Eight Minutes
Written By: Secret_Shadows
Edited By: Avorin
24 Hours, 32 Minutes, 14 Seconds
"Eight Minutes?! That's it!?" Rainbow Dash yelled in protest. "This has to be a joke!"
Rarity put her hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder, "I don't think it's a joke darling."
"But, what's g-going to h-happen when those eight minutes are up?" Fluttershy asked.
"Bad things sugar cube, bad things." Applejack said.
Twilight was silent, she stood in horror at what she just read. Could it be a joke? No, why would the princess send something like that as a joke? It could be a test. But a test of what? And why this? So many questions, so little time. Even if she could make it to Canterlot before it happened, the Princess was no longer accepting audiences with anypony, not even her most faithful student.
"Twilight..." Pinkie spoke in a very soft tone, softer than she had even spoken before. Twilight turned and look at her.
"Isn't there something you can do?" She asked.
Twilight turned away and shook her head. The princess never taught her how to control the sun, and even if she had, there was no way she'd be strong enough. Before Celestia it took several unicorns just to keep the sun shining let alone stop it from going supernova.
"There, there is nothing we can do but wait, and hope." Twilight said.
"The elements, if we-" Rainbow was cut off.
"The Elements wouldn't do us any good here, at this point anything we do would make it worse. I think..." Twilight paused. "...I think its best if we all go to our families...and enjoy the little time we have left."
All six ponies in the room looked at each other. Fluttershy was crying. Pinkie had tears in her eyes as well. Rarity and Applejack both hung their heads low. Twilight couldn't even face any of them. Rainbow's eyes started to tear up, she stopped.
"No!" She yelled as she flew through an open window away from the library. She wasn't going to let it end like that.
****
8 Minutes, 30 Seconds
Twilight was sitting in the park, watching all of the foals play. Parents, fillies, colts, none of them knew what was going to happen. Twilight half expected to be at home by now, with her family. But a train to Canterlot on such short notice, was an impossible feat. And it was more than a days walk.
She got up from the park bench and over to spike who was lounging under a small oak tree. He knew what was going to happen, but it didn’t even phase him.
Twilight sat down next to him, she opened her mouth to speak when she saw a flash in the sky. All of the ponies in the park looked up in awe at the array of colors emanating from the sun. Twilight could only glare in disgust at the ball of light that had incubated their planet for so long.
“And so it begins.” Twilight whispered to herself.
****
7 Minutes, 48 Seconds
Fluttershy hid on her bed under the covers. She had been there crying since the day before. The blinding light that flashed into her window was sign enough of what was going on. She peeked out from under her covers and saw a small bird on her window with a broken wing. She got up from her bed and walked over still in a daze from crying.
She slid the latch open and let the bird climb up onto her hoof. Fluttershy spread her wings and floated to a small first aid box. She pulled out some bandages for the birds wing.
****
7 Minutes, 20 Seconds
Pinkie Pie sat in her room. A table with party decorations set up. Balloons were hung. All but one chair was empty. A pink pony sat at the head of the table. Mane and tail deflated. She poked at a piece of cake. Eventually pushing it away.
Gummy stood on the table, staring at Pinkie, this made her give a weak smile. She turned to the window to look out, seeing the array of colors in the sky, the ever expanding sun.
****
6 Minutes, 52 Seconds
Rarity and Sweetie sat in the boutique. Rarity couldn’t let this happen to her sister. Her sister would never get her cutie mark, fall in love, have a family of her own, it wasn’t fair.
Rarity heard Sweetie singing to herself through her tears. She knew what she had to do. She started to sing along with Sweetie. Entertaining the fact that everypony knew Sweetie’s talent was singing. It was the one thing she could do for her sister that would really mean the world to her.
Sweetie stopped singing for a moment as she looked to Rarity, but quickly picked back up in the song. Soon after a small flash of light, and a pink music note would make the world for Sweetie.
****
5 Minutes, 58 Seconds
Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith sat around the kitchen table in their farm house. The four sat silently. For it would be their last time together in this world. Apple Bloom extended her hooves out to either side of her. Applejack reached her hoof out to hold on to Apple Bloom’s extended hoof. Granny Smith on the other side did the same. Big Macintosh even joined in holding Granny Smith and Applejack’s hooves. Apple Bloom closed her eyes tightly trying to remember all of the good things, and forget all of the bad.
