Rainbow Dash was in a black space. There was a slight light coming from directly in front. Being unable to find any other way out, she headed towards it. At one point, she tried to fly, but quickly found she was landlocked. She felt that should have frightened her, but somehow she was above emotions. She stepped out of the darkness, into the light, and found a walled city. It was not long before she noticed an earth pony standing next to her. He looked vaugely farmiliar, with a deep blue coat, a short black mane tipped with red spikes, and a cutie mark that was certaintly unique, a skull embossed shield super imposed on a sword, surronded by small hearts. The strangest thing about him, however, was how the bright sunshine seemed to flow right through him, almost as if he was a colored glass sculpture. "Walk with me," he commanded, starting off around the walls. Rainbow, seeing no reason not to, followed. "Look at the city," the earth pony instructed, "and watch carefully." Rainbow did as told, looking down at the city. A brief flash lit the center of the city, then a flame exploded. Rainbow knew she should be shocked, or horrified, or terrified, but it really didn't matter to her that much.
"See that?" The translucent earth pony said, no emotion in his voice. "That used to be my home. Many thousands of years ago. This was the first war I ever experienced. This was the first time I had a friend die. Now, come." The earth pony walked farther along the wall. Rainbow had decided she didn't want to follow, but found she had no control of herself. She still couldn't bring herself to be emotional. The other pony walked into a guard tower, and Rainbow followed. The door shut of its own accord, then opened again. The earth pony led Rainbow out, into a field of the greenest grass she'd ever seen. On either side were large groups of soldiers. As the pair continued along, the groups shifted, then one moved forward at an increasing pace. The charging ponies passed right through Rainbow, almost as if she didn't exist. "This was my second war. My second friend lost." This time, Rainbow saw an earth pony that looked exactly like her guide charging alongside a unicorn of the brightest red. She watched as an arrow lodged itself in the red unicorns neck, taking him down. The pony that looked like her guide skidded to a stop, grabbing the pony, crying and trying to drag his dead friend off the battle field. Looking back in front of her, she saw her guide waiting in a river turned red. When she stepped in, they sank.
They emerged in a dark room in an old house this time. A pegasi version of her guide was sitting next to an empty bed. "This was the first time I'd lost a pony I'd fallen in love with." Rainbow approached, ending up next to the pegasi, realizing that an extremely frail unicorn mare was in the bed. As she watched, the pegasus took the unicorns hoof, and looked her in the eye. The unicorn smiled slightly and gave a wheezing breath, before becoming limp in the pegasus' arms. "She died of Swamp fever. It's incredibly rare now, but it wasn't uncommon in those days." The earth pony walked on, leaving the cottage. Rainbow disn't want to see any more, but no matter how much she struggled internally, her body kept moving forward. She was slowly growing panicked, reealizing that something was wrong, that she should be in control, and why couldn't she feel her wings?
Her mind seethed, but her body walked her through the door and into a stone tower filled with ponies. There was no roof, and the sight in the sky was intimidating. She saw two alicorns fighting fiercly in the sky. At first she thought it might have been Celestia and Nightmare Moon, but then her guide approached, stopping next to her. "The one on the left is me, in my true form," he stated, and when Rainbow looked losely, she could see the similarity. Glancing at the other alicon, she saw nothing farmiliar. It had a body with the appearance of white gold, with a silver flowing mane and tail. The two alicorns were battling fiercly, and neither was winning. "This is a terrible day. The alicorn on the right was the god of life, I was the god of death. Our magic grew so strong during this battle, everything that was alive died, and everything that was dead came back to life. We were both in love with another alicorn, one of the few truly immortal alicorns, in fact. She was the godess of dreams. In the end, our magic twisted all three of us together, into one immortal being. On that day, death became the strongest of the three forces. So the god of death took control of the new body. But life and dreams are still in there, and their powers are both usable. They are, however, dead in all but name." The earth pony walked away, sprouting wings and flying through the middle of the battle between the alicorns. Rainbow unwillingly followed, but at least she was flying, though she still couldn't feel her wings.
"And now for why I showed you all these memories. You are caught between life and death, hanging in the balance. I have recently been seperated back into three different ponies. This means I can't force you to stay alive. In fact, the death part of myself is currently trying to save your life. But it's your decision. No matter which way you go, you'll forget all of this. Now," the earth pony turned pegasus indicated two doorways she'd missed initially, one on each side. "You can head left if you wish to live, and see your friends again, though you will be in pain. If you head right, you will die. You will see your friends again, eventually, but maybe not for a very long time. Before you decide, remember what I have shown you, and consider the implications."
Rainbow headed left with a will, determined to live. After all, her friends needed her. After she had gone, the scenes faded, revealing a room with a black granite table. "I'm glad that worked," the god of dreams thought out loud, before returning to his earthly body.