//------------------------------// // The Night // Story: Vanish // by Mr Mlp //------------------------------// With a knock on the door and a twist of the knob the doctor gazed outward from inside. His eyes widened at the mob of ponies, ten to be exact all wielding knives. None of these ponies were neither pegasi nor unicorns, but these ponies were here for one reason and one reason only... to put a stop to this madness any way possible. "For to long you have terrorized this town! We are the last residents in Ponyville! There used to be hundreds of us here, and now look at us!" The cmcs ran up to the door at the sound of the commotion. At closer inspection nine of the ten did not look familiar at all, but at the very back stood a mare with an orange mane and a yellow coat. They looked up at the doctor who in turned chuckled a bit. "You guys really don't think it's me do you?" "We wouldn't put it past you with your weird inventions and your past actions." Applebloom stepped forward gaining attention from the group of furious stallions and mares. "Where's the mayor!" "She's dead, and seriously doctor you kidnapped three little fillies!" "Hey! They came to me! I-" In a quick swift motion the pony in front took a stab at the doctor barely missing as the doctor lunged back. Another pony threw their knife causing the doctor to leap to the side out of sight from the door. One by one the mob poured into the home pushing aside the three little fillies. "Step back!" The doctor said now wielding a weapon of his own. The weapon was one of his inventions that nopony even dared to ask what it did. It had a large oval shaped opening on the front while the rest of its appearance reminisced of a rifle. "I said step back! I will shoot!" A pony from the crowd took their chances and took a thrust closing their eyes in the process.. In a rapid movement the trigger was pulled. The pony released their eyelids releasing that they had been encased in a gigantic bubble floating above the ground. The bubble popped and realizing the weapon in the doctors hooves wasn't harmless they charged again. In a rush the doctor scooped up the three little fillies and bolted for the back door creating a bubbly mass from the weapon he carried. Unfortunately for them the bubble gun slipped out of the doctor's hooves and left at the back door. In the midst of the rush from the corner of their eyes the cmcs could see the mare with the orange mane and yellow coat... it was Carrot Top. Outside the house the sun was dwindling from the sky and the moon rose. The moon was tinted red and created a red hue across the land of Ponyville. "This isn't happening," Sweetie whispered under her breath beginning to panic. "It's gonna be alright kid, we just gotta make it to the northern exit." Applebloom put her hoof on Sweetie and Scootaloo, pulling them close into a huddle. "Did you just see what I just saw?" "Are we even sure she even wants to be a part of this? She doesn't really act like a killer." Sweetie pointed out in hope. "Well whatever she is doing we gotta keep moving," Scoots said with confidence before shouting, "Can we please slow down just a bit though! I feel like I'm about to fall off!" "There's no time!" "Can you at least explain what they meant by your past actions?" Scoots asked suspiciously. "I don't think now is the best time to be asking about this scoots." Applebloom said. "FIne." All three of the cmcs sat bumpily on the doctor's back as he galloped across the eastern side of Ponyville making his way to central Ponyville at the town center. While he ran and ran he got lost in thought. Here he was sprinting for his life with three children riding on his back. Was he now the protector of these fillies? Even if he was he was filled with fear. The only protection he had himself was his wits. Now only one thought ran through his mind and that was get out. Back at the doctor's home the mob of ponies talked in confusion on where the doctor and three little fillies had gone. Carrot Top stepped up standing on a table to gather the attention of everypony in the room. "I have an idea!" Everypony looked up in confusion. "I don't think the doctor will survive unless he leaves the town and I believe he understands that. If we block the four exits then we should be able to prevent him from escaping! All we have to do is split up and guard those four spots!" "What about the three little fillies?" One of the ponies asked. "Yeah, we need to protect them! There's no telling what the doctor will do!" Another pony added. "I say we use the doctor's inventions against him!" A blue stallion called out. The mob roared in agreement. One particular pony tripped over one of the backpacks left from the cmcs and the doctor. He opened it up glancing inside realizing it held lots of materials and food. "Well if they don't have anything they can't leave just yet can they? It's a shot in the dark, but I got an idea." Carrot Top did nothing but stare at the now bustling mob of ponies scouring for anything they could use. Whispering under her breath she said, "I sure hope their doing okay." The doctor began to slow down and feel the pain in his hooves from running for a longer period of time then what he was used to. "Doctor?" "Yes, Sweetie?" "One, I have to go to the bathroom and two, if we're leaving for Canterlot like right now, we left our belongings for the trip back at your house." The doctor