Rarity
"Oh, this place is absolutely filthy!" Rarity exclaimed, carefully and squeamishly putting her hooves down in the mud and trying to go as slowly as possible to avoid getting even more filthy.
"Twiiiliiiight! Piiinkie Piiiiiie!" she whined, not receiving any reply.
Sigh...Looks like you're on your own, Rarity. No matter, we Belles are not ones to fall so easily to the elements...Whatever elements those may be... With that last comment, Rarity took a nervous glance at her surroundings: To her left and right stood a sea of trees that seemed to stretch on forever but were too thickly knitted to travel through.
Before and behind her was a path cut through the forest, that Rarity had been following since she awoke, and was covered in mud. Looking further back behind her she couldn't see anything despite the bright moonlight, but continued on nonetheless.
It wasn't long before Rarity's hooves began to grow sore.
Now, one would think that a pony so prim and proper as Rarity wouldn't take kindly to such length on such a rough path, but this was not the case for Rarity.
She truly had been walking for quite some time and her hooves felt liable to fall off at any moment if she did not stop.
Reluctantly, the white unicorn settled herself into the cold mud to rest her aching hooves and take a moment to think.
Just where am I exactly? No doubt still the Everfree, but where in the Everfree?
Come to think of it, why haven't I seen the others? I know the forest must be huge, but surely Rainbow Dash at least would have been flying overhead, looking for us?
Letting another sigh, Rarity shifted and felt something...Out of place beneath her.
Standing up once more and using her magic to clear away the mud beneath her (which really didn't help, since underneath the mud was just wet dirt), revealing an eerie drawing.
"Don't look or it takes you? Is this some kind of cruel joke? Pinkamena Diane Pie, you come out here this instant!" Rarity yelled, her temper flaring.
She did not like to be toyed with, especially when the circumstances appeared to be as dire as they were now.
Ponies were missing and the group had been split up, but Pinkie Pie was playing games at a time like this!
Out of the corner of her eyes, Rarity caught something moving inside the treeline.
"Aha! Pinkamena, you come out here this instant!" she ordered, receiving no response. "I'll give you until the count of three before I come in there, missy! One....Two...Three!"
Letting out a groan of frustration, Rarity carefully picked her way past the trees and set off towards where she last saw movement.
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"Pinkie Pie, dear, this isn't funny anymore! Please, come out!" Rarity said in slight fear.
She was almost certain of it now; whatever was out there was not Pinkie Pie, or any of the rest of her friends.
No, this was something different.
She could feel it.
Of course, now she could also feel the hard, jutting roots of the trees beneath her as she continued to pick her way through the forest.
"Stupid, stupid pony! You could have stayed on that disgusting mud road and have actually been somewhere by now if you hadn't gone off chasing phantoms!" Rarity said to herself. "I HATE THIS FOREST!"
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It wasn't long before, much to her relief, Rarity managed to find her way out of the thickly knitted section of trees.
She was still inside the Everfree Forest, however; evident by the abundance of trees that never ceased to surround her.
But now, she was in an entirely different setting.
Sure, there were still trees beyond trees beyond trees, but now there was a building within her sights; one that she happily trotted towards.
"Hello, is anypony home?" she called out, not wanting to trespass.
However, when she received no answer, which did not surprise her at all, she determined that she had free reign and gently nudged open the door to the two story building.
"Ugh, the smell is absolutely horrid!" she exclaimed at disgust, covering her snout with a hoof and awkwardly trotting forward.
"Hello, is anypony home?' she called again.
This time, she did receive an answer; albeit not one she was hopeful for.
Floorboards creaked under her weight and the wind blew gently into any opening in the house it found.
"Completely abandoned." Rarity sighed irritatedly. "Perfect."
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"Oh my, how absolutely wonderful! And it goes so well with my necklace!" Rarity said giddily as she spun around in front of a large, slightly dusty mirror while wearing an ancient dress that had only taken a bit of magic to clean. "Why, if I could recreate this design my name would be in every newspaper in Equestria! 'Rarity: Fashionista extraordinaire recreates a design lost to the ages and climbs the ladder of Canterlot's social elite!'. I can see it now..."
Clearing her throat and giggling awkwardly at nopony in particular, Rarity slipped out of the dress and settled down on the comfortable (despite being incredibly old) bed.
And then, something rattled in the dresser from across the room.
And then a pause.
And then another rattle.
And then another pause.
This happened again and again until Rarity cautiously approached the dresser, her horn glowing as she suddenly yanked open the dresser drawer.
Her heart stopped as her eyes flicked over to the mirror; stuffed in the corner and angled so Rarity could see behind her.
Inside the dresser drawer sat Twilight Sparkle's tiara.
Behind her stood a pony as tall as Celestia herself with five long tentacles quivering out of its back. It looked at Rarity through the mirror and stared for a long while as her gaze locked onto the blank spot where a face should have been.
Her vision hazed quickly as it slowly reached out for her.
But before she was taken, she heard its dark, raspy voice speak into her mind: When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you...