Chapter I: A Day in the Geheime
Carrot Top grunted as she dragged a bag of fertilizer across her small, modest garden on her way to a particular spot. It was a hot, cloudless, summer day. She wished the pegasi could at least spare one cloud to give her the shade she needed, so she wouldn't have had to be tortured under the boiling sun. She heaved, and breathed heavily with her nose. Once when she reached her destination, she released the bag with a sigh of relief, then she dropped onto the ground to rest for a quick moment. Suddenly, her pocket watch that she kept on her back fell to the ground. As quickly as she could, with a gasp, she picked it right back up, brushed it clean, then placed it back on her back with a sigh of relief. After that, she stood back up. Her face was meet with a hard slam of her hoof when she saw the trail of crushed carrots. She groaned, and wondered why she kept making such a mistake over and over again. She decided to deal with her mess later, and focused on the task at hoof.
Her carrots in the front of her garden were, once again, dying in the grasp of the weeds she thought she could cover with a cut up plastic bag. She looked into the distance, and saw the familiar large grove of apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres with envy. If a small garden was already a real pain in the neck, then how can the Apples successfully grow such a huge apple orchard? She groaned her usual groan of frustration, and kicked a hoof on the ground. "It's just not fair," she yelled to nopony in particular, "Why does the Apples make this look so easy?! They're dealing with trees for crying out loud; with worms, and blights, and all those other things they can handle with no sweet while I'm struggling just the kill a weed!!!" She dropped to the ground and sighed. She had worked on her precious gardens all her life, ever since she was a foal before she got her cutie mark; of which only got her hopes up and made her think that she was going to be the best carrot gardener in all of Equestria.
She had lost the carrot contest in the Ponyville fair every year; every year. After she once again tried to cover the weeds and poured the fresh fertilizer, she decided that she needed a break, again. She strolled through Ponyville away from her home, the Geheime. [gah-hee-mi] With that in mind, she recalled the day when she first bought that strange home.
She slowly packed her things with great care with no hurry in mind, and so she was calm. So calm, in fact, that she was depressed. She sighed, and remembered the good times before things... changed. She distracted herself from her woe by making a mental head count- small garden shovel; five packs of carrot seeds to help her restart; enough bits to buy the cheapest home she could find; her nice dress for occasions; (that has gathered quite a lot of dust) a scarf and a pair of ear muffs for when it's cold, and most important of all, her pocket watch. She left her pocket watch for last because of how hesitant she was about storing it away from herself, even if it's only temporarily. She assured herself that it was going to be safe, and that it wasn't going to get scratched or hurt in anyway in her safe packing bag. She sighed, and bid her beloved item farewell as she slowly and carefully placed it in her bag. The only reason why she would store her pocket watch in the first place was because, at the time, she as afraid she would loose it if she carried something and risk loosing her balance.
She opened the door of what was once her home and headed out to find a new one. Normally, when a pony moves, they often try to find a home that best suits them, from how the house is designed to how big the yard is. But she wasn't concerned by any of the sort, her only need was for it to be affordable. She had done her research in the paper, and knew where the cheapest home was. The Geheime. It was surprisingly affordable for a house with it's very own name, but Carrot Top wasn't a curious pony who questions things. She was a simple mare, who was about to live her simple dream. After her journey through the small town of Ponyville, she had finally found her new home. The Geheime was made out of grey stone bricks, and had a darker coloured straw roof. The windows and door was decorated in Zebrican symbols and circles with smaller circles connected by lines; the door had a 'for sale' sign on it. It was slightly dark, yet it had a certain feel to it. She couldn't find the word for it yet.
She trotted over to the Geheime door, and knocked on it four times. The door swung open suddenly, which made her jump back before she was hit. "Ah, hello!" said a light grey earthpony stallion with a dark black 960th century style mane, with an hour glass for a cutie mark. He wore a fez, a pair of yellow circler glasses, a brown bow tie, and a friendly, welcoming smile on his face. "You must be Carrot Top, yeah?" he asked with an offered hoof. His accent clearly showed that he originated from Trottingham.
