"Execution," spoke Twilight quietly, the silence in the room cut only by her words and the warm glow of her magic lightly levitating the sheet of paper she was reading from. The five other ponies present in the room simply stared at her with blank, near emotionless expressions. She slowly lowered the letter to the table, sliding it to the center, and the hum of her magic cut off. She stared off to the side, as if deep in thought. She spoke again, even quieter than before, her voice cracking the slightest noticeable amount, as if she was holding back tears.
"See for yourself."
The silence continued to persist for an inordinate amount of time, though out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see the uncomfortable shuffling of everypony around her. Eventually, amongst the tangible stress and horror filling the room, she heard Fluttershy whimper.
Rarity was the one to break the silence proper, though, clearing her throat and levitating the note towards herself with her own magic. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie slowly lifted their heads to look at her, as Twilight and Fluttershy continued to look off wistfully.
" Yes," Rarity spoke with unexpected bravado and clarity, "That's what it says. One of us will be....executed."
Fluttershy, now unable to hold it back, let out a much more audible sob, before bursting into a full on bawl. Applejack blinked, before reaching across the table to grab the letter.
"Now, give'er here," she said confidently, snatching the letter.
"H...Hey! I wanna see that!" spoke Rainbow, beginning to panic, her own voice cracking now.
"H...How do we...even begin to...." started Applejack, in disbelief as she stared at the words on the paper. There they were, clear as day.
Celestia was going to execute one of them. And they had 24 hours to decide on who.
"WHY?!?!" shrieked Fluttershy suddenly, now hyperventilating, "I th...thought...I THOUGHT SHE TOOK SWEETIE BELLE?"
"It says it right there in the letter, and I already read it aloud," spoke Twilight, now in a dead tone, almost annoyed, "she wasn't satisfied. She said she 'missed' it, whatever that means."
"BUT SHE CAN'T KILL US!!!!" Fluttershy continued to try and argue fate, "WE...WE'RE THE ELEMENTS! EQUESTRIA NEEDS US!!!!"
"F...Fluttershy..." spoke Rainbow Dash, trying her best to keep it together.
Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs, sobbing between every breath, the reality of the situation crushing her. Applejack and Rainbow Dash moved quickly to console her. Pinkie, ever silent, slowly turned her head to look at Rarity, who seemed to still be calm and collected. Rarity didn't notice her, instead focused on Twilight.
"So, Twilight, what's the plan?" asked the white unicorn, still keeping her cool but raising her voice above Fluttershy's wails of anguish.
"Well," replied Twilight dryly, nearly choking up, "does anypony here want to die?"
The entire room, even Fluttershy, went completely silent.
"I don't...." Pinkie spoke for the first time, "I don't wanna die."
"Yeah...." continued Applejack, "...An' even if any of us did, which I think I speak for all of us when I say we don't, we sure wouldn't wanna face death at th' hooves of Celestia."
"You know what...she does to those fillies, right?" Rainbow Dash chimed in, almost as if she was waiting for someone else to say it first. "I mean...you've heard the stories...right?"
"I don't wanna die," repeated Pinkie plainly, almost emotionless.
"Yes, well, it's what must be done," explained Rarity, matter of fact-ly. For some reason, this really set Applejack off, who cringed at the words before turning to Rarity with contempt in her eyes.
"How can you be so calm, Rarity? It was your own sister she did these awful things to...." Applejack spoke in a tone of voice that was about as close to growling as you could get without actually growling in contempt.
"Oh, it was unfortunate, for sure," sighed Rarity, glancing at the others without a hint of fear as they cowered in horror, Fluttershy's pupils the size of gnats, "but it was what Celestia wanted. It wasn't within her right to complain, and it's not within ours to complain either. We'll just have to decide."
"D....Decide?" stammered Rainbow Dash, already knowing exactly what she meant.
"Yes. We must decide who among us will be executed."
Nopony spoke, but Fluttershy burst into loud sobs again. Rainbow Dash patted her on the back, trying her best to hold back her own tears, while Applejack moved forward, her face now scowling, planting herself between Rarity and the others.
"And just...how...do y'reckon we'll do that?" she spoke slowly through gritted teeth.
"Well, for starters, it won't be Twilight," spoke Rarity confidently, noting Twilight twitch as she mentioned her name, "she's far too important. She's a princess, after all. Of course, it won't be me, either. I have several extremely successful businesses to maintain. Now you, Applejack, you've got the biggest family, by far, so-"
"You better not end this with a suggestion," Applejack warned, cutting her off, "Or this becomes a much simpler discussion."
"What?" Rarity replied with genuine confusion, "Is...Is there something wrong with looking at this critically?"
