The mare’s name was Olivia. She had been visiting her grandmother during her spring break when her car got a flat tire. ( “Imagine, being in the middle of nowhere struggling to replace a flat the day you were supposed to leave while your frail old grandmother lectures you about what life was like back in her day.” She had groaned. )

That’s when she noticed all of the cars speeding down the highway out of Chatshoof, like a flock of birds migrating south for the winter. By the time her tire was fixed up, Olivia hadn’t even driven a mile before she ran into all of the abandoned vehicles.

They were sitting in the trunk of her red pickup truck while Olivia dug around in her bags for something to drink. Ray was listening intently to her long, detailed story. It wasn’t like he had a choice, really. Frankie had fallen asleep on him, worn out from all the flying. The kid still had remnants of grandma’s chocolate chip cookies on their face. Ray reached over and wiped the side of Frankie’s mouth with his sweater sleeve, with no success.

“It’s so weird! Every single car I’ve looked into has been ... empty. But all of their stuff is still there!” Olivia was saying, pausing when she noticed what Ray was doing. Her expression softened. Her horn lit up with a pink aura as she levitated a napkin over to Ray.

“Oh. Thank you.” Ray did what a mom would do - he licked the napkin and scrubbed all the chocolate off of Frankie’s face. Olivia chuckled warmly. “ … What?” He glanced at her.

“Oh, nothing … It’s just that you and your little brother remind me of me and my sister. Always arguing, but - I still took care of her!” She smiled. Ray looked away from her. He didn’t feel like explaining he wasn’t related to the pegasus. Actually, it was probably better if he didn’t - “Yeah, I just found him and now he’s following me to who the hell knows where.”

So he just crumpled up the napkin and stuck it in his pocket. She levitated a bottle of water towards him as he did, and he eagerly grabbed it and drank. "S-Sorry. What were you saying?”

“Oh, right … yeah, it’s like everypony’s just ... disappeared!” Olivia gestured to the air with an open hoof, and slumped back down, frustrated. “Or, at the very least … they left their cars in the middle of the highway.”

The gears turned in Ray’s head. If ponies had panicked enough to just leave their much safer cars, well … “Maybe there was an accident?”

“I guess, but - why would they line up so neatly? Just to block me in, I guess” She sighed. “I just don’t know what to do now. My marefriend’s probably worried sick about me by now.”

Ray didn’t have a solution. Except - “When you said they left their stuff, did they leave their keys?”

Author's Note

quarantine got me like: haha, remember when i wrote that mlp fanfic? i wonder if its still up. oh, haha, i remember this! last updated .. 2018? ITS BEEN THAT LONG?

anyways. today, i bring you a few chapters. tomorrow, who knows ...