Beyond Her Garden

“… and the only plant I haven’t been able to do it with is this under-developed carrot that I have in my room.” Big Mac rarely showed emotion on his face. This instance, however, was different. He stared at Carrot Top with an expression clearly showing his utter bewilderment. He opened his mouth to ask a question but Carrot Top quickly cut him off, remembering that she hadn’t told him to keep what she had just revealed a secret.

“You can’t tell anypony, Macintosh. Nopony knows, and I’m afraid if ponies did… well, I don’t know what ponies would do, but I don’t want to risk it.” Big Mac stared at her, still speechless. Then, after what felt like an hour to Carrot Top, he spoke.

“Let me get this straight. You can go and plant an apple tree, have it grow in just under a week and bearing fruit in three? Without you even sweating?”

“Well, not just an apple tree. Any plant, really. That’s how I feed myself in the winter without buying other ponies’ crops.” She said, trying not to sound too boastful.

“So, then why are ya telling me this now?” He questioned, trying not to sound rude.

“Well, I have an idea. Here it is: you keep bucking trees as if it were just a normal week. While you’re doing that, I will plant the apple trees and care for them. Once the week is over, the trees I planted will be fully grown and bearing fruit! That way, once Twilight and the rest of her gang get back, they can take a week to rest because we’ll have tons of apples here, already grown!” She looked to him, awaiting a word of approval or some sort of sign that he at least liked the idea.

“Wait, didn’t ya say it would take three weeks for apples to start growing?” Big Mac raised his right eyebrow at her as he spoke.

“Yes, but that’s under normal circumstances. I’m sure that Sweet Apple Acres has very fertile soil though. Now, imagine me making that soil even better than it already is. Since I’m planting the trees in good, fertile soil, the development speed will be doubled!” As she spoke, Big Mac’s eyebrow had returned to a natural position.

“Okay, but won’t ponies around town be asking how we got all the extra apples?”

“We can just tell them that you and your sister planted extra trees last year and you had forgotten when you were talking to the mayor.” Carrot Top smiled at Big Mac. “It will work Big Mac. Believe me; I have thought it all out.” She rested a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.

“These town ponies are good. Ah don’t feel okay with lying to them.” Their eyes met as he spoke.

“We’ll be saving lives, Macintosh. It will be worth it in the end.” Big Mac held her gaze. He thought for a bit, and then gave his decision.

“Okay, sounds good. Meet me here tomorrow morning at eight. I need to go find the apple seeds that we set aside for the next season. You sure you’re up for it?” Carrot Top simply nodded in reply. “Okay, I’ll see ya then.” Big Mac stood up and went to walk Carrot Top out, but was stopped by a hoof on his shoulder.

“Thank you, Macintosh. I’m glad to be working with a friend like you.” Carrot Top stretched out her forelegs and brought Big Mac in for a warm hug. She enjoyed being in the arms of Big Mac. The embrace made her feel safe and secure. She felt like she did whenever her father would read her a story, or when her mother would tuck her in. The feeling of being completely safe was a sensation that had been absent from Carrot Top’s life after she lost her parents. For some reason, whenever she was with Big Mac, the feeling returned full-force. She slowly let go of the stallion and smiled at him, Big Mac returning the same friendly smile. He turned around and guided Carrot Top past the kitchen, where Granny was making a quite delicious looking apple pie, and eventually to the door. Reluctantly, she pushed it open, wishing she could stay longer. Before starting off towards home, she turned around and thanked Big Mac yet again; not with her voice, however, but with her eyes. With that, she was off towards her home. Her home occupied by only her, and nopony else. The home in which she would enter, reside, and sleep in… alone.

For the second night in a row, Carrot Top couldn’t find slumber - she just lay in bed, thinking. She had to do three things for this plan to work.

One : plant the trees and grow them. This was the simplest and easiest step of the bunch and it didn’t require very much thinking on her part.

Two : convince the town I had nothing to do with it. This was a tad more difficult than the planting, but nopony should see her in the orchards. Even if somepony did, she could just say she was visiting or something. She would be able to talk her way out of it.

