Carrot Top Season

Chapters

Carrot Top and the Flim Flam brothers
Carrot Top and the Ponyville farmers
Carrot Top and Berry Punch
Carrot Top and Apple Bloom
Carrot Top and Granny Smith
Carrot Top and the Elements of Harmony
Applejack and Resplendent Orange (bonus)
Carrot Top and her opponents (1)
Carrot Top and her opponents (2)
Carrot Top and Applejack
Carrot Top and Trixie Lulamoon
Carrot Top and Apple Grove

Carrot Top and the Flim Flam brothers

Carrot Top sighed and went back to her table. Applejack was probably going to tell all the other ponies in the village how Carrot Top was trying to take money out of their town’s pocket. That would probably put a dip in her sales, which in turn would mean she’d no longer be on track to save up enough to overhaul her irrigation system by the end of the year like she’d been hoping. Well, she could just keep using her old well, it at least worked and could provide enough water…

The doorbell rang.

“What?” Carrot Top went back to the door. “I’m sorry, but I’m kind of busy, right now. Could you come back--”

“Oh, don’t’ worry about that!” The voice was completely unfamiliar. “For we have exactly what you need!”

“Unless what you have is advice on how to win a farming competition, I--”

“Perfect! That is exactly what we have!”

Puzzled, Carrot Top opened the door to see two tan ponies with striped shirts, hats, and goofy smiles. The one on the right had a thick red mustache.

“Who are you?”

The two smiled.

“He’s Flim!”

“He’s Flam!”

“We’re the world-famous Flim Flam brothers!”

“…what?” asked Carrot Top.

“And we’re traveling consultant ponies nonpareil!”

“Consultants?”

Carrot Top had cleared off part of her table and given Flim and Flam seats. They had both accepted her offer of carrot juice and had then begun inspecting the recipes that she’d left on the other end of the table.

“Yes, consultants! Experts who can give you all the information you need to win your farming competition and take home first prize!” said Flim.
“Trained and experienced gurus with an intimate knowledge of everything from the newest cooking techniques straight from Canterlot to which spices will make the judges stand up and cheer!” continued Flam.

“Every year we go through the farm competition entrants and look for the farms that show the most promise and just need that little spark to push them over the top!”

“And we decided that our first candidate, this year, is you! You have great produce and enormous potential!”

The two began to speak in unison. “So, will you let us help you win the grand prize!”

“First of all,” said Carrot Top, who was unmoved by the flattery and somewhat offended by the offer, “I don’t need help. My carrots can stack up just fine against any other pony’s produce.”

“But good ingredients alone won’t get you a victory!” said Flim. “The recipes must also be perfect!”

“And the cooking techniques sublime,” added Flam.

“My recipes and my cooking skills are both fine,” said Carrot Top, now thoroughly annoyed. While her food didn’t sell nearly as well as that of the Apple family, she did still sell a decent amount of prepared products such as carrot cakes, carrot juice, and the carrot-and-raisin salads that Green Grape had recommended. According to her customers, she was doing a great job.

Flim and Flam looked at each other, and then Flam took a photo album out of his saddlebag. “Why don’t we look through a few of the winning entrees from last year?”

Intrigued despite herself, Carrot Top leaned forward to look.

The first dish looked more like an intricate sculpture than something edible. “This one was relatively simple,” said Flam. “It was made by the United Cucumber Growers, as you can probably tell. They slow roasted the cucumbers, peeled the skins, and mixed the skins into a delicate glaze.”

“That glaze contained fifteen ingredients,” commented Flim. “Each and every one of them absolutely crucial.”

“Fifteen?” Carrot Top didn’t think she made anything with fifteen ingredients, let alone fifteen just in the sauce.

“They also made a cucumber-radish foam on the side there.”

“Wait, what? Cucumber foam?” Carrot Top wasn’t even sure that was a real thing.

Flam ignored her and continued. “Now the next one here is a little more characteristic of winning dishes.” It was a riot of colors, looking kind of like a farmer’s market had exploded on a plate. “The Onion League did this one. Each one of those vegetables, and there’s at least twelve in the dish, had to be cooked separately in its own particular way and then added together to make the final product.”

“Furthermore,” said Flim, “Each one had to be cooked in a just slightly deficient way, to let the onions show through. The carrots, as I remember, were a touch too sweet, and needed the onion’s bite. The mushrooms were too tender and needed the crunch.”

“But… but that doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t that make the dish taste worse?”

“In less experienced hands, but the dish was plated so perfectly that the onions practically stuck to the other vegetables. You had to be trying in order to take a bite without an onion correcting the other ingredients. Every single mouthful was thus a testament to how great and powerful the onion was and how necessary it was to fix the other vegetables. Incredible victory.”

Carrot Top blinked. “Uh.”

“A carrot dish won last year too. See, they braised the carrots in a sweet broth which included persimmons and jackfruit, glazed them in a maple-honey reduction, and then gently cooked them until they were almost ready to fall apart. Melt-in-your-mouth quality, there.”

“Another group tried to do the same thing, but the carrots fell apart. They had to withdraw from the competition.” Flim sighed. “Sad, really. But then again, there’s only a few ponies in all Equestria who can cook like this”

Carrot Top looked at the photo, which showed a quartet of carrots that almost glowed from their sweet glazes. They looked so incredibly delicious that she was tempted to lick the photo itself. And then she looked at her carrot-and-raisin salad recipe, which also had a photo, of the carrots, raisins, and salad haphazardly dumped into a bowl together.

I don’t have a chance. I thought it was just about the produce, but if everypony else is doing all these crazy fancy recipes…

“It’s not that you’re a bad cook,” said Flam, smiling widely, “But you just haven’t had experience in this type of thing!”

“Fortunately, we have. We know quite a bit about fine dining, and we’re prepared to sell you our knowledge!”

Despite her shock at seeing what she’d have to compete against, Carrot Top was a better businesspony than to just blindly trust two total strangers who showed up from nowhere offering a solution to all her problems. “Okay, let’s say I’m interested. I need more details. First of all, how much would your help cost?”

“We’ll just split your winnings seventy-five, twenty-five,” said Flim. “It’s an incredible deal!”

“Wait, who gets the seventy-five?”

“You, of course,” answered Flam. “After all, you’ll be doing all the cooking and competing! But in exchange for our giving you the knowledge and training you need to win, a fourth of the pot is really quite reasonable”

A fourth of the grand prize was a very large sum of money. Then again, three-fourths was even larger. “And, if I don’t win anything—“

“Then there’d be no charge, of course, since you wouldn’t have benefited from our advice,” said Flam. “But why worry about that? We can practically guarantee you a placement in the top five, which means a nice bag of bits to take home.”

Assuming they were telling the truth, that was one issue solved, but Carrot Top still had another concern with the offer. “Okay, that sounds fair, but how do I know you’ve really got the skills you’re talking about? I’ve never seen you cook, and, no offense, but--”

“A perfectly reasonable question, my mare!” said Flim.

“We couldn’t very well ask you to just trust us,” said Flam. “Why, for all you know we might be scam artists!”

“Or agents of the Apples, sent here to give you bad advice!”

“Well, I don’t think they’d go quite that far,” said Carrot Top. Applejack was a jerk, but she wasn’t a cheater.

“So here’s a special deal we’ll make with you!” said Flam, as if he hadn’t heard her. “We’ll give you one day of training absolutely free! You like what you learn, you’ll agree to our terms. If not, we’ll leave. No hard feelings.”

It sounded like a fair deal – a reasonable price with a free trial period. That just left one final question. “Then I guess what I’m wondering is, why me?” Carrot Top paused. “You have to know the Apples could pay you more.”

“Ah, but the Apples don’t need us. They place every year,” said Flim. “We’d rather make a little less money and help a struggling, smaller farm, than make more helping a rich farm who doesn’t need our help… or the prize money either.”

“We’re not greedy,” finished Flam. “We support the small farmer, the common pony.”

Okay, that has to be a naked attempt to manipulate me, thought Carrot Top. It was too obviously geared towards winning her sympathy to be anything else. But then again, Carrot Top was annoyed when other ponies assumed that her generosity just masked some hidden motive. If the Flim Flam brothers really were just who they said they were, and really did honestly want to help a smaller farm win, it would be incredibly rude to try to pick apart their motives.

“And… this wouldn’t be against the competition rules, would it? I mean, you’re not actually part of my farm. I’m not sure I can take your help.”

“No other team has a problem with it,” said Flim. “Look at the Apple Trust.”

“They’re always hiring help. They hire scouts to learn everything there is to know about the judges.”

“They hire chefs from Canterlot to train them in preparing the latest dishes.”

“Don’t forget when they paid that unicorn two years ago to enchant their apples to be even sweeter than they usually are. They say it was the best apple pie anypony had ever tasted!” Flam sighed. “I heard that Princess Luna herself ordered three helpings.”

Carrot Top scowled. She knew the Apple Trust had money to burn, but at some point it was just ridiculous.

“Yes, it really is unfair!” said Flim, seeming to notice her expression. “We’d be evening the odds for you.”

Carrot Top didn’t know what to do. It seemed like a perfectly fair business deal, and she was now realizing that she really would need help from somepony to have a hope of competing against food that was foamed or flambed or deconstructed, whatever the Hay that meant. But it still felt just a bit too good to be true. Besides, the unicorns seemed so… eager. Realistically, if Carrot Top said ‘no,’ the Flim Flam brothers would be able to go to another small farm in the competition and try again. But they seemed to be fixated on getting her specifically to hire them.

Then again, maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe she really had lucked into a couple of helpful advisors who would support her and teach her what she needed to know. It wasn’t impossible, and it would be horribly wrong to throw them out if they were indeed telling the truth.

“I guess… I guess we can start with that ‘first day free’ thing,” said Carrot Top, projecting a note of confidence into her voice.

“Splendid!” Flim leapt to his hooves and withdrew a small bag of bits from his saddlebag. “If you’ll just sell us a few carrots, we can whip up a dish or two and show you what we’ve got tomorrow. I think you’ll love them.”

“I know you will,” added Flam.

“Oh, and take this,” said Flim, producing a large binder. “Recipes and notes on the judges. Again, just a small sample of what we can teach you!”

Carrot Top set the binder down and made the carrot sale. “Here you go.”

“See you tomorrow, then,” called Flim, as they both began to head for the door.

“Have a good night’s sleep!” said Flam.

“And get ready to be a winner!” they both cried as they exited.

The rest of Carrot Top’s evening was relatively uneventful.

Trixie wasn’t home, so Carrot Top left a message with Pokey Pierce to look into the Flim Flam brothers, just in case they were known scam artists or something like that. She also asked that Trixie come see her tomorrow. If she was serious about helping her with this competition, they needed to figure out what she could actually do. The showmare’s default ways of ‘helping’ were usually to use magic or sarcasm, and neither of those were likely to impress the judges.

She then visited the bank to withdraw enough money to ship a batch of carrots to Canterlot for the spa contract, and then a few other shops to get some supplies she’d need for the week. As usual, she ran out of money just before reaching the end of her list.

I still don’t know if I trust those stallions, but honestly, I could really use that reward money… and to get it, I think I need their help.

Back to the farm to complete the chores for the day – harvesting, watering, and a little bit of basic maintenance while she still had the energy. The irrigation system was falling apart due to not having been serviced in far too long, so she wrenched a half hour out of other tasks and tried to fix one of the collapsed pipes. She managed to get a trickle of water flowing, which was at least progress, but not nearly enough for what she needed. She also fixed a few new fence posts into the gap in her fence. It didn’t entirely plug the gap, but it at least began to close it. That was something.

And then the day was over, and Carrot Top was lying on her couch. She looked up at the ceiling.

I need a vacation.

She sighed, wondering bitterly how the Apples were spending their evening. They had enough farmhands and money that they could enjoy a happy, warm dinner together. They weren’t so pressed for time that they had to just scarf a couple of raw carrots in the field before resuming chores, after all. And now that dinner was over, Applejack was probably reading Apple Bloom a story while Big Macintosh rested by the fireplace, and maybe later they’d have a campout in the apple orchards with marshmallows and s’mores. Meanwhile, Carrot Top would be lucky if she found the strength to drag herself to bed.

Her gaze fell upon her table and the binder that the Flim Flam brothers had left her. She reached out and managed to grab it. If nothing else, it would probably be interesting to read.

“Chapter 1,” she read, opening the book. “Competition format.”

Well, a refresher on that would probably be a good idea, no matter what else happened. Carrot Top propped herself up and began to read.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

“Huh?” Carrot Top yawned and opened her eyes. “What happened?”

She was still on her couch, which confused her for a moment, before she realized that she’d fallen asleep reading. The binder was lying on her chest, open to a recipe for something called carrot foam, which was apparently all the rage in Canterlot.

“That doesn’t look bad, actually,” mused Carrot Top. She wasn’t much for really fancy food, especially as she could never afford it, but if she understood the recipe correctly, the carrot foam seemed like it could be a useful ingredient. Something light and fluffy, tasting of carrot but without the crunch, to accompany dishes with a pronounced texture but no carrot taste.

The recipes had fascinated Carrot Top – things like foams and gels and aerosols, and also more traditional dishes using ridiculous techniques, or unusual ingredients that she only knew about from her extensive knowledge of Equestria’s flora. Persimmons from Neighpon, sumac from Chenneigh, even a special tea leaf from Trottingham that was used to make a sweet carrot soup.

“Infuse the broth with two teaspoons of Trottingham Special Herb Tea and allow to simmer for one-half hour,” the book had said. “The resulting broth will make for a spectacular carrot soup with an aroma and sweetness far superior to conventional methods.”

And then there were the sections on the judges. Flim and Flam hadn’t been lying when they said their knowledge would be useful; the book was practically a guidebook for how to win the competition. The first round of judging, for instance, used fifty ponies, and each dish was judged by three of the fifty. Of those judges, thirty loved foams and aerosols. Twenty liked when carrots were paired with sweeter fruits. Forty always rejected any dish involving deep frying. Carrot Top could hardly imagine more useful information.

The doorbell rang, startling Carrot Top from her thoughts. “Hello? Who’s there?”

“It’s us!” It was Flim’s voice. “Ready to start the day? We’ve got lots to do!”

Carrot Top rolled off the couch and bumped her head on the table. Groaning, she managed to get over to the door. “Lots to do?” she repeated, letting the unicorns inside.

Flam pushed a large wagon through the door. “Indeed! If you’re going to win this thing, you need to know how to use all kinds of incredible ingredients to highlight the carrots of your farm!”

“Spectacular spices to bring out the best aroma and flavor!”

“Sublime sides to accentuate the weight and texture!”

Carrot Top’s eyes widened as the two unicorns began to unpack the wagon. Most of the ingredients she’d only seen in books or in the binder, and a few she’d never seen at all. “Where are these from?” she managed, looking at a small and spiky red fruit.

“The rambutan? Oh, those are from the eastern provinces,” said Flim.

“And this?”

“That jackfruit’s from just outside Neighjon.”

“Well, I think the first step is to see what you can do,” said Flam. “Right, brother of mine?”

“Just what I was thinking! Cook us a dish or two! Show us what you’ve got, Carrot Top!”

“Wait.” Carrot Top frowned as she looked through the ingredients. “Where in Equestria did you get all these ingredients?” She wondered if she was going to get stuck with the bill.

For a moment, Carrot Top thought that the two unicorns looked unsure But then Flam said, “We’re very familiar with the fine dining world. We have connections! If we ask an old friend or comrade for a half-dozen rambutans or a couple jars of spice, they can deliver.” The two smiled widely.

“…right… but…”

“Really, you should get going. We only have seven days, counting today, and every minute counts if you’re going to overtake the Trust,” said Flim.

They had a point. She needed their help to win, she knew that now, and she would need to actually start if she was going to benefit from their advice.

She grabbed the binder, turned to the first page of the foam recipe, and began.

Carrot Top had a blast.

Her first foam attempt was a disaster, but then Flam began to coach her, and she improved very quickly. He had a remarkably easy-to-understand style of teaching, and after a few tries, she could produce a good carrot foam. And after the foam came other recipes and techniques, each one showing off a new way to make carrots taste great.

They also worked on utilizing rare and exotic ingredients, even those normally thought of as dangerous or weeds. Take Farmslayer, for example. This was a small red and blue flower that could drain the flavor out of any edible plant. The resulting produce would look perfect, but would taste of nothingness. Carrot Top knew how to cure a Farmslayer infestation, thanks to having read an ancient herbology book a while back, but she hadn’t thought of how to use them in cooking. Flam showed her, though, how Farmslayer could drain the taste of one ingredient with a good texture (like a cracker), and then another ingredient with great text but no texture (like a spread or jam) could be added to it. The possible combinations allowed for many novel and delicious dishes, and Carrot Top wouldn’t have thought of one of them without the Flim Flam brothers.

And the study was all so fulfilling! Carrot Top was learning all kinds of ideas for new ways to make carrots taste delicious. Her customers would be thrilled when she began incorporating these techniques into the snacks they bought. Even Trixie, with notoriously eclectic tastes, would delight in Carrot Top’s new products. And maybe, just maybe, she could start taking a bite out of the Apples’ monopoly on Ponyville produce. What could an apple pie do against a honey-maple-persimmon glazed carrot?

“You guys were a huge help,” she said, as she and the brothers relaxed with large glasses of carrot juice. “I wouldn’t even have known any of those dishes existed without you.”

“Splendid,” said Flam. “Does that mean you’d like us to work under the conditions we agreed on yesterday?”

“One week of training for one-fourth of your winnings,” said Flim. “No strings attached.”

Carrot Top smiled. How could she turn them down now? She’d been skeptical, but they’d proven themselves all day. She’d gladly hire them. “I—“

Somepony began pounding on her door.

“Carrot Top! Carrot Top, open up!” It was Trixie. “Got something really urgent to tell you!”

“I’ll be right back,” said Carrot Top, hurrying to the door. She opened it. “Trixie, what’s going on?”

Trixie was smirking. Carrot Top felt her stomach sink; that was never a good sign. “Pokey did give me your message.”

“About… oh, the consultants? I was overreacting. Sorry to bother you—“

“No, you weren’t.” She grinned as she entered. “I did some digging. As it turns out, they bought donuts at the Sugar Cube today! And they paid with this!”

Trixie held out what looked like a perfectly ordinary bit.

Carrot Top examined it. “Uh—“

“Ah, I see you see it too!”

Carrot Top stared at her blankly. Trixie, moving so that Carrot Top was standing between her and the two stallions, quickly winked at her. Carrot Top frowned, but decided to play along, if only to figure out what Trixie was getting at. Besides, they had all doubted Trixie the last time she’d acted like this, and their friend Lyra had almost suffered horribly for it. “…yes. Yes, I see it.”

“What’s going on?” demanded Flam. “What are you talking about?”

“Every bit minted in Equestria is stamped with the mint location,” said Trixie. “Now, most bits in Ponyville come from one of the two Canterlot mints. But the money they spent at the Cube doesn’t have the stamps from either of those mints.”

Carrot Top examined the bit closely. ‘CAN 1,’ was printed at the bottom. What was Trixie talking about? Was this some sort of bluff?

Trixie leapt on top of Carrot Top’s counter, scattering a few papers. “It comes… from the mint located at Duke Greengrass’s fiefdom! They’re working for him!”

Carrot Top gasped. Greengrass was a young and ambitious member of the Night Court who was trying to force the Elements into his service. He had already tried to get Lyra, the Element of Loyalty, and had only barely failed. If he was back, that was a big problem.

“That’s absurd!” said Flam. “I’ve never heard of this ‘Greengrass’!”

“That bit could have wound up in our change in hundreds of ways,” said Flim. “We just came from Canterlot. Bits from all over Equestria circulate there. We probably got that one as change!”

“True,” said Trixie. “I guess that’s possible. Well, then, if you’d be so kind as to show me your bit bag?”

“What?” the two stallions asked together.

“Let’s see your bits. If the rest were minted in Canterlot, then you just got that one as change. But if they’re all from the Duke’s territory…”

“We don’t have to show you our money!” said Flam. “This is absurd!”

Carrot Top thought as quickly as she could. Trixie probably had information from somewhere, and while she could be paranoid, she’d been right the last time. Besides, Trixie was her friend, and Carrot Top was generous. She could give the showmare a little trust. “Would it really hurt to just look at a hoofful?” she asked. “It would set my mind at ease.”

“Uh,” said Flim, looking very much like a foal with a hoof in the cookie jar. “Do we have to?”

Trixie smirked.

“We have nothing to hide, and… and…” but Flam noticed that Flim seemed to have gone an odd shade of white. He sighed, giving up the bluff. “Flim, you idiot!”

“So you are with the Duke,” said Carrot Top.

“Now, wait a minute,” said Flam, recovering some of his peppy attitude. “Maybe we’ve talked a little with Greengrass, but that doesn’t mean anything we told you was untrue!”

“We help you win for a quarter of the winnings. No need to sign on with anypony you don’t want to,” said Flim.

“But all this stuff,” said Carrot Top, pointing at the ingredients. “That was his money, right?”

“Uh…” they said as one.

Carrot Top shook her head.

“Hang on,” said Flim. “Don’t you want to win? You know you can’t beat the Apple Trust alone. Whatever you want to say about our motives, you have to see how useful we can be.”

“You don’t have the money to hire an expert to tutor you, and we know far more about this kind of thing than any of your friends. Our knowledge is literally irreplaceable,” added Flam.

“Besides, the Apples would do it, if your places were reversed. Why give them an advantage that they wouldn’t give you?”

“And, if you want to sign on with Greengrass later, great, but it’s not required at all!” Flam grinned. “Like we said, you can just walk away at the end.”

“So what do you say?” they both asked. “Willing to let us train you and help you win?”

Carrot Top paused for just a moment. She did want to win; she wanted it badly. She wanted to beat the Trust. She wanted official tasting judges to declare to the world that her food was delicious, not just something to eat if the Apples sold out of food for the day. She wanted the prize money because it would help her out so badly. She needed it, and not in the sense that the Apple Trust needed to increase their third-quarter profits. She actually needed it. And Flim and Flam could help her get it. Whatever their motives, they knew how to cook.

But Greengrass had tried to hurt Lyra. He had hurt Lyra, by corrupting her mentor and friend. Carrot Top couldn’t support him, no matter what.

It doesn’t matter that the Apples would take their help, she thought, I’m not an Apple. I couldn’t win knowing I’d worked with the stallion who tried to ruin my friends’ lives. It’s not who I am.

“No,” said Carrot Top. “You can take your recipes and ingredients and all that stuff away. I won’t accept help from Duke Greengrass.”

“We’d be ashamed to win with his help,” added Trixie. “Go on, get out of here.”

The two unicorns looked at each other, paused, and then cast a spell together. The ingredients and recipe binder floated into the wagon. Flim and Flam grabbed it and began to leave, but Flam paused as he passed through the door. “You know, we could help some other team. We could ensure your loss instead of your victory.”

“I could ensure your being bucked into the Everfree if you don’t get out,” snapped Trixie, and the stallions left in a hurry

Once they were gone, Trixie chuckled. “Heh. They actually believed that story about the money. As if Greengrass would be dumb enough to give them money that could be linked back to him.” She smiled. “Fortunately, those two aren’t that bright.”

“How’d you really find out about them?”

“Source from Canterlot,” said Trixie.

Carrot Top figured that Trixie wouldn’t tell her more. Besides, she had more important things to think about. “It’s too bad. For a moment there I thought I had a chance.” She chuckled ruefully. “The Apples probably have half a dozen experts helping them by now. Sometimes I think I’m too generous. I just gave away my hope of winning this thing...”

Trixie missed the pain in her voice. “Those idiots probably wouldn’t have been much help anyway. What would a couple of political hacks like them know about cooking?”

“A lot, actually. Recipes, and tips on impressing the judges… they even brought in a bunch of ingredients. I mean, all I have is carrots. What chance do I have against these teams that can buy all this exotic stuff?”

“We can go to Canterlot. Get some supplies to bring back.”

“I don’t have the money for it. All my bits are tied up in business stuff right now.” Carrot Top paused. “If this were happening in a month, I’d probably be able to do that, but what with this new business deal I’ve got going…”

“So get a loan.”

“No bank is going to give me money that I can only pay back if I win a competition.”

“Okay, then ask the other farmers for a loan. They know you’re good, right? So they know you have a shot at winning.”

“They don’t have that many bits on hoof either.”

Carrot Top and Trixie fell silent. Carrot Top sighed. She’d like to get the other farmers involved, but they didn’t have the money to help her buy ingredients. Even if she settled for just having local ingredients to incorporate into her dishes -- forgetting the exotic and rare stuff -- she couldn’t even pay the other farmers for their produce.

Wait a minute. What if…

“Trixie, that’s it! That’s a brilliant idea!”

“My only kind,” chuckled Trixie. “But… uh… what idea, exactly?”

“Can you help me contact the other farmers in town – except for the Apples – and have them meet me at the town hall in, say, two hours?”

“Uh, sure, and I can get Ditzy and Lyra on that too, but why—“

“Awesome. I know what we can do. I’ll beat the Apples and win this thing!” Carrot Top smiled. She knew it was a somewhat desperate plan, but she didn’t let that reach her voice. It was more of a plan than she’d had thirty seconds ago., at least “Let’s get going!”

“Congratulations,” hissed Flim. “What a brilliant plan. Truly remarkable. Going swimmingly, isn’t it?”

“Oh, shut up.”

The two were sitting outside of town, trying to figure out a new strategy. Neither had come up with anything.

“Greengrass does not tolerate failure. I told you this at least three times before we spoke with him,” griped Flim. “And now we’ve failed. I vote we spend the next week running as far as we can.”

“No. We’re the Flim Flam brothers. Two of the greatest grifters ever to grace this land. We aren’t going to run from a hick farmer and her idiot Night Court friend!” Flam scowled. “There’s got to be some way we can get her to sign on with Greengrass.”

