Pinkie trotted through the garden as she looked for Shining Armor asTwilight slighlty bounced up and down on the pink pony's back as she trotted through the lush grass. Twilight didn't know how much time has passed that she had been bouncing around, but it seemed like an eternity.

Pinkie had been looking for Twilight's brother but she couldn't find him, and Pinkie was getting worried. Celestia had told her that Shining Armor would meet them in the garden and she was sure as pie that they were at the garden. By all the trees and colorful flowers and variety of woodland critters, she was positive they were. So where was the white unicorn? Pinkie continued as she frantically searched for just a streak of blue from his mane, or even a hoof, she would take that, becasue the more time she wasted looking for him, the less time that Twilight had.

Twilight's body felt heavy, and the pain that had left her while she was with Celestia was starting to return. Tinges of pain sparked through her nerves, and it felt like millions of tiny needles poking at her. Her eyes were heavy, and her mind was drifting once again. All she could hear was Pinkie's hooves against the grass, and her own heartbeat slowing down. Her heart thumped and she heard it loud and clear in her ears. Earlier she wanted to live for Pinkie's sake, to see her again, but death was approaching her, and it was pretty enticing with it's promise of closure from her pain.

Pinkie kept looking as her blue eyes were darting around. She was becoming desperate to find Shining Armor. She knew that Twilight was still alive as she could feel her heartbeat against her back, but for how long? Celestia did help her, but only to buy her a little more time, and just that. She was going to lose her if she didn't find him soon.

"Twilight, you still with me right?"

Pinkie had to make sure. She needed to hear her voice. She needed to know how much time she had left.

Twilight opened her mouth but it came out quietly and weakly.

"Yeah...I'm...here"

Not much time at all. She had to find him immediatly, and have take them to wherever he was supposed to take them. She was with her dying Twilight, and she was watching as her life was waning away. She started to trot faster, but was still mindful of Twilight on her back.The last thing she needed was Twilight falling off of her due to her increasing panic. She passed rows of beautiful yellow flowers and red roses, and a gentle breeze that blew against the trees, but she didn't have time to admire its immaculate beauty. What she wanted to see was a blue maned unicorn.

Twilight felt nature's breeze hit her face, and it soothed her. It wasn't helping her keep her mind with Pinkie, and her mind was quickly descending into haze and darkness. She didn't know if this was her death now approaching, but it was welcomed. She already failed earlier, what kept her from failing again if she lived? Who would get hurt next? Pinkie? Sweetie Belle? Spike? Would they be next because of her weakness? If she was dead, there wouldn't be a worry about that. Luna would be satisfied, and hopefully Pinkie would be able to hide once again from her dark grasp.

"Pinkie..."

Pinkie Pie stopped as she heard Twilight's voice.It sounded weaker and quieter than before.

"What's wrong Twilight?"

Pinkie laid down and gently slid Twilight off her back. Her heart was throbbing inside her pink chest, fearing that this was it. These were Twilight's last seconds, and that she was too late, Shining Armor was too late, and the lavender unicorn knew it.

Twilight was rolled on her side looking towards Pinkie. She loved her bouncy pink mane and innocent blue eyes.

"You...d..don't..." Twilight coughed as she tried to speak. Her pain had resurfaced and wracked her body.

"You don't have to do this...just leave me here...you go."

Pinkie's eyes filled up with salty tears as she heard her words. Pinkie didn't want Twilight to give up. They were so close, she just needed to find her brother, and they would be home free.

"No! Your not going Twilight! I promised that you would be okay, and I don't break Pinkie Promises!"

Rivers of tears ran down the pink pony's face. Twilight saw raw sadness leaving Pinkie's eyes, but Twilight couldn't take it. She wanted release from her pain, from her failure, from this world that she once knew.

"I'm sorry Pinkie...It hurts...I can't."

Twilight's mind was going into a black haze, and her vision was becoming surrounded by a dark void.

