"Time of death?"

"*sigh* Roughly a quarter till 3 pm sir"

"Hmm...He was a good guy...Too bad he had to die"

The doctor, a pristine white unicorn, took the plastic sheet and placed over the body, absolutely depressed that this young lad had to die. Medicinal Pulse, or Pulse for short, turned around and faced his nurse that was helping him.

"...Tell his friends the news Hearth...They need to know...Even though it would only bring them sorrow" Pulse said in a hushed tone.

Healing Heart or Hearth, a light brown earth pony, merely nodded, looking at the ground as she let out a heavy sigh. "...It'll be hard..." She replied.

"...I know...But they have to know the news my dear....even if it is grim for them..."

Hearth nodded her head, exiting the room, leaving Pulse inside the room, contemplating over the recent events that had led to this his unfortunate death. He didn't move. He just stood there, his sight never leaving the ground.

The entire gang were current seated down on one of the many cushioned benches inside Ponyville Hospital. They heard about the grim news that Zecora told them, sending them into a frenzy as they searched frantically for the two, only to find a histerical dragoness with a bloodied human in her arms, a face of serenity planted onto him.

Barb was currently sitting further away from the rest, her head hung low as her she tightly held onto her tail. Just opposite her, sat her friends and family members, all looking at the depressed dragoness. Twilight and Crlestia were most affected by this, they faces showing a pained expression.

They all could still remember how the zebra had burst open the door, yelling at the top of her voice, saying that she need their help. When asked what was wrong, she told them about what she saw. Immediately, Celestia's and Twilight's went into a a histerical state, before Luna slapped the both of them back into consciousness.

The entire group went into the forest, desperately finding the duo. However, they knew they were coming close as the scenery gradually changed, from a forest full of plant life to a scorched battlefield. And that was when they found them. As said before, the dragoness never let go of her friends body as she cried her heart out. As the group slowly walked to them, Celestia softly called Barb's name. At first, Barb thought it was another foe, begging to die. Needless to say, she reacted violently, from the look she gave to the glowing eyes she held. However, when she realized the rest of the group had come, she dropped her look of savageness before continuing to mourn over her friends seemingly lifeless body.

The entire groups felt as though a knife had pierced through their hearts. Even Pinkie Pie's mane sank, which was always a rarity as she was always the 'happy-go-lucky' type of mare.

Snapping out of their trance, the group split themselves into half. Half of them would rush back to Ponyville. The rest would help carry Mike, which Barb reluctantly did so.

As Celestia held Mike with her magic, Barb never left his side, holding onto one of his free hands as they made their way to the hospital, catching attention from everypony.

I mean, it's not everyday that you see a bloodied human, ya know?

And now, with everypony at the lobby, they all waited patiently, wishing for the best. Barb especially.

"Ugh...." Mike muttered under his breath, groaning in displeasure from the heavy weight on his chest.

Rubbing his face, Mike opened his eyes ever so slowly, only to find nothing but darkness. Now fully awake, Mike jumped up in surprise, thinking he might have been blind, but he was wrong. He stopped for a moment, realizing that he was the only thing that stood out the most in the darkness. It was as if he radiated light. He could see himself perfectly, his hands looked fine and his clothes looked the same.

"Where am I....?" he wondered, now walking in the darkness aimlessly.

He tried to think....Where was he before he found himself here?

And then, a memory soon came into his mind. "...I...The...The timberwolves!" he exclaimed. "Now I remember! I was fighting off a bunch of timberwolves to let Barb escape!"

But then, another thought came to his mind. "....But...What if Barb never made it...?...Oh god...no..." his voice soon dropping to a whisper.

It couldn't be. Barb must have escaped! He gave her the opportunity to run! Before....before he found himself being mauled by a timberwolf, barely able to push it aside and away from him.

And then, he remembered the blood. His blood. Splattered onto the ground with most of it dripping off his body

"....Am I...dead?" he asked himself.

He thought for a good moment. It was a very huge possibility. Him being dead with Barb running off with a couple of scratches.

...Barb...

The name echoed in his mind. He really hoped that she wasn't dead. He made a huge effort to keep her alive. It would haunt him to no end if he knew that she died.

It was then that his train of thoughts came to a halt when he heard a voice. A sweet voice. A voice that he knew.

"...Micheal..."

Turning around, he finally saw her. There, in front of him, was Barbara, smiling at him with her usual happy smile.

But there was something off. His eyes then trailed down her body, finally laying them on a huge open wound that oozed blood. She took a step, and the blood dripped down her leg, running down and hitting the 'floor' of the dark.

"...No..." his voice barely a whisper. She couldn't have died...He was with her on his last dying breath! She looked perfectly fine! And the only wounds she received were a couple of claw marks, not a gash on the side of her body.

"...Why...Micheal...Why did you...leave me to die..." 'Barb' said, a frown now planted onto her face.

Mike stared at her, gritting his teeth in anger. "....You're....You're not real..." He said, taking a step back.

She complied with a step forward. "...Why?...I thought...You cared...for me..." 'Barb' asked, tears now dripping down her face.

Another step back, Mike replied. "...Get away from me. You're not the real Barb..."

However, things soon turned grim. With another step forward, the fake Barb kept on asking him why he abandoned her. And soon, her tears were now not the same, as a tinge of red started to appear. Growing thicker. And thicker. And soon, blood was dripping down her face from her eyelids.

Fear was now gripping him. He had to run! But where? Everywhere Mike looked, looked the exact same. Nothing but darkness.

He took a step back.

She complied.

He did it again.

She did the same.

And when Mike took another step back, the fake Barb proceeded to ask him something. "...Why are you walking away from me...? Don't you care for me...? I thought...we had something special..."

"...No....Not with you..." He replied, gritting his teeth as he glared the dragoness.

"...Why...?" She asked.

He didn't reply. He ready told her why, so why was this...'thing' still asking him.

It was then that he noticed something happening. The green scales that were covering the dragoness were slowly turning black, as if she was sucking the darkness around herself. Not only that, but her eyes...They were not the beautiful emerald orbs that Mike was used to see. Instead, they were now blood red, that seemed to his very soul.

"...Dear lord help me..." He muttered to himself.

However, as frightening as the new features the fake Barb beheld, there was one thing that made him paralyzed in fear.

And it was that she was smiling. Not happily.

But sadistically.

Author's Note

What's this? Another update!?

Yea...Made a new chapter to this story as a 'sorry' for the huge delay in between my previous chapter and the one before that.

As always, any form of help will be great. Whether it be correcting grammar, spelling and other stuff that you guys would like to point out.

Be sure to comment whether you enjoyed this or not, as feedback is also needed, since you guys know I'm not the best at writing.

With that, I'll see you all in the next chapter.

(Oh! Btw, the small 'death' in the start of the chapter will be important later on. With that, see you guys! Love all of ya!)