Chapters A love triangle is made!
"So, where are we moving to again?" Derpy-Doo asked Carrot Top, eagerly looking out the window of the train, watching the scenery pass.
"For the seventh time, Appleloosa," Carrot Top answered her wall-eyed friend, her own eyes tired from the non-stop train trip and motion sickness.
"I knew that," Derpy spat out defensively, weakly denying any ignorance, "I just wanted to make sure you knew that."
Carrot Top's left eye twitched as she glared disapprovingly at Derpy. She had had years to get used to Derpy’s infinite idiosyncrasies, but still found herself constantly exasperated by her antics.
"I-I mean… thanks," Derpy quickly correcting herself, hoping to soften Carrot Top's scrutinizing face. "You know how I can be," she joked, shrugging away her fault.
Carrot Top let out a deep breath, resting her head on the train bench. "I know, I'm just really anxious." She tried to ignore the growing feeling of motion sickness, pushing out of her mind the rapidly changing scenery. "Why does Appleloosa have to be so far?" she groaned.
"Because the settler ponies built it far away," Derpy answered her, prompting another exasperated sigh from her friend.
Carrot Top buried her face between her forelegs. "It’s going to be a whole year out in the middle of Celestia-knows-where, and my job is, for the most part, to look at dirt all day." Carrot Top continued to complain about the situation. When she had gotten the order from her boss at Agrivolution Inc. to go down to Appleloosa, she feared she would be going alone, not knowing a single pony. "You know, you didn't have to come," she muttered, still face deep in her forelegs.
"It's not a problem at all," Derpy replied softly to Carrot Top, extending a hoof to pat her back. When Carrot Top told her about being relocated for a job assignment, she didn’t hesitate to say she would come with her. It took a long time for Derpy to convince her daughter, Dinky-Doo, but she knew Carrot Top would feel alone out in Appleloosa.
"Thanks," Carrot Top sighed, raising her head and looking back out the window.All she could see was the brown dirt of the frontier lands. She wasn't in Ponyville anymore, and she would have to begin a new life on the frontier. With a sigh, she buried her face back in her forelegs.
The train whistled and began to slow down. "We're here," Carrot Top sighed with a hint of resignation. "Stuck here for a year to trudge in the boiling sun. Life, I give up!" She waved her forehooves in the air melodramatically, looking like a complete foal.
"Would you quit complaining?" Dinky-Doo yawned through her grogginess. She had managed to sleep through the entire trip, much to her own surprise.
"Muffin," Derpy squealed, "you're awake!"
"Would you stop calling me that," Dinky hissed, still trying to shake off her weariness. "I'm a growing, maturing filly," the immature Dinky replied, "and as such, you need to treat me like one. Ergo, calling me by my actual name." Dinky punctuated the sentence by crossing her forelegs and holding her snout upwards.
"Ergo?" Derpy thought over the word for a moment before realizing something very important, and tackled her daughter. "My filly is the smartest filly in the world!" she announced, hugging Dinky tightly to her chest with the force of a vice grip.
"M-mom," Dinky cried out, "you’re messing up my mane!" Her pleas were entirely ignored as Derpy continued to pony-handle her.
Carrot Top smiled as she watched the antics of the Doo family. While Derpy continuously drove her crazy on more occasions than she wished to count, the love between Derpy and Dinky was one of the purest, most genuine she'd ever seen. It made her question if choosing career over love and family was the right choice. Instead, all she could do was resign herself to her fate; a house filled with a brain-numbing mail-mare and her once-sweet but now-temperamental filly. This isn't so bad, Carrot Top thought to herself.
The train whistled again, signaling the passengers to exit into the station. Carrot Top grabbed her saddlebags and threw them over her back, trotting off in a wobbly fashion from sitting for so long. "Let's go," she called to Derpy and Dinky.
Derpy flew up and grabbed both her and her daughter’s bags. She dove down, gracefully grabbing a squirming Dinky, and gliding to the train doors. "All aboard the mommy express!" she announced, swinging Dinky onto her back.
"Do you still have to do that," Dinky sighed, attempting to hide behind her mother's mane as her lips curled into a embarrassed grin.
Carrot Top disembarked from the train, taking in the western scenery. This was it, her new home if only for a year. "You can do this, Carrot Top." She tried to give herself a pep talk, mentally preparing herself for the days to come, but her thoughts were interrupted by the most annoying sound she she had ever heard in her life.
"Welcome! To Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaappleloosa!"
Little Strongheart was stampeding ahead of nearly her whole tribe, taking a spot at the front, right next to Chief Thunderhooves. "Little Strongheart, you are filled with so much enthusiasm. It brings my heart joy to see such energy in the next generation and not mindless apathy," Chief Thunderhooves complimented Little Strongheart.
"I am just glad to be going home," Little Strongheart replied with a grin, but knew this was only half true. While away from Appleloosa for a long year, she had spent every night with a stallion in her dreams: Braeburn, the pony she met in Appleloosa who was sensitive to the cause of the buffalo.
At first she found it amusing, the idea of feeling something other than friendship for him. She held him with respect for what he tried to do, but, as time went on, she had found that she had fallen for him. How did that happen? She had asked herself that question numerous time. She didn’t know how to handle these feelings, and she doubted she could handle feelings for another buffalo any better, but then at least it would be within the same species. He was a pony, she was a buffalo, and things could only go wrong from there; still, she found solace in the idea of just striking up a friendship with him. Surely, if Braeburn would at least look at her as a friend, she could find contentment in that. She hoped anyway. Hope is a powerful thing.
In the horizon, Little Strongheart could see Appleloosa coming into view. "Chief, I’m going to make a detour to Appleloosa first to pick up some apples. Do you want anything?"
"Some apple pie would be very nice after a nice and long stampede." Chief Thunderhooves licked his lips, his mind wandered back to the fateful pie that landed in his face so long ago. "Yes, that sounds nice. Give my best to the ponies as well. You always seemed to do better at communicating with them."
"It’s nothing, really." Little Strongheart turned to Appleloosa. She was growing anxious, slowing down with each step she made. While she and Braeburn didn’t dislike each other, their time together was so brief. How did that time come to mean so much to her? She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. She found thinking never solved anything, acting did. She picked up her pace, finally reaching Appleloosa.
Her treatment in the town wasn’t perfect. Not everyone was ready, maybe even willing, to let the near destruction of their town by stampeding buffalo go, but that only made sense. She expected a lot more scorn from her appearance than she actually got, but some ponies were just willing to let bygones be bygones. It warmed her a little and she was happy for it. She even smiled to one and waved her hoof. "Greetings," she said to the pony.
The pony responded by sticking his tongue out at her.
"That… was just bad luck," Little Strongheart told herself.
She searched the town for Braeburn, and found him by the train station, giving a loud, heart-felt greeting to the tourists: Two mares, one with a foal, one without.
Carrot Top did not believe in destiny. A mind honed by science had killed all of her childlike beliefs of the notion, but she had found happiness in understanding. If the world proposed to her a problem, she would solve it with science, but no science had prepared her for the most handsome stallion to ever place himself before her unworthy eyes.
"You must be Miss Top?" the stallion asked, offering his hoof to her. His voice, now, was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. A voice that would bring a hundred winged unicorns to weep if that many existed. "Uh, you are Miss Top, right?"
Carrot Top realized she had been gawking at the stallion for a good five minutes. "Y-yes," she fumbled, "I am Miss Top, like you said. It's Carrot Top for full. That’s my full name and all. Carrot. Then Top," she giggled nervously, fumbling her words with a level of social awkwardness that beget a filly with a school yard crush.
"I'm Derpy Doo!" Derpy boisterously stepped in. "And this cute little filly is my daughter, Dinky Doo."
"Call me cute and I'll bite you," Dinky growled.
"A pleasure to meet all of you! My name's Braeburn," he introduced himself, bowing formally. "Your company, Agrivo-whatsit, is paying me to show you to your paid for house and where you’ll be doing all that sciencey stuff. I’m no good at science personally, but hay that’s what you’re here for!" He smiled as he jumped up on his hind legs and came back down with the exuberance of a colt; a colt in the body of a dangerously handsome stallion. No lonely mare as old as Carrot Top stood a chance against such a dangerous combination.
Carrot Top continued to gawk, her jaw hanging in the air, unable to form a decent response back to Braeburn.
"Is she okay?" Braeburn asked Derpy-Doo, motioning to the paralyzed mare in front of him.
"Maybe? I’ve never seen her like this." Derpy stared at her friend, a little worried that she might be broken. "Maybe if we hit her? That always works with the toaster," Derpy suggested.
"It’s against my policies to raise my hoof to a mare," Braeburn protested. "Miss Top, are you okay?" Braeburn asked as his face got dangerously close to Carrot Top’s.
Little Strongheart broke out into a panicking sweat. She couldn’t see anything from her vantage point, but the literal stallion of her dreams was getting closer and closer to this new mare who she had never met before. "What do I do?" she whispered to herself, growing anxious. "I... I do not know how to deal with this."
Braeburn inched closer to the new mare, coaxing more panic out of Little Strongheart. "Calm down," she told herself, turning away from the scene. "It could just be a misunderstanding… right?" She straightened her posture and cleared her mind. She turned back to Braeburn and the new mare. He had just pecked the new mare on the cheek.
Carrot Top collapsed to the floor, or more accurately, like a breeze would topple over a broom.
"Oh wow, Mr. Braeburn. I don't think that worked," Derpy commented, Dinky struggling not to fall off her mother's back as she contained her laughter.
"Odd, always worked with my lil' sister," Braeburn responded, examining Carrot Top's face closely. "She's as red as a beet! I didn't think she would get heat stroke already!" Braeburn started to fan Carrot Top's face. "Miss Top! Miss Top! Are you okay?"
Carrot Top smiled back stupidly, as she gazed into Braeburn's eyes: a stunning green.
"This is going nowhere," Dinky sighed. "Why don't you go grab a carriage while leaving Carrot Top to us."
"That's a good idea lil' filly. I'll be back in two shakes." Braeburn turned and galloped off. Once he was far enough, Carrot Top shot back to life, babbling inanely.
"H-he k-k-kissed me!" Carrot Top, her mane bobbing up and down as she shook with giddyness.
"Yep, said something about working on fillies in school who acted like that to him and his sister."
"That stallion... he’s the most handsome stallion I have ever seen," Carrot Top swooned, losng balance and landing on her back. "No one told me Appleloosa had stallions like… like that!"
"I don’t know. He looks like he’s missing something." Derpy's eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Not all of us solely fancy unicorns," Carrot Top sang as she gazed off in the direction Braeburn took off in.
"T-there's a filly with us!" Derpy shot back, covering her daughters ears, who only snickered at her mother's embarrassment.
Little Strongheart had died and gone to the great stampeding trail in the sky the moment she saw Braeburn kiss the mare. Her body had stayed behind on earth, trapped in a limbo of unfulfilled wishes, a hollow buffalo with no life left.
"Well goooooooood morning, Lil' Strongheart," Braeburn called to her, prompting Little Strongheart's soul to stampede out of the afterlife and straight back into the realm of earthly desires. "I haven’t seen you since your tribe stampeded off so long ago."
"H-hi!" she stuttered, embarrassed. "Oh! Hey, Braeburn. Yeah, haven’t seen you since then… either." In her mind, she was berating herself for having trouble forming a sentence. She had never had trouble just talking before. "Uh, nice fillyfriend? I didn’t know you had one." She prayed to every father before her that somehow, someway, he and the mare he kissed had nothing between them.
"Fillyfriend?" Braeburn looked confused for a moment before letting out a quick giggle. "Oh, silly! You mean Miss Carrot Top. She and I ain't anythin' like that." Her forefathers answered back, causing Little Strongheart to quietly rejoice. "I just met her today. She’s here on official-like business."
"Really," Little Strongheart almost yelled out, "that’s all?"
"Well, her business firm or somethin' is paying me to kinda chaperon her around town since she’s new here and all. So I’ll be with her for awhile. Least until she’s got the lay of the land. So what brings you here?" he asked.
"Apples!" Little Strongheart blurted. "You know. Apples. Can you… grab me some?" she squeaked. "I don’t really know my way around town, either," she lied, but no one knew that
"No problem," Braeburn answered back with superfluous exuberance, "but I need to grab a carriage for Miss Top first. I’m afraid she’s getting heat stroke and has gone and blanked out." Braeburn expressed some worry for the mare. "City-ponies sure are sensitive."
"Oh, let me help." It was her perfect chance to get some time with him. "It will go faster, and then you can grab me those apples." It seemed like the perfect plan to spend time with him to Little Strongheart, albeit it was to help the mare that she was, moments ago, afraid was too close to Braeburn.
"Why thank you, Little Strongheart." Braeburn smiled back at her, causing Little Strongheart to feel a little weak kneed.
"It is no problem," she replied. "Just lead the way." She had decided then that she would have no reservations about her feelings for Braeburn. She liked him, and she hoped that was more than enough.
"I have decided," Carrot Top announced to the Doos, standing proudly with a look of purpose in her eyes, "that I am going to win Braeburn!"
"Speaking of which, I think I see him on his way back." Derpy motioned to the approaching figures: a pony, a buffalo, and a carriage. "Go and get him!" She pushed Carrot Top foward, trying to be encouraging for her friend who once again began to fall apart.
"W-what? No, I'm not ready he's almost here and how’s my mane!?" Carrot Top rambled on as she started messing with her mane, hoping to smooth some of the messier curls and split ends. "Oh, Celestia, help me."
"Miss Top! You’re up again!" Braeburn whinnied as he pulled the carriage up to them. " Why, that’s great." Behind Braeburn, and awkward looking buffalo cow stared at Carrot Top almost menacingly.
"Y-yeah," Carrot Top stuttered as she tried to ignore the buffalo, "I am... quite fine, and this is?" she asked Braeburn, mind stirring with animosity for the buffalo that was glaring at her.
"Oh," Braeburn motioned to the buffalo, "this is-"
"Greetings," Little Strongheart interrupted Braeburn, determined to introduce herself to the somewhat rude mare, "I am Little Strongheart of the buffalo tribe." Little Strongheart held out a hoof to exchange indignantly with the mare. "Braeburn and I go quite a ways back," she not-so-subtly bragged. This was, to an extent, true.
Carrot Top’s mind snapped right back into action. "Is that so?" She shook the hoof with some indignation of her own. "Well, I'll be spending quite a bit of time with Mr. Braeburn over the coming year," Carrot Top obviously bragged, still shaking the hoof. "I’m in town on official business and Braeburn was hired to be my chaperon till I get a sense of the area." Which won’t be happening any time soon, Carrot Top thought to herself.
The two stared at each other, moments passing by and a white hot intensity surging between the two. Little Strongheart and Carrot Top had an immediate understanding of the other; competition for Braeburn, but he, on the other hand, didn’t suspect a thing.
"So, shall I show you to your new place, Miss Top and Miss Doo?" Braeburn asked innocently.
"Oh, that would be great!" Derpy replied. "I could go for a nap, and maybe something to eat."
"I-I suppose that would be a good idea." Carrot Top looked behind her to the pile of delicate boxes filled with scientific instruments that she brought with her. She needed to get them all unpacked and sorted right away if she wanted to be ready to tackle her job the next day.
"Well, that’s great!" Little Strongheart interrupted Carrot Top’s train of thought. "Is this your stuff over here?" Little Strongheart was already beside the precious cargo. "Here, let me get that for you."
"Wait! No! Stop!" Carrot Top cried as she noticed Little Strongheart back up a few feet.
Little Strongheart charged forward and successfully head-butted the cargo right onto the top of the carriage. Carrot Top could hear every little glass fracture from within the cases, slowly killing her from the inside out.
"Incredible, Lil' Strongheart!" Braeburn whinnied with impressed fervor. "That was amazing!"
"Oh, you know, nothing for somebuffalo like me." Little Strongheart patted her chest with bravado, proud for the feat of strength she displayed and happier that she managed to impress Braeburn.
"My tools!" Carrot Top howled in anguish. "My precious tools!"
"Tools?" Little Strongheart questioned.
"Yes!" Carrot Top turned back to Little Strongheart, seething. "My microscopes are in those boxes and they are extremely delicate and you just went and did that! Are you insane!?"
"Uh, oops." Little Strongheart was taken aback by the suddenly angry mare. "Sorry?"
"Oops! What if that was loaded with a deadly virus that could wipe out half of all life on the planet!?" Carrot Top screamed. Everyone began to look at her worryingly, not making a single sound.
"Is it?" Derpy asked, finally breaking the silence.
"No, Derpy-Doo… no it isn’t," Carrot Top answered, annoyed it was Derpy who had to ask.
"Then there isn’t a problem," Little Strongheart retorted, turning away from the flustered mare.
"That doesn't change that you could have broken everything! You can’t just go around head butting other pony’s valuables!" Carrot Top screamed at the top of her lungs.
"You can’t?" Little Strongheart asked worryingly, afraid she had made a cultural faux pas.
"She has a point, Lil' Strongheart. You can’t," Braeburn told her. Just the fact that he told her made it all the more worse.
"I-I’ll be more careful from now on," Little Strongheart quickly replied defensively.
"You should!" Carrot Top yelled back, causing Little Strongheart to back up a little.
"Miss Top, it was an accident." Braeburn stepped up next to Little Strongheart. "No need to cause a scene now."
Carrot Top, Derpy and Dinky were eventually loaded into the carriage. Carrot Top was still steaming from the encounter with the buffalo and ranting about it. "Who does she think she is, just waltzing in and then making me angry and looking bad in front of… in front of Mr. Braeburn."
"I think she’s called Little Strongheart," Derpy answered.
"Thank you for stating the obvious," Carrot Top sighed.
"No problem!" Derpy took a moment to register the insult. "Hey! That’s pretty rude you know."
"I’m sorry, but that buffalo just got me so riled up," Carrot Top ranted. "Those tools are delicate and without them my job will be so much harder!"
"So why don’t you ask Braeburn to help you find replacements," Dinky piped up.
"I doubt this old time town has the tools I need," Carrot Top dismissed the filly.
"Yeah, but does he know that?"
"Well of course he doesn’t." Carrot Top's eyes suddenly lit up. "He doesn’t! I can have him running errands for me all day since he was hired by my firm. I can make him get this and that and he’ll have no choice but to spend time with me! Oh, Dinky you’re a genius!"
"Somepony here has to be." Dinky smirked.
"My filly is the cutest, smartest filly in the world!" Dinky’s attempts at looking cool and grown up were tragically destroyed by her mother’s insatiable need to hug the filly at every turn. It was as if she planned it.
Outside the carriage, Little Strongheart and Braeburn were making their way to Carrot Top’s temporary estate, pulling the carriage for her as a one-time town courtesy. Little Strongheart kept searching her mind for a conversation to start up with Braeburn, who took no notice of her slight uneasiness as he whistled a happy tune; the same tune that a pink mare sang way back when she first met him. "Is that the 'you gotta care' song?" she asked.
"Yep!" Braeburn happily replied, smiling back to her.
"Isn’t it, kinda… terrible? I mean it drove my tribe to try and…" she wished she could take back the statement.
"Well, it may not be the next Sapphire Shores single, but I never really cared much for modern music anyway, and that mare was right. You gotta share and you gotta care. We don’t get anywhere being all mean to one another. Plus, I think it’s kinda catchy," he proudly stated, no sense of shame at all. He was quite proud of his liking of the song.
Out of the mouth of that pink mare, Little Strongheart thought the words seemed like empty and idealistic fluff, but coming from Braeburn, it sounded like the words of a saint. Although, I am quite biased, she mused to herself. "I guess you are right, Braeburn."
"Oh?" Braeburn turned to Little Strongheart, sporting a cheesy grin. "Then want to sing the chorus with me?" he asked, his smile and genuine exuberance making it difficult for Little Strongheart to say no.
She asked herself is she was ready to publicly humiliate herself for him? As it turns out, yes, she was. She searched her memories, trying to remember any part of the song. "You got to share?" she started.
"You gotta care!" Braeburn sang. "It’s the right thing to do!"
"You got to share!" Little Strongheart could feel herself getting more and more into the embarrassing song.
"You gotta care! And they’ll always be a way through!" The two of them started to laugh as Braeburn finished the chorus. "All right. It is mighty cheesy," he admitted, "but I still like it."
"It fits you," Little Strongheart commented, staring dreamily at him before she caught herself and turned away. "It fits you... really well."
Back inside the carriage, Carrot Top giddy planned out the ways she would get Braeburn to spend time and make him fall in love with her in a scientifically mad and methodical manner. "By this time next week I'll have him kissing my hooves."
"Uh, Carrot Top, don't you think you're being a little too..." Derpy paused for a moment, trying to find the right world to use for the orange pony, "neurotic about all this? If you like the colt, shouldn't you just ask him on a date?"
"What!?" Carrot Top shouted, nearly falling off her seat. "I-I can't date. No, no, no, no. I can't date!"
"Why?" Derpy asked, curiously and innocently.
"Well… I, I mean look at me." Carrot Top motioned to herself, confusing Derpy further.was at a loss for words. "I’m hopeless!" she finally cried out, tossing her forelegs into the air. "I have nothing. I-I’ve never flirted before. I spent my whole life looking at dirt! Dirt! What can I talk to him about? How PH values affect crop growth! He doesn’t care about that! He wants a young mare with a tight plot and legs as long as the princess!" she cried. "I’m fat and stumpy!"
"No, no you’re not that!" Derpy tried to calm down Carrot Top who was in the midst of an emotional breakdown. "Well, I mean you could stand for a little more exercise," she said, doing little for the situation, "but, what I mean to say is that you have plenty going on in the looks department."
"I do?" Carrot Top turned to Derpy, eyes wide and full of hope.
"Yeah, your curls!" Derpy ran her hooves through Carrot Top's mane. "Nopony in Ponyville had a mane this nice! Why, just touch it up and you'll be beating the colts away with a stick"
"Do you really think so?" Derpy nodded. "Okay then. I’ll just have to wow him with my sense of style," Carrot Top proclaimed with confidence, feeling on top of the world, before remembering something crucial. "I just have no style," Carrot Top muttered in defeat, losing all of her new-found confidence.
"That's why you pay ponies with style to do it for you." Derpy placed a hoof on her back and smiled to try and comfort her friend. "One trip to one of them fancy salons and you'll have styles for miles. Braeburn won't know what hit him."
"Thank you, Derpy. I mean it." Carrot Top was thankful to have at least one friend in her life.
"You have one secret weapon that's sure to grab any stallion's mind: the hot scientist angle," Derpy blurted.
"What is that?" Carrot Top asked, thankful to have Derpy as a personal love guru.
"Well, you take a pair of glasses and bite down on them and-"
"We’re here," Braeburn’s voice erupted from outside. The door to the carriage flung open, and behind Braeburn stood a tiny and broken-down shack with dirty windows and rotting wood. It looked as if the slightest force could bring it tumbling down. "So, what do you think?" he asked enthusiastically.
"It’s…" Carrot Top didn’t want to make herself look worse by saying the shack looked horrible.
"It’s horrible," Dinky blurted for her.
"Well, it just needs a little fixin' up," Braeburn replied, trying to salvage the cozy shack's pride. "Here, I’ll give you the grand tour!" Braeburn merely touched the door and it fell over, letting out a torrent of mice, scurying off to plague other houses. "Uhh... nothing a few screws can’t fix, and an exterminar."
"Or a flamethrower can't fix," Dinky added.
The inside of the shack looked no better. Cobwebs littered every corner and the windows were so dirty that only magic could clean them. "This here is the living room, and kitchen, and dining room. Mighty efficient don’cha think?" Braeburn smiled.
"Yes, very." Carrot Top struggled to remain positive about her living accommodations.
Little Strongheart laughed quietly to herself, finding Carrot Top's over-sensitivity to the rough and tumble frontier habitat. "If you don’t like it, you could move back," Little Strongheart replied, earning a spiteful glare from Carrot Top.
"Over here is your room," Braeburn motioned to one a small room with a single cot before motioning to an even smaller room next to it, "and that’s the guest room which I assume will be occupied by Miss Doo and Lil ’Doo." Braeburn continued the tour.
"I’m not little," Dinky-Doo adamantly stated.
"Well of course you ain’t, Big Doo," Braeburn commented, pleasing Dinky-Doo's bratty ego. "And that’s the tour!" He finished.
"Uhm, Braeburn," Carrot top got Braeburn's attention, "I think you forgot something." She began to turn red with embarrassment. "The lavatory?"
"Laboratory?" Braeburn failed to repeat.
"Bathroom," Carrot Top finally said.
"Oh! We don’t have those," Braeburn replied, still smiling. "You’ll find the outhouse outside." He opened the back door of the house, revealing a little wooden closet sitting out a mile away from the house.
"What!" Carrot Top yelled, mortified. A year. Out in the middle of nowhere. Without a proper bathroom. I'll can't survive like this. "Is there no plumbing?" she asked, feeling her will breaking.
"If you need water we got a well at the center of town." Braeburn took Carrot Top's forehooves, causing her to blush. "I do hope you come to enjoy our quaint lil’ town, Miss Top. I figure it will be hard for you to adapt and all, but, if you need anythin', just let me know. I promise I'll help you."
"W-why thank you, Mr. Braeburn." Carrot Top felt her face growing hotter, to the point that she would have been afraid of passing out, but she welcomed the chance of being caught by Braeburn. "Th-thank you..." she leaned forward, ready to let gravity do the rest.
"Oh! That reminds me!" Braeburn turned around, letting go of Carrot Top and unknowingly dropping her onto the floor. "Huh? Miss Top, are you okay?"
"Peachy," Carrot Top sighed.
"Miss Top can you accompany me somewhere right quick?" he asked, helping her back onto her hooves.
"Uh, o-of course! I would love to." Carrot Top couldn’t have been more ecstatic, completely forgetting her sore face.
"Psst! Hot scientist. Get your glasses," Derpy whispered in her ear.
"Oh, right! Excuse me Mr. Braeburn." Carrot Top quickly ran outside to search her luggage for a pair of glasses, leaving in the shack a confused Braeburn.
"Think she’ll last long?" Little Strongheart asked him. "She’s a citypony through and through."
"Oh I’m sure she’ll be all fine-like after a week. I promised I’d help her after all." Little Strongheart found her comment backfiring.
"That’s awfully nice of you, Braeburn, but, I mean, don’t you have other obligations to the town?" she asked.
"I’ll just finish them all up," he answered with his boyish exuberance. "You gotta care after all. Right, Lil' Strongheart?"
"Yeah. I guess you do." Little Strongheart peeked outside, watching Carrot Top wander between her broken luggage cases with a pang of guilt.
Carrot Top was rustling through many broken luggage cases, a pile of broken tools piled behind her. She finally found the pair of glasses she was looking for: thick, black, angular, horn rimmed glasses. Hardly the alluring kind, but she didn't know that. She donned that specs and rushed back inside. "I’m ready!" she replied in the sultriest voice she could muster.
"Got a frog in your throat, Miss Top?" Braeburn asked, worried.
"What? No. I’m… ready…" Carrot Top replied, blushing, embarrassed, and dejected. Carrot Top of followed Braeburn out of the broken-down house, her legs stiff and face portraying nervousness.
Little Strongheart's eyes fell as she watched Braeburn and Carrot Top leave. It was bad enough that she was now feeling guilty about breaking her luggage. What do I do? she asked herself.
"You like Braeburn, don’t you?" Dinky piped up, grabbing the buffalo's attention and displaying an all-knowing a smug grin. "It's pretty obvious."
"I-I have no idea what you’re talking about," Little Strongheart stuttered, trying to deny Dinky any sense of satisfaction before giving in with a chuckle. She hung her head in defeat and said,
"About time somepony, well buffalo, realized. Honestly, it’s as if everypony expects me to just stand around and look cute." Dinky stuck her tongue out in disgust.
"My filly is the most observant, cutest, smartest filly in the world!" Derpy commented as she scooped Dinky into the air, grinning from ear to ear.
"You see what I have to deal with!?"
Carrot Top grew nervous as Braeburn continued to lead her. Where is he taking me? she wondeered. Not a hotel? Would he? Does Appleloosa have a hotel? Do I want to go with him to a hotel? Isn't it too soon? Am I being too prudish? What should I… do!?
"We’re here!" Braeburn called to her, breaking Carrot Top out of her stupor.
Carrot Top looked up at the building with surprise; It was just a clothing store. "We're going shopping?" Carrot Top asked innocently enough, Braeburn responding by opening the door for her. "T-thank you!" she hollered as she galloped into the store. The walls around her were lined with various cowpony clothes and accessories. On the wall next to her she noticed a show-girl outfit complete with fish net socks. Is this what cowponies are into? She blushed just at the thought of wearing something so provocative. "Uh, Mr. Braeburn?"
"Over here!" Braeburn called to her from the opposite wall, much to Carrot Top's relief. "I've got something you need right here."
Be strong, Carrot Top . This is it! She walked over the Braeburn, trying to put on a playful and catty smile. "Now, whatever do I need from you, Mr. Braeburn?" She placed the glasses in her teeth, attempting to look coy.
"A hat!"
A large cowpony hat was placed on her head, nearly covering her whole mane. The one thing she had going for her, and Braeburn didn’t like it. She trembled a little, the glasses falling out of her mouth.
"Hm... Miss Top, is something wrong." Braeburn asked.
"N-no, o-of course not. Why would anything be wrong?" She stared at the glasses now sitting on the floor. She felt silly. Here she was, crushing over a pony she'd never met before, but he liked nothing about her. She couldn’t flirt. She didn't look good. She couldn’t do anything. She was believing in a lie.
"Now, Miss Top," Braeburn’s voice broke into her, "I don’t want to see a cute mare like you being all down and damper. Where’s that smile you had earlier?"
What did he say? He called me cute? He called me cute! Carrot Top gazed upwards, straight into the emerald eyes she fell for not too long ago, her own eyes wide and full of hope. "You think I’m cute?"
Braeburn felt himself turn a little red now, shifting awkwardly at the words that came out of his own mouth. "Well, yeah, I’d be surprised to find anypony who would say otherwise."
"So why are you giving me a hat?" she asked, getting unconsciously closer to Braeburn to the point where their faces almost touched.
"Miss Top, you’ll be working outside in the sun all day. Now, in the city you have them pegasi ponies to help with the weather and all, but out here the pegasi come maybe once every couple of months. We got the sun all to ourselves kinda, filled with warm love. Thing is, warm love gets to you after awhile, so I thought I would get you a hat before you go and get yourself cooked out there."
Carrot Top felt touched by how thoughtful he was. "Thank you, Mr. Braeburn."
"Oh, you can just call me Braeburn."
"Thank you, Braeburn." Carrot Top smiled to herself, hiding behind one of the many curls of her mane.
"No problem. Now why don’t I go pay for that, you pick up your specs, and then we go out for some dinner. I swear, I think you started to eat them specs."
Carrot Top blushed, remembering why she brought them in the first place. Maybe Braeburn was just too down-to-earth for that kind of thing.
"Oh, and pick out a couple of hats for Miss Doo and Lil’ Doo. Don’t tell her I called her that now," he joked. "We can't having them get all cooked either."
Back at the shack, Little Strongheart and Derpy were busy unpacking the carriage. Little Strongheart was doing her best to be gentle, even if it wasn’t in her nature, but she was glad to find she hadn’t destroyed everything. "I think that’s the last of it," she told Derpy.
"Thanks for the help," Derpy replied as she set the last box on the floor and sat on it. "I know Carrot Top will appreciate this."
"It’s no problem, really," Little Strongheart sighed. "It’s the least I can do after my behavior from this morning." As she finished the line, Braeburn and Carrot Top came in through the still-broken doorway.
"We’re back!" Carrot Top called. "And we've got hats."
"Hats!" Derpy exclaimed ecstatically, swooping down and grabbing one with her teeth.
"Yep. I have one here for you too, Dinky." Carrot Top hung the hat at the end of a foreleg to pass it to her. Dinky responded by levitating the hat onto her head with her magic. "You’ve gotten better."
"I’m growing up and maturing into a fine unicorn mare," Dinky explained with her nose raised high into the air, prompting Derpy to barrel at her, lifting her into the air in a strange combination of a pounce and a hug.
"My filly is-"
"Yeah, yeah! The most magical, most observant, cutest, smartest, most mature filly in the world," Dinky interrupted, causing Carrot Top to burst into laughter.
"You snuck one in there." Derpy eyed her daughter inquisitively. "What have I told you about lying?"
"It wasn't a lie." Dinky tried to face away from her mother to hide her prideful smile. "It's all true."
Calming down, Carrot Top surveyed the room, and much to her delight and surprise, everything was unpacked. "Derpy, did you do all this?" she asked.
"Yep, and Little Strongheart helped," Derpy told her, motioning to the buffalo in the room.
"Y-yeah. Sorry again about, well, breaking things. I guess this doesn’t quite make it up, but please accept my apology," Little Strongheart apologized, her head hung low.
"Apology accepted." Carrot Top extended an apologetic hoof of her own. She knew that she wasn't the only one acting out of line. "On one condition."
"What?"
"No hard feelings," Carrot Top told her, winking. Little Strongheart giggled and returned the hoof with her own and a battle-ready look on her face.
"Yeah, no hard feelings," Little Strongheart replied, shaking Carrot Top's hoof. She looked at them all. She had made a friend, a rival, and a crush all in one day. She scratched her head, feeling somewhat left out of the hat phenomenon.
"You want one too Lil' Strongheart?" Braeburn asked, trotting closer to her.
"That would be nice." Little Strongheart liked the idea of receiving a hat, or anything for that matter, from Braeburn, so it delighted her when Braeburn took his hat and placed it on her head.
"Hope you don’t mind if it’s a lil' used."
"Oh! No, I don't mind at all. This is perfect." Little Strongheart couldn’t have asked for a better hat. She turned back to Carrot Top. "No hard feelings?" Little Strongheart chuckled.
Carrot Top readjusted her mouth, clenched her teeth for a moment, and smiled genuinely. "No hard feelings."
"Well if we’re all done with hard feelings why don’t we all eat together! It’s a lot funner than just the one or two of any of us!" Braeburn shouted, bucking open the non-existent door in a moment of vigor. "Uh, I'll fix that later, bur right now the Salt Block is having a special on its soup and sandwich combo."
"Sounds delightful," Carrot Top commented, smiling pleasently.
"I guess I could try some pony food. Oh, I don’t have any bits, and I need a pie to take back to the elder. I'm afraid I'll have to pass," she sighed dejectedly.
"It's all right," Carrot Top replied, putting a hoof around Little Strongheart, who jumped a little. "I'll cover you."
"I hope they have muffins!" Derpy flew up just thinking about her favorite treat.
"I want to order from the adult menu!" Dinky piped up. "I’m a growing mare."
"Well all right everypony and everybuffalo. Let’s go!" Braeburn whinnied, eager to lead his new friends to one of his favorite places to eat. It looked like life was going to become a lot more fun.
A hearth warming miracle is made!
Chapter 3: A hearth warming miracle is made!
"Stop, thief!" Little Strongheart called out as she stampeded down the roads of Appleloosa. Ahead of her, a green mare with burlap sack of stolen goods was trying to escape the buffalo of the law. She pursued the outlaw across the city, slowly catching up catching up with each step, little by little, but her goal wasn't to catch the outlaw: it was to herd her. "Sheriff Silverstar, now!" she called out.
From out of nowhere, salvos of apple pies were launched at the outlaw. Her vision became obscured by the fresh piping-hot pastries, and the outlaw ran right into the police building, doing most of the work for Little Strongheart. She placed a hoof on the outlaw's back. "Runner, you are under arrest for smuggling."
The pony under Little Strongheart didn't say a word as Sheriff Silverstar appeared and hoof-cuffed her. "Good work there, Little Strongheart. You're proving to be an excellent addition to the law enforcement here."
"Thank you," she replied, bowing. "I am just trying to do my part."
"By the way, where's your partner, Derpy?"
"She said she had to pick up some important mail in Ponyville. She told me she would be back at lunch time," Little Strongheart answered.
"Important mail?" Sheriff Silverstar echoed, pulling in his moustache. "I think she used to be a mailmare back in Ponyville. She’s made quite the step up from that."
"Dinky," Carrot Top called out, "I made some breakfast since your mother is out; are you hungry?" Carrot Top stood before a table of thick carrot waffles slathered in syrup, butter, and empty calories. The orange mare liked to think she deserved the treat every once in a while. "I made waffles!"
Dinky lazily slumped out of the room she shared with her mother. "You stuffed them with carrots, didn't you?" she groaned. "You know I hate carrots."
"First off, carrots are good for you." Carrot Top was fully aware that any nutrition to be had was overshadowed by the weight of the rest of the meal. "Second, mature mares do not complain about food."
"Fine," Dinky huffed as she took her place at the table and began to eat around the carrots. She sighed with content at the buttery confection, but remained silent.
"So," Carrot Top started, "how do you like Appleloosa?"
Dinky was very vocal about her disdain to moving to Appleloosa when Derpy first told her about moving, but, after weeks of screaming and yelling, she eventually settled for passive contempt.
"It's not half-bad here once you get used to… certain facilities," Carrot Top tried to promote the quaint town, even if she was still having a hard time adjusting.
"Whatever," Dinky responded. "Appleloosa is fine," she muttered. "Got any sugar?"
Derpy always found the skies around Canterlot and its neighboring cities like Ponyville to be magical. Maybe it was the effect of the princesses that lends the air the little bit of mystique that made her feel a little lighter. In her Appleloosa officer vest, close to her heart, was a letter from her eldest daughter, Sparkler. Derpy already read the letter twice before she had taken off back to Appleloosa, memorizing every word and playing them in her mind, like a recoding.
Dear mother,
I'm doing fine. I found another job here at a toy store. The seasons are coming up, so that means everypony is going to be diving for gifts, so please stop worrying. Canterlot is really bright this time of year. I'm always amazed by how much this town loves to gussy up, but I actually kind of like the shiny flare to it all. I guess that's just like me. I remember Ponyville used to do some neat things too.
How are Dinky and Carrot Top? I doubt Dinky still remembers much of me now. I'll try and send her a gift close to the end of the month just to remind her I exist. Carrot Top still okay? I remember when we first moved in with her. She always seemed kind of wound-up, but I'm sure living with you for a while has forced some of that out of her. You have that special effect on ponies.
With Love, Sparkler
PS: Thank you for the basket of muffins.
It gave Derpy unimaginable joy to know that her daughter was okay, even if Sparkler was now farther away from her family than ever and didn't know it.
The ground below Derpy began to change from green to brown. In the horizon, Appleloosa was getting larger and larger. The sun was directly overhead, filling the city with a vibrant array of reds, greens, yellows, and browns. "I'm back, Appleloosa!" she announced from the sky as she descended to the ground.
"Derpy!" Little Strongheart called out to her. "How did your trip to Ponyville go?"
"Good," Derpy beamed, landing on her hind hooves before tumbling over. "I meant to do that. Did I miss anything?" Little Strongheart told her about the smuggler she had caught hours ago, completely surprising her. "I missed that! It's still my first week and I missed something big. Oh, I'll have to work extra-hard now!" With a plucky attitude, Derpy beat a hoof against her chest and rose back into the air. "Come, Little Bighoof! Justice awaits delivery !"
Little Strongheart sighed in resignation. "Lead the way, Officer Doo."
Carrot Top haphazardly stumbled into the hovel of a home Appleloosa had provided her with, Braeburn following behind. The sun was barely down, but she had been working all day on a new synthesis compound that might be the breakthrough she had been looking for in rejuvenating dirt for year-long use. She collapses to the floor, delirious. "Hi, floor, I missed you," she moaned.
"Is Carrot alright?" Dinky asked, poking the mare in amusement.
"She's just gettin' used to the Appleloosa sun." Braeburn picked up Carrot Top, trying to help her to her room to rest. "She'll be back in form after a good night's rest, I'm sure." Dinky wasn't the only pony he was trying to convince with that line.
"I'm home!" Derpy announced as she flew through the open door, hanging her officer's vest on a stand. "Muffin!" she exclaimed as she dove at her temperamental daughter. "Mommy is home!"
"I can see that," Dinky groaned as she was lifted into the air. "Can you put me down?"
"No, because it's time for little filly exercises," Derpy coddled her daughter, much to her annoyance. "You've been sitting around the house all day. Growing filly needs to go out and play!"
"Greetings, everypony." Little Strongheart eased into the now cramped hovel. "What happened to Carrot Top?" She placed a hoof on Carrot Top, checking her pulse and slightly jealous that Braeburn was holding onto her. "Did she stay out in the sun too long?"
"Pretty much," Braeburn sighed. "She'll need more than a hat at this rate."
"I'm fine," Carrot Top grumbled. "I just need something to eat that isn't a salad. Do we have any carrot cake left? Or is the fridge empty?"
"It's empty," Derpy replied as she flew out of the hovel with Dinky pressed against her.
"A mare full of energy, that one," Braeburn laughed as he dragged Carrot Top over to the couch. "Just what is the story between you two, Carrot Top?"
"Me and Derpy?" Carrot Top replied, growing a little more coherent with the subject matter. She laid her head between her forelegs, recounting all the time she had spent with Derpy. "It's not a long story. She worked as a mailmare in Ponyville and… she came to live with me," Carrot Top sighed, her voice holding back something she was afraid to say.
"Carrot Top," Braeburn placed a hoof on her shoulder, "it's all right if you don't want to tell us."
The feeling of Braeburn touching her had caused a conflicting pair of emotions to manifest in Carrot Top. She was nervous; she had rarely been touched by stallions in such a way. At the same time, it made her feel a little better. "The subject matter is just depressing. Derpy used to be married to another pony. He was a unicorn. One day he disappeared, and that's all I really know. I don't know if he abandoned them, or if they split up, or even if he died, but Derpy was left with a daughter and pregnant."
"Wait," Braeburn interrupted, "pregnant!? Miss Doo doesn't look pregnant."
"This was a long time ago. Derpy was pregnant with Dinky." Carrot Top paused for a moment, biting her lip. Is it alright to divulge so much about her best friend's life? She looked back at the faces of Braeburn and Little Strongheart, who showed genuine concern. Carrot Top continued, "Dinky is Derpy's second daughter. Her first daughter, Sparkler, moved to Canterlot to bring in some bits.
"Derpy and I actually go quite a ways back, so when bits started growing too tight for her and she started showing and went on maternity leave, I approached her and offered her a place at my house. Soon after that, Dinky was born. A couple years later Sparkler moved to Canterlot," Carrot Top sighed, hoping that telling the two of them was the right thing to do. It didn't seem like the wrong thing to do, as she and Little Strongheart seemed to have grown rather close recently, and Braeburn was anything if not good-hearted. "I'm going to ask that you not tell Derpy I told you this. I'm not sure how well she'll react, and she’s a rather proud pony when you get down to it. I admit, she did not move into my house easily. Though, I sometimes wonder who got more out of it: her or me…"
"I understand, Carrot Top," Braeburn replied. "Miss Doo is a stronger mare than I realized."
"I had no idea." Little Strongheart's voice began to crack as she mulled over Derpy's history, stirring up some painful memories.
"Now, now. Just 'cause a story is sad," Braeburn started, "doesn't mean it doesn't have a happy endin'." Braeburn placed a hoof under her chin, catching Little Strongheart by surprise. She gazed into his green eyes as he turned her head towards him. With a smile, he said, "Buck up. We know another story that looked bad, but it turned out to have a pretty happy ending, right?"
"Of course," Little Strongheart replied.
"W-what!" Carrot Top interrupted them, afraid the scene was getting a little too intimate. "What story?"
Braeburn gave a hard chuckle as eh turned back to Carrot Top, taking back his hoof. "A little incident awhile ago where the buffalo nearly ran over the entire city, but that ended all right."
"W-what!?" Carrot Top replied.
An hour later, Derpy and Dinky returned to the hovel, covered in dirt and bits of cloud with a few buckets of water hanging from her hooves and mouth. She set them down and announced, "We're back! And somepowny needs a bawth," she said, holding up a sour-faced Dinky and speaking in baby words.
"Only because of you," Dinky answered, wanting to break free from her mother's hold. "You flew through all the clouds."
"But they looked so tasty," Derpy giggled as she picked up the buckets, making her way to the bathtub outside. "We'll be back in twenty minutes."
"Dinner should be ready by then," Carrot Top called back to her. "We're having guests for dinner. Braeburn and Little Strongheart."
"Oh boy! Sounds like fun!" Derpy exclaimed from outside, filling the tub and lighting a little alcove under it. "We haven’t had a dinner party this big in a long time! You're making that carrot alfredo stuff! Right?"
"Blech!" Dinky wretched. "I have to eat more carrots?"
"A mature filly always eats her vegetables."
"Why is it I can only be mature when everypony uses it against me…"
"Bath first, 'mature' filly," Derpy laughed.
Dinner was filled with light-hearted laughter. Carrot Top's carrot alfredo went over well with her house-guests, earning her many compliments from Braeburn about her cooking and many extra helpings from Little Strongheart, who found the food foreign and delicious. "What is this alfredo grown from?" she asked.
"I made it from butter, cream, and cheese," Carrot Top answered. "It's a bit on the simple side, but it does taste good."
"Good nothing," Braeburn added in, helping himself to another plate. "With food like this I'm surprised you're not married."
"Well, that might change," Carrot Top said, feeling somewhat adventurous before all the blood in her body rushed to her face. She served herself a rather large serving of the pasta and quietly sat at the table, stuffing herself.
"The carrots are still yucky," Dinky mumbled, exciting a laugh out of everyone around her.
After dinner, Braeburn said his goodbyes and galloped off, back to his home. Derpy had tucked in Dinky and started washing the dishes. It was an agreement between her and Carrot Top that when one of them cooked, the other would do the dishes. With Derpy earnestly at work, Little Strongheart approached Carrot Top. "Meet me outside."
"Hm?" Carrot Top had no clue what the request could be about, or why Little Strongheart would approach her about it. "Fine," she sighed.
Once the two were outside, Little Strongheart produced a letter from her headband. She unfolded it and offered it to Carrot Top. "Could you read this and tell me what it is about?" she asked.
Carrot Top took the letter. Her eyes skimmed over the content for a few minutes before realizing it was for Derpy and from Sparkler in Canterlot. She felt the blood flush out of her face, as if she had betrayed Derpy. "Where did you get this?" she hissed.
"I found it in Derpy's vest," Little Strongheart replied, confused about why Carrot Top was so aggravated.
"This is a personal letter from Sparkler to Derpy. You can't just steal mail." Carrot Top huffed, trying to keep her voice low and not outright yell at the oblivious buffalo. "You're invading her privacy."
"I am invading her what?" Little Strongheart repeated, having no idea that she had made any actual mistakes. "So it is from her eldest daughter? The one that left? They communicate through mail?"
"Well… yes," Carrot Top answered. "Sparkler sends a letter about once a month to let Derpy know she's fine and that she doesn't need to worry about her… but that's beside the point! Stealing mail is wrong."
"I did not steal," Little Strongheart replied, growing annoyed with Carrot Top's sudden hysterics. "If I had stolen it, you would not be holding it now." Little Strongheart explained her point-of-view, Carrot Top's reaction being somewhere between exasperation and resignation "Now, where is Canterlot?"
"Why do you need to go to Canterlot?" Carrot Top asked, afraid of the answer the buffalo would provide her with.
"To find her eldest daughter, Sparkler, and reunite her family. A family should never be separated under any condition," she said adamantly.
Carrot Top sighed. How was she going to explain this? "Listen, for ponies, it's not too uncommon for colts and fillies to separate from their families at a young age to look for work. I don't know what it's like among the buffalo, but you're talking about going to Canterlot, the biggest city in Equestria, to look for a single pony."
"I do not care," Little Strongheart replied, almost talking down on Carrot Top. "A family should stay together, not split apart. Now, which way is Canterlot?"
"Well, on hoof, it's about a week, and are you crazy?" Carrot Top felt exhausted. She wondered if Little Strongheart was worth the effort of explaining to. "This is harebrained at best.”
"I'm a buffalo, not a hare, and stampeding from one place to another is what I do all the time."
"You're intruding on Derpy's life," Carrot Top finally pleaded. "Do you have any idea what that means? I'm sure you have some customs among your tribe where it's bad to intrude."
Little Strongheart thought about it for a moment. "It's generally frowned on to interrupt two buffalo in the middle of making a family."
Carrot Top twitched a little. "I give up."
"Then will you tell me where Canterlot is?"
"Little Strongheart," Carrot Top hoped that actually using her name rather than a derivative might make her understand what she was saying. "Canterlot is too far for you. You aren't doing anypony any favors for this. I'm going to bed now, good night."
"What about your moving trains?" Little Strongheart brought up. "Those move faster than any stampeding buffalo. Those cost bits, right? I have bits now."
"But you can't read pony," Carrot Top answered back. "You'll get lost."
"Then come with me. Are you not Derpy's friend? If you are, then you care about her happiness."
"Right now, Derpy is washing some dishes, humming a butchered version of Ave Maria while probably day-dreaming of how she'll coddle her daughter tomorrow. She seems rather happy to me."
She was right, Little Strongheart realized. Derpy seemed to be a perpetual stampede of good feelings and general merriment. She never seemed to get down, even when others were yelling at her, which would be the times she rose the highest. "Then don't we owe it to her?"
"What?" Carrot Top raised an invisible eyebrow. "We owe it to her?"
"For being a good friend," Little Strongheart squarely stated.
Carrot Top found herself mulling over her life since Derpy moved in. Before Derpy, Carrot Top lived in an empty and quiet house with no one to share it with. When her friend had fallen on hard times she gave her a place to stay, and suddenly her life was filled with more noise than she could have ever dreamed of. She remembered the day Sparkler left, and how Derpy cried herself to sleep for a week straight. Derpy blamed herself for not working hard enough to support her two daughters. They had made peace long ago, but that didn't change that after every one of Sparkler's visits Carrot Top thought she heard crying from across the hall. "You win," Carrot Top lamented. "We'll go to Canterlot and try to find Sparkler."
"Thank you," Little Strongheart replied with a smile. "I am sure we will succeed in our quest."
"You're sure, I'm not," she sighed. "Are you sure Sheriff Silverstar won't mind?"
"It matters little to me if he does or not. My status here as an officer means nothing to the importance of family."
"Good for you," Carrot Top grumbled, "but we leave tomorrow morning. Not now."
Little Strongheart had never rode a train before. Granted, she had jumped on a train and detached one of its carts, but being inside one was a totally new sensation. The scenery changed even faster than when she would stampede on the great trail with her tribe, but lacked any of the exhilarating euphoria that came with it. She felt stuck, yet was still moving. "I can feel my last meal returning to me," she muttered sickly.
"Oh, you need to throw up? Just, follow me to the bathroom." Carrot Top felt a little sympathy. She never quite got used to trains, but her first time left her with a terrible taste in her mouth, one of half-digested broccoli.
Carrot Top led Little Strongheart down the aisles of the train and to a side room with a toilet and sink: two items in particular Carrot Top missed dearly. "You can use the toilet to throw up," she instructed.
"Thank you," Little Strongheart mumbled as her breakfast finally came up on her. A few minutes of washing up later, Little Strongheart was beginning to feel better about the train. "How long will it take to reach Canterlot?"
"We'll probably be there by mid-afternoon," Carrot Top groaned. "You do know that won't leave us with a lot of time to look for her, and I doubt we brought enough bits to rent a hotel room for more than a day."
"Then we will need to move fast," Little Strongheart answered. "You can handle that, right?"
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Carrot Top asked indignantly.
"Not at all," Little Strongheart laughed sincerely.
"You ate more than me last night!" Carrot Top pointed out, hoping she now had the upper-hoof.
"From what I have observed, buffalo naturally eat more than ponies, so I don't think that counts. On the other hoof, you ate more than Braeburn did."
Carrot Top lost the fight. "Fine, whatever, I'm fat," she groaned. "Let's just get back to our seat."
"I apologies. I did not mean for that to come out so… rudely."
"No, it's true," Carrot Top sighed. "I have bad eating habits. I stuff myself one day, can barely stand to drink a cup of water the next, wishfully thinking that it balances out. It doesn't."
"Miss Carrot Top," Little Strongheart broke through self-image-impaired mare's downtrodden tirade. "Last night I ate four of your bowls of your carrot alfredo food. I think the average buffalo would only eat three."
Carrot Top heard the sincerity in Little Strongheart's voice. "Thanks."
Braeburn rapped on the door to Carrot Top's hovel. "C'mon, Big Doo," he called from behind the door. "Carrot Top told me to fillysit you for today, so can you unlock the door." Braeburn didn't hear any sounds coming from within the building, and knew he could probably buck the door down with little effort, but he still kept knocking, hoping Dinky would answer herself.
Within the hovel, Dinky idly sipped on a box of juice, mostly ignoring the rather patient stallion who had been knocking for close to an hour now. "Maybe I should just let him in," she groaned to herself as the box in front of her emptied. With a body quivering from sitting for so long, Dinky ambled to the front door and let the annoying stallion in.
Braeburn smiled down at Dinky. "Carrot Top tells me you don't get out much, so I thought I would give you a special one-on-one tour of Aaaaaaaaaappleloosa!" he whinnied, bucking up and elongating the first syllable to impossible lengths.
"I'll pass," Dinky replied with a deadpan tone. "I've seen it all already. Dirt and sand. Lots of dirt and sand. I'm sure Carrot will take you up on the offer, though."
"Oh I've already shown her around town five times by now. Poor mare has no sense of direction."
"Right," Dinky snorted, nodding absent-mindedly. "Anyway, I've got a wall to stare at."
"Oh no you don’t!" Braeburn bit down on Dinky's tail and swung her onto his back. "You're coming with me!"
"This is foalnapping," Dinky argued, kicking at Braeburn, who just ignored her.
"Carrot Top told me to watch you, and I'm doing just that. Now, let's go explore Appleloosa!" Braeburn stampeded off into the city, the filly on his back suddenly holding on tightly so as not to fall off. "I know a playground where lots of foals like to play at."
"I'm not interested," Dinky yelled, and was ignored completely.
Carrot Top and Little Strongheart had gone wide-eyed by the view of Canterlot. Carrot Top had been here on only the slightest of occasions, and never when the town was decorated for Hearth Warming Eve. Little Strongheart, completely foreign to this side of pony culture, had been reduced to a babbling stream of words. "The buildings! They are so tall! And all these lights! The decorations! Do I hear music? Carrot Top, what is going on?"
"It's Hearth Warming Eve. It's a very special holiday for ponies, which is why everything is decorated and lights are everywhere. As for the tall buildings... well, Canterlot is just like that," Carrot Top explained.
"It's so different from Appleloosa. Where is the pony that is going to greet and welcome us?" Little Strongheart looked from side to side, but find no pony that looked like he or she would welcome them to the city.
Carrot Top couldn't suppress her laughter. "N-no! That's something Braeburn does just for Appleloosa. I'm afraid that ponies like him are one in a million, so you shouldn't expect anypony to pop out"
"That is a shame. Appleloosa is so much warmer for Braeburn's work to make all the visitors feel welcomed."
"You know," Carrot Top started, "when I first heard him I thought it was the most annoying sound ever."
"What!" Little Strongheart gasped. "To be greeted in such an open and friendly manner and you found it annoying."
"It's just not normal. Then again, Braeburn seems to be unnaturally altruistic in general. He seems to live to make others feel at home. Comforting, like an apple." Carrot Top smiled to herself, her mind wandering to Braeburn's cutie mark, and the flank the cutie mark was on. "Well, I guess we should get started," she sighed.
Compared to Appleloosa, Canterlot was a whole other planet in terms of size and scenery, which just made their search that much harder. Neither Carrot Top nor Little Strongheart knew how to navigate the royal city, and they had no clues to go on. Still, the buffalo steeled herself against any obstacle. "Excuse me," Little Strongheart approached a pair of finely dressed ponies with horns, "have you seen a grey pony with wings by the name of Sparkler?" she asked.
The finely dressed stallion turned his nose up on Little Strongheart. "I have never heard of such a drab pony. Let's go, Upper Crust," he answered as he walked away with the finely dressed mare.
"Drab?" Little Strongheart repeated, turning to Carrot Top. "What does that mean?"
"It means dull," Carrot Top explained.
"That is quite rude."
"Like saying a citypony like me can't handle Appleloosa?" Carrot Top curtly replied, reminding Little Strongheart of her initial attitude towards Carrot Top.
"That was also rude," Little Strongheart admitted, "even if you did stay out in the sun too long the morning."
Carrot Top sighed a little. "You're also messing up Sparkler's description. She's a unicorn, like Dinky, but pink and purple."
"What!?" Little Strongheart bleated. "Ponies have such an odd variety of fur colors."
"Yeah," Carrot Top found herself agreeing, "we kind of do."
Dinky was not having fun. She had been dragged around town all day by Braeburn while he went on about some historic or cultural significance of things she had no interest in. Why do I have to go along with this? Now, she was seated at the Salt Block with a kid's menu and a set of crayons spread out in front of her.
"Bit for your thoughts, Big Doo," Braeburn tried to reach out to her. "You've been awfully quiet for awhile now."
"I'm fine," Dinky mumbled. She extended her magic to the crayons in front of her and began coloring in the colorless ponies on the menu.
"Anything you hungry for?" Braeburn tried again, letting his natural smile settle on his face. "I think the grilled cheese is mighty tasty."
"Then order one," Dinky replied curtly.
Braeburn was beginning to grow uneasy. He had never encountered such a cold filly before, and was genuinely at a loss. "Dinky," he spoke to her with her actual name, "if I've done somethin' to offend you, I apologize. You don't need to be all cold with me. Tell me what's on your mind?"