skidded down to a halt. "Oh crap-o-crackers your right. Surely there's a store around here somewhere. There we can get snacks, food, and supplies." "Wouldn't that be stealing?" "Oh ho ho scoots! In a situation like this anything is legal!" In a hurry the doctor glanced ever which way for some sort of small building that would provide them with necessary materials for the trip. In about 5 minuets the mission had been a success. They entered the cold, dark, and unused store feeling a rush of chills wash over them. The store was humongous and carried a large variety of things for any need. "Alright I say we split up! We can cover more ground and gain more supplies if we do!" "No!" Sweetie shouted. "We should never split up! You know what happens in the movies!" "Sweetie... not every single piece of horror media has to have a reference to splitting up being the worst thing you can do in a horror situation," Scoots responded with. "You make a great case Scootaloo! I shall go with Applebloom, while you and Sweetie go with each other." "Alright sweetie looks like it's you and me-" Scoots began to say only to find Sweetie had disappeared from anywhere in sight. At first she was worried until she remembered she still had to go to the bathroom. With a grunt she roamed around the shelves looking for anything tasty or helpful for their journey. Walking down the food aisles she found not much, but still managed to find some chocolate lying around. She then made her way to the toy aisle. "Surely we'll need some entertainment right?" Bursting up and down the racks of wonderful toys she found out that there weren't actually that many toys to begin with. Most of the toys left in the store were plushies or just toys she did not want. Taking one last look around she gasped as she laid her pupils on the perfect baseball bat. "Oh yeah, I can knock some heads with this." It wasn't perhaps the most entertaining item, but it could prove to be very useful. After a bit more wandering around and finding nothing the bit of anger building up made her feel she had an opportune moment to rant to herself. "If it wasn't for Sweetie and Applebloom I would've ditched this nutcase as soon as I crossed paths with him once. I don't understand why they still trust him." She continued her walk though the toy section. She stopped when a particular item caught her eye. It was a scooter. She didn't know why, but something about the situation reminded her about her parents, specifically her father when he would show off his own tricks with his own scooter. "At least the doctor helped Applebloom with her own family struggles..." "Hey scoots!" "AGH!" It was only Sweetie Belle who came to greet her. "That was a long bathroom break Sweetie," she said letting out a yawn. "Well I couldn't find you, so I went searching for some stuff on my own and found some backpacks for the trip. What did you find?" She said also giving out a yawn. "I got some chocolate... and a baseball bat." "What are we going to need a baseball bat for?" "For protection duh!" "Jeez... ok Scoots. Can I at least carry it with me?" "Eh, sure. Doesn't really matter who carries it. Did you find anything besides those backpacks?" "Not really, this place is so creepy and empty. Wanna catch back up with Applebloom and the doc?" "Sure." Applebloom and the doctor were strolling down the frozen food aisles. They had already collected a good portion of non frozen foods and water for the trip and now they were opening every fridge that held any sort of frozen foods. "Tell me again why we're grabbing cold food that will melt and become bad before we even get close to Canterlot?" "Well if you think about it Applebloom, this food can be used in self defense. It's a hard object and if it melts then you can just force your opponent to eat it and bam! They're poisoned" "There might be a couple of flaws in your logic doc..." "The point is we should stock up on anything and everything!" Applebloom let out a hearty yawn. The doctor immediately noticed and sternly looked at Applebloom in the eyes. "Remember what we said... do not fall asleep..." "Right, I won't!" When the doctor was satisfied he led him and Applebloom to the clothing section of the store. "We're gonna need lots of this stuff. For defense and warmth..." For some strange reason the doctor had his eyes squinted when he said this. "Say doc? What did they mean when they said past actions?" "Well like I said there's a reason I'm known as a crazy pony." "Well what happened?" "Look kid, I can't blame you for being curious, but it wasn't pretty. A lot of ponies say it's my fault." "Well is it?" "Well yeah... it was never part of my intention... but yes." She wanted to pry, but noticed the slight twinge in his smile and the shifted tone in his voice and backed off. They spent a little bit more time searching for clothing, which fortunately for them there were lots, due to not many ponies wearing clothing. "How bout we meet back up with Scoots and Sweetie-" There was a loud noise from across the store that echoed from the other side. It sounded like glass. "That must be them!" Slowly they made their way to investigate the sound. When they got there the only thing that laid there was a knocked over glass of jelly, cracked and broken. "Scoots! Sweetie! You guys okay?" No sight or response was heard from the two fillies. "Maybe they just ain't here?" From behind them came