Prompt: Song. Diamond sings, a song inspires you, etc.
A/N: This story is set in the changeling alternate universe shown in the S5 finale.
Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom had been marching for several days though the desolate wilderness that used to be Equestria's lush, beautiful plains. After escaping the changeling ambush on their camp and fleeing the Everfree Forest, the two fillies were left on their own to wander aimlessly through the harsh, open territory.
The changelings were known to patrol every three hours, and so the two fillies would stop to take a break in some ditch or some cave. They would have to stay quiet and not light any fires to keep warm. There would be times that the changelings would catch sight of them, forcing them to turn and run the other way until their little legs had carried them far enough away.
Their food supply was running low, their coats and their manes were filthy, and their tolerance for each other had reached its limit. All it would take was one more nudge. Just one little push in the wrong direction would make one filly snap at the other.
That nudge came from Apple Bloom accidentally bumping her hoof against Diamond Tiara. The other filly snapped her gaze at her and shouted, "Stop touching me!"
Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes and retorted, "Ah only tapped you once, and it was an accident!"
"Well then stand further away! Your bright coat is gonna give me away, anyway."
Apple Bloom scoffed. "Like you're one ta talk! I bet it's your coat that gave us away all those times ta begin with!"
"You trying to start something, blank flank?!"
The two stopped and butted heads, growling at each other. Eventually, Apple Bloom backed up and sighed. She knew that she had to be the voice of reason. She knew that she had to act as her older sister would in this situation.
"Look, we can't afford ta be at each other's throats," Apple Bloom said. "We have ta get somewhere where there's lots of cover an' lie low."
"Why?" Diamond Tiara snapped. "It's not like there's anypony who'll come to save us."
"Don't say that. Princess Celestia'll-"
"She's dead," Diamond Tiara said. "I heard the grown-ups talking about it. Princess Luna is, too."
"You're wrong," Apple Bloom insisted. "The princesses are invincible! Nopony can defeat 'em, let alone a changeling!"
Suddenly, the two fillies heard the sounds of leaves rattling nearby. They turned towards the hilltop before them and slowly scaled it, peering over the edge to find a group of five changelings loitering about. The two fillies gulped, and then the changelings turned in their direction.
The two immediately took off, running as fast as they could back the way they had come. Diamond Tiara's blood ran cold, and her legs felt like lead, but she kept running. Apple Bloom was ahead of her, and she feared that the other filly would leave her behind. "W-Wait!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. She looked over her shoulder and then tripped over a rock on the ground, cutting her leg as she tumbled to a stop.
Looking back up, she found that the changelings had not pursued her… yet. She climbed slowly to her hooves, her left foreleg stinging. She looked down. Blood was trickling from the wound and dripping onto the ground. She sniffed, and looked around for any signs of Apple Bloom.
"Apple Bloom?!" Diamond Tiara's voice echoed throughout the air, and she clasped a hoof over her mouth. Dejected, Diamond Tiara turned around and started to walk. Although, it was more of a limp. She didn't know where to go, or even where she was, but something stubborn inside of her told her that she simply had to move. That she simply had to escape.
She walked for what seemed to be miles, panting, aching. She stopped as she saw a building up ahead. She recognised the building, and the ones around it. Ponyville, or what remained of it.
She entered the village, walking past the decaying houses and stepping onto long blades of grass. The Everfree Forest was growing wild, stretching towards the ruins of the old town.
The wind blew through, and something creaked above Diamond Tiara's head. She looked up, and wished that she hadn't. Hanging from the decaying trees above her, swaying in the cold wind… the dried-up husks of ponies that used to live there served as reminders to all about who now ruled these lands.
Adults and foals – none were spared. Once they were drained of all they had, they were tied by the necks and left to dry up in this merciless wasteland. She recognised some of the adults as shopkeepers or her daddy's clients. She recognised Miss Cheerilee and Miss Twilight Sparkle, the quiet librarian who often assisted her teacher in the classroom.
Of course, she recognised every single foal as they had been, at one point, her classmates. Dinky Hooves, Snips and Snails, Rumble, Ruby Pinch… Silver Spoon. Her best friend in the entire world, who wasn't fortunate enough to have escaped Ponyville when the changelings attacked.
This was the reason that she ran away from the Everfree Forest. This was the reason that she had been fighting to survive for several days. It was so she wouldn't end up like this, too. So she would have to suffer such a gruesome fate.
She heard the sounds of crying nearby, and found Apple Bloom at the entrance to the old school building. Besides missing a roof, it hadn’t been hit too bad in the attack. Outside of the building, however, was the reason for Apple Bloom's tears. Her own best friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle… never made it out of Ponyville that day, either.
She approached Apple Bloom and placed a hoof onto the shoulder. Apple Bloom turned around and clutched onto Diamond Tiara, sobbing into her foreleg. The two remained there in silence for what seemed like minutes.
A cold wind passed over Diamond Tiara's spine as Apple Bloom's tears seemed to ease up. "We should get inside," Diamond Tiara said. "They'll be hunting for us soon, and I'm bleeding. Miss Zecora said they can smell blood from far away."
"Are Applejack and Big Mac, and the others… like this, too?"
"I don't know. No?" Diamond Tiara looked around uneasily. She found a couple of ponies dressed in armour lying on the ground, with weapons at their hooves. She picked up a crossbow and stared at it. She had seen ponies use these before. "We have to go. Come on."
Apple Bloom nodded, and rose to her hooves. The two made their ways into the schoolhouse, huddling into a corner together for warmth. Apple Bloom rested her head on Diamond Tiara's shoulder and tried not to sleep, but her eyes were fluttering. Diamond Tiara placed one hoof on Apple Bloom's. It seemed to offer some comfort, but only until she heard the screeching and the hoofsteps outside.
She clutched her crossbow with both hooves and pointed it towards the door. The sounds drew closer. She wasn't going to wind up like her friends. She was going to escape from this place. She was going to escape from Equestria and live. It was the only thing that she could do.
The floorboards creaked.