"It's nothing you did," Dinky mumbled. She looked down at her coloring; the foals on the front had been filled in. A blond-maned pegasus with a gray coat drifted across the sky. On the ground a cream-maned colt was passing her a ball, his coat an odd shade of brown, a light blue filly with a purple mane in the background, dancing along with some bunnies. "Nothing is wrong," Dinky murmured. "I'll have a grilled cheese." her eyes were on the verge of tearing up.
Braeburn gazed at the lovingly colored picture, fully realizing what it meant. "No problem, and afterwards we'll get some ice cream. Would you like that?"
"Yah," Dinky nodded.
"Sparkler!" Little Strongheart yelled out at the top of her lungs, hoping all of Canterlot might hear her. "Sparkler!"
"Our chances of that working are one in a thousand," Carrot Top replied. "And that's being generous."
"I have not heard any better ideas out of you," Little Strongheart accused. "So if you have any ideas less stressful on my voice, I am all ears."
"I don't know," Carrot Top replied. "Was there anything in her letter? Let me check it and see if there’s anything that can help." Carrot Top pulled the letter out from a curl in her mane. She laid it down and ran her eyes across it, searching for key words. It was a little heart-warming, and a little heart-breaking, at the same time. "She wrote that she got a job working at a toy shop, so maybe we'll have better luck looking at any store that sells toys."
"That is an excellent idea!" the Little Strongheart giddily replied. "Where is the toy store?"
Carrot Top groaned, "In a city this big there are bound to be multiple toy stores."
"We still have to try." Little Strongheart pulled Carrot Top along in a random direction that she wasn't totally sure about herself. "A family should never separate!" she said again, repeating it like a mantra.
"It happens all the time," Carrot Top tried to explain again, even if she knew it was pointless. "This is a noble cause and all, but we may not find her."
Little Strongheart didn't hear Carrot Top as she continued to pull her along, bumping into a large pony she didn't see in her way. "Uhf!" Little Strongheart bleated as she fell to the ground. She took a look at the white horned pony she had accidentally walked into. "I am sorry," she said courteously.
"No, no, that's quite all right," the regal unicorn answered back. "Curious, I've never seen a buffalo here in Canterlot before."
"I am Little Strongheart," she introduced herself.
"I am Fancypants. A pleasure to meet you." The unicorn held out a hoof to shake.
Little Strongheart accepted the hoof and shook it. "By any chance, Mr. Fancypants, have you seen a purple horned pony named Sparkler?" she asked.
"I can't say I have, I'm afraid," Fancypants replied. "Canterlot is a big place with lots of unicorns. It's almost easier to stick out if you have nothing sticking out of you head, much like your orange friend there," he joked.
"Oh!" Carrot Top took her cue. "My name is Carrot Top. It is a pleasure to meet you." She bowed.
"And a pleasure to meet you as well."
"Mr. Fancypants," Carrot Top started, "we do know that the unicorn we're looking for is working at a toy store here in Canterlot. I don't suppose you could give us a lead with just that?"
"Hmm," Fancypants thought for a moment, "why don't you try the one in the Canterlot Royal Plaza. It's the busiest, so I would imagine requiring the most extra workers for the season. That's about all I can infer with that little information."
"Thank you," Carrot Top replied, "that's better than what we had, thank you."
"It's no problem," the perfectly mannered stallion bowed. "I wish you two the best of luck on your search."
Derpy hovered down to the little hovel of a home she was beginning to grow rather fond of. It wasn't nearly as big as her and Carrot Top's home in Ponyville, but this little one was growing on her. She opened the door into the den and found Dinky sleeping next to Braeburn. "Oh, Carrot Top and Little Bighoof aren’t back yet?" she asked.
"Guess not," Braeburn replied tiredly.
"Thank you, Mr. Braeburn. I promise I'll pay you back for watching my precious muffin."
"It's no problem, Miss Doo. I just hope I was able to help your daughter in some way." Braeburn looked down at the little filly, dreams of the past floating in her head. "She seems lonely, Miss Doo."
"I know," Derpy-Doo sat herself next to Braeburn. "It broke my heart a little, to have to separate her from her friends. I promised myself we would visit Ponyville regularly, just for her." Derpy ran a hoof through her daughter's mane. "I'm going to have to live up to that soon."
"So, you moved here with Carrot Top?" Braeburn asked.
"Yes, she's been such a help to me in my life. I almost see her as an older sister now, and I didn't want my sister to feel so alone if I can help it, but now I've gone and hurt my daughter." Derpy felt a tear run down her face. "I just keep pushing my daughters away. Am I a bad mother?"
"You most certainly are not," Braeburn replied, putting a hoof around Derpy's shoulder. "Not with the way you work to raise your daughter to be a good mare. I'm sure, one day, she'll be the most mature pony in Equestria; she'll mature enough to be a princess, and it will be because you were her mother."
"Thank you," Derpy replied. "You'll make a good husband one day, Braeburn," she giggled.
"Why thank you, I'm flattered."
"It's a shame you aren’t a unicorn," Derpy sighed as she floated off to her room.
Braeburn shrugged away the confusing comment. He tried to get up to move, but every time he moved just a tiny bit, Dinky seemed to grab on tighter to him. "Miss Doo, a little help."
"I'll get a blanket for you and your date," Derpy teased.
Braeburn tried to get up again. "No, really. I think she inherited that grip of yours."
The moon hung still in the night sky. Both Little Strongheart and Carrot Top were weary from walking all over Canterlot, and finally found themselves at the ever-crowded and busy noble court. Hundreds upon hundreds of posh ponies were flowing through the market district, cascading from one store to the next to take advantage of the sales. "Sparkler!" Little Strongheart cried out, weakly. "Sparkler!"
"There she is!" Carrot Top gasped. "Sparkler!"
In front of the largest toy store in Canterlot, and by extension Equestria, a pink pony dressed in a brown cloak was handing out flyers. "Have you seen our prices? They're almost too friendly!" she advertised.
"Sparkler!" Carrot Top called out again.
Sparkler's ears caught her name being called out. She turned, and her eyes caught the sight on an all too familiar orange mare. "Carrot Top?" she mouthed.
"Sparkler! It's me, Carrot Top!" she called out again.
"Carrot Top!" Sparkler yelled back. "What are you doing here?"
"I, well, it's a long story," Carrot Top sighed.
"We came here to reunite you with your family," Little Strongheart threw in, shortening a very long story.
"Reunite me with my family?" Sparkler repeated the words again before letting out a light chuckle. "Who's your over-dramatic friend?" she asked Carrot Top.
"This is-"
"I am Little Strongheart," the somewhat aggravated buffalo answered for herself.
"Well, Little Strongheart, it's a pleasure to meet you. Care for some sales?"
"Sales?" Little Strongheart questioned. She dismissed the word and returned to her original point. "It's against the idea of family to separate!"
Sparkler just continued to laugh, brushing off the seemingly-hysteric buffalo. "You must be a hoot at parties," she joked, returning to her advertising duties.
"Hoot? What? I am not an owl, I am a buffalo!" Little Strongheart fumed. "Why are you not listening to me?"
"I told you," Carrot Top sighed. She feared that this was going to turn into a painful lesson for Little Strongheart.
"But... but!" Little Strongheart ran out of words. "What about Derpy? The letter?"
"Letter?" Sparkler turned to Little Strongheart, her face contorting with sudden anger. "Did you read my letter to my mother!" she flared up. "That's private ! For her and her alone!"
"If you feel that strongly then you should come with us to your mother and reunite as a family," Little Strongheart argued back.
"That's beside the point!" Sparkler yelled, standing taller than the buffalo and looming over her, inquisitively. "You, a total stranger, felt the need to barge into my life and tell me what to do!? What the hay!"
"W-what?" Little Strongheart had not expected such an angry outburst. She was not prepared either. Sparkler was angry about something she couldn't understand, and in the back of her mind it made her realize something downright depressing. "I... I am sorry for my transgressions and misbehavior."
"You should be," Sparkler retorted, turning away from her. "Now leave me alone, I have a job to do."
"At once," Little Strongheart sighed as she turned around and walked away from the rightfully angry mare.
"Sparkler... don't you think that was a little mean?" Carrot Top knew that Sparkler was right about Little Strongheart's actions, but she also wondered if it was right to be so mean about it. “Just so you know, I read the letter too. In fact, Little Strongheart can't actually read it."
"I don't mind so much when you read it," Sparkler sighed. "I mean, I'm still kind of miffed about it, but you're like family. Some random... buffalo? Showing up and telling me how to live my life? That's just pretentious."
Carrot Top sighed. "Yes, it is, but she does mean well. She's headstrong and thick-skinned, but she's a good po... buffalo when you get down to it."
"Good for her," Sparkler huffed.
"In fact, she's become a close friend of your mother's. That's kind of why she wanted to come here. She just wants Derpy to be happy."
"Is..." Sparkler solemnly spoke, "is mom not feeling too good?"
"No, she's as happy and carefree as ever... I think. She's always been a tough read."
"Yeah, that sounds like mom." The air between the two became uncomfortably silent. They looked at each other, both filling with nostalgia.
"Pretty soon, you'll get a letter from Derpy telling you about how she moved to Appleloosa with me. She'll probably tell you about a certain buffalo she's befriended. I hope, when you read that, you begin to understand that Little Strongheart's... heart is in the right place."
"I'm sure it is," Sparkler groaned.
"Sparkler," Carrot Top hugged the pink mare. "Take care of yourself."
"I will, Carrot," Sparkler replied.
The train ride home was unbearably uncomfortable for Little Strongheart. The buffalo hadn't said a word since her encounter with Sparkler, and it was in that encounter that she finally realized the cultural divide between her and ponies, and that also meant that she might never be able to get close to Braeburn or even Derpy. "This was a waste of time," she sighed.
"Well, not exactly," Carrot Top answered her. "We just went to Canterlot! The pony capital of the world. That in itself is quite something."
Another hour of silence passed them; Carrot Top broke it with a question. "The idea of family must be really important for you, huh? Is it a part of your buffalo culture?"
"Partly," Little Strongheart lamented. "I lost my parents eleven years ago. I was raised by Chief Thunderhooves himself, but I still feel sad when I see all the other calves with their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters; but those are my hang ups to deal with. I shouldn't have let that drive me like this. I am sorry, Carrot Top."
"It's all right. You just wanted to make a family happy; nopony can hold a grudge over that." Carrot Top comforted her. She placed a hoof on Little Strongheart's back, trying to comfort her like how a mother might comfort a daughter, thinking deeply over everything Little Strongheart said. Wait, she lost her parents how long ago? "Uh, how old were you when you lost your parents?" Carrot Top asked a little too insensitively.
"I was four..." the buffalo replied uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, but I would prefer not to talk about it."
"Little Strongheart," Carrot Top's voice was filled with fear, "just how old are you?"
"I'm fifteen, why?"
I'm competing for a stallion with a filly!? "No, reason," Carrot Top sighed. "Just... feel better, all right?" she said, her hoof still on Little Strongheart’s back. The two sat together for the rest of the ride back to Appleloosa, and while the rest of the ride was silent, they did begin to genuinely enjoy each other's company.
Morning arrived, and in a certain little hovel a gray little filly was beginning to stir. Pushing away the lugnut of a stallion suddenly attached to her, Dinky silently strode to the sink to wash her eyes. The strange sight of Carrot Top and Little Strongheart passed out in front of the doorway stopped her for a moment. With a chuckle, she continued back to the sink.
In the kitchen, Derpy was working on fresh breakfast for everyone. "How is my muffin this morning?" she cooed.
"I'm fine," Dinky yawned, stretching her legs. "You said we would visit Ponyville soon, right?"
"Of course," Derpy replied, her attention split between her baking and her daughter.
Dinky starred into the magical oven. "Fresh muffins?"
"Yep! For breakfast. I woke up and saw everypony-and-buffalo sleeping together and thought I should treat us all."
A knock came from the front-door. "I'll get it." Dinky replied as she trotted back to the den. She used Little Strongheart as a stool to reach the doorknob. Dinky turned the doorknob, revealing the pink visitor.
"Is this where I can find..." The pink unicorn visitor took a single look at the grey filly unicorn in front of her. This was exactly where she wanted to be. "Hey, sis."
"Sparkler," Dinky quivered. "Sparkler!" she cried as she jumped into her sisters hooves.
"I... well..." Sparkler stepped over her words. She looked through the doorway to find Little Strongheart and Carrot Top passed out on the floor, a stallion she had never met before passed out at the other end of the hovel, and her mother with a fresh plate of muffins on her back. "Some... buffalo paid me a visit and told me to visit," she said with an awkward smile. "So, here I am."
"I'm glad you came," Derpy answered her, tears streaming down her face.
Sparkler and Dinky sat on the roof of the hovel, enjoying the sundown. They had spent the entire day together; laughing and playing. For Dinky, it almost felt surreal. "Are you really going back tomorrow?" Dinky asked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Sparkler apologized. She didn't want Dinky to get sad over her. The time they had together was brief, and she feared it always would be. "I'll miss you, little sis."
"I'll miss you too." Dinky grabbed hold of her sister’s hoof, holding onto it with all her might. "Don't go!" Dinky pleaded. "I feel so alone here. I don't know anypony and mom still works all day."
Sparkler ran a hoof through Dinky's blond mane. She would never admit she was jealous that Dinky inherited Derpy's blond mane. "Yeah, she does work all day, but can you tell me what she does the moment she bursts through that front door?"
"She fusses with my mane," Dinky answered.
"That's right." Sparkler turned back to the sunset. "You know, I felt really lonely when I first moved to Canterlot, and I missed you and mom every day." She could see the question forming in Dinky and answered it pre-emptively. "Bits were hard for us, remember? The only way to get by was for me to find a job. So, even though I cried all the time, I also told myself that it would get better."
"Did it get better?" Dinky asked, face buried in Sparkler's arm.
"It did," Sparkler answered her, "I've made lots of friends in Canterlot, and they help me out all the time, and I help them all the time too. You can make friend too, you know."
"You're better at making friends than me," the little filly sighed. "I'm not that good at being friendly."
"Don't think like that," Sparkler grabbed hold of her little sister, embracing her in a deep hug. "You'll never be able to guess what's in store for you in the future. You can make lots of friends; I'm sure of it."
"And what makes you think that?"
"You're like mom: strong and proud. Ponies will admire you for it, if you can just stop being a brat."
"I'm not a brat!" Dinky laughed.
"Of course not." Sparkler picked up Dinky, embracing her.
The two stayed together for a little longer before Derpy called out, "Dinky! It's bed time!"
"Coming!" Dinky called back. She turned back to Sparkler. "Promise you'll be here in the morning."
"I promise," Sparkler answered.
The two of them dropped from the low roof of the hovel. Dinky ran off to join her mother in their little room. Sparkler watched them leave, feeling warmed from the inside out. She missed her family more than she realized.
The sound of hoofsteps alerted Sparkler to another pony's presence. She turned, and found a buffalo. "Were you eavesdropping?" Sparkler asked Little Strongheart.
"I just wanted to apologies again," Little Strongheart admitted. "It was entirely wrong of me to try and force you to come here, so please forgive me."
Sparkler sighed. "Yeah, you're forgiven."
"I thank you," Little Strongheart bowed.
"I should also thank you," Sparkler admitted. "It has been quite a while since I've visited mom and sis... and Carrot Top tells me you two have become fast friends."
"Yes," the buffalo answered. "Your mother has an unusual strength about her."
"Unusual is right!" Sparkler laughed. "Well, Little Strongheart. Let's try this again. I'm Sparkler." the friendly pink unicorn held out a hoof to shake.
"I am Little Strongheart," the happy buffalo replied, shaking the hoof. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"The feeling is mutual," Sparkler replied.
Little Strongheart returned to the hovel where Carrot Top was busy at the sink, washing dishes in dirty water, and Braeburn sitting at the dining table with a stomach full of Derpy's cobbler. "You two sure are something," he piped up. "Uniting a family like this. It's a real miracle."
"Well," Carrot Top was beginning to feel embarrassed, "it was Little Strongheart's idea, not mine."
"You're too sensible to try something this rabbit-brained," Little Strongheart giggled. "Honestly, if you were not there, I would have probably stampeded through every building in that large city and still not found her."
"Then that just goes to show just how special the both of you are." Braeburn leaned down and kissed Little Strongheart on the cheek. He trotted over to Carrot Top and did just the same.
The mare and the buffalo had gone wide-eyed, losing much of their sensibility and paralyzed.
"You all have a good night now," he replied, waving to them as he started on his way home.
"We're..." Carrot Top mumbled.
"Special..." Little Strongheart sighed.
The two looked past the doorway, Braeburn's figure just barely visible. It felt nice to be special to someone, they both thought.
A bowl of oatmeal is made!
Chapter 4: A bowl of oatmeal is made!
Carrot Top couldn't even hear herself think over the sound of gushing rain. She stretched her forelegs in the air, standing on the very tips of her hindlegs and welcoming the cool soothing embrace. "I am the queen of dirt!" she shouted, cackling like an evil dirt witch. Her eyes widened as she stared up into the dark clouds in the sky, feeling the elements tear through her mercilessly. Just moments ago, she had made a breakthrough in her newest formula for nutritious soil, until the rain came, washing away her work along with her last shred of sanity.
"Carrot Top!" Braeburn yelled over the roar of the rain. "Carrot Top! You have to get inside! Carrot Top!"
"All sediments shall bow and worship me!" Carrot Top dictated with the last of her strength, a mix of rain and frustrated tears running down her face, dropping into the saturated dirt. She closed her eyes, feeling her entire world freeze up, and passed out. She couldn't even hear Braeburn's worried voice over the sound of rain.
"What's his name?"
"Mr. Princington!" the little orange filly responded back, hugging the doll close to herself. "I love him, mommy! You're the best mommy ever!" She bounded up to an orange mare with a short-cut green mane.
"I thought you would, my little carrot," the mother cooed, holding onto her precious joy.
Carrot Top slowly opened her eyes, her body shivering from hoof to hoof. She was back in her room, wrapped up in her sheets. Her entire body ached, and despite all the blankets, she still felt as cold as ice. "Derpy," she moaned, "are you home? I don't feel good."
"Carrot Top," a coltish voice called to her, "are you awake?" Braeburn walked into the room, his fur clinging to his body and his mane a water-logged mess. "Oh thank Celestia, you’re awake!"
"Brae... burn?" Carrot Top lacked the energy to turn her head, but she did recognize his voice. "Braeburn, what happened?"
"You caught a bad case of the shakes; hypothermia it's called." He rushed to her side, pulling the covers up on her tenderly. "Just wait there for a moment. I'll be back." He ran out of the room and returned with a bowl of fresh oatmeal balanced on his back. "Hope you're hungry," he said with a cheesy grin, "because I made you something easy to eat." He placed the bowl on a stand to the side, waiting anxiously for her to dig into it.
"Sorry," Carrot Top sighed, "but I can barely stand to move." She turned her head to the side, expecting to pass out any moment from sheer exhaustion.
"Carrot Top."
"What?" She turned back to Braeburn, his smiling face was just a few inches away from her own with a spoon clenched between his teeth. He was going to spoon feed her. Were it not for her violent shivering, Carrot Top would have melted away. She extended her head forward slightly and bit down on the head of the spoon. "It's good," she replied as she savored the simple and elegantly sweet flavor of the dish.
"Family recipe," Braeburn told her, offering her another spoonful with a smile, and she graciously accepting each one. This process went on like clockwork, until the bowl was empty. "Feeling better?"
Carrot Top turned away from Braeburn, blood rushing to her face and setting her cheeks on fire. She didn't want him to see the gluttonous look in her eyes, but with a sigh of resignation she answered him. "Another bowl... please. I'm still hungry."
"No problem," Braeburn answered with his sweet and chipper voice. "Just give me a few minutes to cook up some."
Carrot Top watched Braeburn trot out of the room, the rhythmic falling of his eager steps bringing waves of happiness to Carrot Top's mind. This is it! My moment! she thought to herself, giddy with anticipation. He's making me oatmeal, and spoon-feeding it to me! I just need to put on some charm! Oh, what did Derpy say to do? You can do this! Get that stallion, Carrot Top!
"Alrighty, here's a second batch for you, Miss Top!" He placed the bowl on the stand to the side, ready to begin the process again. "Miss Top, are you sure you’re hungry? You look ready to fall asleep."
Carrot Top sighed internally as she turned away from him. Derpy said that look was sure to work! In the back of her mind, Carrot Top knew it wouldn't. "No, no. Please, I'm still hungry."
"You're quite the eater, Miss Top," Braeburn laughed, holding out the spoon to her again.
Of all the things he could say, why did it have to be that? Carrot Top took in the spoonful, the taste too addicting to let Braeburn's innocent comment get in the way. "Let me guess, this is a secret recipe?" she joked.
"I'll give it to you when you get better." He held out another spoonful. "Just don't tell anypony, 'specially my sister." The process repeated itself again, and Braeburn failed to notice the glee in Carrot Top's eyes as she indulged herself with every bite. With the bowl emptied again, Braeburn asked, "Where are Derpy and Dinky?"
"They're in Ponyville and should be back tomorrow evening," Carrot Top sighed. She wasn't looking forward to a night alone, especially in her current condition.
"Wait, so you're alone in this house?" Braeburn's breath came to a halt as a horrified look spread across his face. He lept into Carrot Top's bed, getting under the covers and wrapping himself around Carrot Top, all with a worried look on his face. "Miss Top, why didn't you say so?"
Carrot Top's eyes grew into saucers; Braeburn was less than an inch away from her and she could barely move. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to move. "I- I- I'm not sure if I'm ready for this," she babbled.
"Miss Top, do you know how dangerous it is to be alone with your condition?" His words were so full of care that she couldn't resist him.
"I've just, just..." She buried her face in Braeburn's chest, listening to his easy and calming heartbeat, her own pounding away like a jackhammer.
"Well don't you worry. Ol' Braeburn will take care of you," he said in the sweetest voice Carrot Top had ever heard. He was here for her, and nothing more.
Take me away, you stallion! Carrot Top swooned, biting down on her lower lip as she waited for something to happen, but nothing happened. She looked up at Braeburn, and his eyes were closed. Is he sleeping? "Braeburn?" she nudged him.
"Hm, what is it?"
"What are we doing?"
"I'm warming you up with my body heat!" he answered with his trademark level of enthusiasm that Carrot Top found unfathomably charming and impossibly exhausting. "You've got hypothermia, so I'm going to get close to you and use my body heat to warm you up. It's a town remedy!" He hugged Carrot Top a little closer, pooling all of his warmth into the mare.
Carrot Top's face did indeed grow hotter, but none of it was through Braeburn's own efforts. Her face had turned a brilliant red under her orange fur and she felt embarrassed to ever think Braeburn would be so forward, but she was thankful that at least Braeburn cared enough for her to hold her the way he did. "Thank you," she whispered, her still shivering body becoming limper as she was pulled closer. "You're so nice to me, Braeburn."
"Well, I'm just nice to everypony, Miss Top." He held onto her cold shivering body, in his mind praying to Celestia that, in the morning, Carrot Top would be as warm as the sun.
"What are you doing with Mr. Princington?" the orange filly's mother asked.
"We're getting married!" the little orange filly replied. "Mr. Princington is the most polite and handsome pony in all of Equestria. I can marry no other pony." She wore a delicate white dress, and dressed up the doll in a black suit. "We're going to get married and we'll make each other happy."
The mare giggled at her little filly. "You should check to see if you got your housewife cutie mark," she joked.
The little filly gasped as she began to circle around herself, trying to catch a glimpse of her flank. Sadly, it was still blank. "No, nothing."
Morning came, the sun rising over Appleloosa and creeping in through the window in Carrot Top's shack. The light hit Braeburn's eyes first, waking him up. He sat up, stretching and yawning, and looked down to Carrot Top. Her lips had gone blue. "Carrot Top!" he yelled.
"B-B-Braeburn." Her shivering had gotten worse. Carrot Top curled herself up, desperate to hold onto as much body heat as she could. Her teeth chattered during and between sentences. She didn't even look at Braeburn when she addressed him. "B-Braeburn, c-can you get Derpy's blanket."
"Just hold on, Carrot Top!" Braeburn yelled as he ran through the shack, looking for any blanket, pillow, towel, and even sock that he could use to warm up Carrot Top. Soon, he had created a mountain of blankets on the bed, covering the shivering Carrot Top entire. "So, how you feelin' now?"
"I-I-I'm sweating," she moaned.
"That's good," Braeburn sighed, exhaling all his panic. "That means you're warming up, so just stay like that. I'll go fetch you something hot for breakfast. Alright, Carrot Top?" He heard no answer, but saw her make an effort to nod. "Alright. Just... stay warm. I'll take care of you, I promise. So don't you worry." With one last bit of assurance, he galloped out of the house.
"B-B-Braeburn," Carrot Top moaned, thinking that just saying his name might bring a little bit of comfort to herself. She shivered, curling herself into and even smaller ball. "I-I-It's too hot."
Apple Bumpkin carefully balanced a bit at the end of her hoof, her mind focused entirely on the little gold coin that ran her life, a focus that was annihilated by her raving brother bursting into the store. She jumped, thinking another thief was here for her cash register, but sighed in resignation when she realized it was just her brother. "Braeburn, what are you doing here? Silverstar has been looking everywhere for you by the way."
"Sorry, A.B., but I need some warm apple juice right away!" His panicking voice at least tore Apple Bumpkin from whatever parlor trick she was playing.
"What's got you all frantic?" she sighed, stepping out from behind the counter and approached him. "In fact, just where were you last night?" She starred at him accusingly.
"I was just at Miss Top's house," Braeburn replied with a sigh.
"Oh, that poor mare." Apple Bumpkin rubbed her temples, trying to prevent the onslaught of another headache as she looked back at her nuisance of a brother. "Listen, you can't go around leading on ponies! I've told you that a thousand times now."
"I am not leading anypony on," Braeburn retorted. His sister was always berating him for inadvertently grabbing the affection of mares around town. "Carrot Top knows we're just friends, so can you get off my back and start working on Granny Smith's warm apple juice recipe? Carrot Top stayed out in the storm too long last night!"
"All right, just stop bucking around." Apple Bumpkin collected some of the apples around her store and moved into her work-room in the back of the building, blending the apples together in a special mix her grandma had taught her to warm up ponies with 'a case of the shakes' as she would put it. "Just go find Silverstar already so he can stop bothering me. It will be done in twenty minutes."
"Alright." Braeburn galloped out of the store, his mind constantly returning to Carrot Top in her home, struggling to fight off a cold death. "I'll hear what he has to say and then race back to Carrot Top's," he whispered to himself, but the loud shriek of a whistle tripped him up, causing him to land face first in the dirt.
"I am afraid I will have to write you a ticket, Braeburn," Little Strongheart joked. "I believe you broke the law of speeding."
"Doesn't that only apply to vehicles?" Braeburn groaned as he ignored the pain in his face. "Lil' Strongheart, have you seen the sheriff?"
"I think he is by the well." She pointed off towards the center of town. "I think he is looking for you as well."
"Thanks, gotta go," Braeburn replied before galloping off towards the town's primary source of water, leaving behind a confused Little Strongheart. He raced through the city and spotted Sheriff Silverstar exactly where Little Strongheart said he was, standing with Appleloosa's hardest working construction ponies. Braeburn skidded to a stop just in-front of Sheriff Silverstar, kicking up dirt on a few ponies as he finally addressed him between labored breaths. "You call for me?"
"Braeburn! I've got good news," Sheriff Silverstar answered back, hoisting up Braeburn with exuberance. "That storm managed to flood a river just a few miles to the west of here. We're going to see about connecting that river to our water supply. We wouldn't have to worry about it drying up for decades!"
"That's great and all, but what does that have to do with me?"
"You're the hardest working pony in Appleloosa, Braeburn. Just your presence alone inspires others to work harder, and this is a hard project we have on our hooves."
Braeburn cursed himself mentally. He would love to help ensure the town he loved more than anything else would, but he had made a promise to Carrot Top, and he wasn't going to break it if he could help it. "Listen, Sheriff, I'm kind of tied at the moment. I promise I'll help out later, but Carrot Top has a bad case of hypothermia. I need to get back to her right away."
"Well, why didn't you say so!" Sheriff Silverstar dropped Braeburn. "Get galloping."
"What do you think I've been doing," Braeburn sighed as he wiped away more dirt from his face.
"I now pronounce you, doll and wife!" a grey pegasus filly announced. "You can kiss the doll."
"Ew," the orange filly replied. "Mr. Princington is too high class for something like that."
"But, you're married now! What does a married pony do?"
"Mr. Princington is going to go to work while I stay home and take care of the children," the little orange filly explained to the grey filly. "And we'll be in love till the day we die."
"That's boring!" the grey filly shouted at the top of her lungs. "When I grow up I ain't never gonna get married and raise foals. I'm gonna be a scientist!"
"You just can't appreciate a sophisticated life."
Carrot Top's eyes opened slowly, the light of the sun hitting her unbearably on the floor of her room. She curled herself up again, closing her eyes to try and go back to that dream world where she was still a filly with the dream of marrying. "I'll most likely die alone," she whispered to herself.
"Carrot Top!" the door to Carrot Top's room was bucked open, Braeburn galloping in with a thermos tied around his neck. He nearly jumped out of his fur when he saw her lying on the floor. "Carrot Top! I told you, you have to stay in the bed."
"Sweaty," she moaned.
"You need to stay warm! It's for your own sake!" Braeburn grew hysteric as he hauled the ice cold mare back into the mountain of blankets. "Just, stay in there. Trust me, all right? And drink this!" He opened the thermos and held it to Carrot Top's still-blue lips. "It’ll warm you up from the inside, which is what you need right now."
Carrot Top closed her eyes as she inched herself closer to the straw, placing her lips around it and drinking in the concoction. It was warm and sweet, some of the finest juice she had ever had. "It's good," she sighed in content.
"Yeah, it gets that a lot." Braeburn gave Carrot Top a cheesy grin as he closed the now empty thermos. "Just stay in there, okay?"
"All right," Carrot Top weakly responded.
A knock came from the front door, catching Braeburn as he resumed tending
"You do remember its apple-bucking time, right?" she spat back, tapping a hoof on the ground impatiently. "We have chores to do."
"Sis, you got to understand. Miss Top is sick right now and needs attention. Her house-mate will be back at the end of the day so can't it wait?" His pleading was desperate. He was worried about Carrot Top, and afraid that if left alone she might kill herself in delirium. "She's got the shakes real bad."
Apple Bumpkin gritted her teeth as her elder-brother looked at her with his unique pair of puppy-like whimpering eyes. "Braeburn... you... dang it," she sighed, trying to meet Braeburn's projection with her own annoyed exasperation. "I'll put up a few flyers and see if I can get some workers. Braeburn, you... you're just too nice to deal with."
"I'll be fine, lil' sis," he assured her with a smile.
"Fine my patootie," Apple Bumpkin spat, turning away to fetch some able-bodied ponies for work. "You're gonna work yourself silly at some point the way you're always trying to help everypony, and then what?"
"I'll still be fine even then." With his sister taken care of, Braeburn returned to Carrot Top's side, the same soft smile still worn on his face. "Don't worry, Miss Top. I won't leave your side 'till I'm sure you're better."
Carrot Top turned on her side, facing away from Braeburn. When she finally did answer him, her voice was filled with uncertainty. "Am I taking up your time?" she asked. She didn't get his response immediately, and silence fell uncomfortably over the room. "Am I... a bother to you?" she asked again, her voice cracking.
"You're not a bother," Braeburn hastily blurted, reaching out a hoof to Carrot Top even if she couldn't see. "Your health is just more important than me bucking a few trees right now. Miss Top, please, it's nothing to worry about."
"Just admit it!" Carrot Top grew hysterical, her mind too exhausted to really consider what she was saying. "I've been bothering you since the first day we met."
"Miss Top, what is this about?" Braeburn tried to reason with the hysteric mare, but she jumped out of the bed, her body still shivering from her ailment. She almost fell on top of him, but she managed to catch herself at the last moment. "Carrot Top, please get back in bed!"
"I'll be fine," Carrot Top spat back, her voice barely above a whisper as she hugged herself. "Why won't you admit that I'm a bother to you?"
"Carrot Top, think about what you're-"
"Just go." Carrot Top tried to push him out the door, but her meager strength wouldn't allow it. She felt Braeburn's forehooves placed on her shoulders, trying to calm her down from her hysteria, but she pushed him away. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore. "I'll be fine," she whimpered. "You have your duties to your town. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Braeburn sighed as he moved Carrot Top back into the bed. He was met with resistance from her, but she could do nothing before his strength tempered from bucking apples for a living. "Just promise me you'll stay in bed," he begged. "Your mind is gonna tell you that it's too hot and the sweatin' might get to you, but you have to stay warm."
"All right," she whispered, curling up in her bed.
"Thanks. I'll be back later with some more warm apple juice when I finished with my chores. Just stay warm, Carrot Top." Giving Carrot Top one last worried look, Braeburn galloped out of the hovel, intent on finishing his chores as fast as possible so he could get back to Carrot Top.
Carrot Top felt a small tear run down her face as she listened to Braeburn's hoofsteps disappear into silence. "Why did I do that? Is my self-esteem really that low?" She buried herself under the pile of blankets, wishing she could just disappear into nothingness.
Apple Bumpkin sighed to herself as she hauled another barrel of apples to her loading cart. No ponies had shown up to help her since she pinned-up the held ad. "Don't these ponies know how they get their food.?"
"Hey, Bumpkin!" Braeburn called out as he galloped to her, skidding to a stop just a few feet past. "Point me to the trees! I need to make this quick!"
"What changed?" she sighed as she emptied the barrel. "A few minutes ago you wouldn't dare part with a pony in trouble."
"Well," Braeburn rubbed the back of his head, taking a deep breath before addressing his sister. "Miss Top seems to be kind of annoyed with me. I'm not sure if it's the shakes getting to her, or if she's just sick of me being around."
Apple Bumpkin groaned to herself as she recalled a previous conversation she had with Derpy and Little Strongheart. "Just get to bucking some apples, alright? You can gallop back to your fillyfriend afterwards."
"I- I told you!" Braeburn roared, tripping over his words. "Miss Top and I aren't like that."
Carrot Top tossed and turned in her bed, unable to get comfortable under the sweat-soaked sheets, and her stomach wouldn't stop demanding a meal from her. "Braeburn made some good oatmeal," she whispered to herself, climbing out of bed. "It can't be that hard to replicate."
She dragged herself into the kitchen, her movements shaky and slow. She found the dirty pan in the sink, crusty oatmeal still clinging to it. "Just boil some water and add the oats," she told herself as she filled it up. She turned on the stove and placed the pan over it. "Just a little longer," she told herself, sitting down on the floor and dozing off. "Just need something to eat and I'll be fine..."
"What an ugly doll!"
The little orange filly was held down to the ground as the mean-spirited yellow filly stomped on Mr. Princington. She tried and struggled to break away from the hold of the yellow fillies friends, but there was nothing she could do.
"Let go of Carrot!" A grey pegasus filly flew right into the yellow filly, knocking herself and her target to the ground. She scrambled to get up and grab the doll before the other, but the yellow filly instead held her back by the tip of her tail. "Let go!" she cried, trying to fly away with all her might.
The mean-spirited smiled wickedly as she happily obliged, letting go of the grey filly as she flung herself into the air, away from the scene. The yellow filly turned back to the orange filly. "Really, aren’t you too old to be playing with dolls? What are you, a foal?"
"I- I- I-" the orange filly gasped between tears as she tried to defend herself, but the yellow filly continued to dig into the orange filly's sadness.
"You'll end up alone for the rest of your life, surrounded by dolls."
"Lemon Hearts!" the grey filly came swooping down, intent on crashing into the yellow filly again, but the filly stepped to the side, dodging the grey filly with poise. The grey filly picked herself up, shaking dirt out of her head and trying to focus her unfocused eyes on the yellow filly. "Carrot won't be alone!"
"Oh, really," the yellow filly sighed. "Do tell me why, Derpy."
"No!" Carrot Top yelled, a new wave of tears forming in her eyes.
"Because she's married to Mr. Princington!" the grey filly declared. "I would know. I was there!"
The yellow filly turned back to the orange filly slowly, her wicked smile evolving to a grin of pure-maliciousness. "You're married to a doll? That's so pathetic!" She and her two friends started laughing. They laughed so hard that they let go of the orange filly, but they didn't need to. The orange filly buried her face in the ground, tears pouring out of her face wishing she could disappear into thin air.
"What are you doing?" the grey filly asked as she watched the orange filly throw all her toys and dolls into boxes. "I thought you liked all this stuff, Carrot?"
"It's all for foals!" the orange filly yelled back indignantly, making her grey friend jump into the air. "I don't need any of this. I'll grow up and be the most mature mare in the world. No one will say mean things to me and a real colt will love me! Not some doll!"
"So, you're packing up Mr. Princington?" the grey filly asked with a twinge of sadness. "But aren't you married?”
"It's just pretend!" The orange filly picked up the old and ragged doll. She had had it for a few years now, and the seams were sticking out in various directions. "I'm done with this!" She yelled as loud as she could, stuffing the doll into the last box and taping it shut. With the help of her grey friend, they hauled the boxes into the attic of her home, casting away her childhood forever.
"So what now?" the grey filly asked, listlessly staring at the hatch to the attic.
"You know, the winter dance is coming up. Going together sounds fun and like something a mare would do!" the orange filly suggested, relief spreading over her at the thought of going out to do something fun with her friend.
"Sorry," the grey filly replied, "but I'm actually going with Ponet."
"What?" the orange filly looked back at the other, a lump forming in the pit of her stomach. Was her best friend going to leave her too? "I... I didn't know you worked up the courage to ask him."
"And he said yes!" The grey filly jumped into the air, hitting her head on the ceiling before gracefully falling back down to the floor, swaying in every direction. "But, you can come too!"
"No, no. It's all right. I'll just stay in and study. I think there's a biology test coming up soon. You... have fun, okay?"
That's right. Carrot Top thought to herself. That's when I became who I am. She struggled to keep another wave of tears from escaping, grabbing onto the closest thing she could get her hooves around and holding it close to herself. It's so warm and fluffy. What is this?
"Good morning, Carrot Top."
"Good morning, Braeburn," she sighed, hiding a small smile within his fur.
"Uh, Carrot Top, I'm not Braeburn."
"What?" Carrot Top eyes shot open, and she came face to face with Little Strongheart. "Little Strongheart!" she yelled out, pushing her away and off the bed.
"Wha— Ow!" Little Strongheart yelped in pain as she hit the floor. "What was that for?" she groaned.
"You surprised me! What are you doing in my bed!?"
"She ain't the only one!" another voice answered her from behind. Derpy sat up from behind Carrot Top, Dinky held between her forelegs and her wings stretching outwards as she stretched away all the kinks in her body. "Morning, Carrot Top!"
"What are you doing here!? I thought you were in Ponyville?"
"We're back!" Derpy announced. "It's already been two days. You slept the whole day away."
"I... I did?" Carrot Top sighed as she hopped out of bed, thankful that the shivering had come to pass.
"We spent all night trying to warm you up," Little Strongheart groaned as she dragged herself back on her hooves, the locks on her head now a curly mess. "Braeburn would feed you apple juice while Derpy and I warmed you with our body heat. I hope you don't mind too much?" She rubbed the back of her head, trying to sooth the lump growing.
"I... thanks, girls." Carrot Top looked around the room, looking for a certain stallion that did his best to save her life despite her selfishness and protest. "Where is Braeburn?"
"I think he is at the orchard?" Little Strongheart replied. She watched as Carrot Top took off faster than she had ever seen before.
"Get down!" Braeburn grunted as he bucked his hindlegs against another apple tree. Its name-sake came falling down into tactically placed buckets on the ground. "Just a few more trees and I'll be done for the day," he sighed.
"Braeburn!" Carrot Top called out to him from just beyond the horizon. She galloped towards him, faster than she had ever had before, exhausted but struggling onwards with her third-wind of energy.
"Miss Top?" Braeburn answered back. He was impressed with how fast she was coming in. Too quickly, even. "Uh, Miss Top? You're coming in too fast!"
"I can't hear you!" she yelled back between pants, crashing head first into Braeburn, the two tumbling like a wheel and landing on the ground, Braeburn collapsed on top of Carrot Top. "Oh, that hurt," she winced.
"Not much of a runner, huh?" Braeburn laughed as he dragged himself off her, lying next to her in the dirt rubbing his sore joints.
"No," she laughed. "I most certainly am not." She turned back to him, her eyes filled with regrets and worry. "Braeburn, I'm sorry I'm a neurotic mess. If you never want to see me, I understand." She had said her piece, and all that was left for her was to wait for his response. No regrets, remember.
"Miss Top," Braeburn picked himself up and extended a hoof to Carrot Top. "You have nothing to apologize for as far as I'm concerned. You were sick. You couldn't help the things you said."
"But... it's all true. I must be a bother to you with the way I'm always coming to you for help."
"Well, it sometimes gets to be troublesome for me, but I don't mind." He lifted her back onto her hooves, offering a shoulder for her to limp on as he guided her back to the hovel instinctively. "So, I hope you don't mind if I'm a little overbearing. I've often been told my energy can be too much."
"You're perfect just the way you are, Braeburn."
"Really? I think you’re perfect just the way you are too, Miss Top."
Carrot Top stopped, her mind whirling back through every step of her life. She turned back to Braeburn, her heart threatening to jump out of her throat as another set of tears began to erupt from her eyes. "You think so?"
"Of course."
"Thank you," she cried, burying her face in his neck to hide her happiness.
"I'm back," Carrot Top groaned as she let go of Braeburn's shoulder, collapsing to the floor. "This is not an experience I want to go through again."
"I suggest checking the weather schedule in the plaza every morning," Braeburn replied as he dragged Carrot Top over to the couch.
"Carrot Top!" Derpy jumped onto Carrot Top, knocking the wind out of her and squeezing her in a rib-crushing hug of strength that did now reflect her small frame. "You have to stop over-exerting yourself like this! I was so worried, Carrot Top!" she gasped between a few tears.
"Derpy, I'll be fine, but only if I can breathe!" Carrot Top was already woozy from her exhausting run and Derpy's overbearing affection was doing little for her health. "Please, Derpy, let go!"
Derpy giggled to herself as she floated off Carrot Top, floating over to a box by the front door. "By the way, Carrot Top, I was rummaging through the boxes in your attic, and guess what I found."
"Oh, Celestia, no!" Carrot Top springed into action, desperate to cut Derpy off before she could open the box and reveal the embarrassing memories contained within.
"Our old photos!" She tore open the box, revealing a stack of old dusty photo albums. "I've got pictures of us all the way back to preschool! Want to see what mommy looked like when she was a little muffin, muffin?" she cooed at her daughter.
"No," Dinky flatly replied before. She didn't bat an eyelash when she was predictably hoisted into her mother's lap and an album opened in front of her. Braeburn and Little Strongheart gathered behind Dinky and Derpy as she opened up the first album.
"Here I am dressed up for the winter dance," Derpy squealed. "I used to be so cute."
"Miss Doo, with all due respect you still look as cute as a button," Braeburn replied, Carrot Top and Little Strongheart nearly jumping out of their skins.
"Aw thanks, Braeburn."
"Who's that?" Dinky asked, pointing to another photo.
"That's Ponet, a..." her mind drifted off for a moment. She pulled her Dinky closer to her, and kissed her head. "He's a friend mommy had in school."
"And what's that?" Little Strongheart gestured to another picture.
"Oh thaaaaaaaats," Derpy replied with a wide grin, "Mr. Princington!"
Oh no. Carrot Top's eyes shrunk in horror as she shot back to her hooves. "Derpy, I think Dinky is looking dirty. Perhaps a bath is in order!"
"Don't sell me out!"
"What is a Mr. Princington?" Little Strongheart asked.
"Mr. Princington is Carrot Top's husband!" Derpy shouted as loud as she could, drawing quizzical expressions from her audience.
Little Strongheart stared at the picture and then back at Carrot Top before a mischievous smile played across her face. "You and your husband look adorable together, don't you think, Braeburn?"
"I do agree," Braeburn replied, failing to suppress an amused whinny.
Carrot Top collapsed back onto the couch, attempting to bury her shame before a little giggle escaped her. "Yeah, we were pretty adorable together," she sighed, letting her mind take her back through her childhood. But life seems to be just getting started for me here.
Chapter 5: A dance is made!
"Stop right there, criminal scum!" Derpy cried out in her most commanding voice. She was chasing a bandit half-way across the town, tailing him like a hawk on the hunt. "I, Derpy Doo, am here to deliver justice unto you!"
"What's this mare talking about!" the thief shouted to the passerbys, ducking into another of Appleloosa's numerous alleys to escape the long wing of the law. He was trying to make off with the entirety of the Salt Block's cash register. He had heard that the last pony tried to steal from the Apple Mart and got a face full of buffalo hoof.
"You'll never take me alive!" the thief yelled back, unable to see the barbershop he was running into. The thief turned back too late and ran smack dab into the door of the building. "Ow..."
Derpy flew straight into him, breaking the door and barreling through, landing on the other side of the shop with the thief pinned under her hooves. "You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law!"
"What court?" the thief groaned. "Celestia governs everything."
"That's Princess Celestia to you, bub!" Derpy excitedly placed a hoof in the thief's mouth, mentally patting herself on the back for a job well-done.
"Derpy!" Silverstar walked into the scene, amazed by her work. "I haven't seen wrangling like that in years!"
"It's all in a day's work!" She saluted with her free hoof.
"Would you all get out of my shop!" Cormano roared at the trio. "I have a business to run!"
Braeburn happily trotted through town with a stack of posters tied up in a satchel. He was excited and giddy to be able to tell everyone he came across about the upcoming dance-party that the entire town was invited to. It was a chance for everyone to come together and celebrate their town bond, and it was events like this that he felt made living in a small town worthwhile. He lived to make others smile. He kept on his route, and stopped to greet a certain orange-maned pony. "Well, good morning, Carrot Top!" he called out, waving his hoof eagerly.
"Good mo-orning," Carrot Top yawned back. "Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night." Carrot Top struggled to suppress another yawn even though she was tired enough to pass out on the spot. Her eyes drooped and spotted the poster Braeburn had hung on the wall behind him. "Town Hooves Social?" she read, unable to discern its meaning. "What's this?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Braeburn whinnied exuberantly, reaching for a poster and forcing it onto Carrot Top. "This here is for the town wide dance celebration Town Hooves Social! Anypony and everypony is invited to show up! We'll have music and snacks and merriment and everypony is invited onto the dance floor! Why, it's a hoof and a half and then some!"
"A... dance?" Carrot Top slowly repeated. "That sounds... delightful, but I think I'll pass. I'm just not a very good dancer," she admitted, feeling embarrassed. "Getting my Masters didn't call for any dance classes." With an uneasy laugh she turned away from Braeburn, anxious to get back to her work.
"Now that's a real shame," Braeburn sighed. "I was kinda hoping to get a dance in with you too. Well, see you, Miss Top." Braeburn turned around and started galloping through the frontier town, unknowingly leaving a paralyzed and wide-eyed Carrot Top behind, gawking in place.
Carrot Top stared blankly into space for a while, her mind gushing and livid as she thought about what a dance with Braeburn would feel like. "He wants to dance with me, but does he want to dance with me as a friend, or maybe something more? I mean, dancing is just so... forward, but it's a public thing so it's not like a private date, but it's not a date, but it's with him and it's kind of like a date but it's public so-"
"Hi, Carrot Top!" Derpy called from the sky, breaking Carrot Top out of her recursive trance. She nearly crashed right into her on landing, but skidded to a stop merely an inch away and shoved herself into Carrot Top's field of vision. "What are you staring at, Carrot Top?"
"Oh, nothing, Derpy," Carrot Top replied back, slightly embarrassed to be caught stuck in her head for so long. "How are you this morning?"
"Fantastic!" Derpy replied, grabbing Carrot Top around the shoulder and directing them both to the sky where, Carrot Top assumed, there was something she was supposed to be watching. "I just nailed a thief and Silverstar was really pleased and all! Carrot Top, there's nothing like a day's work of getting your hooves dirty."
"Derpy, I get my hooves dirty all the time," Carrot Top waited for some kind of reaction, but instead Derpy continued to stare out into space. "Anyway, do you know about the Town Hoof Social thing going on soon?"
"The what now?"
"Town Hoof Social. It's supposed to be a public event where everypony gets together to foster town closeness by dancing," she explained mechanically.
"Ooh, sounds like fun!" Derpy, in her excitement, began dragging herself and Carrot Top into the sky, fantasizing to herself about social. "I can just dance the whole night away with my precious little muffin," she sighed soothingly.
"Yes, I'm sure you're as light on your hooves as you are in the air, which brings me to a favor I’d like to ask of you." Carrot Top paused, and took a deep breath. "I want you to teach me to dance," she said quickly. "You see, I don't really know how to."
"Dancing is easy, Carrot!" Derpy replied as she gently lowered herself and Carrot Top back to the ground. "You just got to shake that groove thing!" she explained vaguely, but leading by example by shaking her head and flanks in opposite directions. "See, easy."
"No," Carrot Top stressed in frustration. "Like, slow dances you would do with other ponies, really close to each other, romantic... ish..."
"Oh, well, that's tougher. You have to be really coordinated-"
"I'm not the klutz!"
"Alright alight. Then Derpy's dancing studio for eggheads is open for business!"
Little Strongheart peeked out from the windows of Appleloosa's police building. She could see Braeburn cantering giddily through town, hanging posters with words she still couldn't read. "Uh, Chief Silverstar," she turned to address her superior, who was busy rummaging through an old box, "what is it that thing Braeburn is hanging?"
"It's an advertisement for the town dance," Silverstar answered her, never taking his attention away from the box. He had nearly emptied its contents which lay out on the floor behind him. With a sigh, he turned to Little Strongheart. "Say, Little Strongheart, do you know what kind of gifts Derpy likes?"
She thought about it for a moment and found herself surprised with her answer. "Actually, I have not seen Derpy show any fondness for any single thing beyond her daughter." She grew curious and approached Silverstar, who grew uneasy. "Is there a reason why?"
"W-well," Silverstar bumbled, "I just think that you two have been doing some good work and deserve some kind of bonus. A buffalo that someponies here are still suspicious about and a pegasus from Ponyville? You two have the least connection to this city but still put your all into protecting it."
"Why thank you," Little Strongheart replied, "I am just happy to be helpful here. In fact... If it's of no trouble," she paused for a moment, fumbling her hooves nervously, "could you tell me what Braeburn likes?" She felt her face warm up under her fur and she hoped Silverstar wouldn't read too deeply into her question. "He is always working hard for the town as well."
"Little Strongheart, do you like Braeburn?" Silverstar asked knowingly.
"N-no!" Little Strongheart panicked, resisting the urge to bore through the door and stampede as fast as she could. "I-I mean... a... little..."
"You can always try something hoof-made," he offered her with a comforting smile. "I'm afraid he's too simple a pony to appreciate anything material, but if you offer him something you made with your feelings, well maybe something will get through that hard-hard head of his."
"Really?" she asked, her eyes filled with bright wishes. "Thank you!" Little Strongheart bowed graciously to Silverstar, her feelings reaching a fever pitch as her mind danced with flowing ideas. "Thank you very much, Chief Silverstar. I must go back home and begin right away!"
"Think nothing of it. You're like family here as far as I'm concerned."
"I am honored to be thought of in such a way," Little Strongheart replied, feeling a small tear form in her eyes. It is nice to be thought of in such a way too. Casting Silverstar a warm smile, she turned to the doors and ran right into Braeburn.
"Well hold your horses there, Lil' Strongheart!" Braeburn chirped, unable to resist the urge to laugh at his own terrible joke. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Little Strongheart felt her heart beating away rapidly in her chest, making her thoughts a muddled mess. "I-I just felt the need to return home quickly," she replied weakly. "It is nice to see you though."
"Well it's always nice to see you too," Braeburn answered back, his warm voice comforting her. "Say, are you going to attend our Town Hoof Social? Everypony'll be there, and we can get a chance to dance together!"
"Y-you want to dance with me!?" She was grateful for her brown coat, as it proved to be the perfect disguise for her burning-red face. It was one of the things she wanted to do most with him. It was as if her ancestors themselves were reaching out from beyond the grave to fulfill her wishes.
"Well a ‘course! You said before you like to dance with your tribe, right?"
"Yes!" Little Strongheart replied over-eagerly. "I-I mean, yes. It's something I love to do, a-and I..." She paused, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "I would love to dance with you!" She opened her eyes, throat dry with anticipation as she watched Braeburn's smile grow even brighter.
"Well that's great," Braeburn whinnied. "In fact, why don't you see about getting your whole tribe to attend?"
Little Strongheart felt her mind stop for a single moment and become numb. "M-my tribe? I do not know if they would go for that! I mean, not everypony is happy about the incident a year ago... not even everybuffalo as well..."
"Then we gotta teach 'em!" Braeburn brought his face down to Little Strongheart's, giving her a tender look. "We're great friends, right?"
But what if I wanted to be more than friends? Little Strongheart stared longingly into Braeburn's eyes. Her heart was on the verge of exploding. "I... yes, we are very good friends." She turned down to the floor, avoiding his gaze directly as a few more words danced on the edge of her lips: words she couldn't say.
"Then I know we can get everypony and everybuffalo to put aside their differences. It will be like our own little Hearth's Warming Eve." His warm voice called Little Strongheart's face up towards him, and the look she gave him quickened his pulse. "Together, I'm sure we can teach 'em all to love one another."
"Yes!" she chirped happily, her smile making him blush.
"Y-yeah!" Braeburn answered her. "I can't wait. Until then, Lil' Strongheart!" He turned around, and galloped out of the doorway.
Silverstar coughed to clear his voice and the silence. "Cute crush."
"Is it so obvious?" she sighed, ready to collapse onto her belly. "Carrot Top, Derpy, Dinky, Apple Bumpkin, and now even you know."
"That's a lot of ponies, kid." Silverstar mulled over the last word. "Little Strongheart, don't go hurting yourself over Braeburn's sake."
"Why would I hurt myself?" she asked innocently.
"Life can just deal some painful hands," Silverstar answered her, the metaphor leaving little impressions. "I've got to get on duty. Take the rest of the day off, and make something special, alright?"
"Of course!" Little Strongheart eagerly replied, stampeding out of the doorway and heading off to the buffalo grazing lands.
Chief Thunderhooves sat in deep meditation before a pit-fire he made. For him, it was a daily exercise in order to keep his old mind clear and open in his old age. "Breathe in," he whispered, inhaling the scented fumes of his fire, "and breathe out." He exhaled the scent, and chuckled to himself.
"Chief Thunderhooves!"
"Hm?" he turned, and saw Little Strongheart stampeding towards him as fast as she could. He didn't bat an eye as she skidded to a stop a foot away, kicking up a cloud of dust that nearly extinguished his flame. "Little Strongheart, what brings you back here so early in the day?"
"The chief of Appleloosa has given me a day of rest, and I also came to extend to the tribe an invitation!" She was giddy for a response, almost bouncing on her hooves.
"An invitation?" he repeated, mulling over the words. "An invitation to what?"
"We have been invited by Braeburn of Appleloosa to attend their Town Hoof Social, a party for dancing that takes place in their dance hall."
"Appleloosa..." Chief Thunderhooves turned back to his fire, tossing a few sticks at his side into it to rekindle the flame. "Not everybuffalo is going to like the idea," he warned her. "And more so, if this ends badly it could mean the end of our ties to the town."
"But this is also a chance to mend the bad feelings between the tribe and town. There would be no more fighting, and other buffalos could visit as well."
"It is..." Chief Thunderhooves paused. It was obvious to him that Little Strongheart was hopeful about the dance, and it was something he didn't want to take away from her. "It is something to consider. When I have made my decision I will notify the rest of the tribe."
"Thank you," Little Strongheart replied, bowing her head in respect.
Carrot Top collapsed onto the floor, struggling to keep her lunch down after an intense dancing lesson with Derpy that left her outright winded. "Am I... am I good enough now!?" she screamed back at her between breaths.
"Not unless you want to leave the impression you have four left hooves!" Derpy replied back with scorn. "I've seen better dancing from bags floating in the wind. Now, mind you, those bags are quite graceful, but my point stands!"
Dinky watched the entire scene just a few feet off, laughing to herself as she watched Carrot Top continue to embarrass herself, subjecting herself to Derpy's erratic and downright nonsensical dancing lessons. "Make her do the hoof stands again," she snickered, ignoring Carrot Top's wrath-filled eyes.
"Please, no," Carrot Top sighed. "Can't we just take a break?"
"Break ends at fifty-eight hundred hours!" Derpy announced, laying herself next to Carrot Top and watching the clouds pass-by. "That's what a drill-sergeant says, right?"
"Close enough," Carrot Top sighed, closing her eyes and letting her body get the rest it deserved. She sighed contently, already imagining her night with Braeburn. "Say, Derpy, are you looking forward to dancing with anypony at tonight?"
"Of course!" Derpy responded overenthusiastically. "My sweet little muffin!"
Dinky resisted the urge to do a gag herself. "The promise was one dance, and then I get to stay up past by bedtime!" It was the perfect plan.
"Of course, sweetheart!" Derpy replied, giggling to herself before softening her voice to a whisper. "When I'm done with her, she'll be too tired to even think about sleeping." It was her own perfect plan.
"I should have known," Carrot Top laughed to herself as she continued to imagine her night with Braeburn against the backdrop of her eyes. "A night of fun for everypony I'm sure," she giggled.
"Imagining you and Braeburn?" Derpy perceptively asked.
"Yes," Carrot Top sighed. "I keep thinking about what he means when he said he wanted to dance with me. I doubt he meant it to be anything romantic but, well, I still can't help but think what if? What if he meant something more? What if something more happens?" She started to gush as her mind flooded with scenarios. "If I could just get in one good dance with him."
"Then, Little Strongheart would be really sad," Derpy sighed. "I don't want to see her sad."