another crack. They both turned their head around in a instant. "Dang it... blew my cover." Standing in front of them now was a black and blue stallion carrying not anything resembling a gun, but a mechanical mess of wires and metal in the shape of a long tree branch. "Give me the filly doc!" "Doctor, what does he have in his hooves?" "It's one of my inventions... and not one of the more safe ones..." "You know what's going to happen anyway doc! You can't escape this." "Hand me the frozen corn bag Applebloom." She reluctantly handed the doctor one of the frozen food items they had collected. "We need to run doc... I don't think you can take him." "Wrong Applebloom, we still don't know where Scootaloo and Sweetie are, plus we have an added risk of bringing them into this brawl." The doctor lifted up the frozen corn bag in went into battle stance, while his opponent charged up his own weapon. The wires shifted and scurried around until little holes from inside the invention oozed out poison gas. Instead of the gas spreading it stuck tightly to each wire and piece of metal on the invention. The stallion charged towards the doctor taking a full on front swing aiming for his head. The doctor bounced to the right nailing him in the back with the corn. With a hunch the doctor's opponent took another swing this time to the side. Ducking just in time the doctor yelled to Applebloom, "Slide me some of that glass!" She did so, allowing the doctor to quickly scoop it into his hoof and shove it into the body of the stallion. He winced in pain, having a bit of blood leak out. Applebloom could not keep the fact that she was scared not only for the doctor, but now the his opponent. The stallion leaped at him pinning him down to the ground lifting up the poison filled invention. Just when he was about to pierce the invention into his chest a loud crack reached his ears. The stallion fell to the ground unconscious and just behind them stood Scootaloo and Sweetie. "I told you the baseball bat would be useful," Scoots said giving a smug look at Sweetie who was wielding the baseball bat. "And that is why we have to hurry and get the heck outta here! We did you guys gather up?" "I got backpacks!" "I got chocolate and of course the baseball bat." "Well that'll have to do. Let's place the materials in the backpacks and let's get moving! Also my invention, grab that!" Scoots walked over to the body to retrieve the weapon, then at the sight of it one thing caught the eye of her. "Is that blood?" The doctor turned around to see Scootaloo examining the knocked out pony. "Yes, but let's not pay attention to that." Scootaloo and Sweetie both looked horrified as the doctor scooped him up on his back once again bursting out the store with speed before they could respond. In the moment they neglected to glance up at the sky and find a blood colored moon, slowly making its way to the other side of the sky still giving off its red hue. Scurrying through the town only two thoughts stuck in the doctor's head. Escape and protection. He checked all around him making sure nopony was around to attack them. They were approaching the halfway mark: Central Ponyville. The tall stature of the building was in sight and a slight bit of relaxation washed over the doctor knowing they were getting closer. His rushed demeanor came to a screeching halt when they came across two more of the last residents of Ponyville. "Oh just great." The doctor groaned. In a full sprint he attempted to avoid any sort of contact with the two. As he shifted to the side trying to get to the path leading to their destination one of the two bolted as well cutting off his path. The weapon he carried was familiar sporting the same shape and physique as the bubble gun the doctor had used back at his house. The doctor caught eye of this and lunged back preparing for any sort of attack they might throw at them. "Applebloom I want you to step back, and Sweetie and Scoots since you two have your own ways of self defense I want you to help." Sweetie put on her most determined face, still having cracks showing a very well present state of fear preparing to defend the doctor, while Scootaloo grinned a toothy smile ready to defend herself. Applebloom did as the doctor said and let the three take charge. The second pony whipped out a tiny fanny pack. When opened only one ninja star would be seen to the pony. In sheer disappointment he threw the star in hopes of at least managing to hit the doctor. Upon finishing this action he came to realize that glaring so abruptly in the fanny pack was another ninja star created from the mechanical whirring from inside the pack itself. Just gazing at the two ponies made Sweetie shiver and in a few short and simple seconds she handed the invention previously used in the store to the doctor and walked back to where Applebloom stood. "You guys got this!" "We don't want to hurt the child doctor, just please give it up." The doctor bolted towards the pony with the fanny pack. Getting closer the pony panicked and gave an onslaught of sharp ninja stars all in the general direction of the oncoming opponent, while Scootaloo stood away from the action wondering when the opportune moment would be to come in and strike. The doctor attempted to dodge the oncoming attacks, but in the end was grazed quite a few times by the ninja stars thrown at him. Meanwhile, the pony with the gun resembling