They're Never Coming Back

by Flashgen

Article Clippings - May 9th through May 15th

Several ponies have been seen being transported from the Canterlot Train Station to both Stable Medical Center and Asclopius Hospital over the past few days. The exact origin of these trains has not been determined and the reason for the admission of the ponies has not been released to the public.

However, all patients admitted have been placed under quarantine, separated from the rest of the hospital population. It is possible that these may be related to the quarantine that has been taking place in Ponyville since April 16th, and Ponyville General may have been completely overwhelmed.

Reaching out to the management of Asclopius and Stable Medical has yielded no information, but one nurse was willing to speak to us anonymously. “The patients aren’t majorly sick, at least not with a physical disease. Some seem like they’ve undergone some level of wasting or malnourishment and others have some physical scarring, but they’re still kept separate from the general patient population. I’m limited to only working on them too. All we’ve been told is just not to say who they are.”

In addition, airships have arrived with patients in Cloudsdale, who have been transported to Updraft Health and Mayday Medical. Under similar quarantine at their facilities, it is reasonable they came from the same source.

The organization in charge of quarantine in Ponyville has been silent on the potential move of patients out of the town. Due to the strict quarantine, no one is allowed within the town, so we are unable to get any view of how the town is doing.

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The truth of Ponyville’s quarantine since April 16th came to light this morning, in a press release by Princess Celestia and the Canterlot Investigation Agency. According to those in charge of the investigation, there were a series of kidnappings in the week leading up to April 16th, before the entire citizenship of the town disappeared overnight.

After several weeks of investigative work, it was discovered that they were taken to some unknown place, separate from Equestria, by a strange group of malicious creatures. Eventually, the way to reach this place was discovered, and with the assistance of Princesses Celestia and Luna many citizens of the town were rescued. A total of seventy-three ponies—consisting of citizens, investigators and tourists—were recovered. However, the rest of the citizens and those within the town on April 16th are considered still missing. A full list will be released in the following days.

There is mention in the release that the creatures responsible may be the subject of myths and could have committed smaller kidnappings in the past. The investigators consider this potential link to not be fully substantiated, but they “value the release of all information possible related to [their] investigation.”

Reaching out to White Clover, current head of the Canterlot Investigation Agency, about a potential threat to ponies by these creatures in the future, she had the following to say: “There is a potential risk, yes, but we do not want to start a panic. With the help of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, we want to stress that any immediate threat has been delayed at the worst, or eliminated at the best. There will be more information to follow in the coming weeks.”

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The case of Ponyville’s mass disappearance has gripped nearly all of Equestria. As names filter out and hospitals are hounded by journalists and citizens alike, many want the truth. It gives us clarity in times of such a great loss, a way to shed light and glean some insight into why the events happened. To know it happened is much different than to know why it happened: one is a harsh truth we face, while the other is a way to prepare ourselves, perhaps, for the future.

While the why may escape us for now, we can at least offer solace by allowing those who experienced it to speak out. Cloudchaser, one of the pegasi recently released from Mayday Medical, came to us wanting to tell her story.

“I was one of the first. I didn’t even know all of Ponyville was gone until a few days ago. I went out one night with a friend, Thunderlane. We went out for dinner and then a night fly around town. I remember it felt cold that night, colder than it should have been, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then, it suddenly got darker, so dark. I thought it was clouds over the moon, but when I stopped flying and looked up, there wasn’t anything in the sky.

“No stars. No moon. No clouds. Then Thunderlane tapped my shoulder and I looked back at Ponyville. It was… gone. At least, most of it. I could see the hills and woods around the town, and one of the houses at the edge of town, but… But after that, it was blank. Just empty ground. We didn’t know what to do, we just panicked and tried to fly away. After a few minutes, we calmed down and decided to go to the house. It was deserted, but I could see the paintings and pictures on the wall. I knew who it belonged to, but they weren’t there! We felt so tired, so we went to sleep. I think we were hoping it was a bad dream.”

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Plans for Ponyville’s population have been in flux for the past few days, but word from Canterlot may finally bring it into focus. Three construction companies, out of Trottingham, Manehatten and Vanhoover, have been contracted to perform repairs on the town’s infrastructure and buildings.

