As Shadow drifted off into his dream, he was transported into a world that was strange to say the least. He awoke on the ground, opening his eyes to find it was white. His head shot up to look at his surroundings. To his surprise they were all white, black, or the endless amount of grays. He looked frantically at the room he found himself in, only to realize it was the same room he had fallen asleep in the real world, except he was the only one there. He felt some strength surge back and he attempted to stand up.
The second his hooves hit the floor did everything melt. The world spun rapidly and he felt as if something was pulling him to some unknown place. He felt sick in seconds and felt muscles in his throat tighten and relax. He was very sure he had just vomited in the real world, but even that did not release him from the dream.
He fell onto the ground as everything stopped spinning, his hooves covering his eyes. As he peeked out of his cover he found that he was no longer in a room, but deep in a forest. The sky was pitch-black and the ground was pure white. He got up shakily and looked around. He realized that it was dead silent, no birds, wind, or anything, only silence that was bone chilling. Out of the corner of his eye he saw red. He walked towards it only to find a trail in random red marks. Shadow followed without aim hoping only to wake up and be perfectly healthy.
He made it to a clearing where the red marks were very collected and pooled. Shadow dropped down the second he saw what else was in the clearing. Not far from the pool was a bloody sword tossed to the ground and more importantly, a twisted, broken, and mangled body of a white mare with an electric blue mane, Vinyl.
Shadow started sobbing at the sight of her bloody body lying lifelessly on the white ground. Shadow felt like he sobbed for hours until he felt something behind him. He turned slowly to come face to face with a black mist. It was darker than the darkest of nights and every time the mist seemed to form a shape, it changed into nothingness, although one thing stayed the same, blood red eyes. "See what you have caused Shadow." A hundred deep, dark, and evil voices said as one. "You have done worse yet." It said as the world changed once again, but this time there was color and sound.
Thunder and lighting scarred the sky as fire roared from the ground. Screams and repeated thunder could be heard and shadow could name what species. He heard ponies, griffins, wallabies, zebras, and even kangaroos. Shadow had learned about war the second he left Equestria and knew this was a total war. Huge hunks of metal crawled along the ground spitting fire as even large machines were flying as they dropped fire from above. Shadow smelled blood, flesh, and burned bodies. It was disgusting, he vomited once again. He had used a gun before, even to kill, but he never saw a war before.
Suddenly a siren wailed and everything stopped, the guns, the explosions, the fighting, all stopped. Everyone looked up to the sky, some with tears in their eyes, others on their knees, even others who took their life. He was being pulled back in a bubble like field with the mist as he saw a white flash consumed the world. "All are now dead." It motioned to the war zone. "Those who survived shall slowly die off, all because of you and what you will do. You will kill everyone, all who you love, like, and hate."
The world once again transformed, but this time into a silent waste land, not a tree, bird, spot of grass, or any other sign of life. He saw the ruins of ponyville, broken houses, streets hidden in ruble, and four ponies wondering the once great town. He could hear on of them coughing badly and fall. He could see her coat was stained in red blood, but the others ignored her passing. They just kept walking but they looked like they were in the same condition as the now dead mare.
Shadows heart broke as he felt tears fall from his face as he thought of all of those who he met and now would die. He felt the dream fade as everything faded away, the last thing he saw were glowing red eyes.
It was the middle of the night as his eyes shot open. His throat burned confirming his idea that he vomited while in his dream. The only thing that he could think of though, was all that would die because of him. He couldn't let that happen, he cared for too much for some of the ponies he had met and even some non-ponies. He bolted up ignoring the pain in his head and the uneasiness of his stomach. He ran for the door, he had figured out a way to stop all that was going to happen. He ran to the barn of Apple Jack and grabbed a length of rope and run for the forest. He tried to spread his wings but a sharp pain in one of them stopped any idea of flight. After minutes of sprinting he was truly lost, breaking down into tears as memories of his dream flashed back into his head. He swung the rope of a tree branch and tied it off. He took the other end and tied a noose with it. He climbed the tree and put it around his neck. 'If it said that I would cause it all, then if I die, it won't happen.' He thought as he jumped and left the rope tightened suddenly.
As he gasped for air something spoke to him. "I don't believe it, you are truly weak. Now they shall die, starting with the ones you cared about the most." It said as Shadow realized who it was, what he had just done, and how he had failed. He desperately kicked, gabbed and bit at the rope but with no avail. Everything went black and Shadow went limp, slowly twisting around the rope in the middle of a forgotten forest, all alone.
It is done, sorry for the wait though. The next book shall come in a week or two and will take off where this one left. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!