A lone pegasus sat on the edge of a bed in a small room. The room was dimly lit, illuminated faintly by the red light of dusk filtering in through dark curtains drawn over a window. The bed was shoved up against a corner of the room, and a closed door leading in and out of the room sat on the end of a wall, just to the right of the foot of the bed. The bed itself was in shambles.
The pegasus sported a neon yellow coat, with a combed back mane and sleek tail. The pony's mane was black, save for the border, which was a rich shade of blue. His tail's colors were identical to that of the mane's, but the colors were inverted, with a black border and a blue inside. The pony's cutie mark was a deep blue plectrum, and his eyes were a bright red. Steelfire Strings was his name.
In Steelfire's lap sat a book. The book was on its final page, but rather than close it, Steel just stared at the words without reading them. He didn't want to read them—he couldn't believe the book was over. After all that the characters had went through, after every single chapter that to Strings seemed like epic journeys, it was finally done. The book had no sequel, and there was never going to be one. No, Steel couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. He didn't want such a gripping tale to draw to a close so soon. It can't be over, Steel thought. It just can't.
Behind Steel, the door cracked open. Steel spun around and saw a pony standing in the doorframe. This pony, like Steelfire, was a pegasus, but his coat bore a dark grey coloration, and his eyes were a deep crimson, the same color as his spiky mane and tail. He had a cutie mark of a white thundercloud.
Steel mentally screamed. Not him, he silently begged Celestia. Oh, please, not him. His prayers were left unanswered as the grey pony walked around the bed and sat down next to Steel. The pony didn't say anything, nor did he look at Steelfire. He just stared at the floor with a half-angry, half-forlorn look on his face. Steel dared not say anything—this pony had a short temper and a vicious bad side, one he did not want to get on.
The two stayed like that for a long while, the air crackling with tension, the only action ever taken being Steelfire pushing his book off to the side. Finally, after a great deal of time had passed, the grey pony gave a large sigh and murmured a "Hey, Steel." out of the corner of his mouth.
Steelfire replied with a hesitant "What's up, Squall?"
Squall did not reply, only continued staring down at the floor. Once again, the tense atmosphere grew silent. Steel just stared at Squall while Squall stared at the ground. Once again, however, after a long period of quiet, Squall spoke up again.
"I see you fidgeting," he said to Steel, this time looking at him out of the corner of his eye, sending him reeling back a bit. "I know I get angry a lot, but you don't have to worry about it. I'm your friend, remember?" Steel tentatively nodded and relaxed a bit, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Look," Squall said, turning his head to face Strings, "You do know that I'm leaving soon, right?"
Steel winced. "Uh-huh," he replied.
"I wanted to come say goodbye. I know you cared a lot about me, Steel."
Steelfire felt a painful tightening in his throat. "I still do," he choked out.
"I'm glad you did. I don't just want to go away without a talk first. I don't have many friends, Steel, but by Celestia, are you one of them."
Something salty flooded Steel's eyes and throat. Tears. "I'm glad you think so," he whispered to Squall.
"Before everyone showed up, I didn't have much, but you guys gave me something to care about. So, even though I'm leaving, just know that—"
"Squall..." Steel cut him off. Squall stopped talking and looked expectantly at him. Steelfire squeezed his eyes shut as a few tears leaked out. "Shut up and just go. Get it over with."
Squall jerked backwards, very taken aback. "What? Steel, what's wrong?" Strings didn't respond, turning away from Squall as more tears made their way down his face. "Steel!" Squall barked, suddenly harsh. "I'm talking to you!" Steelfire still refused to turn around. He wasn't listening to Squall—he was too busy trying to hold back the sob he felt building in his chest. Squall grabbed Steel's shoulder and tried pulling him around to face him. "Strings, what the fuck is your problem?"
It was then that Steel whipped around and shoved Squall so hard the grey pegasus fell off the bed.
"You're my problem!" Steel screamed at the absolute top of his lungs. "How do you think it makes me feel, huh? Having to say goodbye to my best friend?! I'm never seeing you again, Squall! You're like a brother to me! God dammit, I love you! There's no way in Tartarus I'm going to be able to bear losing you, but I'm going to have to, so just get out! The faster you leave, the faster I can get over it!"
And then, as soon as Strings's sudden rage had showed up, it left. Seconds after he finished screaming, the neon yellow pony collapsed back onto the bed into a crying mess, burying his face into his hooves and sobbing uncontrollably. He was beyond upset—Steel was completely devastated. Never had somepony quite like Squall ever been in his life before, and now that Squall was leaving, it was too much to take. He would never recover from losing that pony, not in a million years. Squall showed him just how good a friend could be, and nopony could ever take his place. Steel would do anything to keep Squall from going, to keep the best friend he'd ever had with him, but it just wasn't possible.