"There's 'somethin' wrong' with you naming a single one of us who you think should give themselves up to die. To be TORTURED to DEATH."
"I'VE GOT A FAMILY TOO!" shrieked Pinkie Pie suddenly, raising her voice for the first time, tears now streaming from her eyes. "I....MY SISTERS! MY PARENTS! I....I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!"
"You won't. None of us are," snapped Applejack.
"I don't...think that's for you to decide, Applejack," spoke Twilight simply and quietly.
Everypony turned to look at her. Applejack didn't really have a problem standing up to Rarity, but Twilight was, for some reason, a bit harder to speak back to.
"Um. I mean, I just thought that...maybe you could talk to her, Twilight?" she spoke cautiously, "Y'know...make her see reason....? Maybe...find...somepony else....to execute?"
"No," Twilight continued to speak dryly, "It's going to be one of us. And if I'm being honest...."
Twilight cleared her throat, and turned to face the others.
"...Probably Rainbow or Fluttershy."
"WHAT?!??!" shrieked Rainbow Dash, "WAIT, I-"
Even as loud as Dash was screaming, she was cut off by the sheer volume of Fluttershy's panicked wail of agony as Twilight named her. In a panic, Fluttershy flew as fast as she could towards the door - rationalizing that she was about to leave her entire life behind to escape this horrifying fate. Twilight calmly and effortlessly grabbed her tail with magic and slammed her into the ground, emitting a loud and intense crunch sound as she landed on a wing. She let out a belching shriek, trying as hard as she could to speak words.
"NO!!!!! NO!!!!! THE ANIMALS! I...I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE ANIMALS, I-"
"Shut up, Fluttershy," sighed Twilight, staring down with a truly pathetic look on her face, as if she was still in disbelief that this is how she had to carry this conversation, "speaking rationally, you're among the most logical picks when you factor in all of our respective places in society."
Twilight cleared her throat, before turning to Rainbow Dash, who began mouthing "no, no...."
"As for you, Dash...you don't have much. Who all do you have, anyway?" asked Twilight, still in a low, groveling tone, the ever faintest smile growing on her face in a very somber, over-it kind of way, "Your parents....that you hate?"
"T...Twilight, cmon...." blubbered Rainbow Dash, her lip quivering, her brain still trying to rationalize that she had gone from a normal morning to suddenly begging for her life from somepony she thought was her friend.
"But we can't decide now," Twilight continued dryly, "I need time to think. Meet back here in two hours, and go tell your families. As for you..."
Without a second thought, Twilight heaved Fluttershy into the wall, growing crystals around her hooves amidst her shrieks of unadulterated horror. She was now stuck to the wall, writhing in agony.
"TWILIGHT!" cried Applejack, now hopeless, "What are you DOIN to her?"
"I can't risk her running away. If any one of us skip town, Celestia will likely torture us ALL to death as punishment. We don't want that, now, do we?"
Fluttershy was long gone mentally now, unable to stop shrieking and screaming in sheer terror. Urine began to stream from her pussy as she continued to sob with every breath, only a couple of desperate begging words being audible amongst the mess. The others, however, went quiet as they realized the truth behind what Twilight was saying.
Wordlessly, Applejack got up first, looking around the room at the others before passing by Rarity and Twilight with a death glare. Rainbow Dash followed, floating slowly behind. She turned to Twilight on her way out.
"I...I won't run away," she spoke through tears, "Just...please...please don't kill me...."
"Leave, Rainbow Dash," replied Twilight sternly. She hung her head in despair and left, Pinkie close behind. Rarity smirked at Twilight, the cacophony of Fluttershy's screams the perfect background for this moment to her.
"I'll see you in a few," she spoke in a sing-songey voice.
"You're not a hundred percent safe, Rarity," stated Twilight. Rarity's smile faded to a much more true, neutral expression.
"And don't think I didn't notice what you did, naming me first. You're not above them, Rarity. You're just as insignificant as the rest of us."
"I am...sorry...that you feel that way," replied Rarity, as if it pained her to say. She slowly walked out of the room, and after a few more moments of listening to Fluttershy sob, Twilight did too, leaving the yellow pegasus alone in the room.
For several more minutes, just about as long anyone would need to make absolute sure nopony was coming back, Discord slithered down the walls, making his way as quickly as he could to Fluttershy.
"Shhh, shhh, there, there..." spoke the draqonequis gently, melting the crystals around the sobbing pegasus's hooves and catching her as she fell. She was still completely inconsolable, shrieking and sobbing as she wiggled her limbs, still pissing herself.
"I won't let them hurt you."
