Vanish

by Mr Mlp

The Town Meeting

The next morning had come again and the feared outcome of more disappearances at this point was inevitable. Luckily for the three little fillies none of them or the apple family had been touched by the looming evil presence in the night snatching ponies. Before any of this happened Mayor Mare the humble mayor of ponyville did her daily job in keeping the town safe and up and running. Although she worked often she still made time to take a stroll through her town. Lately the Mayor had locked herself in the hall do all sorts of stuff, even if the crusaders didn't realize it sooner. She clearly put a huge amount of effort and stopping whatever plague had corrupted the town.

In hopes of obtaining new ideas to stop the disappearances, a town meeting was called for every resident in ponyville. Loopy and absolutely crazy as you would call Dr. Whooves, but there was no exception for anypony. Granny and Big Mac got up early preparing to attend the meeting. After a healthy amount to rest they got ready quickly and effectively. The crusaders were the complete opposite. Once again they had gone through a sleepless night. They stepped out of their room at a snails pace making them look like time slowed more than just once.

"Are you three ready yet! Come on times a wastin!" Granny yellowed from downstairs allowing the sound to travel to the crusaders who were brushing their teeth. "Ugh, are you girls also tired?" Sweetie gave a response in the way of a slight head nod while scoots softly said, "heck yeah."

"We still gotta keep going, we have to figure this stuff out."

"I don't know... I'm really tired applebloom."

"I second that sweetie."

"Look, let's just give it at least one more night, besides we have a town meeting to get going to. Maybe the mayor has some answers."

They put their toothbrushes down and rolled down the stairs. "Took ya'll long enough. Let's get going, this is mighty important." And just like that Granny, Big Mac, and the crusaders made the journey to the town hall. "Now girls there is something I wanna tell you." Granny started to say. "I want to say that there night be some pretty darn heavy subjects spoken about during this meeting, but it is crucial that ya'll hear about this. Sooner or later your gonna have to learn about possible death and loss. Just please tell me you girls will be alright."

They each gave a nod. "Alright, we're here." Exclaimed Big Mac with a worried expression plastered on his face. It wasn't hard to see why. Upon arriving at the town hall only maybe 25-30 ponies were visible, and yet they were late. Ponies like Dr. Whooves and Carrot Top were able to be seen, but ponies like Octavia and vinyl scratch, were missing from the scene. At a glance of the crowd anypony near the doctor had a resenting look at the pony. The atmosphere was not only tense, but dense feeling. The normal everyday light hearted, kind, and welcoming aura of the town seemed to be a long shot away from now. The once colorful and bright ponys of ponyville had lost themselves.

"Alright let's get this over with." The words left Granny in a dull tone and the crusaders went to go check on Carrot Top before the meeting would start. Before any one of them would speak they could see the dead expression on her face combined with a defeated poster. Scoots was the first one to speak up. "Hey Carrot Top, um, how's it going?" Scoots received a small punch from applebloom.

"Well it could be going better... I'm just hoping for some answers."

"Yeah..." Sweetie chimed in with.

"Are you girls doing okay with the sudden loss of so many ponies in ponyville."

"I'm doing pretty well." Scoots uttered form her lips causing her to receive another small punch from applebloom. "

"We're doing just fine Carrot Top."

Carrot Top couldn't help but crack a little smile at that. "May I ask though Carrot Top... you look very sad and we wanna know what's wrong."

"That's very sweet of you Sweetie Belle, but it's nothing. Besides it's not really the best time to be talking about it."

"Well with the way you been speaking it sounds like you just lost a friend." Applebloom said in a joking tone trying to lift the mood, granted it was a terrible way of going about it.

Carrot Top said nothing. Scootaloo filled the silence with her own words. "Say where is Lyra anywa-"

"Ladies and gentlecolts! Please quiet down the meeting is about to start!" At the words spoken by the mayor the crusaders huddled back to the two member of the apple family. Mayor mare then organized her papers, corrected her microphone, and spoke.

"As you can see, ponyville has been going through a sort of a rough patch, if you will call it. Ponies have been going missing left and right and I'm going to be frank with you... I don't know why. Even after all my research I can't find a reason why this is happening to all you good pony folk. I've gathered you today, because I am lost and I need your help. This problem is moving at a hasty pace and I'm scared. So please we need ideas on what this threat is and how to get rid of it."