Three : don’t let my friends find out about what I’m doing or how I’m doing it. This was possibly going to be the hardest thing she would have to do. She and her friends would hang out together almost every other day and she would see at least one of them on the off days. If she suddenly stopped hanging out with them, and they suddenly stopped seeing her, they would worry. She could just hang out with them when she wasn’t down on the farm, but then she wouldn’t be able to grow her own food. Then again, they would be engaged in apple distribution so they probably shouldn’t notice her absences. She craned up to look lazily at a small clock next to her, brightly displaying that it had just passed midnight. She hadn’t realized how late it was and quickly let her mind go blank. She had already passed out before her head hit the pillow.

*RIINNNGGGG**RIINNNGGGG**RIINNNGGGG*

Carrot Top sat up violently as the loud sound invaded her consciousness. Her first thought was fire alarm! Looking to the source of the sound however, she chuckled at her mistake as she found that her alarm had simply gone off just at the time she had set last night. It was only five in the morning so it was still quite dark outside, meaning the bedroom was also very dimly illuminated. She rolled lazily out of bed, stretched her body and shoulders and flicked on a light switch next to her bed. Once she felt quite satisfied, she slipped her orange slippers on and walked down the hall as she did every morning. She enjoyed this stroll to the kitchen; the hall was lined with old family pictures and she enjoyed getting to see them every day. They granted her a warm and fuzzy feeling, always allowing her to start her day off well no matter what might come her way. As she entered the kitchen she flicked another light switch located next to the door frame, filling the once dark and ominous room with a bright and happy new-found glow. She grabbed her large jug of carrot juice from the fridge and poured it into a small plastic cup she retrieved from her cabinet. After feeling content with the amount of carrot juice she had drunk, she prepared for the day ahead. After she arrived home from the farm yesterday she had set aside the winter wear she planned on wearing today, for the simple reason that if she woke up late, she wouldn’t have time to pick the correct clothes out. She slipped on a warm knit coat on top of her overalls so she would be warm in the freezing cold weather. Once she was finished and completely ready to go she flicked the switches to all of the lights, causing the once-warm glow to retreat back to its source. She slowly walked out of her home and closed the door behind her - she never locked it as the crime rate was so low in Ponyville. You could leave a very pricey piece of artwork out in the open and there wouldn’t be a soul with the desire to steal it. This was something she enjoyed about her town.

Her plan, at first, was to head straight to the farm and get to work an hour early. However, as she passed Bon-Bon and Lyra’s house, she decided to say hello. She walked up the steps that led to their front door and knocked. Almost immediately, an excited Lyra trotted to the door and opened it without even checking to see who it was first. Lyra’s face lit up as she saw her beloved friend at the door and instantly invited her in.

“Carrot Top! Hello! Would you like to come in? Bon-Bon is still asleep and I was going to surprise her with breakfast in bed, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you being here as well!” Carrot Top smiled back at her turquoise friend and chuckled at her sweet and outgoing personality.

“I actually can’t. I just came to say hello on my way to the farm.” As soon as she finished the sentence, she wished she hadn’t. She had meant for nopony to know, but she was so used to telling Lyra everything that it had just slipped out.

“The farm? That’s cool! Why are you heading there?” Lyra cocked her head at her friend as she spoke.

“Well, I… Okay, I’m going to just talk to Big Mac. But you can’t say anything to anypony! I don’t want ponies thinking that he isn’t doing his job.” Carrot Top tried not to look like she wasn’t lying and in-fact, telling the truth, but she knew she wasn’t very good at it. Whether it was a blessing or a curse, she was HORRIBLE at lying and Lyra picked up on the fact that Carrot Top wasn’t being truthful. Much to Carrot Top’s relief, Lyra wasn’t mad.

