The end. Twilight had never expected the world to end like a book, with just two words. No pony knew how it was going to end, but they all knew it was happening. While some had tried to leave, others had simply accepted it, like Twilight. After all, all great books must come to an end. She had no regrets.
Rainbow Dash looked down at Ponyville from her cloud home, simply observing. Any other day, ponies would bustle about, making foals of themselves, except today. And Rainbow Dash had never even joined the Wonderbolts. That was her only regret.
Applejack looked down at Apple Bloom, who’s large eyes were simply filled with question. And what was the elder mare to say? ‘We’re all gonna die?’ Just like that? She couldn’t tell her what was happening. That was her regret.
Fluttershy gently kissed each animal on the head, brushing each one, feeding them food usually reserved for Angel Bunny due to its level of extravagance. Finally getting to Angel, she simply scooped him up and began sobbing into his fur. She had never admitted her love. That was her regret.
Rarity stared into the sole picture she had of her parents, sitting on a wooden porch with a foal version of Sweetie Belle. She stood to the side, disdain clear on her face. Breaking into sobs, she had never told her parents she loved them. Her only regret.
Pinkie looked at Madame Le Flour, and carefully tucked her onto the shelf as she trotted up to the twins’ room. Embracing them each tightly, she was oddly subdued as she cooed to them. One thought echoed through her mind; she hadn’t gone to her parents’ farm for Hearth’s Warming Eve. That was her sole regret.
Princess Celestia looked across Equestria, her sister at her side. They simply stared at each city, basking in the one time both the sun and moon were up. While one city was chaotic, the next was a ghost town, and the next simply appeared normal. She had never truly said thank you to Twilight Sparkle’s parents for blessing her life with the lavender filly. She had never truly apologized to her sister, had never had the words. She had never truly lived among her subjects. She had never truly found love. Those were her regrets.
Princess Luna held back the tears, but a few escaped and fell to the stone floor below her. She had only been in Equestria for three years since one thousand on her moon, and it was all her fault. That was her regret.
Trixie sniffed, curled in the corner of a cave on the outskirts of Trottingham. Cans of food surrounded her, as did her cape and hat, which rested on the floor next to her bed. She had never apologized to the ponies she stole from, or those she swindled. But she had no regrets.
Spitfire looked around at Equestria, flapping her wings periodically. Her fur rustled in the wind, a sensation she missed from the uniform. Looking off at a cloud house in the distance, she sighed. She had never accepted the one who deserved it into the Wonderbolts. She had that regret.
Princess Cadance looked down at Shining Armor, panting heavily. She had no regrets about this. Their first and last anniversary.
Cheerilee sighed, looking at the empty schoolhouse one final time before trotting to the garden behind it. She had never really revealed the meaning of her cutie mark. That was her regret.
Mayor Mare looked at the still-in-ruins town hall. She had never gotten it fixed. And yet, she was free. For one final day. If only it was longer-that was her regret.
Spike looked at Twilight sadly, then in the direction of Rarity’s house. He had never actually gone on a date with her. That was his regret.
—*Twenty Three Hours, Fifty Minutes In—-
Rainbow Dash smiled down at her Wonderbolt uniform. No more regrets.
Applejack hugged Apple Bloom, who had finally received her cutie mark. And now she had revealed what was going to happen. No more regrets.
Fluttershy laid in Big Macintosh’s hooves, looking up in his eyes. No regrets.
Rarity smiled down at the phone, now hung up. She had told them. No regrets.
Pinkie looked up from the rocks below her to her family’s smiles, and embraced them in a final group hug. No regrets.
Celestia smiled at Twilight’s parents, who were teary eyed, as had her sister been. No regrets.
Luna sniffed. Her regrets were unresolved.
Cheerilee cleared her throat, looking at the microphone below her. Now to clear her regrets.
Mayor Mare’s regrets could not be solved, and that was her last regret.
Rarity opened the door after Spike’s first knock, and was hit with a kiss from him. He had resolved his regrets.
—-Twenty Three Hours, Fifty-Nine Minutes In—-
Twilight embraced her friends, and smiled. None of them had regrets. The sun erupted before their eyes, and they tightened their grasp around each other as their lives ended.
Twilight Sparkle looked at her small assistant, sleeping in his basket. With that, she was hit with a question.
“Why?” she whispered to herself. “Why do we exist? Why do we live, to have it cut off so short?” To her right was the letter. The letter that told her Applejack’s life was crashing down, crashing at a rapid rate. Trotting down to her lab, she carefully removed a thin layer of her own skin. A bit of her blood. A file of her horn. A snippet of her mane. “I have to know,” she whispered, burning the mane into ash with the skin and horn. Mixing the ash with her blood.
She magically lifted the small petri dish. Dropped it into the vial. Taking an eye dropper, collecting a small amount. Testing it. The number on the screen.
“Forty-two.” Repeating all the actions with Spike, being thankful he was such a sound sleeper. The same thing. “Forty-two.” Magically immobilizing Owlisious. Testing her. “Forty-two.” Lifting books off shelves, seeing what page they fell on. “Forty-two.”
The date the letter had arrived. “The forty-second day of the year.”
Two parents sit in a hospital room, one in a bed and one in a chair, sitting as close to that bed as he can. Looking closer, their eyes are wet, but you'd have to see feelings to realize they are tears of joy.
In the bed, a mare sits, her purple mane and its lone magenta streak matted to the side of a unicorn horn. The stallion has his own unique mane, it's light blue contrasting the darker tone of his pelt, yet blending with the white constellation on his flank.
Their murmurs can be heard from the hall as they look down on a unicorn filly, bearing a blue similar to the father's mane as her pelt and her mane a good magenta.
"What will her name be?" The father is speaking now, his deeper voice kind to his wife.
"Something fitting..." The mother seems to be overly-distraught with this, her eyes beginning to search the room for inspiration.
"Stellar... Constellation..." The father runs over a list of sky-related things while his wife spews household objects at a shocking rate.
"Lampshade!" She exclaims as her husband places a comforting hoof on her shoulder, stroking her matted mane and whispering soothing words.
"What about Constellation?" He looks into his wife's eyes now, as they engage in a silent staring contest counted only by the steady tick of a green-rimmed analog clock hanging on the creme-toned wall.
"It's perfect," whispers the mother, wiping away her tears and breaking their gaze, now looking down at the sleeping filly wrapped in a pale pink blanket.
"Like her," adds the father, and they embrace in a hug as the hospital staff simply smiles at them, watching eagerly from the doorway.
