She stood in a plain of darkness. She could hear whispers of someone far off in the distance, but nothing more than that. Like the little voices you think you hear telling you not to eat the last cookie in the jar or not to run with scissors; that nagging little voice. However, one voice rang stronger and more annoying than the rest of the almost hushed whispers.
“Wake up.” Over and over it repeated. She was wide awake and aware of her bleak dark surroundings, but still the voice repeated its message. “Wake up.” She would try and find the source by galloping towards it at full speed only to reach an invisible edge and fall deeper into the dark plain. Sometimes the voice would fall silent; several times in broken defeat she would fall on her flank trying to come up with an idea only to be assaulted by tendrils that seemed to sprout from the darkness. They tried time and time again to devour her into nothingness but retreated whenever she began moving further into the darkness.
She would move again for what seemed like hours, or was it minutes; time had lost all meaning only to collapse as ripping agony tore through her chest. The constricting and fluttering of her heart told her it was a heart attack yet she recovered quickly enough, preventing the tendrils from latching onto her. Each time she collapsed from the faux attack the tendrils came for her. But each time she escaped with renewed gusto. Each time they slithered into the darkness rippling as moved behind her, just out of sight but always watching, waiting for her to lose her will and fall.
She walked on patiently waiting for the voice to speak again. To give her some hope of finding her way out. But all was quiet. Her own hooves made no sounds as they hit the seemingly invisible floor of dark. She closed her eyes still walking, listening for something. Just anything.
“please...wake up” There it was again. This time there was another word to the repeating phrase. It was if now she was being begged to awaken. But from what she mused refusing to sit despite the growing burning sensation in her legs. Come to think of it, she noticed her senses were awakening in more than just one way now. Aside from the faux attacks a growing nagging burn was growing in her legs. A dull throbbing like a drum rolled in her head. The voice also seemed to be growing steadily louder. It was no longer a whisper but now comparable to one speaking normally. She noticed that her left hoof felt heavier. Yet each time she examined it nothing was there. How odd.
The pain was beginning to grow stronger. No more just a burning now in her hind legs, but now it felt like little dagger being pushed through her muscles and bone. It was almost too much for the mare to handle. Almost. She feared what would happen if the tendrils caught her; where they would take her and she resolved not to give in and let them catch her. But, rest seemed so welcoming at the moment. The pain was overbearing slowing her further than before. From the corner of her eyes she saw them rising. The slower she became the further they began to rise, shimmering black vines that stood out from the constant black around her. Her breathing quickened. Not from the fear but from another round of constricting pain.
“...Tavi...please...you gotta wake up…”
A tendril slipped around her hind leg. She involuntarily screamed emitting no noise as she fell on her face as the tendril pulled taut. She screamed as more began to slither towards her kicking at them as hard as she could muster. However the growing pain in her chest and stomach forced the mare into a violent coughing fit as more began to wrap tightly around her now prone form.
“...please...I need you...wake up…”
She struggled hopelessly against the darkness. She cried out for anyone in between her coughing, fighting to keep anymore of her body from being ensnared as small streams of tears began to roll down her cheeks staining her fur.. But as a particularly large tendril wrapped tightly around her waist she clawed at the invisible ground trying to escape. Heavy rivers of tears poured from her eyes as the darkness pulled her right leg into the mouth of oblivion. She felt it disintegrating; simply ceasing to exist as more and more of her leg was pulled in.The large tendril working it’s way further up her body as it pulled her in deeper and deeper more of her being vanishing from existence. It had consumed both her leg already and now began to eat away at her stomach. Still she tried to escape; clawing at the ground she thought was below her.
“Tavi...wake up...wake up…” The voice was growing louder.
The tendril now wrapped itself around her throat constricting tightly cutting off her already struggling breaths. She choked and sputtered trying to pry it away. But as she tried the maw had began consuming her chest cavity. She felt it closing around like a great mouth of a timberwolf; the tendril its massive sticky tongue. She couldn't fight it anymore. Her willpower had all but been extinguished and the pain was simply too much. She closed her eyes taking a shallow gasp of breath and waited as the maw closed around her. The darkness closed around her and she ceased her thoughts.
Everlasting darkness consumed her.
"...Wake up..."
"...Wake up..."
"...Wake up..."
"...Wake up..."
♫♫♫
She jolted somewhat as a deep rooted pain throbbed heavily in her chest. She coughed raggedly laying still to avoid needlessly aggravating the pain she felt. Everything hurt, her hooves, her teeth, her tail, her eyes yet her chest was the worst. She coughed again feeling a small tickle in the back of her throat aware that there was a small tube running through her nose and an IV stuck somewhere in her foreleg. She tried to find it with her left hoof but found it weighed down by something heavy, but surprisingly warm. Sighing in partial aggravated and pained defeat she tried cracking her eyelids open but hissed in pain as the dim light hit her. It was dimmed, but it burned all the same. Her chest all the way to her throat was covered in heavy layers of slightly bloodied gauze, all four of her legs also wrapped in gauze and as well as her head and right eye. She sighed defeated. Everything felt as if Celestia herself had pushed a miniature sun inside her chest, but she was alive.
She managed to crack a single eye open despite the intense pain ripping through her head. Quiet snoring beside caught her attention. Using her good eye she swiveled in place looking towards the sound in question. sitting in a chair besides with her head lying atop her hoof which was entangled with hers, was an alabaster unicorn who looked as if she hadn't slept or eaten in days
She couldn't help but move her hoof to lovingly stroke the unicorn’s check which in turn stirred her from the sleep she so desperately needed. As she stirred the crimson red eyes fluttered open, heavy dark bags hidden beneath them. Octavia smiled somewhat as they locked eyes.
“...Tavi?”