“Well, I think we both know that isn’t true, but if you need to lie about it, I don’t need to know. Good luck at the farm, though! With whatever you are doing.” Lyra gave one last smile, and a quick hug, and then shut the door. Carrot Top felt bad for lying to her friend- or getting caught, she couldn’t tell, but she still felt bad. She considered telling her closes confidants, but then they would just ask how somepony as small as her could do anything to help the Apple Family, and then it would just lead to even more fibs and fairy tells. Unfortunately, it was better this way. Remembering she had somewhere to be, Carrot Top focused back on the path towards the farm and set off to complete the days’ work.

The walk to the farm had been a long one. As always, Carrot Top’s mind was filled with thoughts. Usually, these thoughts were quite big and would tend to fill her mind. She never enjoyed this about herself. She always thought about things so much, which led to over-thinking, which led to misunderstanding, which led to problems and frustration. She never meant to do it, but that was just her personality. Ever since her parents died, she had had a hard time letting things go- thoughts, feelings, frustrations, and many other things. That was one of the reasons why she only got attached to her close group of friends and nopony else. The fewer ponies she became attached to, the fewer ponies she would have to let go. Outside that group, she had gotten close to very few ponies, one of the few being Big Mac. Macintosh, she thought. Big Mac was the only stallion who had ever gotten to know her on a ‘more than friends’ level. Carrot Top was a beautiful mare and quite nice once you got to know her. The only reason she had been single for so long was because she always had her guard up and never let anypony get through. Big Mac somehow had, and she felt like if he could do it one time, why not another? Snapping out of her thoughts, she quickly halted to avoid the embarrassment and pain of running right into farmhouse’s screen door. She could hear the voices of Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith in the dining room, most likely eating breakfast. She raised her hoof to knock on the door before she was stopped by a voice from behind.

“Hey! I haven’t seen you around before, what’s your name?” Carrot Top turned around to see two smiling fillies staring up at her. She hadn’t even noticed they were behind her, despite the snow and the noise it made when you walked in it. The one on the left was a small, pure white unicorn with a purple and pink mane; her companion was the same size, but with an orange coat and purple mane. The orange one also had a small set of wings and the clear absence of a horn. Carrot Top immediately decided that neither would be a nuisance and proceeded to introduce herself.

“I’m Carrot Top. Who are you fillies?” She returned the smile the two fillies had been giving her as she spoke.

“I’m Sweetie Belle!” Carrot Top looked at the young unicorn as she stated her name with a crack in her voice. Carrot Top loved her voice and to her, Sweetie Belle was the cutest thing she had ever seen.

“Yeah, and I’m Scootaloo.” The orange filly said with a little less enthusiasm than Sweetie Belle, but she seemed like happy filly.

“Well, it’s nice to meet both of you. I am ass-” Carrot Tops voice was caught off by yet another filly.

“Hey girls! Glad y’all could make it!” A small golden filly pushed the screen open behind Carrot Top, causing her to jump in fright. “Oh, I’m mighty sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t mean to hit ya with the door.” The small golden filly looked up with a smile, and then a face of confusion. “Well, who might ya be?” Carrot Top chuckled at the small filly’s accent.

“My name is Carrot Top; I’m here to see your brother about the apple bucking. I just need to make sure he can buck enough to meet the demand.” Carrot Top hated lying, especially to a young filly, but she knew it was the only way to keep her secret. The young filly had joined her other two friends as Carrot Top introduced herself. Once she had fitted herself in between the other two fillies, she returned the smile and stated her name.

“Oh, well I’m Apple Bloom! Me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo make up the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” The three of them all smiled in unison and held their heads together. The sight was quite a cute one and brought fond memories back to Carrot Top. She remembered when she first met Bon-Bon and Lyra in pre-school. The three of them were much like the three fillies who stood before her; young, full of life - and itching to get their cutie marks. She was about to tell the three about how when she was young, she had desired the same thing but had actually found her special talent through her mother. But before she could begin Granny Smith opened the screen and slowly walked out. The frail pony used a walker to support a body that her brittle legs clearly could no longer handle. She also had a hard time walking in the snow, so she used the walker as support whenever she slipped. Seeing Carrot Top for the second time in less than twelve hours surprised Granny, and she immediately went to greet her.