Silence fell over the two for a moment, Carrot Top struggling to hold back a tear. "So It's all right if I'm alone forever?" she finally answered Derpy, her voice cracking.
"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Derpy shot upwards, hovering over Carrot Top with her forehooves clasped together. "I don't mean that! I mean, I don't want to see you sad either. I just don't want to see anyone sad, and I'm really afraid that all of this is going to end with someone being sad."
Carrot Top sighed, getting her emotions under control before pulling her friend back down to the earth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset." Uncharacteristically, she placed a hoof around Derpy, pulling the two together. "You just want everypony to be happy."
"And everybuffalo!" Derpy adamantly added.
"It would be nice if that were the case, but life isn't that easy. We all have to take our hits eventually, and Little Strongheart and I agreed that there would be no hard feelings between us no matter who won Braeburn."
"So he's a trophy?"
"Nothing like that!" Carrot Top yelled back. "We're just two adults competing for the same stallion." Carrot Top paused for a moment, and corrected her statement. "Well, one adult, and a filly... what's the term for a buffalo filly?"
"Calf," Dinky answered her.
"Yes, a calf," Carrot Top sighed, and buried her face in the dirt. "No, this won't end well all, I suppose."
"Just a few more," Little Strongheart whispered to herself as she continued to stitch together hours upon hours of work. Before her was a half-finished scarf she had worked tirelessly on for hours. "Hoof-knitted," she exclaimed proudly. "Just for Braeburn."
"For who?" Chief Thunderhooves asked from behind her.
Little Strongheart jumped to her hooves, bashfully hiding the parcel behind herself. "N-nopony in particular," she responded with an unconvincing grin.
"Nopony?" Chief Thunderhooves repeated for her. "So, I am to believe this is for a pony then?"
"Er, yes," Little Strongheart admitted. "I am making this for a... friend." The last word hung off her lips feebly as she resigned herself to the title. She had hoped so much that, with this gift, she just might become something more in Braeburn's eyes, but Chief Thunderhooves' lingering gaze casted doubts onto such an idea. "It's just a good-will gift."
Chief Thunderhooves picked up the scarf from behind her and inspected it closely. "Quite a well-made gift," he complimented her. "So, the rumors are true that you are infatuated with a pony."
"W-what!" Little Strongheart grabbed the scarf away from her Chief, using it to hide her face. She was so embarrassed that her blush could be seen from behind her fur. "T-those are just rumors."
"Little Strongheart," Chief Thunderhooves started with a low and deep voice that cook the ground they sat on, "didn't I raise you to be honest," His deep voice would have struck paralyzing fear into most other buffalos and even ponies. "I did not take you in so you could lie to me, Little Strongheart."
Little Strongheart buried her face deeper into the scarf before answering the chief with muffled words. "You are right, Chief. This scarf is for a pony." She was afraid of the disapproving look she was sure to be found on her Chief's face. She kept herself buried in scarf's comfortable darkness.
Chief Thunderhooves sat himself next to Little Strongheart, berating himself for not knowing how to handle her properly. "I am sorry if I sounded harsh, but lying is something I do not tolerate from any tribe member. Not just you."
"I know," Little Strongheart weakly replied.
"And," he took a deep breath, "I do not disapprove, Little Strongheart."
Little Strongheart peaked out from behind the scarf, looking with a hopeful heart into the eyes of her Chief. "You do not?"
"No, but I do worry. I cannot say what the tribe as a whole will say, and it is my job as Chief to make sure that we as a tribe are united."
"Yes, you are right."
The two sat together for a moment, neither saying a word. Little Strongheart looked down to the scarf, and sighed to herself; two drops of tears were stained into the scarf.
"You can use dye to hide that." Chief Thunderhooves replied, eliciting a grateful smile from her lips. "The pony you like, who is it?"
"Braeburn," Little Strongheart admitted. "He was the yellow pony that wanted our tribe and his city to not fight. He is... a very kind pony."
"You do know that I will come down on him with all the indignation of an overbearing parent."
"You wouldn't!" Little Strongheart cried out energetically.
"I would," Chief Thunderhooves replied stoically, hiding his mischievous grin. "You are my daughter, even if we do not share blood, and I will always protect you... whether you like it or not."
Braeburn couldn't help the wide and cheesy grin plastered across his face. It was the same one he could never hide when he knew someone new was coming to Appleloosa, only wider. Everyone would come out of their homes and shells and reintroduce each other to their neighbors and friends, and he would keep himself at the center of it. "Welcome everypony! To the Aaaaaaaaaaappleloosa Town Hoof Social!" he announced as loud as his youthful voice would let him. Even the air around him seemed invigorated.
Apple Bumpkin had to resist the urge to hide in a corner from her embarrassing older brother. "Can you be less loud, and ridiculous?" she hissed. "Do you want ponies to think you're insane?"
Braeburn took his sister around her shoulders, pulling her right next to him to greet anyone that would appear. "Lighten up, sis! This is supposed to be a festival! No need for in-door voices!"
"Or self-respect," Apple Bumpkin sighed.
"Braaaaaaeeeburn!" Derpy called out from the sky, landing directly in front of them as Dinky clinging to the back of her mane. "Guess who's here to dance?" she asked exuberantly.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you, Miss Doo," he answered her with a hearty laugh. "I should have known a pony like you would love this kinda stuff."
"We'll you're only half-right!" Derpy corrected him. "I do love this kinda stuff, but the real answer is somepony else. Presenting, the new, Carrot Top!" Derpy yelled as she stepped to the side. Behind her stood Carrot Top, wearing an immaculate and embroidered dress for the evening. She almost looked like a princess. "Really purty, huh?" she teased Braeburn.
"Uh, y-yeah," Braeburn responded, becoming red in the face behind his yellow fur. "You look quite breathtaking, Miss Top."
"Thank you," Carrot Top answered him with poise and elegance, but inside she was jumping with joy like a filly.
Apple Bumpkin elbowed her brother in the side, finally breaking free of his vice-like grip. "Any clue where Little Strongheart is, Derpy? I was hoping we could all spend the evening together."
"She'll be bringing her tribe around later," Braeburn answered for her. "We're going to get everypony to bury the hatchet. There's no reason why we all can't get along!"
"Well, I don't see them yet," Apple Bumpkin answered him. She grabbed Derpy around the leg and dragged her inside. "C'mon, let's get some punch before it's all gone!"
Carrot Top and Braeburn were left in the chilly evening. She wanted to follow Apple Bumpkin's example and steal Braeburn away into the dance where she could finally get her moment with him, but her body wouldn't let her. Carrot Top stood by him, resisting the urge to nuzzle his neck. "I'm sure they'll show," she offered him.
"I'm sure to," Braeburn sighed. "So, why don't we go inside? It's getting cold, and I know the inside is nice and toasty."
Carrot Top's face lit up, as she was escorted into the dance hall. Everyone in Appleloosa was there, eating together, laughing together, and dancing together like one big loving family. "It really is as nice as you said," she spoke warmly to Braeburn, getting lost in the moment.
"Well, Miss Top, wanna dance?" Braeburn offered his hoof to her, letting the sweet and slow music settle over the crowd. Two-by-two couples took their place on the dance floor, and Carrot Top joined them with Braeburn in hoof.
"I would love to." All her practice had led to this moment, when she would dance with Braeburn. He took her hoof, and they leaned on each other, helping each-other stay on their hind-legs. They stayed like this, swinging from one side to another.
Derpy sighed in content as she watched the two dance. "Don't they look nice together?"
"Until Little Strongheart shows up," Dinky concluded. "Somebuffalo is going to get hurt."
"Don't be so perceptive," Derpy giggled, nudging her daughter. "You gotta take your moments to enjoy the present, or else you're going to spend your whole life looking forward to nothing."
"Huh?" Dinky stared at her mother, trying to decipher where in the annals of her goofy mind did that come from. "Just what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, before having a plate shoved in her lap.
"I've got cake!" Apple Bumpkin happily announced as she shoved another plate into Derpy's lap and sitting to join them. "My brother looks like a zoned-out idiot," she commented quickly before stuffing her face with cake.
Derpy laughed and scarfed down her own slice of cake. "Too much cynicism! You all need a new outlook on life!"
The song came to a slow end, but Carrot Top and Braeburn continued to their own pace. Carrot Top, lost in her moment, placed her head by Braeburn's neck, enjoying the soothing rhythm of his heart and using it for a new song. She had found heaven against the warm embrace of another body. Is this what I've been missing out on for so long? She closed her eyes, and the song finally came to a complete end. So soon...
"That's that," Braeburn sighed, "but that was fun though. Did you enjoy yourself, Miss Top?"
"Yes, I did," she replied. "Thank you, Braeburn, for this wonderful evening." She was guided to the edge of the building, and sat herself next to Derpy. "Having fun," she sang jubilantly.
"I know you are, lucky filly," Derpy teased her. "Nice to know all my training didn't go to waste."
"No, they didn't." Carrot Top was pleased with herself. "And they won't be going to a waste anytime soon if I can help it."
The doors of the dance-hall flew open, on the other-side stood Little Strongheart with a train of buffalos behind her. Everyone in the hall stopped to gawk at the spectacle. "Uh, hi," Little Strongheart greeted them, beginning to feel uneasy. "We're here..."
"Little Strongheart!" Braeburn called out to her from across the hall. He galloped up to her, stopping to bow before Chief Thunderhooves before jumping up and grabbing her hooves. "It's great that you all could make it! You're just in time too!”
Chief Thunderhooves stepped forward, scanning Braeburn with an inquisitive eye. "I am Chief Thunderhooves," he said in a low and commanding voice.
"I'm Braeburn," Braeburn replied back in an upbeat but respectful tone.
Chief Thunderhooves didn't respond immediately, creating discomfort all across the building. His eyes kept shifting between Little Strongheart and Braeburn, standing together, one's hoof in the grasp of the other. "So you are Braeburn," he spoke quietly. "You are the one who extended an invitation to the buffalo tribe?" His voice was deep and carried with it a deep respect that in-turn was respected. Braeburn nodded, and Chief Thunderhooves replied with a smile. "I thank you."
The buffalo filed into the building. Many of them looked uneasy and unsure about the occasion. Their Chief had told them that they would attend a festival in Appleloosa to try and mend the relationship between the two cultures, and with every buffalo filing into the room it began to get crowded and stuffy.
Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves took a spot at the front of the dance-hall, looking out over the awkward interactions of their races. Silverstar spoke first. "I didn't think they would go for it."
"It took a bit of coaxing on my part," Chief Thunderhooves sighed. "I truly think now that a harmonious coexistence would be best for us all, but I was also the one who advocated stampeding through the town. I'm afraid I may have confused my tribe."
"We all make mistakes."
"I cannot afford to make many for the sake of my tribe." Chief Thunderhooves looked over to Little Strongheart and Braeburn who were trying to keep disputes between the races from breaking out. "Braeburn is the one who came up with the idea of inviting us?" Silverstar nodded. "I see, then I do not have to worry about Little Strongheart."
"So you know about her little crush?" Silverstar asked, and was answered with a nod. "Well, Braeburn is a good guy, but good intentions doesn't automatically mean good things. You can ask his sister about that."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just afraid that somebuffalo may get hurt in all this."
"So, you are afraid for Little Strongheart?"
"Little Strongheart is young, and Braeburn is old enough to be considered a stallion. Those kinds of relations can end really painfully for someone."
Little Strongheart had to hold back another buffalo from trying to bore through a pony, a feat she was beginning to lose. "Get out of my way, Strongheart," the buffalo bellowed, "this pony is just asking for it with her rude comments."
"I'd say them again too," the crusty old mare responded. "Big violent cows the lot of you!"
Braeburn tried to restrain the mare, but his code of conduct did not allow him to harm mares, especially old ones. "Now, hold on, there is no need for name calling."
"Dang cows are making the place all hot and sweaty too with their giant fur!" the mare yelled again, and she was right. The dance hall was heating up exponentially, and it was making things unbearable for everyone.
"Then, how about we move the dance outside?" Little Strongheart suggested, catching Braeburn's attention.
"That's a great idea!" Braeburn ran towards the doors of the dance hall and bucked them open, knocking them off their hinges. "Hey everypony and everybuffalo! Party is now being moved outside! Grab some lanterns!" His announcement didn't capture everyone's interest. Some even looked appalled at the idea, but then one voice sprang up cheering.
"That's a great idea!" Derpy cried out as she flew through the air. "We can start a big fire and roast marshmallows and make smores and play games!"
"Well," Apple Bumpkin spoke next, "what are you all waiting for? You heard him, the party is now outside!"
Slowly, the inhabitants of the hall moved outside, some bringing the tables of food and festival decorations with them. Chief Thunderhooves managed to gather the buffalo and begin working on a pit-fire big enough to shine light all across the town. The nearby houses were adorned with the decorations and the fire up and providing warmth against the cold night.
"Well alrighty everyone!" Braeburn whinnied. "A year ago, our town and the buffalo tribe got into a fight that almost ended with the destruction of our town!" The ponies began glaring at the buffalo. "But! That didn't happen! Because Chief Thunderhooves called off the attack before things got out of hoof! And here we are a year later, hoof in hoof! It's about time we forgive each other because nopony and nobuffalo is going anywhere!" His youthful and idealistic words failed to captivate the audience.
Silverstar stepped up next to Braeburn. "I can't speak for the buffalo, but, ponies, don't we value friendship and harmony? It's because of friendship and harmony that we have our grand country. We should extend that to the buffalo, and let our fine little city prosper with newfound friendship."
Chief Thunderhooves stood up next. "Buffalos! Are we not proud and noble? If the ponies extend to us friendship, should we not honor it and accept it! Our ancestors tamed this land by living in harmony with it, and now we have a chance to tame a new land of friendship offered to us by the ponies!"
The ponies and buffalo were being inspired by the words of their leaders and even began clopping to their inspiring words.
"So," Silverstar started, "why don't we star off this celebration with a dance. Braeburn, Little Strongheart, why don't you start everyone off?"
"Me!?" Little Strongheart's eyes went wide as a grey hooves began to push her forward. "I-I don't know about this!"
Braeburn smiled, and took her hooves into his own again. "Don't be shy now! We have to show everyone that we can all love each other."
"L-love!?" Little Strongheart blurted as she lost control of her body. Braeburn pulled her out to the center of the new dance floor as a mix of drums, violins, and clopping began to resound throughout the town, everyone working together to make music.
"Why don't you lead me in a buffalo dance?" Braeburn smiled down at her.
"Y-yes!" Little Strongheart replied, doing her best to remember simple buffalo dances that under normal circumstances she knew by heart. They did not lean against each other. Instead they faced one another, stepping left and right in a rhythmic dance.
Derpy, Dinky and Apple Bumpkin watched from the side once again. "Isn't it just romantic!" Derpy howled with emotion.
"Yeah yeah," Carrot Top grumbled. "I guess she wins this night," she sighed, burying her face in a cup of punch. "Hm, spicy. What kind of recipe is this?"
"It should just be regular fruit punch," Apple Bumpkin replied, taking a sip herself. "Huh, I guess they changed the recipe this year."
"I don't know about you all," Dinky shouted, "but I think that they're hogging all of the attention!" She took another sip of fruit punch, and hiccupped. "Mommy, mommy! We should go out there and show them up! I want to show them all how mature I am now!"
Carrot Top could have sworn she saw Derpy begin to glow as she scooped up Dinky and rocketed towards the dance floor. "That's a great idea, little filly!" Derpy squealed as loud as she could, taking a spot next to Braeburn and Little Strongheart and doing her best to mimic the steps with her daughter. They were joined by another pair, who was joined by another pair, and soon almost half the town was caught up in the harmonious dance.
Little Strongheart ignored the rest of the world as she gazed into Braeburn's eyes, including the voice of her Chief calling her back to his side. "Little Strongheart!" he bellowed again.
Braeburn chuckled as he watched her face become more embarrassed than he was used to. "I'll be over there, alright?" he said. Little Strongheart smiled and nodded her head before running off.
Braeburn galloped over to Carrot Top and Apple Bumpkin with a goofy smile spread across his face. "Enjoying the festivities?" he greeted them.
"Yes," Carrot Top chirped, taking in another cup of fruit punch. "This juice is especially amazing once you get used to the taste."
"Really, a new recipe?" Braeburn queried. "Well, hoof some over here. I want a try!"
"Ha ha ha!" Carrot Top's voice rang out through the night. She was enjoying herself so much at that moment that she couldn't hold it in. She took another sip of the punch and had to resist the urge to make a face as its sharp taste flowed down her throat. "Wah! This punch is good!" she exclaimed boisterously. "You... you got to try this punch, Braeburn!"
"I-I did!" Braeburn answered her, moving awkwardly as if he had lost control of his legs. "I've never had punch this... this? What?" He downed his cup in an instant, regretting it for a moment as his taste-buds were overwhelmed with a spicy sensation. "This punch is really... really... aw forget it!" He took a step forward, and tripped over nothing, planting his face in the dirt. "Agh, the dirt queen is attacking me!"
"Am not!" Carrot Top laughed as she pulled Braeburn back up. He was heavier than she anticipated, and with all her strength she gave Braeburn one hard tug, pulling him up, and falling onto her back. "Whoa, that was a trip," she giggled.
"Trip, trip where?"
"Me falling, silly!" Carrot Top laughed, her legs wiggling in the air helplessly. "Now-now it's your turn to help me up. A-and you can't fall or else I will, okay?"
"I-I know!" Braeburn answered back, a goofy smiled spreading across his face as he looked at Carrot Top spread out across the dirt. "You... you look..."
"I look?"
"Ridiculous!" Braeburn laughed, letting the wind carry his voice across the city. "The way your legs are moving, it's so funny!"
"Don't say that!" Carrot Top wined, her vision becoming distorted. "I need a drink," sighed. Her tongue felt thick and swollen.
"Well, it's also cute," Braeburn admitted, grabbing Carrot Top and helping her up. "You look cute, wiggling everywhere, and in that dress."
"R-really?" Carrot Top stared deep into Braeburn's eyes, her world becoming a distorted mix of colors with only one sharp image. Braeburn. "You really think I'm cute?"
"Yeah, I think you're cute. I-I told you that way back when we first met."
"I think you're cute too." Carrot Top leaned forward, and her lips met Braeburn's.
"Braeburn!" Little Strongheart called out. "Braeburn, where are you?" She was still giddy from her dance earlier with him. In her bag she had the scarf, and she believed that now was the perfect moment to give it to him. "I'll give him the scarf and confess my feelings," she told herself. "Now is the time to be brave."
Little Strongheart crept around the building, feeling embarrassed. She turned a corner, and found Braeburn, embracing and kissing Carrot Top. They didn't notice her. Not when she found them, and not when she ran away, leaving a trail of tears on the ground.
Little Strongheart couldn't think. She just kept running, away from the dance hall, and out of Appleloosa. She kept running, letting the world freely pass her by. She didn't care where she was going. She just wanted to be as far away from where they were. "No hard feelings," she told herself. "We promised not to hate each other, no matter what." She took out the scarf, and began to cry into it.
Chapter 6: A confession is made!
Chief Thunderhooves paced back and forth as he waited for news from another tribe-buffalo. He was so furious he could stampede over the next buffalo to give him bad news. "Pour fire-water in the punch bowl... I'll have their hooves for this the moment they are brought to me!" he roared, his threat carried by the wind and across the tribal lands. No buffalo wanted to be in his line of sight now, but one dared to and brought with him two young bulls.
The two bulls wore expressions of fear, scampering closer to each other as the Chief edged closer. "Hey, chiefy," one of them responded. "So, you wanted to talk to us about something?"
"You two are the ones who introduced fire-water to the pony's 'fruit-punch'!?" he bellowed, shaking the two buffalos into fits of fear. "What were you two thinking? Do your fathers even know about this? I bet they don't, because you still have horns!"
"Well, no," the other buffalo responded. "I mean, not yet! We'll tell them, and make forgiveness and... stuff..."
"Stuff? Stuff is going to make-up for the atrocities you have committed! Stuff is going to earn you forgiveness from not just your fathers, but your forefathers too!" Chief Thunderhooves was beyond his last nerves. He began kicking at the ground, lowering his head and now ready to run the two cowering masses of fur into the dirt.
"We're sorry!" the two of them pleaded in tears. "We heard it was supposed to be a party, so we thought we could liven it up! We didn't mean to cause any trouble."
"Sorry isn't good enough!" Chief Thunderhooves paused, trying to get a reign on his emotions before he would go further. "I hope you two are prepared to make amends, but later. For now, get out of my sight!" He pointed a hoof, and the two bulls ran off.
He sighed, worrying about the future of his tribe if such indiscretions could be committed without pause. His mind wandered back to his own charge. "Has anybuffalo seen Little Strongheart?" No one responded.
Carrot Top stirred in bed as the first light of dawn crept in through an open window. Her first reaction was to fall out of bed and hide in the shadows of her mattress. "Oh Celestia, can't you hold the sun off for just a few minutes longer?" She held her throbbing head in her forehooves, trying to recall the events that lead to the worst morning of her life. "I went to the event, and got to dance with Braeburn... that was nice. Then... then?" The memories came slowly back to her: the punch, the bonfire, and then the kiss, at which point she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her door popped off its hinges, and Derpy flew in through the opening, flying straight past Carrot Top and imbedding herself in the wall.
"Hey, Carrot," she responded weakly, "did you, uhhh, scream?"
"Oh Celestia what have I done!" Carrot Top frantically cried, ignoring the pain building up in her head. "I got, I got, I got drunk! And then I... I... I..."
"You whispered softly?" Derpy almost begged.
"I kissed Braeburn! What will he think of me? Will he even talk to me! Oh, Derpy, what do I do!" Carrot Top prostrated herself before her wall-bound friend, ready to break down in a fit of tears. "This is the worst thing ever!"
"Well, for starters, you can talk a little quieter," Derpy groaned as she slid down the wall. "A cup of water wouldn't hurt either..."
A half hour later, Carrot Top and Derpy were holding their heads over a bowl of stovetop oatmeal. Derpy ate slowly as Carrot Top continued to frantically go over every little detail of the preceding night. When all was said and done, Derpy turned to Carrot Top and said, "So, you kissed him?"
"W-well, yes, I did," Carrot Top replied giddily, "but we were drunk! What will he think of me? I mean..." She almost fell into her bowl, ready to drown her worries away amongst a sea of milk and honey. "I just... wasn't ready, I guess. What do I do now? What will he do now? I'm in uncharted territory."
"What if you tried asking him out now?" Derpy replied with renewed vigor. "Like, you can bring up the kiss casually, and slowly steer the conversation to asking him out. It's the perfect plan if I do say so myself!"
"You really think I can?" Carrot Top felt the smallest hope forming in herself, a feeling that left her just as scared. "What if he says no though? What if he never wants to speak to me again?"
"Then to hay with him!" Derpy pounded the table, causing the entire hovel to shake. "You're a good mare, and if he doesn't see it than you don't need him, because we'll always have each other! Two single mares against the world!"
Carrot Top stared at Derpy inquisitively. "And what was that about?"
"I don't know," Derpy relied, returning to her oatmeal. "Need more nutrients to make head work right."
Carrot Top burst out in a consuming fit of laughter, earning her a bitter look from the opposite end of the table. "I probably need the same thing," she sighed between a few tears of laughter. "He won't be mad, it was both our faults, right?" Her mind returned back to the foggy haze of the previous night. Even if it was against the backdrop of a liquor-induced stupor, she got one step closer to confessing to him.
"So," Derpy piped up, now next to Carrot Top and nudging her in the side, "did he taste like apples?"
"A-apples!" Carrot Top began to burn up as her blood rushed to her face. She froze, stiff as a board. "I don't recall!" she lied, but all she could remember was the spicy drinks with the slightest twinge of apples. Not a wholly bad taste.
"M-mommy," a tiny and pained voice groaned from across the room, "my head hurts."
"Mine does too, Dinky," Derpy sighed back. Nonetheless she carried herself across the air and over to her daughter to comfort her over her first hangover. "Mommy's here."
"Oh my aching head," Braeburn whined, stretched out unabashedly over the sofa of his home. "Did I get kicked by a mule last night, because I can't remember a darn thing."
"Somepony must have spiked the bowl," Apple Bumpkin sighed, head first into a comfortable groove in the dining room table. "Oh, Celestia. Those ponies better be able to go a day without apples, because I'm out."
"Now don't be like that, Bumpkin," Braeburn groaned as he rolled off the couch, reaching over to a table to slide his hat haphazardly onto his head. "Just got to power through it. Now c'mon! We have a full day ahead of us."
"I hate you, Braeburn," was all she could muster as Braeburn flew out the door, ready to challenge the day ahead of him with inhuman vigor. "I hate you, so much."
Even with his mind pounding away against the side of his skull, Braeburn put on his best and most confident smile as he made his way through the streets of Appleloosa. His first destination was Silverstar's office. "Good morning, Silverstar!" he called out as he approached, Silverstar idly by one of the building's beams in the shade of an overhang. "Avoided the punch bowl, I take it?"
"Nope," Silverstar replied with breath sour enough to kill of the plants around him. "I'm just kind of used to it, but what about you. Goodness knows I almost never see you with the bottle unless you really want to forget something."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't talk about my bad habits so openly."
"Then break them," Silverstar idly shot back. "I don't have much for you odd-job wise. Most of the town is out of commission after some cruddy little colt spiked the bowl. Honestly, acting like that in this day and age. My pappy would have given me a lashing for that level of stupidity."
"I would rather ask what he put in the bowl," Braeburn groaned as he took a seat next to Silverstar and held his head. "I only had a few cups, but I feel like a drank your entire stash. You remember anything about what happened last night, because it's all a complete blur to me."
Silverstar coked an eyebrow and stared at Braeburn for a few seconds, making him feel uncomfortable, before shrugging. "I found you passed out on the dirt behind the dance-hall next to Carrot Top—"
"What!" Braeburn completely lost balance and fell flat on his face, a feat that had managed to astonish Silverstar quite well. "What do you mean passed out next to Miss Top!"
"Exactly what I mean," Silverstar sighed. "You two were in the dirt in a puddle of the juice."
"Oh crud, Miss Top is going to be furious with me!" Braeburn howled in agony. "She'll never want to talk to me again! She'll hate me! Dang it, Braeburn, how could you make a complete fool of yourself!" He banged his head against the dirt hard enough to leave a Braeburn shaped indentation on the ground. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
"Well, this is new," Silverstar remarked as he pulled Braeburn out of the dirt. "I don't ever see you this frazzled. Is this Carrot Top mare something special to you?"
Braeburn nearly jumped through the overhang as the accusation. "It's nothing like that!"
"You're pretty quick to deny it though," he pointed out, catching Braeburn off-guard who had suddenly gone silent. Silverstar wasn't too happy about it though. All he could think about was someone else who would be very hurt at the sudden revelation. "So, Braeburn, what's your answer."
"Do you have work for me, yes or no. 'Cause if you don't, I'm going to the orchard to buck some apples," he shot back sourly, breaking away from Silverstar's hold.
"Nope."
"Then I'll see you later." Braeburn turned and began to gallop off.
"Are you sure you want to push yourself in your condition?"
"I'll pull through," Braeburn replied back before disappearing, leaving a rather sullen Silverstar.
Derpy smiled to herself as she stretched her wings and embraced her now clear mind. "Mommy is now back to a hundred percent! Meaning it's time for little filly exercises!" she cooed as she picked up Dinky.
"Do we have to do this now?" Dinky whined. "My head still hurts."
"Does it!" Derpy hugged her daughter close to her chest, rubbing her head with a hoof in hopes to sooth the pain.
"M-mom!" Dinky gasped. "This is embarrassing."
"Horse-sticks it is," Derpy giggled as she continued to dote on her. "Hey, Carrot Top, how are you feeling?"
Carrot Top had had her head against the dining table since breakfast. She kept repeating last night over and over again right before her eyes.
"Carrot Top!" Derpy called again as loud as she could, knocking the mare out of her chair. "Carrot Top, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Carrot Top groaned. "I am perfectly fine." She was perfectly not fine. She pulled herself back onto her chair and tried to push her hair back into its natural curls. A knock came at the door, startling her back to the floor. "What is it now!"
Derpy answered the door and found Chief Thunderhooves with a sour expression on his face. "Hi, Chief! What brings you to Appleloosa?"
"Hello, Derpy. I am here because I was hoping you might know where Little Strongheart is. I fear she may be... missing." His voice carried his worried feelings heavily, a feeling that stirred Derpy's maternal instincts into a fervor.
"I haven't seen her at all!"
"I see, thank you." He turned around, ready to get back to the plains and resume his search, but he was stopped by gray hooves.
"Don't worry, Mr. Thunderhooves!" she declared. "We'll find your daughter no problem! Carrot Top, let's go!"
"W-what!" Carrot Top bleated. "What do you need me for? I can't fly or cast a finder spell! I'm useless here."
"Every little bit counts," Derpy shot back as she grabbed Carrot Top, "and Little Strongheart is your friend too!"
"She is..." Carrot Top sighed. I guess we're on friendly terms, but we're rivals for Braeburn...
"What if something bad happens!" Derpy yelled as loud as she could. "What if she gets attacked by coyotes or hyenas or worse!"
"Okay, okay, just lower your voice," Carrot Top sighed. "I'm in, just lead the way or something."
"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart," Chief Thunderhooves replied with gratitude. "Although, I should correct you in that she is not my daughter, but more—"
"You love her and that's enough," Derpy interrupted him, placing Dinky safely on her back. "Search all around town, Carrot! We'll find Little Strongheart in no time!"
"Impulsive as ever," Carrot Top sighed as she grabbed her hat. "Well, I did say I would help. I'm sure that, if she's in the city, we'll have found her by the end of the day, Chief Thunderhooves." She bowed to the elder bison before squeezing between him and the doorway.
Carrot Top groaned as she drifted through the dusty streets. "She just had to go and get herself lost while my head is still hazy," she groaned. The town was uncomfortably quiet and empty, something she attributed to the party mishap. She turned a corner, and ran smack-dab into Braeburn. "Huh, oh! Braeburn! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!"
Braeburn barely caught himself before hitting the ground. "Oh, Miss Top." He turned away from her, avoiding her gaze. "G-good morning."
"H-how are you doing, this morning. I'm sure you realized when you woke up that the punch we had was loaded with liquor. It was... quite a morning for me. Derpy ran right into my wall, even made a hole." She laughed uncomfortably. Braeburn's uncharacteristically stoic behavior made it worse.
"I'm just fine, Miss Top," Braeburn replied sourly. He was strapped to a cart that had just been emptied of apples and was on his way back to the orchard just outside of town. "I'm sure Silverstar will find the miscreants and give 'em a good takin', but I got to get to work."
"Uh, Braeburn, if you don't mind, I could help you." Carrot Top eagerly waited for his response. I'm sure Derpy will find her. I mean, its not like I can do anything without a horn or wings. I'm just a normal pony. I would never find her...
"Uh, sure, I guess," Braeburn answered her back. He stopped, just long enough for Carrot Top to trot up to his side. He put on hoof forward and almost lost balance, seeing two of everything for a second.
"Are you okay, Braeburn?" He was silent. Carrot Top took his hoof and hung it over her neck, helping to support him. She got so close to him that she could hear her own heartbeat. "Er, if you don't mind, I could help you. You still look sick from last night."
"I'm fine," he replied adamantly, turning away from her. "Miss Top, it's fine. I don't need any help getting to the orchard. I'm fine now." He pulled away from her, almost throwing his body off-kilter, and continued on the dusty road to the orchard.
Carrot Top straggled behind, a heavy air clutching at the back of her mind. She kept close to him, but in her mind she kept returning to the kiss from before. Does he remember? Did he like it? She kept herself bogged down in worry, never noticing the sight of the orchard trees getting closer.
"We're here now," Braeburn announced. He unbuckled himself from the rickety cart and had to drag himself over to a tree and banged his backhooves against the bark in vain. "Dang it," he cursed as he went at it again.
"Maybe I can try?" Carrot Top brought herself over to the tree, inspected it closely, turned and bucked it with all her might. Two apples fell to the ground. "I did it, Braeburn," she cheered happily.
"Two isn't good enough," Braeburn groaned as he awkwardly picked up the apples and threw them in the cart. "Just, go sit by the cart or something."
Feeling her triumphs crushed into the dirt, Carrot Top did as she was told. Her head just inches away from the dirt, she strode over to the cart, and sat herself as she watched Braeburn go at the tree again. He resembled a puppet in his jerky and unsteady movements, nothing like his usual stream of energy. "Braeburn, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." He bucked the tree again. Three apples fell.
"You look sick. Maybe you should sit down here... with me..."
"I'm fine." He bucked the tree again. One apple fell.
Carrot Top closed her eyes, breathing deeply into all the courage she could muster for this single moment. Here goes nothing. She turned back to Braeburn. "Last Night's party was... pretty fun."
Braeburn missed the tree and fell on his stomach. "Y-you don't say," he stuttered, unable to call the strength to pick himself up. "I-It's mostly a huge blur to me."
"Is it?" Carrot Top sighed. She fought the urge to stay silent, but in the back of her mind she could hear a goofy voice trying to cheer her on. "It was very eventful." Her insides slowly turned to sand as she kept talking. "I mean, after the dance, we got really drunk and even kissed."
Braeburn's bloodshot eyes shot open and he had to resist the urge to vomit. Dang it, she remembers. He forced himself back onto his hooves, a feat he would later regard as a miracle sent from Celestia herself. He clumsily started for another tree in the distance, praying Carrot Top would not follow him. "Sorry," he said quickly.
"N-nothing you need to apologies about!" Carrot Top answered back, following after him. "I-I mean we were both intoxicated, far from the right frame of mind. Just a tiny little mistake, right?" Her gut twisted to refer to the incident as a simple mistake. She longingly stared at Braeburn's back, getting smaller as he sped up his pace.
"Caaaaaaaaaaaaroooooooooot!" Derpy called out from the sky. "Carot! Braeburn!" she called out again as she hovered over the trees of the orchard, the gentle breeze kicked up by her wings calling down leaves. "Have either of you found Little Strongheart?"
"W-what?" Braeburn replied with his foggy voice. "What happened?"
"Little Strongheart is missing! Didn't Carrot Top tell you!?"
"N-no," Braeburn replied, trying to kick himself out of his half-dazed state. He twitched his head in every direction, scanning the landscape with half-dead eyes that strained against the arid air. "I-is she alright? What happened?"
"I just don't know," Derpy replied mournfully. "Chief Thunderhooves appeared and was really worried! We've been searching all day!"
"R-right! I'll get right in on the search." Braeburn turned towards the expansive frontier and took off like a train ready to tip off its tracks.
Derpy slowly descended to the ground, taking a spot right next to Carrot Top and allowing Dinky to climb off her back. "So, you spent the morning with Braeburn? But, what about looking for Little Strongheart?"
Carrot Top couldn't look her friend in the eye. She turned away. "C'mon, Derpy. I'm just an earth pony. I can't do anything compared to you and your flying. I can't help a single bit."
"But isn't just helping helping a single bit?" she replied, placing a hoof on Carrot Top.
"Easy for you to say," Carrot Top sighed.
Braeburn mentally cursed himself, finally stopping to let go of the content of his lunch in one fowl pool of stomach acid. "What am I doin'?" he asked himself as he stepped away from the disgusting puddle. "I can't look Miss Top in the eye, and now I'm going to kill myself looking for Lil' Strongheart? Am I just that stupid?"
"B-Braeburn?" a soft voice answered him from behind. The soft voice belonged to Little Strongheart, stepping out of the shadow of a large rock. "Braeburn!? Are you okay? What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, thank Celestia. You're... alright," was the last words Braeburn could say before he collapsed to the floor, eyes shut and nearly motionless save for his slowly heaving chest.
"Braeburn? Braeburn!" she rushed over to him, placing a hoof on his cest to feel his heartbeat. He was alive. "What happened to you?" Braeburn was far from the clean and unkempt look she knew him for. Now, he smelled terrible, like a rancid combination of sweat and acid, but the stench didn't detract her as she sat herself next to him.
"This is the closest I can bring myself to you," she lamented as she placed a hoof on his back, feeling the comforting warmth emanate from his body. "You will be all right," she whispered. "This is the closest I can ever get to you, I suppose."
Braeburn did nothing. He lied there, feeling his world melt away with his numb skull and turning stomach. He couldn't stand to move or talk, but Little Strongheart's words started to get through the fog in his mind. What is she...
"Though, you are eventually going to wake up, and when you do we will be back to being friends, right? You like me as a friend. You seem to like everyone as a friend, but I wish I could be something more to you." Her blood felt like fire on her face. All it would take was the right spark and she would have ignited into a pile of ashes. "But, I guess you'll never like me. Not the way I like you... because I like you a lot, Braeburn." Silence hung in the air as Little Strongheart rested her hoof on Braeburn's soft back. "Sleep well, Braeburn."
"Little Strongheart!" Derpy's giggly voice cut across the sky, calling Little Strongheart to attention as she snapped away from Braeburn. "Little Strongheart! We found you!"
"F-found me!?" She stumbled over her words as she stumbled over her hooves, craning her small neck to the sky to find Derpy. "I was lost?"
Derpy shot straight past Little Strongheart. "Nopony or buffalo knew where you went! We've been looking for you all day!"
"Oh! I-I am sorry to have worried you," she answered Derpy, flustered and embarrassed. "I did not mean for this to happen."
"I sure hope not." Carrot Top appeared behind Little Strongheart. Her mane was a tangled mess. "The Chief, Thunderhooves, showed up at our house worried and looking for you. You know, I thought you were all about family."
"I-I..." Little Strongheart sighed, defeated. "I have much to apologies for, it seems."
"Not until you're cleaned up and eaten something," Derpy dotted, examining Little Strongheart's face slowly. "You're face looks especially dirty."
Little Strongheart backed off, trying to hide herself. "I-is that so? I suppose it has been awhile since I bathed. How about we start heading back to Appleloosa. I really could use something to eat."
"Alrighty then!" Derpy happily chirped as she flew over Braeburn. "What are we going to do about him?"
Carrot Top nudged Braeburn, and she received no response. "Out like a rock," she sighed, muttering a curse under her breath. "I can't believe this. Say, Derpy, do you think you could carry him back to town?"
"No problem, Carrot!" she saluted and hauled Braeburn over her back. Dinky amused herself by poking at his body. "Let's go!"
"Actually, do you think you can go ahead?" Little Strongheart asked. "I have some questions for Carrot Top."
"Huh?" Derpy stared at the two for a moment. Carrot Top had no idea what she was talking about either. "Okay then." She zipped into the sky and took off in the direction of Appleloosa.
Carrot Top felt uncomfortable standing out in the middle of nowhere with just Little Strongheart. "So, uh, should we get going then?"
"Yeah, we probably should," Carrot Top replied, taking the first steps on the long dusty trail back to town. Little Strongheart followed after her.
At first, silence fell between the two as they traced their steps back to the town. Carrot Top's tail kept twitching from side to side as she waited for Little Strongheart to assault her with questions. Does she know about the kiss? She felt something land on her back, and jumped, yelping. "Agh, don't hurt me!"
"Are you okay?" Little Strongheart asked her, as she swiped a tumbleweed off of her back. "You seem tense."
"Weren't you going to ask me something," Carrot Top sighed as she tried to regain her composure.
"That kiss," she blurted, causing Carrot Top to freeze up. "I saw you kissing Braeburn, so... you two are married now?"
"W-what!?" Carrot Top had to catch herself again, almost finding herself buried face deep in the dirt. "What!? No, no, no! Whatever would give you that idea!? We were drunk! Someone spiked the punch bowl! I had no idea what I was doing! It was nothing like that! I'm not cheap!" she wailed in agony as she broke down to her belly and hid her face in shame.
"Then you two are not yet married?" Little Strongheart trotted up to Carrot Top and dragged her up. "Then, I still have my chance," she said, smiling sincerely to herself.
"W-what's that supposed to mean!" Carrot Top shot back in her flustered state of mind. "I'm not going to let one drunken mishap set me back. Besides, it's not like... he remembers." Once again the mood became tense. "I guess the alcohol hit him a little too hard."
"Do you wish he did?" Little Strongheart took the lead back to Appleloosa.
"Do I?" Carrot Top followed after her. "I guess I do. It would be nice, because then he might know how I feel. Instead, I got thickness with a side of crankiness. Can't say I'm fond of this side of him." Carrot Top furrowed her eyes in frustration. "Like a cruel cycle in a plot-less love comedy. Yeah, that's my life now."
"A love comedy?" Little Strongheart stopped and stared at her questionably. "What are you talking about?" Carrot Top fell over again, holding her sides as she laughed her lungs out. "What!?"
"It's nothing, nothing at all!" Carrot Top said between fits of giggles and tears. "I overestimated you, Little Strongheart." She dragged herself out of the dirt and turned back in the direction of Appleloosa, just coming into view. "So, you ran off here when you say Braeburn and I... kissing?"
"Yes. When I saw the both of you like that, I thought that I had lost him, and that I would never get to see him again. I was so sad I ran away without looking where I was going." She paused before bowing her head in shame. "I am truly sorry. I didn't want anybuffalo to worry about me and instead I have gone and caused distress for Chief Thunderhooves. I have cause you all to spend all day looking for me. I am so sorry."
"Hey, c'mon don't get all mopey on me." Carrot Top grabbed her head and pulled it up. "I mean, I doubt I would have acted any better if I found you and Braeburn... kissing."
Little Strongheart shot straight up, her legs stiff as a tree trunk and eyes bugged out.
Carrot Top had to suppress the urge to laugh and bury herself in the dirt again. "Well, you're at attention now."
"Carrot Top! Little Strongheart!" Derpy called out from the sky. "You're home!" she shouted gleefully as she shot past them, crashing into the dirt and tumbling into a tree, but even covered in dust and dirt she smiled back at them. "You're back!"
"Well, it's not like we were going anywhere else." Carrot Top pulled Derpy out of the tree, sending the two of them tumbling back into the dirt with one heart yank that dislodged Derpy. "I'm going to need one long bath to get all this grime off me."
"Ooh, you can join me and Dinky!" Derpy suggested gleefully as she rose into the air. "We haven't had a good old family bath in years! Oh, but first Carrot should cook something, and we can all eat together as one big happy family."
"Fine, as long as that bath is hotter than dragon fire," Carrot Top sighed before turning to Little Strongheart. "So, what do you want to eat?"
"What? No, I do not want to impose." Little Strongheart was hoisted into the air by Derpy, who lazily flew her in the direction of her's and Carrot Top's little hovel. "But I need to tell the Chief! I cannot worry him a minute longer."
"I can fly over and tell him lickety split fast," Derpy answered her, keeping her tight hold on the flailing buffalo.
"Don't fight her," Carrot Top told her knowingly. "So, what's on the menu, guest of honor?"
"You do not need to be so nice to me, but..." Little Strongheart smiled to herself. She turned between Derpy and Carrot Top, and was reminded that, somehow, she had made friends. "Your strange milky grass sounds nice."
"Milky grass?" Carrot Top repeated.
"Pasta it is!" Derpy yelled as loud as she could. "Me, you, Carrot, and Dinky."
"Where's Braeburn?" Carrot Top and Little Strongheart asked in unison.
"I don't know. Got up and left shortly after I dropped him off."
Silverstar stared into the neck opening of his empty canteen. He shook it, listening to the last few drops sloshing around in the empty darkness. "Tomorrow," he whispered to himself. "I'll finally ask her tomorrow." He turned to the clear moon in the sky, taking in a deep breath of the night air. He turned back to his town and saw a familiar figure approaching him. "Hm, Braeburn?" he called out to him. "What brings you to my hovel at this time of night?"
"I've just had one hay of a day, and I would rather forget about it," Braeburn sighed back to him, falling onto his stomach the moment all four of his hooves touched the wooden panels of the porch. "So, are you goin' to send some of that whiskey my way?"
Silverstar dropped the canteen to the floor and returned to the confines of his home and office. In the corner was his safe full of cheap and disgusting drinks. "What are you trying to forget this time?" Silverstar took out a crystalline cup and began to empty a bottle of whiskey into it. "Got in another fight with your sister or something?"
"No, nothin' like that," Braeburn sighed. "Well, it's a long story."
"I've got nothing better to do," Silverstar chuckled as he returned to the outside air, balancing the cup at the end of a hoof flawlessly. He saw Braeburn reach for the cup and moved it away. "No, story first."
"You're some kind of terrible, Silverstar."
"I have to be if I'm letting you drink like this. You're still a foal from my point of view."
"You're gonna start lecturin' me now?" Braeburn sighed, but Silverstar remained silent, waiting on him to continue with the cup of whiskey balanced on his hoof. "Well, today Little Strongheart went and got lost and... well I found her and all, and then I collapsed. Thing is, she thought I was out cold and, well, she said that she... likes me... a lot."
"So you're going to drink to forget an innocent filly's heartfelt confession?" he scowled.
"She's not a filly. She's a calf."
"That doesn't matter and you know it." Silverstar's words were stern and hit Braeburn in his gut, cutting deep into his psyche. "You drink and forget, then what? That doesn't change how she feels about you. You're more likely to cause her more grief if you drink yourself stupid again."
Braeburn sighed and held his head in his forehooves, his hat falling to the floor forgotten. "So what do you want me to do? She's kind of younger than me, you know."
"You're both babies to me," Silverstar joked back. "Why don't just stew on it for awhile. Get your head straight, and, if you choose Carrot Top, let Little Strongheart down easy."
"I guess, that makes sense," Braeburn sighed. "Dang it, Star, why are you doing this to me."
"You gotta grow up sometime, kid."
"I am a stallion," Braeburn snorted. "Wait, what did you mean by that? if I choose Carrot Top!? You make it sound like I'm mixed in with both of them."
"Of course not," Silverstar sighed as he downed the cup of whiskey he had poured for Braeburn. "Whatever could I have been thinking..."
Chapter 7: A Date is Made!
Sheriff Silverstar stared critically at the mirror in front of him, examining every inch of his coarse reflection. "My mustache is uneven," he commented grimly.
"Silverstar, it looks the same as always," Braeburn sighed as he waited impatiently for Silverstar to finish grooming himself. "It's been three whole minutes. I don't think I've ever seen you put so much time and effort into your appearance."
"I'm a stallion in love, Braeburn. Love is a powerful thing, y'know. You should try it sometime." Silverstar delicately cut off a few hairs from the left-edge of his mustache. He had to make sure he was impeccably groomed.
"I think I'll pass. I just need to buck apples all day and my life is set," Braeburn replied.
"Still a colt." Silverstar took one last satisfied look into the mirror and smiled. "My breath's okay, coat clean, vest pressed, badge spit-shined, and mustache perfect. Well, Braeburn, I'm off to ask that pretty pegasus off on a date."
"I'm gonna be honest and wish you the best of luck, but do you have any odd-jobs for me today? Time is bits, after all."
"I think the Salt Block needs its roof patched."
"Thank you." Braeburn bowed before rushing out the door, but he returned briefly to deliver an important message to Silverstar. "Your mustache is uneven."
"Get out!" Silverstar roared, hurling an empty whiskey bottle at the door. It shattered into a million pieces with a million reflections of Silverstar fussing over his mustache. He wanted to look perfect for when he finally asked out that silly gray mare. A little silliness; don't we all need that? He brushed his moustache a few more times, scrutinizing every follicle and cursing Braeburn's name the entire time.
"Breakfast is ready!" Derpy announced as loud as she could as she set on the table a mountain of waffles, basted in syrup and butter. "Carrot! Dinky! Come and get some while it's still warm!"
Dinky stumbled into the room. Her mother would never let her sleep in when there was a full day ahead for them. "Carrot Top is arguing with the outhouse again," she yawned as she plopped herself in a chair. "I'll have seven."
Derpy handed her a plate with two waffles. "Poor Carrot Top. We've been here for months and she still doesn't know how to use the bathroom."
"Yes, that's entirely the problem," Dinky sighed as she bit down on a waffle.
"Manners, Dinky," Derpy doted, wiping Dinky's syrup stained mouth. "Mature fillies always stay clean when eating."
"I was going to clean up, but you interrupted me!"
Carrot Top appeared, agitated and annoyed. "I can't wait for our stay here to be over. The first thing I'm going to do when we get back to Ponyville is take a long hot bath, after I use a real toilet!"
"No toilet talk at the dinner table," Derpy scolded her. "Now sit down and eat your breakfast."
Carrot Top sighed and pulled herself out a chair. Dinky laughed at her from across the table.
"You got scolded by mom," Dinky laughed, spewing Syrup all over Carrot Top.
Carrot Top wiped her face. "Mature fillies don't talk with their mouths full..."
A knock came from the door, and Derpy twitched in its direction. "I've got it!" She bounded up to the door, light on her hooves, and opened it to welcome in Silverstar. "Morning, Chief! Er, isn’t today my day off? Oh, do you have a top secret mission for me? Whatever it is, Officer Doo is on the case!" She puffed out her chest and saluted him.
"N-no, it's nothing like that." Silverstar, now face-to-face with the mare he had been working up the courage to ask for over a month, was finding it hard to remain straight-minded. "I've actually come on business outside of the workplace."
"Huh? I don't get'cha."
"Miss Doo, I don't suppose... you would let me take you on a date sometime?"
Carrot Top, who had been listening passively, nearly fell into her plate of waffles. "D-date!?"
Derpy didn't say anything at first. Her eyes had shot wide-open and her mouth hung just the slightest bit open. "A-a date!?" she said loudly. She shook her head and looked back at Silverstar with a wide and jubilant smile. "I would love to go on a date with you!"
"What!" Carrot Top and Dinky yelled at the same time, spitting more crumbs all over each other.
"How about tomorrow!" Derpy suggested, taking Silverstar by complete surprise. "Evening sounds good, right? That way, it's a dinner date! I know this great place! You'll just love it! I know I do."
Silverstar stared at Derpy like a deer in headlights. It was the most confusing simile he had ever heard, but he knew that's where he was now. He readjusted his hat, and beamed back at Derpy from behind his moustache. "Th-that sounds great!" Happiness poured out from his words as he stared into Derpy's sparkling and bright eyes. He almost jumped and clicked his back hooves midair. "I-I'll see you tomorrow!"
"See you then!" Derpy grinned back happily. She watched Silverstar as he ambled off slowly, swaying from side to side. She closed the door and eased back to the dining table. She took three waffles and dug in, oblivious to two pairs of stunned eyes glued on her.
"Derpy! Do you know what you just did!?" Carrot Top finally yelled, breaking the silence. "Silverstar!"
"Yeah?"
"He showed up?"
"I know."
"And asked you out!"
"Uh-huh!"
"And you accepted!"
"I can't wait!" Derpy exclaimed, taking a sloppy and messy bite into her stack. "It's been such a long time since I hit the town on a date! You think I should wear anything? Or go natural? He's kinda formal, always wearing a vest and all."
"Do you understand what you just did!?" Carrot Top stressed the last word, trying to drill into Derpy's incomprehensible stream of consciousness. "Do you?"
"Do you?" Derpy asked back with her mouth full. A piece of half-chewed waffle landed in Carrot Top's mane.
"I asked you first!"
"Oh it's just for some fun," Derpy laughed, waving Carrot Top away. "Besides, I'm a grown mare: I can date whoever I want!"
"I'm just thinking that this is a bad idea, Derpy."
"And what's that supposed to mean, 'bad idea'?"
The room went quiet for a moment. A fair amount of time passed before Carrot Top opened her mouth again as she stared uncomfortably at Derpy. "I just don't think this is going to end well based on what happened the last time you went dating."
"It went fine!" Derpy sprayed more crumbs all over Carrot Top's face.
"That's not how I remember it: I remember you crying all night long. I just don't think you're ready to date." Carrot Top braced for impact mentally. Her body stayed perfectly still in the face of more waffles.
Derpy wiped her mouth and stood up, knocking her chair over in the process. "Well I think I am, Ms. ‘I can't tell Braeburn I have a crush on him’. Why in all of Equestria should I take dating advice from somepony who's never been on a date once? Why, I do believe you are jealous."
"You're really going there?" Carrot Top stood, sliding her chair away. "Maybe because I didn't throw my life away, Ms. ‘pregnant before she even graduated and became a mailmare in the suburbs’."
"I did not throw my life away!" Derpy's voice rocked the entire hovel. "And don't you ever say that again!"
A knock came from the door, interrupting the pair. Derpy flew over to answer it again, and found Braeburn on the other side. "Yes!?" she barked irately.
Braeburn balked at the strange sight before him. Never in all the time he knew her had he seen Derpy so angry. "I-I'm here to guide Carrot Top to the plant fields where she does all her crazy experiments. Er, Miss Doo, are you alright?"
"I'm just fine!" she yelled back, grabbing Braeburn around his shoulders. "C'mon, you're gonna help me pick a dress for my date!"
"What? Miss Doo, what's going on? Can I get some help here! Miss Top? Big Doo? H-help!" His pleadings and screams faded into nothing as Derpy dragged him off in the opposite direction of the markets. He was sure his day was going to get progressively worse.
Back in the hovel, Carrot Top's face had turned red with rage. "Well fine," she hissed to no one in particular as she took the dishes to the sink. "Just fine! Dinky, bring me your dishes!" She waited, but nothing happened. "Dinky?" She turned around, and found Dinky's seat empty. "Oh, Celestia...” Her head fell into the icy cold sink. She had to clean all the food off her face somehow.
"I'll show her," Derpy grumbled to herself as she continued to drag Braeburn through Appleloosa, now en route to a clothing store.
"Pardon me for asking, but you'll show her what?" Braeburn interrupted her, his rump completely numb and filled with gravel.
"I'll just show her, okay?" Derpy dragged Braeburn into a dusty little store with a single green mare for a cashier. "So, what kind of thing does Silverstar like?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Because, well, It's been a long time since I've been on a date," Derpy sighed, drifting to the floor like a leaf. "What was it? Ten years ago... oh my Celestia!" She shot back right back into the air with enough force to put a hole in the ceiling.
"W-what is it?" Braeburn whinnied in worry. "Is somethin' wrong, Miss Doo?"
"How old am I!?" She dropped back to the floor with a loud thud. "I-I mean, it's been awhile since I've actually thought about it."
"Oh, is that all?" Braeburn sighed in relief. "Don't get me all worked up like that. It's not healthy."
"Are you going to help me!?" Derpy yelled at him, knocking him back.
"S-sure, fine. Though, I don't think I can be of much help to you. Silverstar doesn't share that kind of private information with me..." He felt the blood rush to his face. "That's a private kind of information."
"Then just give me an opinion," Derpy sighed as she started to change into a blue dress she grabbed off of a shelf. She was halfway into it before stopping with a sigh. "This is kind of small for me."
"Dinky!" Carrot Top yelled out. She felt silly; yelling out the filly's name in a two room hovel. There was only one place she would go; the tiny room she shared with her mother. Carrot Top hoped that maybe Dinky would respond to her call and come to her. Instead, Carrot Top slowly turned the creaky door knob. She found Dinky curled up on the bed. "There you are."
Dinky didn't respond. She stayed in bed.
"Did we scare you?" Carrot Top asked sheepishly. "You don't need to worry, about me and your mother. I'm sure in a couple days we'll be back to eating together and laughing. We've had fights before."
"Did I really waste mom's life?"
Carrot Top had never felt the urge to force her head against the nearest wall manifest so strongly within her. "Dinky, I said a lot of things that aren't true back there. Sometimes, well, when adults get in a fight they do that. They say things they don't mean..."
"Why?"
Carrot Top mentally groaned. "Well, we both kind of got caught up in the heat of the moment. I said one thing, then she said one thing, than I said some things, then she said some things, etcetera... you get it, right?"
"Not really? It seems really immature."
"Yes, Dinky," Carrot Top sighed, "it's very immature."
"So how do I look now?" Derpy wore a gaudy bright pink dress filled with ruffles, folds and laces. "I think I look like a pretty princess in this thing." She tried to strut around the empty store with only the cashier and Braeburn as her audience, but she stepped on a fold and tripped. She landed right on her nose.
"M-Miss Doo!? Are you alright?" Braeburn rushed to Derpy's side to help her up, but she pushed him away.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Derpy sighed. "You act like you've never seen a pegasus crash before, or get electrocuted by her own cloud."
"Cloud? Er, Miss Doo, are you alright?"
"I said I'm fine, so tell me how I look!" She tried to do a spin, but tripped on another fold and heard a terrible ripping sound. "Uh-oh."
"That will be fifty bits!" the cashier barked at her.
"I-I understand! I'll pay for it!" Derpy reached into her wings, looking for her bit-purse, but found nothing but pegasus down. "I-I must have forgotten my purse back at home..."
"Are you trying to fleece me?!" the cashier roared at Derpy, frightening her behind Braeburn.
"Peachy Sweet, it's nothing like that. Miss Doo can just be a lil' forgetful, but she's honest!"
"She's not leaving this store until I have my fifty bits," Peachy Sweet grumbled back.
"Alright, fine, I get'cha," Braeburn groaned as he pulled out his wallet from his hat. He emptied fifty bits onto the counter, pleasing the thrifty pony. "You happy now?"
"I'm very happy." Peachy Sweet emptied the bits into her register and shoved a receipt into Braeburn's chest. "Be sure to come back, maybe even get yourself fitted for something, Braeburn," she said in a breathy voice.
"I don't usually wear clothes though," Braeburn replied obviously. He took the receipt and lead Derpy out of the store. "I'm sorry, Miss Doo, but I'm really gonna need the money back for this frou-frou dress."
"No problem! I know I have the bits in my room, I just forgot to bring them..." She went quiet, eyes cast downward and her hoofsteps clunky and disorganized. She almost fell over the dress again and didn't even have the luxury to fly in an earth-pony dress. She hoped this morning wouldn't get worse.
