Carrot Top hummed as she worked in her garden, her days work tending to her carrots behind her she enjoyed the calming presence of the flowers and vegetables. She smiled as she leaned down and sniffed one of the blooming flowers and enjoyed the peace of the evening, her burdens temporarily forgotten. Her carrots were selling well, the next crop was coming along nicely, and despite all the hubbub of Twilight being spirited away by The Princesses and Pinkie being chased down and hauled off by the guard’s yesterday things remained peaceful in Ponyville. And tonight she was set to have dinner with her friends at Ditzy’s hou-

“Ow!” Carrot Top cried out as a sharp pain stung the back of her neck and she slapped a hoof to stop it. “Aw, what the heck?” She complained when she pulled her hoof away to find a crushed butterfly with beautiful golden wings twitching in its death throes. She made a confused sound at her discovery and scrapped the corpse against the ground before she went back to trying to find anything that could have actually stung her like a mosquito, bee, or wasp. Despite how much she pawed at the back of her neck she found nothing and was left to look at the dead butterfly with the beautiful golden wings. With a shake of her head she threw the thought of it being the culprit away as preposterous and went back to enjoying her evening, the pain in her neck already receding.

It would be years and many, many wondrous and horrifying adventures before any of the girls realized that for all the weird things they’d seen they all managed to return to a normal day to day existence fairly well.

After sending a quick follow up letter to The Princesses explaining the situation with Juggles and receiving a quick confirmation in return the girls had said their goodbyes to Spike, leaving the young dragon alone with the thought of what strange aliment could have befallen his caretaker to occupy him, and had all gone home for the day. And after a night of restless sleep they awoke and went to school and despite thoughts plagued by possible oddities they could encounter around any corner it was an average day. There was no fun filled afternoon of playing afterward as they had elected to just silently mill around their homes to the concern of their families, refusing to elaborate on what bothered them.

Then after another night of restless sleep they were greeted with the news of Twilight and Pinkie’s return seemingly good as new with no ill effects. Except for the complete memory manipulation that made them believe that they had been summoned to Canterlot for a matter that immediately required their expertise and needed a full briefing by The Princesses themselves of course. While their sisters grilled them for details that were “super-duper extra secret” and been enforced by a Pinkie Promise the Cutie Mark Anomaly… Spotters? Whatever they were now they had been more concerned with the effectiveness of the memory rewrite of their friends, watching closely for any slip up or mention of a green cup of dice, a clown nose, or most horrifying of all Twilight calling herself Bit Savvy. But their concern quickly turned to relief as it became that clear that whatever The Princesses had done to them it had worked, Twilight was back to their and Spike’s great relief.

With this good news their second day was far more pleasant and they spent the afternoon playing again, no care given to what lurked in shadows or what peered across at them from the stars. Their sleep that night was troubled but not restless and on the third day in class Cherilee noticed their sunnier demeanor and decided that the talk to find out if anything was wrong she had planned for today was unnecessary. After that came the weekend and a free and fun filled fourth day the likes of which they hadn’t enjoyed since before they found the cup of dice. And aside from Pinkie Pie having a slight breakdown on her birthday for a reason that nopony bothered to explain to them, saying that they were still too young to be bothered by adult problems, Ponyville as a whole was calm and peaceful again.

Then came the fifth day.

“Oh shoot.” Granny Smith cursed softly as she rummaged around the kitchen cupboard.

“What’s wrong Granny?” Applebloom asked as she tried to peer around her grandmother to see what she was looking for.

“We’re out of sugar.” The old mare revealed as she pulled out a depleted bag of sugar. “Well not out, just not enough.” She corrected as she weighed and opened up the bag to show her youngest granddaughter the pathetic amount inside.

“Aw really?” Sweetie Belle complained from the table where she and Scootaloo waited with all the other ingredients and bowls waiting.

“Yes really.” Granny Smith said as she went to the table with the depleted bag of sugar. “So if y’all want to be helpin’ me bake a pie we’re gonna have to go down to the market.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hopped out of their seats while Applebloom sucked in a breath. “What?” Granny asked her granddaughter as she pawed at the floor.

“Well Granny it’s just that it’s kinda late in the afternoon and the stores will be closin’ soon and… you ain’t exactly the fastest pony.” Applebloom said as she shot her gaze to the ground.

