The Difference Between a Good Friend and a Best Friend
"So explain to me how this happened again, dear?"
Twilight brought the carriage to a halt in the middle of the Everfree Forest. She turned to face her companion. "I was showing Princess Celestia my scale model for a geocentric Equestria and the metal sphere representing the moon crashed into her head and snapped her neck."
"I see." Rarity paused to survey the area and make sure there weren't any monsters waiting to ambush them. "How ironic, I suppose."
"It's very poetic," Twilight agreed. She floated over a pair of shovels from the trunk. "Now, can you please help me dig?"
"Ugh, I cannot believe that you're making me perform manual labour." A grimace etched itself onto Rarity visage as she grabbed the shovel from Twilight. "Couldn't you have gotten Applejack or Rainbow Dash to help instead? They're much more suited to such things, if I do say so myself."
"Well, Applejack's the Element of Honesty, so asking her to help me hide a body seemed like a bad idea." It took a few tries for Twilight break through the ground, but soon enough the shovel sank smoothly into the dirt and pulled a chunk of it out. "And I couldn't risk Rainbow Dash panicking over this and telling everypony that Celestia was dead." There was an awkward pause and Twilight gazed at Rarity. "And I guess... I guess it just felt right to ask you for help. You've always been there for me, and I feel like we get each other on a deeper level, y'know?"
"I—" Rarity pressed a hoof against her heart as she used her magic to hollow out a bit more of the earth. "That means a lot to me, Twilight. Thank you for trusting me enough to share this moment with me." She leaned over to nuzzle her friend, lingering just a bit longer than might have been proper.
Twilight blushed as she returned the nuzzle. "I'm glad I got to spend some more time with you. Between the whole Princess thing and running the School I feel like I don't have a lot of chances to do that. I miss the time we used to spend together in the library." There was a "thunk" as her shovel hit a rock, and Twilight quickly used her magic to pull it out so they could continue their digging.
"We shall simply have to make time," Rarity replied, pulling away and heaping yet another mound of dirt onto the growing pile next to the hole they'd made. "I believe I have lunch free on Thursday, if you can find room in your schedule."
"I can find room," Twilight promised. "You're right. I need to put in effort if I want to maintain my friendships." She looked down. "Okay, I think that's deep enough."
As she trotted over towards the carriage, Rarity followed suit, saying: "You know, you're taking the death of our beloved leader and your mentor much better than I expected."
Twilight turned around to show Rarity a brittle and far-too-wide smile. "Oh, I'm freaking out right now at the political and emotional ramifications of what I've done, but I've put 'mental breakdown' at the bottom of my checklist, so I can get to it later. Right now, we need to make sure that nobody notices her absence."
"Darling, dearest, Twilight." Rarity helped Twilight open the carriage door and received a nod of thanks in return. "The Princess is one of two primary rulers of the nation until you take over her duties permanently, and she raises the Sun each morning as well. I don't see how ponies won't notice her absence as soon as dawn comes or, as the case will be, doesn't come."
"Oh, I still have the amulet that lets me control the sun and moon, so that part won't be a problem. And if we can get somepony to impersonate her until the transfer of power I think we can pull this off without anypony figuring it out" Twilight looked Rarity up and down. "Would you mind wearing the wig I have in the castle? You're both white so it should work. Don't worry, I cleaned it thoroughly after the last time I used it."
Somehow, that assurance didn't make Rarity feel much better. "I have many, many questions about why you own a wig modelled after your former teacher, but do you honestly think that nopony would notice if I were to try to impersonate her?"
Twilight's smile cracked just a little bit more, and her right eye began to twitch. "Sure! Like I said, you both have white coats, and you both know a thing or two about politics and how to handle the nobility, and you're both very cultured."
"Oh my." Despite the dire situation, Rarity couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart at Twilight's praise. To be compared to Princess Celestia herself and found not wanting... it was almost too much. And Twilight thought she could match the radiant, compassionate, wise, charismatic—
"Oof!"