“There had better be. We’ve spent too much of his money to come back empty-hooved.”

Flam ignored his brother. An idea had occurred to him. “Guilt didn’t work. How about shame and fear?”

“What?”

Flam grinned. “Yes, that’s it! I know how we can get that hick.”

“Mind filling me in?”

“Later, later. Right now we’ve too much to do. Which, incidentally, means we need to get started as soon as we can. The plants we need won’t pick themselves.”

He began to trot towards the train station. Flim followed.

“Aren’t ya comin’ in?” called Apple Bloom. “It’s getting’ late, an’ ya promised ya’d read ma a story.”

Applejack stared out at her field. “Gimme a sec, Apple Bloom. Ah gotta figure somethin’ out.”

“What?”

“Just makin’ sure we got a strategy. Nothin’ ya need ta worry over.”

“Alright, sis. See ya in a few.”

Applejack nodded, but kept staring at her orchards for another few minutes. And when she turned to go inside, it was with a single stream of thoughts.

I just don't understand it. She has to know she can't win. She has to know that all she can do is hurt us. And, I know it's just business, but after all the work we've put into the town, I'd have hoped she wouldn't just strike at us like some whiny foal. How can she not understand how important our work is, or how much the town needs us? The rest of the farmers get it. They know how much we've helped them. How many disasters we've helped clean up or prevent, how many lean years we made survivable with our crops. They know how much they owe us, even if I'd never actually call in that debt.

But then again... she'd thought that Carrot Top had 'gotten it' too. What if some of the others hadn't? What if they would work with Carrot Top to help her in the competition and hurt the Trust?

"Aw, come on. They're not gonna do that," she muttered. "They know they rely on us; they wouldn't hurt us."

But in business, it often paid to be cautious. After Apple Bloom’s story, it might be wise to check on the other farmers and see if Carrot Top had tried to recruit them. Just in case.

Carrot Top and the Ponyville farmers

“I call this meeting to order!”

Carrot Top was standing behind a podium in a small conference room at town hall. About twenty other pony farmers were crowded around the conference table, representing most of the major non-Apple farming groups in the area. Green Grape, who tended to wind up as the spokespony for these farmers, was sitting in front and looked attentive. Most of the farmers, in fact, looked interested in what Carrot Top was going to say. A few of the more sullen and disagreeable ones – Boxxy Brown and Red Onion in particular – were slouching near the back and appeared to be bored, but that was only to be expected.

The other Elements weren’t there. Raindrops had a late shift on the weather patrol; Cherilee had a late parent-teacher conference with Filthy Rich; Lyra and Bonbon already had plans, and so had Ditzy and Dinky. The latter four would probably have rescheduled and gone out to support Carrot Top had she pushed, but she wasn’t going to impose like that on them. Trixie had been available, but half the ponies in the room didn’t like the showmare, so Carrot Top had decided against inviting her.

But it’s alright, she told herself. This is a business proposal. It’s fair to all ponies involved and makes good business sense, so I should have no trouble getting them all to sign on. I just need to be confident and present it well, and…

But thoughts like that would have to wait. It was time to begin. “Alright,” said Carrot Top. “I’m here to present a proposal—“

“You’re here to beg for our help,” called out Red Onion. “Cause you just realized the Apples are gonna kick your flank from here to Stalliongrad!”

Carrot Top paused. “Uh, actually, no. I’d like to make a proposal that will, I think, be advantageous for all of us.”

Green Grape waved a hoof in a ‘go on’ gesture.

“All of us have farms that currently require infrastructural work – laying new irrigation pipes, mending broken fencing, rearranging fields -- but these jobs require such a large initial investment that we can’t afford to ever get started. And – of course – this just hurts us more and more, because without the latest equipment, or even working equipment in some cases, our daily chores take longer and longer, and we fall further behind. Furthermore, most of the grants and works projects that are awarded in the Ponyville area tend to go to the Apples instead of us, so we can’t rely on government help.

“However, just as most of us offer discounts to vendors who buy in bulk from our farms, a lot of the companies that offer the maintenance and expansion supplies we need will also offer discounts if we buy enough at once. If we were to all, say, buy the newest irrigation system and have it laid at once, we could do it together and save a substantial amount of money.”

“We know,” said Banana Split. “Every year there’s always a few of us who try to get everypony together to do a big bulk purchase, but there’s never enough farms with the bits on hoof to actually do it.”

Carrot Top continued on. “True – that’s usually how it goes. But let’s say that my farm does well in the Farm Competition. That’ll bring in a lot of bits. As it seems to be tradition for Ponyville teams to give back one-fourth of their winnings to the community, I was thinking that, if my farm wins any money, a quarter of the prize could be used for infrastructure projects like irrigation and fencing for our farms. Then we’d all be better off, and the money would go further because we’d be buying the equipment at the bulk rates!”

“And what do you want from us?” asked Grape. “We appreciate your generosity, but if you were just going to donate your money to us, you wouldn’t need to call this meeting.”

Carrot Top’s voice was clear and businesslike. “As Red Onion mentioned, it will be difficult for me alone to win over the Apple Trust teams or the big farms from other villages. They have access to expensive ingredients, equipment, and experts that I don’t. But if we pooled our resources, such as produce and equipment I’d have a better chance to win, and then we’d all have a better chance to get new equipment.”

Grape held up a hoof. “If I understand this correctly, you would like us to donate some of our produce to you, which you will use to help do well in the farm competition. Then, upon your return, should you have won money, you will spend one-fourth of it on general improvement projects for our farms. Is that the deal you are proposing?”

“Well, yes.”

There were murmurs, but Grape silenced them with a quick glance. “And, hypothetically, suppose you were to lose regardless? Then we would be out the costs of whatever we gave you, and would have nothing in exchange.”

Carrot Top paused. This was the hard part. “In that event, yes—“

“The total effect would be that you – and the Apples – would be no worse off, while we all would have suffered a financial loss,” finished Grape. “You are asking us, essentially, to gamble on your success.”

“It’s not a big financial outlay,” said Carrot Top as quickly as she could. “Nothing like restaurant-level quantities of food. Even if I make it all the way to the finals, I’ll only need to present twelve dishes or so. Twelve plates of food, and the bulk of it has to be carrots, which I grow anyway. You would stand to gain a lot more than you would invest.”

“Yes, but you also need to practice making the dishes. You may try several different things before settling on your final menu. And – please do not take offense – you have never done this before. You may damage or otherwise lose your ingredients through accidents in storage, transportation, or cooking, and thus need to obtain more. It is quite possible that you will need large quantities of our produce to have a good chance at competing,” said Grape.

Carrot Top nodded. Grape had valid points, and she wasn’t going to try to pretend otherwise – only to show, rather, why those points were outweighed by her own. “I understand that it’s a gamble. But it’s also a huge opportunity. Does anypony in this room have an irrigation system newer than fifteen years old?” No hooves went up. “It’s no wonder we can’t compete with the Apples. They have new low-water systems that are specially calibrated to only use exactly as much water as needed – no waste. They have the new plows from Neighjon that are twice as easy to move as anything I have. For that matter, they have a brand new fence with animal-warding spells. Me, I just have a regular fence, and every day I have to chase away rabbits.” There were chuckles. “If you support me, and I win, we’ll be able to dramatically improve our farms. You’ll be getting a four-fold return!”

“Yeah, that’s a big if,” called Boxxy. “Even with my cherries, you don’t have a shot.”

“You’ll be going up against some of the biggest farms in Equestria,” yelled Red Onion. “The Apples aren’t the only ones with a huge company behind them.”

“And even if it was just the Apples, they have political connections,” said another pony, a salmon-colored one that Carrot Top didn’t know. “They know a bunch of the judges.”

“Hang on,” said Lily. She grew flowers (edible and otherwise), and was one of Carrot Top’s friends. “Carrot Top’s an Element. The judges might like her because of that.”

Carrot Top blushed. She was trying not to bring politics into this, especially given what the Flim Flam brothers had been trying to do. But if a few of the judges did decide they wanted to support an Element, well, there wasn’t anything she could do about that. “Um. I’d like to hope that the judging will be based on the food, not political considerations.”

Red Onion burst into laughter. Carrot Top flushed, but didn’t say anything else. She didn’t think there’d be much of a point.

“I see the risk we’re taking, but where’s the risk to you?” asked Banana Split. “Or, put it another way, why shouldn’t one of us sign up and do this?”

“The risk to me is that, if I’m doing this, I’m probably going to have to spend all week working on it,” said Carrot Top. “Because Green Grape is right – I haven’t done this before. I won’t be able to tend to my farm much, and I don’t have the money to hire farmhands. So, yes, that’s going to hurt me, win or lose. That’s my risk.”

Split nodded thoughtfully. “Fair enough.”

A few of the ponies looked to Grape, who had shut her eyes. She seemed to be thinking hard. Carrot Top forced herself to appear calm, but she still felt extremely nervous. A ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ from Green Grape would mean the difference between having a chance and --

“Well. Ain’t this a cozy little meetin’.”

Every pony turned to see Applejack walking in through the conference room doors.

“Ah could barely believe ma ears when ah heard that Carrot Top had called on y’all ta help her in the competition, an’ that y’all had come runnin’. Still hard ta swallow, even though ah’m seein’ it right here.” Incredibly, Applejack sounded hurt and betrayed. “After all ma farm’s done fer this here town, fer y’all in particular, how could y’all do this?”

“Done for us?” Banana Split frowned. “What do you mean? What have you ever done for us?”

“There ain’t one of ya in here whose hasn’t had a bad harvest some year an’ who didn’t come ta us ta beg some apples just ta survive through the winter. An’ we always sold ‘em ta ya. Could’ve just looked away, but y’ar our neighbors an’ we helped ya. No matter how bad yar situation was—“

“Our situations are bad because of your predatory business tactics,” said Grape, in a crisp, clean voice.

“Ah ain’t gonna apologize fer runnin’ a successful business, or fer obtainin’ the resources ah need ta weather any kind of disaster.” Applejack had almost reached the podium by this point. Her voice took on a harsh undertone. “This town exists ‘cause of Sweet Apple Acres an’ the Trust. Our tax revenues fund more government services than any other business. The Apples feed more ponies more food than any three of ya combined. Y’all and this town need us, an’ that means ya need us ta have the money an’ equipment ta keep producin’ apples even after a fire, flood, or parasprite attack.” She was silent for a moment. “But ah know ya know that. So ah just can’t see why ya’r backstabbin’ us an’ helpin’ her try ta take us down, when it’ll just hurt yarselves even more than us!”

“We’re not trying to take you down!” cried Carrot Top. “I’m just trying to compete and—“

“Come on, Carrot Top, ya gotta know by now the odds’re against ya! All yar competin’s gonna do is make it harder fer the Apples!” Applejack glared at Carrot Top. “If the Apples go under, this town goes with it. Hay, if the Trust goes under, Equestria will be in real bad shape. So if ya have any respect or compassion fer any other pony, let it alone an’ stop interferin’.”

“You aren’t going to go under if you don’t win this competition!” yelled Carrot Top, exasperated.

“Besides,” said Grape, now looking very annoyed, “Even if your farm fails to place, that will have no affect on the overall Trust finances—“

“Ya can’t know that, either of ya! Farms are precarious, an’ the Trust is just a collection of farms. What if it has a bad year? We’re a pretty big part of it; it could need our help at some point. An’ if we don’t have this money, maybe we can’t help them so much.” Applejack scowled.

Carrot Top, guessed that it would be pointless to try explaining the size of the Trust to Applejack. “Are you really asking me to drop out of the competition?”

“What ah’m askin’ is fer ya – all of ya -- ta remember what it is we do an’ how vital we are. Ah want ya ta remember how much money we’ve brought in, an’ how many government grants. How many of ya we’ve personally fed in lean times.” She let her gaze drift from farmer to farmer. “Ah want ya ta think how ya’d feel if ya supported some pony when she was in a real pickle, helped pick her up an’ dust her off, an’ she went right on over ta yar rival an’ tried ta ruin ya.” Her gaze settled on Green Grape. “Ah want ya ta think ‘bout all that an’ then do the right thing. Let the Trust continue ta support Equestria an’ Ponyville, an’ don’t make it harder fer us ta bring home the money we need ta do it right.” She turned to stare at Carrot Top. “Just let things go back ta the way the usually are, ‘kay?”

Carrot Top flushed. We don’t owe you an easy victory! And one loss wouldn’t hurt the Trust anyway! “Well,” she said, slowly, “Who here would like for things to stay exactly where they are? Who’s perfectly content with the state of agriculture in Ponyville?”

There was silence for a moment.

Then Green Grape stood up. She looked incensed, but her voice was clear. “Carrot Top, I apologize, but I am not willing to donate some unknown amount of produce to you on the mere chance that you will win sufficient prize money to make the investment worthwhile. While I wish that I could afford such an outlay, it is simply not possible at the moment.”

Carrot Top lowered her head. Green Grape spoke for most of the ponies in the room. If she wasn’t going to help, that was it for the plan.

“But.”

Huh? Carrot Top looked up again.

“I will sell you grapes, raisins, wine, and any other food my farm can produce, of value equal to the irrigation system you mentioned – at the bulk rate, covering my entire farm. And I will let you delay payment for two weeks. You need not pay until one week after the competition, at which point you will have received any forthcoming prize money.”

“That’s the same…” began Carrot Top. But it wasn’t, because under this deal, Carrot Top would be obligated to buy the town’s irrigation system whether she won any money or not.

Green Grape’s gaze was not unkind, exactly, but it was stern. “Carrot Top, if you were not certain of victory, you had no business asking for our donations in the first place.”

Carrot Top didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t even sure she disagreed with Grape, exactly, but… but it was such a big risk…

“Are ya insane?!” Applejack swiveled to stare at Grape. “If she don’t place high, she’ll owe tens of thousands of bits!”

Before Carrot Top could figure out a response, Banana Split rose. “I’ll agree to the same deal as Green Grape.”

Carrot Top did the math quickly. If she won or placed well, she’d be fine. Better than before, actually, because she’d get to keep some of the prize money. If she lost…
If she lost, she would almost certainly have to sell the farm to pay off the debt. She had nowhere near enough money to buy the town’s irrigation system outright, and her friends couldn’t possibly get her enough.

“I’ll take that deal,” called Lily.

“Me too.”

In fact, depending on the market, the farm might not even cover that kind of bill. It was an old farm, hadn’t been maintained as well as it should have been, and Carrot Top could easily see a realtor managing to give her a fraction of its worth. She could wind up both homeless and drowning in debt.

“Me three!”

Red Onion was staring at Applejack with an ugly fury. “Yeah. Me four. Kick this idiot’s flank to Tartarus and back, ‘kay?”

This was getting ridiculous. Carrot Top opened her mouth to say that she wouldn’t take that deal. She wasn’t going to wager her farm on this competition. Bad enough that she’d have to trim back her time in the fields to design and prepare the recipes, but if she did this, she could be homeless in as little as two weeks.

“But,” Carrot Top began, “I don’t—“

“What, so you want us to give you our produce when you’re not even sure you can win?” demanded Boxxy Brown. “Is that it?”

“No, I—“

Green Grape rose. “I think we’re all agreed. Excepting Applejack, does everypony agree to sell Carrot Top produce and wait two weeks for payment?”

“Aye!”

“Carrot Top, think fer a minute!” Applejack looked flustered. “All this is gonna do is take down both of us! Dang it, ah don’t know if ya’ve got some vendetta ‘gainst ma or what, but this ain’t worth it!”

It’s not about you! thought Carrot Top.

“We all agree, then.” Grape turned back to the carrot farmer. “Will you take this deal?”

“Uh.”

Carrot Top could see the town farms with new, working irrigation systems. She could see their crops flourishing, growing better, and with less effort. The farmers could put their extra hours into taming new land, growing new crops, fixing up their dilapidated farmhouses. They could even spend more time with their families and friends. She saw the power of the Apple Trust checked, however slightly, with one of their advantages erased. She saw the farms still alive in a few years, alive and flourishing.

She also saw herself homeless, or forced to accept Greengrass’s help lest she wind up freezing under a bridge.

But then again… who was she to weigh herself against something every farmer in there so desperately needed? If she didn’t take this chance, they’d all continue dying slow deaths to the Apple Trust, and within fifteen years they’d probably all be bankrupt anyway. It wasn’t about beating Applejack or taking down Sweet Apple Acres, it was about keeping the rest of the farms afloat.

I’m too generous for my own good. I’m about to give away my farm. But she couldn’t do anything else. It was just who she was.

And so, knowing as she said it how stupid she was being, knowing she was probably signing her own eviction notice, she said, “I’ll do it. If you’ll get me those ingredients, then two weeks from today -- win or lose -- I’ll fund a modern irrigation system for every farmer in here that doesn’t have one.” That only excluded Sweet Apple Acres, but Carrot Top felt it was important to make that distinction. “I’ll calculate out what that’ll cost for each of your farms, and you’ll provide me with that value in produce for this week. And… I’ll try to win the competition.”

There was silence, and then Green Grapes started to drum her hooves on the ground in applause.

“Three cheers for Carrot Top!” yelled Banana Split.

I’m doomed, the carrot farmer thought.

“Hey.”

Carrot Top looked over. She had just left city hall and was wandering around the village. She wanted nothing more than to go home and hide. But she couldn’t, because somepony was talking to her.

She turned to see Applejack. The apple farmer was looking at her, and seemed almost… concerned?

“Why’d ya do that?” she asked. “Ya realize they’re all wantin’ ya ta fail now, right?”

“What? Why?”

“If ya win, they get new equipment. If ya lose, they get it anyway, an’ ya go bankrupt so they’ve got one less competitor.”

Carrot Top froze. “We don’t think like that,” she said, quietly. “Why, do you?”

“No! No, of course not!” Applejack shook her head. “Ya just bet yar farm ta try ta beat ma. Carrot Top, did ah do somethin’ ta make ya mad? Is this a grudge?”

“Applejack, I’m not out to hurt you, or Sweet Apple Acres, or the Trust. Honest. I just want to win the prize money,” said Carrot Top, feeling very weary. “I need it. And the other farmers need the irrigation system too.”

Applejack’s face showed that she didn’t believe her. “Look. Ah wish ah could buy that irrigation system fer the town maself, but ah can’t afford ta take that much money an’ sink it outside the farm. It ain’t gonna do nopony any good if ah spend ma money on some big charity project an’ go bankrupt, cause them the farm ain’t around ta help the town anymore.”

Carrot Top didn’t say anything.

“Look… when – ah mean if – ya lose, ah’ll give ya a good offer on yar farm, okay? An’ ya can stay with us till ya find somewhere else ta live.”

“…thanks.” It was practically no sacrifice at all to the apple farmer, but Carrot Top didn’t say anything about that. She knew that, by Applejack’s standards, this was incredibly generous.

“But don’t think we’ll go easy on ya. Like ah said, we’re gonna win. The Trust needs this money, and Ponyville needs the Trust.”

“You mean Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Whatever! However much y’all don’t get it, y’all do need us. Ah only hope there never comes a time when ya find out first hoof,” said Applejack. She shook her head. “Ah don’t want ta have ta crush ya. Honestly, before this whole thing, ah kinda liked ya. But ah’ve gotta protect the ponies that rely on our food. So ah’m gonna beat ya, Carrot Top, an’ win this whole thing despite you. An’… an’ ah feel real bad that ya could lose yar farm, honest, but there’s more important things at stake here. Hope ya understand.”

“Fine.” Carrot Top didn’t know what else to say.

After another few moments, Applejack turned and left. Carrot Top watched her go. That apple farmer, she knew, would never bet her farm to help other ponies. She’d never get anywhere near that position. If she’d needed the produce from the other farms, she’d have found some way to knock the price down in negotiations. But then again, she was good at that kind of thing. Carrot Top didn’t think that way.

I’m too generous. And now it’s cost me my farm. Unless I can somehow beat the Trust, not just Sweet Apple Acres but all the Trust teams, and also all the others…

“Hey, Carrot Top! How’d it go?”

Carrot Top turned to see Trixie approaching. “It went.”

“Huh?”

Carrot Top stared up at the night sky. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“Oh.” Trixie hesitated. “Not well, huh?”

“Not what I was hoping for. Now I’m under more pressure than ever.”

Trixie thought. “I’d help you, but usually when I’m under pressure I just get some bourbon, and that’s obviously not your thing.”

Having a drink or two to help her de-stress sounded great to the carrot farmer. “Brilliant idea.”.

“You’ve been a lot more appreciate of my ideas lately,” observed Trixie. “You should enter these things more often. Which idea now?”

“Let's get something to drink at Berry Punch’s.” Carrot Top began to lead the way.

“Um, I don’t recall that idea—“

“First round’s on me.”

Trixie smiled. “Objection withdrawn.”

Carrot Top and Berry Punch

“Gimme another drink,” Carrot Top managed. She’d been at the bar for about three hours, but didn’t show any signs of slowing down. “Little stronger than the last one, ‘kay?” She hiccupped.

The drink appeared in front of her, but before the carrot farmer could take it, a hoof pushed the bottle away. It was Berry Punch, who waved off the bartender. “Are you sure you’re okay? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink this much.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. But I’m losing to Trixie here, so I kinda need that bottle.”

“It won’t help!” Trixie had a small pile of empty bourbon bottles in front of her, and was still going strong. “Monsieur Bourbon, nous gagnons, et Carrot-Tete perds! Nous sommes les champions!”” She quaffed her latest bottle of bourbon.

“What’s wrong?” Berry Punch moved the bottle further away – only for it to yank itself out of her hoof and float back to Carrot Top.

Trixie smiled. Her horn was glowing. “Gotta be a fair competition, otherwise moi et Monsieur Bourbon will be… uh…”

“Shamed,” supplied Carrot Top, beginning to drink from the latest bottle.

“Yes! Exactly!” cheered Trixie, quite happy by finding the word she was looking for.

Berry Punch frowned. “I’m not serving you any more liquor until you tell me what’s going on.”

“Stop worrying, BP. Just bet the whole stupid farm, but ‘sides that, I’m fine!” Carrot Top took a big swig from the bottle. “Totally fine.”

“Bet the farm?!” Berry Punch looked shocked

“Yeah! For this competition!” She hiccupped. “Guess it was always gonna happen. Everypony always told me I’m too generous, but I never listened. Stupid me.”

Berry Punch hesitated. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m always practically giving my produce away… giving up my time, energy, equipment… Hay, when we all went t’fight that lunatic Corona, went right into a field of poison joke cause Lyra needed this stuff at the other end. And Raindrops could bucking fly, but forget that, what’s it to me if I get cursed? I’ll take one for the team again!” She burped, almost done with her bottle. “You got any more of that stuff?”

Berry Punch paused, then grabbed the bottle and put it under the counter. “Everypony knows how helpful you are, Carrot Top. They respect it. Now, about your farm--”

“Oh, sure they do. Everypony always takes advantage of it.” Carrot Top reached out and grabbed at another bottle, but she couldn’t quite reach. Giving up for the moment, she said, “Course I gave away the farm. I’d probably give away my own head if I could.”

“You’re very generous, but—“

“See, they’re all givin’ me stuff for this farm competition. And in return, I gotta buy an irrigation system for all of ‘em. So if I win, no problem, I’d have ‘nough money ten times over, but if I lose, I gotta sell the farm to buy the system.” She banged her hoof on the counter, more than a little unsteady. “Course I said yes. We all need the irrigation system, only way to get it is to win this thing. And it ain’t like they’d put their farms on the line, they don’t need to, cause I’m here!”

“Speaking of that.” Berry Punch sounded concerned. “What exactly are—“

“You know what? Apples would never be in this kind’a mess.”

Berry Punch hesitated. “Why do you say that? Because they’re so big?”

“Nah, not just that. They’ve got business sense. I’m just an idiot with an Elementy-thingie.” She got up, swaying a little. “See, if it was the Apples that needed produce from the other farms, they’d drive a real hard deal. They’d demand discounts on everything, for any reason, sayin’ the produce ain’t up to scratch or it was grown with water that once touched Apple water or whatever. They’d go to Mayor Scrolls and get a big grant, or a town order sayin’ everypony’s gotta help out the Apples. An’ if that didn’t work, they’d go write their folks in Canterlot and get all the money and support they needed!” She swung a hoof around, barely missing Berry Punch. “If I get through this, I totally gotta be more like them. None of this ‘I’ll take payment later’ or ‘I’ll give ya a discount for whatever.’ Applejack don’t give discounts, an’ she’s the biggest and strongest farmer around, an’ everypony loves her anyway cause she fixed up town hall, and – and Berry Punch, come on. This isn’t fair.”

“What isn’t?”

Carrot Top looked to Trixie for help, but the showmare appeared to be composing some kind of ode to her alcohol and was oblivious to all else. “I’m trying to talk to – to you, and you just turned the floor on ‘spin.’” Carrot Top was beginning to wobble. “That’s not nice. Turn it off, or I’ll – I’ll --”

Berry Punch was just able to rush out and catch Carrot Top before she fell on her face.

“Y’know, Berry Punch, ya smell like bourbon. It’s kinda nice. They should totally make bourbon into a perfume!” giggled Carrot Top, before fainting away.

Elsewhere, Applejack trudged home.

She couldn’t believe that the other ponies had betrayed her, but they had. Now she had to figure out what to do about it. And what to say to her family.

Well, the ‘what to do’ question was easy. She just had to work harder and come up with better recipes that could beat combinations of all other Ponyville produce. It couldn’t be that hard. Just a couple nights of short sleep; she was tough and could handle that. Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh could help her too; they were both good at working hard. It might be painful, but they didn’t have any choice. Everything was on the line.

Applejack wondered how much to tell them. Apple Bloom would probably be horrified to learn that the other farmers were trying to ruin them, so Applejack would have to choose her words very carefully. Big Macintosh wouldn’t be upset, but he would probably be overly concerned with the existence of the anti-Apple alliance, and the fate of Carrot Top’s farm. While Applejack obviously didn’t want to be unpopular or leave anypony homeless, she was able to grasp that it wasn’t more important than feeding Ponyville, and Big Mac had demonstrated difficulty with that concept in the past. She might need to word things carefully with him too.