the past bubble gun was aiming carefully, making sure to not hit his own comrade. The doctor made it up to where the ninja star wielding pony was and sucker punched him right in the gut. Kneeling down the pony snatched another star almost forcing it into the doctor's leg, before the doctor rolled back. In a moment of stalemate between the two the other pony with the gun found to what he thought to be the perfect opportunity to strike. Commanding the weapon to shoot out came only a sharp blade. "Dang it." He threw the gun away in favor of the blade that had spit out from it. Scootaloo saw this as the perfect moment to make her own strike, running up to the stallion as fast as she could ready to get past this obstacle and make it to the northern exit. She swung but missed as her target jumped back in confusion as to why this child was attacking him. He ignored the filly and continued his way over to the doctor who was struggling against the other stallion switching from projectiles to melee, occasionally propelling more stars at his target. The stallion with the blade ran up to the fray ready to swing and distracted from the fight was knocked in the head once again unconscious by Scootaloo and her baseball bat. Finishing it off the doctor sacked the other stallion in the face pushing him back into the second hard strike made by Scootaloo knocking him to, unconscious. Both breathing heavily the stood silent and frozen for a few seconds processing the battle they just took part in. "Marvelous work Scootaloo!" He laughed at the enormous bravery Scootaloo had shown throughout the situation so far. Scootaloo smiled slightly at the comment turning back to witness Sweetie and Applebloom racing towards them at lighting speed. "Thank goodness you guys are okay!" "Well thanks to Scoots here, we are the supreme winners! With now just a straight shot, I don't think we have anything left to worry about." After a couple brief moments of rest the doctor placed the three fillies on his back and continued his sprint to the northern exit. With each step however, the injuries he had sustained made it more difficult to carry on. With the end to this madness practically in sight, it made it so very easy for any of them to just rest and fall asleep. Many ponies across the events of the week have either lost dear friends, or family, or even themselves. And as Carrot Top stood in front of the northern exit that was all she could think about. Every last resident left in Ponyville besides the three fillies and the doctor himself had believed the deaths and disappearances of everypony else was caused by the madness that was the doctor. They all had some sort of friends of family lost from what they believed was the hooves of the doctor. They all believed in how crazy and untrustworthy the doctor was. They all were there on that faithful day. Standing there at the exit she knew she was no different from any of the other ponies left in the town, but part of her believed that she should get the chance to see the end of the doctor herself. In fact she wanted to be the one to end it all. And in the action of standing there and waiting for the slim opportunity for it to become a reality she knew this is what everypony else in the town desired as well. With a heavy sigh she stared uninterested in the empty road leading to outside of the town all tinged with the red hue from the moon hanging high above. The pony beside her however stared intently and focused down the pathway. In the blink of an eye the blank stare turned into widened eyes as the pony beside her shook the mare to be alert. Down the pathway were four ponies raring to make their way out and escape the danger resided in the small and quaint little town. Gasping Carrot Top shifted into her battle stance examining the movement of the so called crazed stallion. He stopped. There was no doubt in her mind that he could now see the two of them guarding the exit. With her carrying a single knife and the other gripping onto a mechanical mess of metal with no hesitation they galloped at them, hoping to themselves that this would finally be the end. "Sweetie Belle! Give me my invention, quick!" Sweetie tossed the poison filled creation to the doctor stepping back in horror once again. Scootaloo readied herself for another fight hesitating at the sight of Carrot Top, while Applebloom stood frozen behind the back of the doctor. Bolting at top speed both Carrot Top and the pony beside her prepared themselves to strike down the stallion, while the doctor prepared himself as well still in the same spot... However both charging ponies came to a screeching halt when they saw the yellow and red apple themed filly stand strong in front of the sole enemy they desperately yearned to kill. "Stop it now!" Carrot Top shifted back in surprise. "Why are you doing all of this!" "Applebloom please, we're trying to help..." "Yeah kid, get out of the way." The pony beside Carrot Top said. "No... you ain't about to do this. It ain't right." "Listen Applebloom... he's the one who has been committing all of these murders. He's done stuff like this before-" "Move out of the way!" "Yeah!" Sweetie bellowed coming up to Applebloom's side. "Look I know you all want to kill me and all, but I'm trying to do right. I've been protecting these fillies-" "If you've been truly protecting these fillies, you would have let them come to us! Your only