“And just what are ya tryin’ to say Applebloom?” Granny Smith asked as she leaned down to hear better.

“I think she’s trying to say you’re old.” Scootaloo interjected and earned a smack and glare from Applebloom.

“Well shoot I already knew that.” The old mare assured. “And even though you three got your Cutie Marks now you’re still too young to be goin’ ta the market by yourselves. Guess they’ll be no pie for dinner tonight.” The girls all aww’d in disappointment as Granny Smith smiled. “Oh don’t be down there’ll be plenty of other good eats. Now get on back to your little sleepover in the clubhouse, I’ll send Applejack or Big Mac a hollerin’ when it’s time to eat.” She patted Applebloom’s head and shushed them out the kitchen but not before Sweetie Belle cast her glance out the window and saw the distant farm across the field.

“Hey what about Miss Carrot Top! She could have some sugar!” She proposed and Granny Smith stopped in her tracks and brought a hoof to her chin in thought.

“No way she’s probably still sore about that time we accidentally destroyed her fence with that boulder.” Applebloom shot down bringing up their attempt as Cutie Mark Treasure Hunters.

“Oh she’s been over that ever since Big Mac dragged you all down there to apologize.” Granny Smith waved away. “Course it helped that Big Mac was there. You probably could have burned her house down and she’d be fine with it if it meant he gave her the time of day.” She smiled knowingly while the girls all just exchanged looks. Now that they thought about when they went to apologize Carrot Top hadn’t been paying that much attention to them…

“Well we can get to Carrot Top’s house in no time with my scooter and our wagon!” Scootaloo volunteered and Granny Smith pondered for a moment, looking out the window towards Carrot Top’s house and at the setting sun.

“Alright,” she decided, “but no dawdlin’ and y’all be on your best behavior. Rumor goin’ around town is that Carrot Top ain’t been feelin’ so good these past couple days.” And with that Granny Smith shooed them out of the kitchen and they ran to grab a saddle bag to carry the sugar in and find their helmets. Soon they were out the door, giving a passing greeting to Applejack as she pulled a wagon full of empty barrels past, and speeding on their way to Carrot Top’s.

“Do you think she’s home?” Sweetie Belle asked as they threw off their helmets into the wagon and walked up the front steps onto the porch. They gazed at the open windows that revealed the dark interior of the carrot farmer’s home; it seemed that Carrot Top hadn’t gotten around to lightening any lanterns or her fire place yet, and the slightly ajar front door that greeted them.

“Hello?! Miss Carrot Top?! It’s me Applebloom!” Applebloom called as she knocked on the door even though it was already open for courtesy’s sake. There was a faint thud from inside and a quick set of steps as somepony stormed down from the second floor and the girls cried out as the door swung open and Ditzy Doo nearly crashed into them, her normally misaligned eyes wide and focused as she took in panicked breaths.

“Oh girls thank goodness you’re here!” Ditzy cried as she walked right past them and started to flap her wings. “I’ve got to go to the hospital to get help. Just stay here with Carrot Top and… shit!” She cursed as she took to the skies and soared away leaving the girls standing there. They stood watching her leave for a moment before they turned back to the open door and crept up to it.

“Miss Carrot Top?!” Applebloom called as they stepped through the door and into the living room. “Are you okay?!” She asked as they walked into the small kitchen and stopped at the base of the stairs, noticing the old half eaten meal on the table. When no reply came Sweetie Belle stepped forward and climbed the first step only to be stopped by Scootaloo.

“Don’t go.” Scootaloo warned staring up at the top of the stairs. “Something’s not right.”

“Of course something’s not right Miss Carrot Top is sick and she could need our help!” Sweetie Belle countered as she took another few steps up as Applebloom followed.

“Not that I just got this feeling…” Scootaloo weakly argued as her friends continued up the stairs and she was forced to follow. They managed to make it two thirds of the way up before they noticed the smell, an odor of piss, shit, and rot that they hadn’t encountered since Juggles stumbled onto Sweet Apple Acres over a week ago. There wasn’t much light in the upstairs hallway but they could see the setting sunlight spilling out from under some of the doors particularly the one that had been left open a crack. Fighting the stench the girls walked to the door and reeled back as Sweetie Belle pushed it open slightly, the smell nearly knocking them over as a fresh wave of sickness descended.