Sighing, Applejack began to pick up the pace. She had to get home and get back to work. She had a very long night ahead of her.

Carrot Top woke up in a very small room.

She was on an old mattress, covered with an older blanket embroidered with a faded floral pattern. She also felt a pillow under her head, though she couldn’t see it. The room was dim, but she could see a small open door leading to what looked like a bathroom, a larger door that was shut, and a small table. A cup of something was on the table.

Carrot Top tried to move her head, but it seemed to explode in pain. She cried out. Hangover, she thought. Just stay totally still, let it go away…

But it wasn’t going away. It just seemed to get worse, until Carrot Top felt like she wanted to take her brain out of her skull just to get it away from the agony. She only dimly remembered her three hours in the bar, but she was starting to guess that she’d gotten completely and utterly wasted.

Hoofsteps sounded somewhere nearby, each one the equivalent of a hammer striking directly inside her head. Carrot Top groaned and thrust her head under the pillow. That helped dull the pain a little bit.

The door opened. “Good, you’re up,” Berry Punch bellowed (or maybe murmured, it was hard for Carrot Top to tell). “Here, drink this.”

Carrot Top groaned and peeked out to see Berry Punch taking the glass from the table and putting it right under her mouth. She gripped the straw in her mouth and drank.

It tasted sweet, and cool, and light, and…

And a lot like her hangover-remedy.

It wasn’t as good as hers, of course, in that there was a bitter aftertaste and her hangover wasn’t entirely cured. Still, though, Carrot Top’s head only throbbed with pain once every ten seconds instead of once every eye blink, and that was a big improvement. “Thanks. But how…”

“My special talent is mixing. Part of that means I can ‘understand’ what the individual ingredients of drinks are. If I try and I study the drink enough, I can pick up how they’re mixed together to get the final result.” Berry Punch smiled a little. “It’s not perfect, but I hope it’s good enough.”

“Yeah, it’s great.” Carrot Top managed to roll off the mattress and get to her hooves. “How long was I out?”

“A couples hours. It’s about one in the morning.”

“Past midnight… ugh.” Carrot Top shook her head. “Really sorry to impose, Berry Punch—“

“Don’t mention it,” chirped the bar proprietor. “If you want, you can stay the night.”

“That’s alright. I think I’d like to get home.”

Berry Punch nodded. “Okay. Well, I’ll be along tomorrow morning, so I guess I’ll see you then.“

“Er… sorry, but I’m not going to be selling anything for the rest of the week. There’s this farm competition, and—“

“I know. You told me about it.” Berry Punch smiled. “I meant, I was going to come over and help you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” said Carrot Top, weakly. “I mean, you’ve got your own business to run, and…”

“I don’t open until eleven anyway. I’ll just get up a few hours early and go to your place. Back in time for the lunch rush, just like usual.”

“But… I mean, how’ll you help me? You’re not a farmer.”

“Well, it’s not enough to have good produce for this competition, right? You need to have amazing dishes, and I don’t think you’ve ever cooked professionally. But as for me, I’ve designed every dish in this bar.” said Berry Punch, in a matter-of-fact voice. “Ingredients, cooking technique, and plating. Now, granted, I don’t know much about fine dining, but I think I can still give you some good pointers. So I’m going to help you with your dishes. But there’s a condition.”

“What?”

“I don’t ever want to hear you say that you want to be more like the Apples again, okay?” Berry Punch looked stern. “Because you’re not like them, and you shouldn’t be.”

“Well, they’re not the ones who’re betting the farm… sides, everypony likes them.”

“Everypony knows that, if they have money, the Apples will sell them whatever they need. And they know that the Apples will toss them a few crumbs sometimes. But they also know that, in any disaster, whether or not they have money, no matter how much they need, you’ll be there to help.” Berry Punch giggled. “You helped fight off Corona. You spent all that time helping clean up the town after the Ursa showed up. You helped Fluttershy when she got that weird disease.” Carrot Top looked confused. “Oh, Blossomforth told me about that. You’re always willing to lend a hoof or a carrot or… or anything to those that need it. You make everypony in town feel safe, because they know there’s a pony they can always rely on.”

Carrot Top realized she was blushing. “But why are you doing this? I mean, there’s loads of ponies in town that need help with something or other…”

“Because you need my help,” said Berry Punch. “And I can help you, and I don’t want you to lose your farm, because you’re a good pony and you help everypony and it’s not right that you get hurt for it. Besides, I know you’d help me if our positions were reversed. That’s all there is to it. Just promise to stay your generous self.”

Carrot Top grinned.

“Glad you’re feeling better.” Berry Punch passed her a piece of paper. “Alright, these are the ingredients and food supplies sold by the farms that are helping you – oh, don’t give me that look, you don’t think I just magically summon food to this bar, do you? I buy from these ponies all the time. Look it over when you get home, come up with some ideas, and tomorrow, we’ll start putting together your menu. You leave in seven days, right?”

“Yeah, that’s when the competition is…”

“Then we have six days to train. We’ll start first thing tomorrow. Oh, and one more thing.” She took out a small pouch. “I think I owe you this.”

“What for?” The pouch clinked when Berry Punch swung it. It sounded like money.

“The tonics. The money I owe you for all those times I was short.” She paused. “Look, I know this doesn’t excuse it, and it probably feels like I’m taking advantage of you, but… when I get hangovers like that, sometimes it’s all I can do to pick a few bits off the floor or counter and try to find you. I mean, when I’m like that I certainly don’t have the motor control to open up the safe or the register. That’s why I don’t always have enough… sometimes I can’t find that last bit or two, and my head hurts enough that I can’t bear to keep looking, so once I can scrounge up four or five...”

Carrot Top opened her mouth to say something, but Berry Punch quickly said, “Anyway. I’ve been trying to figure out how to give this to you for a while now – at first, it seemed silly to bother you over a bit, and I think I even tried but you said not to sweat it, but then it happened more times and the debt piled up and I got so embarrassed… anyway, it doesn’t matter. I was wrong and I’m sorry, and I’m going to pay my debt now.” She put the bag of money directly next to Carrot Top. “Take it. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. And, if it happens again, just find me later and ask for the fifth bit, or give me a time when I can get it to you. Or just… I mean, if you don’t want to sell at that price—“

“Berry, I’ll always spot you,” said Carrot Top quickly. “If you’re in that kind of pain, forget the bits and just come find me. Pay me later, once you’re feeling better.”

Berry smiled. “Aw, thanks Carrot Top. Want me to walk you home?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll go with Trixie.”

“She collapsed half an hour ago. One of the waiters helped her out.”

“I’ll walk alone, then. Clear my head.” Carrot Top smiled weakly.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Carrot Top began to walk to the door, having little idea of what had just happened. But she did feel better than she had a few hours ago.

Alright… I’ll get home and look at this list. Maybe even try to cook something; I can go a night without sleep. If I’ve bet the farm, I might as well try my best.

Carrot Top tried to come up with some ideas, but the best that could be said about her progress that night was that she avoided burning her kitchen down.

It was just that she so rarely cooked like this. She barely ever cooked for herself – all her time was in the fields, as she had too little spare money to hire farmhands or other ponies to help her. When she ate a meal, it was usually raw carrots. All the cooking she did was to make snacks to sell, and those were recipes designed to be made simply and quickly. None of this ‘braise the carrot for two hours in a lemon-vanilla broth’ stuff like Flim and Flam had showed her.

After dumping the third bucket of water on a flaming frying pan, Carrot Top decided to give up for the night and lie down on the couch. She just wasn’t sure what it was she wanted to cook. It wasn’t the simple, rustic food that she sold in Ponyville; she knew it wouldn’t win and it seemed inappropriate for the competition. The fancy foams and elaborate dishes that the Flim Flam brothers had shown her had looked fascinating, but not only did she not want to use their help, the more she thought about it the more she didn’t even want to cook that kind of food. It was great, but judging from her practice dishes, it didn’t really taste like carrots. It wasn’t highlighting what her farm could do.

“I guess it’d be best to have dishes that highlight the taste of my carrots. I mean, I’ve got good carrots,” she mused. “Yeah. Nothing crazy. Just carrots, and whatever else I need to make the carrots stand out.”

Now, if only she had some idea of what that would be.

“I think I’m in trouble,” said Carrot Top.

She was in her kitchen, staring at the ingredient list and a small pile of carrots. Berry Punch had just entered and was unpacking a small box with a little bit of everything from the various farms. “It’s helpful to see what we have to work with,” the bar owner had explained.

Maybe it was the early hour – the sun had only just risen – but Carrot Top felt stupefied. “I mean, most of the foods I make are with stuff I have. I buy flour and oil and things like that, but I only even began using raisins a short time ago.” Carrot Top gulped. “I don’t even know how to cook a… whatever this is.” She pointed at a large green thing.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried. Carrot Top had been up late thinking up recipes, and she did feel that most of them weren’t bad. But she was reasonably certain that none of them were competition-quality.

Berry Punch looked at the confusing ingredient. “Bok choy? Oh, that’s not hard to use at all.”

“Who sells that around here?”

Berry Punch shrugged. “I know a pony in Canterlot who had a little extra. Thought I could use it for something, so I got it in yesterday, but I figured it might help you instead. Come on, let’s start easy. How about a nice salad?”

Carrot Top had never seen Berry Punch design a dish before. She only really knew the mare in context of selling her carrot-based products, or on the rare occasions that she went to her bar. “Sure. A salad sounds nice.”

“Okay. Well, we’ll start by making some mayonnaise.”

“Making… can’t we buy that?”

“Not if we want it to work perfectly with this recipe, we can’t. Here.” She put an egg, a lemon, and a small jar of oil on the counter. “We’re going to beat this oil into the egg yolk. Here’s how we start.”

It was the most difficult salad that Carrot Top had ever prepared.

She’d never made her own mayonnaise before, and she hoped to never make it again. Basically, she had to beat a full cup of oil into a single egg yolk. It took a very long time to beat in, and the mixture had gotten thicker and thicker until it felt like she was trying to stir mud. Her jaw ached from holding the whisk. Then, when it was done, Berry Punch had her mix in some lemon juice and a few other things that apparently went well with carrots… but because her jaw hurt, Carrot Top found it hard to get the seasonings right. Berry Punch wouldn’t help her, though, and made her keep tinkering with the condiment until she pronounced it perfect.

Next came the carrot part of the carrot salad. This usually called for grating, but Berry Punch showed her a new and ‘fancy’ way to do it. “Hold the knife like this,” she said, and then performed some trick with her hooves and the knife that began sculpting the carrots into what looked like tiny flowers. Carrot Top wasn’t even sure how that was possible.

“Add in the mayo, splash of lemon juice, pinch of sugar and salt…” Berry Punch had Carrot Top toss it vigorously. “And a rose.” She delicately plucked the petals from one of Lily’s fine roses and strewed them over the dish. “Perfect.”

Carrot Top cautiously bit into it, then gulped it down. It tasted fantastic. The homemade mayonnaise tasted a lot better than the stall-bought kind, and Berry Punch was right, it seemed to have a lot of subtle flavors that just ‘worked’ with the salad. The carrot ‘flowers’ were thinner and, somehow, crisper than her normal grated variety.

“If you slice a carrot instead of grate it, you can get a much thinner slice without sacrificing the crispy texture,” explained Berry Punch.

The raisins and the rose went perfectly with the carrots; the raisins providing texture and a bit of juice, the roses adding a remarkable smell. Everything in the dish worked.

It was the most difficult salad Carrot Top had made, but it was also the best.

“Amazing,” said Carrot Top. “Where did you learn that?”

“I’m good at mixing, remember?” said Berry Punch, smiling a little. “That includes food. Alright, come on. Enough gobbling. Let’s try a soup next.”

They cooked until just before eleven, made four different dishes, and only set the stove on fire once (“Maybe I should practice that one at home before I try to show it off again,” was Berry’s sheepish response). They only stopped when Berry Punch had to hurry back and open up her shop. “Play around with those ingredients,” she instructed Carrot Top before leaving. “Have fun. Get familiar with them. If you want, try a couple of those fancy techniques, but don’t get carried away. What we need to work on first is finding your voice.”

“My voice?”

Berry Punch nodded. “Mostly, at this kind of thing there’s going to be two kinds of farms. Small ones like yours, where they specialize in one ingredient. You have an advantage over them, because you’re incorporating a lot of other fruits and vegetables into your dishes. And then there are the huge farms, like the Apple Trust groups, where they have the resources to find out what the judges like and tailor all their dishes to that. But I’ll bet you can see what the problem with that is.”

Carrot Top thought for a moment. “…their dishes are all the same,” she realized. “They’re all trying to reach the same judges in the same way, and they have so many ingredient options they all can make the same dishes.”

“Exactly! So what you need is to find your ‘voice,’ the kind of foods you really like to make that you can refine until they’re spectacular. You’ll stand out from all the rest, because your dishes will be different and personal. They might not be perfectly suited to any one judge’s tastes, but if they’re unique and taste good, you still have a strong chance to go far in the competition.”

“Alright, I’ll do that. Thanks for all the help, Berry.”

“Hey, what’re friends for?” Berry smiled and left.

Carrot Top spent the rest of the day experimenting in the kitchen and trying to come up with better ideas.

Berry Punch returned at sunrise the next morning. After a few comments (“I didn’t know you got up so early,” from Carrot Top, “I usually don’t,” from Berry), they got right back to it. The day went more smoothly, since Carrot Top was starting to develop some ideas about the kinds of dishes she wanted to cook.

That day also had another pleasant surprise. At about seven, Carrot Top heard a knock at her front door and went to open it. “Oh, Ploughshares. What’s up?”

“Ditzy said you might need some help today,” said Ploughshares. He was a tall pony with a blue coat and orange mane. “Something about a competition taking up all your time? So you need help with your fields?”

Berry Punch said, “Your friends told me they’d ask some of the farmhands if they could lend a hoof today. Raindrops is going to come by later with a spare raincloud, too.”

“I appreciate it, but…” Carrot Top paused. “I kind of don’t have any money right now…”

“Hey, I owe you one for giving me a place to stay when my house got infested with termites. It’s my day off at Sweet Apple Acres, so…” He smiled awkwardly. “Guess I could help you with the carrots, or something. No charge.”

Carrot Top brightened. As much as she knew she had to go all-out to win the competition, it was frustrating knowing that she had to leave her fields languish in order to do so. “Sure, that’d be awesome. Thanks!”

She spent the morning training with Berry Punch, again, and the afternoon working on her own. By the end of the day, she was starting to come up with some recipes that highlighted the taste of her carrots and that she thought might impress a judge.

On the third day, four farmhands showed up to help her, all thanking her for some prior deed she’d done for them. And Berry didn’t come alone either.

“I wanted to see how you were doing,” said Green Grape. “If there was any advice I could give you.”

“Advice?”

Green Grape examined the glazed carrot and grape medley that Carrot Top was working on. “Try peeling the grapes first. They’ll be softer and sweeter. That’s what this recipe needs, right?”

“Ooh, good idea,” said Berry Punch.

Carrot Top hadn’t known that grapes were peel-able, but she watched Green Grape show her an example. “Plus,” she said, discarding a large seed, “This way you make sure there’s no seeds. Even seedless grapes sometimes have them, and you have to be careful.”

“Thanks,” said Carrot Top.

“Don’t mention it. I like you, Carrot Top. I don’t want to see you lose your farm. Besides, I remember when my plow arrived late and you helped me work all night to get the fields prepped. I owe you one.” Green Grape smiled. “Let me know if you need any other help or advice.”

On the fourth day, Carrot Top wound up with more farmhands than she knew what to do with. When they wouldn’t leave, telling her that they knew she needed help and they were going to give it to her, she put the extra ones on the job of fixing up her fences and performing a couple other minor maintenance tasks. She also received members from half a dozen of the other small farms, who were eager to help her in any way they could.

“We’re considering making a carrot muffin as one of the desserts,” said Berry Punch, who had appointed herself as the note-taker. “Wheatie, any tips on the dough?”

“Sure. I’ll show you how to mix it.”

“And Banana Split, can you help us work out this carrot-banana bread?”

“Yep!”

Carrot Top tried to learn as much as possible. She was getting better, she knew, and while she wouldn’t exactly be a master chef, she was becoming increasingly hopeful that she’d be able to make some amazing dishes for the competition. She tried the recipes out again that afternoon – the carrot muffin dish, the glazed carrots with grapes, a delicious carrot fried rice – and was pleased to find that they tasted delicious.

She was getting the hang of this!

On the fifth day, she awoke to a frantic pounding on her door.

“Trixie?!” Carrot Top stared blearily at her. “What are you doing here so early?” The sun hadn’t even risen yet.

“You’ve got to get into town. Now.” Trixie looked panicked.

“Why, what happened?”

“Applejack’s going to war.”

Carrot Top and Apple Bloom

Carrot Top raced after Trixie. “What happened?”

“I have no idea! But her yelling woke me up. I think she’s trying to get Berry and the others to stop helping you.”

“Is she really that afraid of losing to me?”

“I hope so, ‘cause the other option is her just being angry that you aren’t letting her win, and if that’s the case she’s lost her mind completely.”

Carrot Top shook her head. “I don’t understand her.”

“I think you might be the first pony to stand up to her in years. Well, not counting me, back at the Longest Night festival.”

“…and after that, she helped wreck your house, didn’t she?”

Trixie smiled weakly. “Uh. That was, technically, more related to Corona’s return, and…”

“Trixie, the next time you tell me to do something, remind me not to do it.”

Trixie laughed and sped up.

They arrived in the center of town just as the sun was starting to rise. It was easy to find the commotion; Berry Punch and Applejack were having a screaming argument outside Berry’s bar. A small ring of ponies had already gathered around them.

“Ya OWE ma!” Applejack roared. “Ya varmint, ah always gave ya whatever help ah could! How many times did ah let ya pay yar cider bill a week or two late, back when ya were just startin’ out? How many times did ah plug fer ya at ma stall?” She stomped her hoof. “An’ ya repay ma generosita by helpin’ Carrot Top try ta wreck ma farm?”

Applejack looked agitated. Her mane wasn’t in its usual ponytail, and her coat also seemed a bit frazzled. There were very deep circles under her eyes, and Carrot Top wondered if she’d slept recently. She certainly seemed to have lost any sort of discretion, given how loud she was yelling and how insulting she was acting.

“It’s no business of yours what I do with my business or my free time,” said Berry Punch. “Long as I pay my bills to you. When did you ever care about anything else?”

Berry Punch looked like she was hungover, Carrot Top thought. Her head was held low and she was squinting, even though it was barely light out. It had to be painful for her to stand there and get shouted at by Applejack. “Hey!” called Carrot Top. “AJ, you want to say something, say it to me!”

“Quiet, Carrot Top,” snapped Applejack. “Berry Punch, ah ain’t askin’ anythin’ unreasonable. Just stop givin’ Carrot Top an unfair advantage.”

“What, like your huge farm, your farmhands, your special ingredients shipped in from all over Equestria, none of that’s an unfair advantage?” yelled Berry.

“We earned all that. We worked hard ta feed this town an’ the surroundin’ countryside!” Applejack’s eyes bulged. “Afta all we have done fer ya! Ah can’t believe ya’d try ta hurt ma!”

“Done? You sold me your farm’s goods! That’s not a favor!”

Carrot Top saw a small foal hiding behind a large rock. It looked like Apple Bloom. She was watching the argument with big, wide eyes.

“The Apple Trust could double its profits if it charged ‘xactly what the market would support!” Applejack glared at Berry, and the other ponies who had come out to watch the shouting match. “We sell most of the food in this town; if we wanted ta double apple prices, y’all’d just have ta pay up! An’ that includes cider, Berry, if ah doubled the cider price, ya’d pay it or ya’d go bust ‘cause it makes up such a huge portion of your business. But we don’t. We feed Ponyville at reasonable rates cause it’s our job an’ our duty ta make sure y’all have food. We feed y’all cause we don’t want y’all ta starve. We work real hard just fer that purpose. So yeah. We do a lot fer ya.”

Carrot Top tried to rush over and get between them. “Applejack, if you have a problem, talk to me. Berry Punch didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Carrot Top, get outta ma way!” Applejack shoved her aside, sending her stumbling to the ground. Trixie ran over to her and helped her up, glaring daggers at Applejack. The apple farmer continued. “Look. Ah don’t ask fer much. Ah charge a fair price fer ma product, an’ the only other thing ah want’s the ‘casional acknowledgement that ah’m helpin’ out the town. That it maybe ain’t fair ta try ta get the Trust ta lose this competition by helpin’ out some upstart who don’t do a tenth as much! Hate ta say it, but if Carrot Top went bust tomorrow, nopony’d even notice! If we did, the town would die!”

“Upstart?” snapped Carrot Top. “I’ve been in this town for years, you—“

Applejack ignored her. “Ah do a lot of work ‘round here,” she said, and her voice lowered even more, and her gaze – distorted from lack of sleep – looked outright menacing, “In fact, ah do so much that ah’m not gonna sit here an’ be lectured by some lazy mare who can barely run a bar! Quit helpin’ her, or ah’ll make dang sure every Pony in Equestria knows what a traitorous, backstabbin’--”

“What did you say?” demanded Berry Punch. “Did I just hear you call me lazy?”

Oh, Hay, thought Carrot Top. Applejack was running on fumes, and now she’d just said exactly the wrong thing.

“Ah work full days, Berry. Ah get up at dawn and don’t get ta bed till afta dark, every single day. Ah don’t just wake up at 10 an’ throw tagether two dang dishes fer a ‘lunch service,’ an’ ah ain’t partyin’ an’ drinkin’ by eight with ma customers. Sure it might be fun ta live like ya, but some of us gotta actually support this here town.”

Berry’s eyes flared. She began to walk, slowly but decisively, towards the apple farmer.

Carrot Top nudged Trixie. “Can you use your telekinesis to stop Berry from bucking Applejack?”

“Probably not, no. She’s really strong.”

“Okay, do it.”

“Do – what part of ‘no’ do you not understand?!” Trixie hissed.

“The part where it’s not the right answer! Get ready!”

Applejack stood her ground and let Berry Punch approach. Carrot Top began to try to move between them. “Let’s all just calm down, and—“

“Let me explain something to you, Applejack” said Berry Punch, in a dangerously calm voice. “I work extremely hard. I don’t have a huge Trust to fall back on if I fail. I don’t need you trying to hurt me with your idiotic narcissism to—“

“Ya like ta party an’ drink yar mind out, an’ now Ponyville subsidizes it,” said Applejack. “That’s all there is to it.”

Trixie managed to cast her telekinesis just before Berry Punch struck, and between her and Carrot Top shoving Berry back as hard as she could, they managed to restrain her. “Lemme go!” hissed Berry Punch.

“No, she’s not worth it. Besides, if you get arrested for assault, you can’t help me and I lose my farm,” whispered Carrot Top.

Berry Punch hesitated, then lowered her hoof. “Hmph.”

Applejack laughed. “Hurt ya? If ah wanted ta hurt ya, Berry, ah’d just cancel yar cider contracts. Maybe that’d show ya.”

“Hold it!” Trixie, sweating nervously, raced between them. “Now, Applejack, you just said that your farm is the only thing standing between us and starvation. If you cancel her contracts, then she’ll starve, right? You wouldn’t do that, would you?”

Applejack paused, and Carrot Top thought she saw a glimmer of rationality in her tired eyes. “Yeah… yeah, guess that’s fair. Even if she’s bein’ a jerk, ah ain’t gonna do that ta her. But ah--“

“Then I’ll cancel them myself,” said Berry Punch, suddenly. “Don’t bother with the cider shipments tomorrow. Or any other time.”

Everypony – and there was quite a crowd by now -- turned to stared at her, but she just stared back at Applejack.

“Ya’r hungover, Berry, ya ain’t thinkin’ straight.” Applejack seemed nervous, all of a sudden, like she knew she’d gone too far.

“I’m thinking that, if you’re going to try to use your contracts to tell me who I can associate with, they’re more trouble than they’re worth. I’ll find a way to get by.” Berry Punch turned away from Applejack. “Now get off my property.”

Applejack stared at her, then at the other ponies. Carrot Top noted that they all seemed to be glaring at the apple farmer.

“Well – well, fine! We’ll see how ya like it in a day or two once ya’ve used up yar reserves!” She spun on her hoof and began to trot off. “Get outta ma way!”

Apple Bloom hurried after her, and the two apple farmers left.

The ponies in the street began to disperse, whispering amongst each other.

Trixie approach Carrot Top. “I tried,” she muttered. “Sorry.”

Carrot Top ran over to Berry Punch. “You didn’t need to do that,” she said quickly. “Hurry, you can apologize—“

“I’m not letting her tell me who I can and can’t teach to cook,” said Berry Punch. “She’s just being a bully now.”

“You don’t need to risk your business for me,” said Carrot Top. “I know how much cider you use. Besides, we both know I’m a long shot anyway, and—“

“Stop it.” Carrot Top was surprised by the quiet vehemence in the bar owner’s voice. “Don’t you dare give up now. Don’t you tell me that you’re going to go home and let yourself get evicted because you’re worried about me or the rest of us. Fight back and win this thing. We’ll figure the rest out later.” She shook her head, then winced. “Ugh…”

“Would you like me to mix you up one of the hangover cures?”

She smiled. “That would be nice, thank you.”

Two hours passed.

Applejack stared at her table. Three notices had already come that day, all from other businesses in Ponyville. They were all canceling their cider contracts, saying that Applejack had now shown that she would violate them without notice and they couldn’t trust her.

Berry canceled, not me, and they know that! But the truth doesn’t matter, I guess. They’re all against me. Every dang one of them.

Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have shouted at Berry Punch. But the bartender deserved it for betraying her! And – even if Applejack had maybe gone slightly too far – it still didn’t make sense for the other Ponyville businessponies to be doing this to her now. They were only hurting themselves!

She wanted to scream at the sheer irrationality of it all. She fed them! They needed her to eat, and thus to live! Why would they starve themselves just to make some point against her? They were making it harder for her to do her job, harder for her to feed everypony, and –

She froze as a revelation hit her.

She’d been telling them for days that she considered it her most important duty to feed everypony in town. They all knew it. So they knew they could do whatever they wanted to her, hurt her however they could, and she’d still grow them food. Because they knew she was honorable and would fulfill her duties, even if they threw boulders in her way.

They’re holding me hostage. They know that I’m too kind and dutiful to let them starve, so they’re using my kindness, compassion, everything against me! This plan would never work against some cruel, greedy monster who didn’t care if any other pony lived or died, but against me, who cares so much about the town and its ponies…

She slammed a hoof down on the table. So that was it. They were all just taking advantage of her. The farmers, the business owners… about the only ponies who hadn’t turned against her were her family and her farmhands.

Wait.

What if her farmhands were helping the enemy too? They knew her farm, her techniques, her crops. They could be feeding Carrot Top all kinds of useful advice. She didn’t think they would, but she never would have predicted the town’s betrayal either. With stakes this high, she had to be certain.

“Big Mac! Call a meetin’ of all the help!” she roared, leaping from her seat. She had to check. Had to make sure none of her farmhands, who she paid and fed and looked out for, was helping to cripple her.

It wouldn’t take long. She would just have to make it clear. They could work for her, or join the enemy. One or the other.

Carrot Top’s training that morning had a tense, nervous air to it, as if the Apples might show up at any moment and start burning things down. But nothing untoward happened, the usual number of farmhands and other volunteers showed up, and Carrot Top could even feel her anger starting to dissipate as she focused on the carrot turnovers.

“You need to get the butter and sugar just right with this one,” said Berry Punch. “And if you bake it too long, it burns. Be careful.”

“I know,” said Carrot Top. “I mean, I think I’m getting pretty good by now. You don’t need to keep--”

The oven began to smoke.

“Uh,” said Carrot Top, as Berry Punch dissolved into giggles. “Little help?”

They took the flaming turnovers out of the oven and put in the backups, and Carrot Top smiled ruefully. She didn’t want Berry Punch’s bar to suffer, but she did have to admit that she needed her help.

The rest of the day went well (and the second batch of turnovers were delicious). Berry Punch left shortly before lunch, as usual, and Carrot Top continued with the other helpers. Part of the afternoon was spent with Oratorio, a tall pony who did ad copy and who gave her pointers on presenting her dishes and communicating with the judges. She also presented several entrees for the other farmers, who of course knew their own produce best and gave her all kinds of tips about how to better prepare their food to work with her dishes. Thanks to her training, she was even able to come up with some ideas and innovations of her own that impressed the other farmers and the helping farmhands.

Carrot Top smiled, full of confidence. She really did have a chance to take on the Apples.

Her next unexpected visitor of the day arrived at about seven, after the volunteer farmhands and farmers had gone home. “Trixie?” Carrot Top asked, opening the door. “What’s going on?”

Trixie was laughing, and Carrot Top wondered if she was drunk. But Trixie didn’t seem to be liquored up; there was a spark in her eyes that wasn’t there when she was wasted. She just seemed oddly happy about something.

“Applejack blew it,” she said, grinning. “Spooked the whole town when she threatened to cancel Berry’s orders without any kind of good reason. They all figure they could be next. And got a lot of ponies angry too. Well, nopony ever liked her anyway, but she just threatened the most popular party animal in town! Ponies are canceling their contracts with her all over the place.”

“What?!”

“I know!” Trixie laughed. “Isn’t this great?”

Carrot Top felt sick. “This is a little extreme,” said Carrot Top. “I didn’t mean for this to happen—“

“Wait, it gets better. She threatened her farmhands that, if she saw them helping you, she’d never hire them again. A few of them told her that, if she wanted to control what they did on their days off, she’d have to hire them full-time. She fired ‘em for disloyalty, and a whole bunch of others quit too!”

Carrot Top didn’t know what to say. After a moment, she managed, “No. I’ll talk to them, tell them that they need to see if they can get their jobs back. I don’t want them to be unemployed for me, and—“

“Applejack’s losing her grip! Can you think of what would happen if everypony in town began boycotting them?”

“Yes, Trixie, I can. The economy would collapse, assuming we didn’t starve first.”

Trixie frowned. “I don’t think it’d be that bad.”

“As much as I don’t like Applejack, she does sell more food around here than any other pony. I’m not sure the other farms could produce enough without Sweet Apple Acres. We might have to import food from out of town, and that’s expensive. Applejack also employs enough workers that, if she fires all of them for helping me, that’s going to cause other problems. I mean, problems besides the big one of a whole bunch of workers going hungry.”

“Well, if she’s going to hold the whole town hostage like this, maybe it’s good that you’re fighting her now. If the other farms start selling more, they can hire those farmhands, right?”

“Maybe, but—“

“And if you win that prize money, you’ll be able to use it to help build up the other farmers so that they can make even more food, right?”

“Sure, if I win, but—“

“Thought so! Well, I’m going to go spread the news. You let me know if there’s anything else you need!” Trixie almost hopped out the door.

“Great,” muttered Carrot Top. “I’m glad they’re helping me, but this is insane. I never asked for any of this…”

Two hours later, when Carrot Top was in the middle of a complicated salad recipe, the farmer heard a soft knock at her door.

“Trixie, I’m kind of busy,” she called, but there was no response. Frowning, she trotted over to the door.

“Apple Bloom?”

The foal was looking up at Carrot Top with an enraged expression, but it vanished almost immediately. Her eyes began to water.

“Why d’ya hate my sister?” she managed, and then she was sobbing on Carrot Top’s doorstep, and the carrot farmer had no idea what to do.

“I don’t hate your sister.”

Carrot Top had rummaged around in her cabinets and found a small supply of candy. This was usually for when Ditzy came over to visit and brought Dinky along, but Carrot Top figured that Apple Bloom probably also liked sweets. So she had offered Apple Bloom a peppermint stick, which the foal was licking.

“But ya’r hurtin’ her! Nopony’s ever tried ta compete ‘gainst us before in Ponyville, an’ now ya’r doin’ that she’s stayin’ up later an’ later, an’ last night she stayed out in the fields all night! An’, an’ Big Mac says he’s worried ‘bout her but we can’t do anythin’ cause she’s gotta win, she’s just gotta, ta get money fer the town! An’ now all the other farmers hate her too an’ they won’t sell ta her or talk ta her or even buy stuff from her! An’ ah offered ta stay home from school t’morrow or ta write the other Apples in other towns an’ have ‘em come in ta help, but she won’t let ma.”

“She’s that stubborn?”

“She says she can do it herself, an’ it’s her job an’ her duty ta provide fer the town. Don’t you want the town provided for?”

Carrot Top paused. “Of course I do.”

“Then please just quit, an’ then ma sister can sleep an she can smile again! An’ we can get money ta help the town!” Apple Bloom looked to be near tears again.

“Apple Bloom… if I quit now, I’ll have to leave Ponyville and go somewhere far away. I don’t want to do that.”

“Ah don’t want ya ta do that, but ah don’t want us ta have ta leave either!”

“You’re not going to go bankrupt if you don’t win this competition.” Carrot Top sighed. “Your sister doesn’t need the money—“

“Yes she does! It’s our duty ta make sure Ponyville’s fed! An’ if we win the prize we can buy two more fields an’ grow more food an’ be safer in case there’s a fire or somethin’ awful happens.” She paused. “Everypony thinks ma sister’s a greedy monster, but that ain’t true. She really cares ‘bout this town. She works real hard!”

“I know she does.” Whatever else one could say about her, Applejack was a very hard worker.

“When there’s a blight or somethin’, she’s always workin’ real late helpin’ keep the trees safe! She doesn’t need ta do that, she’s got enough bits ta buy more, but she says we gotta or else the town won’t have food. When there’s some disaster, like when the dam broke three years ago, she was one of the first ponies ta help fix it! But no one else cares that she’s doin’ all that an’ workin’ real hard, cause now they all hate her cause ya told ‘em too!”

“I didn’t tell them to hate her. Your sister tried to disrupt a bunch of the other businesses—“

“Cause she’s tired an’ upset an’ she ain’t thinkin’ straight. Ain’t ya ever had a bad day? She’s been doin’ great fer years, but she has one bad day an’ now they all hate her! She’s not a bad pony!”

Carrot Top had no idea what to say. Apple Bloom looked completely distraught. “Apple Bloom, if your sister really wants to make sure all the ponies in town are fed, she should want there to be as many farms as possible. More crops means less of a chance a single bug or blight will take out the whole food supply.”

“We’re growin’ other crops too now, in case that happens. We’ve got corn an’ grapes, an’ Applejack wants ta plant carrots next year.”

Oh, great, just what I need. “Or a single personal emergency. What happens if, I don’t know, Granny Smith gets sick and Applejack has to take care of her? What happens to the farm?”

“Big Mac an’ ah’ll run it,” said Apple Bloom. “That’s why she’s trainin’ ma so hard so ah know what ah’m doin’. But it’s gotta be one of us, okay? It’s gotta be an Apple!“ She paused. “Ah’m gonna tell ya a secret, but ya can’t tell anypony.”

Carrot Top nodded, thoroughly mystified.

“Hundreds of years ago, there was this horrible famine. A lot of ponies all starved ta death. But a few ponies with real big farms managed ta produce just enough food, despite all the bad conditions, ta save Equestria! Princess Luna herself said that those families were then responsible for keepin’ Equestria safe from famine forever more. An’ the Apples were one of ‘em.”

Carrot Top didn’t believe the story – it sounded like an old legend – but she listened attentively nonetheless.

“That’s why we can’t just count on all y’all ta grow food,” said Apple Bloom. “Ma sister says, if we do an’ y’all fail, it’s on us. All the ponies’ll starve an’ it’ll all be our fault!”

Carrot Top didn’t know how to parse this. “Apple Bloom, you know that you and your sister aren’t single-hoofedly responsible for making sure nopony in Ponyville goes hungry, right?”

“But we are! That’s what Applejack says! An’ she gets so tired tryin’ ta make sure that every one of ya is okay! An’ she’s always tryin’ ta figure out how ta grow more apples an’ make more money so we can buy more fields an’ grow even more stuff, cause if she doesn’t, y’all are gonna starve ta death!”

Carrot Top felt a surge of anger at Applejack. She had no right, the carrot farmer thought, to terrify her little sister like this and tell her that they alone were standing between Ponyville and death by famine. If the apple farmer really thought that, she was completely deluded. “Do you really think that I want everypony to starve? I work hard too—“

“Ah know, but Applejack says we can’t rely on that! What if ya get sick, or ya inherit money an’ retire an’ let yar farm go under? Or ya find another job ya like better? Or Trixie sacrifices ya in some kinda evil magic spell?”

“…wait, what was that last one?”

Apple Bloom began to whisper. “Diamond Tiara says that Trixie’s got a secret basement where she sacrifices ponies she doesn’t like and uses their bodies ta cast evil spells and turn into monsters like sirens and cockatrices!”

Carrot Top paused, trying to figure out exactly what to say. “First of all, I’ve been in Trixie’s house. She doesn’t have a big enough basement. Second, she’s way too vain to turn into a monster.” Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile a little at that. “Seriously, can you picture her as a siren? She’d spend all her time whining that the water was too cold. And third… do you really think that I’d stop farming just because I inherited money?”

“Ah don’t know, but…” Apple Bloom trailed off. “What if ya did? What if all y’all did?”

Carrot Top had an idea. “I’ve still got a couple chores to do tonight. Do you mind if we talk outside?”

“Okay. First I need to dig a hole.”

It was dark out, but the moon was bright enough to see by. Carrot Top showed Apple Bloom her shovel. “I’ll go six inches down or so.”

“A shovel?” Apple Bloom frowned, apparently distracted from her sister’s problems by the out-of-date technology. “Wouldn’t it make more sense ta use one of those pressure-popper things?”

Carrot Top thought she knew what Apple Bloom was talking about, but to be sure, she said, “What do you mean?” At the same time, she began digging the hole.

“Well, it’s like a shovel, but more efficient. Ya put it in the dirt an’ it burrows down – hey!” Carrot Top had accidentally dumped a shovelful of dirt on Apple Bloom. Fortunately, she smiled a little. “Aw, ah’m gonna need a new bath. But anyway, it gets under the dirt and then it lifts up an’ sends all the dirt above it flyin’ inta the air!”

“And then you quickly plant the seed, and the dirt falls back on top of it for you? Yeah, I’ve seen those in stores. They look really amazing.”

“Why don’t you use those?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Don’t own any. They cost five hundred bits apiece, and they’re hard to maintain. I don’t really have the expertise or time to handle them.” Carrot Top finished digging and put the carrot seed in. “But at least a shovel doesn’t cost much.”

“Oh.” Apple Bloom watched.

“Then we pack the dirt in like this, see? Now we need to get a little water.” She began trotting towards the back of her fields.

“Where’re we goin’?” asked Apple Bloom.

“To the well.”

“Well?!” Apple Bloom looked stunned. “Don’t ya have pipes an’ stuff?”

“Yeah, but they’re too old. Here, listen.”

They were passing by one of the old irrigation pipes on Carrot Top’s farm. She dug down a little until she reached it, then tapped it with her shovel. The result was a dull, thumping ‘plonk.’ “What’s that sound like?”

“Like there’s something stuck inside.”

“Pipe collapsed last month. Been trying to find the time and bits to fix it, but can’t. For this half of the field, I have to carry the water myself.”

They soon reached the well, where Carrot Top filled up an old bucket. Apple Bloom offered to balance it on her head as they went back. “Why’s it a well an’ not a real pump?”

“Ground’s too soft there for a pump. Whole thing would just slide down and break. Shoring it up… well, again. I’d need more bits to do that.”

They returned to the little pile of dirt indicating a new carrot seed location. Carrot Top watered it lightly. “I need to repeat this a couple hundred times to plant my field. It’s hard work, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom didn’t say anything.

“If I wanted an easier job, I could get it. Probably get a more reliable income too. But I like this. I like growing things, and helping other ponies have delicious food. I’m not going to stop unless I get really sick or die.”

“Ah know…”

“But to keep doing it, I need money. Whatever your sister’s motives, she’s making it very hard for me and the others to stay afloat here. And I want to stay here, and keep my farm, just like your sister.”

“But she wants hers cause she’s gotta make sure everypony in town eats. How could ya want yars that badly? Ya don’t have that responsibility.”

Carrot Top paused. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. But… but trust me. I’m not going anywhere so long as I can help it.”

Apple Bloom didn’t say anything.

“If you’re worried about your sister, I can ask a doctor to go look at her.”

“No, that’s okay. Ah already suggested that, but Big Mac says it ain’t that kind of a problem.” Apple Bloom sighed. “Ah love ma sister. Ah don’t want anythin’ bad ta happen ta her. But she don’t listen ta ma, an’ now ya ain’t backin’ down either. Ah don’t know what ta do.”

“You shouldn’t have to think about these things. Go home and get some sleep… or you can stay over if it’s too late for you to be walking around.” Carrot Top looked up at the night sky. “I’ll talk to the others tomorrow. See if I can get them to stop hating your sister. I didn’t want there to be any kind of boycott. Honest. All I wanted was a fair competition between us.”

Apple Bloom smiled a little. “Thanks, Carrot Top. Ah think ah’ll head home, but… thanks fer sayin’ you’ll talk ‘ta ‘em.”

She left, and Carrot Top sighed. This was just a farming competition, and now she’d become some kind of diplomat. Making peace between the Trust and the town would be hard enough on its own, not to mention doing it while also trying to win the competition and keep her farm. Why did there have to be so much at stake?

But it was what it was, and Carrot Top was who she was. She couldn’t not be generous, anymore than she could turn into a zebra. Besides, from what she’d been hearing for the past few days, her generosity had helped half the ponies in town, and that was unquestionably a good thing. So she went inside, got into bed, and tried to figure out how to stop the hate campaign without alienating her supporters.

Two unicorns stepped off of the late-night train and into Ponyville.

“We have enough at last,” said Flam, smirking and swinging a stuffed saddlebag. “I think that, in very short order, a certain farmer will find herself singing a different tune, eh?”

Flim looked doubtful. “I don’t know about this. I mean, um, isn’t this dangerous?”

“Come on, we’ve broken the law a hundred times.”

“I don’t mean like that. We could destroy the whole town if we—“

“Who cares?” Flam shrugged. “Then the Elements have to leave. Might be able to pick up more of them. Come on, we have work to do.”

The two ponies slipped into town and were lost in the shadows of the night.

Carrot Top and Granny Smith

By day 6, everything seemed to be going great for Carrot Top.

She was reliably producing dishes which highlighted her carrots and which wowed the taste testers. Berry Punch seemed very pleased with Carrot Top’s improvement. “These are getting close to restaurant-quality,” Berry Punch said. “You’re doing great.”

“Well, I had a good teacher,” said Carrot Top. Berry Punch had giggled and ordered her to get back to the soup, because it was about to burn.

There were enough farmhands and others volunteering now to take care of everything that Carrot Top was afraid she’d have to neglect in order to focus on the competition. Apparently, a couple of the more outgoing ponies had even taken her carrots to the market to sell – where, for the first time in Carrot Top’s memory, Golden Harvest Farms outsold Sweet Apple Acres. According to the ponies from the market, Big Macintosh had been standing there forlornly for hours, with barely any customers. Meanwhile, Golden Havest Farm carrots sold by the bushel.

The mention of Big Macintosh helped Carrot Top to remember to talk to Berry Punch about the boycott. “I’m glad you’re all on my side, but I’m really not comfortable trying to ruin their business. Could we ease up on the boycott?”

Berry Punch had been reluctant. “It’s my restaurant Applejack threatened to hurt. I can’t just let that go. Besides, you know they wouldn’t step in if some ponies were boycotting you.”

“I thought you said that I shouldn’t be like Applejack.”

Caught by her own words, Berry Punch had blushed, then chuckled. “Point. Okay, I’ll talk to a few of the others, but… I’m not sure we can stop it now. This has been building up for a really long time. And now that the town’s finally learning to live without the Apples, I don’t think the other farmers are going to want it to stop.”

“I understand. I’m just worried that Applejack will collapse from exhaustion or something. I’m not a fan of the Trust or Sweet Apple Acres, but none of us actually want Applejack to have a psychotic breakdown.”

Berry Punch had smiled. “Well, I’ll see what I can do.”

The other Elements were also getting involved. Lyra and Bonbon helped Carrot Top refine her desserts, Berry Punch’s own weak point (‘bars don’t really do fancy desserts,’ she’d explained). Raindrops had called in a few favors and obtained a few extra rainclouds for Carrot Top’s fields, to make sure that her carrots would have enough water to grow their best for the competition. Cherilee gave Carrot Top a quick lesson on the science behind what she was cooking, because apparently the judges would expect her to know that, and neither the carrot farmer nor Berry Punch knew much about exactly why, for example, frying a carrot made it sweeter. Dinky, under Ditzy’s watchful eyes, had become the ‘Head Taste Tester,’ a job which she was apparently finding quite enjoyable. And Trixie… well, she wasn’t much help in the kitchen or on the farm, but she was funny and lightened the mood, and Carrot Top appreciated that. With all the stress from the competition and having staked her farm on it, she was somewhat surprised she hadn’t exploded yet, and any excuse to de-stress was a good one.

By mid-afternoon, Berry Punch and Carrot Top had begun to finalize the menu. Berry Punch had Carrot Top do a practice run where she tried to cook all six dishes under the competition time constraints. Carrot Top managed, barely, but burned one of them and heated the kitchen up to an unbearable temperature. “Fifteen minute break while it cools down?”

“Sounds good,” said a smiling Berry Punch. “I’m going to go to the living room and mix up something to drink.”

Carrot Top stepped outside and saw that the flag on her mailbox was up.Oh. Probably just junk... But it could be important, so Carrot Top trotted over and looked in the mailbox. There was one advertisement. From… a realtor.

“Dear ma’am. We have heard you may be looking to sell your property soon, and…”

Carrot Top growled and stomped on it. She didn’t need this.

“Carrot Top! Carrot Top!”

The carrot farmer glanced over and saw that Apple Bloom was racing towards her. “What is it?”

“Somethin’s happened ta Sweet Apple Acres! An’ Applejack says it was one of the farmers in the boycott!” Apple Bloom tumbled to a halt, but picked herself right back up. “Ya said ya were gonna talk ta ‘em!”

“What? No farmer would touch Applejack’s farm!” It was true, if for no other reason than the Trust would sue them until they had nothing left. “What happened?”

“Some kinda weed! An’ Applejack says it ruined all the apples!”

What?! Carrot Top shook her head. “Wasn’t us. I’m sure of it.”

“But then how? An’ who? An’ what’ll we do? Applejack says the farm’s apples are all ruined! Now we can’t compete an’ we got nothin’ ta sell but the ones in storage, an’ those won’t last two days, an’—“

“Apple Bloom,” said Carrot Top, thinking quickly. If this was some kind of attack, it was possible other farms could be next. Or, if it really was targeted just at the Apples, she had to try to fix it and find out who had done it – if for no other reason than she was liable to take the blame for it. “What do the weeds look like?”

“These small blue an’ red flowers, with four big petals. They’re growin’ on everything!”

That sounds like… oh no. Those two unicorns, they had that plant! Farmslayer!

“I think I might know what that is. Wait here – I’m going to get a plant book.”

“Yar what?” called Apple Bloom. But Carrot Top had already raced inside.

Carrot Top told Berry Punch she had an emergency errand, then grabbed the old book of herbs that she’d inherited from her grandparents and ran back outside. “Let’s get to Sweet Apple Acres,” she said.

“What’re ya gonna do?”

“First, I’m going to see if it’s what I think it is. If it is, I might be able to fix it.”

Apple Bloom stared. “…really? We won’t lose all the apples?”

“Maybe. Come on!”

But as they ran, Carrot Top began to think. On the other hand, I could just say I don’t know what’s going on. I didn’t cause this problem; it’s not my fault. And Applejack would do the same to me.

No. She was the Element of Generosity, and –

There’s generous, and then there’s this. She’s your enemy. She wants to ruin you. Now, by happy coincidence, she’s been laid out by some other force. Just let it happen. Let her see what it’s like to have a doomed farm and nopony around to help you.

But Carrot Top wanted to win fairly, and –

What would all those ponies who’ve given up their time and energy and money for the past week say if they knew you were helping the Apples? Wouldn’t they feel you were squandering their help? You still have so much to learn; you should go back home and get back to it. Applejack will still be here when you get back from competing.

“There! There it is!” cried out Apple Bloom.

Carrot Top slowed as she crested the hill. Her eyes widened. She’d never seen such a bad infestation. “By Luna…”

The Farmslayer flowers were growing over everything. Every inch of grass, every tree, even the fenceposts. It was almost like a solid blue-and-red carpet through the fields. With that level of infestation, it was likely that every single apple in Applejack’s orchards had been leeched of flavor.

“Can ya fix it? Can ya?” begged Apple Bloom.

Carrot Top hesitated. You could just say no. Nopony would expect you to even know this; Farmslayer’s from so far south that it’s not even an Equestrian plant. Did Apple Bloom ever care when you were struggling?

No, she hadn’t. But that wasn’t her fault. It was Applejack’s. And it was Applejack that would let another farm go under. Not Carrot Top.

What about the others? Your helpers?

Carrot Top hissed, annoyed at herself for thinking such thoughts. The others would understand. She’d helped all of them; that was why they were helping her. So they knew that wasn’t in her to stand aside when another pony needed help. Even if it was Applejack. She didn’t like the apple farmer; she thought she might even hate her, sometimes, but she didn’t want Sweet Apple Acres to go down in flames.

And just like that, she was decided. “I know how to fix this,” said the carrot farmer. She opened her book and turned to a page near the end. “I need you to gather these fifteen ingredients.”

“Ten fer a potion, an’ five fer a… a smile?” Apple Bloom blinked at the old writing. “Huh?”

“The original antidote calls for eleven ingredients, one of which is a ‘smile.’ I don’t know how to get a smile to put into a pot, but the book says we can substitute these other five ingredients.”

“Lollipops, fur from a puppy dog, giggle dust?”

“I guess they’re things that make ponies smile. Anyway, this book is usually really accurate. Can you get these ingredients? I’ll start setting up an area to mix up the antidote.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah’ll get right on inta town!”

“If any of the shopkeepers say they won’t sell to you, just tell them that I personally asked you to go, okay? Then they should do it.”

Apple Bloom nodded and ran off.

Carrot Top galloped towards the orchards. As she approached, she began to hear yelling.

“Ah told ya, ah don’t KNOW what the Hay these are! An’ ah don’t know how ta fix it! Why, d’ya have bright ideas, Mac? Got somethin’ ya ain’t sharin’? No? Then lemme think!” She kicked something. “As ah recall, ya’r the one that told ma ta come in an’ get a few hours sleep! If ah hadn’t listened ta ya, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” She drew in several sharp breaths. “So it’s ma fault, fine, but ah learn from ma mistakes. Ah ain’t sleepin’ no more till this whole thing’s done. An’ from now until the competition, once we fix this – if we can – somepony guards the fields AT ALL TIMES! Got it? Ah don’t care if we gotta rent some off-duty guards from Canterlot! The orchards need protectin’!”

“Calm,“ began Big Macintosh.

“Easy there,” added Granny Smith. “No sense gettin’ all worked up. That won’t solve nothin’.”

“Worked up? CALM? They’re all spoiled! Every dang one! They taste like nothin’! Like eatin’ cardboard!” Applejack kicked what sounded like a bucket; Carrot Top saw it go sailing up above the treetops. “Whole crop! Dead! Ah ain’t gonna be calm!”