—and very dead ruler of Equestria, whose corpse was currently sprawled awkwardly on the ground.
"Oops," Twilight said sheepishly, looking anywhere but at the body of her mentor. "She's kind of hard to handle."
"It's alright, Twilight." Rarity grimaced once again as she lit up her horn. "Here, let me help you." She winced when her magic came into contact with the dead flesh, a revolting dread infecting her aura, but she pushed on for the sake of her best friend.
Together, they managed to lug the body over to the hole, with one of them always covering for the over when their grip slipped on Princess they were about to unceremoniously bury. Without any fanfare, they dumped her into the whole and began the process of filling it up again.
"Whew," Rarity said as she picked up a shovel and began covering her beloved ruler in dirt. "This has been rather unpleasant, if I must say so myself."
"Sorry for dragging you into this," Twilight said as she dumped another pile of gravel and dirt into the ditch, covering Celestia's lifeless eyes and horn.
"Oh, it's no trouble," Rarity replied. "After all, what are friends for? Though, I will be taking a thorough shower after this." The hole was half-filled by now, and the princess completely covered save for one gold-shod hoof sticking awkwardly upwards in the air. "Would you like to grab some food afterwards? I think a hearty congratulatory meal is in order."
"Umm, sure," Twilight said.
Further conversation was halted when the hoof in the ditch suddenly twitched. "Twilight," Rarity said very carefully. "Not to insult your normally impeccable attention for detail, but you did check that Princess Celestia was dead before you dragged us out here in the middle of this Tartarus-forsaken forest, yes?"
"I made sure she didn't have a pulse!" Twilight defended hastily as the dirt began to shift and roil. "I used the standard First Aid techniques to determine that she didn't have a pulse, and you felt her anima when we dragged her into the ditch."
"So I did," Rarity shuddered as she recalled that hideous sensation against her horn. "Still, she's obviously moving under there."
"So she is." Another hoof poked itself out of the dirt, reaching around for... something. "As far as I know, there have been no scientifically proven cases of zombie ponies existing in all of Equestria's history."
"That's comforting to hear, darling."
"Ugh." A familiar and very much alive-looking head poked out. "A little help, please?"
It seemed that years of being a princess hadn't dulled Twilight's compulsive desire to obey her mentor's every command. "Of course, Celestia!" She quickly and carefully used the shovel to scoop away all the dirt covering the other princess, until she could stand up all by herself and spread her wings.
"Well, it's been a while since that's happened." Celestia chuckled to herself as she flew out of the hole and landed next to the two very nervous ponies standing at its edge.
"Y-You're alive!" Tears of joy filled Twilight's eyes as she rushed forward to embrace her teacher. "I-I thought I killed you!"
"Oh, you most certainly did," Celestia replied, stretching her neck and making some very disturbing popping sounds. "Fortunately, immortality means that dying doesn't have to be the end for me." Her eyes narrowed at the pair. "It's simply very unpleasant, especially when you wake up covered in dirt. I'm going to need a long shower after this."
"Sorry, it's just... I didn't—" As Twilight struggled to stammer out a reply, Rarity decided to cut in smoothly.
"I think what Twilight means to say is that she's not had any experience with your true nature, and so she panicked when she believed you to be dead."
"I suppose that's reasonable," Celestia replied. "Sometimes I forget which ponies have seen my rise from the grave. Sunset used to try finding the most embarrassing places to revive me." She chuckled fondly. "So, what have we learned today?"
"Bwuh?" Twilight stared up at Celestia in confusion.
"Well, this would all be a waste if we didn't get a lesson out of it, right?" Celestia said, staring at her expectantly.
"I guess..." Twilight trailed off as she stared at Rarity. "I guess I learned that a true friend is somepony who will help you with anything, no matter how illegal or unethical it seems."
Celestia smiled warmly. "A good lesson. Now then, shall we get something to eat? I could murder a daisy sandwich right now."
