//------------------------------//
// Zero 
// Story: Six Seconds Left 
// by Taialin 
//------------------------------//

All was silence and darkness.

It wasn't as if silence was commonplace between them all, though. Inside the room of the castle were six friends who normally found it quite easy to talk to one another. Even so, in this instance, nopony dared say a word.

Fluttershy was sitting next to Rarity with her head buried in Rarity's breast. Her shoulders hitched every few seconds, betraying the silent weeping she sought to hide from the rest of her friends. Rarity herself was wearing an expression that was simultaneously pensive and irritated. One hoof held Fluttershy close to her body in a protective embrace, while the other ran down the small of Fluttershy's back repeatedly, over and over, seeking to provide what little comfort it could. Her eyes were locked on Twilight, but she said nothing.

Applejack was also silent, though her mouth worked up and down, speaking words that nopony could hear. A hoof pulled her hat low over her eyes so they couldn't be seen, and the gesture sent a clear message: don't talk to me.

Rainbow Dash was clearly furious, but no sound came from her mouth besides a slightly labored breathing. Her eyes were caught glaring at her own hooves, but she periodically flicked her gaze up to Twilight before bringing it back down. Her wings opened and closed seemingly of their own accord, and her muscles tensed and relaxed at random intervals.

The moonlight outside streamed into the room through its only window, and as it continued its oblivious arc through the sky, its light moved in tandem. It seemed to spark as it reached the ground in front of Rainbow Dash's hooves, reflecting in chaotic patterns off the crystal flooring and the drops of moisture on it.

Pinkie Pie made no attempt to hide her tears. The soft, diffuse light that made its way to Pinkie's face revealed dark trails and a flattened mane. Her gaze jerked around erratically, landing on Rarity and Fluttershy before moving to another one of her friends. Back and forth. Rarity and Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy. Eventually, Pinkie gave up, and her eyes settled on the floor in front of her. Her forehooves came up off the floor and wrapped themselves around her own body in defeat.

All was silence and darkness.

Wind blew outside the castle, raising wisps of dirt and gravel off the ground. A single stone lofted itself high in a particularly strong gale and launched itself into the room's window, issuing a loud crack.

Everypony flinched.

The silence breached once, it only took a few seconds for Applejack to breach it again. "You didn't need to do that, Twi," she said. Her words were pointed, but her eyes remained obscured by her hat, refusing to look at anypony.

Twilight blinked a few times. "But I told you all what we were doing and why we needed to do it, and you all agreed to it."

"Even so, that 'Make it Real' spell was strictly unnecessary," Rarity said. Her voice was low and monotone, her face staid. She locked her eyes to Twilight's as she turned to look at her. Her hoof continued to stroke Fluttershy's back.

"But if your reactions aren't authentic, what was the point of this bonding exercise?" Twilight said. "Given the lives that we live and the dangers that we face, we could be gone at any moment. It's important that we think about our legacy and what we leave behind when our time comes."

Rarity broke eye contact to sigh before looking back up and saying, "I understand, Twilight. Really, I do. We all agreed to this exercise and whatever it would entail." Her eyes flicked around to survey the rest of her friends before settling on Pinkie, still hugging herself. She whispered a few silent words to the pony still attached to her breast. After a moment, Fluttershy nodded a few times before taking her face out of Rarity's coat. The whites of her eyes were pink, and she sniffled from time to time.

Freed, Rarity got to her hooves and strode silently to Pinkie's position before sitting down and wrapping her hooves around her. Almost instantly, Pinkie loosed her own hooves and wrapped them as tightly as she could around her, her face buried in the side of Rarity's neck. Momentarily shocked by the strength of Pinkie's hug, Rarity nevertheless recovered quickly and started stroking her back just as she did with Fluttershy. She looked at Twilight again, her point made.

"But some ponies just don't want to hear the answer."

Twilight's mouth was half open. "Um . . ." it managed to get out. She looked at the five best friends she'd ever had spread out in front of her. She couldn't drop the thought that what they just did was necessary and that "it was for their own good." Even so, it was hard to believe that when said five best friends were all in various states of despondency and disrepair because of it. It didn't take a princess to feel the pain her friends were feeling. A heavy sense of regret started to grow in Twilight's heart.

She looked at the book by her hooves for just a moment before closing it and returning her eyes to her friends. One Hundred and One Things to Do with Your Friends at a Sleepover, its title read.

"I . . ."

Fluttershy looked down and shuffled her hooves a few times before standing up. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but I think I'd really like to go to bed now." She rubbed one hoof against the other and kept her eyes locked to the ground.

Caught off-guard again, it took a few moments for Twilight to respond. "S-sure, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nodded a few times, keeping her head down, before turning around and retiring to the one of the bedrooms Twilight had set aside earlier for all of her friends.

"Perhaps it's time for all of us to turn in for the night," Rarity said. Rainbow Dash took the cue and got up, retreating out of the room and attempting to hide her face from everypony else. Once she returned to her own room and closed the door, stomps and other banging sounds could be heard from it.

Rarity waited for the banging to die down before getting up and slowly walking Pinkie back to her own room. They both disappeared inside. Rarity's own room was left unoccupied.

Twilight watched them all go, feeling the regret inside her grow heavier. "I . . . I'm sorry," she whispered.

Applejack, previously silent, finally raised her hat and got up. "I know," she said. "We'll all have a big long talk about this tomorrow morning, but I think everypony is good and ready for some sleep, at least tonight. I jus' hope I don't have any dreams about Apple Bloom." With that, Applejack was the last pony to leave the room, and the last sound that issued from her was from her bedroom door. Twilight was left alone in the room with nothing more than her thoughts to occupy her.

And all was silence and darkness.