“Sleep,” urged the stallion.

“How can ah sleep now? Settin’ aside that sleepin’ caused this problem in the first place, ah gotta get this fixed! If it don’t get better an’ pronto, the farm’s done! So there ain’t no time fer sleep, not fer any of us, until we know what the Hay went wrong an’ how ta set it right!”

“Hey!” Carrot Top called as she approached the orchards. “AJ, I need to talk to you!”

The apple farmer turned. Carrot Top blinked – Applejack looked terrible, half-dead on her feet. Yet she was still standing, and finding the energy to scream. “You! Ya did this, didn’t ya? Ya ruined ma fields!” She began charging at Carrot Top, only to be stopped when Big Macintosh bit down on her tail. “Lemme go!”

“I didn’t do this,” snapped Carrot Top. “I came because I know most of how to fix this! I know what this plant is!”

“Liar! If it wasn’t ya it was one of the traitors on yar team!”

“If I wanted you to fail, Applejack, I could just walk away! I’m here to help.” Carrot Top hopped the fence. “Where’s the nearest oven or fire? I’ll mix up a batch of the antidote.”

Applejack opened up her mouth, but Granny Smith spoke first. “Well, thankee kindly, Carrot Head. Nice ta see a young’un bein’ so helpful these days!”

Applejack was not so agreeable. “Ya don't seriously think she's gonna help us an'--” she began.

“Applejack!” Granny Smith glowered at the orange pony. “This young mare has come here ta do ya a favor. Say ‘thank ya’ an’ listen ta her,” instructed Granny Smith. Her tone brooked no complaint.

“But—“

“No buts, missy!”

Applejack scowled and fell silent.

Guessing that a ‘thank you’ wasn’t forthcoming, Carrot Top coughed. “Uh. Heat source?”

“Now we add the spiceweed and dried lily,” said Carrot Top, dropping portions of those ingredients into the pot. “And then we add this other thing, the artificial smile.”

The herbal mixture smelled fragrant and restorative; one could tell it was medicine at a whiff. The artificial smile, though, just looked weird.

“I don't think it'll work," said Applejack. "An' ah still don't trust ya. Ya've got every reason ta want our crops ta fail, Carrot Top."

"But what else can we do?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Ah wrote the Trust headquarters in Canterlot. They'll get us a cure fer this stuff the next train afta they get the letter. Meantime, ah'd like ta see if any of them apples ain't sick, so we can get back ta trainin'!"

Carrot Top ignored Applejack. If she wanted to wait hours for a cure, fine. She had work to do. "So now for the artificial smile."

“Artificial?” asked Granny Smith, as if she’d been zoning out for the last fifteen minutes. “What’s artificial now?”

“The smile,” repeated Carrot Top.

“What? We Apples don’t use no artificial ingredients,” said the old mare. “Nuh-uh.”

“Well, I don’t know how to put a real smile into the pot.”

Big Macintosh was watching silently, his gaze completely inscrutable. Apple Bloom was also silent, but she looked terrified. Carrot Top could sympathize. She knew what it was like to think that one’s farm and home were about to be lost forever.

Granny Smith, though, chuckled. “A real smile? That’s it? Why didn’t ya say so?” Granny Smith went over to an old cabinet and began taking out a few jars. “Just give Granny Smith a minute or two an’ she’ll get ya a smile.”

“Uh.” Carrot Top looked at Applejack, who looked just as puzzled as the carrot farmer felt. “It’s not an herb, Granny Smith. It’s an actual—“

“Ah know what a smile is! What, ya think ah was born yesterday?” Granny Smith soaked a cloth in water and began pouring a few different powders onto it. “Ma mother taught ma this when ah was a little girl. Back then, we didn’t have all this newfangled antidotes an’ hospitals an’ such. We made do with folk medicine, an’ a good smile went into near every dang recipe! Ah learned ta do this in ma sleep!”

What? Carrot Top was mystified. Antidotes weren’t that new. What was Granny Smith talking about?

“Now… let’s see… Apple Bloom! Get over here an’ give yar Granny a great big smile!”

Apple Bloom tried, forcing the corners of her mouth upright. “Like this?”

“Naw, it’s gotta be real. Let’s see… uh…”

Carrot Top jumped in. “Apple Bloom, what’s your favorite dessert?”

“Apple cobbler!” said Granny Smith. “She can’t get enough of it!”

Apple Bloom blushed.

“Alright, Apple Bloom,” said Carrot Top. “Shut your eyes. I want you to imagine you’re about to dive into a big tub of apple cobbler. Visualize it very carefully. Think of that warm, golden crust, and the gooey apple filling, and the cool vanilla ice cream…”

Apple Bloom smiled broadly at the thought.

Granny Smith quickly wrapped the cloth around Apple Bloom’s mouth. It flashed, and then seemed to turn a bright, cheery yellow color. At the same time, Apple Bloom’s smile vanished as her mouth relaxed.

“Huh?” Apple Bloom opened her eyes as the old mare removed the cloth. “Ma mouth went all numb fer a second!”

Granny Smith tapped the cloth over the boiling pot until the yellow began to flow out and into the herbal mix. “There. That’s yar smile,” she said.

“…okay then.” Carrot Top began to stir. “Next, stir for five minutes, then we add the Farmslayer flowers…”

“Paint it on,” said Carrot Top. “Like this.”

With a brush, she began painting the herbal broth onto an apple. “There,” she said. “Try it.” She offered it to Apple Bloom.

Applejack seized it. “Ah’ll try it,” she said. She bit into it and chewed fiercely.

And then she paused.

Finally, she said, “Alright. Big Mac, Apple Bloom, y’all gotta help ma get all them apples painted. We—“

“It worked? HORRAY!” Apple Bloom hugged Granny Smith, then Carrot Top. “The farm’s okay!”

“No time to celebrate, AB, we gotta fix the apples,” said Applejack. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the other Apples. “Come on, Big Mac. No time ta waste.” She paused. “An’, uh. Carrot Top.”

Carrot Top paused. Would Applejack realize she was wrong about Carrot Top now? Or about her farm being able to stand on its own all the time?

Of course not. “Ah 'preciate the advice. But don’t go thinkin’ that we'd have died if ya hadn't showed up. We’d have figured it out. The Apple Trust has survived every bug an’ blight up till now. Ya saved us a little time, that’s all. An’ if Granny Smith hadn’t fixed yar recipe, it still could’a all gone wrong.” Her eyes darted around. Carrot Top thought that Applejack sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than convince her. “Ya want, ah don't know, an honorarium or somethin', fine, but we ain't gonna yield the competition ta ya in gratitude over this. Come on, y’all. We got apples ta cure.” She grabbed the pot, seemingly heedless of the fact that it was still very hot, and darted out.

Big Macintosh sighed and began to follow. Apple Bloom left too, but said, “Thanks, Miss Carrot Top,” before leaving. Carrot Top smiled a little. Apple Bloom, she could tell, was feeling a lot better – and that made Carrot Top feel better too.

“Thank ya.”

It was Granny Smith, who was looking at Carrot Top tenderly.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Ya did a good thing.” Granny Smith winked. “We’ll find some way ta make it up ta ya. Ol’ Granny Smith knows a few tricks.”

“I don’t need charity.” Carrot Top sighed. “And, I’ll try to talk to the anti-Trust ponies later, see if I can get them to lay off.”

Granny Smith kissed Carrot Top on the cheek. “Ah know Applejack can be hard ta handle, but ah really appreciate ya tryin’. She works so hard, but she don’t have no friends an’ she gets so lonely, she starts believin’ all these things…” She shook her head. “Ah don’t know, it’s just silly afta a while. But – thank ya. Fer all ya’ve done fer us.”

It felt surreal that Carrot Top was being thanked for doing a favor to the Apple juggernaut, but she inclined her head. “Just trying to be… neighborly, I guess.”

“Naw. Ya’r bein’ more than that. Ya’r bein’ a good friend, an’ Applejack’s in sore need of those.”

On those words, Granny Smith left, and Carrot Top began the long walk home.

It wasn’t hard to track down Flim and Flam. They had been spending the afternoon wandering around downtown Ponyville and spending lots of bits, and had rented the most expensive available room in town. It was like they wanted to be found.

“I know what you did,” said Carrot Top, as she bucked open their door. “Every part of it!”

Flim, on the couch, looked startled, but Flam, lying down on the floor, was unperturbed. “Oh really? And what is that?”

“You salted Applejack’s fields with Farmslayer!”

“Indeed we did!” said Flam. He got to his hooves. “You can thank your blue friend for the inspiration!”

“Trixie? What’d she do?”

Flim shrugged. “She said that you’d be ashamed to win through our help.”

“So we thought, all the more reason to help you!”

“Applejack’s your biggest competitor, and now her farm is doomed.”

“She’ll never clean it up. She might as well move now!”

The two said in unison, “And we’ll tell everypony we did it on your orders unless you sign on with the Duke!”

“…so you’re blackmailing me for something I didn’t even do?”

“But nopony will believe you didn’t do it,” said Flam. “Your hatred of the Apples is quite well known.”

“As is the fact that you wagered your farm on this competition, my good mare!”

“Not to mention, everypony in town is counting on you to win!”

“Such incredible pressure!” sighed Flim. “It’s no wonder you resorted to dirty measures.”

“By hiring two unicorns to destroy Applejack’s fields!”

“Thereby ensuring that you can beat her in the farm competition.”

“And save your farm!”

“And make everypony in town feel like they didn’t waste their time helping you!”

Carrot Top scowled. “So you’ll tell everypony this, unless I agree to work for Greengrass?”

“Precisely! And there won’t be any use in denying it!” cried Flam, smiling wickedly.

“With Applejack’s fields ruined, who would believe you weren’t involved?” asked Flim.

Carrot Top smiled. Good thing I decided to fix the problem. “I told Applejack how to get the flavor back out of Farmslayer and into her apples,” said Carrot Top in a placid tone.

The two stared. “What?!” they said in unison.

“I told them how to fix it. Read most of it in a book, and Granny Smith knew the rest.” Carrot Top shrugged. “They’ll be fine.”

“But – you – we handed you a golden opportunity!” said Flim.

“To not only win, but drive out the Trust!” added Flam.

“How could you waste it?” they both asked.

“I don’t cheat.” Carrot Top narrowed her eyes. “So you didn’t kill their farms and you have nothing to blackmail me with. If you try to tell the other ponies that I told you to plant it in the first place, I’ll just point out that I saved their farm and I wouldn’t have done that if I’d wanted you to wreck it. So get out of town, okay? I’m done with you.”

Flam scowled. “We’ll be back,” he warned. “We won’t give up.”

“Fine. Show up in town again and I’ll have Trixie report you to the throne as criminals and saboteurs. The last mare she did that too was a really powerful sorceress who is still on the lam and won’t ever be able to stop running without getting arrested. Somehow, I don’t think you’re quite at her level. You’ll go to jail, and the Trust will use their influence to make sure you never get out.”

The two brothers looked at each other. Flam then said, “You don’t scare us. You’re just a –“

“Well, bye,” said Flim, hastily grabbing his hat and running for the door.

“Get back here!” Flam chased him out.

Carrot Top smiled, then left.

Upon returning home, Carrot Top told Berry Punch everything.

“…so if you hate me, I get it,” said Carrot Top.

“Hate you?”

“For saving Sweet Apple Acres.”

Berry Punch nudged Carrot Top. “I told you not to talk like that,” she said in a stern tone. “Don’t whine about how you’re too generous.”

“But aren’t you against them?”

“I’m against Applejack’s lunatic business tactics, and her driving the other farms out, but I don’t want them all homeless. Nopony does. What you did was very generous.” Berry Punch smiled. “Now, keep stirring the stew. We don’t want it to burn.”

Carrot Top smiled, feeling a little relieved. “So, uh, what next?”

“Well, run through your dishes again today. Tomorrow, you should cook them for your friends and helpers.”

“I should?”

“Sure! They’ve been working very hard so you could perfect them. They ought to be able to taste the fruits… er, vegetables of that labor, right? Plus, it will give you more practice cooking under competition rules.”

Carrot Top nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Yet another brilliant plan,” hissed Flim. “How much money did we waste on those stupid flowers?”

“It would have worked perfectly if Carrot Top wasn’t such a sap!” snapped Flam. “It was a great plan!”

“Really? Because Greengrass gave us five hundred more bits, we lost them all, and we’re still no closer to actually getting her to sign on!”

Flam scowled. “Just let me think, okay?”

It was just past midnight. The two of them were at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, debating how else they could take down the Trust team and get credit for a Carrot Top win. The flowers hadn’t worked, and they didn’t have enough money to get anything else that was exotic enough that the Trust wouldn’t know how to deal with it. Flam had suggested just burning the orchards down, but though they’d tried with flint, matches, and torches, they hadn’t been able to set anything on fire. The fields apparently had some kind of magical protection from flames. That left them back at square one.

“Anything else?” demanded Flim, after a few minutes had passed by.

Flam nodded slowly. “Okay. We’re right by the Everfree Forest. Let’s just lure in a monster or something,” said Flam. “It can wreck the place.”

Flim was stunned. “Are you insane? Forget ‘illegal,’ we could kill them!”

“Monsters attack this town all the time, and nopony ever dies. In fact, didn’t an Ursa attack a short while ago?” Flam smiled. “Let’s stick with that, then. Get some honey and other sweet things.”

“How’re we going to find an Ursa now? That forest is huge!”

“The wind will blow the scent into the woods, so we’ll just put a Want-It-Need-It spell on the honey. Everything in that forest that’s good at smelling honey will be affected and come running. That’s going to include Ursas,”

“Aren’t those dangerous?”

“Please. Want-It-Need-It is a second year spell. How could such a simple magic trick possibly go wrong?”

So they got honey and other things that Ursas liked, and then returned to the fields, where they began looking for a suitable spot to trap.

“Here we go,” said Flam at last. “With this wind, a strong scent here will carry right into the Everfree. We just have to cast the spell and Ursas… and anything else that likes honey… will rampage through everything.”

“I really don’t know about—“

“Look, let’s just do it and go home, okay?”

Flim frowned, hearing something crunch behind him. He turned, but couldn’t make out any other ponies in the darkness. “Anypony there?” he called.

“Will you keep it down?” hissed Flam. He began spreading the honey.

Flim gulped and continued scanning the fields. “Anypony out there?”

Applejack stepped out from behind a tree.

“Agh!”

Flam turned. He jumped back in shock, but then paused. “You idiot, look at her eyes. She’s sleepwalking!” Indeed, Applejack had adopted a shambling pace as she approached. Flam waved a hoof in front of her eyes, and got no response. "She doesn’t see us or she’d say something. Come on!”

They moved a few trees down, and Flam knelt. “Just help me spread this, okay?”

Flim screamed.

Flam turned and saw that Applejack had somehow gotten behind him. Furthermore, her eyes weren’t exactly sleepy… just weirdly dead. She looked down at Flam with a completely blank expression.

Flim was lying on his side. He didn’t seem to be conscious, and Flam could see the impressions of two hooves in his forehead.

Flam gulped.

Then he saw hooves coming at him, and merciful blackness enveloped him.

Carrot Top and the Elements of Harmony

The seventh day was rainy, but Carrot Top didn’t even notice. She spent the whole day cooking and perfecting her dishes, and then when it came time to get ready for the party, she cut loose. By the time Berry Punch showed up with the liquor, and the others showed up to eat, there was plenty of food.

Trixie looked at her plate. “Should I be worried about all the liquor on the table?”

“Since when have you been worried by liquor?” asked Raindrops.

“Har har.”

There were over fifty ponies waiting for food, but Carrot Top thought she had just enough for all of them. At least, she hoped she did. “Wish me luck,” she asked Berry Punch.

“Why? You don’t need it. But – alright. Good luck.”

Carrot Top grinned and then carefully brought out the first tray of dishes. “Alright, so here we have the carrot salad, carrot turnovers, carrot stew…” She put the tray on the big center table. “Sorry there’s not going to be a whole lot for any one pony, but since y’all have been so helpful this week, I did try to make as much as I could…”

“Representatives first!” said Trixie as quickly as she could, hurrying to the front of the line and putting some of each dish on her plate.

Lyra groaned, but there was amusement in it. “Come on, everypony. Just ignore her. Let’s get food!”

The group began filling up their plates.

Carrot Top returned to the kitchen, where Berry Punch helped her get the next tray set up. “Careful, it’s hot,” said Berry Punch.

“Thanks.” Carrot Top carefully balanced the tray on her back. “Alright, here we go.”

She opened the door again to go into the living room, only to realize that nopony was talking. They were all busily devouring the food.

Trixie finished her plate, licked it, and looked at the now-empty original tray. “You made more, right?”

Carrot Top grinned.

Everypony loved the food, and the party continued on for hours.

The dishes vanished almost as quickly as Carrot Top cooked it, and an increasingly giggly Berry Punch kept telling Carrot Top how great that was and how good of a cook she’d become. She helped make sure that things stayed hot and were stirred appropriately while Carrot Top was hosting, at least until Carrot Top noticed that her words were getting slurred.

“Did you have a lot to drink?”

“Nah, no more than usual. It’s a party! You gotta live!” yelled Berry Punch.

“Okay, I think I’ll take over the stove.”

“I’m fine! I can cook with a little liquor in me! It helps!”

Carrot Top paused. “Didn’t you almost burn down your restaurant two months ago?”

“Hey, that stove had it in for me.”

Carrot Top ushered Berry Punch into the living room. “You host. I’ll cook. I insist”

“Kay. Everypony, let’s party and celebrate! Carrot Top’s gonna win everything! WOOO!”

Carrot Top cooked until all the food was gone, and yet the ponies ate it all. Trixie immediately pronounced it some of the best carrot-based food she’d ever eaten, though given Trixie’s notoriously eclectic tastes, that wasn’t necessarily saying very much. But the other ponies loved the food too, and as the food and liquor were consumed, the atmosphere got merrier and merrier.

“I just wanna say how great it’s been workin’ with Carroty here,” slurred Berry Punch. “She’s a great student an’ everythin’ an’ she’s just real awesome in general. She’s a great friend.” Berry approached Carrot Top. “Hug time!”

Carrot blushed, but Trixie – looking rather inebriated herself – pushed the two of them together, and Berry Punch gave Carrot Top a long hug. “See? An’ just a few days ago she was getting trashed at my bar!”

“You were drunk?” asked Raindrops, looking stunned. “Since when do you drink?”

“I was, uh, depressed,” managed Carrot Top.

Boxxy Brown roared with laughter. “Good answer!”

“TO CARROT TOP!” roared Trixie, and the party continued on.

Over an hour after all the food was gone, the party was only just winding down. But the guests did eventually leave, until it was just the Elements left.

“Seriously, amazing,” said Lyra. “This is really good. You’re going to do fine tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

“Just remember what we all taught you,” said Cherilee. “And you’ll do fine.”

Carrot Top chuckled. “Right. You taught me the science… and Berry taught me to cook, and Lyra taught me the desserts, and Ditzy and Dinky, you showed me what tasted good. And Trixie…”

“Trixie just ate the food,” said Raindrops.

The others laughed, and Trixie blushed. “Hey, that’s not true. I’m helpful.”

“How?” asked Raindrops.

“Moral support. Or, more seriously, who was it that figured out that Flim and Flam were bad news? Who was it that got you to enter this thing in the first place?”

“You’ve been a great help,” said Carrot Top. “Seriously. Thank you – all of you – for your support.”

“Can we come with you tomorrow?” asked Ditzy.

“You can’t help me cook, but there’s no rule against you coming to watch. I’m allowed… I think two guests.”

“I need to be one of ‘em,” managed Berry Punch, from the couch. “Last minute tips ‘an stuff.”

“We’ll figure it out,” said Carrot Top. “Draw lots, or something.”

“Excellent,” said Trixie. “And on that note, I need to hit the hay. Let’s all meet at the train station tomorrow; we’ll figure out who’s going and we’ll see you off, okay?”

They all agreed, and that was that.

Carrot Top stepped out of her house and smiled. The rain had broken, and it was a beautifully cool night.

She would just trot over quickly to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom was probably tired of dealing with Applejack and needed a friend to say hi too. Besides, maybe a friendly face would be just what Applejack needed. She had to understand by now that Carrot Top wasn’t going to hurt her farm; now that she’d had time to process what had happened the other day –

“Where are you going?”

Carrot Top yelped and jumped almost a foot in the air. The voice had seemed to come from nowhere. “Trixie?”

“Yo.” Trixie dropped her invisibility spell. “Where are you going?”

“Uh. Just over to the Apples, and—“

“Why?” Trixie frowned. “Carrot Top. Come on.”

“Hey, Berry Punch told me I should keep being generous, and—“

“There’s generous, and then there’s being a doormat.” Trixie was silent for a few moments. “If you give everything away, Carrot Top, there’s not going to be anything left. You’re my friend. I don’t want that to happen.”

“It’s just a visit—“

“But it’s not just that. Berry told me what you did yesterday.”

“Saving the Apple farm?”

“Come on. We both know how strong the Trust is. Do you honestly think they’d have let Sweet Apple Acres fall? They’d have figured out an antidote. Probably before the competition.”

Carrot Top didn’t say anything. Trixie might well be right, after all.

“And now. You know that Applejack doesn’t want to see you. That she’ll probably think you’re trying to steal her recipes. You need to be sleeping, getting ready for tomorrow. Not visiting her.”

“Well… I mean, it’s just a little time, and—“

“You’re being like Applejack,” said Trixie, slowly, but with gravity.

“Hey!”

“She’s putting everything she has into the orchard, and she’s going insane. I’m worried that you’re going to put everything you have into… into helping save her from herself… and you’ll crash with her.”

“Trixie—“

“Carrot Top. If Applejack flops during the competition tomorrow – if she forgets her apples, say, or she spills a dish – you’re going to be tempted to help her, aren’t you?”

Carrot Top opened her mouth to say that no, of course she wouldn’t be, but then she shut it. She knew she’d be tempted, no matter how stupid it was.

“I want you to promise me that, unless the Apples are in actual, physical danger, you aren’t going to do that. You won’t give them advice or ingredients or bits or anything.”

“But…” Carrot Top looked away. “This whole week, I’ve been learning that my generosity has helped so many ponies. If I become, I don’t know, miserly now--”

“Do you think that any of them would want you to ruin yourself for them? No. We’re helping you not just because we owe you – this isn’t some tab we’re paying off – but because we like you and we’re friends with you and we want you here. But if you neglect your cooking tomorrow to help the Apples, you’ll lose your farm. And nopony wants that, except Applejack. Do you understand that?” She hesitated. “You worry about other ponies all the time. Now – for us, if nopony else – worry about yourself, okay?”

Carrot Top nodded.

“Then promise me. Please?”

“I – I promise.” Carrot Top felt like a weight was lifting from her as she said it. “Unless the Apples are in physical danger, I won’t help them with the competition.”

Trixie smiled. “Great. Go on and win this thing, okay? You deserve the money.”

“Thanks.” Carrot Top blinked. “By the way, when you asked me to enter, how much of that was you wanting me to give you some of the prize money?”

“…if I said twenty, maybe twenty-five percent, will you tell Raindrops?”

Carrot Top laughed. “You’re a good friend, Trixie.”

The blue mare smiled. “Thanks. Now, seriously – go inside. Get sleep. Get ready. I’ll wake you up tomorrow.”

“You? When do you ever wake up before noon?”

“When it matters.”

The next day was a perfect day for travel – bright, sunny, just the right temperature. It was, Carrot Top thought, like Equestria itself was blessing her journey.

Trixie gave her a wake-up call, in that she showed up and shouted into Carrot Top’s ear to wake her. “You weren’t getting up when I was speaking more quietly,” she said, sheepishly, lying where Carrot Top had bucked her. “What?”

Carrot Top had laughed and helped her up, then picked up her non-carrot ingredients and packed them, grabbed her crate of carrots, ate a quick breakfast, and then headed over to the train station… only to find a huge crowd there to cheer her on. Even once the train came, they didn’t leave, and she ended up waving ‘goodbye’ from the train door. “Bye everypony!”

“Good luck!” roared the crowd.

Carrot Top smiled, touched by the sheer number of ponies that had arrived to see her off. All the other farmers were there, and the Elements, and a bunch of random ponies that Carrot Top knew – shopkeepers, weather ponies, everypony. They were all stamping their hooves and yelling goodbye.

“Win some money!” roared Lyra. “And then go on a vacation! You work too hard!”

Carrot Top chuckled. She could say that again.

The Elements had decided that Berry Punch and Trixie would accompany Carrot Top to the competition – Berry for advice, and Trixie to make sure she didn’t do anything foolish. They had both boarded the train, and now Trixie stuck her head out. “We’re gonna win! Kick the Trust’s flanks!” she roared. The crowd cheered in response.

Applejack poked her head out through another window. The cheering almost immediately died down. Applejack scowled, and Carrot Top winced. Ouch.

“Everypony,” the carrot farmer called out. “Just remember, if either of us places, we’ll be bringing fame and money back to Ponyville! Whether it goes to the irrigation system or something else, it’s important that we stand together and—“

“Aww, quit being nice, Carrot, and kick that Apple flank from here to Stalliongrad!” roared Boxxy Brown. “Go on, kick it!” There was general laughter.

Carrot Top rolled her eyes but quickly regained control of herself. “We are all from Ponyville, and a victory from either of us will benefit all Ponyville. I…” The train was beginning to move. “Wish us luck!” she finished, before ducking inside.

That could have gone better.

“Hey, Carrot Top!”

Carrot Top turned to see the other Elements, plus Dinky, racing along the platform.

“GOOD LUCK!” they all yelled at once.

Carrot Top grinned and waved, and then the train was pulling away towards Trottingham.

Yes, she thought, being as generous as she was… it was worth it after all.