“Hello there , mischy! Didn’t I schee you lascht night?” Learning from her last experience, Carrot Top leaned her head to the side so that the spittle from Granny wouldn’t hit her, but wouldn’t make her look rude either. After Granny had asked her question, Carrot Top adjusted her head to a more natural position and greeted Granny back.

“Yes you did, Granny.” Carrot Top leaned in to give the aged pony a hug. After being greeted so kindly by her the night before, it was the least she could do. “It’s nice to see you again, even if it wasn’t so long ago.” Carrot Top smiled at Granny as she broke the embrace. The young golden filly piped up excitedly as soon as Carrot Top and Granny had finished talking.

“Okay, Granny, we’re ready!” Granny Smith turned to the small filly and nodded her head in agreement. Not wanting to hold them up, Carrot Top decided not to ask where they were venturing and said goodbye to the three fillies and Granny. After returning the farewell, the elderly pony and the three young fillies walked through the snow and down towards the road leading back into Ponyville. As if planned by Big Mac himself, he walked out of the house just as the other four were out of sight.

“Hey there, Carrot.” Carrot Top turned around quickly, startled by the new voice.

“Hello, Macintosh!” She gave him a quick hug before he could give her any directions. After hugging back lightly, Big Mac began to explain the day ahead and where she would be planting.

“Okay, so, right now we’re at the main house. To the right is the chicken coop. We won’t be heading thataway, we’ll be going to the left, which is where the fallow fields are. That’s where you’ll be planting the new trees.” Carrot Top nodded to signify that she understood. “Okay, good. I got the apple seeds in the barn. I’ll walk you to the planting area now so you can start doing whatever it is that you do to the soil.” Carrot Top nodded yet again and gestured for him to proceed. He led her through the corn fields which grew so high that, once they had entered, she couldn’t see anything else around them. The walk through the corn took around five minutes and from there the fallow fields were a short distance away. Once they had arrived, Carrot Top found a small shovel lying at the eastern end of the field.

“See the shovel? That’s where you start. I don’t expect you to plant too much in the next few hours as I don’t know how long it takes you to do your trick. Just go ahead and get started and I’ll be back with the seeds. Then I’ll go and get to bucking.” With that, Big Mac left the way they had come. Carrot Top trotted over to the shovel, slightly covered in snow, and picked it up with her mouth. After brushing snow away from the place where she planned to begin, she went to work.

Big Mac returned with the bag of seeds faster than Carrot Top had expected. By the time he showed up she had dug seven small holes evenly spaced out between each other. They were spaced far enough apart so that the maturing trees wouldn’t grow into each other, but close enough so a worker wouldn’t be worn out from walking between each of them. Carrot Top looked up at Big Mac as she heard the crunching of the snow under his hooves. He surveyed the progress she had made so far and looked at her in surprise.

“Seven holes? Already? Isn’t the ground a bit hard from the cold?” He cocked his head at the fellow earth pony.

“Well, since it only began snowing two nights ago it wasn’t as hard as I expected. I’m also an earth pony, so it just came naturally.” She and Big Mac both chuckled at the quite horrible pun. A short silence fell after they stopped laughing, but Big Mac was quick to speak to avoid an awkward silence.

“So, I have the seeds here. Go ahead and start planting and I’ll go ahead and get to bucking.” Big Mac set the bag down with a loud thud. He looked up at Carrot Top, smiled, and went to walk back to the trees he had to buck. Just before he was out of ear shot, Carrot Top called his name.

“Macintosh!” She called to him, hoping he would hear. He turned and looked towards her.

“Eeyup?” Carrot Top shuffled her hoofs nervously. She, for some reason, felt nervous about inviting him, as if she had to perform perfectly or she would be embarrassed.

“Would… would you like to see the secret? I understand you have a lot of work and I understand if you can’t. I was just wondering if you wouldn’t mind, that maybe you could watch.” She bit her lip, waiting for his answer.