With the short speech concluded the dwindling population of ponyville sat in thought. A random pony from the crowd soon spoke up. "Maybe it's the town itself? Could it be a possibility that the town is cursed?" Ponies considered it for a second, but it was quickly debunked when they remember when Twilight Sparkle had proven curses weren't real. "Are we sure this phenomenon is exclusive to our little community?" Questioned another random pony. "That is certainly something that could occur, but that does not help us." Replied Mayor Mare.

"Quite possibly are we looking at a double digit conspiracy conundrum?" Everypony in the crowd averted their eyes to glance at the doctor. "Will you shut up you nut, we need good ideas!" One pony in the crowd bellowed. "Well yes, doctor... um anypony else?" Mayor Mare commented. The crusaders throughout the time spent at the town hall had their minds blank. None of them a single clue as to what truly was to be blamed as the culprit of this disaster. Until applebloom had the sight of blood pop into her mind of the day before. "Maybe there is a murderer on the loose?"

Nopony said anything. The crowd could be read as a mixture of doubt, skepticism, but also fear of the possibility. "Applebloom, sure there has been evil villains bent on controlling Equestria, but never has there been anypony diabolic enough to truly kill somepony."

"Well, actually Mayor Mare me and the police crew yesterday found quite a bit of blood at the homes of the vanished..." The police pony clamored out. Probably the last police pony left in ponyville. "Well... still! How can somepony kill this many ponies and still not have been caught!" The mayor rebutted. "Maybe it's a group of murderers." Everypony shifted their eyes to look at Carrot Top.

"There are very few of us left and a group of murderers would be very effective in taking out many ponies at once. It's most likely the murderers are in this crowd right now." There was a pause like Carrot Top was preparing to say something. "I have a message for you traitorous beasts... Give me back my friends! You took so much away..." With every word her voice cracked and stammered until there were tears in her eyes. Shortly afterward she bolted.

Mayor Mare reacted in an instant. "Can somepony go and check on her?" The cluster of ponies stood still. After a bit a red apple themed pony named Big Mac stepped from the group and walked away. Most of the ponies retreated into their thoughts afraid to say anything, but there was a single voice that teared through the absence of sound. "If there truly is a group of murderers out there who would be their leader?"

In just a single moment with absolute confidence a pony shouted "It's gotta be Dr. Whooves!" And with that a wave of consideration can be seen racing throughout the crowd. "He does always have those weird machines and acts crazy all the time. He would be the perfect culprit." The doctor stammered and gasped in horror. "What ever do you mean! I'm not crazy! You know what's crazy? This whole disaster! I refuse to believe anypony could do any of this. This is the work of a paranormal force." This did not help the doctor's case. Soon the crowd began to become a mob ready to strike. Mayor Mare had visible panic on her face.

"Now listen up!" The rapidly angered crowd froze at the sound of Granny Smith's voice. "We've never been the type of ponies who would go up and judge somepony for the way they just so happen to speak and act." The crusaders sat in surprise in the sudden raise of volume of Granny Smith. One pony refuted the comment. "Well, I think we could judge a pony for leading an entire group of murderers and killing ponies!"

"Now you shut it! Now what would Twilight and the others say?"

"We don't even know what they would think! Celestia knows if they are experiencing the same problem we are!"

"Listen to yer self! You should be ashamed, look at the rapid decent you all have taken."

"If I may interject... I did nothing at all except find out how to track how many ponies have been disappearing every night!" The doctor bellowed.

In a collective fashion the crowd stormed towards the fearful doctor, but in his saving grace the confused mumbles of Mayor Mare being scooted away from her mic became replaced with the determined words of applebloom. "Chill out!" Sweetie and Scootaloo joined up on the mic. "Listen, granny is right. We can't go turning on each other like this." The two girls standing next to her agreed in a simple "yeah!" In the crowd Granny had a wide smile on her face seeing her sweet Applebloom taking stand infront of all these ponies.

"This is not what Twilight taught us in the ways of friendship in her time here." Applebloom passed the mic to scoots noticing sweetie having a disappointed expression that she didn't get the mic. Scootaloo was a bit taken back but she still came up with her own little speech as well.

"Murderer or not we need to stand up and fix this problem! No matter the cost! Well... maybe some exceptions... But this is not the way to go about it." Sweetie could here whispers in her ears from Sweetie asking her eagerly to pass the mic.