"You can! You have to! We're supposed to throw a party together when we get our friends back! Together! Twilight! You can, just hang on!"

Pinkie was desperate, screaming out to her, trying to break Twilight away from death's grip, but Twilight didn't want to hang on. She was done, and she was foolish to think that she would actually live.

"Twily!"

Pinkie spun her pink head around to see a white sturdy stallion with horror in his blue eyes.

"Shining Armor!" Pinkie exclaimed through her tears. He had found them, but was he too late?

He knelt before his sisters side and watched as life itself was leaving her. He had to get her out of here now. He hadn't even put up a barrier to protect them from the pegasi that covered the skies, but it seemed they were paying no mind to them. He had heard Pinkie's cries and it terrified him as he feared the worst for his sister.

"She needs help! She's going to die if we don't leave!

Pinkie's panic was taking her as she saw Twilight drifting away as she laid on the grass. Shining Armor looked towards her with a mix of horror and anger.

"You don't think I know that?! Why would you care anyways?!"

Pinkie went silent except for her whimpers of sadness. Shining Armor didn't know about Pinkie being innocent and that she was not the one who had brought Twilight's friends gruesome deaths. As much as he wanted to hurt the party pony, Celestia had given him directions to bring both of them. Lucky she had said both, or he would've left a certain pony behind.

"I'm supposed to get you both out of here. I'll be transproting us to Manehatten to regruop with my guards," He looked towards Twilight as she met her face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open as her breathing was becoming slower and slower, "and I'm going to get you some help. Just hang on."

Hang on...that's what they kept telling her. What if she didn't want to hang on anymore?

I'm sorry Pinkie. I'm sorry brother.

If she was hanging on before, then she was going to let go.

She heard her brothers seemingly distant words as he said they were leaving. She heard a loud pop sound and she felt herself floating. She knew her brother must now be taking them to Manehatten and taking her to receive some attention, but she wasn't going to be there with them.

She let go and let the darkness take hold of her.
----------------------------------------------------

Twilight's eyes flashed open and a bright light fed into her purple eyes. The sun shined brightly and she felt it's warm glow against her body. She noticed that she was standing on soft swaying grass, and it felt...good. There was a valley of grass that seemed to run forever, and there were five ponies all sitting in the distance. She couldn't make out who they were, as the sun was so bright that all she saw was black figures.

"Hey egghead!"

Twilight's body stiifened in shock and her mind and heart exploded inside her. She knew that voice. One that had confidence and almost an egotistical background to it. She knew exactly who it was.

"Well there she is! C'mon sugarcube, this here food is getting cold, and ah'm starving!"

Her southern twang rang through Twilight's ears.

She walked toward the lone group to get a better look at them. Heariing what sounded like Applejack and Rainbow Dash wasn't good enough, she had to see them and lo and behold, her friends were sitting on a red checkered blanket with a couple straw baskets filled with sandwiches, and all of them were drinking from apple juice boxes.

They were all here. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and even Pinkie Pie were all sitting together eating with giant smiles on their faces...just like before.

"Darling, you finally made it. Why don't you sit down and have some daisy sandwhiches? They are simply divine."

Twilight was still in complete shock. All her friends were here, happy, like nothing ever happened. She didn't know how to react. She sat on her rump and looked at all of them in shock with a mix of pure and utter joy. A yellow hoof appeared before her with a sandwich. She turned her head to see Fluttershy with her pink angelic pink mane with a small smile on her face.

"Here you go Twilight. I'm sure your hungry from your trip but, um, you know, you don't have to eat if you don't want to."

Twilight slowly grabbed the sandwich in her hooves, and she noticed that she was shaking. This was all too much for her. Her friends were back, and they were having lunch together, just as they did for so long before.

"Where you been ya slow poke?"