“Eeyup.” With that simple phrase, he turned around yet again and walked back to Carrot Top. Once he was close enough, she began to speak.

“Okay, first of all, I want you to know that the secret is quite… different. It isn’t something you usually see.” She looked to him, waiting for a response. Big Mac simply nodded his head, letting her know that he understood and she could continue.

“Right. The first thing I do is I take the shovel and dig deeper down.” She took hold of the tool and dug it into the hole nearest to her. Using the tip of the shovel, she pressed down and then lifted the shovel back up at an angle, being sure to catch as much of the moist soil as possible on the blade. After doing this a few times, she revealed the rest of the trick. “Now here comes the weird part. Each member of the Carrot family has a very special type of molecule in their saliva. This molecule just so happens to increase the growth rate of plants and vegetables. It also makes the food that comes out much more desirable and flavorful.” Before Carrot Top could even show Big Mac, he began to ask questions.

“Wait, so, by just spitting into the soil, it makes the plants grow better?” he looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Well, yes, when you say it that way.”

“Now, I don’t mean to sound rude, but that means there’s no skill to your growing?” Carrot Top took offence at first, but then realized that he indeed wasn’t being rude, more like confused.

“No! Of course there is. It’s all about spacing, and proper watering, and so much more. We can just grow them faster and better. We could easily grow anything without our special ability, but we might as well use our special gift.” She could tell he had many more questions, but decided she should finish her display before he asked anything else. “Let me show you everything first, it will make more sense then.” Without waiting for him to approve, she resumed her work. Without any grace or warning, she spat into the fresh soil and began mixing the two substances into one. Once she had spread her saliva thoroughly through the soil pile, she reached out her hoof and asked for a seed. Big Mac politely tossed her the seed, completely missing her hoof. At first, she chuckled and asked for another, but then she realized where the seed had landed. She looked down to find it lying perfectly in the center of the hole. “Very impressive,” she said with a giggle. Big Mac simply nodded, allowing Carrot Top to finish the process. She pressed the seed deep into the soil at the bottom of the hole and then shoveled the soil-and-spit mixture on top of it, filling in the hole with a mixture of dirt and snow. With a final tap of her hoof, she stood back up on her four legs and smiled at Big Mac.

“That’s it?” Big Mac sounded more doubtful than questioning.

Despite the fact that she would be getting it dirty again very soon, Carrot Top brushed the dirt off her shovel as she spoke. “Yup. Now we just keep watering it, and caring for it, as if it wasn’t even winter.”

“And you’re sure this is going to work out?” Despite the fact that Big Mac trusted her, he was still very wary.

“Yes I am, Macintosh.” She gave him a sarcastic glare. “You know you can trust me, when have I ever let you down?” Big Mac chuckled at that, teasingly reminding her of the one time she had.

“Well, how about senior year, when I asked you to prom?” Carrot Top quickly blushed, but chortled at the joking remark. She vividly remembered Big Mac making a big deal about asking her, despite the fact that barely anypony had known about them being together. He had asked her during a school assembly in front of the entire school.

After Big Macintosh eagerly asked her to be his date, Carrot Top was so embarrassed with everypony’s eyes on her that she couldn’t say a word. After an awkward silence that lasted over a minute, Big Mac turned and solemnly walked down the steps. She had no idea how to respond to the events that had unfolded and had trotted as quickly as she could out of the crowded hall. She couldn’t find where Big Mac had gone, and when she went to Sweet Apple Acres he was nowhere to be found. She thought she had lost him forever. The only stallion who had ever taken a genuine interest in her. THE stallion. The stallion that every mare in town wanted had picked her, and she had just let him go. She walked aimlessly around Ponyville for hours, feeling as if her life was over. She had no idea where she was, she had just lost her boyfriend, and they were both going to be the laughing stock of Ponyville High the next day.