“…hello?” A weak and croaking voice called as they pushed the door open all the way and found a bedroom. “ditzy? are you back?” Taking trembling steps forward the girls walked into the room and stood up on their hind legs so they could prop themselves up and see over the bed. And what they saw snuggled under the covers nearly sent them screaming.

Nearly all of Carrot Top’s hair had fallen out both from her mane and coat, the drying clumps of colored hair on the sides of her head doing nothing to hide her pale skin which sagged over her bones, as if she had no muscle left. Her eyes had sunken into deep pits in her skull as her mouth opened and closed to try and form words, her tongue huge and mangled in her mouth. “girls?” She spoke surprised as she turned and looked at them the girls instinctually reeling back at the skull like quality her face now had. “…where’s …ditzy?”

“She, she went to the hospital Miss Carrot Top.” Applebloom stuttered out a reply. “Don’t worry, she’s gonna be back with help real soon.”

“Oh by Celestia I’m gonna throw up!” Sweetie Belle cried after she turned her head to look away from the state Carrot Top was in to the foot of the bed but was met with a variety of stains. Realizing that the smell had come from Carrot Top being unable to move and having to shit and piss in her own bed for who knows how long Sweetie Belle threw herself away from the bed and bolted out the room in search of a bathroom. Scootaloo and Applebloom had stronger stomachs and endured as Scootaloo dared to lift the covers and see what the rest of Carrot Top looked like.

“…girls? …where’s ……ditzy?” Carrot Top asked again as Scootaloo lifted the blanket and she could hear Applebloom reply distantly as all her blood went cold at what she found past all the piles of lost hair and dried shit. The rest of Carrot Tops body had experienced the same conditions her head, loss of hair and muscles as the skin sagged around her bones, but that wasn’t what stopped Scootaloo and nearly made her soil herself.

Resting in the area that had once been Carrot Top’s stomach now torn open and dried the organs long gone rested some kind of pale grey grub the size of a cat. Half formed and squishy legs dug into her body as it ate its way into her rib cage with a mouth like a lamprey, blood smeared across its face and three small pitch black eyes on both sides of its head and what looked like growing insect wings on its back. In the darkness under the covers they still shined a beautiful golden color.

“We got to go.” Scootaloo said as she lowered the blanket with a shaking body but a firm voice. “We gotta find Spike.”

“Spike? Why do we…” The question died on Applebloom’s lips when she saw Scootaloo’s face and instantly remembered that The Princesses had told them to use Spike to contact them when they found any anomalies. With a trembling hoof Applebloom made to lift the covers herself but was stopped by Scootaloo who just shook her head and pulled her out of the room, making sure to shut the door behind them. “Sweetie Belle!” Applebloom yelled out unsure which door led to the bathroom.

“What?!” Came a weak reply as a door down the hall opened and the filly walked back out.

“We’re leavin’, come on!” Applebloom ordered as she waved Sweetie Belle over, her eyes flicking to the bedroom door.

“But what about Miss Carrot Top?” Sweetie Belle asked joining her friends, her legs still shaky from vomiting up her lunch.

“We can’t help her.” Scootaloo whispered looking at the ground. “We got to find Spike so The Princesses can send somepony to deal with her and… whatever that thing in the bed is.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened as she realized just what they were dealing with and nodded in confirmation. The girls quickly ran down the stairs back into the kitchen before they were stopped by a thud above them. They all stopped and looked back up the stairs with baited breath before a sudden thud slammed into the bedroom door.

“What exactly did you see?” Applebloom asked as they continued to back away from the stairs when another thud struck the door.

“A uh, grub. About the size of a cat with wings.” Scootaloo explained as a third thud struck the door. “But it shouldn’t be able to get out, right? It’s too small to break a door down.” And with a moment of silence they waited for another thud or worse of all the door breaking down and the grub suddenly some giant insect monstrosity. But instead they were gifted with silence, the monster seemingly have given up or gotten tired. “…Let’s get out of here.”

“Wait!” Sweetie Belle yelled as they ran to the front door. “What about Miss Ditzy? She’s supposed to be coming back with ponies from the hospital! That thing could attack them.” The girls stopped in their tracks at the reminder and began pacing around the kitchen.