Carrot Top stared at her reflection in the window. She would have sworn she was staring at a rain-dampened stray dog if she knew it wasn't herself in the reflection. Appleloosa was ill-equipped to save her mane from an assault of syrup, but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. "What am I going to say to her?" She heard the door opening. Who else could it be but Derpy? She turned to face her, and fell to the floor, laughing. "W-what are you wearing!" she yowled through her giggling fits. "You look ridiculous!"
"I look better than you," Derpy shot back. "You look like something a cat hacked up."
Carrot Top's nerve was hit. "Well, unlike someponies, I actually try to look presentable at most occasions. Not all of us just roll out of bed and are fine with a rat's nest."
"At least I have somepony to look good for."
Carrot Top almost tackled Derpy. She had her forehooves stretched out at her, ready to pounce, waiting for just one more reason to attack the most annoying pony in all of Equestria.
"Are you two okay?" came Braeburn's voice. He instantly shut up when they both stared back at him with feral fury.
"Come on, Braeburn," Derpy gruffly replied as she dragged Braeburn into her room. "I need to pay you back for the dress you bought me."
"No doubt because you forgot your purse again," Carrot Top shot back curtly. She was very satisfied with Derpy's muffled screams of anger. "I guess I was right, like always."
"Carrot, weren't you going to apologize?" Dinky asked from behind the dining room table.
Carrot Top's shoulders fell. "Just, give us time, Dinky. Don't worry, we'll be back to normal as soon as she stops being so infuriating."
Braeburn left Derpy's room, leaving her inside, and gestured to Carrot Top. "Can I lead you to your work fields now?"
"Yes, let's go," Carrot Top huffed, grabbing her bags and stomping out of the house, leaving the colt hovel for Derpy to stew over everything she said that was wrong, she believed, and Braeburn trotted after her, wondering who was leading who.
Dinky watched the two of them leave, worried. "Everything will be alright," she mumbled to herself. She turned to her and her mother's room, peeking through the crack of the door to where her mother laid, crestfallen, in her bed. "Mom?" she called out to her.
"I'm fine," Derpy called back. "Mommy is just tired now and is going to take a little nap. She needs to prepare for her big date tomorrow without Carrot Top breathing down her personal life."
"Oh, okay," Dinky sighed. She scoured the house for a quick book to read just to take her mind off the turn of events. She found one of Carrot Top's science books and tried reading it, but her mind was too distracted.
In the evening, Silverstar stared out to the setting sun. "Celestia sure knows how to put on a show," he whispered to himself, sipping on a cup of lemonade. He could see Braeburn approaching in the distance, and he had never looked so tired in his life. "Well, had a long day?"
"Long nothin'," Braeburn cried out as he collapsed to the ground. "All day, Carrot Top just kept talking to me, complaining about Miss Doo. I think I blanked out after a while."
"Well, there's your first mistake," Silverstar laughed. "When mares get like that, there's nothing you can do. Trying to listen to all that would drive most stallions to death. Just grin and nod your head a lot, that should work."
"Now that's just rude, not listening to a pony trying to talk to you."
"Kid, she wasn't talking to you, she was talking at you, about a pony that I thought she would be closer than anyone with. Did something happen?" He was worried now.
Braeburn tried sighed and turned on his back. "I think you're asking Miss Doo out might have caused some sort of rift to show up between the two."
"I didn't mean for that to happen!" Silverstar stood up, worried and moustache twitching. "I should go check on them, maybe try and clear things up."
"When I left them, Miss Top and Miss Doo had locked themselves up in their rooms. You ain’t getting through that iron-clad defense."
"Braeburn, do you ever try to do anything other than work?"
"What else is there to do?"
"How about love and a family? Your proud apple heritage isn't going anywhere if you don't—"
"Now hold on just a cotton-pickin' minute!" Braeburn shouted as loud as he could. "My family is in no danger of going anywhere yet. So, stop trying to insinuate somethin'."
"Insinuate? Nice new word, but you're not doing anyone favors trying to do all the work yourself and locking your sister up. You gotta learn to live sometime, kid."
"I'm living right now, for my family, to keep our orchard running as best I can, and doin' a darn good job at it, so think you can stay out of my personal life long enough to do something with your own? You do have a date tomorrow."
"Why do you think I'm not drinking," Silverstar happily replied. "Who needs the sauce when you've got a date with a pretty mare tomorrow?"
"Just wait till you see her dress."
"Wait, dress?" Silverstar gasped. "Shoot, didn't take her for the type to dress up for the occasion. Now I need to rent a tux."
"Try Peachy Sweet's."
"Not like there's anywhere else to go. Dang mare holds a monopoly in this town."
The next day, Carrot Top and Derpy did not talk to each other all day. When Derpy woke up, first as always, she prepared enough breakfast for herself and Dinky. She left her daughter's plate on the table before going out for some flying. In the sky, no one could bother her but herself.
When Carrot Top woke up, second as usual, she prepared herself a quick bowl of oatmeal. She had absentmindedly left the stove cooking for too long and all her work came up burnt and inedible. She didn't try again, rationalizing that she probably needed to skip a meal anyway. When Braeburn showed up to lead her to the fields like he was sure he had to, Carrot Top lead him there instead, quietly.
When Dinky woke up, last typically, she found her cold breakfast sitting alone at a colt table. Very rarely could she eat breakfast without her mother fussing over her for some made-up reason, but for once she wished she was there. It would have been a sign to her that everything was as normal. She ate the cold meal, alone, and by the time she finished Derpy had returned from the skies, covered in sweat and heaving for breath. "Are you okay, mom?"
"I-I'm fine, Dinky!" Derpy gasped. "Just, sometimes, you just gotta work the wings. You'll understand when you can fly."
"Mom, I'm a unicorn. I can't fly."
"Oh, I-I must have forgotten." Derpy collapsed to the floor. "I just forget things every now and then, I guess. Boy, do I smell bad, not exactly date worthy. I should go make some hot water, huh? Nopony would want to be within ten hooves of me, huh?"
"I'll go get some," Dinky answered her as she maneuvered around her mother's frame to the doorway.
"Aw, that's so nice of you. My little filly is growing up, taking care of mommy and all. Mommy... is always in need of somepony to take care of her after all, Carrot Top or otherwise."
"I'll be back, mom." And Dinky zipped out the door, as fast as she could, intent on returning as fast as she could with water for boiling.
Derpy groaned as she picked herself up and walked slowly to her shared room where her dress for the evening was waiting for some tender loving care. She located the broken seams along the outrageously ruffly skirt. "How do I fix this now?" She stared at the rip, then at her hooves. "Something just isn't right here..." She heard the door open, and Dinky's water weighted hooves stepping into the hovel. "My little filly..."
The evening had come, and Derpy, mane pressed and fur cleaned of sediments, stood proudly with her ridiculous pink dress with duct tape along the ripped seams of the skirt.
"Very fetching, I had no idea tape was in," Carrot Top scoffed half-heartedly. "By the way, I can't watch Dinky tonight since I have extra work to do, but I told Braeburn you would pay for his babysitting services."
"And I will," Derpy shot back. "I'll pay him more than I pay you."
"You don't pay me at all," Carrot Top pointed out, satisfied with more steaming growls coming from Derpy. "Weren't you the one that told me stress ruins your complexion? Your date is going to be here soon. You want to look ready for the act, right?"
"What act?!" Derpy yelled back, but then came a knock from the door. Derpy opened it and was greeted by a well-dressed and moustache steamed Silverstar with a tired looking Braeburn behind him. "Hello, Silverstar." Derpy curtseyed clumsily. "Good evening, Braeburn."
"Good Evening, Derpy," Silverstar bowed. "You look... precious?"
"Like a princess," Derpy shot back to Carrot Top. "Now then, Mr. Silverstar, as we were."
"We were what?"
"I don't know. I just hear fancy ponies say it..."
Braeburn cleared his throat as she trotted past Derpy. "You don't have to worry about Dinky, Miss Doo. I can take good care of her."
"I know you can, unlike some irresponsible ponies." She didn't even bother to look at Carrot Top's infuriated face. "Let's go, Silver."
"Silver?" Before he could inquire further, Derpy grabbed Silverstar around a hoof and dragged him off.
Braeburn rubbed his temples. Even if he wasn't directly involved, he could feel a headache coming on. "W-well, before you go, Miss Top—"
Carrot Top slammed the door behind her as she disappeared into Appleloosa.
"Well then," he scratched the back of his neck, "I guess it's just you and me, Big Doo."
"Delightful," Dinky sighed as she returned to her book. "Did you know that too much rainfall could lower the PH value of your soils and could lead to toxic crops?"
"Does Miss Top know about that?" Braeburn panicked.
"I think so. She's the one that highlighted it in this book." She set the book down, revealing a colorful spiral of notes, highlights, and formulas. "I guess Carrot Top really put everything into her studies in dirt."
Braeburn took a seat next to Dinky, glancing into Carrot Top's book and choking up. "I guess it takes a lot of brains to do her job." He began stroking Dinky's mane. "I'm surprised, Big Doo. Not many colts and fillies like it when their moms start dating again..."
"I'm almost a mare. I'm too mature to worry about things like that."
"That's good to hear—"
"I'm already dealing with my crumbling family. My sister is in another town, Carrot and mom hate each other and now I might have to deal with moustache trying to become my new dad, but I'm mature enough to handle it! I'm a mare!" She was trying to hide the tears pouring out. Mature mares don't cry, she believed. Adults are always strong and able to handle anything.
Braeburn passed a handkerchief over to Dinky. "No shame in crying, even for a mature pony." He watched Dinky quietly take the handkerchief, burying her face into it as if trying to disappear from the world. When a knock came from the door, Braeburn stood up to answer it. "Lil' Strongheart!" Braeburn felt his heart stop for a moment.
"Hm, Braeburn? What are you doing here?" Little Strongheart peaked into the house trying to track down its typical inhabitants. "Where are Derpy and Carrot Top?"
"T-they went out. Silverstar took Miss Doo out on a date and Miss Top is out working."
"Silverstar and Derpy?" Little Strongheart gazed into space for a moment, trying to visualize the two going out but coming up with blanks, until he remembered one of Silverstar's questions from a while ago. "Oh, I guess that explains it."
"Explains what?"
"Nothing," Little Strongheart laughed as she strode past him. "So, you're babysitting Dinky tonight, I take it?" She looked around for Dinky, and found her face held against the handkerchief. "Dinky, is something wrong?"
Braeburn sighed and took a deep breath. "It's a long story, Lil' Strongheart." He tried his best to ignore the memory of Little Strongheart's confession.
Derpy hadn't said anything to Silverstar since they left the hovel, and she knew she had to say something soon. "Uh, nice weather!" She knew she was capable of much better ice-breakers.
"It's always a kind of comfortable dry around here," Silverstar replied dimly. "It's especially nice on a carriage."
"I love chariots!" Derpy giggled as she bounced up and down. Just like that, everything seemed back on track. She was going to have a fun night with Silverstar and the nagging thoughts of Carrot Top’s bitter face weren’t going to ruin it for her. "Lead the way."
"Of course, ma'am." Silverstar tipped his hat and took the lead, taking her to the edge of town where a carriage drawn by some well-paid ponies awaited them. He opened the door and bowed. "After you."
"Such a gentecolt," Derpy cooed as she jumped into the carriage. Silverstar followed, disappearing inside after her, and unbeknownst to either of them was a yellow mare with an orange-top mane.
"Drats," Carrot Top sighed to herself as she watched the carriage take off.
Inside the chariot, Silverstar was entertaining Derpy with one of the odder adventures in his life of chasing a diamond dog jewel thief. "I followed her halfway across the frontier, tackled her into submission, and found out she was a he in a dress, and that was just my first week on the job."
Derpy had to wipe a few tears of laughter from her cheeks. The somewhat-grizzly looking pony she found seemed to have an endless supply of ridiculousness in his life. "I think I got one that can top that. Back in Ponyville, I once had to deliver a dress to a stallion. Should have seen the look on his face."
"I guess even a quiet little place like Ponyville can have its share of crazy."
"Is that before or after Discord decided to make my home his capital of chaos?" She smiled wryly, knowing she had won the most-home-interesting town title.
"I bow before your suburban superiority," Silverstar laughed as he opened the window. "Care to take a look?"
"Sure," Derpy giggled as she stared outside. All she could see was a lot of rocks and emptiness. "I think I'm missing something. I don't see anything."
"That's kinda the point," Silverstar told her as he gazed out into the seemingly infinite horizon. "Maybe it's just me, but maybe it's just being able to see nothing but the edge of the world fills me with a nice sense of peace. What gives you that feeling, Derpy?"
"Well, when I get worked up, nothing feels better than flying as fast as I can, completely tiring myself out, and passing out on the floor. That feeling is really nice." Under her dress, her wing fluttered a little, wanting to burst out and do just as she said. "I guess it's a pegasus thing."
"Just tiring yourself out, yeah, I can get that," Silverstar leaned back on his seat. "When I finally get a chance to sit down after chasing a bandit halfway across town, bagging him and throwing him behind bars. Yeah, that's definitely a good feeling."
"I see, so that's the problem," Little Strongheart sighed after hearing the whole story from Braeburn. She turned to Dinky and gave her a sincere smile. "You know, Dinky, where I live our homes have thin walls so when somebuffalos begin fighting, everybuffalo can hear it."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Dinky sighed.
"And, all the time, when there is argument, there is reconciliation. You cannot have one without the other. It's a cycle. Derpy and Carrot Top will eventually apologize to one another, I promise." She gave Dinky a quick hug. "Just give them a little time." Dinky went quiet, and her tears subsided.
"Thank you," Dinky squeaked.
"You're... pretty good with foals, Strongheart," Braeburn commented.
"Hardly, I'm just reenacting what other buffalo would do for me when I was smaller. I honestly don't know how I would be good with a calf of my own."
"Well... you're doing a good job so far."
Little Strongheart looked down, and found she was cradling a sleeping Dinky. "I don't know if this is indicative of anything," she laughed as she carefully carried Dinky to her room on her back. "This will make watching her pretty easy though." She turned back to Braeburn, her smile almost lighting up the hovel. "Since it's just us two tonight, sort of, why don't we spend some time together?"
"As friends!" Braeburn blurted out subconsciously. "I mean, we're great friends, and friends hang out, so let's hang out."
Little Strongheart giggled at him, smiling contently. "Yeah, like friends." She hurried over the hovel's kitchen.
"What are you doing?"
"Friends eat together, right? Let's try making something."
Carrot Top sat against the welcoming gate of Appleloosa. She expected the carriage would return to the front at some point, she just didn't know when and it was approaching an hour. "What the hay can they see out there for such a long time?" she groaned. "It's just a whole lot of nothing." Her ears perked up when she heard the grinding of the wheels and the clatter of the pullers hoofsteps. She jumped into the nearest shadows, eyes glued on the carriage.
The door of the carriage opened, and Silverstar stepped out first, holding the door open for Derpy, who tripped over her ridiculously large skirt and landed muzzle first into the dirt. "Darn the thing!" she gasped as she pulled herself out of her little impression. "Truth be told, I only got this thing for our date."
"Truth be told," Silverstar beamed back, "I only got this this suit because I thought you were the type who got dressed up for dates."
"Oh no! I like going just as myself." She bit down on the neck of her dress and pried it off, giggling to herself as it piled on top of itself into a ridiculous mess of ruffles. "Oh, that's better," she sighed as she stretched her wings upward. "So, where to next?"
"Well, I do remember you mentioning a nice place to eat."
"Oh yeah! Gosh, I hope they’re still open! Oh, I'm sure we can make it if I fly fast enough." Derpy began searching the world around her. "We're gonna need a wagon!"
"A wagon?" Silverstar, though confused, turned his head in every direction to try and locate the particular item. "Found one—"
Derpy butted him into the wagon and tied some rope around it. "Hold on to your flanks!" she called out jubilantly as she kicked off the ground and brought the impromptu chariot along with her. She was flying towards her hometown of Ponyville.
Carrot Top rubbed her eyes, making sure she hadn't just hallucinated the event. "Oh, that little idiot," she groaned.
Silverstar was fighting his panic reflexes as he watched the scenery zoom past him from a height he was not very comfortable with. "D-Derpy, are you sure this is safe? I mean, how are you able to pull this thing? It must be twice your size!"
"I have no idea!" Derpy laughed out as she felt the sky pass through her being, and in the distance she could see Ponyville appearing over the horizon. "We're here!"
"We're where!?"
"Ponyville!" She dropped off into a nosedive, squinting her eyes against the rush of air, and pulled up at the last moment to settle gently onto a patch of dirt. "My hometown, where you can grab the best treats at a place called Sugarcube Corner. I can pick up something for my daughter too."
"W-well then, lead the way." Silverstar was beside himself by the turn of events, smiling awkwardly behind his moustache. Were all pegasi like this? he wondered. He followed Derpy to the most peculiar store; it looked like it was made of gingerbread.
"Mrs. Cake! Mr. Cake! It's Derpy!" she called out giddily, eyes the display of confections.
A stout blue mare with a large pink manedo stepped out from the back room. "Derpy? Oh, are you visiting again already?"
"Nope, I'm here on a date," she stated proudly, gesturing to Silverstar. "I'll take a blueberry muffin."
Silverstar scrutinized the display and his eyes turned into little black dots. "I'll have... that," he said, pointing to a rather colorful parfait of fruits and caramel.
"Coming up," Mrs. Cake giggled as she served the two. Neither she nor Derpy were expecting such a stoic looking pony to order something so sweet. "That will be seven bits."
"I've got that." Silverstar placed the bits on the counter and Mrs. Cake graciously took them. He and Derpy retired to a table in the back and Silverstar ate his parfait delicately, making sure not to get and whipped cream on his moustache. "What?" he asked.
"I never expected you to order that," Derpy replied, nibbling gingerly on her muffin. "I guess there is more to you than meets the eyes."
"There's more to anypony than what you initially see. Before this date, all I knew about you Derpy was that you were always cheerful, and I liked that about you." He delicately ate the strawberry in his parfait. "But, talking with you in the carriage, I learned that even you need to unwind from all that sometime, tiring yourself out and all."
"I guess I do..." Derpy finished her muffin.
"You gotta take a leap if you want to learn more about somepony, especially if you want to be with somepony," he said knowingly. "I'm really happy you went out with me tonight, Derpy." He closed his eyes and held his hoof against Derpy's. "I think I really like you now."
"Huh?" Derpy replied.
Silverstar felt all the breath leave his body. "I'm saying I like you. That... I would like it if I could be your special somepony and, in return, you could be... mine."
"Oh!" Derpy tumbled back, falling out of her chair. "U-uh! Oh, as in like me like me."
"What's gotten into you, Derpy?"
Derpy felt a cold sweat break out behind her ears. "I-I'm sorry, Silverstar, but I thought this was all for fun. A-and I had a ton of fun, but, you see, I'm not really looking for a special somepony."
"I see," Silverstar replied solemnly. They didn't talk for the rest of the night.
"I'm not so sure this is edible," Braeburn commented over the burnt and smelly mess. "Little Strongheart, this can't be safe for ponies or buffalos to eat."
"Yeah, I guess we messed up pretty bad on this... thing." She asked her ancestors for forgiveness for ruining perfectly good food and tossed the abomination out of the hovel. "Perhaps we should have gone out for something to eat after all."
"I think all the places are closed now," Braeburn lamented. "Well, I've always got apples at my place."
"Should we head there and pick some up?" Little Strongheart suggested hopefully.
"N-no, that's not necessary," Braeburn panicked. "I mean, I can go a night without eating, and I'm probably just going to end up at Silverstar's later. We usually meet up in the evenings."
"I guess we'll need Carrot Top or Derpy if we want to eat anything halfway decent. Though, I bet the mothers at my camp wouldn't mind teaching me something. Ever tried buffalo food? It may seem simple at first sight compared to some of your pony foods, but it sure packs a wallop."
"I could do that," Braeburn replied, feeling uncomfortable. "We can invite Miss Top and Miss Doo along, make a friend's night of it."
"I guess," Little Strongheart replied crestfallen.
A knock came from the door, and Braeburn rushed over to answer it. "Derpy, you're back from your date?"
"Yep!" Derpy replied happily. "I'm sure tired though. Is Dinky asleep?"
"Yeah, Big Doo is asleep," Braeburn answered her. Something about Derpy seemed off to him, but he couldn't place a hoof on it.
"I promise I'll pay you first thing tomorrow morning, but right now I really need to hit the hay. So, er, if you two don't mind?"
"Oh, no problem, I'll get out of your mane right away." Braeburn led Little Strongheart out the front door, closing it quietly behind him.
"Guess I wasn't the only one who enjoyed themselves tonight." She sat on the couch and curled up into a little gray ball. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," she chanted to herself. "I guess I'm at the age where I can't date for fun anymore." She felt familiar warmth set itself next to her.
"Had fun this evening?" Carrot Top asked her.
"Yeah, it was fun, going out, being treated nicely, and even going to Sugarcube, but I guess Silverstar wanted a little more."
"I could have told you that," Carrot Top sighed. "You’re an adult now, Derpy. You've got to act like one."
"I just thought it would be for fun. He didn't seem like the type who would be into romance with that ridiculous moustache."
"There's more to ponies than just their appearance."
"Now he's going to fire me! And I'll be out of a job! And what will I do with Dinky! I put her through so much just because of our fight! And I'm sorry! Because you were right! Like you always are!" She was bawling, burying her face in Carrot Top's shoulder naturally. "I'm just a big stupid pony!"
"You're not stupid," Carrot Top teared up, "and I was jealous. I couldn't stand that, after all this time I've tried to get Braeburn's attention, you managed to go and grab another stallion's attention without even trying." She held Derpy close to herself. "And now I feel terrible because you feel terrible and I wanted that to happen and now it did and it's terrible!"
"I'm sorry I said such mean things!"
"I'm sorry I said such terrible things!"
The two collapsed onto the floor, lying next to each other and more tired than they had felt in a long time.
"Kid, you better have a good reason for trying to keep me away from my whiskey." Silverstar irritated that Braeburn stood between him and oblivion, was ready to buck him into tomorrow if that's how much strength it would take to move him.
"Silverstar, weren't you the one who told me to face events head on rather than down 'em?" Braeburn shot back, afraid that he would meet the wrong end of Silverstar's buck. "So, Derpy may have shot you down. Drinkin' this stuff won't fix it."
Silverstar exhaled, deflating to the floor. "You got a point."
Braeburn sighed and joined Silverstar on the floor. "You know, just cause she shot you down now, doesn't mean you don't have a shot in the future with her, right?"
"It’s weird hearing that from you, kid," Silverstar huffed. "You could be right though, could be wrong too." Silverstar couldn't see into the future, but he wouldn't mind one with a wall-eyed pegasus.
A train heist is foiled!
Carrot Top sighed as she collapsed over the kitchen table. The morning light crept in from the dusty windows, glaring down on her aggressively. Derpy and Dinky were packing up for their monthly visit to Ponyville, leaving her alone for a couple nights with only herself to bother her. "You almost done there, Derpy?" she called out from across the tiny living space.
"Just a few more beats!" Derpy angrily yelled back from her room. "This stupid dress doesn't want to fit in my bag!"
"You still have that thing?" Carrot Top sighed back, drawing circles on the table dust. "I'm surprised you didn't throw it out."
Derpy busted through the door head first, her wings beating the air aggressively as she hauled her overstuffed saddle-bags. "I was hoping Rarity could fix it. She's not too expensive for these kinds of jobs unlike that bit-hungry fiend that I bought this thing from." She scrunched up her eyes in anger as she remembered the mare's indifferent face as she sold her the frilly abomination from the pinkest of realms, but brought with it a much more painful memory. She swayed down to the floor, wings coming to a rest at her sides.
"Mom, let's go." Dinky sat by the open front-door, disinterested with her mother's morning antics.
"I know, mature filly, I know," Derpy exhaustively replied. She turned back to Carrot Top, who hadn't budged an inch. "You know," she leaned in close, "without a filly in the house, you can do anything you want."
"Like what," Carrot Top sighed back. "My life is as dull as the dirt I look at all day."
"Mom—"
"In a minute!" Derpy growled back in frustration. She turned back to Carrot Top, trying to hold onto her last strands of patience. "Are you sure you'll be fine on your own."
Carrot Top let out a single dry laugh before dragging herself back into the air and flashing Derpy a sincere smile. "I'll be fine enough. Besides, I'm sure that a little time away from each other is exactly the thing we need."
"Yeah," Derpy happily agreed back.
Dinky tapped her hoof and sighed. "Mom, before the train leaves we should go."
"Your mother has wings, we're not going to be late," Derpy argued back. "Take care, Carrot Top."
"I will, Derpy."
Derpy Hauled Dinky onto her back and flew off towards that train station, leaving Carrot Top alone in the sad little hovel with no one to talk to but herself, and with the weekend upon her that was all Carrot Top could do. "I need a hobby... Derpy, wait for me!" she called as she galloped out the door.
Little Strongheart and Silverstar waited patiently, and the former eagerly while Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin hauled their large curtained wagon across the city. Neither of them knew about the contents of the apples other than that both of the ponies had expressed an unhealthy level of enthusiasm over it, to the point that Silverstar had become afraid of Braeburn.
"Hoooooooooooowdeeeeeeeeee Silverstar and Lil' Strongheart!" Braeburn whinnied with enough invigoration he could have moved the sun itself. "I bet y'all are just dyin' to know what's under this here curtain, aren't ya?"
Silverstar couldn't take anymore of the radiating happiness coming from the two apple ponies. "Braeburn, if you don't stop wasting my time I just might buck you into tomorrow. Now, quit wasting my time and get on with it."
"Someone's sour," Braeburn replied with little care to Silverstar's burning glare. "Well, you got a point. I think it's time to let the cat out of the bag. Sis, if you would please."
"Presenting," Apple Bumpkin chortled with unfamiliar happiness, "true golden delicious apples!" She yanked off the curtain of the car, revealing a stockpile of yellow apples that gleamed in the light of the morning sun, radiating good feelings to anyone who just might catch a sniff of its alluringly sweet smell.
"I don't see what's so special," Silverstar sourly spat back. "You've grown golden delicious apples before. What makes this batch so special?"
"Didn't you hear her? Get the wax out of your ears," Braeburn berated him. "These are true golden delicious apples. The skin on these foals is actual gold!"
"Wait, you can grow gold?" Little Strongheart stared at the pile incredulously. "How in all of Equestria did you manage to do this?" The glare of the sun hitting the apples reflected off her mystified eyes.
"There's only one true ingredient to growing true golden delicious apples: love and care," Braeburn answered her as he gently wiped a smudge off of one of the apples.
"But that's two," Silverstar groaned.
"Well, anyway, we're going to take this shipment to Canterlot to make some hard-earned bits. The bits we need to keep the farm going for months! But this is also some very precious cargo..."
"Which is why you wanted us to guard it, right?" Silverstar groaned again. "Get to the point already."
"There's been sightings of bandits on the road chasing and robbing trains. I just want to make sure this gets to Canterlot safely." Braeburn lowered his tone as he his mind crossed over to the worst case scenario. "We need this, and I'm really counting on you guys."
"You can count on me to keep your apples safe," Little Strongheart assured him. "I just so happen to know a few things about train chasing."
"Not something to be proud of," Silverstar groaned again. Recent events in his life had left him perpetually tired, but life had to go on and he still had a job to do. "Well, you can fetch me before the train leaves. I need to go finish my paperwork. Officer Strongheart, consider yourself on standby."
"I understand, Sheriff Silverstar." She bowed courteously and turned back to Braeburn. "I am ready to help."
"Uh, that's alright." Braeburn began to feel uncomfortable and turned to the one thing he was sure would protect him in life; family. "Me and sis' have got the loading all covered. You can go take some time to yourself if you like."
"Actually, Braeburn," Apple Bumpkin cut in, smiling deviously. "I think I left the shop unlocked. Why don't you and Little Strongheart take care of the cart while I go check it."
"What? But, Apple—"
"Sorry, can't hear you." Apple Bumpkin kicked up a cloud of dust as she galloped off. "Good luck!" she yelled back before she vanished under the horizon.
"Apple Bumpkin?" Braeburn weakly cried out. Little Strongheart moved up close next to him. He felt his heart beat away in his chest, wanting to break free of its weak cage and fly away. He turned and Little Strongheart was already strapped to the cart, staring at him with her fierce eyes and soft smile. It was such an odd combination. "Uh, I guess you're ready then?"
"Yes, I'm glad to help," she answered him happily. "To the train station, right?"
"Yeah, the train," Braeburn uneasily sputtered as he started his trot. "Why can't I be at ease around her anymore..."
"What was that?" Little Strongheart asked. "Are you okay, Braeburn?"
"I'm fine! I mean, I'm fine," he said with feigned calmness.
The two of them pulled the cart to the train station in silence. Braeburn didn't dare say anything, paralyzed with fear, but Little Strongheart was content. She beamed her tiny smile whilst next to Braeburn, who she was sure was none the wiser of her feelings. The moment was almost perfect. "Your golden apples are quite wonderful."
"T-thanks," Braeburn stammered back. "Uh, we're almost at the train station... and— Miss Carrot Top!" he yelled out as loud as he could. Carrot Top stood still, dumbly staring back at him from the platform of the train station. "Miss Carrot Top, what are you doing here?"
"Huh?" Carrot Top turned to find Braeburn and Little Strongheart just a few yards away, hauling a cart full of something. "Oh, hey you two," she answered back weakly. "I was just seeing off Derpy and Dinky. And, what are you two doing, together?" Her eyes narrowed on Little Strongheart, smiling back at her innocently.
"We're just haulin' up a pile of true golden delicious apples! Perfect apples for ponies with deep pockets."
"True golden what apples?" Carrot Top trotted over to the cart, lifting the curtain and staring at the apples inquisitively. "They look like regular apples to me, maybe with a little bit more shine."
"That shine is real gold," Little Strongheart squealed exuberantly. "Isn't it incredible?" The look on Carrot Top's face was one of stoicism.
"Er, Strongheart, I can handle the loadin' on my own. Why don't you chat with Miss Top for awhile?"
"Are you sure?" Braeburn had the harness attached to Little Strongheart off in seconds and he had already started pulling the heavy cart to the loading dock through gritted teeth. "I guess he is..."
"Getting closer to him?" Carrot Top managed to say through her scrunched up and leering face. "I'm not envious or anything." Her flaring nostrils told a different story.
"I don't think it is like that," Little Strongheart sighed dejectedly.
Carrot Top was caught off-guard by the sudden melancholy of the normally steadfast buffalo. "H-hey, you don't have to get all mopey." She wasn't sure if it was common social conditioning that made her want to cheer up Little Strongheart, or that she had started to care about her like she does Derpy. "He's probably just overworking himself with those true golden apples or something. Once it's all over, we'll all come back and he won't stop yapping about apples or Appleloosa or something."
"That is a nice thought," Little Strongheart answered her somewhat brighter, "but I feel there is more to it than that. Well, maybe I will find out on the way to Canterlot?"
"What's that?"
"Oh, Sheriff Silverstar and I will be working to guard Braeburn's apples on the way to Appleloosa," she said cheerfully. Her eyes, bright with innocence, narrowed on Carrot Top. "I know, why don't you come with us? It would be fun, right?"
"Have you even heard of the concept of rivalry?" Carrot Top groaned in protest.
"Of course, but we are also friends, right?"
Carrot Top stood frozen for a moment. When she had finished collecting her thoughts, she drooped her head and chuckled weakly. "This is a really messed up dynamic."
"Train leaves in thirty minutes I believe."
Derpy and Dinky stepped onto the train platform inexplicably exhausted. Derpy briefly questioned why she didn't just fly the two of them, but dismissed it in favor of trodding on over to her now-dusty home to leave behind the terrible weight on her shoulders. "Let's go, Dinky," she groaned weakly.
"Yes, mom," Dinky stoically moaned.
The walk across Ponyville was uneventful, and when Derpy opened the door to their home she was met with a cold and dark hallway into a long-lonely house. She felt Dinky tug on her tail, growing more and more impatient. "You want to go to the park, right?" she asked her daughter knowingly.
"Yes, yes, yes! Tootsie Flute is over there waiting for me right now!"
Derpy dropped her bags at the doorway. "Alright, silly filly, let's go." She shut the door with a sweep of her tail.
"Don't call me silly filly," Dinky groaned as she giddily skipped by her mother's side all the way to the park.
Derpy let her mind wander as she observed the world around her. Nothing at all seemed to have changed one bit since she left. She knew she wasn't one of Ponyville's great pillars of community, but she liked feeling like she belonged or was useful in some special way. "Should have grown out of that years ago..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, silly filly," Derpy teased as she licked her hoof and smoothed a stray strand on Dinky's mane. "Did you brush your mane this morning?"
"No, you did," Dinky sighed. Her eyes brightened as she saw the park coming into sight. She gleefully kicked off the ground and broke into a jubilant gallop, almost flying off in the direction of a light-blue filly with a purple mane. "Tootsie Flute!"
"Aw, isn't that cute." Derpy fluttered over her daughter and her best friend, taking every bit of pleasure in Dinky's scrunchy little face. "Okay, Sweetie. Mommy will be back to pick you up from your wittle pway date in an hour. You and Tootsie have funsies!"
"Just go!" Dinky angrily snapped back.
"Bye bye!" Derpy looped through the air and lazily glided off towards Sugarcube Corner, unable to hide her own amusement. Her daughter was just such an easy target. She drifted past the doors of the sugar-shop and landed gracefully in front of the counter. "Is anypony here!?" she clumsily yelled out.
"One moment!" came an older womanly voice. A stout blue mare with a pink frosting-like mane emerged from the kitchen, covered in pink frosting. "Oh, Derpy, back so soon?! This is a nice surprise. Are you finally back from Appleloosa?"
"No, just visiting and bringing Dinky along, Mrs. Cake," Derpy replied contently.
"How precious," Mrs. Cake replied. "We don't have any muffins, but we still have plenty of other treats."
Derpy did a double-take as she meticulously scanned the content of the display case with two different focuses. As Mrs. Cake said, it was devoid of her most favourite treat. "I don't know, it just doesn't feel right unless it's a muffin."
"Cupcakes don't bite, Derpy. C'mon, try something, if only for my sake."
Derpy sighed and turned back to the display. "Uh, I guess I'll try that?" she said, pointing to an ugly clump of what looked like pieces of bread stuck together. She payed for her dish up front and retired to one of the tables with Mrs. Cake, choosing to forget about her ugly confection. "So how’s Ponyville these days?"
"It's the same as ever. I swear, when it's not being invaded by agents of chaos, swarmed by parasites, visited by the Princesses, or swept up in one of Twilight's possibly hallucination-induced panic sprees, this is the dullest place to live in all of Equestria."
"Yeah, sounds about right," Derpy oddly lamented.
"So, what has Carrot Top been up to?"
"Oh, she's pretty much the same. If it wasn't for me, she'd probably stay in all day stuffing herself."
"Carrot Top, are you okay?" Little Strongheart stared at the inhumane sight before her. She had never seen any one creature gorge itself on so much food, but before her, spitting on many notions of decency, Carrot Top managed to absorb food from the train's menu like a ludicrous black hole. It wasn't entirely beyond her to believe Carrot Top might be part dragon. "This is a rather scary sight, truth be told."
"Haven't you ever seen somepony use food as an emotional crutch?" Carrot Top snapped back, annoyed and spitting flakes of bread all over the buffalo. "Let me gorge myself in peace. That's what friends do," she said as she shoveled another helping of pasta into her infinitely gaping mouth.
"I do not think so." Little Strongheart bit down on Carrot Top's tail and hauled her away from the messy table effortlessly.
"No, come back." Carrot Top wiggled her legs in vain as she watched the plate shrink and vanish before her. "You're the only one that understands me!" She let herself be dragged along the train, uncaring, all the way towards the back to the cargo wagon where Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin paced around their precious pile of golden apples, tense. Silverstar watched them from the side, slightly amused.
"Stress yourself like that and your mane will fall out," he casually joked.
"Don't you dare say that!" both Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin barked back.
Silverstar stifled a chuckle and turned to Little Strongheart. "Found Carrot Top I see? Well, welcome to the rabbit hole. Don't even try talking to those two. They're on pins for their precious apples."
"Well we should be!" Braeburn snapped at Silverstar. "This time of year, with all the farmer ponies bringing their best work to Canterlot, train robbers take their chance to grab onto a train and take whatever they can get their grubby hooves on."
"Braeburn, you sound paranoid," Silverstar pointed out bluntly. The sudden jerking of the train sent him flying to the back of the wagon. "What the hay was that!?"
"Train robbers," Braeburn uttered quietly, one eye's iris shrinking into jittery dot." Apple Bumpkin, Lock her up!"
"Roger," Apple Bumpkin replied as she placed a board over the cart of apples and began nailing it shut. "Cargo is secured."
"Isn't this a bit much?" Silverstar badgered them.
"Better safe than sorry!" Braeburn cried back hysterically. "We lose this shipment and we might lose the farm!"
Silverstar sighed and turned to Little Strongheart. "Think you can put this fool's mind at ease?"
"Understood. Let's go, Carrot Top."
"What?" Carrot Top complained. "Why do I have to go?"
"We're friends, aren't we?" Little Storngheart asked innocently.
"Well... yeah... fine," Carrot Top whimpered in defeat. "Let's go."
Carrot Top followed Little Strongheart to the passenger carts. In the last one, a pink pony with a large hulking yellow pony behind her addressed the awe-struck passengers lividly, drinking in their horrified faces and the lime-light.
"listen up all y'all ponies," a pink earth pony with a lighter shade for her mane ordered to all the inhabitants of the cart, "this here train is now property of the Crabapple bandits. I'm their leader, Crabapple. So, we have a toll price. Would anypony like to guess how much our lil' crazy train costs?" No one dared to answer. "Well ain't you all about as much fun as a bag of angry manticores. Hands!"
The large earth pony stallion with unkempt yellow fur and mane stepped out from behind Crabapple. He grunted, snorted, spat, and glared at the inhabitants of the cart.
"Now, Hands got his name from how well he is at handling other ponies, Why he's as sweet as buttercups on the inside. Go ahead, Hands, pick one of them up."
Hands gingerly trotted over to a nearby yellow pony with a grayish-blue mane. Even though she was unicorn, she was too scared to do anything as he gently picked her up, turned her upside down, and shook all the bits out of her pockets.
"That should cover half her fee," Crabapple noted with humor. "I do hope one of y'all will be kind enough to afford the rest of her toll. You don't want to know what we do to all our passengers when just one can't pay up. Time to pony up y'all."
From their hidden alcove, Carrot Top watched the events with a sense of dread. Little Strongheart felt tiny as she watched Hands pony-handle the passengers. Carrot Top almost exploded with hysteria, only her common sense kept her from screaming out in terror. "What are we gonna do?" she whispered fervently to Little Strongheart. "That, they, we, us, what?"
"We should probably go back to Braeburn?" Little Strongheart insisted.
"Now, what do we have here?" came a high-pitched squeaky voice. Carrot Top turned slowly to find a tall bony blue stallion with some of the worst teeth she had ever had the horror of seeing. "I hope you paid for your tickets."
"I think I left my purse in my other coat," Carrot Top cried feebly. "I don't suppose you could let me go grab it?" She flashed the skinny stallion her most awkward and painful smile, just as Little Strongheart butted him into the next cart. "What did you just do?" she asked weakly.
"What's going on back there?" Crabapple strutted to the back of the cart where Carrot Top was shaking in fear. When she saw the both of them, a tiny and cold smile played across her lips. "Unaccounted for passengers, it seems. Well, anyone can ride on my little train of sweet love as long as they can pay the price."
"A-about that," Carrot Top grimaced. "We don't exactly have a lot of bits on us."
Little Strongheart dug her hooves into the ground and shot right into Crabapple. "You have the right to remain silent," she said with authority.
"Little Strongheart," Carrot Top squealed in fear, "behind you."
"What?" Little Strongheart turned around, and met with dozens of the grunts of the Crabapple gang. All of them wore pink bandanas the same color as Crabapple's coat. "Oh?"
"Assault costs extra, sugar," Crabapple calmly moaned as she bucked Little Strongheart's chest, sending the cow flying right onto Carrot Top. "Are you ready to pay up, one way or another?"
Little Strongheart bolted right back onto her hooves and grabbed Carrot Top around her waist. "Carrot Top, I have a new idea." She charged into the closest window, breaking right through it, and threw herself and Carrot Top onto the roof of the train. The sound of hoofsteps heading towards the front echoed over them.
"Well, this is really interestin' now," Crabapple remarked giddly. "Somepony go tell Wrench to get this thing goin' again, and why don't a dozen of you follow after that calf and her gal pal and bring them back here. Don't rough her up though, I get first dibs. In the meantime, it's time to pay some dear family a visit."
"Well, I'm happy to hear that you two have acclimated well to your new home," Mrs. Cake remarked as she took a bite out of a large piece of carrot cake. "To suddenly pack up like that and move out, I don't think Mr. Cake and I would have been able to go through that gracefully."
"Oh, we'll be back by the end of the year," Derpy chuckled. "I can't forget since Dinky keeps mumbling about it whenever she has to take a cold bath. Hot water isn't always available."
"I can't imagine Carrot Top taking that well."
"You should have seen her face when she saw the outhouse."
"Thank you, Derpy, for convincing me to never move to the frontier towns." Both of them laughed. "So, how is Dinky? It's been almost half a year since you all have moved away. I would hate to think the little filly is still having a hard time."
"Oh, Dinky. She..." Derpy's tone fell off, her thoughts becoming preoccupied with all the troubles her daughter has had. "She didn't like Appleloosa at all at first. Her sister visiting us helped her out and she's been trying to like the town." Derpy looked down at the untouched ugly mush she had bought moments ago. "I'm not a bad mother, right?"
"You've been a mother longer than I, Derpy. You're doing fine." She placed a comforting hoof on the crestfallen pegasus's side, but the outbreak of magnified infant cries erupting from upstairs was quick to bring both of them back to earth. "Oh goodness, what now."
"Mrs. Cake! We've got a problem!" a hyperactive girly voice called down to her.
"A mother's work is never done," Mrs. Cake sighed contently.
"And then some," Derpy added with a giggle.
"Mrs. Cake! I think it's alive!" the same girly voice screamed again, fearful for her life. "Help!"
"Coming, Pinkie!" Mrs. Cake hurried up the stairs swifter than her form would suggest. Leaving Derpy alone to stew with her thoughts.
Derpy looked down at the ugly treat again, wishing it were a muffin, or at least something else familiar to her. "I wonder what Carrot Top is up to," she lazily groaned to herself as she rested her head down on the table.
"AGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Carrot Top screamed at the top of her lungs as she raced along the roof of the train speeding away under her. "Somepony help! I don't want to die!"
"Get it together and jump!" Little Strongheart screamed back. On cue, the both of them jumped over an overarching sign that worked around the train. Behind them, their chasers followed suit. "Well, this is new, being on the other end of this scenario."
"Celestia! Luna! Even Discord I don't care! I just want off this crazy thing!" Carrot Top cried out in vain.
"Uh oh," Little Strongheart bleated, "tunnel."
"What the hay do you mean tunnel!" Carrot Top looked up and saw the offending opening coming into view. It wasn't very big. "Mommy!"
"On the count of three, duck!"
"I don't want to!"
"Three!" Little Strongheart and Carrot Top flattened themselves against the carts as darkness chewed right into them, knocking away their dimmer chasers. For Carrot Top, it was the single scariest minute of her life as she felt the rough roof of the tunnel claim a few strands of her untameable mane. "See, not too bad, right?" Little Strongheart chimed in.
Carrot Top started screaming again, all the way back into the light and even further. Not even the beautiful scenery of Canterlot's mountain could calm her down. "I want off!"
"C'mon!" Little Strongheart grabbed Carrot Top around her waist and hauled her into the window under them. They were back in the dining cart, and it was seemingly empty. "We finally got lucky, I guess."
"I'm going to lose my lunch," Carrot Top groaned as she flopped onto the floor. "I'm done, just leave me, Strongheart, I'll only slow you down anyway." Her pleas to surrender were not adhered to. Little Strongheart helped her up despite both their fatigue, despite all her wining, and despite all her struggling. "Didn't you hear the part where I said ‘leave me’?"
"I did," Little Strongheart replied, "but I thought you are not supposed to leave your friends behind?"
"Do you always have to be so nice?" Carrot Top sighed. "It makes me look so bad..."
"Carrot Top, are you well?"
"Not at all," she groaned. "This day can't possibly get any worse."
"Is that a challenge?" The same squeaky voiced stallion stood at one end of the cart, balancing the foulest, most disgusting pie that Little Strongheart had the horror of seeing. To call it a baked bad would have been an understatement. It was foulness incarnate and wrapped under a thin circle of dough. "I've got one shot, and pretty good aim."
"Is that a pie?" Carrot Stop bleated in confusion. "You're going to assault us... with a pie?"
"Get down!" Little Strongheart grabbed Carrot Top and threw them behind a table, kicking it over to act as a barricade.
"It's official, I'm dreaming."
"Little fillies want to play?" the squeaky stallion taunted as he trotted closer to the table. "I don't bite, much." He was a foot away from the table, grinning with all twelve of his dirty yellow teeth, savoring the idea of his helpless prey. He didn't see the brown and moustached earth pony sneak up behind him and smack him with a two-by-four. He flopped to the ground.
"It's safe now, you can come out," Silverstar called. He was surprised to see Carrot Top and Little Strongheart crawl out from behind the table. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I can imagine Strongheart getting away from these bandits, but you're tougher than expected, Carrot Top."
"I don't want to talk about it," Carrot Top gasped as she collapsed to the floor limp. "Can somepony please tell me what's going on?"
"Train robbers are trying to hi-jack the train for bits, loot, and the true golden delicious apples."
"Wait, Braeburn's true golden delicious apples!?" both Carrot Top and Little Strongheart said in unison. "We have to do something!"
Silverstar raised an invisible eyebrow, and sighed. "Well, they already got the apples. Got Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin all tied up. Girls, we've lost before the fight even started, and I'm just trying to find a way off this thing," he said solemnly. He removed his hat and held it against his chest.
"Surrender?" Little Strongheart stomped her hoof. "We can't surrender! It is not like Appleloosans to surrender when faced with just terrible odds."
"Then what do you propose we do?" Carrot Top groggily asked.
"Charge in!"
"And get surrounded?" Carrot Top pointed out. "Is charging something your answer to everything?"
"Most of the time," the strong-headed buffalo replied.
"We're doomed."
"Well, why don't you think of something if my ideas are no good?"
Carrot Top did a double-take. "What, me? I don't know, uncouple the carts to separate the bandits?"
"That can work," Silverstar replied in astonishment.
Mrs. Cake stumbled down the stairs. Whatever it was that she was called for, it had left her utterly drained. "Oh, Derpy, you're still here?" she groaned. "Unicorns sure are a handful at that age."
Derpy sat up straight and yawned. "Yeah. Have you gotten the magical toy act yet?"
"Once," Mrs. Cake recalled in displeasure. "Since then we've only bought plush toys for little Pumpkin.That will be the last time I have a wood block magically thrown at me."
"Dang! I wish I thought of that!" Derpy sighed and rubbed her head, remembering more wounds than she rightfully should.
"So, what happened with that nice stallion you were here with awhile back?"
The question caught Derpy off-guard, her concentration breaking and her eyes going off in two different directions. She felt the worst lump of her life, growing itself in her throat. "Oh, he's fine. I mean there's nothing between us. Nothing like that."
"That's a shame. I have yet to meet a stallion that ordered parfaits and turned out to be bad. A little food wisdom, you know," Mrs. Cake smirked.
"Oh he's, uhh, fine. We're just friends is all. Nothing serious or anything." Derpy shook her head carelessly, almost knocking away her untouched ugly lump of a treat.
"Odd, I saw you hitting it off last time. When I left to the kitchen and came back, you were both gone. I thought you had gone off to have some fun."
"Oh no, no, no. Just friends," Derpy insisted.
"Is that so? Well, I suppose it's not my place to pry. You're a grown mare after-all. Would you like me to put your bread pudding in a doggy bag?"
Derpy snapped back to reality and turned her attention back to the lump. "This is bread pudding... they make bread pudding! Wait, this is bread pudding?" The universe was a funny place after-all. "Yeah, sure, I'll take it to go." Mrs. Cake took the plate behind the counter and began wrapping it up to go. "Say, Mrs. Cake, what would you do if Mr. Cake disappeared?"
Mrs. Cake looked up, her eyes full of surprise. She had a feeling where this conversation was going. "Well, of course I would be distraught for months, maybe even years or decades. Raising two foals to boot? Well, I don't think I would be able to recover from something like that on my own."
"Yeah, that's for sure." Derpy nearly slid out of her seat as she stared at the ceiling dejectedly. "It would be a real shocker, huh?"
"But, I would need to move on eventually."
"Huh?" Derpy fell out of her seat. "What's that mean?"
"Well, I don't know," Mrs. Cake shrugged. "I just know I would have to move on at some point."
"Would you remarry? Or, I mean, replace Mr. Cake?"
Mrs. Cake finished putting the little bow on her bag, a little decoration to prove her shop put a little extra love in everything they do. Something about it didn't seem right this time. "Nopony out there could ever replace my precious Carrot Cake." She tightened the bow. "But, I also wouldn't want to be alone for the rest of my life."
"What?" Derpy pulled herself back up in a single beat of her wings. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, if life should manage to put a nice stallion in my way, why not take life's offer. Not to replace Mr. Cake, but to start a new life. Growing old alone can be a painful thing."
Derpy rushed to the counter, frantic and wings buzzing behind her. "And what if things go badly with the new stallion! What if your foals don't like him? What if Mr. Cake, after being gone for eight years suddenly appears again? What if the relationship just goes badly?"
"What if something wonderful happens, Derpy?" Mrs. Cake asked back. "I would have to at least try."
"Are you ready for this?" Little Strongheart asked Carrot Top as she grabbed onto her tightly.
"I'm beginning to have reservations about the credibility of this plan! Maybe we should reconsider?" Carrot Top begged weakly. "I mean, I don't think this is going to work!"
"But, this is your plan; how can you have self-doubts about your own plan?"
"Oh for the love of Celestia!" Carrot Top howled in vain. "Do you hear yourself sometimes?"
"Hit it! " Silverstar whinnied as he bucked open the door to the next cart and charged right in. His goal was to drive as many bandits to the front of the cart as possible, and he planned to revel in it. "It's been a long time since I've been in a real train heist!" He galloped right into the bandit-infested passenger cart, each one of them holding a rotten pie to a passenger's face. "Hey, pie for brains, try and catch me!" he taunted as he jumped over one bandit and bucked him upside the head on the way down.
"Get him!" one of the bandits roared, and the chase was on. Silverstar couldn't be happier.
Above the carts, Little Strongheart and Carrot Top galloped across the roof the train. Once Silverstar managed to gather as many bandits in the first four carts, they would uncouple the train. "Are you sure Silverstar will be fine on his own?" Carrot Top worried.
"He's a sheriff. This is his calling, at least that's what he always tells me." Little Strongheart expertly jumped from one cart to another. "Let's go!"
"R-right! Oh Celestia what am I doing!?" Carrot Top, with tears in her eyes and panic in her lungs, jumped from one car to another, following the crazy buffalo in her crazier plan.
"Wait right there, fillies!" came the condescending and squeaky voice of the yellow-toothed bandit. His eyes were wild and face stained with the terrible filthy pie. "Hold still, and maybe I'll go easy on you." He sneered fowley at them. "Any last words?"
"Yes, duck," Carrot Top answered him.
"What?" was all the bandit got to say as an overpass knocked him clean off the train from behind, sending him spiraling through the air and over the side of the mountain. His last remaining teeth flew off in every direction after him.
Carrot Top had to tear herself off the top of the train. She could scratch train-surfing off her list of potential hobbies. "Oh, Celestia, what the hay am I doing!?"
Below, the the train, Silverstar was having the time of his life as he danced through salvos of pies and bucking ponies intent on subduing him. "Got to do better than that if you even want to think about escaping the law!" He ducked under a charging pony, dug his forehooves in, and bucked the pony in the stomach as hard as he could. "C'mon, I'm just one pony!" The room was becoming so cramped that it was nearly impossible to move.
"Toss everything you have at him!" one of the bandits shouted, and another salvo of rotten pies were released.
"That's a dirty move," Silverstar laughed as he galloped back to the front of the cart. Seeing the entrance blocked by another pair of bandits, with too many holes in their wall. "Amateur!" Silverstar flipped over and skidded, back hooves extended up, and threw himself at the pair, shooting himself and them into the next cart. He bucked himself off the two and continued his gallop. Bandits streaming in after him. "Strongheart, do it!"
Strongheart hopped down to the coupling between the passenger carts and cargo carts. She tore off the spike holding them together and immediately the trains began to split. "Your plan is working, Carrot Top!"
"Great," Carrot Top groaned. "Can I go throw-up yet?"
"We still have to rescue Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin."
"Right, right, what was I thinking?" Carrot Top sighed sarcastically as she dropped down to the cart opening, landing right on her back. "Ow."
Inside the last cargo cart on the train, the pink pony Crabapple was surveying the contents of her heist, Hands behind her prying open boxes. "Oh this is going to make a killing on the black market, wouldn't you say, cous'?" she giggled at Braeburn, back to back and tied up with Apple Bumpkin. Only Apple Bumpkin was gagged.
"We're not cousins!" Braeburn roared back at her. "No true Apple family pony would resort to burglary to make a livin'?"
"Aw, still no fun," Crabapple pouted. She placed a hoof on the furthest crate in the hold. "And this must be where your precious true golden delicious apples are bein' all held up, right, cous'?"
"Don't you touch that! Your hooves are rotten and will spoil those apples in an instant!"
"Shall we test that? Oh, Hands? Be a dear and break this crate open like a dragon egg."
The hulking pony grunted in affirmation and lugged itself to the crate. It placed one hoof on it, ready to stomp down and split the crate like a twig, but the sudden attack of a little but strong buffalo knocked him into the adjacent well, imbedding him in a Hands-shaped hole. He slid to the floor, and bleated, "ow."
"What the hay is going on?" Crabapple turned and saw Carrot Top next to Braeburn and Apple Bumpkin, fiddling with the rope ties. She charged right at her. "Get away from them!" Crabapple barreled right into Carrot Top's side.
Oh, Celestia," Carrot Top moaned in mid-air. "I'm going to..." She landed on her back.
"Why you!" Little Strongheart yelled out as she charged right at Crabapple, but the pink pony reared up and bucked Little Strongheart right in her face, sending her back to the other end of the room.
"Honestly, you think I've never fought a buffalo," she sneered in delight. "Oh, boys!" she yelled as loud as she could. "Get in here! We've caught ourselves some souvenirs at last!" No one came. "Boys! I said souvenirs! Get in here!" Still, no one came. "Oh for my sake, what are they doing!" Crabapple stomped and huffed all the way to the cart opening, and her eyes nearly bugged off her face. Nothing, there was nothing but the mountain. "Where the hay is the rest of the train!"
"We detatched it," Little Strongheart murmured. "It's just you and us!"
Crabapple spat. "Hardly. Hands!"
In a second, the hulking pony was back on his hooves. "Bring me the buffalo and the orange one. We're about to get sensual in here."
"What?" Carrot Top gasped. The hulking pony lifted her with one foreleg, and she had no strength to resist. Together with Little Strongheart, held tightly against Hand's smelly chest. "Oh, Celestia, I can't take much more of this..."
"Crabapple, stop!" Braeburn shouted at her. "You got my apples! Don't hurt them!"
"Aw, cous', I'm so jealous you care more about them than me." She placed a hoof on Carrot Top's stomach. "Well, maybe I can't blame you. I'm gonna have fun wringin' the life out of you."
"I'll do anything!" Braeburn begged. "Just don't hurt them, please."
"I don't know. These two are beginning to seem more appetizing than your squirming self." She pressed down on Carrot Top. "Are you ready for supper, sugar?"
Carrot Top reached her limit. "Hold that thought," she said, before throwing up everything she had eaten in the past few hours. A terrible stream of half-digested pasta, cupcakes, sandwiches, soups, salads, strawberries, breads and carrots rained down on Crabapple, coating her completely from head to hoof. When all was done, Carrot Top sighed contently and drooped her head back. "That feels so much better."
"Ew," Crabapple whimpered. "Ew! Ew! Ew! I need a bath! Or at least some water! Hands, give me your canteen!" she barked.
Hands, as dim as he was, let go of Little Strongheart and Carrot Top so he could reach for his canteen. With her hooves on the floor, Little Strongheart reared up and bucked him again, with enough force to shoot him out of the cart. She then threw herself at Crabapple, headbutting her back to the back of the cart where she flopped to the floor in a foul puddle of acid. "Carrot Top, what did you eat?" Little Strongheart asked as she tried to rub the gunk off her head.
"Everything," Carrot Top burped. "Got any mints?"
"This is the Canterlot pegasus police force!" came a magically enhanced booming voice. "Crabapple of the Crabapple bandits. You are under arrest for multiple cases of burglary. We have your gang firmly secured in Canterlot. Come out with your hooves up."
Crabapple limped out of the cart to find a squadron of pegasi ready to come down on her with all the power of the Princess's law. She had always hoped that when her time had finally come to be taken to the big house, she could do so with integrity. Fate did not give her such a chance. "I surrender! I surrender! Just, please, draw me a bath!"
Carrot Top ambled into the light and watched the troupe of pegasi take Crabapple away. "Is it over?" she groaned. "Can we finally go home?"
Mrs. Cake held out the tiny package to Derpy. "I'll see you next month, Derpy."
The anxious pegasus took the package and bowed graciously. "Thanks for the words, Mrs. Cake. See you around." Derpy flew out of the sweet shop, drifting over to the park and casting her motherly shadow over daughter, still enraptured in whatever games she had been playing with Tootsie Flute. She can feel her daughter's agitation, and nothing made her happier. "Oh, Dinky! Mommy's here!"
