There hasn’t been a town in miles… Where did everypony go?
The ground beneath her hooves crunched and crumbled as she hauled a large wooden wagon across the deserted road. She did not have much with her; only some small pieces of furniture and a few crudely hoof-made garden tools rested within. Apart from that, she had nothing. She could not risk it: Anything that had possibly made contact with the outside world had to be burned.
She felt the road begin to incline slightly, so she paused to shift the leather harness higher on her shoulders before lunging forward, trying to achieve enough momentum to get her to the top of the hill.
Although it seemed to leave environmental apocalypse inevitable, the faint glimmer of hope in her heart kept her searching for any pony that had found refuge from the horrible plague that had ravaged Equestria for nearly a decade. There had to have been other survivors. Her town could not have been the only place where ponies survived. She strained the rest of the way up the hill, then stopped at the peak and surveyed the land before her.
Her heart sank.
The earth was just as barren as it was behind her. Again she adjusted the harness, wincing at the worn leather strap that chafed against her skin. Indeed, her golden coat and brilliant orange mane were the liveliest things around. Apart from her panting chest, the wind was the only movement or sound, brushing gently over her back and neck. She had hoped for more, but it would have to suffice. At least something in this disaster was pleasant. She sighed and took a step.
Suddenly she stopped. There was something in the air, dancing sweetly along the wind. She looked about, trying to spot the source of the sweet song, but saw nothing but the dirt and shriveled grass. She looked out over the road and followed it until it faded into the gloom. She squinted and found that she was just barely able to make out a dark edge.
A building. A town.
Life.
With renewed spirit, she reared back and charged forward down the hill. Her wagon surged with her, and as she went to take a sharp turn the whole vehicle became off balance and toppled over. The mare, still connected by the harness, was lifted off her hooves with a cry of shock and pain. The wind was choked out of her as the side of the wagon made contact with the ground, causing her ribcage to be slammed against the harness. She hanged there for a while as she attempted to catch her breath. Finally, she struggled out of the harness and fell with a heavy plop on her hindquarters. Once she regained a bit of her strength (and her ability to tell which way was up or down), she heaved herself to her hooves and limped over to survey the damage.
Her heart sank further. Half of her tools were broken, and the crash had reduced a night stand to firewood. “Oooh NO!” She cried, and finally her knees buckled from underneath her. She collapsed and tears began to well in her eyes and she bit her lip to keep from crying. The last thing she needed to was to have a sprained ankle AND dehydration.
There was no way she could have determined how much time had passed. Her ankle had swollen to the size of her hoof, and was throbbing slightly. She constantly scanned the road, or at least the part of it she could see, but to her dismay no pony had passed the entire time she had been there. She sighed. She was just plain tired, tired of waiting and tired of hoping. She gazed down the road, where she could see the beginning of a town sprouting from the fog. At last she decided that she had waited long enough, and it was time for her to attempt to make it the rest of the way into town.
From behind her came the sound of something heavy beating through the wind. She looked up in time to see a dark form fly over her head. Without thinking, she shouted out, almost rising to her hooves before the throbbing pain of her ankle brought her back to the ground. The figure stopped and hovered ahead of her for a moment before backtracking. A grey Pegasus with a daisy-colored mane and tail plummeted from the sky and crashed beside her. She shrieked and again tried to rise, but just as before she collapsed. “H-hey, are you ok?”
The Pegasus rolled over, the brown bags on her back slipping off and dumping envelops onto the ground. “Heh, yup. Sorry ‘bout dat.” She scooped up the letters quickly and slipped them into her bag. “You okay? Why are you on da ground?”
The golden earth pony sighed. “I hurt my ankle, and I’ve been stranded here for a while. I just want to get to town.”
“Hey, dat’s where I was headed!” The Pegasus leaped into the air, her wings beating heavily to keep her afloat. “Anything I can do da help? I see you accidentallied your pull-wagon.”
A smile grew across the other mare’s face. “Yes, please!”
“Wooo-Hoo!” The grey mare somersaulted in the air, making her amber eyes cross, and she pushed the wooden wagon back on its four wheels. She then began to collect the items that had fallen out (including the broken pieces) and dropped them haphazardly into the bed. The injured earth pony winced and prayed that nothing else had been broken. She did not have much time to finish as she was suddenly scooped up and deposited beside a dresser. She shook her head and asked, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name?”