It seemed like she had a grand idea. Sweetie cleared her throat and there was no telling what she planned to do. She breathed in, then out and slowly introduced a melodic tune in her words as she spoke. The harmonies fluttered seamlessly through the ears of the ponies she aimed to persuade. Sweetie was singing. It was no doubt some of the most memorable, somber, and stunning performance they had ever heard from a little filly. And when her short song was over she put on a smile in hopes that her plan worked.

Mayor Mare was the one who spoke. "Sweetie that was beautiful... I think we can now all agree that we should not have jumped to conclusions everypony." Most of the crowd looked ok with the idea with a select few still grumbling at the thought of a potential murderer getting off scot-free. "Well, I think we can end this meeting. If we all think there are murderers in this town then we will find these murderers. That will be all."

At the final words spoken by the mayor the crowd of ponies disbanded back to their homes a little doubtful and a little fearful. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all returned to Granny Smith who gave them a gentle smile. They all went back to the apple family farm and sat on the couch no words uttered as they waited for Big Mac to return.

Almost dusk, Big Mac walked through the door. Everyone in the room looked eagerly at the stallion that walked through the door. Granny in a flash asked Big Mac, "Is Carrot Top doing alright? What happened?" With a heavy sigh Big Mac explained the events that occurred when he gone to go cheer up Carrot Top.

---

Big Mac hurriedly caught up to emotion filled mare storming off to wherever she planned to go. "Look Big Mac this isn't the best time to go chasing after me."

"I want to at least try to help."

"No, I'm just going home. I suggest you go back to the meeting."

"Nope."

It was clear to Carrot Top that Big Mac would not leave her alone until she willingly opened up and spoke her hurts. "Listen, I know what you've been going through some heavy stuff right now with Bon Bon." Carrot Top just had her eyes staring towards the ground. "It's not just that..." She whispered in a barely audible voice.

"I also noticed Lyra was missing from the meeting."

"Yeah... she was my last friend in this town."

She took a moment to herself thinking about the inevitable end of the rest of the town. She stopped dead in her tracks. "Part of me feared this would happen, and I was right to do so. It's all over."

"We still don't know exactly what's going on. There's still a chance."

"Big Mac... I'm never going to get those times back."

"Don't think about the possible end of a friendship, remember the the fact that it existed."

"But how can I remember those good times, when the fact that she's gone looms over me so often?"

"Hmm..."

"There were so many things I wanted to do... to say... it's just all gone now. Do you know what it's like to have a plan and have it crushed. I had so many adventures and mishaps I wanted to do."

"There's still time. We can still fix this."

"No, you don't understand. I felt like I had a chance. A possibility just begging to be grasped and taken, but in reality I wasn't the one who took it."

"Well what did you want to do? Maybe we can still accomplish it."

"I... I wanted... I wanted to do more. Spend some bits and go places! Actually accomplish something I knew I could never do... I wanted to do it..."

"Well why don't we-"

"... for her."

"Her?"

"It's nothing. Maybe I do need to just move on."

"I'm sorry this all is happening to you. I promise we'll do all that we can to get them back."

"Maybe your right. Maybe your wrong, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to go Big Mac, but thank you for listening to me and not giving up on me."

Before she left she gave Big Mac a friendly hug and walked away back to her own home of solitude. A home filled with tears and sorrow. A home that joy had disappeared just like the ponies. A home that had a spark. A little insignificant spark of hope left in her life.

---

Everypony in the room just stared in shock not knowing what to think. Whether it was sadness for the pain Carrot Top was experiencing or a little bit of joy having the knowledge that maybe she would be ok, the constant reminder of the unknown still lingered through everyponys thoughts. Granny Smith decided to be the one who spoke. "Well Big Mac, I'm mighty proud of you for helping out our friend like that."

"Thank you Granny."

"How about we play some cards before we go to bed?" Granny said in attempts to shift the mood of the room. In a instant the mouth of every single pony lifted up into a smile. BIg Mac began setting up the table, while the crusaders passed out the cards throughout the table. In a rush they were in their own chairs excited for whatever game of cards they would play.

"What game we thinking ya'll? I was thinking gin rummy!" Granny exclaimed feeling ecstatic.

"Granny! Nopony here knows how to play that game!" Applebloom refuted.

"Then learn it! It's not that hard to do! Look you have the cards and you-"

Big Mac interrupted with his own game suggestion. "Blackjack."

"Oh hit me. That's all you do! It's either hit or pass! How about something with a little more excitement..." Scootaloo went into the kitchen only to bring up a jar with a whole bunch of bits in it. "...Gambling."

