Twi-ling

Twilight felt the twigs and leaves poking out of the bushes scratching at her hooves and neck as she trotted on. The rest of her friends followed shortly after.

"Are yah really sure that the Everfree Forest is the best place to hide?" Applejack asked nervously, glancing nervously around their surroundings. "Ah mean, Ah'm familiar with wildlife an' all, but this place... It ain't tamed. Not one bit..."

"Applejack, darling, we'll only be here for a short while. Twilight here said we'll be resting here, then moving on to Nightmare's castle. The Castle of the Two Sisters." Rarity winked at Applejack. The orange earth pony flushed a brilliant shade of red at just the tiny gesture.

Twilight sighed. She shook her head slightly, exhaling as she did so. It wasn't like last time, when it was Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding. There were ponies there to help them. They were on their own this time. "When we find the queen, I'll murder her," she vowed. Her gaze hardened. "Her, and every last one of her minions."

Fluttershy whimpered slightly, having once been friends with Thorax and his tribe... Before they were brainwashed and turned back into the creatures that they once were. She trembled, and Twilight knew that the yellow pony was terrified. But not just because of the changelings, but because the love energy she gave off was so strong, it would fuel the changelings enough to finish off the rest of her friends, before moving on to consuming the whole of Equestria itself.

Twilight herself shuddered at the prospect. "C'mon guys. We got this. Just keep it moving."

The six ponies made their way through thorns, ferns, mud, and many more unknown things that Twilight preferred not to think about. The squelching of the mud in the silence that followed sent shivers through her. She wasn't going to lie, she was downright terrified of the outcome of this. Sure, they had defeated many different villains and forms of evil before, but...

A rustle in the bushes to the right of Twilight set her on the alert. "Watch out, guys..."

A few more rustles sounded. The pack galloped faster, desperate to make it to the crumbling castle before whatever creatures-timberwolves, changelings, anything-got there first.

The bridge! The bridge to the castle! "Almost there, girls!" Twilight exclaimed, as enthusiastic as possible, given their situation. Their hoofsteps raced across the bridge noisily as they made their way to the castle.

Suddenly, a high pitched scream filled the air, shortly followed by another lower-pitched voice. Pure agony shot through the second scream.

"Rarity!" Applejack screamed, her voice cracking as tears already spilled down her orange cheeks. "Rarity! No! You can't! Rarity!" She wailed, before dropping onto the ground, hooves over her face, sobbing.

The unicorn disappeared into the abyss. The only logical explanation was that she slipped while crossing the bridge, but nopony had seen, due to that Rarity had been last in line.

"Oh, Rarity," Twilight whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. "She's gone..."

"We were almost to the castle," Applejack cried. She shook her head frantically, her yellow mane swinging back and forth. "No. No, no, no no nonono."

"Even if we were in the castle, somepony would have probably gotten us. Like the changelings. We're never truly safe anywhere..." Twilight trailed off. A moment of silence announced their profounded grief and sorrow after losing their best friend.

"She was pretty," Fluttershy murmured, almost too soft to be heard. Her barely audible voice rose as she carried on. "She was amazing at making dresses. And she made sure she and everypony she cared about were fabulous inside and out."

"She was so generous," Pinkie added, no smile in her voice or on her face. Just more tears.

Rainbow's brow was furrowed. "How can we be sure she's gone? She only fell... What if she caught on to the cliff? Actually, she prolly just teleported somewhere."

Twilight shook her head in disagreement. "Magic doesn't work out here. See?" She demonstrated her attempt to use magic, and it sputtered out after a mere second of forming.

Rainbow sighed and flapped her wings just enough to propel her over to Applejack. She put a hoof on the earth pony's shoulder and looked down at the devasted mess of her friend. "It's okay, AJ. S-She's in a better place now..."

Applejack's face contorted in hurt and disagreement but held her tongue. She looked as if she wanted to argue, but didn't.

"C'mon," Pinkie added. She bounced up and down, though there was no joy in the motion. "We're nearly to the castle. Rarity wouldn't have wanted you to stop now."

"Ah loved her..."

They got Applejack to her hooves and continued trudging through the mess of the Everfree Forest until they reached their destination, one pony short. Twilight tried blinking the tears out of her eyes. Rarity is-no, was-her best friend. She was always there for her. And now...

Fluttershy had remained quiet this whole time, and now let out a huge sob, her shoulders shaking. Slowly, the tears stopped flowing and she whimpered a few times before becoming silent again.

Their grief only lasted about five minutes though, for they had their lives on the line as well, what with Chrysalis and her changelings anywhere and everywhere. It was safe to assume a changeling had somehow pushed Rarity off the bridge. The unicorn was careful and wouldn't have just tripped.

The purple alicorn took lead as they walked through the remnants of the castle and up to the room where they had defeated Nightmare Moon. It felt like they had done that last week to Twilight...

"Alright. We have to form a plan," Twilight muttered, more to herself than her friends.

"We could... Maybe disguise ourselves as changelings?" Fluttershy asked in her soft, tentative voice.

Pinkie Pie interrupted with, "I HAVE THE PERFECT COSTUME!"

Rainbow face-hoofed. "Seriously? I hated those things!"

All ponies looked at each other and let out a laugh. The hysterics were getting to them. Everypony was laughing a bit. Except for a tortured orange pony.

The others glanced at each other, helpless, and unable to console Applejack at her lost crush.

"Ah was gonna tell her today, before the news came," Applejack whispered. "Ah was working up to it, and Ah decided today was the day. Until it wasn't."

"Applejack, I'm so sorry," Twilight said sincerely. She was just as sad as well, but she couldn't allow that to show. She needed to be strong for her friends. And for herself. And for Rarity.

As dusk turned to night, Twilight instructed the rest of the ponies to rest, and she kept watch. But she didn't exactly do as planned. She fell asleep about thirty minutes in. If only she'd stayed up...