The grey mare began to attach herself to the harness, placing it on top of her head. “Wow…You can catch names? You’re amazing…”
The other blinked, confused for a moment. “I…Well, I meant, what is your name?”
“Ooooh.” The Pegasus had realized that the harness did not go on top of her head, and was now sprawled on her back with her hind legs caught on the sides. Finally, she slipped through by chance and rolled over onto her hooves. She looked back with a cross-eyed, chubby cheek smile and said, “My name is Derpy Hooves. But all my friends just call me Derpy.” And with that, she launched herself forward, jolting the whole wagon and toppling the pile of broken nightstand all over the injured mare in the back.
After eight very bumpy minutes, the two mares had trotted into town, which to the golden mare’s surprise was bustling with ponies. Derpy stopped and sat, smiling back at the other.
“Derpy, is there a hospital? Or a doctor’s office?”
“In Ponyville? Hey…I know a doctor!” And suddenly, she was on her hooves and dashing off. The wagon rattled over the road, shaking the mare within it. Her teeth chattering, she shouted, “D-d-d-d-d-derp-p-p-py! S-s-s-s-s-low-w-w-w do-ow-ow-own-n-n-n….”
But the Pegasus continued without slowing. After about ten minutes, she halted by abruptly sitting on her haunches. The wagon collided with the grey pegasus, who miraculously was unharmed, and sent the golden mare flying overhead. She landed on her stomach with a poof. She coughed dust out of her mouth, and attempted to stand. As before, her legs buckled under the pain of her swollen ankle.
“You okay?” After some loud thumping, the gray mare was suddenly face-first in the dirt beside her. She righted herself, and then helped the earth pony to her hooves. “Sorry…”
“It’s fine, Derpy.” She coughed again, her legs trembling a bit as they began to limp forward into the building in front of which they had stopped. “By the way, my name is—”
“Derpy! What have you done now?” A brown stallion ran out to meet her, worry filling his blue eyes.
“I didn’d do nudding!” She scowled, her crossed eyes narrowing at him.
“It wasn’t her fault, sir!” The golden mare pleaded. “My wagon fell, and I hurt my ankle. If it weren’t for Derpy, I would have been in big trouble.”
The stallion smiled. “Well then, that’s good. I mean, it’s not good good, but at least Derpy didn’t cause you any harm. Now, we should probably get you to a doctor.”
“Wait.” The injured mare stopped and stared wide-eyed at the stallion. “I thought you were the doctor!”
“Me? Oh, no. I’m a ‘time doctor’. I keep track of scheduling for a famous modeling agent.”
She stared at him for a moment before sighing. “Can you show me where I can find a doctor, then?”
“You bet. Just come with me, Miss…?”
“Golden Harvest. But most ponies just call me Carrot top.”
“Can’t say why,” he said with a smirk, nodding at the three carrots that marked her flank. She smiled back.
“Well, I have some good news and some bad news.”
They were sitting in the doctor’s office, watching Doc Whovesly pace the room. He had just finished performing an examination on Golden Harvest’s ankle, and her stomach was knotted with anxiety. She sighed. “Well, let’s end this on a good note. Give me the bad news first.”
“The bad news is that you tore a ligament, so your ankle will be hurting for the next few days. You are going to have to stay off of it as much as possible.”
“Well then, what’s the good news?”
The doctor placed an X-ray slide on the projector, showing an image of Golden’s hoof. “Nothing is broken, so your insurance will cover it!”
“That’s good, I guess…” The mare was not encouraged. “Um, Doctor, I just arrived here, and I don’t know anypony here, so I was wondering… How am I going to get around? I don’t want to inconvenience anypony…”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. You seem like a nice mare; Somepony is bound to take you in and help you out for the next few days.” He smiled kindly at her. Just then, a white mare with a light pink mane neatly tucked into a bun poked her head into the examination room. “Doctor, we have another Hoof-in-Mouth case.”
“Oh, those silly foals! They need to learn to keep their dirty hooves out of their mouths! I’ll be right there, Nurse.” Again, he smiled at his patient and with a nod bid her good bye. As he left, a chubby pale blue mare came in behind him pushing a wheel chair. “Here ya go, deary. You have a guest waiting for you in the lobby.”