"Do you even play with cards when you gamble scoots?" Sweetie asked innocently.

"Yeah we ain't doing that Scootaloo." Granny said quickly shooting the idea down. Sweetie then shot her hoof up joyfully with energy claiming she had the perfect game.

"I got it." She said having the smuggest smile plastered on her face. "Gold fish." For some unexplained reason she spoke this in the voice imitation of a dark voice.

"You know it's go fish right sweetie?"

"I know that scoots!"

'Well what's your idea Applebloom." Granny said with interest.

"What if we do uno." She then pulled out her own deck of uno cards.

Big Mac eyes widened in confusion and with a louder voice than usual said "What the fu-" Before he could finish his sentence Granny Smith slapped him on his cheek yelling "Language!"

"I was going to say funsicle." Big Mac explaining under his breath pouting. "Applebloom... what is a uno?" Granny asked inquisitively.

"Oh it was an invention the doctor created. I thought we could play it." The whole room was silent except for the low volume groan coming from scoots. "Wait I didn't see that anywhere in the doc's house!" Scoots screamed questioningly.

"Well no duh. The doc gave it to me before we left."

"Why don't we try it?" Sweetie said.

"Eeyup!" Big Mac said with agreeableness.

"Well I an't getting any younger here. Let's play uno!"

Each one of them played uno after Applebloom explained the rules from the back of the box and had a blast. Packaged in this deal of fun was a whole lot of screaming and laughter, espically when Scootaloo had zero blues and had to pick up 10 cards from the deck right when she was on her last card. Applebloom won most of the games leaving Granny and Big Mac stunned, while Big Mac and Scoots came in a close second being tied in the amount of games they won. Granny ans Sweetie Belle also tied, but all it left them was a sad third place. After what felt like hours the fun and games ended. Big Mac, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all went upstairs to sleep the night away... well at least Big Mac would be.

Granny Smith and Applebloom stayed downstairs for a little bit longer. "Hey Applebloom?"

"Yeah Granny?"

"I wanted to tell you something." Applebloom said nothing letting fill the moment with her words instead of her own.

"I wanna say that I'm really proud of you. I would have never thought that a filly your age would go ahead and give some sort of speech right there in front of all of Ponyville with her friends like that. With times like these I want to thank you for being so strong. Your becoming more and more like your sister everyday and I don't know if I should be scared or happy. Keep being strong Applebloom and to let nothing separate you and your friends there."

Applebloom just smiled and gave Granny a hug. "I love you Applebloom. No matter what happens know I love you. Now go get to bed. You really need to sleep."

"Pfft, I'm fine Granny." Granny gave Applebloom a "seriously?" look. "Your eyes looked like they were drenched in cranberry juice." Applebloom let out a chuckle giving Granny another hug and saying "I love you" before climbing up the stairs to join back up with her friends grinning from ear to ear.

Upon entering the room the girls did what they set out to do and once again were determined to stay up all night trying to figure out something during the night that would give a clue to stop the disappearances. They chatted and chatted to pass the time.

"You know I'm really glad I got to spend all this time with you girls." Applebloom said with joy. Scoots and Sweetie nodded in agreement. "I mean none of this would have happened if all of Twilight and her friends had to go down to Canterlot. What are the chances!" Applebloom shouted in the lowest possible voice she could muster.

"I still hope their doing alright."

"They'll be fine Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo said dismissively. "With Rainbow Dash there, there's no way they'll fail whatever mission they're doing over there. As Scootaloo made this comment a thought popped into the mind of Applebloom. "Hey Scoots... What's up with you and your parents?"

"Uh... where did this come from?"

"Well you mentioned Rainbow Dash and you guys are practically family. We just... don't really know much about your own family."

"Oh yeah... shouldn't we be focusing on scouting any suspicious activity during the night."

"Scoots you've been goofing off and chatting with us as much as we have." Sweetie said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I-" In a single instance the calm feel of the barn was suddenly filled with pent up anxiety as Scootaloo sentence was cut off due to a large thud heard from outside the room. Silence was the only thing heard. Nothing made a singular move. Everything in that moment stood still in time waiting for something to occur. And just when it seemed the intense anxiety filled moment was about to leave the screaming took place instead.

The worst part of it all was where the screaming was coming from. All three of the fillies raced to Big Mac's room then Granny's in a desperate panic. And as a singe tear hit the ground the soft words of Applebloom were spoken...

"They're gone..."