"Five more minutes!" Dinky yelled back.
"We need to go to Cheeriliee and collect your lessons for the month."
"I don't want to! You can't make me!" Of course, Dinky knew her cries were in vain as her mother swooped down and picked her up like a hawk with a field mouse. "Say goodbye to Tootsie, Dinky!"
"Goodbye, Tootsie," Dinky sighed. "Why me..."
Tootsie Flute giggled and waved back. "Bye Derpy, bye Dinky! See you tomorrow!"
Carrot Top bent down and kissed the Canterlot sidewalks. Solid, stable, unmoving ground had never been so delicious. "I'm never riding a train again, as long as I live! Not if there's a chance that will happen again!"
"That was the best train ride ever!" Little Strongheart cheered next to her. "I forgot how fun it was to run across the tops."
"You two," Braeburn sighed as he took a deep breath. "You two are amazing!" Carrot Top stood at attention. "If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't have my shipment of apples to sell here, and then the farm would have been in dire straights, but you two saved my apples. Heck, you girls saved me. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"
Carrot Top's eyes widened, her heart trying to flutter out of her chest. "W-well—"
"What about me!" Silverstar badgered him from behind. "You know what I had to go through on my end of the job? Ungrateful little punk."
"Aw shucks, you want a kiss too, Silverstar?" Braeburn teased.
"You know dang well that's the last thing I need!" Silverstar growled back. He threw his head up, scowling back at Braeburn who continued to beam at him with his trademark smile that could make a hundred mares knees wobble like Carrot Top's. Silverstar spat, and smiled back. "But Strongheart is right, this was the best dang train ride in a long time. Reminded me what I loved most about law enforcement. The payment is always a bonus though." He pulled out a bag of bits from behind him. "Quite a healthy reward on Crabapple’s head, and it's only fair that I split this with Strongheart and Carrot Top evenly. You girls like the sound of that?"
Little Strongheart shook her head. "Any bits I take would just go to bringing treats back to my tribe, something I can do fine as is. Actually," Little Strongheart turned to Carrot Top. "Silverstar, give my share to Carrot Top."
"What!?" Carrot Top cried in amazement. "Wh-what's this for?"
"I still owe you for all the tools I broke way back when we first met. I hope that with what I made from this, you can now replace them."
Carrot Top's eyes glazed over as she started doing a mental tally of her inventory, what she needed, what she could get. "Little Strongheart, I don't know what to say."
"Then say nothing. I was the one at fault anyway."
"Thanks," Carrot Top said, with all her heart. "It's more than I could have ever asked for."
"You sure are amazin'." Braeburn knelt over and kissed Little Strongheart's cheek.
Little Strongheart stumbled back, feeling light-headed and dizzy. All the adrenaline in the world couldn't help her now. "Th-th-thanks, Braeburn!" she said loud and rigidly. "I was just doing what any buffalo, and I'm sure any pony, would do!"
Carrot Top's eyes turned into saucers and her mouth hung open, gaping into the air. Her senses were slowly becoming numb.
Braeburn looked at the odd sight and chuckled. He bent over and kissed her on the cheek before trotting up next to Apple Bumpkin. "Ready to open shop?"
"Brother, you're an idiot," Apple Bumpkin sighed.
"W-wait!" Carrot Top yelled as loud as she could. She stumbled up to Braeburn, eyes wild and buggy. "Can I buy a true golden apple?" she asked meekly. Braeburn laughed and opened up the crate of true golden delicious apples. He held one out to her.
"On the house," he said.
"Th-thanks!" Carrot Top took the apple, closed her eyes, reached her head out, and with her mind still buzzing from a combination of exhaustion, adrenaline and nausea, she pecked Braeburn on the cheek. "For being a good pony," she said meekly.
"Aw shucks, it's not problem," Braeburn answered her with his warm smile. "I'll see you all back at at Appleloosa in a few days. See you then?"
"See you then!" Carrot Top replied giddily. She watched Carrot Top and Apple Bumpkin disappear into the bustling town, her mind screaming at herself and demanding to know what she had just done, until a hoof patted her on her back. She turned around and met an unfamiliar stallion.
"You're the one who dine and dashed at the dinner cart," he hissed unnervingly at her. "I hope you plan to pay for your outrageously large meal!"
Carrot Top blinked, and relinquished the last remnants of her stomach onto the pony. "Check please."
The end of the weekend had finally come for Derpy. She rode the train back with Dinky sleeping at her side, and her bag from the day before on the other. The train whistle announced that they had made it to Appleloosa. "Wake up, Dinky," Derpy whispered as she ruffled her mane. "We're here."
"Ten more minutes," Dinky groaned.
"Oh, alright, mature filly," Derpy teased, but Dinky didn't hear a thing as she slept away. Derpy carried Dinky and all their bags on her back. She felt nothing but bliss as she felt Dinky warm her face on her mane. She stepped onto the train station, and found Carrot Top instantly, waiting for her. "Hey, Carrot."
"Hey, Derpy," she answered back as she approached her. "Had fun in Ponyville?"
"Yeah," Derpy answered her. The two of them started on their way back to the little hovel. "How was your weekend? Same old, same old?" she teased.
"No, I did things I've never done before, and quite frankly never want to do again."
"Carrot Top, I've got impressionable filly sleeping on my back—"
"Nothing like that," Carrot Top interrupted her. "I'll tell you another time. It's a long story."
They reached the cozy little hovel, and Carrot Top opened the door for them. "You go first and put sleeping filly to bed."
Derpy smiled back and trotted into the warm home. Some rather odd new instruments littered the kitchen counter and the floor was covered in boxes. "Stuff from your story?" Derpy asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, kinda," Carrot Top sheepishly smiled back.
"I'm gonna have to hear it all later." Derpy carefully laid Dinky in her comfy little bed in their room. She was as sweet as can be when asleep, and her little sourpuss when away. She wouldn't have it any other way. She shook off her bags and grabbed the Sugarcube Corner bag with her mouth, trotting into the kitchen, dining room and living room and unwrapping the package.
"What's that?"
"My metaphor." Derpy revealed the parcel.
"Ooh! Bread pudding!" Carrot Top salivated as she started at the treat. "I can't remember the last time I had this."
"I've never had it before," Derpy admitted. "You know me, always going for the muffins at sugarcube corner. Well, they were out when I got there, and Mrs. Cake convinced me to try something new."
"Well you should. I love trying new things."
Derpy giggled and reached out and took a bite of the ugly but very sweet lump. "It's stale," she sighed regretfully. "My metaphor is stale, Carrot..."
"It's still sweet, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but, I wish I had given it a chance in the first place," Derpy cried. "I waited too long, and now I wasted my chance."
"Well, lucky for you, I'm an expert on this kind of stuff." Carrot Top took the dish over to the sink and sprinkled some water on it. "Now, we just put it in the oven for a few minutes and it will come out good as new," she explained proudly. "Do we have any sugar in the pantry?"
"Will it really work?"
"Of course." Carrot Top, with a mitten in her mouth, withdrew the plate and put it back on the table. "Try it now. I promise you won't be disappointed."
Derpy took a deep breath, and took another bite out of the desert. "It's good!" she squealed! "This is really good!"
"I told you."
"You said you haven't had some in awhile. Come have some with me!"
"Are you sure?" Carrot Top asked. "It's yours. You don't need to—"
"Friends share, right?" Derpy pointed out. She scooted herself and the plate next to Carrot Top.
"With all I know about friendship, who am I to argue?" she joked as she pulled up a chair right next to Derpy. "Thank you, friend." Carrot Top took a bite out of the bread pudding. "We've made quite a few friends since moving here, haven't we?"
"Yeah," Derpy sighed in contentment. "Makes for lots of fun on these dry days."
A vacation is made!
"One, two, three!" Little Strongheart counted off before charging right into the nearest tree head-first, leaving a well-sized dent in its side. "A little better than yesterday!" she cheered in delight. Her stampeding and charging were getting better and better, but now was the time to return to the herd before charging off to Appleloosa to spend another day trying to woo that stallion whose head was thicker than three tree trunks put together. Not that she was any good at wooing to begin with, but a buffalo never gives up; she keeps charging and charging until something happens.
The buffalo camp was as laid-back as ever. Mothers cleaning daughters, boys showboating, and the elders trying to teach life lessons to the youngest through stories of heroism. This was the world she grew up in, and it was a world she loved with all her heart. "Chief Thunderhooves!" she called out.
"Over here!" he shouted back to her from across the camp. "Little Strongheart, where were you this morning?"
"Just butting trees," she laughed back. "I always see Braeburn bucking trees and his legs are pretty strong, so I thought I would try the same for my head."
"Should have seen that coming," one of the bulls laughed. "Little Strongheart starts hanging around ponies, now she's acting like one."
"What does that mean?" she bleated back. "How am I acting like a pony? I'm just working on my headbutting, there is nothing wrong with that."
"What buffalo rams herself into trees all day?" he spat back snidely. The bull approached her arrogantly. "Why, it is no wonder why your horns have not grown in yet."
"W-what are you saying, Bighorn?!" Little Strongheart flared up, flustered and kicking at the ground against the proud bull, Bighorn. True to his name, he had large horns; at least, large for his age. He was just a little older than Little Strongheart, but his horns had come in early, and he took great pride in them.
"I'm saying you're all pony and no buffalo now," Bighorn shot back condescendingly.
"T-that is an outrageous accusation!"
"Then prove it," Bighorn smirked. "You and me in a horn-locking match. The first one down, loses."
"B-but I have no horns."
"Then I guess you are too pony after-all," he laughed, rubbing more and more spite into Little Strongheart's sore wounds.
"Fine!" Little Strongheart shouted back. "I do not need horns to beat you. My head alone is stronger than anyone else's here!"
The calves of the camp heard Little Strongheart's declaration and had already begun to gather to watch the show. The chief's adoptive daughter versus Bighorn, who was like an idol to the younger bulls. Only the adults showed disinterest, if not outright disapproval.
Bighorn dug a hoof into the dirt as he and Little Strongheart lined themselves up and ready to crash into each other. With every respect, it looked like he should win. He had horns, big horns, and had at least twenty pounds on Little Strongheart, who seemed lithe and stick-like compared to most of the members of the camp, even some of the other girls. Something he saw that just made her more like a pony. This was his match.
"On the count of three!" one of the littlest bulls shouted. "One!"
Little Strongheart lowered her head.
"Two!"
Little Strongheart's knees wobbled.
"Three!"
She kicked herself forward and she and Bighorn crashed right into each other, sending shockwaves down each other's spine. She tried to push him back, to push him off balance, but it was no use: no matter how hard she tried he wouldn't budge. They were head to head, but while she grunted and scowled, he was laughing at her.
"What's the matter, little pony? Can't charge any harder?"
"Buck you!" she screamed at him, borrowing one of Silverstar's favourite expletives.
"I don't even know what you're saying." In one swift movement, he overpowered Little Strongheart and dropped her to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. "Looks like I win!" he announced as the children watching all began to cheer for him, chanting his name and filling him with pride.
"But," Little Strongheart whined, "I..."
"Little Strongheart," Chief Thunderhooves called to her.
"Y-yes!" she cried out, pulling herself up.
"I'm disappointed," he sighed, turning away and walking back to his tent in the middle of the campsite. Just like that, her good morning turned terrible.
Derpy was on cloud nine! Bundled up in bed, Dinky sleeping between her hooves because a nightmare had startled her awake in the middle of the night. There was nothing more she could want right now. Her world was complete, but was brutally shattered when a loud and ringing alarm shot her up out of bed and through the roof. "We have an attic!?" she bleated as she pulled her head out of the hole she made. "Carrot Top!"
In the den of the hovel, Carrot Top was beside herself as she rubbed a cheek against the cold and unfeeling machine that had just arrived. "Oh, it's magnificent," she squealed.
"Carrot Top," Derpy sighed as she floated into the den, a disgruntled and annoyed Dinky a foot behind her. "I've seen you doing lots of strange things... what's this strange thing?"
"The nutritionomameter seven-million!" Carrot Top squealed in delight. "It's so sophisticated and advanced," she went on as she continued to touch and stroke the cold hard machine with familiarity. "It's so shiny too. Oh, listen to that baby purr."
"Mommy, I'm scared," Dinky squeaked in fear. "Carrot is acting weirder than usual."
"Oh, nutritionomameter, you can give me what I need."
"C'mon, Carrot Top," Derpy sighed as she pried her best friend off the lifeless machine. "The machine isn't going to love you."
"No, I'm serious! I put Braeburn's golden apple in it and I'm waiting for it to spit out the analysis."
The cogs within the machine began to spin and whirl as the magical golden apple was crushed into little bits and heated within its contraptional innards. Carrot Top waited with eager and bated breath as the readout gauges spun in little circles and lights seemed to come pouring out of a pair of holes that one might mistake for eyes. "It's working, Derpy! It's working!"
"Dinky, I'm scared!" Derpy cried as she hugged her daughter close for comfort. Dinky mirrored her mother perfectly.
"Hello?" Little Strongheart called out as she stepped through the door. "What is—"
Kaboom! The machine went, blowing a hole through the roof and blowing smoke out everywhere. The occupants of the hovel had to race outside for fresh air, crashing and collapsing on one-another out in front. "Good morning, everypony," Little Strongheart grumbled from the bottom of the pony-pile.
"Good morning, Little Strongheart," Derpy happily replied from the middle.
"It's morning?" Carrot Top bleated as she stared up directly at the sun, unflinching. She had been working herself ragged all night on her nutritionomameter. "You know, Derpy, I never realized how soft you were," she yawned as she rested her head on one of Derpy's wings.
"Good night, Carrot," Derpy cooed as she caressed Carrot Top with her other wing.
"Uh, friends, it's becoming hard to breathe," Little Strongheart wheezed. "Please, it is getting hard to see."
"Oh, sorry about that," Derpy giggled as she threw Carrot Top off of her, launching her into the air, causing her to land on the dirt with a hard thud. "You okay, Carrot?"
"I'm fine," she grumbled with a mouth full of earth. "I'm just fine."
Little Strongheart turned back to the smoking hovel. "What were you doing in there?"
"I was trying to analyse how Braeburn made those true golden delicious apples," Carrot Top began to explain at length, unimpeded by earlier injuries. "You see, farmers producing enchanted fruits and vegetables—while rare—is not unheard of. Probably the most prevalent example being zap apple jam which you can buy at Barnyard Bargains for twenty bits a jar. It's highway robbery I say, whatever a highway is. Anyway, using the apple I got from Braeburn and the money that you so graciously gave to me I was able to buy a new nutritionomameter and have it analyze the true golden delicious apple so I can learn the secrets that brought the apple into being for the sake of fertile land everywhere and then I'll be rich and have lots of bits and never have to work another day of my life and Braeburn will love me!"
Derpy and Little Strongheart stared at each other, confused. "Can you repeat that?" Derpy asked. "That didn't make any sense."
"Just let me have my fantasies, Derpy, please," Carrot Top whimpered pathetically.
Little Strongheart stared at Carrot Top worryingly. "Oh, yes," she piped up. "I was by Sheriff Silverstar's office and he gave me some letters to deliver to you two." She pulled out a couple letters from her headband and held them out to Carrot Top between her cloven hooves.
"This feels weird," Derpy remarked.
"Oh shush," Carrot Top groaned as she took the letters and bit off the tops to extract their contents. "Hm, It's from Agrivolution!"
"What's that?"
"That place I work for and the reason we're here to begin with..."
"I knew that," Derpy stated defensively.
"No you didn't, but that doesn't matter." Carrot Top scanned over the letters thoroughly, her eyes growing with each sentence. "I don't believe it, it's a paid vacation to the beach in Vanhoover! The beach, Derpy! The beach! Vacation at the beach! Three paid days!" She was ecstatic, ready to dance on the clouds of her mind as she heard the sound of crashing waves in the background.
"T-the beach!" Derpy repeated, just as awed and happy. She and Carrot Top were already foreleg-locked and spinning and circles as they chanted 'beach' over and over again.
"You see what I have to deal with?" Dinky groaned to Little Strongheart all of a sudden. "So immature."
"What's a vacation?" Little Strongheart asked back. "I don't think I've ever heard that word before.”
Carrot Top and Derpy stopped mid-skip, causing Carrot Top to stumble to the ground and pull Derpy down with her. "You've never had a vacation before? Ever?" Carrot she gasped at her.
"I would think not, seeing as the word is foreign to me," Little Strongheart answered back, slightly annoyed. "What is a vacation?"
"It's, like, a get-away," Carrot Top tried to explain. "You take a vacation by going somewhere far from where all your problems are and enjoying yourself."
"But that does not fix a problem, does it?"
"Don't overthink it," Carrot Top answered her. "The point of a vacation is to temporarily get away from your problems, Yeah, they'll... still be there when you come back, but it doesn't hurt to take a little break from them... I think... why do you do this to me?"
"Do what?" Little Storngheart replied innocently.
"Let's just take a vacation!" Derpy announced excitedly. "We can all go, just us girls! It will be great!"
"I can invite Braeburn!" Carrot Top squealed in excitement. "A mare, a stallion, the sound of the ocean, a sunset, and... then..." Carrot Top became weak and collapsed as her voice droned on dreamily. "It could be the best night ever."
"That is not fair," Little Strongheart complained. "I still do not understand what a vacation is supposed to be about."
"Y-yeah, you can't do that," Derpy added.
"I'm going to invite him, and you can't stop me," Carrot Top barked back before turning and galloping off giggling in delight, leaving a confused pegasus and buffalo and annoyed unicorn.
"W-well, I can still try and win Braeburn over her," Little Strongheart told herself.
"But, I wanted it to just be us girls," Derpy sighed to herself.
"Oh, we better tell Sheriff Silverstar," the buffalo piped up. "I'll go tell him for you." Little Strongheart stampeded off, leaving a stunned Derpy in her wake
"B-but, I could have... agh!" she screamed, turning to the still-smoking hovel and smashing her head against the wall repeatedly. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she screamed to the sky. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
"Mom," Dinky called out to her worryingly, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Dinky," she groaned as she bashed her head against the wall again. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
Several hours passed before Carrot Top met up with Derpy and Dinky at the train-station, a dejected look plastered on the orange mare's face. "He declined the offer," she groaned to Derpy, whose spirits picked up a little. "Said he didn't have time and needed to work all day. Was there a point to him selling golden apples if he still has to work!?"
"Oh, well, it won't be so bad," Derpy chirped, taking Carrot Top's bags for her. "Just imagine all the girly things we can do now without him around. We can paint each other's hooves, and and style each other's mane, and give each other facials!"
"Derpy, we never do any of that," Carrot Top noted with a deadpan tone. "And, are we really inviting Little Strongheart?"
"Why not? She's never had a vacation! She needs a vacation from being vacationless!"
Carrot Top sighed heavily. No matter what, it was an unspoken law of her life that Derpy would be in the right, the proverbial pegasus on her back telling her to do the right things. Having a good influence in your life wasn't always the easiest thing. "I'm just afraid it's going to be awkward."
"What's going to be awkward?" Little Strongheart asked as she appears behind Carrot Top.
"This conversation," Carrot Top groaned. "Well, let's go."
"To the train!" Derpy squealed in delight.
"I hope it's as exciting as last time," Little Strongheart laughed.
"I hope not," Carrot Top groaned weakly.
The train horn whistled as the four of them took their seats at one of the benches, Derpy depositing all their bags in the overhead cubbies. "Hm, you didn't bring anything?" she asked Little Strongheart.
"I'm supposed to bring things?" Little Strongheart asked back. "You described a vacation as a temporary leave, right? How long is temporary?"
"Three days," Carrot Top yawned.
"What?!" Little Strongheart threw herself to the window, her eyes bugging out as she saw the scenery start to move, the train slowly building up to its full speed. "Oh, this is not good. I need to get off, quickly."
"Hey, hold your horses. What's the problem?" Derpy asked, concerned. "Why are you so antsy now?"
"Because Chief Thunderhooves doesn't know how long I'll be gone," Little Strongheart cried. "I thought... since it was only temporary I could leave and return without anybuffalo noticing. That... is not happening now," she sighed. "This will not go well for me." The train had already reached top speed. If it were a pony powered train, it would have been too easy for her to jump off, but a steam engine train was an iron monster.
"Well, relax now; we're on vacation," Carrot Top duly noted. "Is it that bad if you're missing for three days?" Carrot Top idly commented, realizing too late how horribly it came out. A pony of Little Strongheart's age missing for three days would have had Ponyville in chaos if she had disappeared for so long.
"Oh, I've got an idea!" Derpy lit up. "We can send a letter back to Appleloosa to tell the Chief that Little Strongheart is fine."
"I guess that could work," Carrot Top lazily offered. "Although, given the nature of mail, there's a chance that we'll get back before the letter actually reaches Appleloosa."
"Not helping," Derpy coughed, Little Strongheart becoming more and more crestfallen with each passing second.
"I'm... just being realistic."
"Welcome to Sandy Shores," the overly-smiley unicorn receptionist at the hotel greeted Carrot Top. "What can I do for you?"
The train ride had done little for Carrot Top's disposition. For nearly half a day she had to endure a morose buffalo, a whiny and bratty filly, and whatever idle thoughts escaped from a certain pegasus's mouth, all of whom stood behind her and none of which were very good for her health. "Agrivolution," she barked. "I'm Carrot Top from Agrivolution. My room key, now."
"Can I see some identification?" the all too chirpy receptionist squeaked back. Carrot Top found herself disliking her more and more.
Carrot Top pulled out a scroll from her bag and unfurled it. "Me," she croaked as she pointed to the picture. She looked just as cranky on the scroll as she did in front of the receptionist.
"Here's your key!" the receptionist squealed as she magically floated out a key from the wall of hooks and keys, levitating it out to Carrot Top. "And enjoy your stay at Sandy Shores where your happiness is our only service."
"You're doing a fine job already," Carrot Top hissed as she lead her group up five flights of stairs, past twenty other rooms, and at long last to their ultimate destination. Key between her teeth, Carrot Top slid it into the keyhole and opened the door. The falling light of the sun glittered off her eyes as she took in the majesty of her new room. The silk drapes, the oil paintings of fruit, the soft carpets. "Oh Celestia," she cried out pitifully, "is that a bathroom?"
Derpy glided out from behind her and checked inside the small door. "It is!" she squealed back to Carrot Top, seconds later knocked fifty feet out of a conveniently open window as Carrot Top shoved her aside, bolting into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.
"It has a shower!" her manic voice exploded.
"Will she be alright?" Little Strongheart voiced in concern. She had never seen Carrot Top so full of vitality and strength. It was scary!
"She won't leave the bathroom at all," Dinky giggled as she jumped onto a nearby bed. "I call this one," she sighed happily.
"You're sharing with mama," Derpy asserted as she climbed in through the window. There were two beds, both rather large. "And Little Strongheart and Carrot Top can share the other."
"W-what!" Carrot Top babbled from the bathroom. "She's a buffalo! She's used to sleeping on the floor or something, right?"
"Carrot Top!" Derpy reprimanded her. "That's horribly rude to say!"
"It is?" Little Strongheart questioned back in confusion. "While we do sleep on some form of mats, the fact that the entire floor is matted means that I can sleep anywhere," she noted happily as she pawed the soft floor. "I don't even have to worry about rolling over and waking up with pebbles all over me."
"But it's not right!" Derpy asserted. "Nopony should sleep on the floor!"
"But I'm not a pony."
"I mean nobody!" Derpy huffed in frustration.
"So, ponies sleep on beds?" Little Strongheart asked, staring at the beds.
"Well, yes but—"
"Then I'll sleep on the floor," Little Strongheart answered her. "And that is that. Now, about that letter?"
"Oh, fine," Derpy grumbled. "Uh, I bet I can find the post office in a quick fly-over of the city. Uh, Carrot Top!" Derpy called loudly to her. "Watch Dinky while I'm off with Little Strongheart. And come out of the bathroom already! Let's just go already," she groaned as she and Little Strongheart ran out of the room.
The door of the bathroom opened slowly as Carrot Top ambled out of the bathroom in a lackadaisy state and fell onto the other bed in utter bliss. "I miss civilization."
"You used a toilet, how does that make you feel?" Dinky sarcastically shot back at her.
"Like I was the Princess of Equestria," Carrot Top moaned in delight. "Why did I ever agree to that ridiculous relocation project or whatever."
"Yeah, well, good for you," Dinky huffed as she jumped off the bed. "I'm going to the beach."
"What, no. You're staying here because I'm not going anywhere," Carrot Top argued back. "Your mother told me to watch you and I'm going to watch you."
"Good for you," Dinky scoffed, already out the doorway. "Later."
Carrot Top blinked, growing irritated. She leapt out of bed and chased after Dinky. "Get back here, young mare!" she growled, just a foot behind her and reach out a hoof to grab her. The carpet under her slid out from under her hooves, depositing Carrot Top on her face. "Little brat."
"I've gotten better, huh?" Dinky giggled as she continued on her way. "At least it's useful on somepony."
"Get back here," Carrot Top growled as she shot back onto her hooves and chased after Dinky again. Again, the carpet was lifted from under her and Carrot Top fell on her face. "Fine, we'll go to the beach."
"So, how long do you think it would take for the letter to reach Appleloosa?" Derpy asked the counter-stallion at the local post office she found.
"Maybe by tomorrow afternoon," he answered her. "Is that okay?"
"It will suffice," Little Strongheart sighed. "You should write the letter, though."
"Right," Derpy sighed. She retrieved the necessary supplies from a nearby shelf and bit down on a nearby pen. "To... Silverstar. Little Strongheart is with me and Carrot Top in Vanhoover for the next three days. Please alert her tribe. With... uhh... thanks, Derpy Doo. How's that?"
"It sounds good to me," Little Strongheart replied. "As long as the elder learns of my whereabouts."
"Alright, we're ready to mail this!"
Carrot Top collapsed in the sand, eyeing the horned devil that had somehow managed to drag her all the way out here. "When your mother hears about this, she'll be furious I hope you know."
"I know," Dinky scoffed back. "I'll be in trouble for awhile. Hardly the end of the world."
"This isn't really mature behaviour."
"So what?" Dinky rolled onto her back and stared out at the sun. She was dissatisfied. She turned back to Carrot Top and frowned. "I want an ice cream cone!" she demanded from her.
"Fine, whatever, your highness." Carrot Top grudgingly picked herself up and hauled herself to a nearby ice cream vendor. She returned to her with two rainbow ice-cream cones in a cardboard holder balanced on her back. "Here you go."
Dinky scowled. She extended her magic to the cone and tried to pull it out of the holster. It came out wobbly, as if balanced on the end of a pin. She tried to bring it close to her face to lick, but it crashed right into her nose. "Darn it," she hissed.
Carrot Top giggled as she placed the cardboard holster on the ground and started idly licking on the ice-cream. "They give us these to make them easier to eat."
"Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?" Dinky spat at her.
"Nice to you all of a sudden? I imagine I'm always nice to you, well usually nice to you. What are you trying to insinuate?"
"That you don't like me!" Dinky shouted back at her. "That you still think I'm just a waste of mom's time."
Carrot Top took a deep breath. "I never properly apologised for what I said back then, did I?" she groaned. She buried her face in her hooves, thinking over her words carefully. "I'm sorry, Dinky, I truly am. When I said those things to your mother, I mean only to hurt her; I never wanted to hurt you."
"Why would you want to hurt your best friend ever?" Dinky fumed. "I don't get it. I try to figure out how to be a mature filly, but what are my role-models? My mom is an airhead, you're crabby, you both say mean things to each other and then laugh about it; I don't get it!" she screamed. "Even all the adults around me act ridiculous."
"Dinky, why do you want to be an adult so much?" Carrot Top asked her. "You should enjoy your fillyhood while its here. You can run around and nopony will bug you about it, giggle stupidly at every little joke, and have fun."
"That sounds like mom," Dinky pointed out. "And she's one of the most immature ponies I know."
Carrot Top choked, a strong and somewhat sad laugh escaping her as she knocked over her cone. "Derpy, immature? Does being there for your best friend all the time sound immature?"
"No."
"A pony who always strives to do good, make the best of any situation and just wants everypony... everyone around her to be happy? Does that sound like an immature pony?" Carrot Top drew up closer to the confused filly. "Derpy is probably the most mature ponies I know."
"I guess I never thought of mom like that," Dinky muttered softly. "But, she always acts so silly, and her antics are ridiculous, and she always treats me like a foal!"
"And that will never change because Derpy is happy with who she is, no matter what others tell her about herself." How silly was it that the silliest one among them would be the most mature. It was like a bitter taste engulfing her tongue at first. "That's not to say Derpy doesn't have her hang-ups, because no matter how mature you think you are, you'll always have your baggage, but for that you can always count on your friends..."
"I'm not sure I even know what you're talking about," Dinky groaned. "Then what's it mean to be mature? By acting like mom?"
"You can be mature, Dinky, by treating those around you well."
"Then how come you and mom still got in a fight? How come you said all those mean things!?"
"Because nopony is perfect, Dinky. Not even your mom and especially not me." Carrot Top buried her face back in her hooves. "Which is why I should thank Celestia for my wonderful friends. C'mon, let's go get some more ice cream."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Derpy quietly lead Little Strongheart back to their hotel. She felt antsy about being quiet for so long, but she could tell Little Strongheart wasn't really in the mood. She really just wanted to cheer her up, but didn't know how. "We're back," she announced to her in front of the room. She opened the door and floated it. Nobody was there. "Huh? Where are they?"
"They are not in this bathroom," Little Strongheart informed her.
"My daughter! Where is she!?" Derpy poked her head outside of the window and called out as loud as she could, "Dinky! Dinky!"
"I'm down here, mom," she heard faintly. Derpy's suddenly focused and eagle-like eyes turned and scanned the beach before her and she found Dinky with Carrot Top enjoying ice cream by the shore.
"Little Strongheart, grab my tail," she ordered.
"Uh, Derpy, what do you mean?"
"Bite down on it already!"
Little Strongheart, unsure of how to react, did as she was told. She bit down on Derpy's tail, and suddenly found herself being dragged through the air, the world around her little more than a blur of colors and rushing wind. When the universe snapped back in place, she was shaking on the sand. "What happened?"
"Dinky!" Derpy cried out as she scooped up her daughter in a loving hug. "Little missy I was worried about you."
"I'm sure you were," Dinky groaned contently.
"And you, why didn't you leave a note?" Derpy questioned Carrot Top.
"It was a spur of the moment thing," Carrot Top told her. "Anyway, I head of a custom about making bonfires at night. Want to help me collect some wood? Little Strongheart can watch Dinky, right?"
"I think I can, once my head stops spinning," Little Strongheart moaned, collapsed on the beach.
"Well, okay. I'll be back, muffin," Derpy said to Dinky before going off with Carrot Top to find some wood. She was unused to being the follower in these scenarios rather than the instigator. "Carrot Top, is something wrong?"
"Knowing me there is, but that's nothing unusual," Carrot Top laughed back.
"This just isn't really like you," Derpy pointed out. She trotted up closer to her friend and looked her right in her eye. "If you have a problem you can always tell me."
"Actually, Derpy, I wanted to ask you that." Carrot Top looked her friend right back in the eye and smiled. "You've been acting a little odd lately, and maybe it's time I returned the favor. So, what's the matter?"
Derpy was taken aback. This was something she was not used to, but was glad to have. "Can I tell you later, when we have a fire going?"
"Does it have to do with a certain moustached pony?"
"Yes..."
"Then it's no problem."
The fire gave them warmth during the cold night. Carrot Top, Little Strongheart, Derpy and Dinky all laid in a circle, staring up at the stars. "It sure is pretty," Carrot Top chirped.
"Yeah," Derpy sighed contently, Dinky asleep at her side.
"You should sleep outside more often. It's so full of wonderous things," Little Strongheart told them as she started searching for constellations. "I would stay up with Chief Thunderhooves just staring at these some nights. He taught me many things about the night sky..."
"So, Derpy, when are you going to try and woo Silverstar?" Carrot Top asked her.
Derpy turned on her side and stared at the ground. "I-I don't know. Part of me is still really scared."
"You've never been scared of anything in your life," Carrot Top shot back. "The Derpy I know would have made a scandalous show of asking out that mustached buffoon. It would be a front-page news story because somehow, some way, you'd manage to destroy half the town to make sure your feelings were understood."
"Ponies have such odd courtship rituals," Little Strongheart mused.
"Things are different now," Derpy whimpered back. "I have a daughter. I wouldn't just be asking Silverstar to be my special somepony, and I'm sure we would be so happy, but I would be asking him to be a father to the most precious thing in my world." A tear slid down her nose as she gazed to her little bundle of joy. Her entire world was cradled in her legs. "And even then, it would mean letting go of him ..."
"Is that your reason, or your excuse?" Carrot Top sighed. "You can't use him as a crutch. Trust me, I'm familiar with crutches and they're really no good..."
"I'm scared, really scared. I'm not as young as I used to be, okay..."
Carrot Top scooted herself up next to Derpy, wrapping a hug around her. "You don't have to be scared alone because I'm scared too!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.
Derpy turned to face her. "You are?"
"I'm so scared that you'll go away if you fall for another guy and then I'll be alone and jealous and I'll keep eating and grow fat and you won't like me anymore because I'll become a batty crazy cat lady!" she sobbed as she buried her face in Derpy's shoulder. "But you need to be strong and courageous because then I can look at you and be strong and courageous and happy but I want you to be happy because you're my best friend!"
"You're my best friend too!" Derpy cried back, fully embracing Carrot Top as the cried on each other's shoulder. "Carrot Top!"
"Derpy!"
Their blubbering and wailing filled the night sky as their tears sank into the sand along with all their fears. All that was left for them was the love they had for each other, a friendship that could never be torn apart.
"I'm so jealous," Little Strongheart laughed, catching Carrot Top and Derpy's attention. "I mean, to have a friendship that is so strong, and has been going for so long. A friend that you can share your troubles with... I cannot say I have such a thing."
"You're wrong!" Derpy exclaimed as she tackled Little Strongheart to the ground. "Because even if it hasn't been as long, you have us! Right, Carrot Top?"
Carrot Top sighed and scooted herself up to the other side of Little Strongheart. "We're friends, it seems, as much as I need constant reminding. I am so going to need a therapist one day." She dropped back on her back and joined her best friend in hugging the little buffalo. "If you ever have problems, we're here for you."
"You girls, do you really mean that?" Little Strongheart whimpered with tears of joy in her eyes.
"Of course," Derpy answered her. "Because we're all going to be best friends forever. The three amigas! You know, until a fourth amiga shows up. Then a fifth. And a sixth. Should we stop then? But, no matter what, we'll always be there for one another."
"What she said," Carrot Top groaned but was smiling. "So much therapy..."
"Well, this morning, a bull in my tribe called me a pony and challenged me to locking horns."
"But you don't have horns." Derpy started fiddling with Little Strongheart's hair, trying to find some semblance of horns.
"You do not need to point that out. It makes me feel... self-conscious. Well, losing wasn't the worst of it, or even being called a pony. The worse part was being told by Chief Thunderhooves that I disappointed him." It was relieving, like hiccuping out the butterflies in her stomach, to finally tell someone about her troubles. "And now, after still being called a pony as an insult, I accidently end up here. I'm sure Chief Thunderhooves will be unhappy with me when I appear."
"I can't claim to know what it's like among your tribe," Carrot Top tried to comfort her, "but why care what some boy has to say? Boys are immature and stupid."
"But you have a crush on Braeburn," Derpy called her out.
"Braeburn is a stallion, a grown man who is above insulting others for petty amusement... and he's really cute and dreamy and one day we'll be a happy family."
"Not unless I win," Little Strongheart said with confidence. "I also have a crush on him."
"Even though you obviously don't like being called a pony?"
"Braeburn being a pony has nothing to do with it." She stared wistfully back up into the sky. "When my tribe and his city were fighting with one another, he was the one that tried to have us all settle our problems peacefully. He cares for nothing more than the well-being of everybody, and it seems I fell for that... thank you both for listening to me."
"Anytime," Carrot Top sighed. "You know, you could take the train that leaves tomorrow back to Appleloosa. At the very least, you will be back sooner than you would have."
"No. I think I would like to try this vacation with my friends." The three of them pulled themselves up, Derpy grabbing her sleeping filly, and walked back to their hotel room dead tired.
Days had passed since Chief Thunderhooves had last seen Little Strongheart. A day ago, Braeburn stumbled into the campsite on Silverstar's order to tell him Little Strongheart's 'vacation' would last longer than she had told him. In those hours between then and now he had felt a torrent of emotions from disappointment, to fear, to anger, to worry, and now to anxiety. Where was she? What was a Vanhoover? Was it his fault? Had he made a mistake? "Why does raising children have to be so difficult."
"You told me before that the greater the challenge, the greater the reward."
Chief Thunderhooves turned and found Little Strongheart's smiling face beaming back at him after so long. "I have many words for you."
"I know," Little Strongheart bowed. "I apologise. I did not mean to be gone for so long, but I did enjoy my time away with my friends."
"Your pony friends? Like the gray winged one?"
"Yes, Derpy and Carrot Top. They are wonderful friends, pony or not, and I think I learned something with them."
"Oh, and what did you learn?"
"That I should not care if I am called like a pony or not."
Chief Thunderhooves' eyes shot open in surprise. "I am very happy to know that you learned such an invaluable lesson. In the end, what others say of you matters little to what you say of you."
"Home sweet home!" Derpy announced as she bucked down the sooty door of their hovel. "You know, I kinda missed this place."
"I didn't," Carrot Top bemoaned as she wiped soot off of the table. "Not my smartest idea to just leave the place dirty."
"You can't be smart all the time! C'mon, muffin. It's time to unpack."
"I know, I know," Dinky agonized. "Hey, Carrot, there's some paper sticking out of your machine."
"The readings!" Carrot Top squealed as she threw herself over to the nutrionomameter. "Hmm... yes... yes... this is worthless," she groaned. "Utterly worthless!"
"What is it?" Derpy asked from across the hovel.
"According to this worthless machine, the secret factor in Braeburn's true golden delicious apples is love and care. What can I make of that?" She sat back against the nutrionomameter and slowly slid to the floor. She was back from vacation and back to her problems, but, at the very least, she wasn't so full of dread. "Let's go hit the Salt Lick." She, Derpy and Dinky dropped their things and happily left their sooty hut. Things seemed brighter.
Attempts are made...
It was another sunny day in Appleloosa. Actually, every day was sunny. That's what Carrot Top learned living out in the middle of the frontier after so long. Every day was sunny with almost no chance of rain to cool her often fried mind or shade from a stray cloud to lie under. It was no longer a wonder why no pegasus has ever lived here before. She would just stay low and cool to the ground today as she watched Braeburn buck the apples out of another tree. "Does it ever hurt when you do that?"
"Well, you can really hurt yourself somethin' fierce if you start buckin' without knowin' the basics," he started to explain to her. "Buck too hard and you'll only hurt yourself against the wood, but if you buck too softly them apples are just gonna stay danglin' there."
"Uh-huh?" Carrot Top replied, light headed from the heat. "What I would do for an apple right now." She brought a hoof to her head and swept away a wave of sweat, looking up afterwards to find Braeburn smiling over her.
"Here," he held an apple out to her. "I could take a break right now anyway."
"Thanks, I'll pay you back later," she softly groaned before biting into the juicy red apple. It was just like Braeburn's cutie mark, she often thought. "Your apples always so good that I just don't get it," she complimented him. "It's probably the reason I was sent here."
"Oh, It's nothing some hard-work and a little sweat can't do," he cheerily replied back. "This farm is my everything. It's my life, and I've got to take real good care of it. Everyday I work as hard as I can to bring in just a few more bits and love to keep this place going for a long time."
"But what would you do without the farm?" Carrot Top asked, daring to scoot herself closer and closer to the golden stallion. "It's almost a law of the universe that all things must come to an end."
"I would start a new farm," he answered her with the same kind of enthusiasm. "If that one went down, I would start another, and if that one fell I would build another."
"Really," Carrot Top sighed, exasperated. It wasn't the answer she was hoping for. "Well, what would you do... if you found a mare, a special somepony?"
"A-a special somepony?" he choked. "Well, I don't know. I never really thought about it. My life is my farm. If I'm not farming here, than I'm doing odd jobs to make bits for the farm. Can't really say I have time for things like that. It's kinda silly."
Carrot Top's eye twitched. She knew this wouldn't be easy. Nothing ever comes easy, but she was ready to struggle a little. "It may seem silly now, but what will you do when you get older? You won't be able to buck trees when you're old and frail."
"Actually," he started with youthful vigor, "apple-kin stallions tend to have strong bodies well into their old age. Always strong and full of vigor!"
"Really," Carrot Top sighed again. "I never noticed."
Silverstar grimaced to himself as his two deputies stood at attention waiting for orders. "So, er, make your rounds around the town and if you see somepony suspicious, keep an eye on them... c'mon, we've been at this for months now and you still need me to spit orders at you? You know how to do your jobs!" The enthusiasm Derpy and Little Strongheart often brought with them was comforting, if tiring.
"I will do my best," Little Strongheart replied with earnest fervor. "I just want to do my job well."
"And you're the boss," Derpy added with a giggle. "It's your job to order us around."
"Well you've got your orders," Silverstar snorted, "so get on it, will ya!"
Derpy and Little Strongheart raced each other out the door, leaving their somewhat steaming boss behind. Another bright and sunny day was before them to tackle. "You know, Little Strongheart, I think we've got a good day ahead of us."
"Coming from you, I feel that you may be right," Little Strongheart beamed. "So, should you take the southern part today, or should I?"
"How about we go in one giant loop together? That sounds like fun, right?"
"But, isn't that going against orders?"
"Didn't Silverstar say we know how to do our jobs? C'mon, it will be fun." Derpy stopped and got on her hind legs. "Please, please, please with ice cream, sprinkles, and some blueberries on top?" she pleaded convincingly.
"Well, I guess..."
"Great!" Derpy turned Little Strongheart around and the two began their duties. "It'll be just us mares... you know what I mean."
"But isn't that what we do most of the time?"
"You're killing me here," Derpy sighed. Without bothering to explain, Derpy grabbed Little Strongheart and started setting both of them on their route around town. Little Strongheart didn't bother to argue with it. "So, how are things going between you and Braeburn?"
"It is still morning, and you wish to talk to me about that subject?" she answered, obviously uncomfortable. Derpy just nodded at her. "Well... you ask as if there was something," Little Strongheart lamented, her eyes wandering to the ground. "It seems that he has become a little distant from me. Maybe, he just does not like me."
"O-oh?" Derpy wanted to punt herself into the sky. She hoped for some kind of hopeful cheer from her little buffalo friend about some possibly zany and embarrassing scheme to grab Braeburn's attention, but now she was sullen, the mood around her turning darker. "W-well, maybe you need to rethink your strategy? Huh, huh?"
"My strategy?"
"Have you tried showing him the goods?" Derpy replied with a wink.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Little Strongheart replied in confusion.
"Neither do I, it just always sounds like a good idea... anyway! You shouldn't give up if you like a guy, right?"
"It's alright," she sighed, calming down Derpy's almost-flurry. "Besides, this just means Carrot Top can have him. I'm sure they'll make each other so happy..."
Carrot Top winced with her contained but rising anger over her situation. She watched from the dirt as Braeburn went about his field duties with no slowing down, smiling happily and stupidly to himself as he watched the apples fall from the trees with each strike of his leg. "You know, if you don't start a family then how will you carry on your family legacy here in Appleloosa?" she quickly asked him.
"W-what are you going on about now?" Braeburn's tail fidgeted uncomfortably behind him.
"Well, I mean look at it this way." Carrot Top picked herself up and started gesturing with her forehooves. "You say that you'll continue to work on the farm without the need for a... special somepony, but without a... special somepony, how do you plan to start a family? And, without a family you don't have foals so... your farm won't have anypony to take care of it..."
"I guess I never thought about that," Braeburn sheepishly admitted, pawing the ground.
"Unless you plan for you sister to take care of—"
"No way, no how, no chance, Celestia forbid it!" he quickly cut her off.
"Well, that’s most certainly out of the question," Carrot Top commented with a wry smile. She felt closer to something. "So—"
"What about you?" Braeburn interrupted her again. "Do you want a family, Carrot Top?"
"Well," Carrot Top cleared her throat. "Well, yes, I do. I've wanted a family of my own ever since I was a little filly..."
Derpy felt her throat run dry as she stared at Little Strongheart with her lazy eye. "You're really going to give up on him?" Little Strongheart, who had always seemed to thick-headed to actually surrender to anything life-threatening or otherwise, had given up and she had no idea how to process it.
"It is not like I want to, but when he barely talks to me now, what hope do I have with getting closer to him?" Her eyes fluttered a little as she kept her vision straight on the path, not looking at anyone. "It was a little calf's dream from the start."
"But don't you like him!?" Derpy fluttered over her.
"Yes, I do." Little Strongheart grew annoyed. It wasn't the first time Derpy asked her. It wouldn't be the last time either. "And I would prefer it if you would stop bringing it up."
"Derpy, Little Strongheart!" Apple Bumpkin called out to them from down the street. "Hey!"
"Apple Bumpkin!" Derpy called back, flapping her wings and whizzing through the air. "Apple Bumpkin, Apple Bumpkin, you won't believe what Little Strongheart told me? She's going to give up on Braeburn!"
"What, really?" she turned over to the steaming buffalo. Little Strongheart was beaming an uncharacteristic glare at her loudmouth friend. "I figured if any... one had a chance of getting a message through my brother's thick skull it was someone else with an even thicker skull."
"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Little Strongheart steamed while flustered. "P-please do not pick on me!"
"Simmer down, cowgirl, it was a compliment. Most mares here can't get a word through his backed-up ears, but you and that Carrot Top have managed to hold his attention for a pretty long time. You can't give up now."
"I can, and will!" she stubbornly shouted.
"And that's why you shouldn't give up," Apple Bumpkin sighed. "Well, it's true we have no right to interfere with your life."
"We don't?" Derpy bleated.
"But, you say he doesn't talk to you, but he talks quite a bit when it's just me and him at home."
"He does?!" Little Strongheart stampeded up to Apple Bumpkin, staring at her with wide eyes full of hope. "Does he really mention me?"
"He does, the way you work around town, how you helped on on the train heist awhile ago, how strong you are. Don't give up on something, or rather someone, that makes you happy. You'll regret it later, trust me." She smiled down at Little Strongheart and ruffled her hair a little. "Be bold."
"Be... bold," Little Strongherat repeated to herself. "I do not think I can..."
"Then just keep trying," Derpy added, taking Little Strongheart's hooves with her own.
Friends that would cheer her on like this didn't exist in the buffalo tribe. In fact, Little Strongheart had few she could talk to about anything. She looked back to Derpy and Apple Bumpkin and smiled. "Derpy, Apple Bumpkin, thank you."
Carrot Top closed her eyes, sliding back to the floor as she recounted over many childhood dreams that time had left for dust. "It's silly, but when I was a filly, my biggest dream was having a family. A nice husband, three foals; at least one a filly and one a colt. A large house with a big backyard. Maybe even a dog. I always thought that it would make me happy. I was such a silly filly..."
"I'm actually kinda surprised you don't have a special somepony yourself." Braeburn punctuated the sentence with a quick buck to a tree. "You're a good cook, and cute to boot. Seems to me stallions would line up to have your hoof."
Carrot Top whispered under her breath for no one to hear, "So why don't you be my special somepony."
"I guess you and I just aren't the family type in the end."
Her eyes shot open. "N-now hold on," Carrot Top suddenly found herself saying, her tone rising unconsciously. "Just because I haven't married or started a family or am even any close to that now doesn't mean it's never going to happen. I... I can still have my family." The passion of her own words took her off-guard. She had meant every word of it. "I... can still have one."
"Er," Braeburn fidgeted. He did not expect that kind of outburst. He smiled uneasily, hoping to calm her down. "I didn't mean anything to make you angry, Carrot Top. I'm sure that you'll make a... fine wife and mother for that special somepony someday." He bucked another tree, turning away from her.
Seeing him turn away, her eye twitched. Carrot Top picked herself up and went over to a nearby tree. She placed a backhoof against it, tapping it once to get a feel for it. "It's supposed to go like this?"
"Like what?" Braeburn turned around. "Hey, don't hurt yourself!"
"Oh, be quiet." Carrot Top bent down to build up tension and bucked the tree as hard as she could. "Ow." Three apples fell from the tree. "S-see, I did it!"
"That was just three apples," he pointed out flatly, dragging his basket over to another tree. "You don't have to work yourself for my sake."
"Well I personally wasn't expecting a single one to fall down, so I would like to gloat... a little." She gritted her teeth as Braeburn continued to brush her off. "Would you just look at me already..."
"I guess that's enough buckin' for one day. Better bring the haul back to Bumpkin." Braeburn turned and bucked a whole basket of apples, sending it flying skillfully through the air and landing perfectly in the back of his wagon. He turned to Carrot Top and flashed one his charming smiles. "Neat, huh?" he chuckled.
"Absolutely flawless," Carrot Top groaned tonelessly. "I'm left utterly breathless."
"Well, I've had plenty of time to practice," Braeburn chortled innocently, smiling contently to himself as he approached his wagon. "Well, it's been fun, Carrot Top!"
"W-wait!" she shouted. Braeburn stopped turning and looking at her in confusion. "I mean, do you have to deliver those apples now? Your sister has a lot of inventory, right?"
"Well, yeah. All thanks to my hard work," he said, proud of himself for working harder and harder day after day.
"Then she'll be fine for awhile!" She ran up to his side, resisting the urge to physically pull him away from his cart. "You know, in all the time I've been here, I haven't seen the frontier all that much. Aren't we really close to the San Palomino Desert? I bet you could show me something."
"Carrot Top," Braeburn uneasily uttered, "are you okay?"
Her confidence almost shattered in an instant when he asked her that. It almost did, and as she realized that her head had sunk so close to the floor she could almost kiss the dirt, she took a deep breath and pulled herself back up. She turned and looked Braeburn right in the eye with a smile. "I'm fine. So, can you show me?"
"Well, alright then." His uneasiness transformed into a comforting warmth that emanated from his smile.
Little Strongheart happily continued her routes with Derpy, who was lost on a strange tangent about raisins being a scam to get ponies to pay more for dry grapes. She barely understood a word she said, but she was happy just to be an ear for Derpy to talk to, until she accidently bumped into a local pony, knocking him over. "Oh, are you okay?" she extended a hoof out to him. "I apologise. I was distracted."
The pony didn't take her hoof. He just pulled himself up and looked at Little Strongheart with strong contempt before quickly turning away. "Watch where you're going." He trotted off with little else to say, leaving a solemn buffalo and a frenzied pegasus.
"Now that was rude!" Derpy shouted to no one in particular. "Very, very rude!"
"It's alright." Little Strongheart placed a hoof on Derpy's flared wings to calm her. "It is not something to get riled up over."
"But did you see the way he—"
"I did, and it is alright," she sighed. "Just the fact that he decided to leave it rather than start a fight is the best I could ever hope for."
Derpy continued to glare at the scene were the rude pony disappeared to before groaning in defeat. "I guess you're right, but it's a shame that that kinda thing still happens."
"Well, it could have been worse," she chirped happily.
"So, did you change your mind about Braeburn?"
"Would either you or Apple Bumpkin let me?" Little Strongheart sighed, masking some of the gratitude she had towards her two friends for continuing to push her down her seemingly fruitless path. "It is nice to know that somepony thinks I have a chance, even when I think I don't."
"You know what's funny? That's how Carrot Top used to think." Derpy smiled and nudged Little Storngheart in the side. "Maybe some of that pessimism of hers is rubbing off on you! Scary thought, huh?"
"That is a very silly thought," she spat back, annoyed.
"You know, this morning, she was mumbling to herself about watching Braeburn buck all day and trying to get some alone time with him. She's gotten a lot more daring, like a certain somebuffalo."
"Well, if she wins him, then that's that. We told each other, no hard feelings, no matter what." Yet, as she said those words, she could feel some doubts forming in her mind. She tried to shake them away. She knew that, no matter what, she could never hate Carrot Top. She had come to see her as too much a friend to hate her. "How about we get some lunch and drop the subject. I am not comfortable talking about my... crush with Braeburn so openly."
"Just like Carrot Top!" Derpy sang as she bounced on thin air.
"I think this applies to everypony, and everybuffalo, and everyone."
"Not everyderpy!"
Carrot Top coughed, expelling all the dust from her lungs as she looked out into the deserted wasteland. She squinted her eyes, trying to see as far out as she could past the brown dirt and the gray mountains. "It's so still," she said absent-mindedly.
"Well, deserts are supposed to be still, or else they wouldn't be all deserted and like. I think it's kinda calming," Braeburn told her, taking a deep breath of the dry air. He started coughing immediately. "How Little Strongheart was able to stand here for a whole day though, is beyond me."
"What do you mean?"
"You don't recognize this place? It's where Little Strongheart disappeared to all that time ago." He pointed to a nearby familiar scene, one that began to grow stronger in his mind as he remembered all the words Little Strongheart shared to him so long ago. "I guess she likes places like this, stampeding with her tribe all the time and such..."
"Well, that's good for her, I guess." Carrot Top wanted to move the topic away from Little Strongheart. She grit her teeth a little, wanting to grind away any ill feelings she held. She just wanted Braeburn to look at her, and she wanted it desperately. "You know, a while ago their was this experiment to have three groups of farmers, each one comprised entirely of one of the pony races, to try and farm a desert."
"Really?" Braeburn turned to her, somewhat intrigued. "What happened?"
"Well, in the end it was the earth pony group that had the best return," she happily continued. "This wasn't really a surprise since it's been known for a long time that earth ponies are better farmers, but, when the dirt from the earth pony group's farm was examined it was discovered that it contained more nutrients. Pretty interesting, right?"
"Kinda, but managing the nutrients of soil is just what farmers gotta do," he stated matter of factly.
"But, it's still never been fully explained why!" Carrot Top began to gush as she got lost in her own explanation. "It was as if it all just happened magically out of nowhere. Unicorns say magic is a science, but their are still a lot of unexplained phenomena nopony can explain like where the princesses came from, or what is it that gives potions and brews their effects, or how this peculiar pink mare in our town can predict accidents!"
"Miss Top," Braeburn interrupted her with a chuckle, "I don't understand a single word that is coming out of your mouth."
"You— oh... I guess I kinda rambled there," she lamented, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I thought it was rather interesting when I was reading about it. You know, the soil here in Appleloosa, especially around your farm is really fertile."
"Well, I do try my best," Braeburn humbly laughed.
"And the further away from your orchard I get, the less fertile it becomes. If that's not some proof of the miraculous power of the earth ponies, I don't know what is. Even my own little garden tends to be rather bountiful with just a little care and attention."
"Well, I think that that's just the kind of thing that makes things bloom. You put some love and care into something, and your hard work will be rewarded always."
"If only the world actually operated like that," Carrot Tops groaned, taking a mound of dirt between her hooves and examining it. She took a small lick of it. "Yep, lots of salt, and currently not suitable to grow much beyond a cactus."
"And here's where I nearly vomited all over myself and collapsed right in front of Little Strongheart," Braeburn laughed, never noticing the growing grimace on Carrot Top's face. She poured the little mound of dirt back to the floor. "It was here, that Little Strongheart told me she liked me." The words came out of his naturally, without him even noticing until it was too late. When he did, a hard lump formed in his throat.
Carrot Top snapped to attention, her eyes growing wider as she turned to stare at Braeburn's backside. "W-what? Little Strongheart told you that she liked you?"
"Yeah," he replied uncomfortably. "But, uh, I think she thought I was passed out at the time. You might remember, finding me here collapsed from exhaustion way back. Well, I wasn't exactly unconscious when I collapsed, and Little Strongheart told me all about her feeling'."
"And what are you going to do about those feelings?" Carrot Top's voice cracked as she choked back some of her emotions.
"What do you mean?" Braeburn answered her innocently.
"Even if she believed you couldn't hear her, it takes a lot of courage for her to confess her feelings."
Braeburn felt the urge to panic and run. "Well, I mean, uh, I was just thinking, maybe I can wait it out?"
"Wait it out?" Carrot Top croaked. Braeburn turned to her, trying to put her at ease with that innocent smile he often wore, but she wouldn't see it. "You were just going to wait out her feelings?"
"Well, I wouldn't put it like that. I mean, well, maybe something will happen and then I won't have to worry about anything. Like, everything will just work out, you know?" He pawed the ground nervously, unable to shrug off the strange look Carrot Top was unknowingly boring into him like a knife. "I mean, things are going fine now, right!? We're still friends, and eventually we'll all just be on with our lives! It's not like I asked her to do all that."
"And you're just going to ignore that poor mare's feelings?!" Carrot Top cried back. "You're just going to pretend everything's the same?"
"Well, yeah. What's wrong with liking things the way they are?" he asked defensively.
"Everything!" Carrot Top screamed at him.
Little Strongheart sighed to herself as she bit into a braeburn apple while basking in the warm glow of the sunset, giving Appleloosa a strange golden-brown glow. "Maybe I should just be happy with the way things are," she mused. "I mean, It's not like Braeburn hates me, I think. He just doesn't seem to want to talk to me anymore."
"Didn't you say earlier that you were thinking otherwise," Derpy argued back. "Stop talking about throwing in the napkin when you haven't even tried yet! You just need to take a deep breath and say those magical words." she shot up into the air, punctuating her action with a twirl. "Say those magical words that you like him."
"It is not that easy, Derpy," she groaned, taking another bite of her apple. "If I tell him, things might get worse. What if he never wants to see me again, and then I can never come back to Appleloosa."