She turned to Pinkie Pie as she jested at her. Twilight didn't understand what was going on, nor did she care. This was heaven to her. It was just her and her friends. A wide smile came across her face. She couldn't help it. Her joy was too much, and she couldn't keep it hidden. It was a feeling she hadn't felt for so long, it was almost alien to her.

"Woah, whats up with you Twilight?" the multi-colored mane pegasus asked.

Twilights heart was exploding ten thousand times over.

"You guys...your alive...your alive!"

Tingles of happiness ran through her body. They were alive and they were all together again,

"Um, why wouldn't we be sugarcube?

"Yes darling, what ever would make you think we wouldn't be?"

She felt Fluttershy tap her shoulder. She turned to her with a nervous smile. Twilight loved seeing her nervous pegasus friend and her beautiful cyan eyes. She couldn't contain herself as she hugged her, feeling her yellow fur against hers. It was all just too much.

"Oh, um, wow Twilight, are you okay?" the animal loving Fluttershy asked.

Twilight let her go and beamed.

"I'm way more than ok. I'm perfect."

She was in heaven. She had release from her pain and torment. She was finally rid of the world that had shown it's true colors, and she was free from her failure. Only this paradise in front of her was all she wanted now, all that mattered. This was her reality now.

Twilight looked at her sandwich in front of her, and bit into it. The soft bread with the delectable daisies were exquisite. It was the best sandwich she had ever tasted, and she knew why. They all sat in happy silence as they ate and drank from their juice boxes. It was good to eat with her friends again under the shining sun. She had missed it all so much.

"Hey Twilight! I got a super duper important question for you," Pinkie chimed as every pony else ate.

Twilight was more than happy to oblige.

"Of course Pinke what is it?" she said as she smiled at her.

"Why did you give up?"

Twilight froze. Her body went ice cold as she looked at her half eaten sandwich. She swallowed hard and looked up, and saw Pinkie's face went from one of happiness to straight despair and anguish.

"Why did you give up on us?"

She turned to Rarity now who had asked the same question, but now her eyes were gone. Two gems were lodged inside her eye sockets as blood poured from them.

"Why did ya fail sugarcube?"

She looked over to Applejack to see her face completely gone and she was nothing but burnt flesh and shreds of meat of her body were falling off.

Twilight shot up onto her hooves and backed away as she saw their bloody and gruesome features.

"Whats going on? Your not supposed to be like this!"

Twilight had paradise right before her, and it was quickly turning into more like a hell. She felt something hit her her leg and looked down to see a bloodied head of Fluttershy with her eyes rolled back in her head.

"Your hurting me Twilight. What have I done to you?"

Twilight's mind was hurting, and her body was filled with terror and fear as she heard them speak to her in their anguished tones. She kept backing away as they all began to rise up and walk towards her, spewing their questions at her. The sun darkened, and the sky went to gray as something started to drop from them. She looked down to the grass as it was being covered in a red liquid. She felt the red drops pelt against her body. She lifted her hoof and saw that this red liquid was thick runny blood.

"Are we not worth it?" Rainbow Dash asked as her body split open and blood and organs spilled out of her, and her eyeball rolled out of her socket, leaving only a strand of a bloody bundle of nerves hanging out of the empty socket.

Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. Everything was so perfect moments ago. Was this hell? Was this what true hell was?

"You want to abondon us!" They all howled in unison. Twilight cringed as she heard their tortured voices howl at her as they continued walking towards her.

"No! Stop it! I didn't abandon you!"

She kept backing away from them until her rump backed into something. She turned and saw a face she didn't want to see again. Luna stood behind her and smiled at her.

"They are all dead Twilight Sparkle. You weren't there for them and they all suffer for your selfishness."

Tears started to well up in her eyes as the sky began to turn darker, and the blood coming down from the clouds came faster, and it seemed to dye her mane and coat a blood red.

"NO! Get away from me!"

