Beyond her Garden

by Ajulex

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance, Carrot Top
Length: 2219

A hopeless village is on the brink of failure until Golden Harvest, better known as Carrot Top, appears from the blue.

In a town where not even the most powerful of unicorns cannot affect the infertility of the land, a mysterious mare shows up and changes everything for the better. Gardens sprout up, lush veggies enough o feed the whole village and then some!

Although most do not question this mare's ability to grow plants where everyone has failed, threads of suspicion inflict some of the ponies, untrusting of her mysterious nature...

Inspired by the song(s) Beyond her Garden/Tomb, by WoodenToaster (original) and The Living Tombstone/Mic the Microphone (Remix)

Published 2014-03-07 20:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-07 20:50:01 UTC

Entirety

Entirety

“Hey, Frostbite!”

“Leave me alone.” The earth stallion mumbled, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. He had recently been made the mayor of this worthless, good-for-nothing town that couldn’t even grow weeds. He was in a bit of a bad mood.

“But there’s a visitor! She says she wants to move here. You have to come talk to her.” His secretary, Autumn Breeze said, poking her head in his office. They were only surviving because Manehattan sends caravans for them. They would for about three more months, and then they were on their own.

He pounded his hoof angrily on his desk. This blasted town didn’t even have a name! It didn’t deserve one! The earth surrounding this place for miles couldn’t hold life in it for any apparent reason. The ground was probably more unicorn magic than dirt by now. They had put so much effort into getting this Celestia-forsaken village up and running, and for what? Absolutely nothing. It was a worthless dead zone.

Frostbite sighed, rubbing his grey eyes and hopping off of the chair. “Fine, show me to her.” He mumbled. Autumn nodded and led him out. He passed a couple of foals playing by the fountain. That, at least, was working. If there was anything they had plenty of, it was water. One of them, a filly named Dewdrop, ran up to him.

“Mister Frostbite! Why is the strange mare here?” She asked, surly. “This is our town; we don’t want a bunch of ponies coming in to live here.” She complained. Frostbite chuckled and ruffled her dandelion mane. She growled at him. She had always been an angry child.

“Don’t worry; I’m sure she’ll be the only one.” He reassured her. She pouted, the galloped over to her friends. Foals made him feel so old. He sighed again and trotted to catch up with Autumn, who had began to chat with an light orange –or maybe it was a dark yellow?- coated mare, with a mane color not unlike carrots. As the mare turned to giggle at something Autumn said, it seemed the mane was fitting, as her cutie mark was a bundle of carrots.

“Oh, here he is now. Mayor Frostbite, this is Carrot Top.” Autumn said. Frostbite offered his hoof politely, which Carrot Top shook gracefully.

“Well, my name is actually Golden Harvest, but my friends called me Carrot Top for obvious reasons.” She giggled, covering her mouth with a hoof. “Oh, but you can call me Carrot Top!” She said with a white-toothed smile. Frostbite raised an eyebrow. She was very energetic.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Carrot Top.” He said. “I was informed that you wish to live here?” He asked, peering over her shoulder to the few suitcases she had behind her. She nodded vigorously.

“I hope that’s not a problem.” She said timidly. Frostbite shook his head.

“Well, no, but…you do know about this village, right?” He asked cautiously.

“Oh, yes!” She said. “You can’t grow anything here. My talent is gardening, so….I felt the urge to come help.” She said, somewhat mysteriously. Frostbite snorted, not caring if he seemed a bit rude. Carrot Top was unfazed.

“Good luck with that. I’m sorry, but we’ve had unthinkable amounts of unicorn magic poured into this dirt, and it won’t even grow weeds. I appreciate your wish to help, but-“

“Please, Mister Mayor.” She asked softly. “Just…let me do this?”

Frostbite sighed. He had tried to warn her. And why not? Hell, maybe she could do something right. “Sure, no problem. In fact, there’s that house near the fountain that’s just been built, and nopony lives there. Go ahead and move in there.” He said. “Call it a way of saying thanks for helping us.” He said. He didn’t really care anymore. This place was going straight into the ground, where it would die like everything else that went there.

