The Mulberry Mare Disappears in the End

by Yuu

My Soul Is Dark

The mulberry mare turned to the pink mare. They looked at each other for some time.

“She is gone, isn’t she?” The mulberry mare asked.

The pink mare nodded.

“Have you seen anything?”

“No. I haven’t looked at her,” the pink mare said. “I heard as she went to the emergency buttons, pressed one, then the sounds faded.”

“Then the last thing she did was press the button,” the mulberry mare said. “I hope some help will come. Meanwhile I will finish my message.”

“Sure. But I want to apologize.”

“For what?” the mulberry mare asked.

“You know, any of us might disappear now. I’m sorry, because you will feel bad. So don’t feel bad, you can solve this even without help.”

“I probably can, but I’m not sure we have enough time before we also, you know…”

The pink mare was silent as she watched how the mulberry mare wrote her message. Soon she stopped writing.

“Now I will send it.”

The mulberry mare closed her eyes and the message glowed, before disappearing.

“What should we do now?” she asked.

“Let’s just wait for help, there isn’t much else to do.”

“We can talk, maybe we can still think of a possible solution for our problem.”

“Sure.” The pink mare moved closer and hugged the mulberry mare once more. “I’m afraid of disappearing. I don’t know what will happen to me.”

“I also don’t want to fade away. But I just don’t know how to stop all this because I know almost nothing about it, and I don’t know what to do with what I do know.”

“I know. I also know you’re a good friend, and you’ve always helped us.”

“Yes, I think so.”

The pink mare turned to look directly into the other mare’s eyes. “And not only us. I can remember how you helped our friend’s younger sisters, and their friends, and the other students in their school.”

“Well, that’s true. But you’ve also helped a lot of ponies around here.” The mulberry mare also looked in the eyes of her friend.

“And you were with us when all those global catastrophes appeared. So I probably have to count every pony in town.”

“What is happening with your eyes?” the mulberry mare asked. “They look brown, but they should be blue. Are you feeling—”

“You know, I can probably name most of our townsponies. Or at least I could, before we started to forget things.”

“Wait. My walls are brown.” The mulberry mare looked around, then turned her head to the pink mare. “I can see my walls through your head!”

“I could also name a lot of ponies from other places—”

“You’re fading! Please don’t go!” The mulberry mare hugged the pink mare tighter.

“...also helped them too, on many—”

“Please, please!” The mulberry mare said quieter. “I can barely hear you now, please become normal again!”

“...even our leaders—”

“How can I solve this alone?”

“...you know I—”

“You are the last one I have!”

“...in you...”

“Please!” Her forelegs touched each other through the empty space. She lost her balance and fell through the now-empty space.

“Ow...”

She put her left forehoof on the floor, then her right forehoof. She lifted her face from the floor. She slowly lifted herself to a standing position. She raised her head a bit, then suddenly hung it.

After some time she looked around. She was alone in the room.

“Please come back.” She inhaled. “If you can hear me, please come back. If someone can help me return my friends, please do it. I’m so tired. I know they have trusted me many times, and today they trusted me to help everypony. I don’t know. I’m out of ideas. Can someone just return them?”

She looked down. Small drops fell, some landing on her forelegs. One after another.

“I don’t know what you want from us. Or from me. But I beg you to return them. Or tell me what I need to do. I will do anything for them. Please!”

The room shifted. Some more drops fell.

“I feel dizzy. Maybe they were right. What if I can find them and return them?”

She inhaled and exhaled several times.

“I’m not sure. I probably need help anyway. Can someone help me? To find them and bring them back?”

Something changed around her.

“Can anyone?”

One last drop of water fell, passing through her foreleg, and hit the floor.