Twilight charged right into Luna, but she dissapted into a black smoke. Twilight looked for her but couldn't see her. The mangled bodies of her friends continued towards her until she felt an intense burning on her front leg, as if it was catching on fire. She looked down as she saw a white decayed hoof wrapped around her leg.

"Ahhh!" Twilight screamed as she felt her leg burn and at the sight of the white arm.

She pulled away from the arm, but her leg wasn't scorched or burned, but it throbbed with searing hot pain. The white arm was followed by a head with two sap green eyes, and it looked at her with such pain in its eyes.

"Sweetie Belle?!"

"Why did you leave me Twilight? I loved you like my own sister!"

Her terrifing screech rattled Twilight's brain. She was so confused, she didn't understand what was happening. Swettei Belle wasn't dead.

"Stay with us!"

She turned her back to her decayed and mangled friends. They were holding their arms out for her, trying to touch her and bring them into their hell.

"No, what is this!? I didn't want this!"

She began to run away from them, but the blood kept pouring from the sky, and it seemed it was only getting darker. She felt her front hoof trip over something and fell face first into the bloodied grass. She looked to see what had caused her fall.

"Why would you leave your number one assistant Twilight?! I needed you!"

Her eyes began to pour tears as she saw Spike. He was dragging himself with his two arms. The bottom half of his body was completely severed off, and his bloody intestines dragged behind as random organs were left behind in the red grass. His two wings were bent in awkward positions, and bone was ripping out of one of the purple dragon's wings.

"No! Your alive! I'm the one who is dead! This isn't what I wanted!"

She felt her shoulder burn and she howled in pain. She turned to see a dark sapphire hoof on her shoulder, and looked up to a beaming Luna.

"This is what you wanted. You wanted to die, and that is what you got," she said smoothly.

Twilight yelped again as she felt another burning in one of her hind legs as Spike now had grabbed one of them with his broken claw.

"No! Get off of me! I didn't mean for this to happen!"

She broke away and continued running.

"This is what you wanted! You left us all to die!" the mangled bodies now all said, their torturing screeches permeating Twilight's skull. She wanted to leave and be away from this nightmarish hell. She kept running as her hooves hit the grass, and puddles of blood splashed on her. She kept running, but she could still hear their voices screeching in her head.

"You left us to die!"

"We needed you!"

"It hurts so much! Why are you hurting us?!"

Twilight fell to her stomach and flung her hooves over her head trying to muffle the voices that tortured her soul. A pink hoof extended out to her. She looked up and saw Pinkie Pie, but she was covered in dried blood. Her bottom jaw was completely missing, and a bloodied tongue hung out of her broken mouth. Both of her once blue bright eyes were missing and green slimy maggots squirmed out of the empty sockets. Her pink mane was missing chunks of hair, and chest was completely gone, showing her non beating heart and dead organs. Pinkie spoke to her, and it was clear as crystal though she had no lower jaw, and only blood spurted out as she seemed to speak.

"I loved you Twilight. I promised I would get you help, and you made me break it!"

Twilight quickly flung herself on her back seeing the disfugered Pinkie Pie. This had to be hell for her, and there seemed to be only pain and torture that resided here.More tears streamed down her cheeks.

"This isn't what I wanted. I just wanted to be free from all of it. I just wanted all the pain to stop."

Pinkie walked toward her still holding out her hoof to her, and her friends along with the now decayed Sweetie Belle and the broken Spike were making their way from behind her. They were surrounding her. The blood rain covered her body, and she only watched as they came closer. Her heart rattled with fear. She knew now there was no heaven to be had, and this hell would now be her reality. She now realized the extent of what she had done. This would be the fate of ponies because of her decision. They would all suffer as her friends had, and it would be her fault. She saw Luna standing behind the group of her former friends smiling at her.

"You realize now what you have done. This is what awaits every pony because of you. Your failure has doomed them all, and you will become part of us in eternal pain."