"That's silly," Derpy spat as she drifted to the ground. "What kind of silly thinking led you to that idea?"
"The silly kind."
It took a moment to register, but Derpy nearly doubled over laughing. kicking up clouds of dust with each flap of her clumsy wings. "Well you should get rid of that silly thinking. You've got to try, Little Strongheart. Imagine how happy you'd be if he likes you back."
"Me... and Braeburn?" Little Strongheart slid to the floor, trying not to let all her little idealistic thoughts rush out of her mouth. "It would be very nice, but reality and fantasy are not the same."
"Would you quit with the moping?!" Derpy shouted, catching Little Strongheart off-guard. "If you keep thinking like that, I mean, you won't do anything. You've gotta have more wishes than just wanting Braeburn as your special somepony."
"My wishes?" Little Strongheart turned to the wonderfully glowing city, one full of so many memories and emotions now. "Of course I do!" Little Strongheart shouted back. "I wish to fix the bond between Appleloosa and my tribe, and I want to be accepted within them, and I want to prove myself to them." Courage and strength were welling with her words. "I will not let anybuffalo or pony stand in the way of those."
"And Braeburn?" Derpy giggled back as she saw the confidence in Little Strongheart drain out of her. "You've got to be like that with him too, right?"
Little Strongheart held a hoof against her chest, feeling the thick beats within it. "I should, so I'll have to try. That's what you want from me, right?"
"Right!" Derpy chirped back.
"But not today." Little Strongheart picked herself up and started towards the Apple Bumpkin's store. "I'm going to buy some apples for the tribe and head back, but I really do want to take everything you said to heart, but it's still not easy." She turned one last time to Derpy and bowed. "At the very least, I am thankful to have made such wonderful friends in both you and Carrot Top."
"I'm glad we're friends too!" Derpy flew at Little Strongheart and grabbed her in a deep hug. "And I won't stop being your friend no matter what."
A few minutes later, the two of them had split up. Little Strongheart had gone off to bring treats back to her tribe, with Derpy left to try and put her own advice to heart. "Be brave," she whispered to herself as she turned in the direction of the sheriff's office. She remembered the advice Cup Cake had given her. "Here goes nothing..."
"Time to turn in," Silverstar yawned as he twirled a set of keys on the end of a hoof. "What to cook for dinner." He pulled out one of the keys and was about to lock the front door, but it opened before him, and on the other side was a gray pegasus. "What? D-Derpy?" he stuttered in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?" she asked plainly. Her demeanor was anxious, her tail and wings unable to stay still for seconds at a time as she concentrated solely on him. "I, uh, have been thinking and I, uh, well, you know?"
"I know what, Miss Derpy?" Silverstar growled back, annoyed by her sudden appearance and more of a lack of sense than normal. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's been a long and oddly tiring day. I left my thinking cap by my nightstand."
"I'm here to tell you I'm willing to give us a shot, you big dummy!" she shouted at him, and the stallion couldn't believe what he had heard. "So, can you let me in now?"
"A-are you serious?"
"Let me in! Please?" Derpy pleaded with her face suddenly only a few inches away.
Silverstar snapped back to the reality at hand and stepped aside, letting the now-sheepish pegasus flutter into the dusty room. "M-make yourself at home, if you want, I guess. I was just thinking of making dinner."
"Oh, uh, I'll join you then... if you don't mind! I mean, I'm not imposing." She thought she sounded ridiculous.
Silverstar, baffled and dazed, approached his pantry of easily-made canned dinners and had started fumbling with a can-opener. "I'm not much of a cook," he told her, his back towards her. "I just take these things and throw them over the stove."
"That can't be good for you," Derpy answered him.
An eye of his twitched. "I've had little reason to learn to cook." The can was finally open and Silverstar emptied its contents into a pot on the oven. He struck a match against his hoof and lit the timber within it, sending fire up to the stove. "It isn't healthy, but I still keep strong somehow. Experience in the line of duty maybe."
"Mares don't like stallions that don't take care of themselves."
Silverstar scowled and turned back to Derpy. "And what do mares like?"
"They like stallions with confidence, which you have a lot of," she chirped back at him, smiling sweetly as she was the entire time. The scowl on Silverstar's face melted away in an instant. "And, uh, I think that it might be nice, being a special somepony for someone again, especially someone as nice as you.”
Silverstar moved himself to the back of the room, sitting himself down by the back wall, next to Derpy. "Well, stallions like pretty mares who speak their mind honestly, like you."
"Pretty mares?" Derpy moaned back, her tone dripping with venom. "Well, am I still pretty when..."
"Miss Derpy?"
"When I do this!" Derpy shoved her face right into Silverstar's and her eyes began trailing off in different directions, almost spiraling out of control. "Hm, well, am I still pretty now?"
Silverstar laughed at her ridiculousness. "Prettier than ever, Miss Derpy."
A noticeable deep red blush crept across Derpy's face as she withdrew herself. "Oh, really." Her back slid across the wall, and her head landed right on Silverstar's side. "Thank you," she whispered.
Hours passed, and moonlight began to pour in through the window as Derpy continued to rest comfortably against Silverstar. Neither wanted to say a word, afraid of interrupting their perfect and blissful silence. It was like a dream, any moment reality could snatch them away and back to some gray future, but this was reality, not a dream. "You know," Derpy giggled, "aren't office relationships frowned upon?"
"You're going to bring this up now?" Silverstar grumbled. "You're going to keep teasing me, aren't you?"
"Well, it's kinda fun." Dazily, she leaned more onto Silverstar before slipping and landing on the floor, giggling with her wings fluttering in the air.
"How does a pegasus trip like that when you have wings?"
"Are you kidding me? Pegasi trip and fall and land on their faces all the time. We have this one weather pegasus back in Ponyville who crashes into stuff pretty often."
"Hm, learn something new everyday." Silverstar stretched, pulling himself off the floor. He ambled towards the drawer containing all his liqueurs. He slowly opened it, and reached for a bottle he has been saving for a special occasion. "Cheers?" he smiled at Derpy.
"You want to get drunk now?" she groaned. "That stuff will kill you, you know."
Not the response he was expecting. "Only foals and fools die from alcohol, and I'm neither."
"Fine, I still don't want any of it." She stomped a hoof to punctuate her sentence.
With a heavy heart Silverstar replaced the bottle back in his drawer but pulled out a cheap bottle of whisky. "Fine then," he groaned as he took his place at the back of the office again, Derpy on her back and staring up at him from the floor. "What? You really disapprove of drinking that much?"
"Last time I got drunk, it left a bitter taste in my mouth," she gagged.
"That's how you know it's working."
"And your mind gets all foggy and it becomes really hard to remember stuff."
"That's what most drunks are banking on."
"So what are you trying to forget about?" Derpy asked him. Neither of them has moved an inch in the past few minutes. They just silently stared at one another. "Until recently, I couldn't forget about my old... you know. If I got drunk, would I forget about him?"
"For a while, but then you'll wake up and remember him all over again," Silverstar sighed, bringing the bottle closer to his mouth. "I guess I drink, 'cause I'm a little lonely."
"Are you lonely now then?"
Silverstar looked at the bottle one last time before setting it down. "No, are you thinking about him?"
"No, I guess not." Derpy pulled herself up and scooted closer to Silverstar. "You know, if we got drunk, we probably would have accidently kissed, and then barely remember it the next day while nursing our headaches only to remember at some awkward time to make something even more awkward."
"Miss Derpy, you may not know this, but a lot of desperate stallions find this to be one of the desired effects of alcohol," he answered her with deadpan humor.
"But, instead we could kiss, and remember it fully the next day... that seems a lot nicer..."
"You know, that does sound a lot nicer..."
"Do you smell something burning?" Derpy asked, ruining the mood.
"Hm... oh crabapples, the soup!"
Carrot Top rested lazily on Derpy's bed, Dinky a foot away in her own. Neither of them were very sleepy, but with nothing to do and so late at night they tried to keep each other company to avoid a lonely night. Carrot Top didn't cook that night, but neither of them complained. Derpy wasn't home, and Dinky knew and told Carrot Top why. She had known since that morning. It was just them, two dusty moth-eaten beds, and the glare of the moon off the dirty windows.
"So, how did things go with Braeburn?" Dinky asked Carrot Top. "When you got home, you were in a really bad mood."
"Yeah?" Carrot Top sighed.
"Are you going to answer my question?"
"Not tonight," Carrot Top sighed again, turning on her side and away from Dinky. "Suffice to say, I made an ass of myself."
"Mom says not to use the word ass cause it's demeaning to donkeys," Dinky reprimanded her.
"Derpy also says that ninjas are after her secret recipes." She pulled the covers up over her, trying to get Braeburn's dumb smiling face out of her mind. "Just go to sleep, Dinky."
A gift is made!
Like the inner-workings of a clock the sun rose on its trek through the sky, uniform and in harmony with the rest of the worked, but a certain buffalo was too busy to notice. Little Strongheart was too wrapped up in her own endeavors to notice the beginning of another day. Alone, fighting the cold, out on the edge of Appleloosa's massive apple orchard, she stared anxiously at the obstacle in front of her, heaving for breath and wiping away a tiny trickle of blood. "Just one more," she told herself. "Just one more!" she stormed forward, shaking and crushing the earth under her as she barreled into the thick-trunked tree before her. Her head collided with the wood and before her thundering force it had splintered to pieces. The tree fell to the ground, feeble and defeated, and Little Strongheart marveled at the fruits of her hard work. Months upon months upon months of head trauma have finally paid off. "Let's see another buffalo do that!"
Taking pride in your work, Little Strongheart?
"Who is there!?" she shrieked, her head darting back and forth to locate the whispered words the resounded in her head louder than the bells at Appleloosa's steeple. "Derpy? Carrot Top? B-Braeburn? Is that you?"
No, Little Strongheart.
Little Strongheart's eyes widened and she kneeled down before her ethereal visitor. Before her stood, tall and proud, all the mothers and fathers that have come before her. "Ancestors! You honor me with your presence!" she answered loudly. "P-please forgive my rudeness. My ears are now wide and open to your ancient and powerful words."
Look towards the east, Little Strongheart.
"I listen and obey!" Frantic, panicky, and clumsily Little Strongheart pushed herself up and threw herself in the direction of the rising sun, nearly blinding her. "Ancestors," she squealed with a wince, "all I see is light."
Open your eyes, Little Strongheart, and see the gift we want you to receive.
"I see," she replied, "I see... a pyre?"
Go, and receive our gift to you.
Carrot Top's day had started miserably. A crick in her shoulder joints, an eyeful of the sun, some of the worst morning breath in months, and on top of that, an emergency visit to the dreaded outhouse. She was sure nothing could make it worse, till she realized she was out of coffee. "I hate this place," she groaned as she pulled at one of the many knots in her mane.
"Good morning, Carrot Top!" Derpy sang as she bounced into the combination living room, dining room and kitchen. "Uh-oh, somepony wake up on the wrong side of the blanket?" she teased her best friend who now stared back venomously at her. "C'mon, Carrot. I'm just teasing. Say, what's for breakfast? I'm starving!"
"Leftover oats," Carrot Top yawned as her terrible breath wafted through the air. "Celestia, help me."
"Are we out of toothpaste?" Derpy flew up to the top cabinets and started fumbling around with the boxes of stocked foods and ingredients. "If you want, I could fly to the store right quick and pick some up."
"Toothpaste isn't going to fix me." Carrot Top collapsed on the table. "I'm just going to lay here until the pale pony comes to take me away. Yep, that's a good plan."
"Are you having another mid-life crisis?" Derpy balanced a baking tray on her head as she tossed various things behind her, landing expertly on their mark on the kitchen counter.
"I would have to be middle-aged to have a mid-life crisis, Derpy..."
"Well I know the perfect thing that always picks me up?" she giggled as she began pouring flour into a bowl.
"Muffins?" Carrot Top tiredly sighed.
"No, silly! Spending some quality time with my best friend!" Derpy glided over to Carrot Top and embraced her, pulling her up and floating her over to the kitchen counter. "When I always feel down, I know just being around you makes me feel better."
Carrot Top felt overcome with emotion. "Oh, Derpy!"
A knock came from the door, and Derpy immediately dropped her best friend on the floor. "Who is it?"
Carrot Top felt overcome with pain. "Oh... Derpy."
"It's Little Strongheart!" came an answer. Wasting no time for an answer, the door nearly exploded off its hinges as the usually reserved buffalo nearly bounced from plank to plank of the shoddy wooden floor, teaming with jubilee. "Carrot Top, Derpy! I just had the most amazing morning!"
"You don't say," Carrot Top replied wearily as she pulled herself off the floor.
"I had a vision!" Little Strongheart was jumping in one place, slowly breaking the floor underneath her with her uncontrollable happiness.
"A vision, like a vision of the future!?" Derpy gasped in shock. "What happened? Did aliens invade? Diamond Dogs capture the royal jewels? Or did the pony on the syrup bottle finally make her move?"
"Not of the future! A vision from my ancestors!" Little Strongheart corrected her as she began to push Derpy and Carrot Top out the back door, out into the dry morning air of the frontier. "I was practicing my stampeding by ramming myself into trees—"
"That explains everything," Carrot Top groaned.
"And the next thing I knew my ancestors were there praising me and telling me to look east past the rising sun! And I saw the great and powerful fire!" Little Strongheart pointed out towards the San Palomino Desert. "There! It's out there! They told me that a gift is waiting for me where the sacred fire was!"
"Little Strongheart," Carrot Top started, "couldn't that 'sacred fire' have been the sun you were staring at, which isn't very good for your eyes."
"I know. Were it not for temporary blindness, I would have been here much sooner!"
Carrot Top groaned, louder than before, and began rubbing her temples. "It's going to be one of those days. I can feel it already."
"That's amazing, Little Strongheart!" Derpy squealed with excitement. "I never got a visit from my ancestors before! What's it like? Was it the white with their lower bodies as tails? Did they have wings? Do buffalo ghosts have wings?"
"No. They were just there, and then they weren't," Little Strongheart explained. "But they told me that a gift is waiting out there in the desert where I saw the fire, and a buffalo always heeds a message from her ancestors."
"That's great, really, I think," Carrot Top yawned as she strode around Little Strongheart and back to the hovel. "Just, if you really go out there, don't hurt yourself. The last time you disappeared you caused a panic for everyone."
"I have learned from my lessons, which is why I have already told Chief Thunderhooves about my vision and my plans."
"Then, uh, why aren't you out there searching for your fire-vision?"
"Well," Little Strongheart awkwardly cleared her throat, "as happy as the Chief was about my visit from the ancestors, he said that I'm still too young to go out into the desert alone and that if I am to go out I must have an adult chaperone with me. And... I told him I would request you two to accompany me out on my journey."
Carrot Top nearly did a spit take. "What? Me? Out there? You're kidding, right? No no no no no no no! I can barely tolerate this place!" She was growing hysterical as she paced in circles, sputtering off any complaint that popped out of her head. "Th-the air is dry and there's no food and there could be dangerous beasts and you know I'm not that fit!"
"I did not know... you felt so strongly..."
Dinky, barely awake from her morning sleep-in, ambled out of the back door. "Mom, Carrot? Moustache and Braeburn are at the front door."
"Well, Little Strongheart, let's go!" Carrot Top suddenly urged onward. "Time is a-wasting and we're burning daylight. Hup to it, one two three!"
"Moustache and Braeburn are at the door? Moustache,. moustache" Derpy repeated to herself in confusion before the proverbial lightbulb went off on her head. "Silverstar!" She rushed back into the dusty hovel, the door slamming behind her from sheer force.
"Huh?" Little Strongheart gasped as the weak mare started pushing on her hindquarters, still staring at the spot Derpy once inhabited. "Carrot Top, what are you doing?"
"Adventure time, let's go," she grunted.
"Where are you going?" Dinky inquisitively asked as she jumped on Little Strongheart.
"An adventure of fun, danger, mystery and adventure. Now beat it," Carrot Top prattled as she finally got Little Strongheart to start moving. "We aren't going to find your ancestor gift thing if you don't move so move it!"
"Uh, yes, well then, off we go!" Little Strongheart, unsure of the sudden outcome but not caring to think about it, dug her hooves into the ground and shot off into the desert, Carrot Top following further and further behind.
"Yee-haw! Faster, Strongheart!" Dinky squealed as she clung on to Little Strongheart tightly.
"Actually, if I go any faster we will lose Carrot Top." Little Strongheart came to a sliding stop and turned around, Carrot Top a mile behind her and heaving for breath. "Do you require assistance!?" she yelled back at her.
"I'm," Carrot Top gasped for air, "fine!" she gasped again before collapsing into the ground. "This was not a well thought out plan."
"I think it was very well thought out. We are looking for the location of the sacred fire in the desert so we went into the desert. It sounds good to me," Little Strongheart said without the slightest hint of sarcasm and only genuine intentions, and only then Carrot Top knew how bad a plan it was. "Are you sure you are alright?"
"Little Strongheart, am I ever sure about anything?" Carrot Top pulled herself out of the dirt, spitting out a wad of sand. The air was chilly now, but every second that passed pushed the sun higher and higher into the sky. Soon, she knew, she would be sweating bullets and smell worse than three-day-old cowpies. "Okay then, lead the way. Now that I'm out here, might as well get myself killed in a wild goose chase."
"We are not chasing geese, we are looking for the remains of the sacred fire." Little Strongheart turned to the mountains in the distance. "I saw it, somewhere there, where the peaks meet the heavens."
"Really poetic," Carrot Top sighed. "How do we plan on getting to those mountains?"
"By hoof?"
Carrot Top nearly collapsed again that moment, and Dinky exploded into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "Oh man," Dinky choked through her chortling, "this is going to be a fun morning."
"Fun for you maybe; I'm not light enough to ride atop Little Strongheart..."
"Somepony should go on a diet."
"Bite me!"
Little Strongheart, confused by the ramblings going on around her, decided on the best course of action. She butted Carrot Top into the air and caught her on her back. "Are we all ready to go, friends?"
"What just happened?" Carrot Top bleated. Dinky only giggled at her as Little Strongheart, steadfast and stubborn, started the trek to the distant mountains. None of them were exactly sure of how far those were.
Derpy was zooming from one side of the kitchen to another as she worked on making a breakfast for her two visitors that neither of them asked for. "It will be ready kinda maybe sorta soon I think!" she yelled over the roar of her batter mixer. "Just gotta preheat the oven and mix the juicer. Oh! I should see if we have any of Carrot Top's carrots! She won't mind!"
"Miss Derpy, none of this is necessary," Braeburn sighed. "I just came to deliver a letter addressed to Carrot Top."
"Oh nonsense!" she continued to yell as batter splashed everywhere. "I was just making breakfast anyway and a good day starts with a good meal. You need to have all your nutriantals!"
"Er, Miss Derpy, I already ate before I came. This isn't necessary," Silverstar tried to say over the hum of the beater, only to have a menacing spoon shoved in his mouth.
"Canned beans is not breakfast," Derpy admonished him. "You need to eat right or you're gonna fall over and all anypony will say was his breath stunk like beans."
Silverstar didn't mumble a word as the pushy pegasus continued to fix their breakfast.
Braeburn cleared his throat, initially failing to catch Derpy's attention before he repeated the action louder. "Miss Derpy, as kind as this is I already had my nutritionally balanced breakfast and need to get back to work. So I'll just leave this letter here and be on my way. Uh, you two have fun now. Don't do anything you wouldn't want your daughter to see." Braeburn dropped the letter and galloped out of the hovel faster than Derpy could react.
"Is he always working?" Derpy asked.
Silverstar spat the spoon out of his mouth. "Yes, he always is. Dumb kid if there ever was one."
"So why are you here?" Derpy asked as she shoved a baking sheet into the oven.
"Do you... really want me to say it?" he answered her, an embarrassing blush spreading across his muzzle.
"It would be really nice to hear." Derpy smiled to herself, her face turned towards the oven as she watched her messy creations cook.
Carrot Top, for the first time in her life, regretted having such a large and voluminous mane. She might as well have been wearing a thick winter coat to combat the waves of the sun. "Dinky," she groaned, both still atop Little Strongheart's back, "don't you know any magic that could make this any less unbearable?"
Dinky shrugged. "Nope." She was faring a lot better against the sun than Carrot Top. "I don't even have telekinesis; I can't start producing shade from nothing."
"It was worth a try," Carrot Top sighed before coughing up a cloud of sand. "Little Strongheart, are you okay down there, you know, carrying us?"
"I feel just fine," she brightly chirped. "Do not worry. To find the gift from my ancestors I will be stronger than ten buffalo put together!"
"I'm... glad," Carrot Top replied awkwardly. She wiped away another wave of sweat, most of it getting caught in her matted mane, and took in their surroundings. Sand, as far as she could see, and the mountains didn't look any closer. "Little Strongheart, are you sure about this? You're saying you saw these visions... after you had been ramming your head against a tree?"
"Yes!" was Little Strongheart's exuberant reply. "I managed to knock over an entire tree by myself after repeated attempts at it! The next time that Bighorn tries to aggravate me he will not be on top of me so easily." She flared her nostrils and picked up her speed, nearly throwing off her passengers.
"W-what!?" Carrot Top blurted out with little thought.
"What's a Bighorn?" Dinky asked, leaning over Little Strongheart's head.
"Dinky, you don't—"
"An infuriating and insufferable bull," Little Strongheart cut her off. She slowed down her pace, giving her room to talk between breaths. "He mocks me and says that I am more like a pony than a buffalo now, even riling other bulls to join him. It is not a pleasant experience." She came to a complete stop, staring down at the dirt between her hooves, but her vision was suddenly blurred by a veil of messy orange curls.
"Are you okay?" Carrot Top asked, standing over Little Strongheart.
"O-oh, I'm fine," she stuttered. "Let us return to our journey."
Carrot Top took a long and deep breath. "So it's actually one of those days?" She quickly trotted back to Little Strongheart's side. "Dinky, you're riding me now. Let Little Strongheart take it easy."
"Oh alright," Dinky groaned, hopping between the two. "So, Little Strongheart, what did the horny boy mean when he said you were like a pony?"
"Dinky!" Carrot Top yelled as loud as she could, attracting a few buzzards. "Watch your language, and you shouldn't intrude on other's lives. What would your mother say if she was here?"
"The exact same thing I did," Dinky answered her with a single tone. Carrot Top knew she was right. "So, Little Strongheart, is it a bad thing to be called a pony in your tribe or what?" She ignored the nagging sounds emanating from her ride.
"No, it is not a bad thing at all," Little Strongheart replied with confidence. "All my friends are ponies now, and they are all wonderful. But, to be constantly singled out is still not a pleasant sensation."
"Oh," Dinky replied. "That does sound pretty bad."
"More than you could know," Carrot Top sighed.
Derpy walked closely next to Silverstar as the went along there way through the now busteling town. By now, everyone in Appleloosa knew about the new couple, and not a single pony could wish ill for the sheriff who put all his heart into protecting Appleloosa or the funny pegasus who worked the same way. It was blissful, a kind of happiness Derpy had not felt in a long time. "So, what's the agenda for today, Sheriff?"
"Rounds, like always," Silverstar answered her quickly. "I'm not the most fascinating stallion in the world, Miss Derpy."
"Oh that can't be true. You live out here in the wild wild wild west! That's three times more wild than Ponyville," Derpy giggled at him. "You have to have a few stories lying around."
"Well," Silverstar hummed with a wry smile, "there was this time that a Gila Monster attacked this city."
"A Gila monster?" Derpy cocked an invisible eyebrow and narrowed her eyes. "A Gila monster is smaller than my hoof. How does a city get attacked by that?"
"Not a Gila monster, but a Gila Monster."
"What's the difference?"
"The latter is at least a thousand times larger." Silverstar held in his amusement at Derpy's eyes began spinning out of control as she tried to process such a wild story. "It's not a lie, Miss Derpy, we were attacked by one of those, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy getting rid of it. Though, it does make for an outrageous story."
"And did 'mine truly' get rid of it?"
"Well, I guess you could say I had a hoof in it."
"Oh, Mr. Silverstar, you know how to woo a mare." Derpy playfully swooned as she draped herself over Silverstar.
"M-miss, Derpy, please quit teasin'. You're embarrassing me." Silverstar's face, even though normally covered with his brown coat, was colored bright red.
"No. I like it," Derpy teased before closing her eyes and taking in Silverstar's warmth.
"Are we there yet?" Dinky groaned, her face buried in Carrot Top's mane. It has been the sixth time in a row she had asked. For the sixth time Little Strongheart answered her with a patient no. For the sixth time Carrot Top remained quiet. "Are we getting any closer to those mountains anyway?"
"We have to be," Little Strongheart answered her again. "If we keep going towards it, it is impossible to move further from it. We just have to keep going forward."
"That kind of logic is going to get us killed," Carrot Top hissed. The sun beating down on her sweat soaked head was vaporizing her patience rapidly and every breath of air was followed by a cough of dust straight from her lungs. "We should turn back now before we dig our graves even deeper."
"I do not understand. We are walking, not digging," Little Strongheart answered her sternly, breaking Carrot Top's final nerve.
"It's an expression! An expression of how we're going to die!" Carrot Top vented on Little Strongheart as she felt every single thought in her mind explode in a fit of agitation. She thought her anger had overtaken her so much that it was causing the ground under her to shake, but a moment's notice later told her that was not the case. The ground was indeed shaking. "H-huh? W-what's going on? Is it an earthquake? Please tell me it's just an earthquake!?"
"The ground is going to split open and eat us!" Dinky cried out in panic as she clamped herself to Carrot Top's back.
"D-don't be ridiculous. That only happens in the movies!" Carrot Top was trying to convince herself more than dinky, and as she looked down the ground began to tear apart as something under her began lifting them higher and higher into the sky. "W-what the hay is going on!" she cried out, panic shaking her nerves into a messy frenzy. "Oh, Celestia! It's the end of the world!"
"It is not the end of the world!" Little Strongheart shouted over crying mare. "It's a Gila Monster!"
"A Gila monster? A Gila monster!?" Carrot Top yelled back. She looked down, and If any part of Little Strongheart's sentence was true, it was monster. A behemothian and sand-scaled beast had risen from some kind of slumber in the ground under them, and now they were on its back. "That is not a Gila monster! I can crush those with my hooves! Now explain what the hay this is!"
"Not a Gila monster, a Gila Monster !" Little Strongheart corrected her breathlessly. "Stay calm. If you begin thrashing about it will only serve to aggravate it!"
The leviathan Gila Monster took one step forward, sending waves of vibration cascading through it's silo-sized legs and rushing down it's mile long back, shaking up its passengers. It let out an angry hiss that filled the air and thoughts of anyone listening. The monster started lifted its tail readying to crush it's invaders flat.
Carrot Top felt a familiar urge to vomit take hold of her and she turned to Little Strongheart with frightened eyes. "What do we do!?" she sobbed, almost paralyzed in fear. "We're going to die if we don't do something!"
"We have to make our way to the head, slowly," Little Strongheart explained, trying to make her scared and cracking voice as soothing as possible. "Easily, and calmly. C'mon."
"We're dead," Dinky sighed as she watched the looming tail rise slowly over them.
Little Strongheart grabbed and Dinky and hauled the filly onto her back. "Carrot Top, we need to go," she beckoned as she took the first small step towards the head of the beast. "Just move slowly and lightly and it will not be able to crush us as easily. You can do it."
"Crush... right." Carrot Top, adhering to Little Strongheart's almost reassuring words, pulled herself back up as she started her desperate race for life. Every neuron in Carrot Top's frazzeled head was firing the panic signal, compelling her to buck up and run away. There was no place to run to, just to Little Strongheart. "Calmly, calmly," Carrot Top whispered to herself to no avail.
"It's above us!" Dinky shouted to get Carrot Top and Little Strongheart's attention. The Gila Monster's tail had finally reached its apex and was ready to crush them in one swift and deft action.
"Plan?" Carrot Top gulped as her lift started flashing before her eyes..
"The only plan now, is to stampede!" Little Strongheart shouted. She threw herself forward, hooves heavy with force, and stampeded to the head, rupturing the scales of the beats with every step, and as she moved as fast as she could, Carrot Top was a split second behind her but unable to keep up. The tail of the beast was now in full-swing.
Carrot Top heaved for breath with every step, tears flying in the wind behind her as she chased Little Strongheart, the distance between them growing with every fraction of a second and the shadow under her growing larger and larger. She prayed for a miracle, something and anything that could save her from this predicament, but she she felt a hoof slip off of a an oddly jutting scale. She slipped, completely losing balance, and every failure in her life played in front of her, over and over again infinitely in the span of a second,
"Carrot Top!" Dinky screamed as she watched the horrifying scene unfold.
Little Strongheart expertly whipped around, pivoting herself about a single hoof. The mountainous tail was seconds away from crushing Carrot Top. She lowered her head, and resumed her charge, straight towards Carrot Top. She rammed head first into the still frozen stiff mare, blowing the both of them to the edge of the beast's side and narrowly avoiding the would-be decisive crush of the monstrous tail.
A second passed where no one did anything, one second too long Little Strongheart knew, but even she needed to calm herself after narrowly avoiding a grisly fate. She pulled herself up and extended a hoof down the Carrot Top. "Are you okay?"
Carrot Top took the hoof, letting out a pained gurgle before pulling herself up with the buffalo's help. "Not really."
"Uh, girls," Dinky squeaked as she tugged Little Strongheart's head towards the back of the creature. A large and deadly claw was being raised on them now. "Run, please!"
"Let's go!" Little Strongheart pulled herself and Carrot Top back into a frantic gallop to escape their next threat. The head was almost in view, and with it their chance of survival. "Just a little further! We can make it!" she shouted back to Carrot Top.
Carrot Top, running solely on her second wind and adrenalin, flopping her head back and forth to Little Strongheart. The claw of the beast came down mere inches behind her, taking off a few tail hairs dripping with sweat.
Little Strongheart felt the seconds pass like hours as she continued to push herself to the safety of the Gila Monster's head, always looking back to make sure Carrot Top was still just a head away. Just a little more, just a little more! she kept telling herself as desperation and perspiration began to cloud her vision and each step felt an eternity apart. "Carrot Top! Put everything into one last sprint!"
Carrot Top, believing herself incapable of going any faster, just threw caution and logic to the wind as she barreled forward ahead of Little Strongheart, screaming the entire way as her heart hammered away in her chest and every ounce of blood begin rushing to her ears.
Little Strongheart, happy to see Carrot Top more or less still well, rocketed forward as she and Carrot Top cleared the final stretch to the head of the beast.
Carrot Top collapsed, unable to take anymore, right on the head of the beast. If she hadn't been running for life, she would have been begging for death. "Are we done?" she pleaded as Little Strongheart slid to her side. "Are we safe? Can I finally vomit and get it over with?"
"Not quite," Dinky squeaked as the head of the monster swiftly flung them upwards, launching them high into the air. Seeing its invaders at long last, the Gila Monster opened its mighty maw, ready to catch and swallow its prey in one terrible bite.
Carrot Top felt the gravity overpower her as she slowed down in mid-air and begun pulling her back down to the world where only a gruesome death seemingly waited for her. She didn't have any energy left to scream. She was useless to her own cause as she watched the monstrous mouth grow larger and larger. With what little strength left, she tried to struggle, to even flap if it would give her one more moment of life as the seconds counting down her death grew smaller.
"Gotcha!"
Carrot Top looked up. She was hanging, between teeth, suspended by the iron hold of Little Strongheart.
"You okay?" Little Strongheart asked her as she started pulling her up. A second later, they were back on the Gila Monster's head, Carrot Top gasping for breath over Little Strongheart.
"I love you!" Carrot Top blubbered as she struggled to pull herself off the cow. "I still partly blame you for getting us into this mess, but I still love you!"
"I am honored to know you have such strong feelings," Little Strongheart giggled. "By the way, where is Dinky?"
Carrot Top panicked for a moment, but was immediately crushed under Dinky as the little filly crashed right on top of her. "Right here," Dinky answered Little Strongheart.
"Good," Little Strongheart sighed with relief. "We are all now safe and well!"
"Safe and well," Carrot Top groaned as she felt Little Strongheart grab her and drag her over to one of the Gila Monster's eyes. "What are we doing now?"
"Steering," Little Strongheart answered her.
The Gila Monster, now confused and disoriented, turned to try and get away from the strange monsters that had suddenly appeared in its vision, but no amount of turning seemed to get it any further and it started to run as fast as it could to escape the hulking brown giantess and it's strange and foul orange growth.
Derpy stared with disbelief at Silverstar. "You got rid of it by tying a pie to a stick and holding it out in front of it..." She had listened to Silverstar's recounting of this supposed attack for the past hour, leading to a very disappointing climax. She had hoped for a little more dashing heroism, but she had found that when it came to solving town problems, the ponies of Appleloosa were quite fond to using pies. "I shouldn't be surprised," she groaned.
"Gila Monsters aren't very smart," Silverstar snorted. "It's not like we have an army of spear wielding ponies to bring it down. We Appleloosians make do with what we have."
Derpy elbowed Silverstar in the side and chided him. "And you have pies."
"Yes, we have lots of pies." Silverstar answered her with a wry grin just before catching a familiar scent in the air. "Speaking of which," he awkward started, "would you... care to grab a pie... to share and all that with me?"
"That sounds delightful!" Derpy squealed as she wrapped herself around one of Silverstar's forelegs. She enjoyed feeling him move as he trotted over to a nearby stand. It was the feeling of how very real he was that she enjoyed. Not another dream of some other stallion, but a really real one. "Any tables nearby?"
"Not that I can see," Silverstar answered her.
"Then, how about we go to my place?" Derpy asked as she nuzzled more into Silverstar's tangible leg.
"Isn't your hut usually empty this time of the day?" Silverstar asked in-turn, feeling his face grow hot from the rushing blood.
"No, Dinky should be home," Derpy expertly answered him. She felt his pulse subsiding, and couldn't help letting out the faintest giggle. "C'mon, I need to feed my silly little filly before she starves herself even sillier."
"Can't argue with that," Silverstar sighed happily as he started the path to the dilapidated hovel that Derpy and Carrot Top had been living for almost a year. Neither spoke a single word on their walk to the quaint hut, Silverstar out of habitual quietness, Derpy just because she wanted to enjoy the moment. Finally in front of the door, Silverstar rapped on it a few times, waiting for a certain Dinky's sarcastic answer. No one answered though.
"Huh?" Derpy bleated as she detached herself from Silverstar and opened the never-locked door. "Dinky, mommy's home! And she brought pie!"
"Pie usually gets the foals moving," Silverstar commented. Derpy didn't move and inch. "Miss Derpy?"
"This morning, Little Strongheart, ghosts, breakfast, Dinky." Her eyes spun in place for a moment, processing every minute detail of every hour that has passed since then and now, and then exploded with energy. "Mommy senses tingling!" she shouted loud enough for the heavens to echo her cry.
"M-Miss Derpy?" Silverstar squeaked as Derpy moved faster than his eyes could follow. She was already outside with a chariot tied to her back. "Miss Derpy, what are you doing?"
"I'm getting my filly! Now are you coming along or not?" she asked him menacingly. Not wanting to argue, Silverstar hopped into the back of the chariot and with a supernaturally strong flap of her wings, Derpy took off into the air with only her instincts to guide her.
Riding on the Gila Monster was an experience that Carrot Top would later recall as amongst the most terrifying events of her life, and after hours of Little Strongheart's graceless steering of the monster, it had at long last crashed itself headfirst into the side of a mountain range, the very mountain Little Strongheart claimed she’d seen her sacred fire in.
"We're here! Let's go!" Little Strongheart chirped, almost dancing with glee as she picked Carrot Top up from her resting position. With Dinky safely clamping to her back Little Strongheart grabbed Carrot Top and flung the both of them onto a nearby jutting cliff safely, finally off of the gargantuan Gila Monster. She turned back to and bowed graciously. "Thank you so much for your assistance." The Gila Monster began opening its mouth again.
"And that's our cue to leave," Carrot Top snapped, regaining the feeling in her legs. She grabbed Little Strongheart and pulled her in deeper into the mountain where the Gila Monster could not reach them. Dinky, still clinging to Little Strongheart, giggled madly at the frantic Carrot Top.
Feeling safe for the first time in hours, Carrot Top collapsed to the rocky floor, heaving for air and life. The sun in the sky was just beginning its descent below the western horizon, giving her the perfect pink sky to recuperate to against the cold rocky ground. "This is not a day I needed," she feebly sighed.
"But we are so close to finishing our journey!" Little Strongheart expressed with delight. "We're close, I can feel it in my horns!"
"Your horns can wait!" Carrot Top yelled out breathlessly.
"Careful," Dinky warned her, "you don't want to cause an avalanche."
"An avalanche would be a nice change of pace," Carrot Top snapped back at her in a whispered tone. "Just give me a few minutes, please. I can't keep up."
Little Strongheart sat herself down, closing her eyes and harking back to the morning when she had received the ethereal message. No other buffalo in the tribe that was her age had received a spirit message, a fact she took some comfort in and will continue to when the call her names. The proud look in Chief Thunderhooves' eyes when she told him. "Let us begin climbing," she said suddenly.. "I saw the sacred fire towards the top of of the peaks. Let us hurry!"
"You're going to kill me, Little Strongheart," Carrot Top moaned as she pushed herself off the ground. One look up, high into the peaks, was enough to break her spirit again that day.
"Let's go!" Dinky cheered as she and Little Strongheart put their hooves on the stone wall, Carrot Top a couple seconds behind them.
Hours, hours upon hours spent climbing up and down mountain walls searching for the gift that might have never existed; that's what Carrot Top thought at least. She wasn't going to trust Little Strongheart's 'vision' anytime soon, but yet she was there, running up and down the mountains with the ever positive buffalo and the even snarkier filly. "Are we even close to done?" Carrot Top growled as she dropped to the floor, a puddle of sweat collecting under her. "I can't take this day anymore!"
"I can see something," Little Strongheart said quietly. "Something faint, at the top of this last peak."
"It's at the top?" Carrot Top gasped, her frozen breath rising above her. "Of course, it's always at the top. Nothing in my life can ever be easy," she complained more, but Little Strongheart simply strode right past her, seemingly poised and strong. Carrot Top watched her place a weary hoof on the rocky wall and immediately slip right off. "Are you okay?" Carrot Top's asked with concern.
"Fine, I am just tired," Little Strongheart answered her with a weary voice. "Although, I may have... overexerted myself just a little." One deep breath and single gaze up towards the high peaks took what confidence Little Strongheart had left. She wouldn't give up, though. She was given a vision by her ancestors, one to her alone. With her back towards Carrot Top and Dinky, she addressed them with spurious sureness. "Why don't you two wait down here? I can go on alone," she lied.
"I'm going up too!" Dinky argued back, bounding up to Little Strongheart.
"Little Strongheart, you can't keep this up," Carrot Top pleaded with her. "Give up if only for your life's sake and let's figure out some way to get back home, or find some warmth at least. We're going to freeze to death at his rate!"
"We... we are?" Little Strongheart sighed, choking back a tear. "But..."
"Strongheart!" Carrot Top yelled. "This is ridiculous and we should go."
"It is not ridiculous," Little Strongheart whispered quietly to herself.
"What was that?" Carrot Top seethed, her legs quivering as she picked herself up.
"It is not ridiculous to me," Little Strongheart whispered again with her icy breath.
"Speak louder!"
"I said It is not ridiculous to me!" Little Strongheart finally roared back, her back becoming rigid with fury. "This is important to me! I have worked hard, very hard for a long time... and after all this time I finally get some kind of reward! No matter what I do, it seems Braeburn will not ever like me as I like him, and I am made fun of in my tribe for being around ponies more than them! This morning I get a vision from my ancestors, considered one of the greatest of honors and privileges for us! And while you may find it ridiculous this is still more important to me than my life right now!"
With her back towards them, neither Carrot Top or Dinky could see the anger and tears building up in her face, all the emotions she had built up beginning to surge out of her like a rainstorm. She turned around, ready to face Carrot Top's ire. She found a startled filly who was shaking violently in the cold weather, and a once bright orange mare looking uncharacteristically pale. "And yet, for all it is worth, all I did was put my dear friends in danger..."
Carrot Top felt her legs tense up. She was fighting every urge slam it against her own face. "Why," she muttered to herself, "did you have to go and say all that."
"Oh, hows about we start a fire?" Dinky suggested. "We can use some rocks around here to start a fire, right?"
"It seems like the best course of action," Little Strongheart lamented.
Carrot Top walked up to the rocky ledge of the wall next to Little Strongheart, placing a hoof on it. "I'm going to regret this," she groaned. "I am going to regret this a lot... get on. You too Dinky."
"Carrot, what are you planning?" Dinky asked her curiously.
"Oh, it's not obvious? I am going insane and think that I actually contain the strength to carry you and not-so-Little Strongheart over here to the top of this peak. Of course, the chances of me being successful are slim and and I'm most likely going to slip and we'll plummet to our deaths so somepony or somebuffalo or someanything hurry up and talk me out of this before I'm shaking hooves with my gramma!"
"You... you would do that for me?" Little Strongheart asked her, eyes wide as saucers and dripping with more tears, each one freezing not long after escaping her eyes.
"Oh Celestia, why me," Carrot Top whimpered as she felt out the rocky ledge. "Well... get on, you two." Dinky wasted no time in burdening herself on Carrot Top's shoulder. Of course, it wasn't Dinky Carrot Top saw quite worried about. "C'mon... Little Strongheart."
"Carrot Top, you do not understand what this means to me," she half-drearily answered Carrot Top. "This is the nicest thing you've ever done for me." She placed one hoof around Carrot Top's shoulders and clamped her hind legs clamping around Carrot Top's stomach.
Immediately, Carrot Top felt the weight of Little Strongheart. "Watch this be the last thing I ever do for you." The cow may have looked smaller than Carrot Top most of the time, but she was easily heavier.
"Time to get a leg up, Carrot," Dinky chuckled.
"Very funny," Carrot Top grumbled back.
One hoof at a time Carrot Top began her ascension up the rocky walls. One slip, and she would die. They all would die, and, if Carrot Top was lucky, she could write 'I told you so' on the ground before she would pass away and finally attain the peace she longed for. Of course, if the fall didn't kill them, the cold would. Death was such a lovely subject to joke about, Carrot Top mused, but no amount of inappropriate jokes was enough for the reality of death. One hoof went over the other, again.
"You're so strong," Little Strongheart hummed into Carrot Top's ear. "See, you should not doubt yourself when you are capable of so much."
Carrot Top choked over her next words. "Y-yeah, I guess. Well, I mean we're not as strong as you buffalo but ponies are pretty naturally strong." And just like that, a compliment out of the blue had jostled her more than any thought of death had.
"Don't be so modest, Carrot," Dinky beamed at her. "Look, you're almost a fourth there!"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Actually, yeah," Dinky giggled, "nopony would have ever thought you could get this far."
"Don't encourage me," Carrot Top sighed as she put another hoof in front of another. Another over-exertion of her meager strength. She realized the only reason she wasn't freezing to death was the warmth radiating from Little Strongheart hugging her so closely.
"You know, I truly was ready to give up," Little Strongheart admitted, hugging her head into the nook of Carrot Top's shoulders. "You were right."
"Well of course I was right."
"But then you found the strength to keep us going. You are amazing."
Silence. Carrot Top had nothing to say.
"I can never repay you for this."
"Be quiet. I can't concentrate," Carrot Top snapped. It was too much for her to listen to Little Strongheart's tender words. It was nothing Carrot Top would ever expect of her.
"Half way there, Carrot!" Dinky announced. "C'mon, girl, move them thunder thighs."
"You really are your mother's daughter," Carrot Top sneered back.
Another hoof in front of the other and Carrot Top continued her once-thought-hopeless ascension, every inch bringing with it another round of cheers and admiration from Dinky and Little Strongheart respectively and another wave of mixed emotions. "Would you both shush? I can barely hear myself think." Of course, they didn't stop.
"Just one more spurt of energy!" Dinky giddily exclaimed, the edge of the cliff mere feet away from her. "Show all those ponies that bullied you in gym class who's boss!"
"How did you know about that!?" Carrot Top growled at her as she pushed up a little harder.
"I guessed." Dinky jumped up from Carrot Top and landed on the top of the cliff. She reached down with both of her hooves towards the two stragglers. "Grab on!" she shouted with a cheerful smile.
"No offence, Dinky," Carrot Top huffed, "but I don't care how good you are in gym. You cannot support this one-ton cow." Just one more hoof up and she would be at the top.
"Thank you," Little Strongheart blithely replied. "I try hard to keep up with the other young buffalo. But, I'm afraid the ‘little’ part of my name will haunt me in my growing years."
"You! Are Not! Little!" Carrot Top yelled as loud as she could as she finally got her hooves at the top of the base and pulled herself up, throwing Little Strongheart off her. As she finally collapsed to the ground, the taste of dirt infiltrating her mouth, the moment had dawned on her of what she had just accomplished. "The top... I got us to the top!"
"I knew you could, Carrot Top!" Little Strongheart squealed in delight as she wrapped her new hero in a tight and crushing hug. "I could not have made it this far without you."
"Put me down and let me die... please... before I heave all over you," Carrot Top groggily groaned.
"So, is it up here?" Dinky asked, suddenly appearing between them. "That thing your ghost grandparents were trying to show you?"
Little Strongheart gently let go of Carrot Top and searched around. Everything before her seemed barren and empty. Nothing was all she could see. "This is not right," she whispered to herself. "This has to be the place they wanted me to go to." She walked to the center of the scape, assessing everything around her. "But, where is it?"
"Maybe, it was one of those ‘adventure is the reward’ deals?" Dinky questioned, a hoof by her face.
"I am not going to die for some sentimental horse-apples like that!" Carrot Top shouted in disbelief. She sprung right back up and galloped up to Little Strongheart. "Where is it!? It has to be here! You said it was here? You saw it here! Do you not understand that we're going to die here now? If I'm going to die I at least want to die holding onto ancient buffalo treasure that will curse the next sap that touches it!"
"C-Carrot Top, please calm down," Little Strongheart urged, but the mare had lost it. She was kicking and bucking furiously around her with no direct target for her frustration, looking like a complete fool. "If you waste more energy than you really might be in danger of dying of exhaustion."
"Exhaustion, hunger, hypothermia? What's the difference at this point!?"
"Carrot, you're on fire!" Dinky shrieked.
"Of course I am! This was all a big waste of my life!"
"No, you really are on fire," Little Strongheart pointed out, urging to the stream of smoke emitting from one of Carrot Top's hooves. Moments later, it erupted into a true flame.
Carrot Top didn't need to look down anymore. "Fire... Fire!" Panicking, she started running around in circles, unable to think of any basic action to rid herself of her flammation.
"Stop, drop, roll!" Dinky called out.
"Stop, drop, roll!" Carrot Top repeated and she fell to the floor again and began rolling in the dirt in degradation. When the fire was finally out, all she could manage was a pitiful: "Why me? Why just me?"
Little Strongheart traced Carrot Top's burn line back to it's source, and it was there, buried under dirt and ash on closer inspection, was a pile of fiery-red feathers. "I don't believe it, but it is indeed phoenix feathers!" she squealed with uncontrolled enthusiasm.
"Phoenix feathers?" Dinky echoed.
"Phoenix Feathers!" Carrot Top shouted with renewed vigor. She shot back up again and bolted to Little Strongheart's side. "It really is phoenix feathers! Well, phoenix down to be more precise? Your ancestors wanted you to find this!?" she asked incredulously.
"It would appear so. We will need to handle these with care. I wouldn't want us to have charred carrots to deal with," Little Strongheart laughed, prompting little more than a stifled groan from Carrot Top.
"Terrible jokes aside, how are we going to get home?" Carrot Top bemoaned, motioning towards the horizon. "The sun is down, and, as I've only said a million times by now, we're going to freeze to death here if we do nothing." She was worried for their lives, but Dinky and Little Strongheart didn't seem fazed in the slightest. Instead, the buffalo held a feather between her hooves to Carrot Top's face and it gave off a supernatural warmth.
"We can survive the night with these," she said with a smile. "When the sun is up, we'll return to Appleloosa."
"We got lucky," Carrot Top groaned.
"Maybe the ancestors intended for this to happen."
"I'll believe that when Braeburn finally shuts up and shows a real emotion," Carrot Top gruffed.
"I do not follow," Little Strongheart answered back, but Carrot Top remained silent and unmoving. Little Strongheart gathered up all the fallen feathers and she and Dinky huddled up next to Carrot Top, basking in the ethereal heat of the sacred feathers.
"This has been the best day in a long time!" Dinky squealed at last. "Why didn't we ever do this sooner?"
"Because we almost died," Carrot Top spat back.
"It could have been worse. We could have actually died," Little Strongheart replied with a giggle. Carrot Top shot her an annoyed glance. "But we didn't, and it is thanks to your not giving up, Carrot Top. Were it not for that, we would still be on the ledge below, actually freezing. You are really amazing."
"C-can you stop saying things like that!?" Carrot Top exploded.
"Carrot Top is blushing!" Dinky laughed. "Carrot Top and Little Strongheart kissing in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"That isn't funny!"
"I think you would make an excellent husband," Little Strongheart added.
"That's not— wait! Why am I the husband!?"
"Because I am the wife," Little Strongheart asserted.
"I... no! I'm the wife!" Carrot Top argued back.
"No, because I am the wife."
A abrupt blur of gray exploded out of the sky, landing mere inches away in a cloud of dust. As the dust settled away, it revealed a certain blonde pegasus pulling a large wagon. "Did I miss a wedding?" was all she could say as she stared at Carrot Top and Little Strongheart.
"No, we are just arguing over who would be the wife in the relationship," Little Strongheart answered her.
"Oh," Derpy replied. "Well, this isn't the ending I was expecting, but I'm glad you found happiness, Carrot. Is this your honeymoon?"
Carrot Top could've broken down and cried, or she could have snapped and assaulted Derpy, but instead, of all the tactless actions, she rolled back her head and laughed as hard as she could., even though she found none of it funny. "No, Derpy. Now, can you please take us home?"
"Just one moment," she growled, her tone turning dark and serious with a ferocity befitting an enraged manticore. "Where is she?" she hissed indignantly.
Dinky quickly hid behind Little Strongheart's wide back.
"I can smell your fear, Dinky!" Derpy scolded her. "Get over here now, young filly!"
"I can explain!" Dinky retorted vainly, still cowering in the shadows of the buffalo.
"No amount of explaining," Derpy started as she prowled around Little Strongheart, her voice dripping with venom, "is going to get you out of being grounded for a month!"
"B-but, mom!" Dinky cried back before being suddenly tackled out into the open, pinned to the ground be a mother who had lost her patience long ago. Moments later, they had all been loaded into the cart and were soaring through the sky on their way back to Appleloosa. Silverstar had been in the cart the whole time, too afraid of a certain pegasus to make a sound.
Carrot Top stumbled through the swaying doorway of her designated hovel, collapsing down on the floor paralyzed with exhaustion. "You know, I think this cozy little dump of a home is almost starting to grow on me... almost." Derpy strode past her, leading Dinky to their room with vigilant eyes and a fierce aura.
"I have half a mind to staple you to my back!" Derpy scowled at her. "Do you know how worried I was!? I dang near had a heart attack! Have you ever been attacked by your heart? Because it isn't pretty! Now get in there, think about what you've done, and if you're sorry enough by the time I'm done talking with Carrot, maybe I'll read you a bedtime story... if I'm feeling nice enough!"
"I'm too old for bedtime stories anyway," Dinky retorted, but one scorching stare from her mother quickly had her changing her tune. "Or, you know, one might not hurt, if I'm sorry and all, and you're feeling nice and all... I love you mommy!." She disappeared into their bedroom quickly, shutting the door behind her.
"I'll mommy you," Derpy mumbled to herself before turning back over to Carrot Top, who hadn't moved an inch. "You! How could you bring a filly into the desert! You're supposed to be the brains of this outfit!" Her anger had far from subsided as she continued to bore down on Carrot Top. "You're the supposed to be the one pony in the world I trust more than myself! How could you let her out there!"
"Hey, this wasn't my idea," Carrot Top shot back. "It was Strongheart's! You remember from this morning, right!?"
"So you go with her and bring my daughter!? That's what you decide to do!?" Derpy exasperatedly yelled at her.
"She came on her own accord!" Carrot Top screamed back, utterly mentally exhausted. Derpy remained silent, and Carrot Top was ready to break down from all the aggregate emotions of the day. She spoke again, softly and feebly. "Look, I'm sorry, but before I could finally pound it into that thick buffalo's ahead what a bad idea this all was we get ambushed by a fricken Gila Monster the size of the Smoky Mountains. I was trying to turn us around, but what the hay was I supposed to do at that point?"
"Not get her involved in the first place!" Derpy yelled back as loud as she could. She and Carrot Top stared at each other for a long second, both seething, before dropping to the floor exhausted out of their minds.
Silence echoed between the both of them before Carrot Top finally made a sound. "I'm sorry," she feebly bleated.
"I know," Derpy sighed back. "I'm sorry for yelling. This is partially my fault too... so, how was your day?" she asked, completely devoid of energy.
"Decent," Carrot Top answered her, just as devoid of strength. "Yours?"
"So-so," Derpy yawned. "Oh yeah, Braeburn brought a letter for you. It's on the counter."
"Screw that, I'll read it later," Carrot Top hiffed.
"Now what?" Derpy questioned, drawing circles on the floor with a hind-hoof.
"Coddle Dinky to feel better?" Carrot Top suggested.
"Not sure if it will work this time," Derpy lamented as she picked herself up. "I was so worried, you have no idea." With what little energy she had left, Derpy picked herself up and dragged herself to her room where Dinky waited, Carrot Top following behind. She pushed open the door, and on the other side was Dinky, with a couple of red feathers taped to her back.
Dinky stared at them like a deer stares at headlights. "Uhh... I can explain... Little Strongheart did give me these as a gift... and... uh..."
"My little princess wants to be like mommy!" Derpy squealed out in delight as she scooped up Dinky and started kissing her fervently.
Carrot Top stared passively at the scene, too tired to smile like she wanted to. "And that's how I'll end my day," Carrot Top sighed, leaving Derpy and her daughter to bond alone. The day was now over, and she was going to need a long and relaxing rest after all she had been through.
The blinds were closed to the beating sun outside. No sliver of light could penetrate it and disturb Carrot Top on this restful morning. No light could get to her, but no light could ever match the friendly call of a well-intentioned friend.
"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! Carrot Top! It's time to wake up!" Derpy squealed in delight as she balanced a spatula on her nose. "Carrot, the dirt isn't going to study itself!"
Carrot Top slumped out of her room, eyes half dead and shoulders slumped. She could feel another day just ready to pull her down to a new low. "I was having the most wonderful dream," she scowled.
"Was I in it?" Derpy giggled as she placed a plate of waffles in front of Carrot Top.
"Yes, you were. You were so quiet and helpful..."
"You gonna eat that?" Derpy asked as she eyed the waffles she just placed for Carrot Top. Carrot Top's response was to barrel into the plate and devour said waffles with the disposition of a hungry timberwolf. "No syrup?"
"Syrup is for happy ponies," Carrot Top groaned. "Well, now that I'm up, might as well continue with my day..."
"That's the spirit!"
A knock from the door caught both of their attentions. Carrot Top didn't need more than one attempt to guess who it was. "Come on in, Little Strongheart. Door's unlocked... it's never locked to begin with."
Little Strongheart burst of enthusiasm as she entered the sunbleached hovel finally busted the door off its hinges, leaving it to lay deformed on the floor. "Derpy, Carrot Top! I need you girls to... how do you say it? Hold my haunches!"
"Can do!" Derpy saluted as she fluttered over to the cow's backside.
"That can't possibly be right," Carrot Top groaned back. "At least, I really hope that's not right."
"I shall try again," Little Strongheart bleated as Derpy started holding her haunches. "I need you two to encourage me from afar as I try to get Braeburn's attention with this gift I made." She pulled out from seemingly the folds of her fur a necklace. It was ornamented with phoenix feathers. "Derpy, you can let go now."
"The phrase is 'have your back'," Carrot Top corrected her as she stared at the necklace. "You ask your rival for Braeburn's affection to help you in this?" She stared at Little Strongheart incredulously, who stared back sincerely. Seconds later, Carrot Top found herself laughing to herself. "Of course you would, and you would help me if I asked, right?"
"Of course! What are friends for?"
"Not for holding each other's haunches, that's for sure." The kitchen was consumed with laughter. Maybe, Carrot Top thought, today would be a really good day. Just maybe.
Rounding the corners of Appleloosa, Little Strongheart felt her heart flutter from street to street as she played out the fated moment in her head over and over again. She would offer the sweet little gift to Braeburn, and he would be so overcome with it that he would look at her in the way she looks at him. She had doubts about the last part, but wishfulness never hurt. "He's usually at Silverstar's home this early."
"We're almost there," Derpy giggled. "I wonder if Silverstar would object to a double date."
"Derpy, for my sanity, keep those thoughts to yourself," Carrot Top snapped.
"There he is," Little Strongheart whispered as they turned the corner. "Ancestors, I thank you for the moment you have given me."
"Just go for it!" Derpy pushed Little Strongheart forward, or at least tried to. No matter how much she pushed, Little Strongheart wouldn't budge.
"Strongheart," Carrot Top started, "are you sure about this?"
The odd use of her name caught Little Strongheart off-guard. "Y-yes. I am sure. I have been wanting to do this... for almost a year now."
"Then go for it now before you he disappears and you're left wondering what the hay could have happened."
A resounding click went off in Little Strongheart's head as she turned back to that cute colt as he idly chatted with Silverstar. "I'm going," she said to Carrot Top and Derpy, conviction in her voice and movement. "I thank you both for watching my backside."
"Close enough," Carrot Top replied.