Carrot Top squeed and threw her forelegs around his neck. “Thank you! I assure you, you won’t regret it! I’ll get to work right away!” She said, grabbing all her stuff skillfully and trotting to the house she now owned. Frostbite sighed. Well, at least she was a very pretty filly, and she seemed fun, as well. He shook his head and trotted back to his office.

~Two days later~

He couldn’t believe it. He could not believe it! He shook his head as he saw the hundreds of little sprouts, poking out of the ground in all of the town’s gardens. Two days, and she had miraculously done when countless earth ponies and unicorns had failed to do. She had grown life into this barren land. She looked up beside him, beaming. “Told ya, Mister Frostbite!” She said proudly, holding a hoof to her chest. “Now, the first harvest should be ready in about a week, so I think-“

“Carrot Top,” Frostbite began. “You…this is incredible. Wow. You don’t know what this means to me. To this whole town.” He looked at her. In his eyes, she was glowing. She was such a kind soul, a generous heart. His heart fluttered when she looked back up at him with her adorable eyes.

“Oh, it was nothing. It’s what I’m here for. But…not why I stayed.” She said enigmatically. Frostbite smiled at her. For two days, she had left the gardens only to eat, relieve herself, and barely sleep. But she seemed as full of energy as ever.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. The ponies here are really nice.” She said, blushing and poking the dirt with her hoof. Did she….? No, she….maybe.

“Well…like I said, we can’t thank you enough.” He said. “You should come over for dinner sometime. Take a break. I’m sure that now you’ve started, and it’s working, ponies will want to help you.” He said. Carrot Top smiled and nodded.

“I’d like that.” She said.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Sounds like a date.”

“A d-?” He cleared his throat. “Yes, a date.” He said, smiling back.

~Two weeks later~

“I’m telling you, it’s not natural!” Frostbite froze. Around the corner, an angrily whispered conversation was going on. “One pony is succeeding where dozens, if not hundreds, have failed!” A hoof pounded against a table. “It’s not natural!” He repeated.

“I agree,” a mare’s voice chipped in. “It’s-it’s-…it’s witchcraft!” She said, finally deciding on a word. Frostbite held in a gasp. They were accusing his marefriend of being a witch!? Oh, they’ll pay for this.

“And we don’t want no witches ‘round these parts.” A new voice spoke. Frostbite blinked. How many were there? Did the whole village think this way?

“Don’t you worry, we already got a few boys headin’ down there to silently…convince her to leave.” The first one said again. Frostbite’s eyes widened. Carrot Top!

He galloped to the house she stayed in. The door was open, quite violently, by the looks of it. He charged in. “Carrot!? Where are you!?” He called, searching the house. She was gone.

He raced to the edge of town, where he saw five stallions staring off into the distance. “And don’t y’all even think about comin’ back here, y’hear? Witch!” one of them called. Frostbite stormed towards them. In the distance, he saw a limping form trot away. She looked so exhausted and in pain.

“You….you assholes!” He cried. “Why would you drive her out!? She’s a wonderful pony and you owe your lives here to her!” He said, striking the nearest one in the face. The others quickly tackled him and beat him into submission.

“An’ you, witch-lover,” The speaker said. “You’re being removed from office.”

~Two days later~

Frostbite looked through his one eye that wasn’t swollen shut. Thankfully, they had ‘allowed’ him to stay in town. And by ‘allowed’ he meant ‘forced him so he wouldn’t tell anypony about what they did.’ He spit on the dry, barren ground. Serves them right. They drove out Carrot Top, and now every plant in the whole village was dying. They needed her.

“What’s that?” he heard a filly shout. He looked where she was pointing. On the horizon, a pony was trotting towards them. Details could be made as she approached, her orange mane bobbing with her steps, her unharmed face in a big, warm smile.

Carrot Top…had returned. Frostbite’s heart seized up; they would kill her! Lucky, the new mayor and leader of the crew that beat her up walked towards her. He looked gaunt; most of the village hadn’t eaten since the orange mare had left, as even the harvested food had withered upon her departure.