Applejack and Resplendent Orange (bonus)

“Perfect,” said Applejack.

The apple farmer sighed in contentment as she glanced at her big brother. “An’ ya didn’t think ah could do it,” she said, a teasing lilt in her voice. “Ya trotted out all yar fancy mathematics an’ such. But here ah am, with six perfect dishes an’ nothin’ else in ma way. We’re gonna take the grand prize this year, Big Mac.”

“Mmm,” said Big Macintosh. He was examining the dishes closely.

“Just goes ta show ya what a little hard work an’ motivation can do fer ya. It don’t matter that Carrot Top’s got the whole dang town helpin’ her. Ah can beat ‘em all.”

“We,” corrected Big Macintosh.

“Sure, sure. We then. Point is, victory fer the Apple Trust. An’ ya an’ ma an’ Apple Bloom will… hey, where’s she at?”

“Bed.” Big Macintosh paused. “She’s worried.”

“What, seriously? Carrot Top’s a fine farmer, ah’ll grant, but ah doubt she’s much of a cook. Even with all the tutors in the world –“

“About you,” clarified the stallion.

“About ma? Big Mac, ya ain’t been tellin’ her stories, have ya? Ah’m fine, perfectly fine. Any Apple worth her salt can go a few days without sleep. An’ we just got one more day ta go ta win the match an’ bring home the money fer the Trust. Then ah can rest, an’ ah’ll buy Apple Bloom somethin’ nice too. She’s been a trooper, helpin’ out with the chores an’ the cookin’. Think she’d like a clubhouse?” Applejack didn’t spend much money on herself – every jangle went back into the farm – but she had been known to occasionally dote on her little sister.

Big Macintosh shook his head, looking disappointed, and left without saying anything.

“What?” asked Applejack. What was with him now? He was so moody lately. And his worrying was scaring Apple Bloom, not to mention his comments about it being bad that Carrot Top’s farm was at risk (of course it was bad, but would he rather the Trust take the hit?) Applejack would have to talk to Apple Bloom and set her right. Big Mac’s heart was in the right place, of course, but he just didn’t understand business.

Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the competition, and that was going beautifully. The chefs that the Trust had sent in, Gustaf and his minions, had given their stamp of approval to the dishes a little under an hour ago. Dishes and waste had been cleaned up. There wasn’t much left to do now except to wait for the competition.

I could go to sleep, Applejack thought. But then she shook her head. It was a bad thought, a thought of a true Apple. She could sleep when she was done with the competition. Until then, she had to work. As perfect as her dishes were, she should see if she could cook them perfectly a second time. Get some more practice in. After all, a single flaw could drop their placement, and only the top few winners got any money. Without the money, the farm would be less likely to be able to withstand catastrophe, and…

And what was she doing sitting and thinking about it? She had to practice. Applejack forced herself to her hooves and began to approach the refrigerator. She’d start with the dessert; it was easiest and so a good warm-up. That meant getting milk, butter, eggs…

Somepony knocked on her door.

“Applejack?”

It took Applejack several moments to process the voice. “Uncle Orange! Come in!”

Uncle Orange entered, smiling. “AJ,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”

Applejack hugged her uncle. “Ah’m glad ta see ya too, uncle. But what’s such a bigshot in the Trust doin’ way out here?”

“Checking up on you. I heard there were some… issues… and I wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“Issues? Nah, we’re fine.” Applejack laughed. “Been workin’ hard, but everythin’s under control. We’re gonna crush this thing tomorrow, ya watch.”

“I will.” Orange smiled. “But I wasn’t just referring to the farm. Are you okay, Applejack? You look tired.”

“Oh, ah can keep goin’ fer weeks when ah gotta. Farm comes first, after all.”

“Well, be careful. You’re a very promising employee – you’ve risen quite far, head of your own farm at your age and all that -- and my favorite niece. I don’t want to see you get hurt. If you collapse of exhaustion--”

“Ah won’t, ah swear.”

Orange nodded. “Very well. Then I guess that brings me to the other issues. I understand you aren’t the only Ponyville team?”

“No.” Applejack frowned. “Golden Harvest Farms – they grow carrots – and the whole dang town’s supportin’ ‘em.”

“How?”

“Trainin’ Carrot Top – she’s in charge of GHF -- an’ sellin’ her ingredients with delayed payment, an’ even helpin’ her with chores while she cooks. She impressed ‘em all when she staked her farm on takin’ home enough money ta buy the whole town irrigation systems.” Applejack scowled. “They don’t care fer all that we’ve done fer ‘em…”

“Is it a problem?” asked Orange, cutting Applejack off. “Is there anything you need from the Trust that would help ensure your victory over Golden Harvest? Ingredients, equipment? Recipes, maybe?”

“No. Ah don’t need anythin’. Ah don’t care if all of Canterlot helps her, she can’t beat ma.” Applejack’s voice was low and stern. “Ah know how vital the Trust is an’ ah will not let it down.”

“Be careful, Applejack. Using the Trust’s resources won’t make you look bad. It will make you look, well, smart enough to use what you have. But losing to a small farm could be very embarrassing.”

“Ah can’t justify usin’ more Trust resources when ah’ve got this thing sewn up anyway. We’ve got a country ta feed. Don’t ya worry; ah’ll get it done, no sweat.”

Orange paused for a minute. And then he said,

“You take care, you don’t let
Their shenanigans blind you!
And you’re wrong, to forget
You’ve got our great Trust behind you!”

Applejack shook her head.

“Ya should know that ya can’t just invoke our name
An’ inspire some dramatic action!
If ah want bad enough then ah’ll win the game
If ah don’t, then ya’r mere distraction!”

Orange smiled at that. “Yes, you’ve always been one of our most zealous and motivated employees.”

“Ah will not let ponies starve,” said Applejack. “That’s all the motivation ah need – an’ more than Carrot Top can possibly understand.”

Orange chuckled.

“You taught me, AJ, how the few who win acquire
What their hearts desire
It’s not practice, nor’s it skill
They’ll help, but, not as much as wanting will.”

Applejack nodded enthusiastically.

“No contest, uncle! Pay no mind to adulation!
Ya want concentration?
When they peel her off the floor
It’s cause ah wanted it a little more!”

Orange glanced at the dishes, then tried one. “Mmm. Delicious apple fritter. This must have taken a lot of work to perfect.”

“Days. But it was worth it. Fer the Trust, anythin’s worth it.”

Orange resumed the song:

“You can win, you can lose
Take or be a possession
You taught me, how to choose
And the key is obsession!”

Applejack glanced in a mirror and had time to briefly note the deep, dark circles under her eyes. She smiled. She’d wear them like badges of honor, proof that she’d struggled and sweated to win the competition and help shore up her vital, crucial farm.

“See ma eyes? Are they safe, are they even sane?
Are they warm when they seem to greet ya?
Ya don’t know, ya can’t tell, but it should be plain
These are eyes that can always beat ya!

Don’t ya ever tell ma ah don’t know the way to play it!
Do ah have to say it?
Doesn’t matter what she tries! Ah’ve got her
Ya can see it in the eyes!”

Orange laughed and tapped Applejack’s hoof. They sang together.

“No contest, baby! Barely any point in playing
When it’s just delaying
What we all already know.
She lost it an Apple and a half ago!”

Applejack almost fell over from laughter, but just barely managed to keep her balance. She made her way back to the refrigerator. “She lost it an Apple an’ a half ago!”

Orange was smiling. “I anticipate no problems then. Best of luck, Applejack, and I sincerely hope I’ll be able to crown you as this year’s winner.” He bowed and left.

Applejack resumed her work, smiling. It was all worth it. She’d win the match, bolster the farm, secure the Trust, and feed everypony. She just had to work hard for one more day. She could do it, and she would, because she had to.

“Ah’ll cook all night,” she murmured. “An’ win. That’s all there is to it.”

Carrot Top and her opponents (1)

Carrot Top watched the scenery zip by. The trip to Trottingham wasn’t terribly long, but it was still lengthy enough to make her feel a little antsy. She wanted to be there already, so she could start cooking and get this whole competition over with.

“Hey.” Trixie tapped her on the shoulder. “What’cha thinking about?”

“That when this is over, I’m going to need a nap.”

Trixie chuckled. “Well, if you win the money, take a vacation or something.”

“Don’t worry, I plan to.”

Berry Punch walked into the compartment. “Ready?”

“I think so,” said Carrot Top. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“No problem.” Berry Punch grinned. “Now, remember, there’s the preliminaries and then the finals, so you can only use half your ingredients—“

“I know. We’ve been over this.” Carrot Top smiled. “I’m not Applejack over here; I’m not so sleep-deprived that I can’t remember my own name. I’ll be fine, girls.”

The competition would take place in the huge central park of Trottingham. A picturesque and bucolic area, the western half – a massive, expansive field – had been set up with over two hundred kitchenettes, one for each farming team. The competitors would have ninety minutes to use the provided equipment and their own ingredients to produce six dishes that highlighted their farm’s produce. Once this was done, judges would sweep down on the area, taste the provided food, and assign scores. A perfect score was ‘100’, and the top ten teams would advance to the final round. The others were eliminated.

The final round took place in the center of the park, right in front of the old castle (now a monument) that the park had been built around. The teams would again cook their dishes, and would present them to the Head Judges (as well as a few celebrities). At that point, the ten farms would be rated, and the prizes could be awarded.

“What place do you need?” asked Trixie.

“Third. The prize money from third place will just cover the irrigation system, plus the other incidental costs from this week. If I do better, I have some money in the bank. If not…” She trailed off. “Guess I’m couch surfing for a while.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Trixie. “Worst case, you can stay at my house.”

“I don’t know, I’ve heard stories from Pokey…”

“Don’t believe anything he says,” said Trixie, quickly. “Especialy anything about last Thursday.”

“Wait, when he showed up in town covered in—“

“It was mostly his fault, really,” said Trixie. “I mean, okay, maybe it was my spell, but he said I could cast it on him. So, uh, he’s responsible, and I’m in the clear legally. And, uh, in general.“

Berry Punch laughed, and a moment later, the other two joined in.

The door banged open. It was Applejack. “Y’all mind keepin’ it down? Some of us are tryin’ ta focus!”

Carrot Top looked at her. “This is my compartment. Don’t you have your own?”

“Yar voices are carryin’. Why are y’all so happy anyway? Ya gotta know by now ya can’t win.”

Apple Bloom poked her head through. “Hi Carrot Top. Hi Berry. Uh, hi Trixie.” She frowned. “But Carrot Top, thanks again fer—“

“Apple Bloom, go back ta the compartment. These varmints ain’t worth our time.”

“But—“

Carrot Top interjected, “Hey, I think I can win. Or at least place well. I’ve got a good product—“

“Yeah, well, ah’ve got motivation.” Applejack stepped into the compartment. “What’re ya fightin’ fer. Showin’ ma up? This irrigation system? Hay, even yar farm? Ah’ve got higher priorities.”

“Right, right, we’ll all starve if you don’t personally obtain all the money in Equestria to buy farming equipment,” said Trixie. “We get it already.”

“Har har. D’ya know what it’s like ta die of starvation, Trixie? Ma parents explained it ta ma. It’s a horrible way ta die. Pain ya can’t ever get rid of, cause ya got nothin’ ta eat. Weakness and lethargy till ya can barely move. Other, weaker ponies dyin’ all ‘round ya, an’ wherever ya look fer help, there ain’t none ta be found. Until ya collapse at last an’ then ya’r gone.“ She snorted. “If ah went away, if the Trust died, ya’d find out fer real what that was like. Thank Luna that ah’m here, an’ even after what ya’ve done, ah’ll still sell apples, an’ –“

“Applejack!” snapped Berry Punch. “You’re frightening your sister!”

Indeed, Apple Bloom had paled. “Ah don’t wanna starve!”

Applejack, to her credit, looked horrified at Apple Bloom’s terror. “Don’t ya worry, sugar cube. Ah won’t let anythin’ like that happen.” She hugged her sister. “Ah work hard every day ta make sure it won’t. Ya’ve got nothin’ ta fret ‘bout, cause yar big sister won’t let anypony go hungry.”

“But ya said if we didn’t do well in the competition we might not be able to keep going and—“

“We’ll do fine. Ain’t our dishes the most delicious ya ever tasted?” Applejack looked up at Carrot Top with new anger, as if the carrot farmer were somehow responsible for Apple Bloom’s unease. “Just fine, no matter what they try ta do ta stop us. Now c’mon. Did ah tell ya yet that, when we do well, ah’m getting’ ya a clubhouse?” She led her sister – who still looked nervous -- away.

Carrot Top shuddered. “I feel really bad for Apple Bloom.”

“Don’t let that influence how you compete,” said Trixie, sharply. “You’re not losing your farm.”

“I won’t. I just wish there was some way to… I don’t know. Get through to Applejack. For her sister’s sake, if not her own.”

“Beat her,” said Berry Punch.

“What?”

“She thinks that she’s the best farmer in the area, so she has to do all the farming to ensure we’re all fed. Beat her. Prove that she’s wrong. If there’s anything that will get through to her, that will.”

Carrot Top thought. “Well… here’s hoping I beat her, then.”

Carrot Top had never seen so many farmers.

Tables stretched out across Trottingham Park, and each table was manned by between one and three farmers. The early ones were already unpacking and getting their ingredients put into convenient locations, and Carrot Top saw all kinds of produce, from simple apples and carrots to the exotic fruits that Flim and Flam had showed her.

“Come on,” said Trixie. “Let’s go check in.”

“I wonder who else is competing this year?” wondered Berry Punch.

“The registration table should have that,” answered Carrot Top.

According to the registration list, the Apple Trust had sent in six teams – in addition to Ponyville, the Hoofington and Bitse farms were competing, as well as one from Prance and two from cities that Carrot Top had never heard of. Hay and Alfalfa Incorporated (HAI), the hay and alfalfa magnates, had two teams. The Tuber Union (turnips, potatoes, and anything else tuber-like) had four, and the Orange Empire had three. “Every major agricultural concern is here,” said Carrot Top. “Forget Applejack, any of these other groups could buy my farm ten times over.”

“And they will all make exactly the same dishes,” said Berry Punch. “And you won’t. You have that advantage. The judges might all like… I don’t know, hay fries, say, but they’re not going to like eating thirty plates of them. You’ve got novelty on your side.”

“Right. Thanks.”

Carrot Top checked in and, with Berry Punch helping her carry the crates, moved to her table. She was about halfway into the field. She could see the old castle in the center of the park, and the forested area behind it. “Guess I stay here now. When’s this thing start?”

“The judges need to inspect your station first,” said Berry Punch. “Make sure your ingredients are okay, and that you didn’t try to smuggle in full dishes.”

“And then can we start?”

“Well, they have to read the rules, announce the judges, play the opening song…”

Carrot Top sighed. “Wonderful.”

“It shouldn’t take more than an hour.” Berry Punch smiled. “You’ll be fine. Just remember what you’ve learned this past week, and be confident. You have all the resources you could need to excel.”

“Where are you two going to be?”

“Around,” said Berry Punch. “We can’t be on the field during the competition, but we can cheer you on from the castle ramparts or something.”

“Great.” Carrot Top smiled. “That means a lot.”

Trixie chuckled. “So! Where are the Apple idiots?”

The Apples were a few tables down. Applejack and Apple Bloom were busily unpacking the crates, with Big Macintosh handling the heavier ingredients. Granny Smith wasn’t there; there was a three-pony limit per table.

“Excuse me!”

Carrot Top and her companions turned to see a tall orange pony approaching them.

“My name is Resplendent Orange. I understand you’re from Ponyville?”

“Yes,” said Carrot Top, smiling. “My name is Carrot Top; I run Golden Harvest Farms.”

“Very nice to meet you.” Orange tapped Carrot Top’s hoof. “And I am on the board of the Apple Trust. I don’t usually come out this way, but when I heard that Ponyville was fielding two teams, I simply had to see the other one.”

“…oh.”

Trixie frowned. “Trying to intimidate us?”

“Not at all! Just wanting to find out more about you. I’ve never seen Applejack work so hard before. You, Carrot Top, must be a very tough competitor.” Orange smiled politely. “I look forward to tasting your dishes.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Splendid! It’s no fun otherwise. Well, best of luck.” Orange bowed and trotted over to the Apple tables.

“Wait,” said Carrot Top. “Why would he get to taste my dishes? He’s just a spectator, right?”

“I’m sure, as a big agricultural businesspony, they’ll let him sample a few,” said Berry Punch. “So, uh, I think the judges are coming to do the ingredient check. Trixie, we should find a place to watch.”

Trixie nodded. “Good luck. And if I see you showing mercy on the Apples, forget the competition, I’m coming right down here and turning you into a newt.”

“…you can’t do that.” But Carrot Top smiled. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for your concern.”

Berry Punch led Trixie away. “I think we can see from that hill there.”

“Okay, what’s going on? Carrot Top might be too stressed to notice, but I’m pretty sure you made up that whole bit about Orange being just a random spectator.”

Berry Punch paused. “He’s one of the celebrity judges.”

“An Apple’s judging this thing?!”

“Not really; he doesn’t assign an official score. It’s just supposed to be for the news; they’ve got Sapphire Shores and a couple Night Court ponies here for that same reason. But I didn’t want to worry her.” Berry Punch shook her head. “Now come on. Let’s get good seats”

“You can go watch if you want. I have something else I need to do.”

Berry Punch looked appalled. “You’re going to abandon her? Now?”

“Of course not. But… okay, Carrot Top told you about Flim and Flam, right?”

“Yes—“

“This is their last chance to interfere in the match. From what I know of them, they’ll take it. I’m going to try to find them.” Trixie nodded. “Keep an eye on Carrot Top; make sure nothing happens at her table. I’m going to look through the crowd. Together, hopefully, we can keep any cheaters away from her.” She was racing away before Berry Punch could say anything else.

“This is not a good plan,” hissed Flim. “We could get arrested.”

“We could also become millionaires. Greengrass promised us the sky if we could deliver Carrot Top,” responded Flam.

The two were dressed as judges, and were walking freely amongst the competitors. They’d located the Apple and Golden Harvest tables, and were just waiting for a chance to interfere with the match.

Flim scowled. His head still hurt from Applejack’s buck to his face. “Sweet Apple Acres is still alive. I still don’t understand what we can do now.”

“The competition isn’t over yet. All we have to do is cheat well enough for Carrot Top to win, then threaten to say that she hired us to do it unless she signs on with the Duke!” Flam grinned evilly. “She saved their farm from the Farmslayer, but if we can wreck Applejack’s team now, she won’t have time to help them.”

“That doesn’t mean she’ll win. Even if Applejack is disqualified—“

“Who cares? Final placement doesn’t matter. We just need a solid, shameful act we can pin on her if she doesn’t do what we want.”

“And what might this ‘shameful act’ be?”

“This is a huge competition. All kinds of things could go wrong,” said Flam. “Rats in the ingredients, somepony turns off an oven or a refrigerator at just the wrong moment, a bribe to the judges—“

“We don’t have any money. We spent Greengrass’s funds on Farmslayer.”

“So we’ll get some, then. We’ve been doing this a long time, brother. Have some faith in our abilities.”

The two continued to talk as they moved through the park.

“BEGIN!” cried the master of ceremonies.

Carrot Top and hundreds of other farmers leapt into action, and then the world seemed to fade out. There was just Carrot Top and a lot of food that needed cooking.

Grate. Cut. Sauté. Bake. Carrot Top’s hooves were a blur of motion as she prepared her dishes. And all around her, ponies were cooking just as frantically. She saw a few bursts of fire here and there from ponies who weren’t as comfortable with the ovens or who had a flambé go horribly wrong, but she ignored this. She had to focus on her cooking. It was like what Berry Punch had taught her; she couldn’t get distracted but just had to keep working. It was the only way she’d have a chance.

One dish went in the oven. On to the next. Chop up the lettuce and cabbage, squirt some lemon juice, mix with the finely shaved carrots. Put that aside, start the third. There were only ninety minutes, so the full six dishes had to be timed perfectly.

At the twenty minute mark, disaster! Carrot Top bit down wrong on a pan of carrots coming out of the oven. The mouth-holder slipped, the hot metal touched Carrot Top’s lip, and she cried out. The dish fell towards the ground.

Moving as quickly as she could, she stuck a hoof beneath it, and – heedless of the pain – hastened to get the mouth-holder back in place and then pick it up and set it on the table. She did so, and managed to save the pan. But when she looked up, now with a burned mouth and sore hoof, she saw a judge staring at her. “It didn’t touch the ground,” she said, as quickly as she could. “The food never touched the ground.”

“I saw,” said the judge, turning away.

Two tables down, Carrot Top saw a team get disqualified for making a similar mistake – dropping the potatoes – except they tried to quickly throw the potatoes into the pot anyway. They were shut down almost instantly. The judges were everywhere and let nothing slip by them.

“Can’t focus on that, gotta get back to the cooking! Thirty seconds behind, come on,” hissed Carrot Top. “Grapes next…”

At the halfway point, Carrot Top had completed two of the main courses. She plated them and put the plates onto the special section of her table with the unicorn enchantments. Food placed there would be essentially frozen in stasis until the judges came by. It wouldn’t cook further, lose heat, or spoil. But there was no time to marvel, or to congratulate herself for finishing two dishes. She just had to keep going.

With twenty minutes remaining, she heard a ‘whump’ sound. Turning, she saw that a pony cooking several rutabagas had collapsed. One of her partners immediately helped her up and led her to a rest area, while the other made sure the food didn’t burn. Carrot Top reflected idly that it’d have been nice to have a partner, but of course she was her farm’s only permanent worker, so that meant she was the only one from her farm allowed to compete.

Well, I can’t change that now. Keep pushing!

The dessert was finished, and the appetizer, and then the side dish. A few moments of idleness passed, as Carrot Top waited for her casserole to finish. She glanced up and saw the Apples busily cooking – even Applejack, who seemed to have fought off her exhaustion and was slicing up apples like a machine. She saw Carrot Top staring and pointedly looked away. Carrot Top rolled her eyes and returned her focus to her dish.

Five minutes left, then four. The oven dinged. Carrot Top yanked the casserole dish out of the oven and began to paint it with a savory glaze. Back into the oven, wait ninety seconds…

“One minute remaining!”

Carrot Top yanked the dish out, hurriedly cut a big portion, and plated it. She slammed it into the stasis section of her table.

“STOP!”

Carrot Top, panting, collapsed onto her haunches. She was done. She’d finished.
The rest was up to the judges.

“You did great! I could see it from all the way on that hill!” Berry Punch was hugging Carrot Top. “Top ten for sure. I don’t think half these teams even got through all six dishes, and half the remainder probably burned at least one.”

“Thanks,” said Carrot Top. “But you’re choking me…”

Trixie slapped Carrot Top on the back. “Nice going.”

The judges were beginning to move through the crowds, tasting each table as they passed by. It would take about half an hour for them to make it to Carrot Top’s position, and then another half hour to finish up.

“So now we wait,” said Carrot Top. “Wonderful.”

Berry Punch opened up her sack. “Well, I brought a few snacks. If you’re not full from tasting –“

“Honestly, at this point I’ll eat anything, as long as it doesn’t have carrots.” Carrot Top smiled, and the other two laughed.

“Wonder how the Apples did?” said Trixie.

Carrot Top shrugged. “No disasters that I saw. But with all their money and resources, I’m not sure what could total that team. They could lose a whole dish and probably have enough spare food to make it fresh.”

“Move! Hay, why don’t they move!” hissed Flam.

Flim sighed. They hadn’t been able to get anywhere near the Apple ingredients. The two big ones, Big Macintosh and Applejack, were always standing right by them. The same with their oven and other equipment. Besides, Applejack knew what they looked like now, so they couldn’t risk even being seen by her.

“We’ll go with the ‘bribe the judges’ plan then,” said Flam.

“How’re we going to steal money?” said Flim. “There’s thousands of ponies here. We’ll be seen.”

Flam scowled. “You know what? Why don’t you come up with a bright idea, then?”

“Excuse me?”

They both looked down to see Apple Bloom.

“Are you the judges? Are ya judgin’ us now?” Apple Bloom bounced. “Cause ah’m really lookin’ forward ta y’all lovin’ our food!”

“Well, we’re the… uh…” Flam brightened. “We’re the candy ponies!”

“Candy ponies?” asked Flim, clueless.

Apple Bloom grinned. “Candy? Yay!”

“Yes, this year the farming committee decided to show our support for getting young foals involved in farming by having a big candy giveaway – and you’re the winner!” Flam grinned. “Why don’t we take you to get your reward?”

“Where is it?”

“In that big castle right over there!”

Flim pulled Flam aside. “What are you doing? We don’t have candy!”

“Go steal some, quick, and hide it in a room in that castle. I’ll take her over there slowly.”

“Why, exactly, are we giving her candy?”

“All team members must be present for judging, or it’s disqualification. That foal’s on their team! We just have to hide her for… thirty minutes or so… and Applejack’s out for the count!”

“Isn’t this abduction?”

“Only if she doesn’t want to go, and right now, she looks pretty eager. C’mon!”

Flim looked uneasy, but ran off.

Apple Bloom hesitated. “Wait, ah gotta check with ma sis ta see if ah can go.”

“We already have, Apple Bloom!” said a smiling Flam. “She was quite happy for you!”

“Ya have?”

“How else would we know your name, if we hadn’t told Applejack that her kid sister had won the candy prize, and she hadn’t said, ‘Ma darlin’ Apple Bloom! This’ll be the happiest day of the year fer her!’ Course, we could ask again if you really want…”

“Well… ah want. No offense, but AJ taught ma not ta go off with strangers.”

Flam, fed up, smiled broadly. “Hang on. You’ve also won another fabulous prize. This… uh, this pinecone!”

As he picked up the pinecone, he focused. His horn still hurt from being bucked, but he had enough magical energy to cast a simple Want-It-Need-It spell. It hit the pinecone, which shuddered slightly. And Apple Bloom’s confused expression vanished. “Really? Awesome! Ah really want that pine cone!”