While citizens that have made a recovery have been allowed to return to the town under supervision to collect their belongings, they have not been allowed to stay. This has been due to the large number of buildings and businesses that would go unused, which require processing to either family of those still missing or the government as necessary. Between repairs and this distribution of property, the estimated date for re-opening of the town is May 31st.

Princess Celestia was confident of the proposed date. “Between the companies we’ve reached out to, and the assistance of volunteers and citizens, I believe Ponyville may well be open before the end of this month. However, some degree of care is necessary when dealing with these estimates. I hope that those who’ve returned to us will be able to resume their lives in earnest as soon as possible, but we will endeavor to help them for as long as they need. While both they and all of Equestria may not be able to put these events fully behind us, we can at least assist them with regaining some degree of normalcy.”

Volunteers who wish to assist with catalogue and distribution of property from Ponyville can reach out to the Canterlot Investigation Agency.

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Discussions have recently begun about a memorial to be erected in the town of Ponyville. These efforts are mostly pushed by families of those still listed as missing, along with some prominent citizens of Ponyville. A petition, started by Goldie Delicious of the Apple family, has already begun circulation in Cloudsdale, Appleoosa, and Canterlot.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure we remember those who were harmed by this whole horrid affair. Never letting the memory of our family, of our friends, leave our mind will ensure they’re never truly lost.”

Support also comes from some survivors of the town’s disappearance. Filthy Rich, a local businesspony of the town, has put his own personal fortune behind the effort. “I have been personally affected by this, as many citizens of our fair town were, and I feel this may help all of us in what we hope to accomplish: to move on. I do not expect it to assuage everypony’s worries and doubts and pain, but I think it will be a step forward for us all.”

While funding for the memorial may be possible once restoration of the town is complete, there are those that have raised concerns related to a monument of such a traumatic event. One anonymous citizen of Ponyville had this to say: “If we put one down, we’re just admitting they’re gone for good. They’re not! They’re just stuck in that place still. They can make it back, they have to make it back! We just have to wait. However long it takes.”

Some of those on the original list of missing ponies have been found, having been out of the town at the time the incident took place. However, the majority of the over two hundred missing citizens are still unaccounted for. According to the Canterlot Investigation Agency, there are no further leads and the investigation has been fully closed. Whether or not they will ever be found, the memorial could bring peace to at least some of the citizens of Ponyville, and perhaps all of Equestria too.

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Imagine waking every morning in a cold sweat, clinging to your sheets and feeling your life was in danger. Every night, as you fall asleep, the faintest noise sets you on edge and pulls you from any hope of peaceful slumber. Even in the bright light of day, you see shapes moving in the corner of your eyes and within the shadows that seem darker than they should be.

This is the daily experience of many Ponyville citizens and a personal series of anecdotes by Aloe. Once a co-proprietor of the Ponyville Day Spa, Aloe has spent her days since being rescued at the Stable Medical Center. While she has physically recovered from the experience, she has elected not to check herself out of the hospital.

“I just don’t feel safe. I do not know if I will ever truly feel safe. Every time I go to sleep, or close my eyes, or look at the dim shadow in the corner of my room I go back there. To the dark. To the cold. To where… to where I lost her.”

A common concern we have received from our readers, asking us for further information about the events which occurred in Ponyville, is that the events which happened are not completely finished. Questions about “Shadow Walkers” and the thought that these events have transpired in the past without notice are a prevailing uncertainty within the common folk of Equestria.

“I still feel watched. Watched by them. Watched by the shadows. I want to feel safe, to feel warm, but it’s only in the light. There’s no way to be out of the darkness forever. Even lit, the light flickers. They say I’m safe. They say it’s gone, but it doesn’t feel like it.”

Doctor Blue Sky, a psychologist who has been working with patients of the Ponyville disappearance case, had this to say: “Whatever supernatural or preternatural or magical entities affected these ponies in the past, what they suffer from now is trauma. We cannot expect this aftereffect to vanish in weeks or even months. These survivors may carry it for life, but ponies in my profession will do everything we can to help them cope and, perhaps eventually, move past what they have suffered through.”