Half Minute Horses

by Thunderbug80

Chapter 4: Showtime

Chapter 4
Showtime
World Destroyed: 3 Times

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Unfortunately, Twilight discovered that you just never could get used to dying, even when it happens about every thirty seconds. That didn't stop her from learning from her experiences, though.

"Spike, wake up!" she shouted before teleporting the baby dragon onto her back. Spike only had enough time to reflexively grasp Twilight's mane and keep himself from falling before they were out the door and into the cool night air. Twilight galloped as fast as she could. Occasionally, she'd teleport them both to a spot further ahead in order to save time.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike asked from his perch upon her back. "What are we doing?"

"Saving the world," Twilight replied. She was a bit too busy trying to save the world to waste time discussing saving the world.

"At this hour?" Spike asked groggily. He yawned and stretched his arms. "You could've just let me stay in bed this time."

"Oh, no," Twilight said. She teleported them again before continuing. "Not this time. This time we're all going to die in about twenty seconds, and you have a front row seat!" Her left eye twitched slightly and her voice became strained. "Isn't adventuring fun?"

Spike didn't answer, which was probably for the best. Twilight had been... strained in his presence before, so she could only imagine what he was thinking. Not that it mattered much, because odds were they would both be dead in a few seconds and he wouldn't remember a thing. It wasn't a good excuse for her behavior, but dying had a way of bringing out the worst in her.

Twilight made it to the Everfree forest in record time. She stopped in a small clearing and scanned the area from left to right. It was then that she realized something.

"What does he even look like?" she muttered to herself.

"What does who look like?" Spiked asked with a shrug.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. "The Evil Lord who's casting the Spell of Destruction that will annihilate the world in the next–" she made a mental calculation "–ten seconds. I don't even know what he looks like, let alone where he's located within the Everfree!" She dropped to the ground and covered her head with her front hooves. "How am I supposed to save the world without crucial information like that?"

"Hm," Spike said. He tapped a claw on his chin for a moment, raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Nah, I've got nothin'." He then laid down on Twilight's back and used her mane as a pillow. He stared up at the dark, leafy canopy high above their heads. "You were just joking about the whole 'end of the world' thing, ri–"

Spike's words were tragically cut short as a surging inferno of pure energy ripped the world asunder for the fourth time in just over two minutes.

Comments

[Akiba]

The pain

[DanielLC]

for the fourth time in just over two minutes.

This is an example of the fencepost error. It's actually the fourth time in one and a half minutes, since you don't start counting until the world ends the first time.

[Monkey3000]

And purple horse died once more......... The story that just keeps on giving!!!

[RemareShadows]

Spike.
Meet Murphy.
The worlds best friend.

[kd7sov]

4271672 Unless the time stoppage lasted for a little over thirty subjective seconds.

[SolangeEggbert]

'occasionally teleporting' - if she's done it twice or more in five seconds or so - that's not very occasional.