"Yes, yes I am," Carrot Top stated, "and I am here to buy your home." she straight forwardly got to the point. A long chat was unwanted to her, so she always skipped right to the point.
"Yes, of course," the Trottish stallion replied, "have a seat." Carrot Top swiftly sat on the nearest seat with a table, ready to hand him her bits. "So, I already know your name," the stallion started; Carrot prayed to Celestia that the conversation won't be long. "But you don't know mine. Where are my manors these days? Forgive me. My name is Elegant Crafts, but you can just call me 'Mr. Crafts' for short... even know I'm not even married. I almost got engaged by drinking co-co, though..." he looked off into the distance with nostalgia. He looked back at Carrot Top with a smile. "So, what do you think so far? It's cool, isn't it?" he asked. 'Cool'. That was the word she was searching for. She was hoping for a bigger word to describe how she felt about the Geheime, but 'cool' seemed to be the one she was looking for. It wasn't pretty, nor was it a complete dump; it was cool. The dark feel without it being an old abandoned house, the way the décor was crafted, as the stallion's name suggest, elegantly; yet it didn't look like the new boutique that opened in Ponyville last week.
"Yes," she answered, "yes it is." the Trot smiled. Even know she never bothered to care about the details, she did find the Geheime rather suitable for her. It was low on space, so she could get around quicker since she's hardly a collector. The yard was big enough to start a small garden, since she never really had the skill to make an orchard anyway. And there were only three rooms; the living room, with the kitchen being in the far back, making it a two in one room, her bedroom, and inside there, her bathroom. She no longer had to hang around with extra empty space, due to her lack of interest in collecting or decorating. Instead she only had what she needed, with only the amount of space and room she desired. Even know her target for a home was an affordable one, she couldn't help but think of how suitable it truly was. She looked at him with a smile, something she normally doesn't do, and said, "Sold." with that, she laid her bag on the table, and handed him the bits needed to buy the Geheime.
Crafts, out of uncontrollable curiosity, looked inside her bag as she handed him her bits. "Is that a pocket watch?" he asked. Carrot Top grabbed unto it before Elegant did, and held it tight in her hooves. He raised in eye brow at her strange, obsessive behavior. "... have you ever even opened your pocket watch?" he asked out of all the questions he could have asked.
"No," Carrot answered, "why would I? It's just a pocket watch... nothing more."
"Are you sure?" Crafts asked, observing how she held it as if it was her own foal. "What's the point of a pocket watch if you can't even check the time with it?"
"I don't know... I don't question things, because there's no need to!" she replied angrily, then threw out the last of her bits at him. "IT'S JUST A POCKET, AND NOTHING MORE!!! So just take my bits and leave!!! This house is mine now, and you're not welcome here!" she growled angrily like a diamond dog who just marked his territory. Elegant gulped, and left without a word. As soon as she was alone, she curled up on the floor and sobbed, her pocket watch held tight in her chest.
Carrot...? Carrot Top...? Hey!
Carrot Top snapped back to reality. "Carrot Top? You alright? You were kinda crying there; I think you had another flash back." said a pink earthpony mare, with a darker pink curly mane. Carrot shook her head, and focused herself back into reality.
"Yes," she answered, "I'm fine."
"Okey, dokey, lokey!" the pink mare replied. She knew this earth pony. Everypony did. Her name was Pinkie Pie, a pony with picture perfect memory and the most friendly character one would ever meet. "So, how's your pocket watch?" she asked. Carrot Top shot her a glare, which made the bouncy one shrink. "Oh... right... still... um... so, I'm starting another party for another new pony this afternoon! Wanna--"
"No." Carrot interrupted. The last thing she wanted was another party. Any kind of overly exciting events, that is. She was already having a hard time calming herself, and the last thing she needed was loud music and a ton of chatter.
