The Mulberry Mare Disappears in the End

by Yuu

The Road Not Taken

“Good morning, do you have any cherries?” a mulberry mare with a sapphire blue mane asked another pony behind a market stall.

“Sorry, dear,” said the yellow mare in front of her. “They're sold out.” On further examination she had many fruits and vegetables laid out, but not cherries. The yellow vendor adjusted her peaked cap, which created a dark shadow on her face, concealing her eyes and nose.

“No problem.” The mulberry mare shook her head, exposing rose and violet streaks in her mane.

She looked around, trying to locate another fruit vendor nearby. Failing, she turned back and noticed that the yellow mare had disappeared. The mulberry mare looked all around once more, even behind the market stall, but there was no pony.

“Strange,” she said to herself, “is she leaving her stuff like this? Whatever. I still have a full list of items to buy, I can think about it on my way.” She took several steps and looked around again. The market seemed emptier than usual. It seemed emptier than even a minute ago.

“Is there a concert or something today?” she wondered. “There should be more ponies around at this time.”

She turned around several times, scanning the marketplace. She saw only a few ponies walking around, buying and selling. Several stalls with goods were without vendors.

“I forgot about an event today, and that's the reason there are so few ponies around,” the mare told herself, though she did not fully believe it.

She looked at the nearest stall without a vendor and scowled. Then she took out a shopping list from her saddle bag, checked it, and went to a small building near the marked square. It has a signboard with an array of several vegetables on it. She went in.

“Good morning,” said an orange mare with a green mane. “What are you looking for?”

“Hello,” the mulberry mare said. “I’ll check with my list and tell you in a moment.”

“Sure, take your time.”

The orange mare walked along a counter, adjusting some displayed vegetables here and there. After a minute she excused herself and went through a door to a back room. After another minute the mulberry mare had found what she needed from the shop and looked around for the seller.

“Hello? Could you please come back?” she said.

She checked behind the counter, and even looked under it. She couldn’t find the vendor.

The mulberry mare called once more, then went to the door the vendor had left through. Through it was another room with racks, full of various different boxes and bottles. The mare found another door, and opened it.

Inside, there was an even smaller room with cleaning supplies. She searched around a little, but there was clearly nowhere for a pony to hide.

The mulberry mare stood up and thought for several moments. “There should be an explanation for this. As far as I know that mare would have no reason to disappear unexpectedly, which means someone or something made her disappear. It could be connected to the absence of ponies in the market. I need my friends — now.” She turned and galloped from the shop.