Despair. Death. Unbearable Pain.
These were the only thoughts that Applejack could stir within herself. She was constantly in a battle of gaining and losing her consciousness.
She was battling herself for life.

She had long since lost all sense of direction and time. How long had it been? Days? Weeks? All she knew was that she couldn't possibly survive much longer. A hissing sounded in her ear. But, she barely noticed it.

Then in appeared. Light. Though, it could hardly be defined as such. It was dark, as if tainted by the musty air of her dungeon. It filtered in and caused her eyelids to flutter open. Two slim figures entered her line of vision, but her sight was blurred and distorted. Her eyes were faltering immensely...like the rest of her.
"Come with ussss..." The voices hissed.

This is the end. Applejack thought. It must be.

Rainbow began advancing, her movements were jerky and unnatural. She was a dead marionette being toyed with childishly.
"Rainbow...what happened?!" Pinkie's voice was on the edge of hysteria. She spoke loudly, her eyes wide in absolute horror.
"He fixed me, Pinkie. The Lost Alicorn. He took away my flaws." Rainbow staggered forward even further, a smile curled upon her lips. It looked artificial, painful, and forced.

Pinkie shook her head slowly, backing up and sobbing like a small filly. She had never felt so alone. So scared. So sad.

"No. No he didn't, Rainbow!" Pinkie bolted, turning into the nearest passage through the shelves. Her heart was racing, tears streaming down her face. She had no idea where she was going. The only thing she had in mind was this: escape.

She raced through the dimly lit library. It was a maze of towering piles of books that stretched above anypony's vision. Whimpering and stumbling over herself, Pinkie dashed narrowly between towers of heavy books. Rainbow's voice echoed behind her.
"Come back, Pinkie! He can fix you too!"
"No! NO! I don't believe you!" Pinkie screamed. She was going to fast to stop herself when the dead end came into view. The shelf towered precariously in front of her. When she made contact, she was knocked senseless, if she had any sense left. Her breathing was uneven and her vision obscured by tears. She couldn't feel anything as the books and the shelf fell upon her, crushing her body with a sickening sound that could cause even the strongest of beings to flinch.

Twilight Sparkle and Rain Peak sprinted down the halls in the direction of the screams.
Twilight had never felt so guilty in her life. She never should have left any of her friends, not in this situation. "Why can't I do the right thing for once?!" She thought desperately. Being utterly exhausted, each step she took was painful. But, she had to stay strong. Powered by adrenaline, she galloped quicker than she ever imagined possible.

Barging through the library doors, Twilight and Rain Peak heard a painful crashing sound in the far corner. Rain Peak gave Twilight a worried glance, but she wasn't paying attention. She dove headlong into the maze of books, eager to do something right for a change.
"Hold on! I'm coming!" She whinnied loudly. No answer met her.

When she rounded the final corner, a terrible scene lay before her, causing her to inhale sharply and turn her head away. She would never be able to forget it, and no matter how she tried to avoid it, it would haunt Twilight until her dying breaths. Rain Peak stopped shortly behind her,
"Oh c-c-crap." He stammered.

Pinkie's body was crumpled awkwardly beneath a heavy bookshelf. Two of her limbs were twisted and parts of her were swollen and bleeding badly.
"Oh my goodness...Pinkie Pie!" Twilight ran towards her. Pinkie was staring behind Twilight Sparkle, a smile stupidly planted on her face. Her breathing was ragged.
"It was R-rainbow...I...She..." Twilight quieted her, stroking Pinkie's straightened mane from her face.
"Calm down, Pinkie." She exchanged a worried glance with Rain Peak.
"This shelf must've fallen on her, let's get it off." Using all the strength she could muster, Twilight helped to excavate Pinkie Pie from the wreckage. Removing torn books and dust, Rain Peak and Twilight realized that Pinkie was in an even worse shape than they first perceived.

This couldn't all have happened from just running into a bookshelf. "Pinkie, please. Can you tell us what happened?" Twilight spoke calmly, trying to comfort her friend, but tears still ran down her cheeks.
"I-I saw her. Rainbow. But, she wasn't so cool anymore. She said she wanted to fix me, but I think she wanted to hurt me! Please, Twi! You have to believe me!" Her breathing became ragged again, but Twilight continued to quiet her.
"Alright, alright. I believe you." Twilight turned to Rain Peak, mouthing, "What should we do?"

Rain Peak was caught totally off-guard. He had never been a pony that anypony depended on or looked to for advice, especially in such a dire situation. What could they do? He was stumped. "I-I-I-"

Before he had the chance to continue his thought, Rarity burst in with Applebloom, Spike, Big Macintosh, and Luna. Her entrance was the first undignified one that any of her friends had ever seen her make.
"My word! Is dear Pinkie alright?!" Cried Rarity. Her eyes went round with sympathy and disgust, blinking her long eyelashes. "What happened?" She wailed.
"We're not sure, Rarity, but we need you to calm down, we can't have Pinkie any more stressed." Rarity shut her mouth, but made a fuss none the less. She galloped over to Pinkie and soothed her carefully with gentle cooing sounds.

Big Macintosh had taken a protective hold over Spike and Applebloom, guarding their eyes from the scene and holding them close. Luna spoke for them.
"Twilight, these two found some valuable information when searching those books you found for them." She placed a heavy, leather book in front of the purple unicorn, her blue magic fading away as she set it down. "I believe they have finally identified this cursed evil." Twilight opened the pages eagerly, turning to the marked page.
"The Lost Alicorn..." She read out loud, looking up, "It's-it's a prophecy."
She continued to read. "Many years into the future, where our offspring will grow, a new shadow will arise. Formed from the darkness and death of the grave, The Lost Alicorn will search and strive for the suffering of other ponies, feeding off of their pain, looking for fulfillment. He will snicker at their cries and crush their closest memories, snuffing them out, they are mere candles in the midst of a great wave of dark water. He will use his power to create evil minions of the dead, crafting makeshift puppets to do his bidding. Beware of his hunger for cruelty. He will stop at nothing to snuff out every light."

Twilight closed the book with a thud. It echoed eerily as faint light began filtering through the tall, dusty windows. Silence hung in the air, it was thick with tension, despair, and exhaustion. The only sound was the pained breathing of their pink friend.
"So, he is taunting us by using our dead friends." Twilight spoke the words quietly, but everypony heard them. They seemed to add a new burden to each pony's back.
"So-so..." Rain Peak exposed the thoughts that everypony was thinking, but too afraid to speak, "So Rainbow Dash c-c-could b-be a-" He didn't have to finish the sentence. Everyone was thinking the same thing:
Rainbow Dash was a dead thing now, being controlled by The Lost Alicorn.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading this! I hope this isn't getting dull or repetitive. I'm trying to keep it as interesting as possible. We are nearing the end now, though. Any helpful critiques or reviews would be greatly appreciated!