putting them in more danger having them stay with you." The pony beside Carrot top screamed. "We choose to stay with him!" Applebloom refuted. "Girls please... just let us put an end to this." "What happened to you Carrot Top? I thought you would be on our side!" "I care about you, but this... how can you expect me to be on your side for this!" "If I may interject, Applebloom has been through a lot. I mean her family-" "Her family? Her family... the family you killed!" His voice shaking the pony beside Carrot Top pushed Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to the ground knocking down the doctor furiously hitting him with the object he had in his hooves. Everypony stood back letting the interaction happen. Applebloom gazed in horror. The doctor was barely able to escape his grasp lunging backwards getting ready with his weapon again. "Please don't do this!" Sweetie yelled. His vision dazed, he wobbled forward just a bit. All he could see was colors and a moving blob coming straight at him. Out of pure instinct he pointed his weapon sharp point first just as the pony jumped once again at him. But instead of his strike landing, the sharp ended point pierced directly through his chest. Immediately he let go of the weapon, his own invention. His vision slowly returning back to him, he stared in shock a pained look in his eyes. Everypony stared in shock of the unspeakable act they had just witnessed. The murderer had just done what he always did best... which was to kill. "You heartless beast!" "I- I'm sorry-" His voice was cut short from the slit on the throat applied by Carrot Top herself. Desperate for air but receiving no oxygen all he could do was collapse to the ground. Not one sound made its way out of anyone's mouths. "You... killed him." Applebloom eyes started to fill with tears. "Applebloom he-" "He was just trying to help everypony here and you killed him! He didn't do nothing wrong!" Her eyes and cheeks were now covered in tears. "Please... he wasn't-" "He was kind and was helping us as well!" Sweetie added. Carrot Top wanted to speak again. Then an orange coated purple maned filly named Scootaloo walked to her side. "Girls... we should listen to Carrot Top." "What? Are you crazy Scootaloo?!" "Think about it Sweetie Belle. The ponies in this town have known him longer than we have. They've seen stuff we didn't see. He just killed a pony right in front of us!" "It was an accident!" "Was it really? He was never trustworthy!" "Scootaloo... please! He was our friend. He did everything he could to help us... he might have been able to fix all of this." "I'm sorry Applebloom, but that's not how it works. Trust me I want this to all be over! I want everypony to come back! I want your family back... but he just could not provide that..." "No! Just because he can't bring your family back doesn't mean he can't bring mine back!" Silence returned as a gentle gust of wind flowed through their manes. "I never told you my parents were-" "It's not hard to connect the dots Scoots. How we never see them, how you barely even talk about them." "I just... don't want you girls hurt..." In a sudden shift the speakers all around Ponyville turned on unexpectedly. A new voice now filled the dead silent air in the town that all four of them there recognized. The princess of Equestria. Princess Celestia. One of the two sisters that ruled over the land. The one who controlled the status of the sun. "I congratulate you all my dear subjects. Good job on finding the murderer that had plagued your town for so long!" All four shared confused looks of the appearance of princess Celestia's voice. "How did she even know about the murderer in Ponyville?" Carrot Top asked having a slight tinge of worry creep into her voice. Celestia continued. "I would also love to thank you all for participating! Except for maybe a few ponies, each one of you are willing enough to join me. So as my final words follow... see you soon." "What does she mean by that?" Sweetie said beginning to panic. Carrot Top walked up to Sweetie wanted to calm her down. "I'm sure we're going to be fine." Carrot Top's breath began to quicken and her heart pick up in speed. In mere moments she collapsed to the floor her muscles tensing up. The pain enormous she let out a blood curdling scream the likes that nopony had heard before. All three fillies raced to gather around Carrot Top. "What's going on!" Sweetie bellowed. "Carrot Top what's happening?!" Applebloom bellowed as well. Scootaloo began to say something as well before her voice cut off and her muscles tensing up like Carrot Top's. Soon she also collapsed to the floor. "Scootaloo!" They shrieked in unison. Both shouting immensely their skin began to peel off revealing tissue, nerves, bones, and flesh to gawk at. Their bones evaporating from their bodies, nerves exploding into nothing, tissue crumpling up into paper balls, and every last piece of their flesh boiling to a crisp. One second was a sight so very horrible accompanied by hollers so ear piercing that you were willing to do anything to stop it and the next shown only the grass and the two fillies left alone with just themselves and their thoughts. Feeling the overwhelming amount of rest they missed and the disgusting scene of blood and guts, they both fainted. And with the moon still glowing blood red, a uncountable number of ponies disappeared during the night...