One-Horse Town: A My Little Pony Story

Ginger Blush awoke to the anxious thought about being late for work. She sat up in bed and headed towards her mirror to prepare for the day. She grabbed her brush and brushed her ginger mane until it perfectly fell into place. She opened her makeup box and pampered her face to perfection. She smiled at her hard work in the mirror. She loved doing her makeup every morning; it was an art to her. Makeup was her cutie mark after all. She packed up her makeup and brushes and headed for her door.

She paused at the door. Something should’ve been interrupting her, she felt.

She ignored the strange thought, and stepped out into the warm sun. The weather was beautiful. Ginger Blush enjoyed the subtle breeze as she trotted to the salon. Everything seemed to be lining up for a pleasant day in Ponyville. She opened up the glass salon door and stepped inside. The welcome bell jingled behind her as she stepped up to her station and set up her supplies. Once she had everything ready, she sat to wait for her first client. She waited for a long time.

She watched as the sun rose higher into the sky, indicating the passage of time. Ginger wondered why nopony was showing up. She had never had a salon day this slow. Wondering why nopony was showing up quickly turned into wondering why nopony was in the salon at all. None of her coworkers had shown up to the salon yet.

“Is anypony here?” Ginger Blush called out to the empty salon.

She stood up from her station and wandered around the salon. She checked every backroom and storage closet, but nopony was there. She abandoned her supplies and busted out of the salon door. Ponyville was cloaked in a chilling silence. The usually lively streets were completely barren, devoid of any sign of life.

“Hello? Is anypony there?” Ginger shouted into the empty town.

Maple, she thought. She bolted towards her house at full speed. When she arrived, she flung open the door and stepped inside.

“Maple! Maple, are you here? Please, please be here, Maple,” she panicked.

She came across Maple’s food and water bowls, both completely full and untouched. She fell to the floor and began to quietly weep into her hooves. Where did everypony go? Ginger lifted her hooves from her eyes as a fuzzy memory began to surface in her mind. She heard voices and saw blurry images.

“You thought you could hide from me in my own territory? Tsk tsk,” she heard.

“RUN!” immediately followed.

She saw flashes of familiar ponies, but she couldn’t quite make out who they were. She saw pink fur accompanied by a pink mane. She saw an indigo-furred pony with a crazy coral mane. She saw a burgundy colored unicorn and felt a shiver down her spine. Her thoughts began to become more clear. She remembered running, running away from something. She remembered a red fog clouding her senses. She remembered the red unicorn standing above her as she became very, very sleepy. The Dollkeeper.

Everything came flooding back to her. She was running away from the Dollkeeper with her friends. She’d been caught. Ginger Blush fell into a cold, cold sweat. If her friends were also caught, Equestria was doomed.

“Chorus and Prose, wherever you are, I hope you made it out,” she spoke to nopony.

There was a sudden movement outside of the window. Ginger caught a glimpse of dark maroon fur. She rushed to the window and gazed outside. A small unicorn, a foal, stood in the middle of the street. There was a lost look on his face. His eyes held a deep sadness.

Ginger slowly opened her door and walked outside to greet him.

“Hello!” she gently greeted. “Are you lost?”

The maroon unicorn began to tremble before Ginger. Tears began to form in his eyes as he turned away from her and ran away. Ginger quickly ran after him, but he was quite fast. The ponies twisted and turned through the streets of Ponyville before arriving at the steps of the Ponyville Town Hall. The unicorn rushed through the giant doors and they slammed behind him.

Ginger pounded on the doors, hoping to be let in. She turned around in defeat when the doors wouldn’t budge. As she began to walk away, she heard a faint creaking sound. She turned around to see the doors had opened wide. The town hall interior was completely dark except for a single spotlight illuminating the stage inside. Ginger walked into the dark building, warily scanning the place for any sight of the little unicorn.

“Hello? Are you in here little guy?” she called out.

Static sounded out of hidden speakers as if somepony had just turned them on.

“Please have a seat,” an adorable adolescent voice sounded through the speakers.

Ginger promptly followed directions and took a seat on the floor in front of the stage. A small stand was propped up on the stage. A sign reading ‘Puppet Show!’ adorned the top of the stand. Red velvet curtains hung from the sign, slowly being pulled back to reveal a handmade backdrop made to resemble Ponyville. Ginger anticipated the mysterious show with bated breath. A small puppet descended from the top of the set, uncannily representing the small maroon unicorn.

“Hello, everypony!” an unseen voice boomed.

Ginger looked all around her to confirm she was indeed the only pony there.

“Welcome to my very special, one-night-only, super spectacular show!” the voice introduced.

“But it’s daytime,” Ginger pointed out.

“Shhhhhh,” the voice shushed. “Now, let the story begin.”