“Guests?” inquired Golden. “But…I don’t know anypony here.”
“Well, deary, there’s a kind gentlecolt out there waitin’ for ya.”
She opened her mouth, but closed it again, deciding it was not worth the effort to argue. “Ok, then.” With some help from the nurse, she was seated in the wheelchair and rolled out into the lobby, where she was met by the worried blue eyes of the brown stallion she had met with Derpy.
“Carrot Top! How are you? How’s the hoof?”
“I’m fine, just a bit surprised to see you’re still here!”
He smirked. “Well, when Derpy told me you were new here, I assumed that you had no place to go. So Derpy and I have agreed that until you can go on your way, you’re more than welcome to stay with us.”
The golden mare was touched. “Oh, Thank You! I don’t want to intrude though…”
He laughed as he took the wheelchair from the nurse. “There’s no intrusion at all! We always love guests, but since we are both so busy with work, we hardly ever get to have them.”
She smiled, her heart warming. Finally: some faith in pony kind has endured the plague.
Yeah, Carrot Top. Go Beyond your garden and be the queen you know you’re destined to be…
Ya gotta follow your heart; now that’s a start.
To be serene: You’re glowin’ and showin’ the world you’re somepony that ponies should know and you gotta beat the heat—these haters comin’ hard: Ready to break down your armies and go shatter your walls…
But you know inside you’re not a typical girl: you’re gonna show us.
Let your story unfurl—
“Mornin’!”
She cracked her eyes open to see the lilac unicorn filly‘s nose just inches from her own. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and smiled. “Good morning Dinky. I take it everypony has gone off to work?”
She nodded and bounced in place. “Yep yep! Is time to get up! Come-on come-on come-on!”
“Alright, alright!” Golden Harvest chuckled as she shakily stood. It had been five days since her arrival at Ponyville, and since she had been staying with the Hooves family, she had grown fond of Derpy’s little sister. As a unicorn, her magic had been quite helpful to the healing mare. Each day, she had become more and more mobile and independent, and while she had been depending on the filly for just about everything when she had first come back from the doctor she was now spending most of her day playing with her and doing simple house work.
Golden paused as she reached the stairs, looking warily down them. Dinky, who had already bolted down them, turned back and skipped up to meet the mare. “You need help?”
She shook her head in response. “No, I want to do this on my own.” And with that, she cautiously began to descend the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, she explained, “I want to go the whole day without your magic. I have to do it eventually.”
“Ok!” The young unicorn really did not seem to mind. She was already racing around the room.
Golden Harvest rested herself by the window, gazing out past the dust that had collected on the glass panes the night before. Although there was certainly more activity than anywhere in Equestria, Ponyville was just as bare of vegetation as every other place. She sighed, resting her head on the window sill. Somepony had to try to grow something. She wondered how long the plague had ravaged through this town… Ponyville was so disconnected from other towns; it could not have been hit too hard, could it? But then she remembered how open the town was, and guessed that it must have been a high traffic area for ponies who were trying to flee the infected.
And then everypony forgot to worry about the crops… She was unsure whether the plague or the famine that resulted from it had killed more ponies, but she knew that everypony far and wide had been affected by both.
“Carrie Top! Let’s play!”
Jarred from her thoughts, Golden looked up to see a very fidgety filly standing by the front door, her scowl more adorable than intimidating. The young mare smiled. At least some of the foals survived.
“Bet you can’t catch me!”
Dinky Doo was running through the decaying apple orchard, dodging in and out of the greying trees. Golden Harvest was chasing after her, her gait at a canter to avoid any more damage to her still weak ankle. They emerged on the other side, nearly colliding with a great red stallion. “Oh! Sorry about that.”
The stallion looked at her and smiled, saying “So-Kay” before continuing into the mass of withered trees. Golden looked up in time to see an orange mare approach. “Well, hey there. Nice ta see a new face.” Her smile was the most genuine that Golden had ever seen. “The name’s Applejack.” She held out a hoof, which Golden took kindly. “I’m Golden Harvest—”
“Carrie Top, aren’t you—”Dinky, who had been dodging through the trees, returned energetically, only to plop on her hindquarters upon noticing Applejack. “Oh…hi.”