“What…” he paused to cough, “What are y’all doin’ back here? Ah warned ya what would happen.” He growled, though he didn’t look very menacing right now. Only…pathetic. Carrot Top just smiled at him and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Please…you need me here.” She said softly, yet every pony watching could hear her. Lucky stared back, then his eyes watered up and he lowered his head onto her shoulder, and she hugged him. “I’ll get to work right away.”

“Th-thank you…I’m so sorry, what we did to you…we were just scared. Scared of the unknown. But…we misjudged you. And we hope you forgive us.” He mumbled. “And…Frostbite, please be mayor again. I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

Frostbite just smiled and nodded. After Carrot Top released Lucky, she ran to meet the new mayor, wrapping him in a hug and familiar kiss.

~Nine months later~

“Carrot!” Frostbite called through the house to his wife. “The baby’s awake!” He turned back down to their daughter, a bright yellow mare with silver hair. Her eyes, squeezed closed in a fit, were a deep blue. Dandelion was her name, or Dandy for short. Carrot Top came out of the kitchen with a bottle, handing it over to the hungry baby.

“You’d be so lost without me.” She said, kissing him on the cheek. Frostbite just chuckled sheepishly, smiling down at their child.

Carrot looked up when they heard shouting from outside. Concerned, Frostbite went to the window. He saw a horde of ponies at the edge of town, looking very angry and carrying torches and lots and lots of wood. What in the name of the Goddess?

“We know she’s here! We’ve heard stories about this witch!” One of the ponies in the horde called out. Frostbite gasped. They were here for Carrot Top!? The whole witch thing was starting again!? But these ponies, upon closer inspection, were not from here. They were from all over Equestria. Here to burn the witch. Frostbite charged out there, joining the villagers in creating a wall of ponies, blocking off the village.

“You can’t have her! She’s a nice mare!” Little Dewdrop shrieked. The entire village had come to love and adore their local ‘witch’, and none were going to give her up peacefully.

“Either you give the witch up…or we burn this town down.” The pony hissed. Frostbite gasped. They wouldn't.

"You'll have to go through us, first!" Lucky shouted.

"Stop!" Carrot Top's voice floated out from the village. The villagers parted to let her through. "Stop. I'll go take me, and leave my village alone." she said gently.

"No!" Frostbite shouted. "Carrot Top, no! I won't let you!" he said, stepping towards her.

"Frostbite, please...let me do this. I want you all to be safe. The crops will still grow, I'll make sure of it." she said, kissing him. "I love you. Goodbye." she said, smiling sadly.

"No...Carrot...I love you, too." Frostbite fell to his haunches sadly. He knew she was right. They couldn't risk the lives of the whole village.

She stepped towards the mob, where the lead pony grabbed her. "We don't have time to go all the way back to Canterlot!"

"She could curse us and kill us all!"

"We have to do it here!" a wave of response met this statement. The horde pushed through the villagers to an empty shack and began piling the wood inside.

"Frostbite!" Lucky growled, "You're not going to just let the do this!?" he demanded.

"It's what she wanted." He said, sadly as Carrot Top was tied to the wooden cross that was surrounded with wood. "Villagers! Stand down. We all love her, but she is sacrificing her own life to preserve yours." tears slid down his face. "Don't waste it."

The pyre was lit. Carrot Top screamed, quickly devoured by smoke. After half an hour, the screams finally ended, and the horde left whith a final glare at the ponies of the village.

Frostbite went to check on Dandelion. Sleeping like a rock. He strapped her into her saddle on his back and walked back out. The pyre and shed were naught but ashes now. Frostbite walked over to the pile and nudged some of the powder away.

A patch of green was revealed.

Frostbite blinked, wiping away more. The tears began to flow again, a smile forming in his face. This was her final gift, her final farewell to the town.

They wouldn't let it go to waste.

Author's Note

This was originally made as the backstory to a town in a Fallout: Equestria RP I had going waaaay back when. I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!