//------------------------------//
// Here Comes Goodbye 
// Story: What Hurts The Most 
// by KTCO-Official 
//------------------------------//

Winter Shot was broken. The 19 year old Stallion sits on the floor of the Castle floor, looking down to his hooves. He had just lost it all. His everything. His future. All gone, all within a second, due to two words spoken by Eclipsa, the love of his life: "We're done." The last thing he remembered processing was seeing her somberly trot away, towards the exit. Now all he knew was nothing, absolutely alone, save for the overarching feeling of dread slowly creeping upon him. He looks up to the ceiling, expecting to see a vision of himself, as if he was dreaming, but no. This was reality. A painful reality in which the purple unicorn was alone again. He felt something on his shoulder, a hoof perhaps, and turned to look at the obtrusion. In front of him was his best friend, the blue unicorn Permafrost. 

"W-Winter? Talk to me bud, talk to me."

Winter couldn't muster the words, instead a ball of sadness gets caught in the young pony's throat, as he lets out a guttural cry, tears beginning to flow down his face as he hugs his friend as tight as he could. Perma sighs and looks to the door that his other friend had just walked through moments ago, seething slightly. The three of them had promised to go through life together, and now this happens? As far as he knew, the Winter and Eclipsa were perfect together, they complimented each other in every way. The outgoing, adventurous Eclipsa brought the shy, introverted Winter out of his shell with every new adventure. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Winter, you're gonna be okay, dude. I promise. This isn't the end of the world, I-I'll talk to her... okay? Just... calm down, Celestia dammit...."

Winter wasn't calm, however. Flashes of memories raced in his mind, thoughts of moments they spent together. The hours spent alone, the nights spent together. All of it he'd never get to experience again. He's incomplete. The purple unicorn stood up and faced the doorway, taking a few steps towards it, almost as if he still expected to see the figure of his marefriend in front of him. 

Permafrost stood as well, looking at his friend with a mixture of empathy and sadness. He let out a sigh and trotted to the door, holding onto his friend's shoulder as they traipsed. 

"Let's get you in bed, man... You've had a busy day... You just need to rest up..." He said aloud, "I don't want you leaving your bed for another week..." he added, silently, to himself.

The two best friends walked towards Winter's quarters, not making eye contact or conversation. It seemed Winter couldn't talk even if wanted to, he was too choked up on tears. As they reached the doorway, Perma got an alert on his in-ear piece. 

"Buck... Yes, what is it?" He said, answering the call

On the other line was Justician Armore, one of the Ensign Marshalls for the Knights Of The Celestial Order. Her voice boomed out angrily. 

"Agent Permafrost, you have TWELVE SECONDS to explain to me why Eclipsa is in her room crying!"

Perma winces at the sudden loud noise in his ear. Looking over to Winter, the young unicorn lets out yet another sigh. 

"Marshall Justician, it appears that agent Eclipsa has... well for back of a better term... dumped Marshall Winter, ma'am."

A poignant silence sat on the call for a few seconds, followed by a prolonged sigh. 

"I.... Don't even know what to expect with those two anymore. Put Marshall Shot on temporary leave, make sure he doesn't leave his room. Get to the meeting room, I'm calling your Mother in to deal with this...."

"Yes ma'am." Perma said, hanging up the call. He casts another glance to his friend, before shaking his head. "Get in bed, man... You've been put on administrative leave."