She ambled closer to him, slowly. Her face felt on fire, and the phoenix feathers were nowhere near it. Silverstar noticed her presence first, and motioned to her for Braeburn. He turned around, looked at her and smiled, like he always would. A smile filled with youthful vigor and innocence. "Good morning," she started as she waved to them. "How are the both of you on this good morning?"
"I'm as fit as a fiddle as the saying goes," Braeburn answered her in delight.
"I've had better," Silverstar offered. He backed away slowly, moving closer into the shadows where he could watch the scene unfold. Under his breath, he was rooting for the nervous buffalo.
"Here to start your rounds?" Braeburn asked her. "I'd be afraid to be a criminal in this town with your around. Well, I would be nervous to be a criminal period. Don't want to end up like some less savory family members."
"Yes, but, I have something more," Little Strongheart awkwardly started. She reached back into her fur and pulled out the hoof-made necklace. Hours spent crafting the little bauble were pushing for this moment. "I actually made this for you." Dangling from a hoof, she held it up to Braeburn. "It's made from phoenix feathers, so it will keep you warm on your cold nights at your orchard."
"This is for me?" Braeburn whispered to himself as he took the necklace onto his hoof. "Gee, I don't know what to say about this... really." Awkward silence passed between them, Little Strongheart frozen stiff, and Braeburn scared almost witless. "This is really nice, again. And, uh, I'm really glad to have a thoughtful friend like you, Little Strongheart. So, thank you."
"You're welcome," Little Strongheart half-heartedly replied. "I put a lot of effort into it."
"Yeah, I can tell," Braeburn weakly answered her. "I'll see you around?"
"Yeah," Little Strongheart feebly sighed.
From their own shadow of a corner, Carrot Top and Derpy watched, one with disappointment, and one with anger. "Derpy," Carrot Top started, "why don't you go cheer up Little Strongheart?"
"What are you going to do?" Derpy asked back.
"Have a talk with our friend," she hissed. Derpy stared at her for a moment before taking her hint and flying off to catch a broken buffalo. Carrot Top went another way,slowly closing the ground between her and Braeburn, he mind buzzing with words she had for him, few of which good for public spaces.
Braeburn felt a presence catching up on him. Turning around he caught Carrot Top. Quickly gathering his thoughts, he took a deep breath and smiled her way. "Good morning, Carrot Top!" he happily announced.
"Are you as thick as a tree!?" Carrot Top finally settled on.
"Come again?" Braeburn bleated in shock. "Carrot Top?"
"That poor girl put all her feelings into that gift!" she shouted at him.
"Er, Carrot Top, Miss Top, you're makin' a scene."
"I don't care about that right now! How can you accept that gift from her like that, something I'll have you know we almost died over, just so you can give her that pitiful excuse for a brush off! That girl likes you enough to give up phoenix feathers for you! And this is how you act?"
"Miss Top, I have no idea what you're talking about!"
Carrot Top blanked out for a moment, and when she finally came to her hoof was an inch away from Braeburn's face and he stared at her wide eyed. "Why are you so difficult!" she yelled at him before turning tail and galloping off.
No door was in place to impede her. Carrot Top stomped angrily into the hovel, her force so great that she actually broke one of the floor boards. "Great, just great. What else can go wrong?" she scowled to no one in particular, only for her eyes to catch a letter sitting innocently on the counter. Her name on the front along with the logo of the company. "No good can come of this," she groaned as she reached out and bit open the top of the envelope. She shook out the contents and began reading, her expectations already exceptionally low.
Dear Carrot Top,
We are pleased to inform you that the data you've reported from your findings in Appleloosa have been regarded as a great success. Your stay in Appleloosa will be coming to an end soon and can move back to your home in Ponyville. The company will stop paying for your food and lodging at the end of the year.
With Gratitude, Agrivolution Inc. Going Beyond a Taste of Heaven
Carrot Top's eye had become bloodshot in a matter of seconds. She crumpled up the letter, and, without confirming if she was alone, screamed as loud as she could. She was indeed alone.
A hole is made!
A letter, bleached from the light of the sun, sat next to a plate of now smelly and rotten apple cores. The contents of said letter had left the peculiar orange mare in the bed nearby off-balance. She lay there with her eyes staring at the ceiling, but her mind bouncing from one thought to the next. Her time in this dusty hovel was coming to an end, yet she was anxious. "What am I doing?" she asked herself at long last.
The first crack of morning light was beginning to slink across the room, and today was her turn to cook breakfast. "Pull yourself together," she said aloud as she threw the covers off. She rolled herself out of bed ungracefully even unmarelike as some ponies would say, and started fussing with her curls. "When I go back to Ponyville... I'm going to the spa," she said to no-one, half-heartedly. She pushed open her door to the rest of the hovel and shuffled her way to the kitchen area.
"Good moooorning," came Derpy's easygoing voice as she emerged from her room. "What's on the pan for us today?" she asked innocuously.
"I was thinking... oatmeal?" Carrot Top grumbled. Morning breath wafted out of her mouth and she stared at Derpy with crusted eyes.
"Sounds good and healthy!" Derpy replied in delight.
"So what do you have planned for today?" Carrot Top asked absentmindedly as she poured milk into a pot. "Anything special?"
"It's just another normal day for me," Derpy giggled in delight. "I'm going to meet up with Little Strongheart and then we'll meet up with Silverstar, and we'll go about making sure Appleloosa is the safest town in all of Equestria. Just another average and normal day for The Derp ."
"The Derp ?" Carrot Top raised an invisible eyebrow.
"Not a good law name?" Derpy asked with disappointment.
"Try again," Carrot Top yawned as she started the fire under the pot by striking her own hooves. "Pass me the bag of oats."
Ten minutes later, Carrot Top and Derpy were at the eating table each with their own bowl of oatmeal, waiting for the last sliver of steam to leave their meals, mindful of the scalding heat. Carrot Top sat quietly while Derpy hummed a little pony's tune to herself. "Almost ready," Derpy anxiously blurted, fluttering in the air.
"It's just oatmeal," Carrot Top answered her. "We have it at least three times a week."
"Is something on your mind?" Derpy asked Carrot Top with no warning.
"I made it too obvious, huh?" Carrot Top sighed, covering her face with one hoof and eating a spoonful of oatmeal with the other.
"I know when my bestest friend in the world is really down about something." Derpy scooted herself and her bowl closer to Carrot Top. "Bit for your thoughts? I'll even give you ten even."
Carrot Top took a deep breath, exhaling the last of the reservations she had left in her. "The letter from Braeburn? It's from work. They're going to be shipping us out soon, well, they'll stop paying the bills really. We're going back to Ponyville, where we'll leave this shack behind." She took in another spoonful of oatmeal.
"WHAT!" came an explosive and glee-filled shrill. Dinky rocketed out of her and her mother's room, bouncing with delight from one end of the room to the other. "We're leaving this dust bowl? Going back to civilization? Where my friends are? No more of this? Done? Out? Vamoose? For sure? Are you cereal?" Dinky screamed at them.
"Cereal?" Carrot Top repeated to herself. "Yeah... cereal... we'll be leaving soon. Not today, but soon." Carrot Top swallowed another spoonful of oatmeal.
"Yes!" Dinky screamed again, happier than she had ever been in quite awhile.
"Yes?" Derpy repeated to herself, full of uncertainty.
A knock came from the door.
Carrot Top dropped her spoon in the empty bowl and picked it up, carrying it to the sink. "You can just come in!" she shouted. "It's never locked! Just open it!"
"Good morning!" came a young, over-enthusiastic and warming voice. Warming to everyone that was, but Carrot Top. "Braeburn here!" he announced as he strolled into the middle of the hovel, his signature smile plastered on his face and never wavering. "Carrot Top, just the pony I needed to see!"
She didn't turn to look at him. Carrot Top kept her back turned towards Braeburn, her mind reeling from the sound of his voice. Her teeth were clenched, the corners of her mouth turned downward. How long ago was it that she witnessed him completely ignore the feelings of Little Strongheart for the second time? "What on earth do you need of me, Braeburn?" she said with agitated breath.
"I was hopin' you could inspect some weird somethin' I found by the orchards. Seeing as you spend all your time staring at the floor, I figured you would know what was goin' on when you see it."
"Fine," Carrot Top sighed with annoyance. "I'll go look at your 'weird something'."
"Aw, gee, thanks!" Braeburn replied wholeheartedly.
Braeburn led a disgruntled Carrot Top away to the orchards, Carrot Top resolutely not meeting his gaze, leaving Derpy and Dinky alone in the hovel. Derpy had barely touched her oatmeal, and she continued to stare down into it, Carrot Top's announcement disturbing her thoughts.
"Hello?" came a much more demure voice. Little Strongheart ambled through the open doorway, finding a jubilant Dinky and a somber Derpy. "This is not what I'm used to," she commented to herself, before looking at the pair curiously. "Dinky, what are you celebrating?"
"We're going back to Ponyville! We're going back to Ponyville!" Dinky cheered over and over again, jumping from one side of the hovel to the other. "I can go back to my own room and my friends and my home and I won't have to take a cold bath ever again!"
"I am happy for you," Little Strongheart expressed in delight. "I will miss you greatly when you leave, though."
Dinky stopped, in the middle of her jump, and came plummeting to the ground on the spot. "Huh, I kinda forgot about that. I'm not going to see you anymore." Dinky plopped down even lower to the floor. "I mean, I'll miss you, a lot! But..."
"I will miss you too," Little Strongheart replied, patting Dinky on the head. "Your home is Ponyville, right?"
Dinky looked up to Little Strongheart in awe. "Yeah. I'll write letters to you so we don't completely lose each other!"
"And I'll ask Silverstar to read it to me," Little Strongheart joked, sharing a moment of laughter with Dinky. "So, Derpy, what is on your mind? Has something bad come up?"
"Bad!?" Derpy bleated, snapping to attention, her wings fanning in every direction as if to stabilize her. "No! Nothing is bad at all! I am... happy! Yes I can go back to Ponyville with Carrot Top and enjoy a nice hot shower and then eat all the sweets I want from Sugarcube Corner and then I'll get my job back at the post and everything will be alright I hope I pray I beg?"
Little Strongheart and Dinky stared wide eyed at the heaving wheezing Derpy. "Mom, are you okay?" Dinky asked first. "You're acting odd even for you."
"Just fine!" Derpy yelled awkwardly.
"Then, should we head over to Silverstar's office?" Little Strongheart anxiously asked.
"Y-yeah." Derpy made no sign of moving.
"Derpy?"
"You go on ahead!" Derpy yelled again. "I'll catch up!"
"If you... say so." Little Strongheart gave Derpy one last thoughtful look before turning and heading out the doorway.
Derpy sat motionless, still at her place at the table, her mind swimming in uncertainty. "What am I going to do?" she whispered to herself. "What is he going to say when I tell him this?"
"Mom?" Dinky called out to her. Derpy's head jerked towards her. "I'm going to go start packing."
"Dinky, we're not leaving yet," Derpy sighed solemnly. "If you pack all your things now, what will you do tomorrow?"
"My things all fit in one suitcase," Dinky retorted. "Half of it is still in there."
"Dinky, we're not leaving yet..."
Ten minutes spent following Braeburn to the outskirts of Appleloosa. Ten minutes spent rummaging through the mixed sea of her emotions. Ten minutes spent staring at his backside. Carrot Top ignored the world around her, ignoring the buildings disappearing and apple trees taking their place; the smell of other ponies being replace with the smell of leaves and fruit; minutes she spent robotically following Braeburn's energetic gait. "He really does put too much energy into everything," she whispered to herself with agitation.
"You say somethin'?" Braeburn asked back.
"N-no," Carrot Top quickly responded. Another emotion was added to her sea, annoyance with her own self. "Just what is it that you need me to look at?" she asked irritatedly.
"Well, it looks like the ground went and deflated if that makes any sense."
"No, it doesn't," Carrot Top sighed. "How much longer till we're there?"
"How's about now?" Braeburn quickly stepped to the side, revealing a particularly strange anomaly. The ground had sunken in, making a cavity in the earth. "So, got any ideas for what this could be?"
"I haven't the slightest clue," Carrot Top replied, idly jumping into the cavity. "If you need me to measure the PH balance and tell you which crops are best to grow, I'm your mare, but geology itself, not really."
"Geology?" Braeburn repeated to himself, jumping into the cavity as well. "Well, maybe I can make a swimming pool come summer!"
"You do that," Carrot Top sighed as she reached her hoof out to the rim of the cavity. She was about to place her hoof on it, but then the edge rose on her. "What the?" It rose again.
"You know, I've got this sinking feeling," Braeburn commented as Carrot Top realized the truth of what was happening. The ground under them collapsed, and Carrot Top and Braeburn fell below the earth, sinking down into a dark void.
Silverstar sat alone in his office eating an apple. His stomach was agitated though from a severe lack of a certain food he had grown accustomed to. "Just shut up," he tried to order his stomach. He had gone through seven juicy and sweet apples, but it was a hard sell to his stomach which had grown so accustomed to the salt and grease in a can of beans. "If I eat one more, I'll turn into an apple."
"You shouldn't have to worry about that."
The sudden appearance of Little Strongheart surprised Silverstar, knocking him off his chair. "Can't a pony talk to himself in peace?" Silverstar grumbled to himself.
"I suppose, but why?" Little Strongheart answered again innocently. "Isn't it better to talk to others?"
"Maybe," Silverstar groaned, pulling himself up over his desk. "Anyway... where's Miss Derpy? It isn't like her to be late without some good reason."
"Derpy said she would catch up later. Perhaps she's packing for her return to Ponyville?"
Were is not for the desk he was already leaning against, Silverstar would have fallen again. His pupils turned into dots as he stared at Little Strongheart, slowly digesting the words that came from her mouth. "Return to Ponyville?"
"Yes," Little Strongheart solemnly replied. "I will miss them greatly when they leave, but there is nothing we can do."
"Nothing we can do," Silverstar repeated to himself. Unable to focus on any one thing in the room, he collapsed into his chair, sinking into the back, further and further into the shadows of the room. "I reckon you better get started on your routes, Little Strongheart."
"Yes, I shall see you later, Sheriff Silverstar," Little Strongheart cheerfully responded. She gave an awkward salute coupled with an equally awkward smile before running off into Appleloosa, eager and ready to walk the routes she had traced over a thousand times by now. She left Silverstar alone in the darkening office, alone with his eyes locked on his liquor cabinet.
A faint light, impeded by fluttering eyes. Carrot Top realized she was on her back, and that something was crushing her. Something that was heavy, soft, warm, and smelled of apples. She was also wet. "What the?" she bleated as her mind slowly began to resurface from unconsciousness. After an agonizing minute, she finally realized what was on her. "Are you going to wake up soon?" she scowled at Braeburn's half-dazed form.
"Miss Top, I think the coop is laying chickens," he mumbled as his head swayed from left to right, trying to make out where they were. "Did Bumpkin redecorate?"
"No, now get off!" Carrot Top shoved the lumpy stallion away, ready to raise a hind leg and kick him away, but a startling revelation came about her as her eyes raced down to her hind leg. It was twisted, bloodied and bruised, barely recognizable. Pain finally sunk in, and she screamed as loud as she could, calling Braeburn out of stupor.
"Carrot Top!?" he cried out as his head shot straight up. "Oh, Carrot Top! Your leg! What happened!?"
"We fell down a hole, you moron!" she hissed. "What do you think happened!?"
"Great grandma's britches, what do we do!?" Braeburn exclaimed with panic. He galloped over to Carrot Top's leg, hoping to find some insight between the trickles of blood and purple bruises. "We need to do something! Think, Braeburn, think! We... we have to wrap it up in something. W-wait here!"
Carrot Top, too shocked to make a sarcastic come-back, watched Braeburn jump into the pile of debris, searching for some item unknown to her. He dug deeper, throwing every size of rock behind him, before pulling out a tree branch.
"I've gotcha'." He galloped back to Carrot Top's side and wasted no time in removing his usual vest, an act that initially caught Carrot Top off-guard. She stared unwittingly at him, the panic etched on his face as he very delicately lifted her broken leg with one hoof and slid his vest under it with the other. He placed the branch next to Carrot Top's leg and lifted the edges of his vest to fold over Carrot Top's bloodied limb, finally wrapping it tightly and somehow forming a knot. She continued to stare at him as he wiped away a wave of sweat and stared at her with worry. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
Carrot Top finally caught herself staring and she shook her head to throw off any stray thoughts and refocus herself. Braeburn's concern look came back. "I mean I'm fine," she finally replied after calming herself down, rubbing her head with a hoof. "I'm a little light-headed, but I should be fine for awhile."
Braeburn relaxed a little, allowing his shoulders to slouch. "Thank goodness," Braeburn sighed aloud, dropping to his back to rest at last, making a splash on the flooded floor of wherever they were. "Carrot Top, you have no idea how worried I was."
Carrot Top took in her surroundings. Wherever they were it was cold and dark; the oddest thing though was the floor was flooded with water. "Just where are we?" Carrot Top looked back up to the little flickering light overhead, wondering just how far had they fallen. How close did she come to death yet again? "Do I ever get to rest nowadays?" she thought aloud to herself.
"It's alright!" Braeburn shot back to his hooves and flashed Carrot Top a cheesy but confident smile. "We're in the underground waterway places used to bring water to the well in Appleloosa. These tunnels were made way back when Appleloosa was first being built up, and I know that they all lead to the main well in town! So, all we need to do is follow the flow of water to the main well and then we just yell our hearts out and somepony has to notice we're down there! We'll be out of here in no time!"
"That... actually sounds pretty reasonable," Carrot Top gasped in astonishment. "I guess when it comes to this town, you have your act together."
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Braeburn questioned with confusion.
"Forget it," Carrot Top sighed with disappointment. "Just, help me up. I can't stand... or walk with this busted leg." She tried futilely to move her broken leg, but the only reaction she received from it was blinding pain.
"Well, that's no problem," Braeburn whinnied as he lowered himself to allow for Carrot Top to grab onto him. She threw a foreleg over him, and in a matter of seconds they had formed a pony with two backs and six legs. "Ready for some adventure!"
"Braeburn, I've been through train heists, climbed mountains, ridden on the backs of oversized lizards, searched Canterlot for a single almost indistinguishable pony, and that's not even counting my life in Ponyville which for reasons beyond me has been subject to attacks by a corrupt Princess, a sociopathic dracona-something, and while few may believe it a changeling invasion! I’ve had more adventures than six ponies put together... I think."
"Oh," Braeburn replied lamely. "Well then... before we go, I need to find another branch."
"What for?"
"A torch." Braeburn gently laid down Carrot Top and turned to the mountain of debris.
"Apples!" Apple Bumpkin called out in her cheeriest voice. "Apples for sale! I mean, what else will you eat out here on the frontier? Kumquats? Well I'll tell you there's only one thing to eat! Apples!" Owning a monopoly may have made for easy business, but bits would always be bits and no pony could ever have enough of them. "Apples for sale!"
"Apple Bumpkin!" Little Strongheart called out to her. "How much are the apples."
"Normally, two bits for an apple, but for you, you can have one for free." Apple Bumpkin tossed an apple through the air. Little Strongheart caught it in one bite. "I hope you're not still hungry."
"I don't think you would want to know my diet," Little Strongheart laughed. "How is your store doing?"
"Little Strongheart, I could go on for hours on the joys of running the only Apple-Mart in the frontier. I could then go on about the pains and woes that go with it, but I'm not going to bother you with them." She plopped down on the floor with her back to the wall, breathing in an air of relief. "Business is never a problem, but always too much."
"I am glad to hear this, I think."
"So, how's it going getting Braeburn to warm up to you?" Apple Bumpkin mused with a sly expression. "The phoenix feather gift you got him? Only the Princesses can compete with something like that!"
"It was nothing," Little Strongheart argued back. "I gave it to him, and that was just that."
"Why are you short-changing yourself so much?" Apple Bumpkin groaned, exasperated with Little Strongheart's boundless humility. "You made that gift for him because you like him and you want him to like you back!"
"Please don't yell it for every one of the ponies to hear," Little Strongheart sighed. Apple Bumpkin stared at her, riled and ready to go off again. "I like him, yes, but that doesn't change how he feels about me, and that is a simple fact."
"You would be surprised about that." Apple Bumpkin smirked and pulled herself closer to Little Strongheart. "Mare's have been sinking their hooves into unsuspecting stallion's for centuries. It's almost as natural as the Princesses moving the sun and the moon."
"Are you suggesting I trick Braeburn into liking me?" Little Strongheart asked her with little humor.
"No, I'm saying you take some initiative like the mares that would trick him, and fail miserably, and make my idiot brother understand why he should love you and never look back!"
"And why does everypony make it sounds so easy?" Little Strongheart gave an annoyed shake of her head. "All of my attempts to get his attention have resulted in nothing."
"That isn't true in the least," Apple Bumpkin sighed before tossing Little Strongheart another apple.
The faint light of a torch against the darkness, the sound of hooves trampling through water. It wasn't comfortable in the slightest as Carrot Top had to rely on Braeburn for support, so for the first time in a very long time, she was unexpectedly physically close to him, alone, with no chance of any buffalo or pegasi to pop up. "So, any idea how far we are from the town well?"
"Nope," Braeburn sighed, stopping them before a fork in the road for the water to flow into. "Well, ain't that just beat all."
"Why are there two pathways?" Carrot Top groaned.
"I think when the town was first being built, they had plans to make more than one well, so there would be some forks here and there."
"Why can it never be easy," Carrot Top lamented, holding the torch out to the closer path for illumination. "So, Mr. Appleloosa, what path are we taking?"
"We'll just have to try one of them and hope for the best. Let's go." He started again, taking himself and Carrot Top down the left path of the fork. The sloshing of the water under him made him uneasy with it being the only sound. He and Carrot Top kept quiet to one another through most of the trip, only speaking to check on the other's health, which had reminded him. "Carrot Top, how're you feeling? Light-headed? Your leg giving you any trouble?"
"I'm fine," Carrot Top answered quickly. "You managed to bandage it up well for now."
"No pain?" Braeburn asked with concern. "It's okay to tell me how you're feelin',"
"Unbelievable," Carrot Top chided, catching Braeburn's attention. "If you must know about my leg, it still hurts a little, but there's nothing either of us can do about that here.. we need to focus on getting out, or else I'll catch gangrene, and we'll have a really serious problem." Carrot Top voiced, unable to hide her sudden worry. She looked back at her limping hoof, the color draining from her face.
"Sounds like you're more worried than you thought," Braeburn commented, met by Carrot Top's suddenly fierce expression.
"Only because you made me think about it!" she growled at him.
"D-don't blame me," Braeburn argued back. "I-I'm trying to get us out of here."
"You're... right," Carrot Top replied, agitated. "Sorry," she said quickly in a low tone.
"Yeah... I'm sorry too."
They came to a stop before an obviously unfinished brick wall that stood before them, and Carrot Top almost cried. "At this point," she sniffled, "I should expect this. Nothing can ever be easy, ever."
"Quit that quitter's talk." Braeburn tried to brighten up the mood with his usual happy tone of voice. "We just gotta turn around and take the other tunnel. C'mon, we gotta get out of here and save that leg, right?"
"You can talk like that only because you're so oblivious to everything," Carrot Top grumbled. As if to fit her mood, a gust of wind blew in through the tunnel and put out the torch. Complete and utter darkness was the only thing left.
"Carrot Top," Braeburn spoke softly, "I'm going to set you down so I can take out the phoenix feathers and relight this thing, okay?" He lowered himself slowly and Carrot Top unwrapped her hoof from around him. She couldn't see anything, but from watching him make the torch before she knew what was going on. He was taking off his hat, where he stored the phoenix feather necklace, and he was going to rub the feathers to the branch to reignite it. With a spark and a flash, the torch came back to life, and Braeburn was wiping away a wave of cold sweat. "We're in the clear again."
"Little Strongheart's gift is saving our lives," Carrot Top commented as she watched Braeburn replace his hat on his head.
"Crafty little gal, making this from feathers." He placed the necklace around Carrot Top's neck, another unexpected act to Carrot Top, and lowered himself to allow for Carrot Top to grab hold of him again. "You know, the wind wasn't a bad sign."
"It wasn't?" Carrot Top asked in surprise as she grabbed hold of him again.
"It means the well is near. We just gotta keep our ears open for the whistlin'." He pulled himself up, and turned them back to the fork, optimistic about their situation. "Don't worry, Carrot Top. I'm gonna get you outta here."
His words were honest, comforting Carrot Top to the point where even the sting of her broken leg felt like a mile away. "Thank you, Braeburn," she responded sincerely. "Then, let's get going."
Little Strongheart was in shock, completely paralyzed at what Apple Bumpkin had told her. "He's been holding onto my feather charm?" she whispered to herself, faint happiness forming inside her.
"Yep," Apple Bumpkin snapped back. "You jus' keep charging at him, something I know you're good at, and that fool of a stallion will have no choice but to accept your feelings."
"Everypony sure seems to encourage me," Little Strongheart noted. A smile began to form in the corner of her mouth. "Thank you."
"Oh no problem. Here, one more for my favourite buffalo." She tossed Little Strongheart another apple. "Those come really cheap to those in the family."
"In my tribe, everyone is considered family. Would you like to provide them all with a discount?" Little Strongheart smirked at her.
"I'm sure I can manage, assuming that the whole family can show for our next family reunion."
"Maybe I'll manage something," Little Strongheart replied with a laugh.
Silverstar sat, gazing at a forlorn Derpy across from him. the dusty and dingy hovel had never felt so inadequate and broken down in the months she had lived there before. He scratched one of his hooves anxiously, feeling worse with each passing second. "When were you going to tell me?" he asked quietly, feeling the empty pit in his stomach grow and consume him.
"I just learned this morning," Derpy answered him. "I don't think I've moved an inch since Carrot Top told me... I don't know... I wasn't trying to hide it, honest," she cried pitifully.
"I see," Silverstar sighed, placing his hooves on the table. "You're all moving back to Ponyville? When?"
"Soon, that's all I know," Derpy sighed in discontent. "I have to to back, Silverstar. It’s Dinky, she's been really mature about being here to support Carrot Top, but she's a filly that wants to have her friends back. I can't take that away from her."
"I-I wasn't telling you to do that!" Silverstar stuttered, coughing choked up air. "I... I just... I just need to know about us ." He covered his face, not in embarrassment but in frustration as the pit inside him tried to devour what sense he had left. "Is it over for us? Was it all for nothing? I mean, you knew this would happen. You knew that eventually they were going to ship you back. Did you not know what we would do about us ?"
"No," Derpy admitted. "I had no idea... I was just so happy being with you, that it just... snuck up on me."
"Is that so," Silverstar sighed. "Well then, you best get packing." He got up from the table and proceeded towards the doorway.
"Silverstar, wait—"
"Miss Derpy," Silverstar shot back quickly, "I... I'm not a good pony with his feelings. I need to go for a bit, because I still like you," he grumbled with a hoarse voice. "So, I'll see you tomorrow, assuming you haven't left by then." Giving her no time to answer, Silverstar galloped out of the dingy hovel, leaving Derpy in tears at the table.
"Stupid," Derpy blubbered to herself. "Stupid moustache... stupid me..."
The howl of the wind grew with each step, Carrot Top thought happily to herself. Soon she would be out of this terribly dank labyrinth and back between the sheets of her bed in the cozy hovel waiting to be shipped out, bundled with her mixed feelings and growing anxieties, the source of many being the pony leading her through the dark tunnels. "Braeburn, soon I'll be leaving Appleloosa," she told him.
"W-what!?" Braeburn gasped, almost choking on his own surprise. "I... I guess that I should've expect this and all, but it's still a bit of a shock to hear. Truth be told, I'll miss'ya," he said with pure sincerity.
"You'll miss me?" Carrot Top repeated in astonishment. "I mean, it's a nice sentiment and I'm... warmed to hear that I guess you could say, but it’s not something I would expect you to say."
"It isn't? Why, Miss Top, you're making it sound like it ain't natural to miss somepony, especially for somepony like me." Braeburn expressed morosely. "I thought we had a special friendship."
There was that word, friendship. It drifted into Carrot Top's ear and rattled in her head as she stared at Braeburn, confusion veiling her eyes. "You still regard me as a friend, even after the other day when I lambasted you?"
Braeburn made a sour face, as if trying to cough up something lodged in his throat. Instead, he just shook his head and came back with a more stoic and distant demeanor. "I just try not to think about those things," he said glancing away from Carrot Top as she continued to look at him, as if trying to shy away from a lighthouse.
Seeing him change so suddenly and radically, Carrot Top felt something within her snap. "Why!?" Carrot Top shot at him. "Why don't you think about it? Why don't you ever think about important things?"
"Miss Top, what's gotten into you?" Braeburn's tone was a mix of annoyance and fear. "I've got my life for me and it's simple, bucking apple trees. That's my life and I don't need to worry about anything beyond that. There are no more important details beyond that," he shot back, stomping his hoof on the ground.
"So you're going to just buck trees for the rest of your life?" Carrot Top expressed with bitter disappointment. "Those trees are your life?"
"Princesses willing," Braeburn spat back.
"And you'll ignore everypony's feelings just to accomplish that?" Carrot Top bored into Braeburn with her harsh glare. She dug into every excruciating detail of Braeburn's twitching face; his shifting eyes, the twitching ears, the strained breathing. She lifted the phoenix feather necklace from around her neck and held it up to Braeburn's face. "Braeburn, this gift was Little Strongheart's declaration of love for you, and you ignored her! You took her heart and ran away with it!"
Braeburn grew tense at the mentioning of the word love, and looked ready to run away when he heard Little Strongheart's name. "So what should I have done, huh?" Braeburn yelled back, but Carrot Top was unfazed. "Tell me, if you're the one who knows everything?"
"You should’ve at least listened to her rather than try and shut her down like you did!" Carrot Top positively screamed at him. "Apparently, your perfect ideal life is too important to listen to someone else's feelings!"
"What about my feelings!" Braeburn roared, sadness and anger intertwining with his words. "I get that you and Little Strongheart like me in a way more than friends, but what about my feelings!? How I feel!" A tear rolled down his cheek.
Carrot Top's mind froze for a moment, and it was then she realized that the both of them had come to a stop, and that they both were panting for air. "You have something you want to say, Braeburn?" she asked him sincerely. "So, what's the big secret?"
"Secret?" Braeburn sighed, his gaze falling to their distorted reflections in the flowing well-water. "You make it sound bigger than it is." His heart felt like an anvil in his chest, trying to break free, or possibly crush him. "Miss... Carrot Top, when you spend your whole time on farms, barely associating with anypony outside your family, and even then that's far in-between, well, that's all you ever learn."
They resumed their walk to the well opening, Braeburn continuing his solemn recounting of his childhood. "We came here when Appleloosa was practically nothing more than a bowl of dirt and sticks for houses. Every day was spent working on getting the farm going. Hard times where I had to do everything I could just to keep my sister alive when we had bad harvest and barely anything to eat or keep us warm. So... I just gave up on that stuff."
"Gave up on love," Carrot Top remorsefully spoke, thinking back to the days where she spent hours behind her books and forgot about the world around her. Even forgetting about the prospect of love and relationships sometimes. "Braeburn, I'm sorry that your childhood was harder than others, but you can't expect anypony to listen or understand you if you never talk."
"Yeah, I s'pose you're right," he spoke with regret. He turned away again, his steps becoming weaker and sluggish. "Sorry... for kinda losin' it a little."
"I'm sorry too for... well snapping at you like that." Braeburn's ears perked up a little. "But, I'm sorry to say this to you, that doesn't change anything." Braeburn's ears drooped down. "What I mean to say is..." Carrot Top felt the fears, doubt, and emotions that had been plaguing her slipping away, leaving her with new found breath and a really important truth. "Ignoring something won't make it go away. We're adults now... we have to face our problems." She took a deep breath of the fresh air pouring in with the light of the well opening. The bucket was already at the bottom. She dropped the torch and turned to Braeburn. It was time to get out of her situation.
"Don't you sound sure of yourself," Braeburn teased her as he looked up to the light.
"I'm not sure at all," she laughed, "but it's something to go towards. So, let's go, Braeburn." She hooked her free hoof around the rope.
"Yeah, I s'pose." Braeburn took in a relaxing breath of air and wrapped his hooves around the rope. He and Carrot Top were going to support each other, the whole way up. Within ten minutes, they had flung themselves over the edge of the rope and landed face first in the dirt, laughing and relieved; their adventure was over.
"We need to get you to a doctor," Braeburn laughed heartily.
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Carrot Top giggled in turn.
Braeburn had left Carrot Top at the hospital. He told her he wanted to meet up with Silverstar, perhaps the only pony in the world he considered a friend and wasn't family, at least until Carrot Top, Derpy and her daughter, and Little Strongheart came into his life. He stood before Silverstar's rusty door which was slightly open, allowing the slightest streak of light into the dirty old room. "Silverstar, you here?" he called into the office. "Hey, Silverstar!"
"Do you have to be so loud," Silverstar gurgled from a shadowy corner. He was seated on the floor and looked like a mess. "What's got you in such a chipper mood?" he grunted at him as he tried to clean-up his moustache.
"I'm not too sure, actually," Braeburn replied as he sat down next to the rather rancid stallion. "You been hitting your booze stash again? Because you smell like vomit."
"Nope, quite the opposite on the alcohol actually. I threw all the stuff out," Silverstar growled back at him. "Which is why I'm in such a foul mood."
"You threw it all out? When? Why? I'm rightly curious to the sudden change," Braeburn prodded him. "C'mon, out with it. Talkin's a good way to let your worries out, y’know."
"Well, Miss Derpy is moving back to her old home," Silverstar groaned, his head falling to his chest as his body went limp. "Little Strongheart told me this morning when she showed up alone, and when I sent her out I thought about opening my liquor cabinet again, something I haven't done in awhile."
"And?" Braeburn urged on in suspense.
"I took every bottle I had and threw them off the roof. Everypony thought I was drunk ironically. After that, I went to see Miss Derpy, and made a right fool of myself."
"Got in a fight?" Braeburn asked, scooting in closer to Silverstar.
"Yeah," Silverstar sighed. "Then I came back here and sat in this corner like a darned fool."
"Well, if you need a shoulder to cry on," Braeburn offered.
"Kid, the day I cry on your shoulder is the day I put on a tiara and call myself a princess."
"Alright, alright, I getcha." Braeburn chuckled as he slumped down to the same sprawled out position as Silverstar. "Y’know, being an adult is hard."
"Kid, that's gotta be one of the smartest things I've ever heard you say."
"There's that charm again," Braeburn sighed, slightly annoyed. "So, No more drinks? Your liver will thank you for that."
"Well, I threw it all out before going to see Miss Derpy. Truth be told, after I spoke to her I wished I could guzzle every bottle down in one gulp. Probably would have killed me, so it's a good thing I did throw them all out."
"Why not get a bottle from the Salt Lick?"
"Eh," Silverstar shrugged off. "I could get drunk, probably do something stupid, piss everything away by upsetting Miss Derpy to the point where she never wants to talk to me again, but I really want to believe something might happen."
"Something?"
"Something that might keep us together, somehow, someway..."
"Well, you're not gonna get that something lying here all mopy," Braeburn offered. In an instant, Silverstar was back on his feet, completely surprising Braeburn. "Silverstar, are you okay?"
"Braeburn, you're right about that. Nothing's gonna happen if I just lay down and do nothin'."
Carrot Top gave one last farewell to the doctor that had bandaged her leg and helped her into her new wheelchair. She turned around, a wistful smile playing on her face, and started rolling herself back home where she would likely have to listen Derpy go off for hours about the importance of keeping oneself safe with an impressionable filly around. "I can't wait," Carrot Top laughed to herself.
A half an hour later, Carrot Top rolled up to the cozy little hovel that she had been her home for so long. "To a certain extent, I'll miss you too," she cooed to the house. One of the window shutters nearby fell off its hinges. "Such a charmer you. Anyway, Derpy, Dinky, I'm home!" she called out in a sing-song manner. "You will not believe the cruddy day I had!" She rolled into the hovel, and was only met with quiet darkness. "Derpy, Dinky? Are you two here?"
"Mom's outside." Dinky, appearing out of the half cracked open doorway into her's and her mother's room, said softly. "W-what happened to your leg?" she cried out in surprise.
"More adventure for my simple pony life, at least I wish it was simple," Carrot Top chuckled as she rolled up next to Dinky. "Are you... okay? You're not looking like yourself." Carrot Top reached out to ruffle the normally bouncy mane, but instead it was matted and tangled.
"I'm ok," Dinky mumbled.
"C'mon, filly, talk," Carrot Top commanded, giving Dinky a warm and comforting smile.
"Do I keep mom from finding a stallion?" she asked, slowly and mournfully. "Like, I know that I'm not really nice to moustache, but, well, like, if I wasn't here, then mom would stay here with him, right?"
"Probably," Carrot Top commented quickly.
"Well thanks a lot for telling me that!" Dinky harshly roared back.
"Dinky, it's because you're the single most important thing in her life." Carrot Top gave another playful rustle of Dinky's hair. She could tell that the young filly was cheering up a little. "You're a good girl, Dinky. Don't worry about your mom, because she will always have us there for her to count on, right?"
Dinky looked up to Carrot Top, her eyes wide as saucers. "Really?" she asked hopefully.
"It's what family is for. Now go to bed and get some sleep. I'm going to go see what your mom is up to." She shooed Dinky back into her room and she watched her flash Carrot Top a thankful smile before closing the door. She rolled herself over to the back door and forced it open with a kick from her good hoof. "Derpy, you out here?"
"Over here," a downcast Derpy responded. She was planted on the cold ground, staring into a reflection off a tiny puddle just below her face. "Oh, hey, how was your day?" she asked tonelessly, not even moving a muscle.
"My day was a mess," Carrot Top joked, "but I can get to that later. How was your day, Derpy?"
"It was terrible," Derpy sobbed, fresh tears rolling down her face, blemishes on her otherwise perfectly grey face. "Silverstar found out about us moving back, and then we fought and now I think he hates me!" She threw herself onto Carrot Top, but only managed to hit her face on Carrot Top's wheelchair. "Huh? Oh! Carrot Top! What happened I didn't even bother to look at you and see you broke your leg and I'm a horribly pony for it!" she cried, her sobs growing louder and louder.
"Derpy," Carrot Top sighed, "you're not a horrible pony, and if you can help me off this ridiculous thing I'll let you cry as much as you want on my shoulder." It didn't take long after that for Derpy to spring to her hooves and help her injured companion out of her chair. Carefully seated on the ground, Carrot Top wrapped her hooves around Derpy and hugged her close. "Okay, go ahead."
"Carrot Top!" Derpy wailed louder than any spirit ever could. "I'm so sorry! I'm just a—"
"If you insult yourself one more time I'll never make you double-layer, triple-chip, super stuffed carrot pancakes a la mode for you ever ever ever again," Carrot Top exasperatedly cut her off. "You're going to tell me everything that happened without saying a single negative thing about yourself because you are not a bad pony, Derpy. Got it?"
"Got it," Derpy pitifully whimpered. "Silverstar showed up today a little after Little Strongheart left. She told him about us moving back, and then he got mad because I messed up..."
Carrot Top took Derpy by her shoulders and moved her in front of Carrot Top, right at eye level. "And how did you mess up?"
"I messed up because I didn't plan out what will happen to me and him after I move..."
"Derpy, since the first day I met you, you’ve never planned out a single day of your life."
"So there is something wrong with me!" Derpy blubbered again.
"Pancakes! Do you want them!?" Carrot Top cried out in exasperation. "Derpy, it's because you never plan anything that you're you. Easygoing, never faltering, well almost never faltering, and able to adjust to anything. Do you know what I would give for just a little of that?" Derpy shook her head. "A lot, but it's what makes you you, and I love you, and your daughter loves you, and Silverstar loves you, and everyone loves you because you're you."
"Y-you mean it?" Derpy quivered.
"I mean it, and don't ever change." She pulled Derpy in for another hug, and Derpy reciprocated the feeling, wrapping her hooves and wings around Carrot Top and holding on so tight it seemed like she never wanted to let go.
"Thank you," Derpy whispered to her.
"It's what friends are for," Carrot Top whispered back.
When they finally did let go of each other they sat next to each other, shoulder to shoulder against the back of the hovel, gazing at the stars in the sky. Carrot Top recounted the events of her day: falling into the well tunnels, breaking her hoof, hugging close to Braeburn, and finally learning more about the talkative stallion that almost never said a word about himself. "We went different ways after he got me to the hospital. I think he was going to Silverstar's place."
"They are friends. You think Silverstar is crying on Braeburn's shoulder right now?" Derpy asked as she tried to picture the two stallions hugging close to one another.
"I-I can't imagine," Carrot Top stuttered as she pictured the two hugging close to one another.
"So, what are you going to do about Braeburn now?" Derpy asked curiously. "Been trying to jump his hat for a long time now."
"I think I know exactly what to do about that idiot colt," she responded with a knowing smile. "He can't fool me anymore."
"That's pretty vague," Derpy groaned, scrunching up her face with annoyance. "Tell me!"
"It's a surprise!" Carrot Top sang before playfully nudging Derpy. "But what about you? We're going to be out of here soon. Are you really going to just end things with Silverstar."
"Well... no!" Derpy said with conviction. "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm gonna try! I have to keep on trying!" Derpy yelled out to the night sky overhead. "I have to try because... because..."
"Because there's no reason not to try, right?" Carrot Top finished for her with a smile.
"Yeah!" Derpy cheered aloud. And then Carrot Top cheered again with her. And, right behind the wall they sat against, Dinky did her own little cheer.
Little Strongheart stared into a bowl of water. It was supposed to be part of her dinner, but instead she just used it to examine her sorrowful and pitiful face. "I suppose it is that time again, huh."
"It will be as before, Little Strongheart," Chief Thunderhooves consoled her. "This is not permanent."
"Just for a year, right?"
"Just as before. We will come back, just as we always do."
"One year, stampeding across the land, just as before... when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow evening," Chief Thunderhooves answered her. "Take the day tomorrow to enjoy the friends you;ve made."
A farewell to the frontier!
A Farewell to the Frontier!
For the first time since she had come to Appleloosa, Carrot Top sat outside her hovel, waiting for sunrise. She waited in her wheelchair, a warm cup of coffee between her hooves. As she closed her eyes and drank in its warmth, she found herself reminiscing on every morning, good and bad, that she had had here in Appleloosa. "This place has grown on me a little, I guess," she mused to herself, breathing in the bitter-cold air. "I'll miss it, just a little."
She carefully brought the steaming elixir to her lips. Black, strong, bitter. Feeling it's warmth energize her from the inside, Carrot Top left the cup on the floor and turned towards the apple orchards in the distance. "I'm going to do this, and I'm going to be happy in the end," she said with confidence. "Oh Celestia, I think I've cracked."
"I think you're just fine," came Derpy's sleepy voice. "Hey, Carrot Top, what are you doing up so early? It's not like you." She waited for Carrot Top by the doorway, rubbing her eyes with her fetlocks.
"O-oh! Good morning, Derpy. I-I just felt like it," Carrot Top answered back with a disarming wave of her hoof. "Derpy, you don't need to cook breakfast for me this morning. I have some errands to do." She quickly wheeling off towards the orchards, turning back only once to yell, "Don't wait up for me tonight, ok?" before disappearing from Derpy's view.
"Okay then!" Derpy yelled back and waving off in the distance. She was unsure if Carrot Top had actually heard her but continued to happily ebb back and forth with a idyllic smile. "She's more sparked than usual."
"So!" Dinky called out, startling her mother into flying through the roof of the hovel. "So, Carrot Top finally making her move on Braeburn?" she asked as her mother pulled herself out of the newly-created hole in the roof.
After a minute of flailing, Derpy clumsily dislodged herself and happily crashed into the floor. "You think so, Miss mature filly?"
"Well, yesterday, she seemed to be all happy and what not, and when is Carrot Top ever happy?"
"When she's surrounded by loving and caring friends?" Derpy answered while giving an imaginary, and much less ornery, Carrot Top a big hug.
"Besides that," Dinky groaned.
Derpy's eyes shrunk to dots as she yelled out, "When she's going googly for Braeburn!" She turned back to the doorway, looking off to where Carrot Top disappeared. "Well, whatever happens, I hope everypony will be happy and also everybuffalo!" She flapped her wings to lift herself back onto her hooves trotted over to the sink in the kitchen. "Well," she addressed Dinky, "since Carrot Top said not to worry about her, why don't you and I cook something together? I'll even tell you my secret ingredient so you can cook just like mama."
"I'm going to guess it's love." A huffy Dinky was hoisted into the air and placed on the counter by her mother. She gave Dinky a playful ruffle of her mane before turning back to the kitchen.
"Then if you know it, why don't you try making something, Miss mature filly?" Derpy egged her on.
"How hard is it to cook some muffins? I've seen you do it hundreds of times."
"Oh, it's not hard at all," Derpy chuckled as she combed through the cabinets and pantry for ingredients she could throw into a bowl. "Anypony, no, anyone, can make muffins, tasty ones too, but that doesn't mean anything."
Dinky stared at her mother with agitation, tapping her hooves on the counter. "Mom, try and make some sense right now, please," she groaned through clenched teeth.
"Well," Derpy started, already pouring ingredients into the bowl, "you could pour the batter into a mold, and then shove it in the oven, and serve them to your friends, and everyone will be happy and recall that it a few days later, but if you want to put love into your gifts you need to go the extra mile."
"You're still not making any sense," Dinky grumbled.
"Then cut these," Derpy interjected, placing a couple of apples and carrots next to Dinky.
"You're going to put both of these in the batter?" Dinky asked incredulously as she grabbed the hilt of the table-knife next to her with her hooves. "Are you sure these will taste good together?"
"Nope," Derpy answered with confidence. "But they're everyone's favourites. Maybe they will work together, maybe they won't, but you want to know what my favourite thing about muffins is?" Dinky gave a curious nod. "You can fill them with whatever you want and then hand them out to your friends. Raisins and chocolate chips, apples and carrots, even cheese! You can fill it with everyone’s favourite things and maybe, just maybe, it'll work!" She exploded with energy, almost knocking Dinky off her tail. "And then, you can put 'em in a basket and go giving them out to your friends and even strangers."
"I guess that sounds nice," Dinky mumbled, carefully cutting the apples and carrots into little bits.
"So then let's make some nice treats for all our friends," Derpy exclaimed with delight, "and fill it with our love for them all!"
"Say, mom, if you were to fill a muffin with some of moustache's favourite things, what would it be?"
"Beans and gin," Derpy said with an audible groan.
On the edge of town, in the wake of the rising sun, Little Strongheart sat lonely in the shadow of the welcome sign, drawing figures into the dirt mournfully. She drew four mares: one smaller than the others, one with wings, one with an apple on her head, and one with wild and curly hair. She drew a funny looking stallion with a ridiculous looking moustache. She drew a distant looking stallion, one whose eyes would never meet hers. "I have to go tell them all I'll be gone for awhile." A painful lump started forming within her. "It will not be so bad," she sighed to herself.
A gust of wind blew away her drawings. "Please, let that not be a sign." Little Strongheart pulled herself up and walked into Appleloosa, her mind hard at work to keep her from stampeding out of town and straight back to her camp.
"Little Strongheart?" came a familiar voice.
"Sheriff Silverstar?" Little Strongheart blurted back. She turned, and he was only a few feet away. "Uh, what brings you out here?"
"My job, it's your job too," Silverstar gruffed at her. "Mind telling me why you're late? It's not like you really."
"I apologize." Little Strongheart bowed respectfully, but also to hide her face from him. "I was outside town, being held up by something."
"Eh? Something dangerous outside?" Silverstar looked behind Little Strongheart, just out to the edge of Appleloosa. Nothing was there. "Anything?"
"Nothing like that," Little Strongheart began to tear up. "Silverstar! Have you seen Derpy?"
"N-no," Silverstar stumbled, moving his hoof to his hat as if to hide his eyes before speaking nervously. "I was going to try and see her later. She didn't turn in for work this morning too. So, I guess she's still at home."
"Then perhaps I should go see her first." It took all her strength to keep from collapsing to the ground in a fit of tears.
Braeburn threw his hooves against the bark of a tree. Three apples came falling into the basket at the tree's base. "I'm off my A-game this mornin'," he lamented as he sat down against the tree. He held his hooves close to a necklace of feathers around his neck, and he felt the warming effects almost instantly. "This really is a nifty little trinket."
"You're probably the only pony in Equestria, short of the Princesses, that has such a thing," said a cool and feminine voice. Carrot Top wheeled out from behind a tree, carrying with her an air of confidence and vigor. "So, how is your morning going, Braeburn? Bucking trees I see."
"It's my job out here, you know that," Braeburn groaned as he pulled himself up. "And, it isn't goin' too well to be honest. So, what brings you here, Carrot Top?" he asked, turning towards her with a downtrodden expression on his face.
"I want to talk to you about, well, you," she answered him sternly.
"Let me guess," Braeburn sighed, "you're goin' to try and convince me that I should settle down with a family, right?" Braeburn placed a hind hoof against the tree he was leaning against. Closing his eyes and feeling the tree out, he searched for the sweet spot every pony in his family learned to feel out like a sixth sense. He reared up and bucked the tree as hard as he could. Two apples fell down. There were still at least ten left. "Carrot Top, I know you want me to change and all, and I guess I do too..."
"Well, it's the thought that counts," Carrot Top sighed as she wheeled over to Braeburn's side. "You don't need to change in a day. I know that's just just not possible. I understand that."
"Thank you," Braeburn said with exhaustion.
"But," Carrot Top put her hoof around the phoenix feather necklace and pulled it off Braeburn in one snap. The mere act had left the stallion completely stunned. "There is something I do need you to do in a day, sorry," she said dryly.
"C-Carrot Top? Give that back!" Braeburn ordered her. She didn't listen.
"Not yet," Carrot Top answered him. "Braeburn, it's alright to like others."
"Are you goin' to try and do that psycho-analogy-mind freak stuff to me?" he snorted, anger flaring up. "I'll have you know us Apple ponies are notorious for being bull-headed and stubborn to a fault!"
"How fitting," Carrot Top mused as she placed the broken necklace in a heat-retardant sack. "I've learned this the agonizingly painful way, though. No need to restate the obvious."
"Can you stop playin' around!" Braeburn finally yelled. "Just give me back the dang necklace! This is downright terrible behaviour from you!"
Carrot Top looked at Braeburn inquisitively. "So, did I hit a nerve by taking this?"
"Why are you actin' all weird now!? Yes you hit a nerve!" Braeburn roared, his eyes narrowly focused on the backpack. "Did breaking your leg do something to your head?"
"Now that's a terrible way to get a mare," Carrot Top mumbled to herself. "I'm doing this for both our sake too."
"Speak louder, dang'it!" Braeburn huffed again. "Just what the hay are you trying to get from me now? Huh! I thought you said you understood!"
"It's because I understand that I have to do this."
"That sounds twisted in its own way!" he yelled, enraged and exasperated.
"A little," Carrot Top admitted. "Braeburn, I meant it when I said you don't need to change in a day, and if you want you don't have to. Nopony can force anything on you, but, because you're special to me, I want you to change for the better, and not just for me, but for yourself," she pleaded as she hugged the bag closer to her.
Braeburn spat behind him and shot Carrot Top an agitated look. "That's mighty pretentious of you..."
"Fine, I'm pretentious," Carrot Top shot back, also growing enraged with the moment, "but just listen to me for a bit at least!"
Braeburn eyed her, and she didn't flinch. Indeed, the more he stared at her, the more she seemed to overpower him. With nothing more he could do, he surrendered. "Fine," he sighed in defeat, "what is it?" He head fell low, heavy-hearted.
"Braeburn, would it be so bad to give love a shot?"
Braeburn's eyes shot wide open and he shuffled backwards.
Little Strongheart stood outside the hovel she had visited so many times before. She placed her hoof on the front door, ready to knock, but it just swung open from the slight touch. Inside, she found Derpy and Dinky waiting excitedly before the oven. "Good morning," she called out to them weakly.
"Hm!?" Derpy's ears perked up. She turned around and excitedly tackled Little Strongheart in a hug. "Little Strongheart!" she cried out happily. "I'm so sorry that the last time you saw me I was all gloomy! But not anymore. These hooves are made for walking, and that's what they'll do!"
"Mom, you're a pegasus," Dinky groaned.
"Oh yeah. Then these wings were made for flying!" Derpy took to the air instantly, still holding on to Little Strongheart tightly. "And that's just what they'll do!"
"I am very happy to hear your confusing metaphor, Derpy," Little Strongheart wheezed as she gasped for air. "You are truly most delightful when your spirits are high."
"Well, I'm not sure if they're that high yet, but I've got to do something important for me!" Derpy announced before realizing how blue her buffalo friend was. "Oops," she giggled as she gently floated down and let go of Little Strongheart. "Sorry. Are you okay?"
"I am fine," Little Strongheart gasped. "Derpy, are you going to miss Appleloosa?"
"Of course I'll miss Appleloosa!" Derpy yelled out for all of Appleloosa to hear. "There are so many good ponies here! I mean, who wouldn't miss them?"
"Ahem," Dinky cleared her throat.
"And Little Strongheart's out here too! Right, Dinky! We'll miss her, right!" Derpy yelled to the back of the hovel, certain her message was getting through for once.
"Well, yeah," Dinky admitted. "You're probably the least annoying being here."
"But, you'll be able to visit whenever you want, won't you?" Little Strongheart pointed out solemnly.
"Yeah, I can, but it won't be the same as my time living here, no matter how much I wish." Derpy floated over to Little Strongheart and touched her hooves. "Little Strongheart, are you okay?"
"Tonight," she started, beginning to tear up, "my tribe is going to begin our ceremonial stampede. We will be gone for a year." Like something painful opening within her, tears unknowingly crept out of her, landing on the floor in a somber puddle of emotions. "I will not be able to visit Appleloosa. I will be too far. I am going to miss you all and everyone here as well."
Derpy wrapped up Little Strongheart in another, much softer, embrace. "Little Strongheart, on the day you return, I promise I'll be there," she soothingly told her. "I'll make sure the first thing you see is my googly face, I promise."
"That is a comforting thought," Little Strongheart sobbed. "You are too good a friend."
"It's the least I can do." Derpy grinned to her irreplaceable friend. "Want to help me and Dinky make some muffins?"
"That would be lovely, but I need to go and try to tell the others about my departure."
"You want me to come with you?" Derpy offered with a warming smile. "If you're leaving tonight, than I don't want to spend a second away from you so that we can remember these moments while we wait to see each other again when we finally greet you when you come back!"
"That would be nicer than I can imagine," Little Strongheart answered her. "Thank you for your friendship, Derpy. You have helped me make some of my most precious memories."
"And mine too!" Derpy finally teared up.
With her first of many partings out of the way, Little Strongheart mentally sifted through her list. "I guess Carrot Top would be next? I'm sure she will be happy to have her rival for Braeburn out of the way," she jested painfully.
"Actually, she's out catching herself a Braeburn," Dinky answered her. "So, uh, yeah. I guess she would have Braeburn all to herself for at least a while."
"Oh," Little Strongheart choked. "I-I see. I am happy for her then, even if it does not seem that way." Little Strongheart looked like she was dying inside, ready to collapse and disappear through the cracks of her own splintering emotions.
"It's alright to be sad." Derpy placed a hoof on her back.
"No!" Little Strongheart blurted. "I mean, no as in I am fine. Carrot Top is a good friend that I honestly wish happiness for, and all I ever want is for Braeburn to be happy," she stammered on, not looking anyone in the eye. "If they make each other happy, then no matter what, in the end, I'll be fine. We promised each other that."
"Little Strongheart?"
"I want them to be happy," Little Strongheart teared up. "What could I do? He doesn't look at me, and I'm just going to disappear. He will forget about me in due time, and will find his happiness, and that will eventually make me happy. If I just disappear, it might be for the best."
"Don't say that," Derpy tried to argue.
"I-it's alright. Eventually I will stop being sad. Time heals all wounds as they say, right?" she asked, even more-so pleaded.
Silverstar gazed over the bushel of apples, agitated and confused. "Miss Apple Bumpkin," he called back to the store clerk. "You're a mare, right?"
"Gee, Silverstar," Apple Bumpkin groaned, "you've gone and swept me off my hooves. I'm falling madly in love with you. Take me away so I can leave behind my meager existence and live a rich fulfilling life of raising our moustached daughters." She couldn't infuse anymore sarcasm into her statement even if she had all the powers of the spirit of Discord to aid her.
"That's a yes, right?" Silverstar asked like a buffoon.
"Silverstar, I'd show you but I wouldn't want to be arrested for indecent exposure," she scowled at him, wanting to make him feel as uncomfortable as he made her.
"Okay, you've made your point," Silverstar grouched at her, one of his eyes twitching. "Just, what kind of apples do mares like? Apples are supposed to be your family's thing, right?"
"Trouble with the marefriend?" Apple Bumpkin guess as she leaned over her counter to examine Silverstar closer. His face only looked agitated, and directed at her. "Just the other day you and Derpy were like two peas in a pod. Don't know what she sees in you. I think she's too good for you."
"And I wonder why we don't talk more," Silverstar mumbled. "Okay, are you gonna stop insulting me so you can start swindling me anytime soon?"
"Well, it depends on a lot of things," Apple Bumpkin started. "You have Red Delicious apples for when you've gotten in a fight because you didn't talk things out very well. You have Honeycrisp apples for when you've gone and done something stupid like drink yourself half to death. Gala apples are especially used in the makeup process. Something about the world 'gala' mares like— oh! And Braeburn apples for when you've just gone and been a big dummy."
"I imagine those are in high demand," Silverstar said with a toneless voice.
"I'm just telling you what I know from a long line of ponies before me," Apple Bumpkin sang innocently. Within seconds, her counter was covered in Red Delicious, Gala and Braeburn apples. "Huh, no Honeycrisp?"
