Five Minutes to Midnight

by WinterShade

2...

“Let us in already!” – an older mare shouted at the guard, letting go of the foal she was hauling behind her to wave a piece of paper in the soldier’s face. – “We have our Stable passes right here.”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m afraid that the Stable is at full capacity.” – the guard replied, seemingly undisturbed by the shouting mare. – “We are not letting anypony in.”

“What do you mean the Stable is full?” – the mare continued shouting, her face now inches away from the guard’s stoic gaze. – “We were given the passes, so that means they must have space…”

“Ma’am, I ask you to back off.” – the soldier ordered, his face not betraying any of the conflicting emotions he was feeling. – “The Stable is full and will not admit anypony else. That is final.”

“Please, at least take my foal.” – the mare pleaded as she suddenly switched tactics and presented her child to the guard along with a bag of bits. – “I can pay you, if that’s what it takes.”

“No.” – the guard resumed his monotone speech, straightening his back and adjusting his rifle. – “I have my orders and will not be bribed.”

Seeing this course of action fail, the mare decided to return back to demanding and shouting, however before she could say anything, a unicorn in a fine suit and a briefcase on his side pushed past her and addressed the guard. She only watched as he whispered something to the armoured pony and took out a piece of paper from his suit’s pocket. It was similar to the one the mare was waving in front of the guard just seconds ago, the only difference being that the newcomer’s slip looked more official and had a MAS logo watermarked on its back. As soon as the guard gave a glance at the document presented to him, he quickly nodded, moving aside so, what the mare presumed was a ministry pony, could pass inside. As he walked inside the official-looking unicorn didn’t even thank the guard, much less looked back at the crowd he was leaving behind.

Seconds later, the guard resumed his post, once again adjusting his rifle.

The reaction to this was immediate.

“What the hell was that?” – a pony from somewhere in the crowd shouted, trying his best to suppress earlier tears.

“You said the Stable is full.” – another one joined him with a desperate wail.

“This is not fair.” – the third one chimed in, his face too filled with grief and hopelessness.

“We demand an explanation!” – a fourth one insisted.

The torrent of angry remarks continued as the crowd grew restless and began approaching the lone guard standing at the Stable’s entrance. The mare previously closest to him was the first to reach him, angrily shouting about how he could let that fancy pony in but not her child.

The slow and unrelenting movement of the crowd scared the entrance guard, and although he wouldn’t let his face show it, he took a cautionary step back, retreating into the Stable as the angry mob threatened to overwhelm him. In haste, he readied his rifle, slowly raising it at the advancing ponies.

Soon, the guard was flanked by two other guards dressed in similar blue jumpsuits with black riot armours, each of them wielding a riot shotgun and pointing it in the same direction as the original guard’s rifle.

“Halt!” – one of the guards shouted with the help of a voice magnification spell as the mass of ponies approached the threshold. – “Stop right there or you will be fired upon.”

The crowd, however, didn’t stop, believing that their numbers were their greatest strength and that the guards wouldn’t dare to fire upon them.

Both of these hypotheses were proven wrong just a second later as one of the soldiers unleashed a hail of rubber buckshot from his riot shotgun. The small balls whizzed through the air for but a short time before violently bouncing off several ponies in the front of the crowd. It seemed, however, that this action served only to spur the crowd into an even angrier frenzy as they picked up their packs, trying to squeeze through the round opening of the Stable.

“Step back, dammit.” – the original guard shouted, firing off another shot from his weapon.

They pushed the crowd back a little bit, but ultimately did little good as the advance continued. Seeing no other alternative, the guards all shouted for somepony inside to seal the door. This only heightened the levels of desperation in the room as the ponies closest to the entrance blindly ran forward in an attempt to get in, the guards doing their best to keep them at bay.

Finally, after a few moments amongst the chaos, the great metal door slowly began closing, stealing the light from the chamber which the crowd was in. In a last, desperate attempt, a few ponies attempted to rush towards the rapidly closing gap for the final time, but were quickly fended off by the shotgun fire from the other side of the door.

Once the door closed, the ponies continued banging on it, hoping that those inside would have mercy on them.

They didn’t.

They were as merciless as the balefire radiation that will soon silence them all.