She kept walking and eventually ended up in the center of Ponyville Park. She didn’t know how she got there or where she would go, but shrugged and simply continued walking. After five minutes, she could hear trickling water, like the sound of a very small waterfall. It was very relaxing and she felt a strong urge to find the water. With little passion left inside, Carrot Top trudged over towards the source.

Among the myriad of feelings rushing through her, three were prominent. She was hungry, she was sad, and she was tired. The assembly was before their lunch break, and she had fled halfway through it; only the small breakfast she ate before arriving at school was sustaining her. Big Mac was nowhere to be found and for all she knew, Big Mac might never want to speak to her again. On top of it all, walking all day had made her very tired and impaired her thinking dramatically, and she began to make impulsive decisions that could end up hurting her. The sound of the running water had grown stronger as Carrot Top approached a heavy bush. At first it seemed just like a singly tall bush, but further inspection revealed that several had grown together to form a large, natural barrier. The soothing sound was coming from behind the tall obstacle. By this point, she felt like she literally had no strength. It was a burden to simply hold her own weight, and almost unbearable to walk. The opportunity to finally rest, however, gave her one last ounce of strength. With a roll of the eyes and an exhalation of breath, she backed up in preparation to jump through the barrier. Steadying herself, she pushed off the ground and dashed forwards.

*Bam!*

Just as she prepared for impact with the bushes, a red stallion appeared in the exact space she planned on breaking through. At first, Carrot Top was thoroughly dazed. The colors around her were distorted and she felt as if she was looking through a very blurry kaleidoscope. Then she noticed the strident ringing in her ears. A bomb could have gone off and she wouldn’t have heard a thing over the intense sound that seemed to go everywhere and come from nowhere. Her vision went black for just a second, and then it all stopped. The colors of the world returned to their normal shades, and she could once again hear everything around her. The pain retreated as well. Wanting to find out what, or who she had hit on the way into the enclosure, she looked down at a red stallion. Not just any red stallion, her red stallion. Immediately, she jumped off him. Once she felt stable enough, Carrot Top lifted her hoof out to help the red workhorse up. As she assisted him up, she could see that his eyes were bloodshot, most likely from crying or lack of sleep. Or both, she thought. She couldn’t think of what to do first. Half of her wanted to beg for forgiveness and that she was so very sorry, and the other half of her wanted his embrace more than anything and wanted to know that he still loved her. Unable to decide between the two, Carrot Top expressed both as she flung her forelegs around Big Mac, crying and pleading for forgiveness.

“Macintosh, I am so sorry I did this to you. I was so confused and I didn’t know what to do and everypony was looking at me and I just froze. I love you so much and of course I want to go to prom with you!” Her voice quickly became unintelligible between her crying and fits of laughter. Carrot Top felt so happy to have found him, yet so sad that she may have wounded him too deeply. She broke the embrace and looked into his eyes. Big Mac, still in a daze from being flattened by Carrot Top, simply nodded his head. It was all Carrot Top needed. She reached out and embraced him again, this time with more love and affection and less desperation. “I love you, Macintosh.” This time, it was Big Mac’s turn to break the embrace. He looked into her eyes, his warm gaze letting her know he accepted her apology, and her tearful one letting him know she would never let go of him again. Completely by instinct, he pulled her in for a kiss.

They had kissed many times before, but this one felt different to Carrot Top. This kiss was a kiss of relief, and a kiss to end suffering. This kiss meant that everything would be alright and that everything Carrot Top had done to hurt him would be forgiven. This one kiss let her know that, no matter what, they would always be together. After they had broken the kiss, they both sat down in the privacy of the hidden area, surrounded by the bushy barrier. Inside the hideaway was a small, slow-flowing stream that poured out into a very small lake. No, not a lake. More of a puddle, but contained and much nicer. It was serene here; closed off from the world around them, even if it was late at night. In quiet tones Big Mac told her how he sought solitude here whenever he had to think about things, and about how he went here whenever everything else seemed to go wrong. Carrot Top lay against him, her head on his chest, listening to the stories he told with such vivid detail. The night had been transformed from a horrible, tiring night into a wonderful, peaceful one. At some point, she drifted off to sleep and woke several hours later in the same position, her head pressed against Big Mac’s slowly rising and falling chest.