Twilight curled into a ball. Her mind was breaking. She wanted to see Pinkie again. She wanted to see her brother again. She wanted to see Sweetie Belle and Spike. She wanted to get her friends back again, she wanted to live again.

"I'm sorry! I just want to go back! I'm sorry!"

She had tried to run away from pain, and used death as her escape, but it only landed her in pain that she couldn't even imagine.

"Is that what you want my faithful student?"

Twilight's heart stopped and looked up to Princess Celestia who stood next to her, and the mangled bodies of the anguished ponies ceased their progression towards her along with Luna.

"P..Princess?? Are..are you dead?"

Celestia looked down at her and smiled warmly.

"No Twillight, and neither are you. You are just hanging between life and death right now."

So she wasn't dead.... at least not yet. The mangled bodies growled at them, but they wouldn't move towards them. She noticed that Celestia was not even touched by the blood rain as it poured down, but it was seemingly avoiding the white alicorn.

"You said you wish to go back. But why Twilight? Why do you wish to go back?"

Twilight looked around her, and bloodied and decayed hooves were trying to reach for her, but they would not dare move to her.

"I want to see my friends again. I have to bring them back. I want to see Pinkie again. She has had to carry the same pain I have for so long, and it was selfish of me to give up on everything just so I could stop hurting, " Twilight began to sob as she continued, " I'm sorry, I just want to go back. I haven't even thought about the ponies that needed me, " she said she looked at the tormented Sweetie Belle and Spike,

Celestia smiled, and put her golden hoof on Twilight's shoulder, sending a soothing warm feeling through her.

"Princess, how are you here with me? If were both not dead, how are you here when your with Luna?"

Twilight didn't quite understand how Celestia could be in two places at once.

"Dear Twilight, I am not Celestia. I am only an avatar of her, meant to keep you from giving up. You had heard her when she said what she did was supposed to buy you more time yes?"

Twilight nodded, still not seeing where this was going.

"I am that time Twilight. I was placed within you to keep you from giving in and accepting death. This is where the time that she has given you begins."

Twilight understood to a point. When Celestia was healing her, she put a part of herself within her, a fail safe almost, to stop Twilight from accepting death if she came to it. She still didn't understand how Celestia could have done that though. She had never read about any type of healing magic that could actually interfere with one's passing to whatever it was on the other side.

"Did Celestia do all this too?" she said as she motioned her hoof to the ponies that stood around them.

"No, this is just a nightmare, one that is trying to tell you to not give up in the harshest way possible. As I said before, you are not dead, but your very close. If you would have accepted this nightmare, your soul would have been lost and moved on, leaving the ones that care about you. It wants to show you the consequences of your decision."

Twilight was now losing her moment of clarity. It was becoming too confusing for her. She wasn't dead, her mind was trying to show her things that might not even be a reality, and Celestia, or whatever it was, stood before her.

"But how could my mind do this? This could only happen if you,er, I mean, Celestia didn't beat Luna..." she trailed off now coming to a scary realization.

"Celestia poured her very magic into you Twilight. She was desperate to save you, and she was on the verge of her own death after she had healed your wound. She didn't even know what would happen when she did this, but she was determined to keep you alive."

Twilight looked around as she noticed something. The gruesome bodies were gone, and the bloody rain was no longer pouring, and it was only her and what looked like Celestia. She stood back on her hooves.

"So she manipulated her magic to intertwine with miine? Is that what your saying?"

It nodded it's head.

"And I was placed here to ensure that you are given more time."

Twilight's head still spun around. How could Celestia mix her own magic within hers? She knew that all unicorns had their own special type of magic, but they could never 'mix', but it would have to do. She just wanted to go back now. There was so much to be done, and Pinkie and her brother were waiting for her.

"Well, I want to go back. I want to try again."

It smiled once more.

"Very well then, but once I take you back, I will be gone, and if you should ever decide to give in again before your time, there will be no turning back. Death comes for us all, and today you have decided to cheat it. No doubt it will be waiting for you next time."

