It began as a soft, unintelligible whisper at the back of her head, followed by a minor migraine. But as they - and time - went on, it built up strength and volume, to the point where all her muscles and bones felt as if on fire, and she even understood the words.
“I am pain…” it was the male voice she first heard when she came to her senses in this place. It continued: “I am real, I’m not a dream… not like this three.” The agony peaked, blacking out her vision. She shut her eyes and tried to scream, but all she could do was whimper. “I’m the chain around your neck…” She fell to her knees and clenched her teeth.
Her three companions all started speaking at the same time. She couldn’t make out anything from the voices mixing with the whispers. She grimaced and - while gritting her teeth - forced some words out of her mouth. “One… at… a time… please.”
“We have no time for this! Get up, your pain is only in your head anyway!” said the pegasus sharply, then proceeded to lift the agonizing pony up from the carpet where she curled into a fetal position. The beeping could be heard more often than before.
“Hold it, Nelly!” the earth pony tried to pull the pegasus away by her tail. “Her pain’s as real as it can be, but time’ll heal it surely.” The dark-furred unicorn started weeping on the floor, while the white-coated one dropped down next to her, held her head and stroked her mane, whispering soothing words.
“Ssh, it’s okay, daring. Your pain is only temporary. It’s going to be over soon, and you’ll feel much better.” As she spoke, the beeping’s frequency rose ever higher.
“Don’t you see?” came the whispering again, “You’re dying, and you’re going to die alone!” Though she couldn’t open her eyes anymore, she felt the presence of the three ponies fading, becoming weaker as the darkness surrounding her gained power. She mustered all her strength and pumped one single word out of her throat.
“No…”
“No?” the whisperer sounded surprised.
“No.” She could still feel the pain, but something even more powerful sparked in her, bleaching away the darkness that built up in her agonized brain. She somehow stood up, “I will not. Die. Alone.” With that, she reached out blindly and pulled the almost-faded figures of the three ponies into a hug. “I have my friends around!”
With that, the darkness vanished completely, and so did her pain. The beeping sound ended - a continuous whistling took its place. She opened her eyes to see the earth, unicorn, and pegasus ponies hugging her, but also eyeing her worriedly.
“This can’t be.” yelped the multi-colored pegasus. “You’re far too strong for this to happen!”
Suddenly, the whistle stopped, and there came silence.
“An’ now ya’ lost it.” the orange pony stated.