The candle in the center of the table started to flicker and move about as a gentle draft moved through the house. They looked at each other, acknowledging the all wrongdoings were forgiven, and that all that mattered now was that they were here, together.
****
5 Minutes, 23 Seconds
Rainbow Dash had finally found Scootaloo. She knew neither of them had anypony but each other in this world. After Rainbow had told Scootaloo about the disaster, Scootaloo ran off. Rainbow had finally found her and was going to make her last moments as best as they could be, a Flightless pegasus would get to fly.
Rainbow took to the skies, the orange filly on her back. She flew as fast as she could in the sky doing tricks. Scootaloo smiled forgetting the doom that loomed over head.
****
4 Minutes, 36 Seconds
Fluttershy had now wrapped the bandages around the birds wing. It was still injured, she had to act fast. She would make this birds last moments as good as they could be, so she wouldn’t have to come to the realization that it was her end.
The bird quietly waited in a small nest Fluttershy had built. Fluttershy approached with bird seed and hoof fed the bird as she quietly awaited the rays of the never ending light.
****
3 Minutes, 52 Seconds
Rarity and Sweetie had made their way to their parents. Rarity still didn’t have the heart to tell her parents of the impending doom, but she would make them proud and happy. She would make all three of them happy.
Rarity had used her magic to quickly assemble a small stage in the living room of her parents house. Then she sat with her mother and father as they listened to Sweetie’s beautiful singing voice, her talent. Rarity would cater to that talent, giving Sweetie the best last moments.
****
3 Minutes, 23 Seconds
The Apple family sat around their table. Speechless, Apple Bloom got up from the table letting go of her family's hooves. She walked over to a cabinet and returned to the table with four zap apples that they had saved in magical jars to prevent them from going bad. She gave an apple to all three ponies, and one to herself. It was said that the consuming of a raw zap apple was the best tasting thing in the world, but consuming one would bring bad fortune on the next harvest.
Apple Bloom decided she would taste this best tasting apple with her family, the fruit of their labors. And it was then she realised that family was most important in the end, and she got her cutie mark, that of a zap apple.
****
2 Minutes, 38 Seconds
Pinkie Pie had started up music, she decided if she was going to go out, she would go out partying. And that's what she did. She danced after pulling Vinyl Scratch seemingly out of no where to DJ for her. And she would party, like she had never partied before.
****
1 Minute, 23 Seconds
Rainbow Dash had counted the minutes, she knew how long she had left, and she was going to make the last minute and a half the best for the filly she now had in tow. She climbed as high into the sky as she could. She banked to the left and let the filly fall off of her back.
Rainbow started to fly down with Scootaloo, she gestured for Scootaloo to open her wings. And she did, and for that minute and a half, Scootaloo fell with style, one would almost say she was flying, and enjoying every minute of it. And out of that fall she got her cutie mark, a pair of angel wings.
She looked to Rainbow and smiled in appreciation at what she had done for her. She flapped her wings, and thrust forward engaging in a race with the fastest pegasus in Equestria, and she would win.
****
0 Minutes, 45 Seconds
Twilight looked up to see Rainbow and Scootaloo flying together. She smiled. At least she knew some of her friends were making the most of it. She turned to spike. He had disappeared.
Twilight panicked, he decided to wander off at the last moment. But then he returned from behind a small bush, he had a small box. He gave it to Twilight and she used her magic to open it. It was a picture of her and spike back in Canterlot, with Shining Armor, both of her parents, Cadence, and Princess Celestia. It was when she left to be the Princess’s personal protege. Twilight smiled and hugged Spike.
After the embrace, she looked up once more, seeing Scootaloo and Rainbow flying, she could imagine Pinkie partying, Rarity probably did something generous for her sister. The Apples at home as a family. Fluttershy helping an injured animal. Even she was in the park with Spike, enjoying the clear weather.
Each pony lived those last moments to the best they could, because they all knew, those moments would never come again.
0 Minutes, 0 Seconds...