"Oh... well, you'd know where to go, it's gonna be in Sugar Cube Corner, like always! Feel free to join anytime if ya want." Pinkamena foretold, in hope that she would change her mind... like every time she invited her to a party.
"Sure." Carrot plainly replied. Then she left, happy to end the conversation.
With great relief, she finally made it to the park. Despite the sound of slight chatter and foals running about, it wasn't as chaotic as a night at Pinkie's. She sat near the pond; her favorite spot. She went there whenever she felt that she needed a break; a moment to calm down. She liked watching the water flow, and how the lily pads traveled with it. Sometimes she would even amuse herself by watching the ducks swim in the water. She even smiles sometimes when the yellow pegasus guided them through the pond; it was cute to watch. She watched the ducks and the pads come and go with some sort of lust that she yet couldn't describe. It was as if she missed something, something that was taken from her long ago. There is many a thing she messed, but there was this one particular thing that she thirsted for that she simply couldn't lay her hoof on. She could of sworn that she could feel the pond. Like a musician playing an instrument, she could feel the melody of the pond, as if the river had a song to sing.
On the pond she stared at, there was a tan earthpony mare with a curly orange coat, who stared back with emerald coloured eyes. She turned to her flank, and found three carrots; her cutiemark. She looked back at the pond, and started to question her life. If carrots were her special talent... then why was she so bad at it...? She spent an hour there, savoring every moment she spent with the pond. But, like all things good, everything must come to an end. She knew that, and could feel that it was time. She arose with a yawn, and stretched out her tired legs. If she wanted to be a good gardener, than she would have to proceed her strives. It didn't take her long to return home, due to her ability to make every conversation hit a dead end, and the fact that most ponies stayed away from her. She was a simple mare, living her simple dreams. But, there was a rumor that that was not quite as it seemed. Once when she returned to the Geheime garden, she immediately proceeded began to recover the mess by removing the crushed carrots and replacing them with new seeds.
Luckily, there were plenty that weren't that badly harmed, so she could put them up on her little stand or to eat for supper. With that in her mind, her stomach started to rumble. She stopped worrying about cleaning her carrots when it came to feeding herself a long time ago, with Celestia as her witness, so she decided to spend a small moment to help herself to her nearest carrot. When she pulled her chosen carrot, she found it a bit harder than usual. She held in a deep breath, then pulled harder. But it didn't budge. Normally she would just give up and move on, but this time she felt challenged and determined. She dug her hind hooves deep into the ground (without harming her other carrots) after she placed her pocket watch somewhere safe, then pulled the carrot with all her might. She grunted and she heaved, and she huffed and she puffed, and out went the carrot as it launched like the loose cannon.
She watched as the carrot flew in the air in wonder, a feeling she rarely felt, and it landed on her head. "Ow!!!" she yelped. She inspected the curious carrot, and saw that it was made of wood. She couldn't notice before due to the dirt, and the fact she that didn't even bother to take a close look, considering that she was a none-picky eater, especially when it came to carrots. But now she did, and what a curious carrot it was indeed. Before she could shrug it off as some crude prank, she heard a strange sound. She found that said noise inside the hole of which the curious wooden carrot was plucked from. From that hole, came a white glow. Curiouser and curiouser it became, and not even a pony like Carrot Top would resist such a mysterious. What she did next will eventually cost her current life. She leaned in, just a scotch, of which made her start to lean closer. She tried to step back, but the further she resisted the stronger the force became. Once when gravity become stronger than her hooves, she flew her way towards the hole.
She thought she was simply going to crash due to the fact that the hole was only six meters wide; but as she rapidly fell towards it, it seemed to have grown bigger. With no hope of escape, she was plunged into the hole of the curious wooden carrot into pure whiteness. She awoken, and found herself in a whole new world.
