The cold hand of death gripped Twilight as she lay there, gasping for breath before her friends. She would have cried out for help if she had been able to muster the strength., but the burning hole in her chest seemed to keep her lungs from working. She didn't even need to perform a magical scan on herself to know one of her lungs had collapsed. Her heart beat furiously as it tried to keep her alive, but it's frantic pounding was only causing her to die faster.
Her friends stood before her, but they didn't look at her. They instead faced a massive beast, towering above them. It seemed to be a manticore, yet it's face was a dragon, and its body was that of a snake. It also looked like metal. The monster let loose a massive roar as it shot a ball of venom out of its mouth and towards her friends. Not a single one of them moved to dodge the incoming projectile.
Before she could see what would happen, her mind went black, and all she saw was a vast expanse of darkness. It felt as if she was floating, but she still felt very heavy. Her mind cried out in pain from the lack of gravity and sight. She needed to see something. Anything! She needed to know she wasn't going to die!
The black faded away into white, and soon she had to squeeze her eyes shut from the intensity of the light. Even with her eyes shut, she could still feel the burning light trying to delve into her eyes, searching for a way into her mind.
With a cry she dropped suddenly to the ground. Feeling weight return to her was a pleasant feeling, and she managed to crack a smile. The white was gone, instead replaced with a green field of grass. The soft grass felt good on her sore hooves, even though she couldn't recall them ever feeling sore or weary. She spun around, trying to see where she was, but all she saw was grass, green grass as far as her eyes could see. She looked up and saw storm clouds rolling in.
A flash of lightning struck the ground mere inches away from her, yet she didn't feel a thing. Without warning, the entire field caught fire, burning in remorseless flame. Her mouth hung open as she saw several ponies run for their lives, seeming to materialize out of nowhere. Several of them where on fire, and the screams that tore from their mouths caused Twilight to tear up. She tried to move to help them, but her hooves where stuck in the ground. Looking down she saw they held down by ropes, which seems to grow out of the earth.
She struggled against her constraints, but to no avail. They slowly dragged her down into the soil, much to her horror. As her head was pulled below, the last thing she saw of the inferno before her was a face in the clouds: evil, and laughing at the chaos and destruction below.
Her trip through the dirt was short but painful. She wanted to breath, yet she felt like she couldn't. A tight pain in her chest caused her to double over, which was strange considering she shouldn't have been able to move. But Twilight ignored the absence of such laws and was thankful she could even move.
She dropped out of the earth into a room. It was dark, and the whole place stank of death. Using her magic, she managed to create enough light to enable her to see.
She let out a cry of horror and recoiled from what lay at her feet.
Her friend, Pinkie Pie, lay on the ground, dead and rotting. Maggots ate away at her body, chewing large holes into her flesh. Her eyes were white, and her hair had all but fallen out.
As Twilight reeled backwards to avoid her rotting friend's corpse, she tripped over something hard. She righted herself to find Rarity, dead as well. She didn't look rotted like Pinkie did, but she was missing all but one of her limbs, and blood slowly seeped out of her wounds. Twilight gagged forcefully, nearly throwing up.
She saw the rest of her friends lying around the room, each one having died from various wounds. Fluttershy had a metal spike rammed through her skull. Applejack was missing her whole chest, a large hole instead taking it's place. Rainbow Dash was missing both of her wings, and had large gash on her stomach.
This time Twilight did vomit, doubling over and collapsing to the ground, but her stomach was empty. She dry heaved for several seconds before managing to stand up straight again.
A black figure, covered by a cloak, moved before her. It was hard to tell if the figure was a mare or stallion, but it was giving off a dark feel, one that seemed to squeeze Twilight's soul and crush her mind.
"You could have saved them." The voice was deep and rough, like it had gravel in it's throat. It was definitely a stallion.
Twilight shook her head. This wasn't real, it wasn't. "What did you say?"
"You could have saved them had you known." He said again.
"Known about what?!" Twilight shouted, the tears already flowing.
"About them. If you were a good friend. But you aren't. And they are dead."
He disappeared in flash of black, if that was even possible, with one last parting sentence.
"Because of you."
The words bounced around inside her head, causing her pain and torment. What did she do wrong? What had happened? Her friends were dead because of her! She had failed them! She had killed her friends.
~O~O~O~O~O~
"Twilight!"
Twilight failed her hooves as she felt something poking her side. With a gasp she rolled over in fear, falling out of her bed. She rubbed her head with a hoof as she sat up, taking in her surroundings. She was home. She was fine.
"Twilight, are you okay? You were crying."
Twilight turned to face the speaker, finding Spike's face staring at her with concern. The little dragon made his way to her side of the bed, holding both hands behind his back, looking so sweet and caring.
"Um..."
She shook her head to try and clear the images from her head. They were so vivid. It had all seemed so... real. Had it all been a dream? A nightmare?
"No you're not?" Spike asked.
"What?" Twilight looked her assistant in the eye with an expression of confusion. "Oh, no. I mean... I mean yes, I'm fine." She looked out the window towards the moonlit sky. It all seemed so peaceful and perfect. "It was just a dream."
Spike sill looked worried. "Oh. Is there anything I can get you?"
A small chuckle escaped her lips. Spike was always so helpful, always trying to look out for her and her friends, even when they didn't notice, and always trying to make sure they were always happy. "No spike. I'm fine, thank you. Why don't you head back to bed. It's still dark out."
"Okay." Spike crawled back into his bed, giving one last look towards Twilight. With a sigh he fell back asleep. Twilight climbed into her own bed, pulling the sheets back over her body, leaving her head and hooves out. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, not even trying to sleep. The nightmare was still implanted in her mind, and the images wouldn't leave. She was scared that if she fell asleep, she'd have another nightmare.
Eventually, exhaustion took over, and Twilight slipped into an uneasy slumber. She tossed and turned all night, and barely got any rest. While no nightmares haunted her dreams, she still had those same images flashing through her subconscious, causing her no end of torment that night.