“Ah ah!” Flam tucked it into his shirt pocket – it wouldn’t do to incite a riot – and then said, “To get it, you have to come to the candy room.”

“Alright, ah’ll come, just gimme the pine cone!”

Flam grinned. “Certainly. Just follow me!”

Flam and Apple Bloom took off into the crowd.

Carrot Top and her opponents (2)

“Twenty-five minutes,” whined Carrot Top. “This is taking forever!”

“I don’t think griping about it is going to help,” muttered Trixie.

“Hey,” said Carrot Top. “I’m allowed a little griping. I’ve had a rough week.”

“Well, when you win the money it’ll all be worth it,” said Berry Punch. She had taken out a thermos that she’d obtained from somewhere. “Want something to drink?”

“…is there alcohol in that?”

“Uh-uh. Scout’s honor.” Berry Punch smiled. “Just fresh grape juice. Not even a—“

“APPLE BLOOM!”

They turned to see Applejack, who was wheeling around in circles like a boat that had lost its rudder. “APPLE BLOOM! WHERE ARE YA?”

“What now?” asked Trixie. “Does she ever shut up?”

Carrot Top frowned. “Let’s go check it out.”

“Hey—“ began Trixie.

“I’m just seeing what’s going on,” said Carrot Top. “Come on.”

As they approached the Apple area, they saw Big Macintosh galloping up to Applejack. “Nope,” he said. “Won’t help.”

“Yar kiddin’. They really won’t help? Why the Hay not? That’s ma sister that ain’t here! Those other Apple teams--”

“Judging,” said Big Macintosh, nodding at the line of distant – yet slowly approaching – judges.

“What in – they won’t help us find ma sister cause they’re afraid of bein’ DQed? Dang the competition, ma sister’s gone an’ the only ponies who saw her leave said she was with those varmints who tried torchin’ our farm! We gotta find her!”

Carrot Top hissed. “Flim and Flam,” she muttered.

“Those idiots again?” groaned Trixie. “Great. Why would they kidnap Apple Bloom?”

Carrot Top explained the blackmail scheme to her. “They’ll probably try to get Applejack disqualified, then say I made them do it unless I work for Greengrass.”

Trixie shook her head. “Luna will kill them. Politics is one thing, but you don’t bring foals into it.”

“Great, but we can’t wait for her to get involved,” whispered Berry Punch. “What now?”

Carrot Top approached the Sweet Apple Acres team. “What’s going on?”

Applejack stared at Carrot Top with bloodshot, bleary eyes. “Ya. Ya had somethin’ ta do with this. Did ya get those nutjobs ta fry our farm an’ kidnap ma sister? Ah am gonna hurt ya so bad—“

Big Macintosh stepped between them. “Apple Bloom’s foalnapped,” he said. “Towards castle.” He sounded very worried. “Other Apples won’t help.”

“Because if you’re disqualified, then they have a chance to beat the heir,” said Carrot Top. “And winning’s what matters for the Apples.”

Big Macintosh nodded.

Carrot Top bit her lip. She could try to help them find Apple Bloom…

“Carrot Top!” hissed Trixie. “Remember! You don’t want to get disqualified! This is too important!”

“They kidnapped a foal,” said Carrot Top. “Do you really think I’d want to sacrifice a foal for this competition?”

“Let’s just tell the judges!”

“Tell them what? If we had proof she went with them unwillingly, they might suspend the competition and help look for her, but we don’t. They’ll think she just wandered off. They won’t look.”

“Then somepony else. Flim and Flam will be caught. You know it. Besides—“

“If it was Dinky, would you be saying this?”

Trixie turned a bright red and shut up for a few moments. “Alright, fine,” she muttered. “Point. I’ll help look too.”

“Thanks.” Carrot Top turned to Berry Punch. “Apple Bloom’s never done anything to you. Will you—“

“Of course,” said Berry Punch, simply. “I’m not going to leave a foal in the custody of those two con artists.”

Carrot Top nodded and turned back to Big Macintosh and Applejack. “Alright. We’ll help you look for her. Just a quick sweep of the castle, and—“

Big Macintosh blinked. His eyes seemed oddly watery, and he bowed his head. “Thank you,” he murmured.

“Ah don’t trust ‘em! What if—“ Applejack began.

“Applejack. Quiet,” said Big Macintosh. His voice was stern, almost an order. Applejack stopped talking.

Big Macintosh looked at Carrot Top. “Twenty-five minutes.”

“I know,” said Carrot Top, and Berry Punch and Trixie nodded.

“Ah’ll help too!” began Applejack. She took off running… and almost plowed into an oven. “Agh! Where’d that come from?”

Carrot Top blinked. In her state, she’ll be more likely to fall into a ditch than find Apple Bloom…

Big Macintosh evidently agreed. “You’re dizzy. You’re tired. Stay. Watch food.” His eyes narrowed, and he gestured at Carrot Top. “Hers too.”

Applejack slowly sank to her haunches, as if too weak to resist the order. “But – but she’s ma sister, an’—“

“We’ll bring her back,” said Carrot Top. “Don’t worry.”

And they took off.

Carrot Top made it to the castle with time to spare, but her heart sank upon entering. The castle was far bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Still, there was no time to lose, so she picked a path at random and began running.

Five minutes later, it wasn’t going well.

Gasping for air, Carrot Top looked out the nearest window. She’d found herself in a tall tower that overlooked the competition grounds. She could see the wall of judges, which was steadily approaching her table. Fifteen minutes left, and it would probably take almost that long to get down and get back.

I don’t know what to do… I can’t miss my judging just to find Apple Bloom, can I? Even if she’s just a little foal and probably lost or scared…

Sighing, she picked another hallway and began running. She had to keep going. She had to hope Apple Bloom was somewhere nearby, and—

“Excuse me, are you lost?”

She skidded to a stop. A white unicorn with a sharp, large horn and a deep blue coat was standing in front of her and smiling. He looked kind of like a tour guide.

“I know the castle can be a little confusing. I got lost myself here last month! Maybe I can help you find where you need to go?”

“I’m looking for a foal. Don’t suppose you’ve seen her? Yellow coat, red mane—“

“Red bow in her hair?”

Carrot Top blinked. “Yes! Yes, exactly!”

“Ah, yes. I did see her just a few minutes ago. Take the first door on the left, go down two flights of stairs, and she should be in the third room on your right.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Carrot Top took off at a run.

“Ah, the young are always in a hurry,” mused the unicorn as he walked on.

“Ah really want this cabinet! It’s the coolest thing ever!”

“And it’s yours! You just have to lift it out of this room!”

Carrot Top slowed as she heard the voices from the next room -- Apple Bloom, and Flam too. Alright, she’d found them. Now to get past the unicorns.

Carrot Top bucked through the wooden door and found herself in an old kitchen area. Apple Bloom, gripping a pinecone tightly in her teeth, was straining to move a huge old cabinet. It was much bigger than her, and it was clear she’d never be able to move it. Yet she was trying with all her might, though she looked exhausted and worn.

Flim and Flam were there too, dressed in judging uniforms. They swiveled when Carrot Top burst through the doors. “You’re too late!” called out Flam. “You’ll never get her back in time for the judging. Sweet Apple Acres cannot win.”

“You should go back,” said Flim. “Maybe you can save your own farm.”

“I’m not leaving without her,” said Carrot Top. “Take off whatever spell she’s under and get out.”

Flim began to sweat. He turned to Flam. “I told you this wouldn’t work!”

“Shut up!” Flam growled. “Sorry, Carrot Top. We’re keeping the foal here. You’d better get back to your table before you miss your judging—“

“I don’t care!” Carrot Top began to approach the two.

“You’ll lose your farm if you lose this competition!”

“You think I’d sacrifice a foal to keep my farm? Maybe the Apples would make that choice, but I won’t!” yelled Carrot Top. “I’m not a cheater, and I care more about other ponies than a stupid prize! Now let her go before I buck you into next year!”

Flam’s horn glowed as he began to cast a spell – but Carrot Top was faster. She bucked him squarely in the head, and he collapsed.

Flim squeaked.

“Remove the spell,” ordered Carrot Top. “Now.”

“Or what, you’ll knock me out? Then the spell stays. Apple Bloom will never want to leave this room.” Flim managed a pale smile.

“No. If you don’t, I will tell my good friend Trixie Lulamoon everything you have done. Trixie is the personal student of Princess Luna herself. In ten minutes, Luna will have a letter describing exactly what you’ve done in service to Greengrass. Then we can all wait and see whether Luna banishes you to the sun first, or Greengrass has you exiled or thrown into some secret, forgotten dungeon so you can’t testify against him.” Carrot Top’s smile was wintery. “That’s what happens if you don’t.”

“…or, maybe I take the spell off, and we agree to forget all about this?” Flim’s smile looked a good deal more nervous.

Carrot Top said nothing.

“Alright, alright! Just – just let us go, okay?” Flim turned to Apple Bloom, and his horn glowed. A moment later, Apple Bloom paused.

“What’s goin’ on? Why am ah here? Where’s here?” she asked.

“Get out of here,” ordered Carrot Top to Flim. “If I ever see you or your brother again, I’m telling Trixie and Luna what I know.” She had already told Trixie, but he didn’t need to know that. “Leave.”

Flim grabbed his brother and left.

“Where am ah? What happened ta the judgin’?” asked Apple Bloom. “Ah didn’t miss it, did ah?”

“We’re getting close. Come on – we have to get back as soon as we can!” said Carrot Top. “Get on my back, okay?”

Apple Bloom hopped on, and Carrot Top began to run. She still had to find her way out of the castle.

“It’s just down those stairs,” said the tour guide-looking pony. “Three flights, out the left door.”

“Thanks again,” said Carrot Top. It was certainly good luck that they’d run into him twice; he seemed to know his way around, after all. Carrot Top began to race downwards.

The door opened and Carrot Top found herself on the lawn, but her heart sank. The judges were much further along than she’d hoped for. They’d be at her station in two minutes, and she needed five to get back.

Still, there was nothing else for it. She took a deep breath. “Hang on—“

“APPLE BLOOM!”

Both ponies turned to see Big Macintosh running up to them. He was smiling brightly, and crying a little. “Apple Bloom!”

“Big Mac! Ah’m okay! Carrot Top saved ma!”

“Reunion can wait – we’ve got to get back,” said Carrot Top. “Let’s all run as fast as we can.” She knew it wouldn’t be fast enough, but she’d still try, and—

“Up,” said Big Macintosh.

Carrot Top nodded at Apple Bloom. “You heard your brother. Get on his back, don’t worry about me. I—“

“Up,” repeated Big Macintosh. And then he had stuck a leg under Carrot Top and lifted, and Carrot Top felt herself flying up in the air – and then she was on Big Macintosh’s back.

And he began to run like the wind.

Carrot Top had known that Big Macintosh was strong, and fast, but riding him as he blasted his way through the crowds and zipped to their tables was something else altogether. She held on tightly for dear life, feeling Apple Bloom holding on tightly to her neck as well. The wind was peeling back her mouth and hurting her eyes.

And then they had stopped. They were there. With time to spare.

Carrot Top took several deep breaths and rolled off. She looked over at the large, red pony. “Thanks.”

Big Macintosh, who was now cradling around Apple Bloom, smiled. “Thank you,” he said. And then, “Luck.”

“You too.”

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack had remained sitting by her table during the search, but now she raced over. “Apple Bloom! You’re okay! Thank Luna!”

Apple Bloom turned away.

“What?” asked a bewildered Applejack. “What’s wrong?”

Carrot Top made her way back to her table. She had to keep going, and she had no more energy for the Apples. It was time for judging, after all. She had to be on the ball.

The judging went very well.

The judges seemed to love Carrot Top’s food, and she was able to answer all their questions. What ingredients she used in the stew, what technique she implemented to get such a perfectly flaky crust on the turnover, everything. Each dish was delicious, and highlighted her farm’s spectacular carrots.

“Alright. The announcement’s at three-thirty,” said the head judge. “If you move on to the finals, you’ll receive further instructions then.” And then they left.

Carrot Top took a deep breath. “Think they liked it?”

Berry Punch and Trixie trotted over – they hadn’t been allowed near the table during the judging. “They loved it,” said Berry Punch. “I serve customers all the time – I know what ponies who are enjoying their food look like. You knocked their hooves off.”

Trixie grinned. “So, not to get ahead of ourselves, but when you win the money, if you happen to think of the mare who convinced you to apply—“

Carrot Top laughed. “Could you save the ‘whining for money’ part until after I actually win money?”

“If I have to,” said Trixie.

The three laughed and chatted merrily as they waited for the judging to finish. Carrot Top glanced at Applejack’s table a few times, but all the ponies there were standing in stony silence. Carrot Top felt bad for Applejack, but she didn’t go over to do anything. Trixie was right. She had to conserve her energy now, and focus on her own ability.

And then it was time. The announcer took the stand.

“Apple Trust, Hoofington,” she read out. “Hay and Alfalfa Inc., Baltimare. Apple Trust, Las Pegasus. Apple Trust, Ponyville.”

Applejack cheered. “Hay yeah! Betta start thinkin’ of what ya want ya’r clubhouse ta look like, Apple Bloom! An’ Big Mac, we’re gonna have ta start figurin’ out which fields ta buy up…”

“Tuber Union, Hoofington. Orange Empire, Prance…”

Carrot Top realized that she’d shut her eyes. “Come on, come on,” she whispered. “Come on, say my farm…”

“Hay and Alfalfa Inc., Amblerja. Kimchi Corporation, Neighjon…”

Berry Punch poked Carrot Top and smiled. “You’ll make it,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

And then--

“Golden Harvest Farms, Ponyville!”

Carrot Top took a moment to realize what had just happened, and then she and Trixie and Berry Punch were cheering.

Carrot Top had made it. She was one step closer to keeping her farm.

Just one last mountain to climb.

It was about four in the afternoon when the ten remaining teams gathered in front of the old castle.

“Ninety minutes,” called the announcer. “And they start… NOW!”

The other teams, Carrot Top observed, were indeed making very similar dishes. She counted at least six salads that shared eight out of ten or eleven ingredients. Everypony else had some kind of deconstructed lasagna-thing going on; apparently that was very popular. None of them, unlike Carrot Top, were using spinach.

But Carrot Top didn’t care. Berry Punch was right; being different, being true to her farm instead of pandering to the gastronomical trends of the moment, could help her too. So she ignored them, and she just cooked the best way she knew how.

Turn the turnovers just like Bonbon had showed her. Mix together a vinaigrette just as Berry Punch had taught her. Carve the carrots that she had grown, that Raindrops had provided extra water for. She had everything she needed.

To her left, the HAI team was using what looked like some huge machine that took hay and other ingredients in one end and produced what looked like a salad on the other. It was like something Flim and Flam would have come up with. On her other side, just past the Sweet Apple Acres team, Apple Trust Hoofington (led by the piebald Crab Apple) was busily whipping up a series of apple foams. Crab Apple sprinkled in what Carrot Top recognized as a saffron-style spice, easily fifty bits a bottle.

She looked back at her table – her local ingredients, her simple knives – and smiled. Let them be as fancy as they wanted. She didn’t care. She wasn’t afraid of the Trust or the other big companies.

Golden Harvest Farms was not going to be intimidated.

When it was over, Carrot Top sank to the ground. “Now what?” she managed. She wasn’t asking it to anypony in particular – Trixie and Berry Punch weren’t allowed near her until after the judging – but she just wanted to say something.

“Now,” said a voice from beside her, “The celebrities do a tastin’. Then the real judges.”

Carrot Top looked at Applejack, who seemed… sad, somehow. “Oh. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Applejack looked down. “An’, uh. Thanks ta ya too. Fer savin’ ma sister. Ah owe ya one.”

Carrot Top nodded.

“Ah would have tried ta save her, but ah could barely stand up,” said Applejack. “An’ she’s all mad now; says ah didn’t rescue her cause ah didn’t want ta be DQed if the judges came by while ah was lookin’ fer her. But ya know that ain’t true, right? Ya know ah wasn’t just bein’ worried ‘bout bein’ DQed?”

Carrot Top thought. As crazy as she was, Applejack still seemed to love her family. “Yes.”

Applejack sagged with visible relief. “Great.”

“So… uh. Who are these celebrities?”

“Ah dunno. But they’re announcin’ ‘em now.”

Indeed, the master of ceremonies was beginning to speak again. “First up, we have our chief corporate sponsor and a major agricultural figure, Resplendent Orange!”

Carrot Top whipped her head around as Applejack began to applaud. “Your uncle’s in charge of this thing?!”

“Just one of the guest celebrity judges – his vote don’t count fer nothin’, just endorsements, ah guess. An’ he’s payin’ fer some of it. Same with a bunch of the other big farms, though. How d’ya think this thing gets its prize money?”

“…uh—“

“He don’t cheat. We Apples always play fair,” said Applejack. “He’ll judge honestly.”

I hope so, thought Carrot Top.

Orange was giving a short speech. “…pleased to see such an incredible array of dishes. I’m looking forward to tasting them. Thank you all, again, for giving me this opportunity.”

The MC took over again. “Second, the officer recently voted the most handsome in the Equestrian Army, Brigadier General Morning Star! … Third, with her new album just days away from release, Sapphire Shores! … Fourth, representing the Night Court, Counselor Fancy Pants!”

Carrot Top’s eyes widened. “Hey, that’s the tour guide!”

Fancy Pants, with his sharp horn and blue coat, beamed out at the crowd. “Good afternoon! I would simply like to say that, even from here, your dishes all look absolutely spectacular. I am confident that I will enjoy sampling each and every one of them.” He bowed.

Apple Bloom hopped up on the Sweet Apple Acres table. “He helped us get out of the castle!”

“I remember,” said Carrot Top. “I wonder why?”

“Ya know him?” Applejack gasped. “Apple lobbyists have been tryin’ ta get on his calendar fer months! He’s one of Princess Luna’s friends! An’ – an’ ya just met him in the castle?”

Apple Bloom nodded.

“Alright, sis, ya gotta introduce us. This could be huge. Ah’ll coach ya, or we’ll get Uncle Orange ta help—“

“Hmph.” Apple Bloom turned away.

“Sis, come on, this is real important…”

Carrot Top smiled slightly as Fancy Pants looked over at them. (The announcer was talking about some other Night Court pony, a brown earth pony with a red mane, but Carrot Top missed the name). “Hi again!”

“Hi, mister Fancy Pants!” called Apple Bloom.

Fancy Pants waved to them, and Applejack almost collapsed from shock.

The celebrities had been introduced, and the master of ceremonies waved the celebrity judges down. “Now, their votes don’t count for anything,” she cautioned. “But they can provide useful feedback. And who knows? If one of them likes your food enough, you might just find you have a few new connections!”

Carrot Top tensed as the celebrity judges began to stroll amongst the tables and sample the food. Fancy Pants and the other Night Court pony were walking towards Carrot Top and Applejack. Carrot Top wondered what to even say. How did you introduce yourself to a baron or a counselor or whatever they were?

The two stopped at Carrot Top’s stall, and the brown earth pony delicately took a forkful of salad. He chewed it and swallowed it.

Carrot Top tensed.

“I think it could use a little rambutan,” said the pony, as if this was a matter of great scholarly importance. “It’s delicious, but it needs just that hint of sweetness. Apple could work too, but then the texture would be too similar to the carrots.”

Carrot Top blinked.

The other pony sampled her stew as well and praised it highly. “Perhaps a touch more brown sugar, though. The glaze on the carrots isn’t quite what it could be. Fancy Pants! I think this needs brown sugar, do you agree?”

Fancy Pants sampled the carrots. “Yes. I would also have cooked the carrots a half-minute or so less. They fall apart too easily in the broth. Tender is good, but a few of the thinner ones are almost soup.”

Carrot Top couldn’t move. It was surreal. A Night Court pony and one of Luna’s advisors were eating her food and critiquing it. If Corona herself had shown up and criticized her seasonings, it couldn’t have gotten any weirder.

“Try the turnover, though. I would say it’s perfect,” said Fancy Pants as he ate a bite.

“Really?” asked the other pony, sampling it. “I like turnovers, but this one… I don’t know. The balance isn’t right. The crust is very thick.”

“Fancy Pants! Mister Fancy Pants!” Applejack waved. “Over here!”

Fancy Pants looked over. “Oh, Applejack! The brilliant young apple farmer. I’ve heard so much about your apples – could I trouble you to try one raw?”

Apple Bloom quickly picked one out of a case and bucked it to Fancy Pants, who caught it with telekinesis and sampled it. “Divine!” he concluded.

The other pony frowned. “I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten – who is that?” he whispered to Carrot Top.

“Applejack. Of Ponyville’s Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Oh. Thanks.” The Night Court frowned. “I thought she would look less… zombie-like.”

Carrot Top quickly hid her chuckle. “She’s, uh, had a rough week.”

Applejack, in the meantime, seemed ecstatic about Fancy Pants’ comments. “Ah’m so glad ya like it!”

“Yes. The Ponyville farms are doing very well, it seems, if they have such master craftsponies as you two,” said Fancy Pants, turning back to Carrot Top. “And not just good at farming, but also of sterling character! Carrot Top – I’ve heard amazing things about your generosity.”

“You have?” asked the carrot farmer.

“I’ve heard that you took a big risk in entering, and you did so in order to buy new irrigation systems for the Ponyville farming community.”

“How did you hear that?” asked Carrot Top.

Fancy Pants shrugged. “Extremely generous, really. I think your village is lucky to have a pony like you.”

Carrot Top smiled.

“We give ta the communita too,” said Applejack hastily. “Rebuilt the town hall, an’, an’ this year if we win we’re gonna—“

“Oh, of course. I’ve also heard about your generosity,” said Fancy Pants. “I heard that you offered, when you heard that Carrot Top might lose her farm, to let her stay at your place for a few nights so that, though homeless, she would have a couch to sleep on.”

Carrot Top couldn’t help but smile; compared to what Carrot Top had done and risked; that sounded pathetic – especially given Applejack’s resources. The apple farmer blushed. “Uh. Ya gotta understand, there’s a bit of a history there, an’, an’—“

Fancy Pants turned back to Carrot Top. “I’ve been reviewing the Ponyville public works records, and they seem to be favoring Sweet Apple Acres over the others. Probably some silly bureaucratic mixup; their farm name got put down more times than the others or something like that. But if you want, Carrot Top, I could talk to some ponies and see if that could be fixed.”

Carrot Top blinked. That would be huge. Fancy Pants seemed kind of… well, silly… but his heart was definitely in the right place. “Thank you!”

“Wait!” cried Applejack.

“Don’t mention it,” said Fancy Pants, ignoring the apple farmer. “Now, I really must be moving on. That rhubarb and strawberry pie looks spectacular. Have a good day!” He trotted off.

Resplendent Orange was at the Apple table almost immediately. “Why did Fancy Pants look unhappy?” he asked. He seemed disappointed. “After talking to you? What did you say to him?”

“No, uh, uncle, ah didn’t, ya see, it was—“

“I have been trying to get on his calendar for months. Tell me exactly what he said.”

“Uh, um, actually…” stuttered Applejack.

The other Night Court pony smiled. “Thank you for the delicious food. I’ll see you later, Carrot Top.”

Carrot Top nodded, and the other pony left.

The next pony to approach Carrot Top was Sapphire Shores. “Delicious!” she raved, after eating a bite of the carrot turnovers. “Sublime! Listen, dearie, you’re going to go far in the cookery world!”

“Thank you!”

“I’ll bet Fancy Pants and the Duke said the same thing, but really, I can’t help myself. This is so good—“

“Wait, Duke?”

“Weren’t you just talking to Duke Greengrass?” She blinked.

That was the Duke?!

“So nice of him to make time to support the local farmers and come all the way out here. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to balance all his political duties and things like this. I could never do it.” Sapphire Shores laughed. “Well, he did say he might be looking for a new farmer or two to sponsor – some small farm that impressed him. Hey, you’re the only small farm that made it into the top ten! I bet he’ll take an interest in you, dearie. Well, good luck!” She trotted off to the HAI team on Carrot Top’s left.

“Yeah. I’ll bet he will,” said Carrot Top.

But she couldn’t worry about him now. She had a competition to win; Greengrass could come later. So she smiled again, and introduced herself to Morning Star, and when Greengrass left the fields she didn’t even notice.

The celebrities finished eating. The judges did the formal tasting. And then it was all over but the awards.

Carrot Top stood with Trixie and Berry Punch. Her eyes were shut. In the next moments, she’d learn if she could keep her farm or not.

“In first place – Apple Trust, Hoofington!”

There was a roar from the Apple Trust section of the crowd, and Crab Apple trotted up to receive her prize. “I’d like to thank everypony who made this possible, especially the Trust leaders…”

“In second place – Hay and Alfalfa Incorporated, Baltimare!”

Carrot Top was sweating. She’d screwed up somewhere, she thought. The judges hadn’t liked her dishes. She’d lost it all, and –

Berry Punch hugged her. “I believe in you.”

“Thanks.” Carrot Top shook her head. “If – if I didn’t win, I’m sorry—“

“Don’t say that. You’ll do fine. And even if you don’t, I wouldn’t take anything back.”

“But your business—“

“I said I wouldn’t take it back, and I meant it.” Berry Punch smiled. “You’re worth everything we put into this, whatever happens.”

Trixie nodded. “Yeah. And we’ll do whatever we can to help you get your—“

“In third place – Golden Harvest Farms, Ponyville!”

It took Carrot Top a minute to understand what that meant, and then she cheered.

It was over. She was safe.

Distantly, she heard the Tuber Union get fourth, then Sweet Apple Acres get fifth, but she didn’t care. She had won enough money to buy the irrigation system. She still had a home.

And then Trixie and Berry Punch were hugging her, and they were all cheering, and Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom came over to congratulate her, and Carrot Top felt like it was the happiest day of her life.

