>Be sitting at the side of a hospital bed.
>You hear the soft beeping of a heart rate monitor.
>Holding one of the front hooves of your decades long marefriend.
>You’re both sitting in silence, enjoying each other’s company.
>Her mane and tail have gotten gray now. Her beautiful coat is missing patches in some places.
>You lean over and nuzzle the top of her head.
“I love you.”
>She looks up at you.
>”I know.”
>You just want to hold her one last time.
>”Do you remember that one time we got into a bar fight?”
“Yeah. That was a ton of fun.”
>You pause.
“That one guy was crazy strong though. I can never thank you enough for taking care of him.”
>”Still got it.”
>She says with a strained grin.
>You both sit in silence again, until you finally loose it a little.
“I’ll miss you.”
>She shifts and runs her other front hoof along your cheek.
>”You’ll be just fine. I promise.”
>More silence.
>It has been many days like this. Visiting her, talking about nothing, just hoping that you’d be able to spend her last moments together.
>You ponder.
“I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to stay forever?”
>She gives you a somber smile.
>”It’s not a fairy tale. This just isn’t how things work.”
“Right…”
>Silence again.
>You used to like these quiet moments. Back when you both would just sit on a sunny day by the riverside, drinking a beer, simply enjoying the company. Now it just feels like you’re wasting time.
“I’m sorry.”
>She makes a face like she’s pretending to be annoyed.
>”Shush. You know what I told you. Thank someone rather than apologizing.”
“I know.”
>She slowly closes her eyes.
>”Thanks for staying with me. You’ve always been a card.”
>The beeping turns into one long noise.
>The tension in her muscles is gone.
>Was this really your last conversation?
>You just wanted to hold her one last time.
>A nurse walks into the room.
>She instructs you to walk outside as a number of other hospital employees crowd around Starlight’s bed.
>You stumble outside.
>Guess it’s finally time to put that piece of rope to some good use.