Forever

    Twilight was now leaving her friends so that she could hear what the princess had to say, in private. Princess Celestia lead the way slowly, as though she was thinking about every individual step that she was taking. This concerned Twilight because she had never seen the princess so deep in thought before. Twilight just followed closely behind, and obeyed orders. She did not want to offend the ruler that was clearly having a difficult time with the situation.

    Twilight's friends were looking from afar as the doors to the castle were closed behind their best friend. "I hope she'll be OK." Applejack said. "Whatever it is that Celestia wants to talk about must be pretty darn important for her to only want to tell twilight."

    "I'm sure she'll be fine." Rarity replied. "She's handled quite a few rough situations before, and this should be no exception." She was trying to seem tough and confident, but she was just as concerned as Applejack. In fact, all of the ponies were getting worried. It was very uncommon for the princess to drag Twilight away from her friends just for a conversation. Especially if that conversation was about another one of their friends.

    Nearly an hour had passed. The four mares were laying in the courtyard's grass. Very few words were exchanged during this time. They were beginning to realize the gravity of the current situation. Celestia would never keep Twilight aside for this long unless the circumstances absolutely demanded it. "I really hope she's OK." Fluttershy stated. She had hardly said a word ever since they got into Canterlot. It showed in her voice that she was genuinely concerned.

    "Don't worry darling." Rarity wrapped a leg around Fluttershy's neck, and gently let her hoof rest on the shivering pegasus's shoulder. She slowly pulled Fluttershy closer to provide comfort and ease her mind. "Everything will be just fine. There is no need to worry."

    The waiting was then interrupted by very loud screaming coming from the castle. The noise was high pitched and sounded as if it was filled with terror. It was the kind of sound you would hear from a young filly who had just been awoken by a nightmare.

    "Did you all hear that?" Applejack asked, with no hesitation.

    Rainbow Dash was the first to respond. "You don't think that was twilight, do you?"

    "I certainly hope not." said Fluttershy as she broke away from rarity's embrace.

    "I do believe I have heard that scream before." Rarity added. "It did not, however, sound like Twilight. Either way, I refuse to stand by as somepony that I may know screa-" Rarity was cut off by another round of the terrified hollering. This time though, the voice cracked mid yell, letting out a loud high pitched squeak that Rarity was very familiar with. Her eyes were instantly filled with worry. "Sweetie Belle." she whispered to herself. With that, she was off to the castle. She needed to find out what was wrong.

    "Rarity! Wait for us!" Her friends yelled as they chased after her.

    "No time!" Rarity yelled back, never slowing her steps. "She clearly needs my help right now!" Her pace began to quicken. She had never exerted this much energy all at once before. Her fragile legs were beginning to ache from trying to run at such high speeds. Not even Rainbow Dash or Applejack could keep up.

    When Rarity approached the front door, she was greeted by two guards. "Hello gentlecolts. Mind if I get through those doors? I really need to be inside there right now." Her fear and stress were taking their toll on her flattery, making her sound a little too aggressive.

    "Unfortunately we can't let anypony in at the moment." Replied one of the guards. "One of the prisoners has escaped the dungeon and we can't afford to let anypony go in until she is detained."

    Another loud scream rang out from inside the castle. It sounded like it was just on the other side of the door. "Sweetie Belle!" Rarity cried. She heard tiny hoofsteps getting closer to the door. "Sweetie Belle!" She called again.

    Rarity finally got the answer she was looking for. "Rarity!" The voice calling out to her was unmistakably her little sister. "Rarity! Help!" The sound was getting even closer to the door.

    "Don't worry Sweetie! I'm coming!" Rarity yelled, hoping that her voice would reach her sisters ears. She ran at the door with all her force. The guards were holding her back as much as they could, but Rarity was surprisingly strong. She slowly managed to get just close enough to the door to give it a good push. The door swung open just in time for Rarity to see a group of guards tackle and beat her sister to the ground. "No!" she screamed. "Not my sister!"