“We could distract them.” Applebloom suggested. “Or lie to them and say that Carrot Top died so that they won’t have a reason to go into the bedroom.”

“No they’ll still have to go in to take her body out if that grub doesn’t hear them and starting knocking against the door first.” Scootaloo shot down as her eyes drifted to the living room and the fireplace. “What if we burn the house down?”

“What?!” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cried out in shock.

“It kills the grub and hides what happened to Carrot Top so that The Princesses don’t have to do a lot of memory wipes.” Scootaloo explained calmly. “It’ll just be a sad accident that we couldn’t stop.”

“Carrot Top ain’t dead yet!” Applebloom shouted back horrified. “That’s murder!”

“She won’t be alive much longer no matter wha-” Scootaloo fired back only for a crash of breaking glass to interrupt her. The girls shot back into the kitchen to look out the back door through the screen as the grub twitched on the ground amongst the broken glass of the window it had leapt out of. It stood on shaky legs and twitchy wings and started to wander off the farm, towards a line of trees that bordered Carrot Top’s property with wild forest. “See! This is good! It’ll go to the forest and The Princesses will just send somepony to hunt it down there!” Scootaloo said happily as the grub suddenly stopped and looked up as if sniffing the air. It then turned around and looked right at them crowded in the doorway in plain view.

“Or it’ll hear us talking and come to eat us.” Sweetie Belle managed to say in a remarkably calm voice as the grub started walking back towards them. Applebloom slammed the door shut and the girls quickly retreated back into the living room, ready to bolt out to their scooter and wagon at the first opportunity. “What if we just take off? It isn’t fast enough to keep up with us and will probably wander off when it loses sight of us.” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Which could end with it wandering closer to Ponyville!” Applebloom argued as the grub clearly having learned its lesson had completely bypassed the kitchen door and had instead scaled the wall to reach the window over the kitchen sink. It then began smashing its head against the glass in an attempt to break it. It wasn’t having much luck at the moment however.

“Either we stay and it hurts us or Ditzy and the ponies she brings or we run and it wanders off and possibly hurts some other pony!” Scootaloo shouted. “So unless you got somewhere we can trap it or know how we can kill it chances are it’s gonna hurt somepony!” She challenged as it once again brought its head against the glass, this time cracking it.

“…A shed! My family’s got an old shed in the west fields; it’s got no windows, a metal door, and a concrete floor so it can’t dig out! And we hardly ever use it so it’s perfect!” Applebloom proposed. “All we got to do is lure it there!”

“The Princesses told us to just report finding anomalies not try and catch them anymore remember?” Sweetie Belle reminded as the grub slammed its face in again and the glass cracked more. “Are we really gonna disobey them after only five days?”

“Yes!” Applebloom decided for them. “Come on, we got to hurry before Ditzy gets back.” And with that the girls back out the door and hopped on the scooter and wagon, not bothering to put on their helmets, briefly zipping past around the house to get the grubs’ attention and then across the carrot fields, going much slower to allow the monster to chase after them. And not two minutes after they left Ditzy returned with a full team of paramedics only to find Carrot Top dead in her bed, her stomach torn open and chest cavity dug into by some wild animal. And as Ditzy wailed for her dead friend and was carried away the emergency workers looked at the dead mare and decided that they never wanted to encounter the fierce beast that could have done such a thing.

“He’s diligent I’ll give him that.” Applebloom said as she watched the grub chase after them. The trip to the shed was taking longer than they had expected as they had to find smooth paths for Scootaloo to take and keep the monsters attention. This lead to their initial fear fading somewhat as it followed them around like a disgusting evil puppy, huffing and puffing to keep up. “What do you think the wings are for? He sure ain’t usin’ them for flyin’.”

“…Finding a Special Somegrub?” Sweetie Belle pondered as the wagon went over a bump. “Fluttershy says that some birds have colorful wings to attract each other.”

“Grubs don’t have babies, grubs are babies.” Scootaloo reminded. “It’s gonna grow up to something worse.” A shiver went through the girls at the thought of it growing into something far worse which left the question of how it managed to get to Carrot Top. Had it gotten separated from its mother and wandered into her home and just decided to kill her? But Scootaloo had found it resting inside of what had been her stomach and the tearing had looked like it had come out not in…

“Well there it is.” Applebloom pointed to a decaying structure in the distance. “Alright so all we got to do is lure him in and slam the door shut on him.”