"Haven't touched the stuff," Silverstar chided at her, his moustache failing to hide a snide smile directed at her, but she responded with a playful punch, something he didn't expect.
"I always hate it when you show up with that nasty whisky breath," she commented. "In celebration, I'll give you a little discount. Twenty-five bits."
"Twenty-five! What kind of discount is that!?" Silverstar roared with flabbergasted fury. "You're trying to put me in the poor house!"
"Silverstar," Apple Bumpkin laughed, "from what I know of your living conditions, you're already there. Sleeping in your own office with a can of beans for comfort."
"Beans don't offer much comfort. Fine," he grumbled. "Take your blood-bits, you thieving varmint." He removed his hat and shook the bits out of it.
"Very good," Apple Bumpkin squealed as she took the bits and started counting them. "You know, if you can satisfy my curiosity, what made you want to get on that high horse to begin with? I just never took you for her type."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Silverstar narrowed his stern eyes on her.
"She's all carefree, bubbly, not a serious bone in her body unless her filly is involved. Kinda just breezes through life for better or for worse. I imagine you more for the type to get all gussied in a dress and corset and put on heavy eyeliner, you know what I mean? One of those 'frontier belles' types."
"Simply put, you're wrong about that," Silverstar chuckled as he started shoving the apples into a bag. "I just like her, and that's all there is to it."
"That's a lame answer," Apple Bumpkin sighed. "C'mon, there's got to be a more interesting answer than that."
"Nope," Silverstar laughed at her. She was so naive, he thought. "Try falling in love someday. I'm sure it will make as much sense to you as it does to me."
"I won't understand a thing," Apple Bumpkin argued as she slid back five bits to Silverstar.
"Exactly," Silverstar laughed. "Some things in life don't make sense, like her."
The bell at the doorway rang, and in stepped Little Strongheart and Derpy. Little Strongheart looked like she was falling apart with only Derpy left to support her. "Good afternoon," she greeted them weakly.
"Little Strongheart, are you okay?" Silverstar asked in astonishment. "What happened to you?"
"I just came to say that... tonight, my tribe will begin our ceremonial stampede." She couldn't even lift herself to meet their gaze. "I'll be gone for a year and will miss you both dearly," she said, monotonous and morosely with a few tears in her eyes. She wondered if this would become routine with her partings; she would just break down.
A hoof reached out to her, pulling her chin up to meet with Silverstar, who looked at her sternly. "You're coming back, right?" he asked her. She nodded feebly. "Then that's all that should matter. Just be sure to take care of yourself so you come back to us, no matter what, y'hear?"
"You don't want me to disappear?" Little Strongheart choked up.
"Why would I ever want that?" Silverstar shot back in disgust. "You're one of the finest beings I've ever met, and if anypony would ever want you to disappear, then I'll be sure to talk to them with my hooves."
"Very mature, and very macho. Who're you trying to impress, hmm?" Apple Bumpkin dryly commented from behind, much to Silverstar's chagrin. "But anyway, I'm going to miss you too, Little Strongheart," Apple Bumpkin sighed as she drooped down over her table. "Nopony in this room wants you to up and disappear."
"Nopony in this room," Little Strongheart sighed. "But—"
"You're thinking of Braeburn, aren't you?" Silverstar said quickly. Little Strongheart, again, nodded feebly. "Listen, that kid isn't sure what he wants, and he's finally coming around to see that. Don't mistake his stupidity for being cold. He's just a kid, just like you. So get these stupid ideas out of your head too. You got friends here, right? We're friends, right? Friends," he paused for a moment, clumsily choosing words, "don't want friends to disappear. If you don't come back, then I'm going to have to tear up the desert looking for you."
"Yes, we are friends," Little Strongheart repeated deliberately. "Derpy, you can let go of me now."
Derpy slowly lowered herself to allow Little Strongheart to dislodge herself from her. "Feeling strong again?"
"Little," Little Strongheart replied.
"That warms my heart to hear." Derpy turned to Silverstar and waved a wing. "You, we need to talk. Alone!"
"Yeah, gotcha," Silverstar nodded as he followed her outside.
Derpy lead Silverstar out behind the Apple-Mart store, her heart pounding away inside her as she searched her mind for the words she needed to say to him. When they were behind the store, with not a single pony in sight. She opened her mouth and said, "Well, aren't you all cool now?" She mentally scolded herself for such a thoughtless sentence and Silverstar looked at her inquisitively. "Well, what I mean is, whatever happened to ‘I'm bad with my emotions’, hm?"
"Miss Derpy, that hasn't changed in the slightest, as much as I wish it had. What I did for Little Strongheart wasn't emotions. It was, how can I put it? Camaraderie."
"Friendship," she corrected him.
"Yeah, friendship," he said with a dry chuckle. "I can't vocalize my emotions really well, but when I see a friend that's down like she was I'm going to try and pull them up."
"And what about yesterday? When I was down?" Derpy asked, not vindictively, but curiously.
"Miss Derpy, please understand that I was hurtin' too... No!" He shook himself. "My behaviour was downright inexcusable and I was horrible. I would understand if," a single tear rolled down his face, "if you never want to see me again."
Derpy drifted closer to Silverstar, much to his surprise as he nearly jumped back. "Silverstar, it's alright if you felt hurt too."
"I want to be a better stallion than that," he grunted.
"You're already better," Derpy sighed as she wrapped a wing over him. "And I want to try us being a couple again, even if I do have to move back to Ponyville. And, to be honest, I still have no idea what I'm doing or going to do or anything, but I know I like you, because you did something special for me no other pony did."
"Miss Derpy, nothing would make me happier," he whispered to her solemnly. "But, that doesn't change the fact that we're going to be miles apart."
"So you don't want to try?" she asked him. "If you don't want to try then I'll just flutter off. I won't force you."
"Miss Derpy, let's try. At least this way, I'll have no regrets."
"I won't have any regrets too," Derpy replied back as they embraced each other.
"Here," Apple Bumpkin groaned as she slammed down a large burlap sack stuffed to the brim with apples. "Take this on the road with you and every time you bite into one of these it better remind you to visit here the moment you step back on Appleloosan soil, do you hear me?!" she practically shouted at Little Strongheart. "These are free, for you. Got it?"
"I thank you!" Little Strongheart tried to shout back with enthusiasm to match Apple Bumpkin. "Even if they spoil, I shall bite into these knowing that they were a gift from a great friend."
"Well, if they spoil you don't have to."
"I understand!" Little Strongheart shouted again.
"W-what's got you so energized all of a sudden?"
"Silverstar," Little Strongheart answered. "I still feel my heart in pain because I still like Braeburn, but Silverstar reminded me that even if he does forget about me, their are still ponies here that care about me. Truth be told, I feel silly for forgetting that."
"I guess that pony can say smart things when he needs to," Apple Bumpkin chuckled.
"Sheriff Silverstar is one of the wisest ponies I have met here in Appleloosa," Little Strongheart retorted. Apple Bumpkin couldn't help but stifle a laugh in response.
"Hi, Carrot Top!" came Derpy's loud and bubbly voice.
Little Strongheart glanced out the doorway, and there Carrot Top was, sitting on a metal chair with wheels. "What on earth?" Little Strongheart bleated as she rushed out the doorway. "Carrot Top, what happened to you!" Little Strongheart called out to her.
"Huh?" Carrot Top turned to see who called her, and nearly froze up. "Crud," she croaked.
"What happened to you!?" Little Strongheart asked with worry. "You have been fused to a chair and some kind of white monster is eating your leg!"
"Of course, that's what happened," Carrot Top sighed before recomposing herself. "The monster is a cast, and the chair is to help me move. I injured myself, when I fell down a hole with Braeburn the other day."
"Oh?" Little Strongheart asked.
"I fell down a hole with Braeburn, and he helped me out and to a hospital."
"Oh, so this happened while you were with Braeburn," Little Strongheart sighed. She almost fell back down into her emotional maelstrom, but the presence of her friends reminded her that, no matter what, there were those that cared for her here, even if they weren't Braeburn. "Carrot Top," she called to her again more resolutely. "I am happy for you!"
"Huh?" Carrot Top stumbled as she wheeled herself backwards. "I'm glad to know, I guess. But, I'll see you later and all? Have a good day! Bye-bye!" She started wheeling herself off to escape, and bumped right into Derpy.
"So, did you get Braeburn yet?" Derpy asked.
"Dangit you're going to ruin everything, "Carrot Top cursed as she backed up and shot off around Derpy.
"Bye, Carrot Top!" Derpy waved away to her. "I wonder what's got her in such a hurry?"
"I didn't get to tell her I'm leaving, or properly congratulate her," Little Strongheart sighed, but she took a deep breath and shook away her anxieties. She put on a face of determination and scratched the ground with a hoof. "I-I am going to get her, and I'm going to give her a proper farewell, because she is a precious friend!"
"That's really good for you?" Apple Bumpkin guessed. "Little Strongheart, what are you going on about?"
"I am going to be honest!" Little Strongheart yelled again before jumping forward and stampeding out the doorway.
"Well, she's sure fired up," Silverstar noted. "So, Miss Derpy, shall we be on our way?"
"Nope," Derpy responded as she and Apple Bumpkin locked their hooves around his shoulders and started dragging him off, following Little Strongheart's earth-rending trail.
Braeburn waited at the outskirts of of Appleloosa, tapping a hoof nervously. "What am I doing?" he agonized to himself. "I don't need to do anything. She said so herself." Was he telling himself truths or excuses, he wondered; making a point, or running away. Such a fine and hard line to see. "I'm... happy, right?"
"Braeburn, would it be so bad to give love a shot?"
Braeburn's eyes shot wide open and he shuffled backwards. "Why are you asking me these things!?"
"Because I want you to prove something to me!" Carrot Top stated with unshakable resolution. "Prove to me that anypony, no, any one , can find happiness!"
"I'm perfectly happy," Braeburn retorted uneasily.
"Stop lying! If you were happy, then you wouldn't have acted the way you did before! If you were happy you wouldn't have said the things you said! You’r e not happy, just scared, but I can't blame you for that because I'm the same way: scared. Maybe we're scared of different things, but the results are the same: two unhappy ponies."
"Carrot Top, what's gotten into you?" Braeburn had never seen her like this. She was like a fire, burning brightly and fiercely, but her base was almost all ash now.
"I'm trying to prove something to myself, and I'm using you to prove it. I'm sorry about that."
"I'm going to let down my guard now, huh?" he asked himself. The young colt in his mind kept telling himself it was a bad idea, that it was only going to end painfully. What was he? Mr. Appleloosa. The town personality, only because he had to sacrifice his childhood to build that town that locked him up. "I'm not ready for this!" he cried out loud, but a familiar sound perked up his ears: wheels against the dirt. A certain level of wheezing. He looked in the direction, and there was Carrot Top wheeling up to him as fast as she could.
"She's coming!" Carrot Top shouted as she left a cloud of dust behind her.
"What? Carrot Top! Who's coming?" Braeburn gawked.
Carrot Top swiveled to the side, and behind her was Little Strongheart. Braeburn instantly tensed up.
"Carrot Top!" Little Strongheart yelled out. "I have something to tell you!"
Carrot Top, wheeling herself faster than she could ever gallop by sheer force of will, rolled past Braeburn, stopping to a skidding halt just behind him.
"Carrot Top! Braeburn." Her voice trailed off as Little Strongheart also came to a stop in front of them. Here they were, together. "I'm glad you're both here," her heart skipped a beat and she nearly forgot to breath. "I can tell you both together how happy I am... for," she became deftly quiet, trying desperately to get out the last few honest but painful words.
It was now or never, Carrot Top thought as she raised her only good back hoof and bucked Braeburn forward. He stumbled forward, barely stopping an inch away from her face.
"Little Strongheart," he said weakly, his eyes growing into large and trembling saucers. Painful words were struggling to stay within him.
"B-Braeburn?" Little Strongheart piped up, slowly turning up to him. She was paralyzed as she looked into Braeburn's fearful eyes.
"L-Little Strongheart," Braeburn said again, struggling against years of doubts and fears that were trying to pull him away from this scene. The hesitant thoughts in his head were louder than ever as he thought of the various lonely nights he spent in the cold; memories that betrayed him, convincing him that those lonely nights were what were best for him. "Little Strongheart, I... I... I'm not good at this!"
Derpy, Dinky, Silverstar and Apple Bumpkin watched anxiously from a distance, waiting for the words to come spilling out of his mouth. "W-what's going on?" Derpy nearly screamed, clamping her entire head shut with her hooves as Dinky jumped on her back to try and get a better view. "What's he going to say? The anticipation is killing me. Dinky, hold me."
"C'mon, kid, impress me and prove that you ain't just a kid," Silverstar whispered to himself. His usual stoicness had melted to anticipation long ago, the bristles of his moustache twitching nervously from side to side.
"What?" Apple Bumpkin blurted. "You don't mean? Do you really think?"
"Little Strongheart, I!" Braeburn yelled awkwardly as her doe eyes stared at him with such ferocity he nearly forgot to breathe. They never blinked, never veered, never flinched. All on him; her eyes were all on him. "I!"
"You!?" Little Strongheart yelled just as awkwardly and nervously.
"I!" he blurted loudly.
"You!" she blurted awkwardly.
"I have something to say and I forgot!" Braeburn blundered in horror.
"You did too!?" Little Strongheart screamed in woe.
Carrot Top had to suppress the urge to cry. Was it all going to end here like this?
"You can do it, Braeburn!" came one bubbly voice from behind them. Carrot Top turned around, shocked out of her mind, and there was Derpy. She had crawled out of the shadows and was buzzing in the air with Dinky on her head. "You can say it!"
"Kid!" Silverstar hollered next. "Get your act together! Give her your honest feelings!"
"Brother, time to grow up!" Apple Bumpkin called next. "Get yourself some love!"
Carrot Top's eyes nearly popped out of her head, but she caught herself before passing out. Instead, she turned around. "Braeburn! Tell her how you feel!"
"I... Little Strongheart," Braeburn turned back to her. She looked ready to run into the closest wall, just as nervous as he was, and in that moment something broke away in Braeburn's mind. "Little Strongheart, I like you."
Three words that change thousands of lives everywhere; powerful words we all wait to here. Little Strongheart, who has given her words before now stood with the same weight on her back, ready to crush her if; crush her if she were alone, but Braeburn was here this time. "I... like you too!"
"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry," Braeburn apologized as he held out his hoof to Little Strongheart. "I've been scared for a long time and I didn't know what to do. So, I just tried to ignore it. I was just," he paused, his chest full of pain, "afraid. But, I've gotta try and change that now."
Little Strongheart didn't take his hoof. "I'm so happy, but it makes what I have to say so much harder," she sobbed. "I have to go with my tribe on our stampede. I will leave you for a year, and," she nearly broke down in tears, "I am so sorry!" She cried. "I have only let you down."
Carrot Top sat fully paralyzed in horror. "No," she feebly whimpered.
"Then, I'll wait for you to come back," Braeburn finally answered her, his hoof still out to her. "I mean, it actually feels like I'm running away again. Like, I can go back to how I was, but I don't want to." He took one long breath to the air around him, and then exhaled some of his fears away: just the first of thousands. "I want to like you, because I do like you, and— and shoot, I sound dumb."
"I want to like you because I like you too!" Little Strongheart cried as she took his hoof. "I am scared, that you'll forget me if I disappear but I know you won't! I was scared because you were acting distant to me, but now I know how you truly feel."
"I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me!" Braeburn nearly begged, almost dropping to the floor. "I was scared, and still am."
"I am too," Little Strongheart admitted.
"Yeah, I think I realized as much."
"Now plant one on her!" Derpy called out to them. "I'll cover my filly's eyes!"
"M-mom!" Dinky screamed back, flustered.
"D-Derpy!" Braeburn grew flustered, but then he looked into her face. He kneeled down, and kissed her cheek. "Is this fine for now?"
Little Strongheart knelt up and kissed Braeburn's cheek. "If this is fine."
"It's perfectly fine."
"Anticlimactic," Derpy groaned.
Carrot Top was beside herself, and a tear rolled down her side as she stared at the awkward new couple: she couldn't remember the last time she felt so genuinely happy. "They did it," she squealed to herself. "They did it!"
"Carrot Top," came Braeburn's voice. Carrot Top looked up and found the devilishly handsome colt just an inch away from her. He planted a kiss on her cheek.
Carrot Top turned redder than an apple as she floundered backwards. "D-don't kiss me! Kiss her! Her!"
"You're incredible, you know that?" Braeburn spoke sincerely. "So, did I prove anything to you?"
"Y-yah," she stammered. "I should also apologize for putting you on the spot like this."
"It was good for me," Braeburn sighed heavily. "Painful, but good."
"I do not understand what's going on," Little Strongheart commented. "Carrot Top, did you make a bet of some kind?"
"I did," Carrot Top laughed. "I bet on Braeburn here, and I won!"
"So, think you can find your own happiness now?" Braeburn asked her.
"Yes, I think I can. I know I can." Carrot Top rolled her head back and bathed in the warm light of the sun. "I'm going to find my happiness no matter what even if it takes me a hundred years, and when I find it I'm going to hold onto that fool until I stop crying!" she said with unrivaled determination. "So you two better stay together so I can invite you to my wedding!"
"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Little Strongheart answered for them. "May the spirits guide you on the path to true love."
"Yeah." Carrot Top sighed. "It's all at ease now."
The sun began to set as Carrot Top lay on the roof of the hovel with Derpy next to her. "I can't believe I've never done this before. This feels so nice," she cooly moaned as she felt all her tensions melt away. "What could feel nicer?"
"A cloud?" Derpy answered her. "Maybe I should grab you one?"
"No," Carrot Top quickly answered. "So, what are you doing up here with me rather than over there with the others?" She pointed over the Silverstar, Apple Bumpkin, Braeburn and Little Strongheart throwing a little going away party for the buffalo.
"I'm waiting for you," Derpy giggled. "You can't get down from here without me. You did invite them over, why not join in?"
"I guess I can't postpone it much longer," Carrot Top sighed. "Alright, let me down from here."
Derpy wrapped her hooves around Carrot Top and slowly fluttered her down to the party where everyone was waiting. She let her down slowly, giving Little Strongheart a chance to support Carrot Top. "Braeburn told me what you did for him," she happily remarked. "I must ask, why did you do this for me?"
"What, you don't think this was all actually for myself?" Carrot Top laughed. "Have I ever given off the idea that I was selfless?"
"Yes?" Little Strongheart chirped.
"Oh," Carrot Top sighed. "A mare's mind moves in mysterious ways."
"Now you sound as confusing as Derpy."
"Oh Celestia, you're right," Carrot Top groaned. But she felt a pair of strong hooves wrap around her.
"I will miss you too, my good friend," Little Strongheart told her.
"I'll miss you too. I'll be here with Derpy the moment you come back, and I'll make sure we're the second ponies you see," Carrot Top answered her. "Now let go, you're crushing me."
"I'm sorry," she giggled. She gently helped Carrot Top down and then turned out to where she knew her tribe waited. "Well, it's time for me to go."
"I'll be waiting," Braeburn told her. "And when you come back, I promise I'll be ready to try us being a couple, so I hope you'll be ready to deal with my stubbornness... and pains..."
"I will return, and I'll stampede through the pains with my own stubbornness."
"That was incredibly cheesy," Apple Bumpkin gagged.
"Wait!" Dinky screamed as she came barreling out of the backdoor of the hovel, struggling to magically hold onto a basket of muffins. "Mom and I made these this morning! Muffins! We made them with everyone in mind, you have to try at least one!"
"One last treat, of course." Little Strongheart gladly took one of the muffins out of the basket and devoured it in a single bite. "Apples and carrots," she commented, spewing out a few crumbs before swallowing. "It's not half-bad."
"That's great to hear," Dinky squealed with delight.
Little Strongheart watched her friends and loved ones our over the basket and begin devouring the treats. "Take care, everypony."
"Take care, Little Strongheart!" they all responded back at once.
Little Strongheart turned, with no hesitations left to hold her back. She stampeded off, back to her tribe, with all the knowledge of the wonderful friends she's made waiting for her to come back, and Braeburn. There was nothing left to do but go, free from the thoughts and miseries that held her down.
The whistle of the train rang loud across the train-station in Appleloosa. Three days after Little Strongheart had left, it was now Carrot Top, Derpy and Dinky's turn to leave the frontier and return home. "It's been a crazy ride," Carrot Top commented. "Time to get off, I suppose."
"Derpy," Silverstar started, holding onto her hooves. "I'll be waiting, and when you come back, I'll be ready to try us being a couple, so I hope you'll be ready to deal with my stubbornness," he paused awkwardly, "and pains."
"Why do I get the feelin'," Braeburn snorted with an annoyed expression, "that you’re making fun of somepony."
"I will return," Derpy continued, cutting off Braeburn, "and I'll stampede through the pains with my own stubbornness."
"You all are worse than hickory-smoked horse-apples!" Braeburn yelled. "I go and be all honest with my feelings and this happens."
"We only do it because we care about you," Silverstar chuckled.
"You girls take care." Apple Bumpkin smiled at them. "It's going to be so much more boring around here without another mare to talk to."
"I'll write to you!" Derpy exclaimed. "So never feel lonely!"
"Shucks, I was just kidding, but thanks."
Another train whistle.
"It's leaving soon," Carrot Top commented somewhat saddened. "We have to part ways soon."
"Wait!" Dinky cried out as she stumbled up to Silverstar. "Here." She held out a muffin.
"For me?" Silverstar asked incredulously as he held the muffin between his hooves. "Thank you, Dinky." Feeling all the warmth and care the filly put into the treat, he gladly bit into it and instantly regretted it. "What is in this thing!?" he coughed as he began hacking up the crumbs.
"W-what!? But I put your favourite treats in it: beans and gin," Dinky flusteredly wailed as she tried to help up the paralyzed officer.
"I'm never eating beans and gin again," Silverstar croaked.
"Good," Derpy responded as she kissed him on the nose. "Take care of yourself, ok?"
"I will," Silverstar gladly groaned. "Miss Derpy, I love you."
"Silverstar, I love you too."
The third whistle came.
"We have to go!" Carrot Top cried. "And, I'm not sure I want to!" Derpy began pushing her into the train.
"Think of the expenses. We can't afford to move," Derpy agonized as she got Carrot Top into the train-cart.
"Everypony!" Carrot Top yelled as loud as she could. "Everypony, thank you so much for everything! I'll miss you all!"
"We'll miss you too!" Braeburn called back.
"Don't be a stranger around here," Silverstar added.
"Go find yourself your own knucklehead!" Apple Bumpkin called lastly.
The train motors began to start. The doors closed. This floor began to rumble. This was it. "Thank you, everypony. And, thank you, Derpy, for being the bestest friend anypony could ever ask for. If it wasn't for you, I don't know where I would be now."
"Carrot Top," Derpy began to sob. "Thank you for being such a good friend too!" Derpy tackled her down in one of the tightest hugs she could muster. "Thank you so much!"
"Derpy!" Carrot Top cried back.
"Carrot Top!" Derpy cried as well.
"These are supposed to be my role models?" Dinky sighed as she gave one last wave through the windows to her friends in Appleloosa. It was time to go back. "Let's go you two. You're making a scene."
You could join us instead," Derpy offered.
"Fine," Dinky sighed as she joined Derpy and Carrot Top on the floor. It was time to go back, and even though a part of each of them wished they could stay in Appleloosa, they knew where their home was. It was time to go back to Ponyville. They would hold each other the whole way through.
Some time later...
Carrot Top walked out of the doors of Sugarcube Corner with a box in her bags and sweet dreams in her mind. "Oh, how could I live for a whole year without this!" she squealed in delight. "Let's see, Derpy gets home at around six," she brought a hoof to her face, "so I have till then to eat it all and burn the evidence."
Life was, as strange as it felt, rapidly getting back into rhythm for her. She felt already back into her old routine, or at least mostly her old routine.
Carrot Top began humming to herself as she started on her path back home. "Oh, how could I have ever lived without my good old bed," she sighed to herself, paying little to no attention to where she was going. She bumped right into a completely unnoticeable grey unicorn stallion, sending a bag full of scrolls and another full of donuts flying everywhere. "My donuts!" Carrot Top screamed in terror.
"My scrolls!" the stallion screamed with horror. The two ponies began scrambling around the floor to pick up their personal items, only to meet together with a jelly-stained scroll lying over the last donut.
Carrot Top laughed nervously as she pulled the donut out from under the scroll. "Sorry," she replied awkwardly.
"Eh, it's alright, I guess," the stallion replied, downtrodden. "It was crud anyway. Nothing that would appease my editor."
"Hm?" Carrot Top pulled up the scroll up from the ground and tried to read over the purple stains. "Is this going to be a book?" she asked incredulously.
"Was going to be one," the stallion sighed. "Not anymore. It's just not good enough!"
"What are you trying to write about?" Carrot Top held the scroll back to the stallion.
"I was trying to write a story about life out on the frontier, but I just can't get it right."
"You know, maybe I can help," Carrot Top offered. "I used to live in Appleloosa."
"Really!?" The stallion took the jelly-stained scroll with his magic and stuffed it into his bag with little thought. "You don't mind if I ask you about what it was like?"
"No, not at all, Mr?"
"It's Written Script," he answered, slightly embarrassed. "And you are?"
"I'm Carrot Top," she answered wholeheartedly. "It's nice to meet you."
They walked off towards the park, sharing the box of donuts and each other's time.
Chapter 2: A delivery is made!
"I would like to apply for a job," Derpy told the colt at the dimly-lit Appleloosa EPS office. Derpy wasn't going to let herself sponge off of Carrot Top while she raised her daughter, so she had applied for the one job she knew she could do better than any other pony: delivery. She was a mailmare at heart, and she was going to show Appleloosa what this mailmare had to offer.
"Miss, this is the post office," the teenaged-pony answered her with his voice cracking.
"I know! I'm a great mailmare. Best Ponyville has ever seen!" Derpy replied, filled with pride.
The teenage pony was taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm of the pegasus before him. She looked like she honest to Celestia wanted one of the worst jobs Equestria had to offer. "Well… Miss…"
"Derpy! Derpy-Doo!"
"Well," the greasy-maned pony sighed, "we don't have any openings."
"I don't get it," Derpy replied.
Carrot Top glared at the wooden structure before her: an outhouse. Everything about it symbolized the end of civilized life as she knew it. It's not that Appleloosa wasn't civilized, it just had outhouses. "You need to get over this," she tried to console herself. "It's not going anywhere, I can't ignore it… and I really need to use it." Carrot Top stared at the open and mocking door of the wooden lavatory. "I will beat you!" she shouted, antagonizing it.
"Carrot Top!" it answered back.
"Agh! Don't eat me!" She screamed in terror as she jumped away and covered her head, cowering in fear. "I don't taste good, I swear!"
"Carrot Top, what are you doing?" Derpy dropped out of the sky and landed right next to her cowering friend. She looked back at the outhouse and back at her friend before asking, "Are you arguing with a potty?"
"No!" Carrot Top collected her shattered pride and answered the pegasus back, "I'm just preforming some morning rituals. Now, what is it, Derpy?"
"It's terrible! Just terrible!" Derpy had gotten uncomfortably close to her orange-topped friend, eyes almost touching. "The post office! They're- they're- they're-"
"Breathe, Derpy." Carrot Top tried to calm her panicky friend. "Breathe, and then try again."
Derpy took her advice. "The post office," she lamented, "all the positions are full. I can't get a job there!" Derpy cried, truly distraught. "How will I support Dinky? I don't care if I have to starve, but my daughter means everything!"
"Derpy," Carrot Top places a hoof on her friend's shoulder, "why don't you apply for a different job?"
"A... different job?" Derpy focused her eyes on Carrot Top, even more confused than before. "What kind of a different job?"
"A different job?" Derpy mulled over the idea. "You really think I can do anything?"
"Of course," Carrot Top replied, "I'm sure that you have talents other than delivery, and this place must be ripe with opportunity. This isn't Ponyville; this is Appleloosa. Just imagine all the new interesting things to try!" Carrot Top waved a hoof into the sky. "For a hard working mare like you, the sky is the limit." Carrot Top could feel herself fill with energy as well.
"All sorts of new things?" Derpy echoed.
"Yes!"
"Like folk music!"
"Well, I suppose."
"And carriage chases!"
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"And outhouses!"
Carrot Top cringed at the utterance of the word. "Yes… outhouses…"
"Thanks, Carrot Top." Derpy grabbed her friend in a titanic, gravity defying hug. "I'll go out there and find my new destiny!"
"Yes, destiny is fine and all but please put me down! I'm afraid of heights!" Carrot Top screamed as the air around her got thinner.
Little Strongheart struggled against the rope in her mouth. She was pulling up a wall for Appleoosa's new dance hall, all because a certain pony asked her for some help.
"Just a lil' more, Lil' Strongheart," Braeburn called to her. "We almost got the thing nailed in!"
Little Strongheart dug her hooves into the ground to keep her body from slipping back. While she and other ponies worked to keep the wall steady, another team of ponies fixed it into rest of the building. With the wall fastened in place, Little Strongheart felt the burden on her ease to nothing. "I did it," Little Strongheart congratulated herself.
"That sure was a spectacle there, Lil' Strongheart," Braeburn called to her. He jumped down from the top of the building and joined her by her side. "Thanks for the help with the building. A new dance hall will raise some spirits 'round here. You sure are somethin' to be able to do that."
Little Strongheart's little heart skipped a beat as Braeburn complimented her. "It was nothing, just a feat of strength, is all." She turned to face the building she had just helped build. "So, this is called a dance hall?" Little Strongheart examined the large and half-finished building with closer detail. "Is a building just for dancing really necessary?"
"Yes," Little Strongheart replied excitedly. "I love dancing with everybuffalo. We would dance all night for rituals or celebrations or just for the love of dancing." Little Strongheart closed her eyes as her mind wandered to some of her earliest memories of dancing with her friends and the chief. "We simply dance wherever we have settled at, outside in the open air."
Braeburn laughed a little as he got closer to Little Strongheart. "I guess it sounds kinda skittish-like when you put it that way, but everypony really comes out of their shells when they feel safer." He turned back to the building, admiring it and what it will mean to Appleloosa in the coming month.
"Feel safer?" Little Strongheart repeated nervously, overtly conscious of the lack of space between herself and Braeburn. She was thankful that Braeburn didn't notice her trembling legs.
She closed her eyes, wondering what a dance with Braeburn might look like. She imagined a dark night with just the light of the moon to guide them. Braeburn would turn his head to her and smile, offering a hoof, and she would accept it. They would lean on each other for support as they danced to a slow drum beat next to a large fire. "Lil' Strongheart." He would say to say her name just like that with that charming country voice. "Lil' Strongheart?" He would look at her and say, "Lil' Strongheart!"
"Huh!?" Little Strongheart snapped out of her day-dream. "Y-yes?"
"You okay? You were kinda spacin' out there." Braeburn placed his forehead right next to hers, the tip of her nose now touching his. "You're kinda warm," he commented with concern. "You should get some rest."
"It is nothing." Little Strongheart pulled herself away abruptly, almost falling over from her own sudden reaction. "I-I am just… hungry!" Little Strongheart's stomach took its cue and started to growl. "Uh, buffalo get warm when we are hungry, so I'll be fine once I find something to graze on."
"Oh that's all right. If you're hungry, we can go grab a bite to eat together!" Braeburn whinnied, smiling back as he began to lead the way to the Salt Block. "We can get one of them buy-one-get-one-half-off specials!"
"Oh, I do not have any bits," Little Strongheart replied, saddened. "I'll just find a nice patch of grass outside of town."
"It's no problem that you ain't got bits. It's my treat for helping with the town hall." Braeburn tried to grab Little Strongheart around a foreleg and guide her, but she suddenly fell over with the slightest tug. "Lil' Strongheart, are you alright?" Braeburn turned and offered a hoof to help her up, but Little Strongheart just lay there.
"I already took some of your bits before," she replied, slowly getting back to her hooves, "and It would be rude of me to impose any further, so I must decline."
"But I don't mind, really!"
"No," she insisted, "I cannot keep taking your bits."
"In that case, why not get a job 'round here," Braeburn suggested, motioning in the direction of the town bulletin board. "It would be nice to see you 'round more, and then we can have lunch together."
"It would?" Little Strongheart stared back, dumbfounded. "You want to see me around here?"
"Well, yeah!" Braeburn whinnied again, jumping off his forehooves.
"Well then, I guess I will try and get a job." How hard can that be?
Braeburn had directed Little Strongheart to the dimly-lit town hall to check the public board space for any job opportunities. She entered into the small building, expecting it to be empty, but instead found a familiar grey pegasus hovering over the flyer-stuffed board. "Derpy?"
Derpy-Doo stared intently at the board; flyers and posters were haphazardly plastered all over it, making for a hard-to-read mess. "Hmm. Barbershop in need of another manecutter. Maybe that's my new destiny!" she gleefully announced to no one in particular.
"Destiny?" Little Strongheart interrupted Derpy. "What is this about destiny?"
Derpy turned to the sudden intruder. She had expected to be alone in this endeavor and wasn't expecting to run into a buffalo here. She waved a hoof and responded, "Hi, Little Bighoof. Are you here looking for a new destiny too?"
"It is Little Strongheart," Little Strongheart corrected her.
"I said that," Derpy defended.
"No you did not." Little Strongheart gave the winged pony an accusing glance, making Derpy fidget a little.
"Uh, sorry," Derpy apologized, falling to the floor.
"Apology accepted." Little Strongheart turned to the town bulletin board, growing confused with the numerous flyers stuck all over it. "So, do ponies put up destinies on these public boards? I thought jobs were put here."
"Well, jobs are destinies," Derpy answered, now hovering above Little Strongheart. "Whatever I do here will create a new Derpy-Doo. Derpy-Doo the mailmare is now a figment of the past. From that figment rises Derpy-Doo the… new thing!"
"Are you okay, Derpy?" Little Strongheart asked with concern. "You are sounding odder than usual."
"Oh, I'm fine," the odd pegasus answered her, dismissing any concern. "I'm just excited to try out all these new things. It feels like I'm rediscovering my cutie-mark again!"
"Cutie-mark?" Little Strongheart had heard these cutie-marks being mentioned many times in her time around ponies, but never understood what exactly it was about. "What is a cutie-mark?" she asked.
"You don't know?" Derpy stared at her dumbfounded. "How do you not know what a cutie-mark is?"
"Maybe because I am not a pony…" Little Strongheart sighed. She found ponies had a hard time grasping that buffalo did not have these cutie-marks they love to talk about. She changed the subject. "This board contains jobs, right?"
"Yep." Derpy replied. "Are you looking for a new destiny too, Little Bighoof?"
Little Strongheart noticeably cringed when she heard her name being misinterpreted again, but chose not to pursue the topic. "New destiny?" She tried to wrap her mind around the ominous wording. Was a job for a pony equivalent to a destiny? "Sure, I'm looking for a destiny, if that what these papers are advertising."
"That's great!" Derpy spun in the air and turned back to Little Strongheart. "We can seek out a new destiny together."
"I think I'll be fine on my own," Little Strongheart replied hesitantly.
Derpy's mood fell along with her. "Well, all right." She turned back to the flyers.
Little Strongheart hoped she hadn't hurt the flying pony’s feelings, but she didn't want to be side-tracked by such an eccentric pony. Little Strongheart turned back to the board and, much to her annoyance, realized that she couldn't read pony letters. "Actually, I guess we can look for destinies together."
"Really! Then I know the perfect one to try first." Derpy grabbed Little Strongheart and dragged her off on their search for destiny.
"Oh, great," Little Strongheart told herself.
Derpy dragged Little Strongheart to a building with a pair of scissors for a sign. A large baby-blue stallion with a pink cowboy hat and a mean look sat at the front counter. He looked Derpy and Little Strongheart over with confusion. "Are you here for mane cuts?" he asked gruffly.
"Nope!" Derpy proudly declared. "We're here because of your help wanted flyer."
"I don't know." The baby-blue stallion didn't seem impressed with the two. "You two don't exactly have the cutie-marks for this line of work."
"Cutie-mark?" Little Strongheart still had no idea what those were.
"Give us a chance," Derpy replied, getting uncomfortably close to the large pony. "I cut my daughters mane all the time!"
The barber-pony still didn't look satisfied. "And you?" he turned to Little Strongheart. "Do you have any experience cutting manes?"
"Well…" Little Strongheart had never cut a mane, or even fur, before. Buffalo simply let their fur grow out. It was a sign of maturity and wisdom for a buffalo's fur to be big and fluffy. However, this had given her some experience with another aspect of handling fur. "I have done some styling and grooming." Big fluffy fur does require lots of maintenance.
The blue pony looked over Little Strongheart, examining her fur. "I guess," he sighed, "that will do. Take a stall and wait for someponies to show."
"Righty-oh, boss!" Derpy replied as she glided to a stall.
"I understand," Little Strongheart affirmed as she took her place next to a stall.
Two ponies walked into the barber shop: a green mare with a red mane, and sandy-coat stallion with a blonde mane. "Welcome to the good, the bad, and the best cuts," the blue stallion called to the two customers. After they exchanged a few words with him, the sandy-coated stallion walked over the Little Strongheart's stall. "Cormano tells me you're good at styling stallions?" he asked while sitting himself in the stall chair.
"What?" Little Strongheart returned. "I suppose?"
"Well then, get to work," the sandy stallion ordered.
"A-all right," Little Strongheart stuttered. She searched her station for a comb, but couldn't find one. "Mr. Owner," she called to the pink-hatted stallion, "I need a comb."
"There's one on your left," he agitatedly answered, "and my name is Cormano," he added gruffly.
Little Strongheart smiled nervously as she looked to her left. An instrument with numerous bristles along a straight line sat in a cup of water. "This is a comb? Where are the bones?" she asked aloud.
"That's a pony comb," her customer replied curtly, eyeing her with dissatisfaction.
Little Strongheart berated herself as she took the pony comb and started to brush the stallion's mane. She kept trying to assure herself that this would be no different from handling buffalo fur, and after a while she was really beginning to believe it. "I've got this."
"Got what?" the stallion asked.
"Nothing," Little Strongheart replied as she brushed back the stallion's mane.
"Do you even know what you're doing, buffalo?" the stallion hissed at her. "I don't want no buffalo cuts."
"Buffalo cuts?" Little Strongheart repeated, unsure if she should feel offended.
"Yeah, that mess of a thing you call a mane-cut."
"I do not have a mane," Little Strongheart answered with frustration. "I do not have a mane, I do not know what a cutie mark is, and I do not know anything about mane cuts!"
"Then what are you doing at a barbershop!" the sandy stallion roared back, catching Little Strongheart off-guard. "You trying to pull something on me, buffalo?"
"I have a name," Little Strongheart replied, trying to stay as calm as possible, "and it is-"
"What is this!?" A scream interrupted her, the mare the stallion walked in with in fits about her stylist’s latest work. She roared at Derpy, pointing to her new man's childish design. "I thought you said you have experience cutting manes!" She looked the spitting image of Derpy's daughter, Dinky-Doo.
"I do!" Derpy roared back, not backing down and inch. "Why, I think you look as cute as a junebug. Now if only your attitude matched," Derpy spat back at the unappreciative mare.
The mare huffed at Derpy and turned to Cormano to complain. "This pegasus has no idea how to cut manes. Exhibit A: my mane!" she yelled.
"Terribly sorry," Cormano sighed. "Your next cut is free." Cormano turned to Derpy. "And you, take that buffalo and get out!"
"Fine," Derpy replied, sticking her snout in the air. "I have other destinies to try anyway. C'mon, Little Bighoof!"
"Wait, what?" Little Strongheart suddenly found herself being dragged out by Derpy, comb still in hoof. "My name is Little Strongheart!" she yelled as the barber shop disappeared from view.
The Salt Block was in the middle of the lunch rush, and they had been lacking in waiters for a long time. Derpy had dragged Little Strongheart all the way from the barber shop to the eating establishment. She bucked open the doors and proudly said, "We're here for your job opening!"
"What she said," Little Strongheart added, still taken aback by Derpy's forceful nature.
"Hey, Little Strongheart!" a familiar voice called out to her.
Little Strongheart's head almost snapped off her body as she turned to face the familiar and charming voice. "B-Braeburn?" she stuttered.
There, sitting at a table with a menu between his hooves, sat Braeburn, seated next to Carrot Top. He waved at her and with a smile called, "Here to finally grab some lunch? You should join us." Carrot Top's jaw fell open. She wanted to say something, to shoo away the buffalo and secure her alone time with Braeburn, but she doubted that would make her look very good in his eyes.
"N-no," Little Strongheart stuttered. "I'm looking for a destiny, like you said?"
"Destiny?" Braeburn echoed. "What’s this about destiny?"
"Isn't that what you call a job?" Little Strongheart asked as she was dragged away by Derpy. She was dragged to the manager's office, where a salty-looking stallion sat behind a desk piled with papers.
"You're here for the waiter job?" the manager asked curtly.
"Waiting?" Little Strongheart echoed. "As in, just waiting for something?"
The manager shot a curious glance at the pair before him: a buffalo with little sense about pony life, and a curious pegasus mare who was staring at something else. "No, as in taking food orders. Do you know how to do that, buffalo?"
"I can learn," Little Strongheart replied back. "How hard can it be?"
"Famous last words," the manager huffed. "With that attitude I should just kick you out now," he threatened, "but I need waiters, and you two are the only idiots available."
"With an attitude like that, it's no wonder you need waiters," Derpy retorted. "Isn't a manager supposed to treat his employees with respect?" she argued.
"You're not my employees, yet," the manager growled. "Now then, are you going to wait, or not?" To Little Strongheart, it sounded like a threat.
"Oh, we'll wait all right!" Derpy exclaimed. "We'll wait like our lives depend on it!"
"Good, because they do," the manager answered her.
"What!?" was all Little Strongheart got to say before an apron was thrown over her and a notepad and pencil shoved in her mouth. "Okay, just take orders and give them to the cooking pony. I can do this!" she cheered herself on.
"Service!" Braeburn called out.
Little Strongheart steeled herself. "This is it, your time to shine, Little Bighoof… I mean… dang it." She walked up to Braeburn's table and said, "I'm here to wait for you."
"I think you mean; can I take your order," Carrot Top corrected her.
"Oh, can I take your order," Little Strongheart repeated, feeling a little embarrassed.
"I'll have a double daisy burger with a side of hay fries," Braeburn answered. "Easy on the mustard."
"I'll have…" Carrot Top paused for a long time before sighing in resignation. "Just a carrot salad and some water." She didn't seem very excited about the order.
"All right," Little Strongheart wrote down the order and trotted off to the kitchen. She hung the order on a cylindrical metal-rack. "Who is next for waiting?"
"Over here," a pony called to her.
"Coming!" Little Strongheart answered.
Twenty minutes passed and Little Strongheart and Derpy continued to run from one end of the building to the other to catch everyone's order and Little Strongheart was feeling slightly accomplished. She was afraid she would mess up with the barbershop job, but this job was so ridiculously simple that nothing could go wrong.
"Lil' Strongheart," Braeburn called to her.
"Yes?" She trotted up to the table, confident that this time she'll be able to impress the impossibly cute stallion.
"Where's our food? Its kind ‘a been awhile."
"The cooking pony hasn't finished it, I am assuming," Little Strongheart answered. From previous dining experiences in the town of Appleloosa she knew that a separate pony did the cooking and would call her when the order was ready. "I will go ask him."
Little Strongheart barged into the kitchen to find the only chef curled in a corner reading a book. "Hello, are you not supposed to be cooking?"
"I would be if I could read the orders," he replied.
"What?" Little Strongheart turned to the orders she had written up. They were perfectly legible.
The doors to the manager's office literally exploded as the bull of a pony trampled into the kitchen. "You two!" He pointed a hoof at Little Strongheart and the chef. "Why am I getting complaints from hungry customers!?"
"Well, boss-pony, check out the order sheets," the chef said, motioning to the rather cluttered ring of orders.
The manager tore a few sheets off of the ring. His face looked like it was going to boil off as he turned to Little Strongheart and the chef. "What is this!?" he yelled as she shoved a few orders onto Little Strongheart.
Little Strongheart looked at Derpy's orders and noticed she had drawn the orders rather exquisitely. "These are beautiful!" Little Strongheart couldn't believe that the Derpy mare could draw so well. "I don’t see any problem here, Mr. Manager."
"First: You write the orders," the manager growled. "Second: You write the orders in pony! Not in buffalo!" he roared.
If reality was a hammer, it just hit Little Strongheart. "Oops, I don't know pony letters."
"I figured," snapped the manager. "Tell your feather-head friend that you both are out of here! And you!" The manager turned to the chef and began his verbal beat down on him, who took it all in strides.
"Stupid manager," Derpy steamed. The two of them were once again in front of the town board looking for a job. "It was an honest mistake!"
"Yes, it was a mistake." Little Strongheart vented. "Do you see anything else on the board that we can try?"
"The local Applemart needs some checkout clerks!" Derpy stated with passion. "Let's not keep out destinies waiting, Little Bighoof!"
"It's Strongheart," Little Strongheart sighed.
"I said that." Derpy continued to deny any mistake.
Appleloosa's Applemart was home to all manner of apples for the apple-loving ponies of Appleloosa. The store itself was small, with crates filled with apples lines up to make aisles. At the front of the store was a single counter for checkout.
"I had no idea there were so many different types of apples," Little Strongheart commented as she examined each of the crates. "What are these?"
"Braeburn apples," Derpy responded, hovering over the crates with a look of hunger in her eyes.
"Braeburn apples!?" Little Strongheart stared intently at the apple, expecting to find some likeness of Braeburn on the fruit. "I had no idea Braeburn had how own apple."
"No, he's named after the apple," Derpy explained to her. "Not the other way around."
"What?" Little Strongheart inspected the apple again. "You name each other after apples? Ponies have such a weird naming convention." Little Strongheart looked at the apples uncomfortably and turned away. "I don't think I can be comfortable eating Braeburn."
"Are you two here for the position?" a yellow-coated pony asked, emerging from a room in the back.
"Yep!" Derpy answered her, flying in front of her to shake her hoof. "I'm Derpy, and this is Little Bighoof."
"Little Strongheart," Little Strongheart corrected her.
"All right, nice to meet you girls. I'm the manager here, Apple Bumpkin," The manager answered with a smile. "I'll need you girls to work the counter for today. When customers show, sell them apples. I'll go grab list of our prices you can reference with. I'll be right back." Apple Bumpkin zipped off to the back-room of the store.
Little Strongheart inwardly cursed. She knew she wouldn't be able to read the sheet and that this was likely to end badly. "Looks like another failure is ahead of me," she sighed.
"Don't talk like that!" Derpy landed in front of Little Strongheart, taking hold of her head and lifting it up to meet her own. "You've gotta remain positive, Little Bighoof."
"I would like to, but I can't read pony letters," she admitted, feeling oddly embarrassed about it. She never had any reason to learn to read pony, but now here she was, lost in the world of pony culture with an eccentric pegasus for a guide. "That's kind of why I've been following you. You can read the board and I cannot. I am sorry if you feel used."
"It's all right," Derpy let go of Little Strongheart's face and wrapped her in a hug. "In my old line of work ponies would use me all the time. I'm used to it."
"But... that is terrible!" Little Strongheart exclaimed, feeling more guilty for it. "Don't you ever feel sad about it?"
"I would if I didn't have friends and family that remind me every day that I am loved," the warm pegasus told her. "So I get up every day, haul my plot to my job, and work as hard as I can for them. I've got a daughter to raise and it's my true destiny to raise her and see she grows up to be as great as I know she can be." Derpy finally let go of that hug, and on her face was a small serene smile, as if everything in the world made sense to her.
Little Strongheart felt silly; she wanted a job just as a convincing excuse to be around Braeburn, but Derpy needed a job to raise her daughter, and the whole time she had thought the crazy mare to be just that, a crazy mare. Instead, before her stood a strong pegasus who never gave up despite all their set-backs. "Derpy, I had no idea this meant that much to you."
"I'm a pony of many blankets," Derpy joked. "Now let's sell some apples!"
"Yes, let us sell apples," Little Strongheart repeated, letting Derpy's enthusiasm guide her actions.
"Glad to see you girls have more passion than my last employees." Apple Bumpkin had returned with a couple of pamphlets for Derpy and Little Strongheart hugged against herself. "I overheard that you can't read pony, Miss Strongheart?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't read pony letters. You would not happen to have something written in buffalo?"
"Actually," Apple Bumpkin galloped to the back of the store and returned, hauling a rather large sign. "When I heard we would start doing business with your tribe I was able to get another pony who knows buffalo to write this. Of course it's not till after I pay him that I realized buffalo don't have bits. Is this readable?"
"Yes!" Little Strongheart exclaimed ecstatically. "I can read this perfectly, thank you."
"It's no problem." Apple Bumpkin smiled back at the two, "you can have two apples at lunch-break; don't let me down." She returned to the back room to continue her paperwork.
"Lucky break, huh?" Derpy giggled.
"I think you have a saying that goes 'third time is the charm'?" Little Strongheart started giggling as well; the laughter between the two slowly growing louder and more jubilant.
"Then this is it!" Derpy declared, pumping her hooves in the air and rising with a single beat of her wings. "As of now, our destinies are to sell apples! Did you get a cutie-mark?"
"I still don't know what those are."
Business was slow at first, giving ample opportunity for Derpy and Little Strongheart to get the hang of the job. They would consult their respective charts on the prices of different apples and then take the bits and secure them in a bit-slot vault under the counter. As time went on more and more customers began to show, customers hungry from a day of work and looking for something to snack on.
"That will be four bits, sir," Little Strongheart told the old mare at the counter.
"You raising the price on me, buffalo?" the customer spat back, poking and offending hoof at her. "I know you're cheating me, buffalo!"
"Is there a problem here?" Apple Bumpkin stood behind the irate customer, wearing a fake smile and hoping she can disarm any situation. "If you have any complaints, you can address them to me, the manager here."
"This buffalo raised the price on me!" the customer continued to rant obnoxiously. "You can't trust them, y'know! Golden delicious apples used to be three bits. Now it's four? This buffalo wants my bits!"
"Ma'am, the golden delicious apples’ price has been raised. If you don't like it, go shop somewhere else. I think the next town is only fifty miles west," she said with a smirk and sarcastic humor.
"Fine!" the crusty mare shoved four bits onto the table, took her apple, and left with a huff.
"Sorry, some ponies haven't really gotten over the incident awhile back," Apple Bumpkin sighed, apologizing for the nature of some the less friendly ponies in town. "Please, believe me that they are the minority here in Appleloosa."
"It's alright," Little Strongheart answered. "I know not to expect forgiveness from all the ponies here. Even some buffalo aren’t very happy with the current set up of attempting to share the stampeding-land, but Chief Thunderhooves keeps everybuffalo in line."
"Sheriff Silver-Star and Braeburn do their best here for that. My big brother has a tough job ahead of him," she sighed.
"Wait, you're related to Braeburn?" the love-struck buffalo gasped.
"Yeah, why?"
"Uh, well-"
"She has a crush on him," Derpy answered for her.
"Derpy!?" Little Strongheart jumped at the pony, who simply flew over her. "I bet you want to ask her for some kind of hoof up on winning over Braeburn from Carrot Top."
"What?" Apple Bumpkin gawked. "You have a crush on my lug of a brother? A pony so thick that getting bucked in the head was liable to make him smarter?"
"Well… yes," Little Strongheart admitted. "Aren’t you on Carrot Top's side, Derpy?"
"Oh yeah," Derpy realized, her mouth hanging open for a moment before snapping together. "Scratch away everything I said!"
"Can I buy some bucking apples already!" the next customer in line cursed. "You can talk about your love lives later, I'm hungry!"
"Oh, yes, of course," Apple Bumpkin replied. "Back to work, girls."
Closing time was just around the corner. After hours of handling bits and selling apples for half the day, Derpy and Little Strongheart finally got their break. The two slumped onto the counter, mentally exhausted from having to deal with so many ponies. To Little Strongheart’s relief she didn't have to deal with any more bigoted ponies. In all truth, she was beginning to have fun. "Thanks, Derpy," the tired buffalo admitted.
"Huh, what did I do?" the exhausted pagasus asked, slouched over on the counter.
"Thanks to you, this day turned out pretty nice," she laughed. "I did not think I would have had this much fun if I tried to search for destiny on my own."
"I've had lots of fun with you too, Little Bigfoot."
"It's Little Strongheart."
"I said that," the both of them said at the same time before bursting into laughter.
"All right, girls, it’s quitting time." Apple Bumpkin appeared again, her mane ragged and eyes dropping from a long day of work. "You girls did well. If I ever need help again I'll know who to turn to."
"You mean we can't be full-time?" Derpy asked, feeling dejected. "We worked really hard and I think we did a pretty good job."
"Sorry, but today was a special case. I needed to do paperwork, but tomorrow I'll be a counter jockey again. It doesn't take a lot of pony power to run this place, but you're still getting paid for today, don't worry." she assured them, hoping not to get their spirits too down about the temporary job. "I think fifty bits each should be enough."
"Thank you," Little Strongheart replied. Even if she couldn't find a job she could be happy about finally pay back Braeburn for buying her lunch before. "I am grateful for the employment you could provide for us today."
"It's no problem, Miss Strongheart. You girls are the ones that did me a favor anyhow. You can go ahead and wait outside. I'll meet you outside with your pay after locking up."
Derpy and Little Strongheart exited the little grocery store. Outside the sun had begun to set, coating the city with a brilliant orange. "It's beautiful!" Derpy exclaimed. "Appleloosa looks so nice in this light."
"Excuse me," a stout stallion interrupted her, "is this the Applemart? Is it closing?"
"If you hurry, you might be able to buy a few apples," Little Strongheart informed him.
"Thank you." The stallion bowed and left them to buy apples.
"What a polite stallion," Derpy replied.
The doors of the mart burst open as the stallion they just met ran out of the mart with Apple Bumpkin attempting to follow. "Stop, thief!" she yelled.
"Thief? He stole something?" Derpy shot back. "Somepony, call the police ponies!"
Little Strongheart exploded with energy as she took off after the thief. In her tribe, theft was met with swift and harsh punishments and she was going to introduce this pony to that aspect of her culture, buffalo style. "You won't out-stampede me!" she yelled at the thief as he ducked into an alleyway. Little Strongheart skidded past the alley as she tried to brake. "Dang it."
Derpy just managed to catch up with the buffalo. "Where is he?" she asked.
"He's in the alley."
"I'll fly overhead, you just stay close," Derpy told her as she skyrocketed upwards. "He's making his way to the south gate!"
"I can get there first!" Little Strongheart dug her hooves into the ground and threw herself forward, building up momentum and exploding twice forward. She raced to cut off the thief before he could escape.
"He's almost there!" Derpy yelled back.
"Can you cut him off?" Little Strongheart asked.
"I'll try!" Derpy dive-bombed through the air.
The thief saw her coming and stopped himself, skidding to a stop as Derpy completely missed him. "Hah! How's that, birdbrain!" he yelled at Derpy only to be completely run over by Little Strongheart moments later.
"I've got you, thief." Little Strongheart yelled as she pinned the thief to the ground and Derpy joined her moments later. "So what now?" she asked Derpy.
"That was incredible," a gruff voice called to the two. A brown pony with a blue vest and a silver-star badge approached the ponies. "Well I'll be, you caught Slim Jim."
"Slim Jim?" Little Strongheart repeated. "Who's that?"
"This is," the silver-starred pony answered her, digging his own hoof into the fat thief’s back. "You two do good work. By any chance, what do you think about becoming officers of the law?"
Braeburn had been chaperoning Carrot Top around town all day. The poor mare seemed to have no sense of direction and needed his help to locate just about every single place. They had been searching all throughout town for some possible replacement tools for her broken ones, but found almost nothing to replace anything with, and now had to lead Carrot Top home. "Here we are Miss Top. Home sweet home!"
"Thank you, Braeburn," Carrot Top replied. "Would you like to come in for some coffee? I've got a full night’s work ahead of me so I need to cook some coffee beans anyway," Carrot Top complained. "Dirt, I swear it's more trouble than it's worth."
"I guess I could go for a lil'," Braeburn replied. "Got any cinnamon?"
"Maybe," Carrot Top replied. "Careful not to wake up Dinky."
The two ponies tip-hoofed into the dark little shack, only for a certain pegasus to burst into the hovel as loudly as possible.
"Carrot Top! I got a new destiny!" Derpy exclaimed. "As of now, I am a pony of the law. My destiny: delivering justice."
"Celestia help us," Carrot Top whimpered.
"Oh!" Derpy shot up. "I have to go somewhere!"
The buffalo tribe awed in amazement over Little Strongheart's shiny silver-star badge. Pride was not something Little Strongheart liked to indulge in, but she was too filled with accomplishment to care for the time being. Bringing back a crate of apples also helps to impress her tribe.
"Little Strongheart," Chief Thunderhooves approached her, "I am quite proud of you, helping our pony neighbors in dispensing with thieves and scoundrels."
"Thank you, chief," Little Strongheart replied. "I am told that this star is a symbol of my rank in pony society. I am also told it has my name on it, but it's written in pony."
"Still, be proud of your accomplishments. It's always a good thing when those who would steal from others are caught and dealt with. Let us dance!" Chief Thunderhooves announced, cheering from across the tribe joining him.
In the light of the moon, Little Strongheart danced with all her friends and family. No, there was an important friend missing from this. "I'm here!" Derpy announced as she dropped out of the sky.
"Derpy, I'm glad you could make it," Little Strongheart replied. "Welcome to my tribe."
"I told you I wouldn't miss it!" The two friends danced the night away, their silver star badges gleaming in the night light. They read: Derpy-Doo and Little Bighoof.
