Twilight hurriedly walked up the stairs that led to the castle's library, Rarity closely following her. They finally reached a small wooden door at the end of the narrow spiral staircase, and with some effort managed to open it, strings and web on the other side holding it to its original position. Once it finally swung open, the two found themselves at one end of the library, the room mostly covered in white web.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called, as Rarity lifted some loose threads of silk with her magic and studied the fabric.
"Oh, here you are," Celestia replied, descending from the ceiling on a string of her web. She held a book in two of her legs, and kept a pair of eyes on it while the other four focused on the two ponies.
"Your Spiderness," Rarity greeted the arachnid, accompanying the words with a small bow of her head.
"You've received my letter, right?" Twilight asked, panting a little from the recent exertion.
"Of course, my dear," Celestia replied. "I have gathered my guards in the main hall, as you requested. Though, I am afraid I have to inform you that there have been no reports of any friendship problems of any kind." She scratched her head with a leg.
"Are you absolutely sure, Princess?" Twilight began to pace back and forth. "The map explicitly showed the castle. Perhaps the problem is with some other member of your staff, like the cooks or the maids."
"I'll make sure they are questioned as well."
"Good. Well, either way, we're going to investigate the guards to make sure everything's alright," Twilight said in a pensive tone as she headed for the exit.
"Goodbye, Twilight." Celestia waved two legs at the alicorn.
"Your Arachnidosity," Rarity whispered while quickly bowing to the spider before following the purple princess back down the stairs.
"Wait, was that someone? PLEASE, I'VE BEEN TRAPPED HERE FOR MONTHS, SOMEBODY FREE ME!" Chrysalis screamed from somewhere deep in the library. Unfortunately for her, the two were already too far away to hear her.
Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs and walked out, still moving at a rather brisk pace.
Rarity nearly found herself running to catch up to her. "Twilight, dear, don't you think you're being a little too hasty? If the map sent us here we'll find the problem, no need to run around like that."
Twilight huffed, still keeping her gait. "I'm sorry, Rarity, but we've got no time to waste. Less than a week, if my calculations are correct, and Sombra will come back. We can't afford to stay here too much if we don't want to get caught unprepared by that."
Rarity wiped some sweat away from her forehead. "Do you really believe that prophecy will come true? I think you might be stressing yourself over nothing. It's probably made up."
"Yeah, like with Nightmare Moon," Twilight retorted.
Rarity bit her tongue. "Touché," she admitted. "What was up with that anyway? The whole 'stars aiding in her escape' thing, did you ever figure out what actually happened?"
Twilight took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment while still moving forward. "Rarity, now is really not the time to make me think about one of the greatest unresolved mysteries of pony history. We have more concrete matters at hoof at the moment."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Sorry," she muttered.
Twilight slowed down, having finally reached the large doors leading into the hall where Celestia had gathered her guards. She took a deep breath, and opened them with a wave of her horn, then stepped inside.
The large room was filled with rows of guards, all standing in place and waiting for her arrival. They all looked up at the sound of the doors opening, and straightened a little when they saw the alicorn enter.
Twilight walked up to a small platform that had been set up on a side of the room, followed by Rarity, and turned around to address the guards. "You are all aware of why you have been called here, right?"
The guards nodded. "Yes ma'am!" a stallion standing at the front replied, his armour identifying him as a captain.
"Good. I have been informed by Princess Celestia that she has already asked about this, however I will ask again. Please, do not hold back or lie, no one will judge you for this and it's of the utmost importance that we get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can. Have any of you experienced friendship problems in the recent period of time?" Twilight asked, running her gaze over the faces of the guards to catch signs of hesitation.
Silence reigned in the room for a few long seconds.
Twilight quietly sighed. "I sincerely hope this is the truth. If any of you see someone struggling with friendship-related issues, please contact me. You're free to return to your daily activities. Any questions?"
A single hoof was nervously raised, but Twilight noticed several other guards behind the pony were inciting him to ask that question.
"Yes?" she asked, looking at the guard.
"Why is, ah... Why is Princess Celestia a spider?" the stallion reluctantly asked.
Twilight blinked once. "I don't have the faintest idea," she replied.
A low murmur spread through the crowd.
"Any more questions?" Twilight surveyed the room once more with her gaze. "No? Well, then I will be going. I hope you'll all be prepared to face against King Sombra once he returns sometime next week. I will now be checking the kitchens if anypony needs me." She turned around and walked down from the platform, then somewhat defeatedly headed for the exit, head held low as the white unicorn followed her.
"Come on, dear, don't be so gloomy," Rarity said in a tentatively cheerful tone, prancing to surpass Twilight and talking to her by turning her head back over a shoulder once they'd exited the hall.
"We're all doomed," Twilight replied, "why even try at this point? We've already fallen behind on the schedule, we'll never make it in time. We'll just waste our energies and fail to be sufficiently prepared when Sombra comes, and then be defeated. It's all useless."
Rarity stopped and looked at the alicorn. "Twilight, what are you saying? This isn't like you at all, dear."
Twilight stopped and sat down. "Why even bother with anything when we're bound to fail? We should just lie here and wait for the end, at least we won't suffer more than we need to." She let herself fall over the red carpet and remained there, half-closing her eyes.
Rarity was beyond preoccupied at that point. "Twilight, what-"
"Princess Twilight!" a voice called from the end of the hallway, belonging to a young stallion. He ran up to the duo, panting a bit. "I bring news from Her Royal Eight-Leggedity Celestia. She says neither the cooks nor the maids report problems of any sort." He looked down and noticed the alicorn's condition. "Oh dear, what's happening to her?"
"You heard him, Rarity." Twilight's tone was deep and sluggish, her breaths unnaturally slow and profound. "We failed, there's no more time. We should just sleep now." Her eyes fully closed and her body went fully limp against the red fabric covering the floor, her breathing slowing even further.
"Twilight!" Rarity desperately called, trying to wake her friend by shaking her unconscious body in her hooves. "Twilight!"