"Please..." Steel whimpered, "Don't do this, Squall. I'll do anything. Don't leave me here. I don't want to lose you. Please." Hunched over, Steel kept wailing into his hooves, not caring about anything else but Squall. Sob after sob racked his body as his eyes slowly became bloodshot behind his eyelids. He felt just about ready to fly up onto the highest cloud in the sky and leap off of it without opening his wings.
It was about the time that thought crossed his mind when he felt something wrap around him.
"What—" Strings looked up from his mourning to see that Squall had wrapped his forelegs around the yellow pegasus, trapping him in a comforting embrace. Before Steel could protest, Squall reached a foreleg around Steel's head and pulled him into the soft, warm fur of his chest. Squall resisted Steel's struggles to break free, only holding him tighter the more he squirmed.
Strings was speechless. Squall never hugged people, ever. He absolutely hated being touched and always reacted to the idea with repulsion. So why was he hugging Steel? What could possibly be the reason behind it?
As if he read his mind, Squall said, "I know I don't normally hug people, Strings. I don't think I ever have before, to be honest. But I just saw you acting like that, and I figured you needed one."
Steelfire tried to say something, but Squall spoke again before he could get it out.
"I need you to listen to me. Are you listening?"
Sniffling, Steel nodded into Squall's chest.
"We both know I'm going to be leaving soon, and neither of us can control it. I don't want to leave either, Strings. You know I don't. You and the others were the first people I ever cared about, and seeing you like this... It's not fair. You don't deserve this, but it's going to happen anyway.
"I just want you to know that it's not the end of the world. I may be leaving, but we'll all recover from this. Everypony gets hurt sometimes. You will too. I will too. We'll get over it."
Steel finally managed to whimper something out, despite the fact that he was still blubbering like a foal. "B-but you're my best friend—"
Squall released Strings from the hug and laid a hoof on the pony's shoulder, staring him down. "Steel," he grunted sternly, "Look me in the eyes and repeat after me: I am strong."
"I-" Steel hiccuped, "-I am strong."
"I can go on."
"I can go on."
"I will live life and remember the freinds I lost."
"I will live life and-" Strings had to stop once more as a sputtering sob burst out. Once he regained himself, he looked Squall in the eye once more. "-remember the friends I lost."
"I feel frail now, but I am not."
"I feel frail now, but I am not."
"And I am Steel."
"And I... am... Steel." Strings finished the phrase and immediately threw himself around Squall, no longer sobbing but his breathing still labored. "I'm going to miss you so much," he sniffed.
"Ditto," Squall murmured in reply.
The two stayed like that for a while, Steel slowly calming down in Squall's embrace, while Squall sat there peacefully as Steel emptied the last of his emotions out. It certainly was one hell of a way to spend the last few moments you have left with a friend.
And eventually, those moments must end.
"Steel," Squall mumbled very quietly. Steel pulled away from Squall to look at him. An expression of extreme sadness was on his face, his eyes half-closed and his head hanging as if in defeat. "It's time for me to leave," he murmured. "Are you ready to say goodbye?"
Steel felt the grief building up again, but he swallowed it down and nodded, shutting his eyes tight as Squall extended a wing around him. "Yes." His voice came out as the tiniest whisper.
"Okay. On three?" Steel nodded.
"One..."
Steel's throat tightened once more.
"Two..."
Steel gritted his teeth.
"Three."
"...Goodbye," Steel choked.
The feeling of Squall's wing around Steel vanished. Steel opened his bloodshot eyes. Squall was nowhere to be seen, nor was there any trace of evidence indicating he had been in the room at all. There was not an indentation on the bed where Squall sat, no hoof prints on the floor—there wasn't even a tuft of grey hair anywhere. He was gone, just like that.
Tears still blurred Steelfire's vision as he looked around the room. Everything was the exact same way as it had been before Squall had entered. The sun was still casting the exact same red light, the door was still closed—
—and the book was still in Steel's lap.
Steel looked down at the book. It still sat on the final page, with the words Steel refused to read. The words sat there, staring up at him, begging to be reread.
I will reread it, Steel thought, flipping the pages of the book backwards, But first, I have some memories to relive. Rather than go back to the beginning of the book, Steel stopped at a page about one third of the way through. Wiping away the last of his tears, Steel began to read.
"Hey!" Star tapped the strange grey pony on the back. "At least tell me your name."
The pony glared at her out of the corner of his eye, staring her down. She didn't flinch under his intimidating stare, and it was him who wavered first. "Fine," he sighed. "You really want to know my name that much?"
Star nodded. "Absolutely." The pony sighed again, and looked away before finally answering.
"My name is Squall."