//------------------------------// // Six Minutes [Drama] // Story: Another Speedwriting Anthology // by Decaf //------------------------------// Fluttershy had a hard time believing it had been only six minutes. She'd been through a lifetime of emotions in that time. Honestly, she'd lived less eventful years. The last thing she did before the fireworks started was read the letter again. Fluttershy, It didn't work. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about it. I did everything I could think of, and it wasn't enough. They're starting construction tomorrow. Your Friend, Twilight Sparkle Usually, Twilight signed her name with a fancy flourish, but the letters were plainly printed on the page. Fluttershy could have known from the way her friend signed her name that their plan had failed. She re-folded the letter and placed it on the desk. She leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh.  Fluttershy should be used to failure by now. It shouldn't hurt this much. Maybe it was worse since she was so far from home. Manehatten wasn't the kind of place she liked to stay for long visits, and two weeks had taken a toll on her. She missed the birdsong in the morning, the crickets at night. It was hard to sleep with all the constant racket. The first firework went off with a louder boom than she expected. The yellow lights flickered across the night sky like stars that had gotten too close to the planet. They faded away, leaving only a second of clear sky before the next one continued. She wasn't sure what the celebration was for. Despite her best efforts to resist, she unfolded the letter and read it again. I did everything I could think of, and it wasn't enough. Strange, she wasn't used to someone saying those words and meaning them. Often, Fluttershy would say that to others after putting in the bare minimum effort. Often, they would believe her. She could weasel out of lots of responsibilities that way. If she hadn't seen the way her brother turned out, she might have continued with it. Instead, life gave her a helpful look into who she would become if she kept it up. Not that she doubted Twilight, of course. It was just the phrasing that left a bad taste in her mouth. She glanced out the window in time to see green dissolving into the night air. In her experience, there was rarely nothing you could do. It would be more accurate to say there is nothing she could do within reason. Of course, that was implied. What pony would put their life on the line just for a few chipmunks? At the end of the day, she needed to decide her priorities. It simply made more sense that she should let them die. It was a shame, sure, but she needed to pick her battles. She'd be no use to anyone locked away in prison, or worse. Other animals needed her too, not to mention all the ponies who had come to rely on her. Unless she wanted to martyr herself, she should stay in her lane. I did everything I could think of, and it wasn't enough. This sentence did not apply to Fluttershy. There were a few things she could think of. She could kidnap the chief engineer, sabotage the industrial equipment, round up all the chipmunks and move them somewhere else. None of it was within reason. It would only cause more harm than good. It simply made more sense for her to let them die. I did everything I could think of… Fluttershy coughed. Smoke drifted into her room from the open window. She closed it, and waited a couple minutes for the air to settle. Why had that happened? She craned her neck to see the street several stories down. Some fillies were lighting firecrackers on the street, jumping back from the noise and laughing with each other. ...everything I could think of… What if they were too scared to bulldoze the chipmunk's habitat? What if they recoiled from it like a firecracker? She returned to her chair, lost in thought. Yes, she had done something like this before. It could work. But was it appropriate? It would be quite the escalation. They were going to kill the chipmunks, but… ...everything I could think of… Once, Fluttershy promised herself that she wouldn't say she had tried everything she could think of unless it was true. Fluttershy had not done everything she could think of.