“But how are we gonna get him in to begin with?” Sweetie Belle asked not liking the answer she suspected.

“…Somepony’s gonna have to be bait while the others wait outside and hide. They’ll have to rush past it so the others can shut the door quick.” Applebloom said confirming Sweetie Belle’s fears.

“I’ll do it.” Scootaloo volunteered immediately. “I’m the fastest and I may not be able to fly but my wings can get me in the air for a few seconds so I can just hop over it.” She explained not leaving any room for debate.

“Are you sure Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked to be sure. “It’s gonna be dangerous.”

“I know but we got to lock this thing up and it’s going to be dark soon, I don’t want to be out here with it at night.” She said pointing to the setting sun and the sliver that remained above the mountains. “I’ll yell when it’s far enough in the room okay?” They nodded and stayed silent the rest of the way.

When they reached the shed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom bolted out of the wagon to hide around the back as Scootaloo ran to the door to open it. Turning around she backed into the dark shed and watched as the grub slowed and began to stalk after her a few feet from the door. “Come on, come on.” Scootaloo whispered as the grub breathed deeply exhausted from the chase, the sharp teeth in its round mouth gleaming. Soon she was against the back wall and the grub was in the doorway wings twitching. “That’s right.” She whispered as it inched forward into the shed. “NOW!” Scootaloo shouted and the grubs wings shot open as she darted forward, their golden color shining brightly in the darkness.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle darted out from behind the shed and expected to find Scootaloo diving through the door when they got there but instead found nothing. Fearing the worst they peered into the shed to find her standing stock still against the wall as the grubs wings glowed beautifully. “S-Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked nervously as her friend fell to her haunches, tilted her head towards the ceiling, and opened her mouth as a swarm of beautiful butterflies spewed forth.

The girls currently not vomiting insects cried out as the swarm flew out of the shed and into the evening sky. They spied butterflies of every color in the swarm, mainly reds and blues, but through the mass they could see a few with golden wings and although they were young and inexperienced in the matters of the anomalous world they could put two and two together. Scootaloo had been wrong after all, grubs do make babies.

“We’ve got to stop it!” Sweetie Belle shouted as they pushed their way into the shed. She darted to the grub and tried hitting it with as much force as she could muster which resulted in the grub shrugging her off, not even bothering to attack her and mess up what it was doing to Scootaloo. Applebloom looked around the shed in a panic before her eyes settled on a stack of boxes containing who knew what but that didn’t matter, she knew they were heavy.

“Sweetie Belle over here!” She shouted and her friend quickly dashed around the grub over to her. “Help me up.” She pointed to the top of the stack where a smaller box rested. Getting what she was planning Sweetie Belle heaved her up until Applebloom got a grip and hauled herself up. Bracing her back against the wall she planted her hind legs on the box and pushed with all her might, inching it forward as Sweetie Belle urged her on in a panic and Scootaloo continued to vomit butterflies.

Soon it tipped over the edge and the grub managed to look up at the box before it fell and crushed its head in an explosion of green blood that splattered across the shed floor. Sweetie Belle ran to Scootaloo as she coughed and wheezed the last butterflies from her throat and helped her friend up to her feet crying tears of joy. Applebloom merely collapsed on the stack of boxes in exhaustion and watched the grubs body twitch in its death throes. But all to soon her gaze turned to look out the door at the sky that the swarm of butterflies had escaped into and the numerous golden brethren they hid. She shivered at the thought of ponies seeing the swarm and investigating, falling to prey as Carrot Top may gave.

So with a groan she hopped off the stack of crates and walked to her friends. “You okay?” She asked Scootaloo who merely wheezed and nodded yes. “Good but we still got to get to Spike. We’re not done yet.” And with that she help Sweetie Belle get Scootaloo up and they left the shed and the grubs’ body behind.

Author's Note

I'm just banging these chapters out aren't I? Well don't get used to it, expect the Dossier for the butterflies and then settle in for the wait. I feel a little wrong glossing over the girls getting over being told about the anomalous world but that would have taken a lot of writing scenes with just talking and exploring feelings and instead you got a chapter with a new SCP and plenty of violence and the girls arguing on what to do. They even killed it themselves! Good for them.