Friends. They really are magic, huh?
A young boy sat in his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his room. He glanced over to his television. He thought about turning it on, playing a few games, maybe just watching a few videos...
But it just didn't appeal to him. He glanced at his computer next. He could write some stories, maybe some songs...
That didn't appeal to him, either.
A coughing fit wracked his body. He spewed saliva with each cough. The coughs started to make him lightheaded, make his temples and stomach hurt.
Then they stopped, and he took deep breaths. He raised his hands. They were shaking. He looked at his blanket. There was a smudge of blood on it. He ignored it and laid his head back down, shaky hands over his face. He was scared. Prepared, maybe. But still scared. What if he died? From the worst way he could think of? A familiar voice stopped that thought.
"You won't die," it said. He paused.
"How do you know?" he asked carefully.
"I don't need to. Hope is all you need to live, after all," the voice replied. "Hope... and friends." The young man lowered his hands. His eyes widened as he saw the faces of many familiar characters.
Twilight Sparkle, with her purple fur, wings, and horn.
Applejack, with her blonde mane and cowboy hat.
Rarity, with her styled purple mane and perfectly made make up.
Fluttershy, with her kind, warm turquoise eyes and buttery yellow fur.
Pinkie Pie, with her fluffy pink mane and exuberant smile.
Rainbow Dash, with her prismatic mane and cocky smile.
"How... How are you all here?" the young man asked, dumbfounded.
"We've always been here," said Rainbow.
"Yeah, we can't leave one of our good friends alone all day!" chirped Pinkie.
"Got that right, sugarcube," Applejack agreed.
"Indeed, darling," Rarity concurred.
"Yeah! Besides, there are a bunch of ponies who haven't seen you in a long time!" Rainbow added.
"What...? Who are you talking about?" the young man asked, baffled.
"These ponies, silly!" Twilight said, picking a tablet up in her magic and switching it on, before handing it to the young man. He took it, and looked at the screen. He saw a familiar sight. FIMfiction. The website that changed his life. He cracked a smile.
"Them, huh?" he scrolled through his messages, through some of his comments, and his followers list. "I do miss talking to them..."
"Then talk to them, silly filly!" Pinkie urged. He thought about it for a moment. It couldn't hurt, could it?
"Alright, sure," he accepted, going back to his message list, and starting to send messages to all his friends. Another terrible coughing fit wracked his body. He coughed and coughed until he felt like his throat was burning, and, he coughed up blood. No one heard his coughing. His parents were asleep, and his aunt was also asleep, wearing ear plugs to do so. He breathed ragged breaths, wiping the blood off with a trembling hand. "That... hurt..." he noted.
"You'll be fine. Just write to your friends!" Rainbow assured him. He looked to her, then to the others. After a short moment of thinking, he nodded. He started to type. After a bit of waiting, they replied.
"See? They replied!" Rarity pointed out.
"So they did..." the young man noted, starting to get woozy.
"Ask them how they are," Fluttershy suggested. He complied, doing just that. Another coughing fit rocked him soon after. More blood. More saliva. More pain. He recovered, panting hard again.
"Come on, don't keep them waiting!" Applejack pressed. He panted more, before slowly grabbing the tablet he had dropped and starting to type again. Coughing fits came and went, each one more painful than the last. But he kept writing. Enjoying talking to his old friends.
"You'll be better in no time, you'll see! You just need your friends, that's all!" Twilight told him. He smiled weakly.
"Really...?" he asked. She nodded.
"Of course! You just need to hope and believe in your friends!" Twilight assured. The other mares nodded their assent.
"Heh... Alright..." he said, writing more, getting invested in the conversations. His friends seemed really happy to talk to him again. And he was really happy to talk to them as well.
But he started to cough harder, harder than he ever had in his life. He felt like his lungs were burning, like his head was being pulled with each cough, and clots of blood splattered the mattress of his bed. His breathing was ragged now. Weak. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it shake his frail body. He glanced at the six mares. The six Elements of Harmony. The six girls who had been his inspiration for stories. He glanced at his tablet. The site that had given him new purpose. New life. He smiled weakly, watching as his message notification dinged, dinged, and dinged again.
His friends cared. He thought they didn't. He thought they couldn't, after it being so long since they talked. But he was wrong. His head swam with dizziness... But also joy. His friends cared. Really cared. He'd never felt so cared for before. So loved. He smiled weakly. Another coughing fit destroyed him. Ripped his throat with horrible, hacking coughs. Caused him to cough up more blood. He couldn't breath. He felt dizzy. His world was spinning. He couldn't focus. But he knew others cared, now.
That was all he needed.
Six colorful pony mares watched the boy as he died, sad smiles on their faces.
"He's really gone, huh?" Rainbow asked. She wasn't as pumped as before. She was more reserved than usual. Drained, even. Her rainbow mane hung in front of her face, covering it a bit. She didn't seem to care, her sad magenta eyes too focused on the picture of the now dead boy in the mirror.
"...Yeah. He is," Applejack confirmed, hat over her heart now. Her ponytail was now undone, letting her long, golden blonde mane hang free. She looked tired. The color from her orange, freckled face seemed... paler, somehow.
"I'm gonna miss him," Pinkie said with a sniffle, trying her hardest to refrain from crying. It was a hard thing to do. Her dark pink mane and tail had deflated, no longer poofy. Her sea blue eyes were watering, but she forced herself to not cry.
"We all will, dear. We all will," Rarity told her, wiping away her own tears, ones she simply could not hold back. Her white furred face, usually immaculate, was matted with dried tears now. Her mascara and eye liner were a mess.
"Why...? Why did he have to leave...? He was so young..." Fluttershy sobbed. Her long, light pink mane was hiding her face. Her head was hung, but her tears still made themselves known as they dropped to the floor. Her yellow body was wracked with silent sobs.
"Because it was his time. I'm just glad we could teach him that he was cared for," Twilight told Fluttershy. She appeared to be keeping it together better than the others. But every now and then, a solitary tear would drop from one of her lavender eyes. She kept a sad smile on her face. After a few moments of watching the boy's lifeless body, they all finally broke down into tears. No one deserved to die like that. Not so painfully. Not in the way they always feared. But... It was his time. All they could have done...
Was ease his passing.
That's all any of us can do.