“You don’t have to do this, Twilight,” Applejack said, “we ain’t worth even a sliver of what yer tryin’ to do!”

“Yes, I do, Applejack,” Twilight argued, “dying is the only way you’ll be saved!”

It was night, and all seven of Twilight’s group were caged up by the furious combination of Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis. The villains had made their intentions perfectly clear: either Twilight gave up her life, or they’d never see the light of day again. Twilight knew what the obligations of friendship demanded. But, truthfully, she didn’t see it as an obligation. She saw it as an honor, and an absolution. It was the definitive end to her existence, and if she were going to go down, she would do so in the name of all she held so dear to her heart.

“You have to let me go,” she told her friends once again, “if you’re truly my friends, you’ll understand why I have to die tonight.”

“NO!” Pinkie screamed, “I can’t lose you! None of us can lose you!”

“Our friendship won’t be the same,” Fluttershy wailed, “in fact, it may not exist at all!”

“Flutter’s right, Twilight!” Dash exclaimed, “you’re the glue that holds us all together! You’re the strength of our hearts, and it’ll all be shattered if you’re put to death!”

Twilight turned and gave her friends a harsh look. Didn’t they understand? Had all the years of understanding what friendship was and the concepts behind it been for naught? Did they really consider their friendship that close to expendability? If so, then they had put up quite the façade to her. She truly believed they were her friends, but this lack of sympathy and comprehension was throwing a wrench into their machinery. The gears of their pact had constantly turned. Were they to be torn apart forever just because of this?

“You six obviously don’t understand the true values of friendship!” She accused hotly.

“Don’t understand friendship?!” Dash asked, “I think YOU’RE the one who doesn’t get it! What kind of friend dies on purpose and leaves her other friends behind to rot?!”

“Dash is right, darling,” Rarity said, on the verge of tears, “you’re just in it for your own ego!”

“My ego?!” Twilight erupted, “my life is about to end, and you’re accusing me of caring about my ego over you?! You six are the most important ponies in my life, and I cannot bear the thought of having you caged and at the mercy of the three most powerful and ruthless villains in Equestrian history! That’s why I’m doing it! I want to save you!”

“Then don’t do it!” Dash shouted, “I swear to Celestia and Luna, if you take one hoof step on this path, then…then…you can just consider yourself minus one friend!”

A gasp was heard. Nopony had even considered cutting off their friendship with Twilight, even though they all thought she was being selfish. They thought that staying imprisoned with them would benefit their friendship more than her dying to save them. They couldn’t see past their own emotions, and it was killing their sisterhood. Dash snorted angrily, then pointedly turned her back on Twilight and sat down in front of one of the brick walls that formed their accursed asylum.

Twilight looked at the ground, then back at Dash. “I’m sorry you feel this way, Rainbow,” she said as tears fell.

“Don’t be,” Dash said coldly.

Twilight puffed out a breath, and then moved her way over to where Dash was. She gently nuzzled at her friend, and then embraced her. Her tears stained the Cyan coat beneath her, and the Pegasus tried to escape. But Twilight had her and would not release the hold. Dash growled as her temper rose, and she suddenly turned and sank her teeth into Twilight’s shoulder. But the determined Princess did not relinquish her. In fact, she cinched the hold deeper, trying desperately to show Dash that she was not in it for anything but saving their lives.

“I have to do this,” she whispered, “it’s the only way you’ll be saved.”

She suddenly felt Dash’s sides begin shaking, and the Pegasus turned and buried her face into Twilight’s mane. She couldn’t stop weeping, and the walls that she’d erected had finally been broken. She understood why Twilight’s blood must be spilled that night, but that didn’t mean that her sadness wasn’t unquenchable. It was as vast and as deep as the very seas that bordered their beloved nation, and now she felt as if she were drowning in it. While she grasped the concept that Twilight was doing something so selfless and heart wrenchingly pure, she just couldn’t comprehend why death needed to be the solution to this final friendship problem.

She backed away and looked at Twilight. “I was an only foal, Twi,” she said softly, “and I didn’t make many friends. I put up blankets of toughness to hide my own insecurities. Frankly, I was miserable…until I met you. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I just…want you to know that. You’re my sister, and I don’t want anything to ever tear that away from me!”

Another round of weeping, and another sense of love and friendship poured forth between the reconciled ponies. Twilight tried her best to retain some sense of composure, gently rubbing a hoof through the rainbow mane that quivered in her embrace. But it was so very difficult…good Celestia, was it difficult! Her mind whirled as she pushed herself to the very brink of emotional fragility. She tried to keep the glass intact, but it shattered all the same, and the tears fell once again.

“I know it’ll be hard, Rainbow,” she whispered gently, “but you’ll get used to life without me. Please, swear to me that you’ll never give up on your friendships.” She stopped and turned to everyone else. “In fact, I want all of you to swear to me that you won’t ever stop. These friendships mean so much, not just to us, but to everypony in Equestria. It’s time for you to carry on without me, and I need for you all to be brave and strong. I don’t want your final memories of me to be bloodstained, so…I’m gonna request that you all remain here while I’m killed. Please.”

“No, Twilight,” Dash said firmly as she came out of her dark and mournful reverie, “we’re your best friends. We’ll see you through this together. Come on, girls. Let’s stand united one last time…”

Twilight was tossed into the torture chamber with reckless abandon. In front of her stood the three asps of hell that had torn her life in twain over the past few years. True, she and her friends had always managed to defeat them. But this time, it seemed they had gained a very big triumph. Soon, her bleeding body would lie at their hooves, and they would cackle and shake as the waterfalls of tears fell from her friends’ eyes.

“So, the purple brat returns to us,” Chrysalis mocked, “how droll. The very thought that she might be able to save her pathetic little friends by dying. She’s only removing one of the barriers that separates us from ruling this worthless, rotten nation. Soon, everypony will be under our control, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop us!”

“You may think you’ve won, Chrysalis,” Twilight said in fierce defiance, “but my friends have the power to stop you. I believe that with every fiber of my being.”

“LECH! Such sweetness and kindness!” Cozy said in a tone that was at once overly exaggerated, yet so close to her true feelings. The evil filly trotted over to her former head mare, lashing at her with a carefully placed hoof. Twilight winced as Cozy’s sharp nail bit down on her tender fur, drawing out a tiny dribbling of blood. Cozy smiled when she saw the red liquid begin trickling down Twilight’s shoulder.

“You know everything’s hopeless, right?” She taunted, “I mean, look at you. To think that Celestia and Luna wanted you to succeed them! You’re worthless, Twilight. Pathetic and worthless. You solidified yourself within those two categories the moment you chose friendship over power!”

“Friendship is power,” Twilight said in a noble voice, “but, as I’ve told you before, it’s not the type of power you crave in your greedy, black heart. It’s the power to hold yourself and your friends up and say that nothing in the world will ever take us down! Even in death, I shall continue to hold up that prospect, for I am the Princess of Friendship. There’s not a villain that can truly defeat the spirit that lies within both myself and my friends.”

“Oh, blah, blah, blah, spare me your petty speeches,” Chrysalis growled as she came forward to stand on Twilight’s other side, “the fact is, you’re going to die. It won’t be quick and merciful, either. Prepare, Twilight, for the most painful and excruciating moments of your life. Oh, and also your final ones. Cozy Glow, Tirek, shall we begin?”