As she began to take in her surroundings in a new light, she glanced up to find Big Mac staring lovingly back at her. It was as if he hadn’t even slept, as if he spent the whole night guarding over her. Despite the fact that she would be late for school today, and in trouble for ditching it yesterday, she didn’t want to end the moment. She wanted to stay there forever and never, ever leave.

Carrot Top chuckled fondly at the memory and looked over at Big Mac. “Well, I won’t this time.” Big Mac simply nodded his head. “Before you go, I just wanted to ask you something.” She shuffled a hoof nervously as she spoke. “That spot we were at, in the middle of the park. Do… do you ever go there still? Like, to clear your head? I understand if you would rather not answer, I just thought I would ask given that the spot was so important to us.” Big Mac stood and thought for only a second.

“It still is important to me.” He didn’t answer her question directly, but Carrot Top understood.

The past week had been exhausting for Carrot Top. Throughout it she had planted and grown thirty trees to perfect health. She spent most of the time watering each one, as her special ability had one flaw: the plants would need extra water every other hour. Besides that, the week had gone by smoothly for Carrot Top. She couldn’t say the same for Big Mac, however. He said that he was perfectly fine, but each day he seemed to look more and more tired. She could swear that he even lost some muscle mass, as by the end of the week he seemed significantly smaller. Carrot Top told him that he should take the last day of the week off and that he had already bucked plenty of apples, but he refused to listen. I hope he’s okay, thought Carrot Top. Throughout the week, her friends had gradually found out that she was going the farm every day. Derpy happened to see her on the way there on Tuesday, and then Bon-Bon saw the same on Wednesday. When they inevitably asked her where she had been heading Carrot Top knew she couldn’t avoid telling them where she had been going. She told them she had been visiting the farm every day to keep Big Mac company and to make sure he was getting enough rest. Luckily for Carrot Top, this excuse was plausible enough that they didn’t question her further. Besides the few run-ins with her friends, and the fact that Big Mac appeared not to be getting enough rest, the week went by exactly as planned; the trees grew in five days and bore fruit on the sixth. Big Mac was bucking at such a pace that there was an excess of apples to hand out, not that the mayor had any problem with that. Carrot Top sighed deeply, finally realizing that she could relax for a while now. She didn’t have to get up tomorrow to go to the farm, and everypony would be busy with apple distribution. She would finally get to tend to her garden once again. Carrot Top closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep, all the while anticipating the coming day.

*Bam!*

Carrot Top jerked upright at the unmistakable sound of a door slamming open. Immediately, she thought the worst. I’m being robbed! She was so shocked that at first she didn’t move a muscle. She never locked her door because there was virtually no crime in Ponyville, but she immediately regretted the decision. The sound of hooves galloping to her room halted her thoughts. She jumped out of bed, prepared for a fight. Carrot Top screamed at first, but then immediately cut off the sound as soon as she saw the two ponies who burst into her room.

“Lyra? Bon-Bon? What th-”

“Yes, it’s us. We have some bad news that we need to tell you right now.” Bon-Bon cut Carrot Top off in a rushed voice. Carrot Top simply stared back at Bon-Bon, still shocked about what was going on. Bon-Bon waited for her to respond with a yes, or even a simple nod of the head.

“What are you two doing, busting into my home at… what does that clock say? Four in the morning?”

“Carrot Top yo-” Now, it was Carrot Top’s turn to cut off Bon-Bon.

“No! There is no reason for you two to break in! You could have knocked, or waited until tomorrow! Heck, throw pebbles at my window for crying out loud! You two scared the living sh-”

“Carrot Top!” Now it was Lyra who interrupted Carrot Top. What followed her outburst was silence. There was not a sound for a good two minutes, before Lyra spoke up again in a much less excited tone.

“Big Mac was found dead.”