    Rarity's disbelief put her into a state of weakness. The two guards used this opportunity to pull her back and shut the door just as Rarity's friends arrived.

    "What's going on?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

    "Just help me!" Rarity replied instantaneously.

    Without second guessing it, Rainbow Dash and Applejack jumped into the action and started pulling the guards off of their friend. Fluttershy kept trying to fight by their side, but whenever she go close enough to throw a punch, she would start to feel sad and back away. When the two guards were finally occupied with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Rarity sneaked out from the action and started making her way around the castle, looking through the windows to try and spot her sister.

    One of the guards discovered what Rarity was doing, so he turned his attention from the beaten and bloody cyan pegasus to the white unicorn that was attempting to flee. Leaving Rainbow behind, unable to move, the guard began his high speed chase to stop the mare from causing more trouble than she already has.

    Rarity continued running alongside the castle walls, checking through the seemingly endless amount of windows. However, not paying attention to where she was going caused her to accidentally step into a hole in the ground. Her body fell forward with the speed that she had been running, snapping her leg. Rarity had never broken a bone before, so the pain that came over her was worse than anything she could've imagined. She looked down at her hoof, only to see it dangle lifelessly, only being held on by a small amount of muscle and skin.

    The guard that was chasing Rarity saw this as a perfect opportunity to apprehend the unicorn. He grew nearer and nearer until he was suddenly tripped by a light yellow hoof. "Oh I'm so sorry." Fluttershy shrieked. "Are you OK? I didn't mean for you to fall that hard."

    The guard didn't see things the same way. He stood up to face Fluttershy, and with one quick motion, he planted a punch right between the pegasus's eyes, knocking her to the ground. Fluttershy began screaming through her tears wishing that this whole day hadn't happened. The guard placed a hoof on Fluttershy's head as he looked at Rarity. Rarity made eye contact with him as she tried to seem strong despite her own pain. "Say goodbye to your friend." said the guard as he began to apply pressure to Fluttershy's skull. Rarity was speechless. She had no idea what to say. Then the silence was broken by a loud crack as Fluttershy's head collapsed beneath the hoof of the guard, blood spilling out across the grass.

    "You monster." Rarity whispered, unable to yell through all of the emotions going through her head. She turned away so that she wouldn't have to look at the gruesome scene, then decided that it would be for the best if she continued her mission. She would not let such a sweet and innocent life end in vain. With all her might, she stumbled and limped as fast as she could away from the murderer that was chasing her down. luckily, through the next window, she saw Sweetie Belle. She swung her body towards the glass window, smashing it with her shoulder.

    "Rarity." Sweetie tried to scream. She was weak and could barely say her sisters name through the blood that was coming from her nose and mouth. Her bruised body was being dragged through the halls by several armed guards, whose attention was drawn the the mare who had just broken in through the window.

    "You won't give up will you?" said the leader of the group.

    "As long as my sister is alive, I will never stop fighting." Rarity spat the words out with anger and frustration. She had come too far to go down without a fight.

    "Then i guess this should take care of it." The leader replied. The guard that was pulling Sweetie Belle through the castle held the small unicorns body in place on the ground so that it wouldn't move. Then the leader positioned himself behind her head. The two sisters could clearly see each other's faces.

    "Rarity." Sweetie Bell said as strongly as she could.

    "Yes Sweetie?" Rarity replied.

    "I lo-" The words were ended as the leader of the guards swung his forehoof into the back of Sweetie Belles head. The force from the kick snapped her neck, nearly taking the filly's head clean off.

    Rarity was defeated. She had nothing left now. Her legs weakened and she collapsed on the floor. The guard that had been chasing her climbed in through the broken window, bearing a knife. He approached the mare that was laying across the shattered glass and positioned his blade over her throat. "I love you too Sweetie." Rarity spoke softly as the blade began cutting through the flesh of her neck, ending her life.