Golden laughed. “I’m also called Carrot Top, or ‘Carrie Top’ as my friend Dinky here calls me.” She placed a hoof loving around the filly. Dinky did not hide like most shy foals, but merely sat tall, wide-eyed and frowning.
Applejack laughed. “Well hey there, sugarcube. I have a sister around yer age.” She turned her head and called “Applebloom!” into the house, from which emerged a yellow filly. “Yeah sis?”
“Come ‘ere. I got somepony fer ya ta meet.”
She bounded towards her older sister, smiling friendlily up at Golden Harvest and Dinky Doo. “Well Howdy! Welcome ta Sweet Apple Acres!” She stuck out a little hoof, causing Dinky to flinch and topple backwards. She quickly righted herself and coyly accepted the hoof. “Hi.” She said.
“I’m Applebloom. Wha’s yer name?”
“D-Dinky.” The unicorn filly smiled. “Hey… you haven’t found your cutie mark yet either!”
Applebloom turned to cast a swift glance at her flank to be sure that it was still naked, then flashed an excited grin to Dinky. “Neither do you!” Her orange eyes lit up. “Hey… You can be a Cutie Mark Crusader too!” And with that Applebloom lead Dinky off through the leaf-less bushes.
“Will they be ok alone?” Golden asked, feeling a bit anxious.
“Aww, don’ worry ‘bout them, sugarcube. Applebloom is just takin’ her off to see her clubhouse. It’s just passed our old barn back there.” She indicated the location with a jab of her hoof behind her. “Can I offer ya somethin’? Anything to drink or eat?”
“Oh, no,” Golden responded. “I don’t want to eat your food. I know times are tough…”
“Ain’t a problem at all! See, the Apple family was prepared fer that dern famine. B’fore ta coughin’ started, we hurried and bucked down as many of our apples as we could. Stored ‘em all in the cellar, so we still got a couple of jars of Granny’s sweet apple jam down there.” She led the golden mare into her house. It was welcoming and cool, a nice change from the heavy heat that hanged over the land. The farmer climbed down through a trap door that on the kitchen floor. “What’chu say yer name was ag’in? Golden Carrot?”
She chuckled. “You can just call me Carrot Top. It’s easier to remember.”
“Sure is.” Applejack reemerged from the cellar with a jar in tow, its contents a luminescent blend of liquefied rainbow. “Yer in luck! We got one jar of our Granny’s famous zap-apple jam left!”
“Zap-apple jam?”
Applejack spread a bit on some bread that she had pulled from the cupboard and scooted the piece over to Golden. “Just taste it.”
The golden mare stared down at the colorful spread suspiciously before scooping the bread into her mouth and chewing slowly. She jolted in surprise at the flavor, then hastily gulped down the rest of the piece. “That was amazing! There were so many flavors… I can’t even describe them all!” She leaned down so that she was at eye level with the jar. “What did you call this stuff again?”
“Zap-apple jam! Greatest product of the farm, ‘cept maybe sweet apple cider.” Applejack suddenly became very solemn, sitting back on her haunches and frowning. “Bu’ now, all ta zap apple trees have died, an’ nopony knew how to plant ‘em ‘cept Granny Smith.” Her shoulders hunched forward. “An’ she di’n’t make it through ta…”
There was silence for a moment, before Golden Harvest whispered softly, “I’m so sorry…”
Applejack sniffed and briskly wiped the tears from her eyes. “S’fine. She’s in a better place now. ‘Sides, that ol’ hip of hers was causin’ trouble.”
Golden smiled weakly. “It must have been hard, still.” She looked down at her the crumbs on the table before her. “We were all affected by it…” The image of a tiny yellow filly danced around her mind. She sighed.
“Aww, cheer up, sugarcube. I di’n’t mean ta cause any hurtin’.”
“It’s alright. I was just… reminiscing.” She smiled sweetly. “Oh, by the way, do you happen to know of any homes for sale? I’ve been traveling for a while, and I was thinking of settling down here in Ponyville.”
“Well golly, there’s one home right behind us.” She pointed backwards. “Com’on, I’ll show ya.”
She followed the farmer out to the back of the house. Beyond the hill rested an old, shabby cottage with a dried out garden resting in front.
“Been empty fer years. I’m sure nopony would mind if ya just moved right in.”
Golden smiled. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
“’Course not!”
She beamed at the building. “Then I’ll do just that.”
