The six ponies huddled in the cold room, the creaking of the wooden floorboards echoing, striking the nerves of each pony.
The yellow pegasus mare was sobbing quietly, huddled on the floor in the corner of the room. Applejack, who sat a foot or so away from the mare, reached out a hoof and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.
The purple unicorn paced the room, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. Her pacing brought forth a rhythmic clopping, echoing throughout the creaky wooden room.
Applejack cast her gaze up to the unicorn as she finally came to a stop, and their eyes met.
"We need to get food. It's been nearly a week since our last search, and we've almost run out of berries."
Applejack nodded, and cast her gaze around to the other ponies in the room.
"I'll go this time" the orange Earth pony confirmed, and Twilight nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, only for Pinkie to beat her to it. "Me too."
The party pony had but a glimmer of her usual happy self, but even that was a small boost to the mood of the others - the past three months had been bearable only because of Pinkie's attempts to cheer the others up, and Rainbow's affirmations.
Twilight nodded again. "Remember what berries to look out for? How to tell which are poisonous or inedible?"
Both Earth ponies nodded in unison, and Applejack removed her hoof from Fluttershy's shoulder. She raised her head to gaze at Applejack as she stood, following Pinkie out the door. Leaving the others in barely concealed concern.
An hour passed. Then two. Then three. Fluttershy's eyes never left the door - Twilight continued pacing after the first hour. Rarity bit her lip and indulged in her own thoughts, which by the look on her face, were coated in worry.
Rainbow Dash simply stared at the wall opposite her, uncharacteristically silent.
And then finally, they heard it - the creaking of a door, the sound of hooves clopping on decaying wooden stairs - and the door creaked open, revealing two Earth ponies with four half-full baskets of small red cherries. Fluttershy visibly relaxed as they came to place the baskets in the middle of the room, and Twilight nodded, checking the cherries.
"Well done" she smiled, Pinkie beaming back.
Giving the ponies in the room a few each, Twilight began feasting on her own cherries, which didn't do much to help the hunger pangs, but oh well - they had to make these last. The cherries in the wasteland beyond the house were few and far between, and every venture outside was a risk. A deadly risk.
Once all the ponies were done with their short dinner, Twilight used her magic to levitate the baskets of cherries, beginning to walk out the door when Pinkie leaped after her, following her down the wobbly stairs to the kitchen below.
Twilight hummed quietly as she opened the doors to the small broom closet beneath the kitchen counter, which had been cleared out to make room for the baskets of cherries they stored.
Opening the doors, Twilight froze, her body tensing, dropping the basket held in her magic. Pinkie bounced over to stand by the unicorn's side.
In the broom closet lay Pinkie Pie. Dead.
Fluttershy almost hit the ceiling as the faint sound of the basket hitting the ground, followed by a thud echoed up to the room. "D-did you hear that?" she squeaked out, drawing the gazes of the others.
"Yes. And we're going to find out what it was." Rainbow hissed, drawing a nod from Rarity and a squeak from Fluttershy.
Rainbow walked out the room, an air of confidence and hostility surrounding her as she was followed by a determined Rarity, a silent Applejack and a reluctant Fluttershy, head bowed in fright.
The kitchen was empty.
"Twilight?" Rarity called, looking around. "Where are you? Pinkie?"
Rainbow Dash prowled the kitchen, trailed by Fluttershy. The blue mare had a scowl on her face as she turned to face the cupboard, stalking towards it and tugging the door open.
Twilight laid on top of a Pinkie Pie with a cracked skull, blood and brain matter staining the floor and her once pink fur, dead eyes opened in fright.
Rainbow's gasp was drowned out by Fluttershy's scream, which was quickly silenced by the blade of a knife pushing through her chest. The mare fell on the spot.
Twirling around, Rainbow came face to face with Pinkie Pie, knife in hoof and malice in her blue eyes. She went to attack Rainbow, but the pegasus was faster, front hoof knocking Pinkie onto the ground, a painful 'CRACK' heard from where her fist connected with the Earth ponies nose.
Growling, Pinkie began to rise to her feet - only to be knocked back down by a rusty saucepan hitting her broken nose, smashing her muzzle to the side. This time Pinkie shrieked, falling to the ground and staying down, unconscious.
Still wielding the saucepan in her mouth, Rarity's frightened eyes met Rainbow's, and she was quickly joined by Applejack, who stared down at the unconscious Pinkie Pie.
"A changeling" Rainbow spat, voice laced with spite for the creature that had killed three of her best friends.
"She must've got Pinkie when we were out searching for food" Applejack muttered, and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry Applejack, it's not your fault" Rainbow said, still glaring at the disguised changeling.
"It is though! If I had only kept an eye on her…"
The farm pony bowed her head and sat in the corner, shame overtaking her. Rainbow's features softened, and Rarity spat the saucepan out of her mouth, the two of them walking over to the miserable pony.
"Applejack, darling, you didn't kno-" Rarity's voice was cut short as the saucepan slammed against the side of her head, knocking her unconscious, her breaths silenced by the knife then plunged through her head.
Pinkie laughed as Rainbow charged, hitting her bloodied face with her hoof again, and again, and again, her body collapsed on top of Rarity's, her laughs becoming wheezes, and finally silenced as Rainbow hit her mangled face over and over, relentless, driven by pure anger.
"Rainbow, uh, I think she's dead" Applejack spoke, tapping the mare's shoulder.
The two were interrupted by a groan of pain. Twilight emerged from the closet, a shriek of terror at seeing Pinkie's body underneath her own followed by a gasp at seeing the corpses lying around the room, and a Rainbow Dash with blood staining her blue hooves.
"You're alive?!" Rainbow spoke.
"All I remember is seeing Pinkie's body, and then the Pinkie next to me drew her hoof back to hit me…"
Realisation struck the unicorn.
"Changeling attack!"
Rainbow nodded, gaze travelling between Twilight and Applejack.
And in that moment, the shock finally hit them.
"Do you - do you think there are any more changelings nearby?" Rainbow enquired nervously.
"Changelings always t-travel in groups", Twilight spoke, voice shaky.
"Then we should be prepared for more coming after us!"
Rainbow grabbed the bloody knife, tugging it from Rarity's head. Twilight grabbed the saucepan laid in front of her.
Applejack began to laugh.
