my head, "He's still here." Before Raine could question me any further, the rest of the group came tumbling down the stairs in a heaping ball.
"Ow…" Fluttershy muttered.
"That's goin to 'urt tomorrow…" Applejack groaned, shaking Rarity off of her back as she stood up.
"We don't have much time." Twilight announced, "We have to get out of here before they find us."
"Who?" I questioned cautiously. The roar sounded again, followed by a sound of the front door splintering. Fluttershy squealed in terror and clung to Raine like a bug.
"But where can we go?" Pinkie asked, then an idea struck her, "What about the Gateway we used to come here! If it can take us here, it can take us back, right?" Twilight sighed, and walked over to the far end of the room, where a large archway was located. It was green and blue in color, and had many depictions of horses across it's glassy surface. However, the only thing that stood out as unreal was the lock and chain that covered it's front, glowing with a strong, white and blue light.
"Its no use…" Twilight stated, "The way out of this realm is barred by the decree of the Dragons of High Magic, and thus this rescue mission was a one way trip it seems…" She turned to the others, "I'm sorry everyone, but I am afraid this is the end of the line." A loud booming noise could be heard from the basement door.
"Get them!" A familiar voice sounded from behind the door, "They're down there!"
"Not good…" I said to myself. Quickly, I looked at my surroundings for something I could use to open the gateway with. Then, it struck me. "Now, where is that thing…" I said to myself, pulling out the Skeleton Key from my pocket of my jacket. Without thinking, I strode over to the padlock on the Gateway.
"John?" Rarity asked, curious as to what it was I was doing, "What are you-?"
CLICK
The key made contact with the keyhole of the padlock, and a gust of wind suddenly blew from the Gateway as the lock disappeared in a flash of light, and the wall behind the Gateway opened like a double-door archway to reveal a watery surface, similar to a lake's reflective surface.
"You sure are full of surprises, John…" Twilight stated, "Lets go!" She then led the others and they all disappeared into the watery portal, it's surface making a splashing effect just as if they dove into water. I was about to run into the portal too, until I heard the door give way to the basement. I turned just in time saw a mist-like entity rush down the stairs and stop about a foot away from me. And in the darkness of the mist, I saw Nightmare Moon grinning, her eyes burning red.
"You cannot run from me forever, John." Nightmare Moon stated, "I have you Marked. You're mine!" At that last statement, a clawed, demonic hand reached out from the mist to grab me. But a pair of purple hooves grabbed me from behind from the portal instead, and pulled me through just as the doorway to whatever realm I was being taken to closed.