Twilight nodded but took note when she mentioned 'her time'. Did she seemed to know when Twilight's time was coming? A new determination rose within her. She would have to deal with her pain but she wasn't alone in it, and she knew now that she hadn't failed. Only when she gives up and accepts death as her way out and let Luna win will she have failed. She had some friends to bring home, and a certain princess that had to pay for her transgressions.

"Good," a bright light glowed from her horn. It grew brighter and brighter until it blinded Twilight and she heard it's last words.

"Just hang on a while longer....
-------------------------------------------

"We got her! She's coming back!"

Twilight gasped as a rush of air filled her lungs. Her eyes shot open as she saw a swarm of doctors over her with their tools and their eyes in relief. A bright light shined above her as it hit her eyes.

"Sweet Celestia! She's alive!"

She could hear the beeping of a heart monitor, and a oxygen mask was present over her muzzle. She tried to move her arm, but her body was weak, and her arm throbbed as she moved it. Her arm was stopped by a doctor and was led back to her side.

"Just relax Twilight. Your in good hooves now. We need you to just rest", one of the doctors instructed.

They were trying to bring me back...

She laid still and watched as they started to put equipment away. She looked around the room in hopes of finding some familiar faces. The room had was painted light green, and there was medical equipment everywhere but she had found who she was looking for. Pinkie Pie and her brother, Shining Armor stood in the room. Their eyes were red and puffy from the crying that they both had done. Shining Armor's face showed of relief and joy as he heard the doctor's outbursts, and the green line of her monitor that had flat lined for what seemed like an eternity was now beeping at a steady pace. Pinkie Pie let out a giant smile spread across her face. Her heart was thrashed with agony as she had watched the doctors desperately save Twilight, but they did it, and overwhelming happiness flowed through her. They both began walking towards her, happy to see that Twilight was back.

She looked at her marefriend and brother as they started to walk towards her but something was different. Much different. She saw what looked like veins in them, but it wasn't blood or veins that she had seen in her studies about the body. These seemed spectral, almost mystical in their own way. She saw a blue aura running through Shining Armor at a constant speed, and it flowed throughout his entire body, while Pinkie Pie's was a bright pink color, but it moved at a much slower pace. Twilight's mind went blank at what she was seeing. She was confused, and that was something she didn't want to be right now.

Pinkie Pie and Shining Armor now stood at her bed side looking at her, with tears still coming down their faces, but tears of relief and happiness.

"Welcome back little sister," Shining said as he hugged her gently.

She couldn't really hug him back as much as she wanted to due to her body still weak as before, but she was also studying this mystical blue aura that flowed within her brother. She couldn't wrap her mind around what she was seeing. It moved at such a speed, it seemed to flow like a rushing river. He pulled away from her as she continued studying thie eerir sight. It was now Pinkie's turn to hug her.

"I'm sooooo happy your back!"

Twilight wasn't surprised by Pinkie's outburst. She seemed to do that a lot, but she was now studying her. The pink aura that flowed withing Pinkie was much slower than her brothers. It was almost sluggish, but it moved constantly regardless. Pinkie broker their embrace, and now the two just looked at her and she looked at them. Her mind was rattling against her head. Did they know they had whatever this phenomena was inside them? Could they see something similar within her? She couldn't take her eyes off of it, but it slowly started fading away, and in moments, the spectral veins that ran through her mare and brother were gone, as if they were never there.

Welcome back Twilight...

Twilight heard the voice again, one that she hadn't heard in a while.

Did you just see that?

You can see them...

See what? What was that?

Twilight wasn't prepeared for it's answer. She wouldn't understand it, nor would she be able to think about it as Pinkie and Shining now began to speak to her, seeing how she felt, but it's answer was one that she would have to understand in time. She would need to...

You see the connections...

It seems Celestia's magic had done more than she expected....