Carrot Top and Applejack

“I’ll need to work out if I have any money left over,” said Carrot Top. “But if I do, the first thing I’m doing is taking you two out somewhere nice.”

Berry Punch grinned. “You don’t need to do that.”

“You just helped save my farm. I’m taking you out nice,” said Carrot Top. “Objections will be overruled.”

“No objections here,” said Trixie. “By the way, I prefer Neigh Orleans cuisine. And the finest champagne.”

“Excuse me!”

Carrot Top looked over to see Resplendent Orange. “Uh oh.”

“Congratulations on your placement. Your food was spectacular.” Orange seemed sincere. “I know you’re probably eager to get home, but I was wondering if I could buy you a drink?”

Carrot Top hesitated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Please? I would love to talk to you some more. It’s been years since anypony from a small Farm has done that well in this contest,” said Orange. “I simply must know more about you.”

Trixie stepped between them. “She said no. If you want to say something, say it now.”

“Well, alright. Carrot Top, your farming ability is clearly exceptional. You’ve demonstrated an incredible ability to produce crops and make business deals – I noticed how many ingredients you had. Betting your farm on the competition was a brilliant masterstroke.” Orange smiled. “How would you like to join the Trust?”

“What?!”

Orange grinned. “You’re exactly the kind of farmer we want. If I recommend you, I can have you approved in a week. And that approval comes with access to the Trust funds, a start-up bonus, disaster insurance, equipment… a piece of our time-share resort in Las Pegasus… and assistance for your friends and business partners too, of course. If you have a particular restaurant, say, that you favor and sell a lot of carrots to, we could certainly kick a little support their way.”

Trixie and Berry Punch seemed frozen in shock. Carrot Top recovered first, pushing through the sudden visions of having money, security, and everything else the Trust could offer. “What would that mean for me, though? I mean, what would my responsibilities be?”

“You might be required to help other Trust farms – if they needed a carrot expert, for instance. You would also be required to pay a certain amount monthly into the Trust coffers. Besides that, you’d have almost total freedom. You could run your business as you saw fit, as long as it was profitable enough.”

Carrot Top thought she knew where Orange was going. “So I wouldn’t have to… say, run it as aggressively as Applejack. If I could find some way to do it without taking down the other farms, you’d be okay with that.”

“We’d be thrilled. The independent farms are where we find most of our new talent. If you could run a farm as profitable as Applejack’s, but without being so aggressive, we would be more than pleased.”

Carrot Top thought for a moment. “You know… Applejack’s a really smart businesspony. And I don’t think she’d be running her farm so aggressively if she could meet her profit margins without hurting the other farms. But she can’t find any way to do it besides driving us out. If she can’t, I probably can’t either, so to meet your margins, I think I’d need to be as brutal as Applejack is.”

Orange shrugged. “Be that as it may, the Trust could help you. Set aside the money for the moment -- Duke Greengrass seemed quite interested in you. I don’t know all the details, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s got some political designs on you for some reason. The Trust has politicians too. We can keep him away.” He nodded. “I’m sure you can see how much the Trust can help you.”

“I can.” Carrot Top gestured back at Applejack, who was being supported by Big Macintosh as they dragged themselves out of the park. “But I can see her. And I can see the farm I had to wager just to stay open when pressured by your Ponyville branch. I can see what the Trust costs.”

Orange sighed. “Alright, then. I won’t push you. I still do wish you luck, though, and perhaps in the future you’ll change your mind. The offer's open for as long as you need.”

He walked away. Trixie ran over to Carrot Top. “Carrot Top, are you sure?”

“Yes, I am.” Carrot Top smiled at her friends. “None of the Trust teams had any friends of supporters come with – didn’t you notice? I don’t think Applejack’s the only Trust farmer who’s completely isolated on her farm. I’d rather have my friends than a pile of bits and nopony to care about me.”

Smiling happily, the three friends walked back to the train.

“Can ah talk ta ya?”

Carrot Top looked up from the bed. She had been trying to nap on the way back to Ponyville. But the competition was over now, and she’d lose nothing by talking to the apple farmer. “Sure.”

Applejack didn’t just look tired now, she looked weary and beaten. Like she just wanted to collapse, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. “So, uh. Good job.”

“Thanks.”

Applejack sank against the wall of the compartment. “First time another Ponyville farm beat ma. But ah guess ah shouldn’t be surprised. Apparently everypony in town hates ma. Even ah couldn’t beat that.”

“That’s not true,” began Carrot Top.

“Really? Apples ain’t sellin’ well anymore. Ain’t nopony even gives ma the time of day. They barely even sell ta ma.” She sighed. “Ah ain’t greedy, Carrot Top. Ah don’t know if yar gonna believe ma, but ah ain’t greedy.”

“I didn’t—“

“Ah don’t spend any money on maself. Ah don’t have any nice things, don’t eat fancy, don’t ever go ta the spa or buy tickets ta shows or anythin’. This hat’s five years old an’ it’s all fallin ta bits, but ah ain’t bought a new one. Ah ain’t taken a vacation in forever; ain’t even paid farmhands ta take over ma shift in years. Every jangle ah get goes inta the farm, the Trust, or the rainy day fund. But… but all them other ponies just say ah’m greedy an’ ah’m bleedin’ the other farms dry.”

“We’re all hanging on by threads,” said Carrot Top.

“Ah know! What, ya think ah like that? But ah can’t worry ‘bout that, ‘cause the Trust’s gotta be strong enough ta handle whatever Equestria throws at it! We can’t fail! The Trust cannot fail! An’ if that means we gotta be aggressive an’ buy up the good land, then that’s what it means!”

Carrot Top didn’t know what to say. Eventually, she managed, “Why do you have to be the one to save everypony? Don’t you get that it’s not right, that you think it’s all on you?”

“But it is! That’s how ah was raised. Ma parents, they told ma ‘bout how we were entrusted ta make sure there ain’t no famine anymore. They told ma it was up ta ma. Ah mean, Big Mac was the other heir ta our particular farm an’ the Trust, but… well, ya know him. He’s too nice. They caught him givin’ way apples too often, to his friends or a couple of the poorer foals. So they taught ma that ah’ve gotta be the one to ensure that everypony gets fed. In Ponyville, maybe even Canterlot, someday, if ah take over the Trust, then all Equestria.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Ah ain’t neva had many friends. Bein’ a farmer, well, ya know how long the days are, an’ fer ma, where every minute had ta be buildin’ up the Trust, ah had even less time than most. All ah had was ma family. But ah’m okay with that. Somepony’s gotta do it, an’ ah’m strong enough to handle that burden. All ah wanted was… just some recognition of all ah sacrificed, ya know? Ah worked real hard ta make apples so plentiful an’ cheap in Ponyville. An’ the first time ah get mad at somepony, they all say they hate ma.”

“But why does it have to be you?” asked Carrot Top. She felt bad for Applejack, despite all the things the apple farmer had done and said. “Forget some century-old edict. Just let the other farmers handle some of--”

“But they can’t! Ah mean, ya’r different. Ah see that now. Ya worked real hard this past week, an… an ah can see that ya’d keep goin’, come Tartarus or Corona. But look at Boxxy Brown an’ Lily. Boxxy’s always getting’ drunk an’ startin’ fights. Lily’s sellin’ more flowers fer decoration than eatin’, an’ half her land’s messed up cause she always overwaters. If the last farmer standin’ was one of them, we’d all starve.”

“Why does there have to be one left?!” Carrot Top shook her head. “This is what I don’t understand! There doesn’t have to be just one farmer for Ponyville! Why can’t we all work together? And if one farmer gets hit with a blight or whatever, we all chip in and save them! That’s a lot safer than hoping that one really great farmer will always save the day!”

“If it was just farmers like ma an’ ya, maybe that’d work,” said Applejack. “But in a group, the weak always drag down the strong. If we joined with Lily, we’d be given her time, an’ money, an’ supplies that we might need but wouldn’t have. Probably couldn’t save her fer long, an’ we’d only be weakenin’ ourselves.” She shook her head. “No. There’s too much at stake.” Her voice was growing fainter. “Ah have a duty ta make sure that nopony starves in Ponyvile. Ah’m gonna do whatever it takes ta fulfill that duty. Ah don’t… it don’t matter if they hate ma. Ah can take it. Someday, they’ll need ma’.”

Carrot Top began to get up.

“Wait. What ah want ta know is… ya believe ma, right? Ya’r smart an’ ya’ve seen ma work. Ya know ah ain’t just some greedy money-grubbin’ jerk, right?”

“I believe you,” said Carrot Top, quietly. “I think you’re wrong, and if you keep trying to drive out the other farmers, I’ll fight you. But I believe you.”

“Thanks.” Applejack sighed. Her eyes were sliding shut. “Even ma own sister, she thinks ah don’t love her now. Thinks ah didn’t want ta look fer her when she went off with those rascals. But ah did, and ah do. Ah love her so much ah…”

Carrot Top hesitated.

“Sometimes ah don’t want her ta go inta the business. Ah don’t want her ta have ta bear this burden. Ah want her ta be able ta have friends an’ all, an’ grow up normal. But it ain’t up ta ma, ah guess. The Apple family’s got duties, an’…”

“I’ll get her,” said Carrot Top, getting up. “I’ll talk to her.”

“No, wait, ya don’t gotta do that!” But Carrot Top was already out the door.

Carrot Top found Apple Bloom at the end of the train.

“Hey, Apple Bloom? Your sister wants to see you.”

“Hmph. She didn’t care when ah went missin’ durin’ the competition.”

“She wanted to go look for you, but Big Mac and I decided I should go instead. She was really tired, and we were afraid she’d get hurt.”

“She still could have looked a little,” said Apple Bloom. “An’ she’s been real mean fer a while, an’…”

“Your sister loves you very much.” Carrot Top sat so that she was more level with the foal. “Have you ever had a responsibility so big that you felt like you couldn’t do anything you liked until it was done?”

“Ah guess… sometimes, if the chores back up or they’re real urgent. Like with the zap apples. Once they show up, if we don’t pick ‘em day an’ night, they all vanish.”

“Your sister feels like that all the time. She’s… she’s confused about some things. But she always feels like, if she stops working, horrible things will happen. So she’s under a lot of stress. If she gets mad at you or acts like she did this week, it’s not because she doesn’t love you. She just feels like the world’s collapsing, and even she can’t hold it in all the time.”

“But why does she feel like that? Ah don’t want her ta feel like that!”

“She just feels that her farming is that important…”

“But yar a farmer, an’ ah know yar happy all the time! Yar always laughin’ an’ smilin’ with yar friends, even that jerk Trixie.”

Carrot Top chuckled. “Trixie is… hard to get to know, but she’s got a good heart under it all.”

“Carrot Top? Can ya teach ma sister ta be a happy farmer?” Apple Bloom looked very sad. “Ah don’t like it when she’s like this. When she’s up all night in the fields an’ mutterin’ stuff an’ sayin’ how the whole town’ll be sorry some day fer doubtin’ us. Can ya help her?”

“I’ll do my best.” Carrot Top nodded. “But right now, I think she wants to see you.”

“Well… maybe ah don’t want ta see her. She didn’t look fer ma today. She didn’t care where ah was if it meant missin’ the competition. Ah don’t wanna talk ta her now.”

“That’s not true, but even if it was… didn’t you tell me that everypony has bad days now and then?”

Apple Bloom hesitated. “Yeah, ah guess ah did.” And she smiled slightly.

“She’s had a very bad day, and she really needs her little sister right now. C’mon. I bet she’ll be thrilled to see you.”

The two entered Carrot Top’s compartment.

“Apple Bloom?” Applejack’s smile was genuine, and it occurred to Carrot Top that she’d never until then actually seen the mare smiling over anything that wasn’t business. “Apple Bloom, ah love ya. Ya’r the best sister in the world.”

Apple Bloom hugged her. “Ah love ya too, sis.”

Carrot Top smiled.

A huge crowd was waiting for them when they got to Ponyville.

Applejack, looking marginally better after having slept the rest of the way home, spoke first. “Sweet Apple Acres got fifth place. We’ll donate the quarter of the prize money as soon as we get it. Oughta help spruce up town square, install the extra lampposts y’all were wantin’.”

There were a few perfunctory cheers… but not many.

Carrot Top coughed. “I took third place, and—“

A huge roar swept through the crowd.

Carrot Top blushed scarlet. “And we’ll be buying the irrigation system for all the participating farms. I wanted to thank everypony who helped make this possible. In particular, Green Grape and the other small farmers, for fronting me all the ingredients.”

Green Grape, near the front, smiled. “It was a sound business decision. We know how talented you are.”

“Helpful Hooves, Plougshares, and the others who assisted me with farm chores for this past week.” The farmhands cheered. “The other Elements and the other tasters, and, of course, Berry Punch, who trained me. I’d probably have burned my house down if she hadn’t helped me figure out what I was doing.”

Berry Punch laughed. She seemed… a little tipsy, having apparently utilized the train’s bar on the ride back, but she wasn’t totally soused. Good. Carrot Top was thinking that a party might be fun for later. “We’re your biggest fans, Carrot-Top!” she yelled.

Carrot Top smiled. Yes, they were her friends. They’d come through for her. She’d never feel like she should be less generous again, and the Trust offer wasn’t even tempting. Sure, she might have more money, but she’d end up like Applejack, and…

That reminded her. She saw the Apples starting to leave the station, and quickly called, “Hang on, there’s one more thing. Could I have everypony’s attention?”

Applejack looked at her, clearly confused.

“The last week has been extremely stressful. I’m sure I’ve probably said some things I shouldn’t have. If either of us have offended you, please, forgive us.” She inclined her head. “We’re all Ponyville citizens. We shouldn’t be boycotting or threatening each other. Let’s work together to make this town as stable and prosperous as it can be.”

The crowd was silent, but Carrot Top could feel an energy building within them. They were expectant and hopeful. If Applejack accepted this peace offering, the boycott and the anger could end. Maybe Applejack could even find peace and happiness.

“Applejack. I think that we – and all the other farms – should work together. Let’s make Ponyville the produce capital of Equestria. We can do it if we stop fighting each other and help each other.” She stuck out her hoof. “All the farms, working together. Can’t do it without you.”

Come on, you can feel it, Applejack. They want to forgive you. We’re all good at heart, we don’t like to hate, even the ones you offended the most – me and Berry Punch – we want you to work with us, stop acting like it’s us versus you. Take this peace offer.

Applejack stared at the hoof.

“C’mon sis,” whispered Apple Bloom. “Please.”

But Applejack shook her head. “Ah can’t. Ya know why,” she murmured. Then, louder, “Sorry. But ah can’t. There’s too much at stake.” She paused. “Ah’ll get y’all the money soon as ah can.”

She almost ran out of the station.

“That ungrateful…” began somepony from the audience.

“I forgive her,” said Carrot Top, as quickly as she could. “And I know I can’t speak for all of you, but I ask you to forgive her too.”

She could tell it wasn’t having much of an affect. But… she did see a few ponies thinking it over. And if she could persuade ponies a few at a time that Applejack wasn’t evil, there might still be hope for her.

And then they were carrying her home on their shoulders, and it was still her home and always would be, and she lost herself in a joyful party. But before the euphoria of glee completely overtook her, she had one more serious thought.

I’m glad I’m not like Applejack. I’m glad I’m me.

Carrot Top and Trixie Lulamoon

It was market day in Ponyville, and all the farmers were in the center of town, selling their wares.

“Hello!” said Carrot Top, to the pink pony with a blue mane who was perusing her stall. “How can I help you today?”

Aloe smiled up at Carrot Top before returning her gaze to the stand. “Do you have carrot juice?”

“Yes, we do!” The farmer pointed behind her at a few barrels. “Would you like a glass?”

“Oh, I’m not thirsty right now. But Lotus and I were discussing adding a health drink bar to the spa. If we were to include carrot juice, do you think you’d be able to supply us? We’re anticipating selling five barrels a week or so.”

Carrot Top blinked a few times while she made sure she’d heard Aloe correctly. Most of the catering contracts in the area went to the Apple Trust as a matter of course; the restaurants, similarly, bought from the apple farms in far greater quantities than from any of the others. Any new stream of revenue was a welcome sign, and selling five barrels of carrot juice a week certainly counted as revenue.

“Yes,” she managed at last. “Yes, of course! We’d be happy to supply you.”

“Wonderful!”

The two hashed out the numbers quickly. Carrot Top wasn’t what one might call a ‘great negotiator,’ often selling her products for less than she could if she pushed harder. But she was generous by nature and couldn’t find it in her to squeeze every possible bit out of her customers. As such, it didn’t take them long to come to a deal.

“There is one thing, though,” said Aloe.

“What?”

“Well, our customers need to know they’re getting the healthiest food we can provide. Before we receive our first order, we’ll need you to have a batch of your carrots put through a nutritional analysis.”

“… a what?“ Carrot Top frowned. “I can tell you what vitamins are in carrots, if that’s what you mean.”

“No, I mean, we just need to see that your carrots meet our standards. Our customers will accept only the healthiest foods. So we're having all of our juice vendors get their drink inspected by an external group.”

“My carrots are healthy. I don't take any shortcuts in growing them,” said Carrot Top, hurt. “Come on, Aloe, you know that.”

“Yes, but we still need to be able to guarantee the quality of the drinks to our customers. Nothing against you, but we have to see the evidence so we can tell our customers that we're certain they're getting the purest and most nutritious drinks we can find. Besides, if your carrots are as healthy as you say they are, all the analysis will do is prove that. What’s the problem?”

She had a point. “I guess I understand that. Um, who does these ‘analyses’?”

“There’s a lab in Canterlot that we’ve had good success with. They even give us a discount.” Aloe smiled. “The boss there makes up some reason to visit Ponyville at least once a month; she says that we give a better spa treatment than anywhere in Canterlot. I’ll tell them that you’re with us. It shouldn’t cost you more than...” She named the figure. The rather high figure.

“That much?” Carrot Top couldn’t help but gasp.

“Is that a problem?” Aloe frowned.

Carrot Top paused.

“I mean, if it is, no hard feelings. We’re small business owners too, we totally understand having to prioritize what you spend your bits on.” Aloe smiled gently and took a carrot. “How much for this, by the way? It looks really good.”

“Two bits.”

Aloe tossed them into the cup. “But if you can’t do it, please just let us know as soon as possible so we can go to our backup plan.”

“The Apples?” guessed Carrot Top.

“Yeah. Lotus wanted to just start with them, actually, but apples have so much sugar that we thought we’d try you first.”

“I can do it,” said Carrot Top, as quickly as she could. “I’ll get the carrots shipped out tonight.”

“Then you should get the results by next Wednesday. Send them to us, and we can approve the carrot juice deal.” Aloe smiled and began to walk off. “Looking forward to doing business with you!”

“Yeah! You too!” But Carrot Top’s smile fell as soon as Aloe had walked off. Where was she going to get that kind of money? That would basically use up the rest of the reward money that the Court had given her for helping to save the world from Corona. Actually, this would completely use it up, and would go beyond that once shipping was factored in. Well, she might be able to hold off on fixing the south fence for another week, and if she held off on taking that day-trip to Hoofington this weekend, that would free up some more money…

Yes, it could work. She’d just have to work a little harder, that was all.

“Thank ya very much!” Carrot Top turned to see Applejack helping Filthy Rich, one of Ponyville’s richest ponies, load a large pallet of jars of zap apple jam onto his back. Filthy Rich dumped a whole bag of bits on the counter. “Pleasure doin’ business with ya!”

Carrot Top forced herself to look away. She didn’t have time to worry about the Apples and their (much more successful) farm. She had her own stall to run.

“Hey, Carrot Top! Ah gots… gotta talk ta ya!”

She turned to see Berry Punch, who looked unwell – more so than usual. The lavender mare was clutching her head.

“Are you okay?” asked Carrot Top, though she had a pretty good idea of what was wrong with her.

“Was… was tryin’ out some new mixes last night… got a little carried away.” Berry Punch shook her head. “Hangover from Tartarus… don’t s’pose you could sell me one of your cure-alls?”

Carrot Top nodded. Her knowledge of herbology was useful when it came to medicines for common ailments, and she’d discovered a good hangover cure that wasn’t too hard to mix up. “Any of the drinks make the cut?”

“Yeah, one. I'm calling it the Rainbow Dash… uses just a little bit of liquid rainbow. Got a real kick!” Berry smiled, but unfortunately she opened her eyes wider to do so, which was a poor idea considering her migraine. “Ow!”

“Here,” said Carrot Top, rapidly setting a cup on the table and offering Berry Punch the straw.

Berry gulped it down. “Thanks, Carrot Top. You’re a lifesaver. How much?”

“Six bits,” said Carrot Top.

Berry Punch hesitated. “Wait... uh…” She dug around in her saddlebag. “Only have four…”

“That’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” said Carrot Top.

It cost five bits of ingredients to make the hangover tonic. Carrot Top knew, then, that she should price it at around eight or nine bits, to recoup other costs (electricity, transport) and make a little profit for herself. But the farmer always had trouble charging more than a bit or two over cost for medicine. A few ponies insisted on paying more anyway – Trixie was the other big buyer of this particular item, and she at least paid what it was worth – but most didn’t. And now Berry was two bits short -- and this wasn't the first time, for every four times that Berry bought the tonic, she tended to be short a bit or two once. Carrot Top tried to tell herself that she should refuse to sell it to Berry, that she had to make a living and at least sell at cost, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave that mare in obvious pain.

Still, though, her mind ran the numbers as she began calling more customers to her store. One bit lost, so that’s one more you owe now. Might want to put off getting that new work hat…

Carrot Top hated it when it seemed like she would go into the market, try to sell her carrots, and wind up losing money. It would be nice if, just once, she could get enough bits to have a little breathing room. Then she wouldn't be so stressed by bad days. I could do it if I just charged more and pushed harder… if I was more businesslike, like the Apples… aw, who am I kidding? I think that every week and I never do it.

“It’s here! It’s here!”

Carrot Top turned. A very loud foal was running down the street.

“It’s finally here! Everypony, it’s here at last!” Apple Bloom was practically doing cartwheels as she galloped down the lane. “Big meetin’ at town hall about it! Let’s all turn out ta cheer ma sister on ta another big win!”

“Heya, Apple Bloom. Uh, what’s here?” called out Applejack. But she was smiling knowingly – she already knew, then, and they were just putting on a show for the other ponies.

“Watch out!” cried Lily as she dodged to one side. Apple Bloom just kept running, voice raising in joyous celebration.

“The Annual Great Equestria Farm Competition is here again!” Apple Bloom did an impromptu somersault and almost wound up in the town fountain, but she righted herself and kept going. “YEEHAW!”

All the customers headed to town hall to hear the speeches, so Carrot Top decided to go too. There wasn’t much point in selling carrots if nopony was around to buy them.

“Hey,” said Trixie, trotting up behind Carrot Top. “What’s going on?”

“Big farming competition,” said Carrot Top, pointing with one hoof at the town hall. It was freshly decorated with banners and streamers, most in the Apple Trust’s red-and-green colors. “It’s held in Canterlot. Don’t you know about it?”

“I was never really into gardening,” mused Trixie. “Don’t think it ever caught my eye.”

Carrot Top glared at her. "Gardening?"

Trixie seemed unphased. "What?"

The carrot farmer sighed. It would nice to be able to actually pull off a good glare once in a while. "...anyway." She nodded at the big stage, and the large tables in front of it that were set up with various apple products. “Farms from all over Equestria compete to produce the best produce and dishes. The winner gets a huge pile of money.”

“Well, you should enter then!” Trixie grinned and nudged Carrot Top. “You’ve got great crops.”

“Yeah, but—“

“Attention, please!” It was Mayor Scrolls, speaking from the podium. “Once again the Annual Great Equestria Farm Competition is upon us. And, as always, Applejack and the Apple Trust have agreed to enter and represent Ponyville!”

There was polite hoof-claps from the audience.

“As many of you no doubt recall, the Apple Trust has won prize money for the past ten years straight, and, each year, they have donated one quarter of their winnings to Ponyville.” More cheers. “Most recently, they were the runner-up in the competition last year, and their donations allowed us to refurbish the town hall and put some money into the town disaster fund. That money was used just a short time ago to repair some of the damages to our village after the, uh, Ursa Incident.”

There was more applause, hooves noisily drumming against the cobblestone.

“The Apple Trust has once again pledged, in advance, to donate one quarter of their winnings to the town. Please join me in giving a warm thank-you to Applejack!”

Applejack, having just entered from the stall area, took the podium. “Friends an’ fellow Ponyville citizens, it’s an honor ta represent this here town before farmers from all over Equestria. Once again, ah swear ta do ya proud, an’ ta work real hard ta take home the big prize!” There were cheers. “Ah think we all recall how awesome it was when we won it all three years ago, an’ here’s hopin’ we do it again!”

Carrot Top whispered to Trixie, “That’s the problem. The Trust always does really well. They’d just beat me, and I’d be out the registration fee.”

“Well, with an attitude like that, sure.” Trixie frowned. “How do you know they’d win? How many Ponyville teams entered last year?”

“Just the Trust. They’re always the only team from Ponyville. No point in anypony else trying, I guess -- we can all barely hang on; we don't have the resources to compete against them and farms even bigger than they are. Besides, they always give some of the prize money back to the town, so it’d look rude to challenge them. Like I was trying to take money from everypony else.”

“Rude?” Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Come on, Carrot Top. You know they could give that money to the town and not notice the loss, even if they didn’t enter. It’s just Applejack trying to look good.”

“I know, but…”

"Besides, it's not like Applejack's really popular. Who's going to care if you try to show her up?"

"Maybe Applejack herself isn't, but everypony in town respects the Trust. They provide a lot of the food around here, and like Applejack said, they do donate money to the town. Going against them... well, you know how Applejack is. She'd probably make me out to be unpatriotic or something."

Trixie chuckled. "Who cares what she thinks?"

"I do, if my customers boycott me because of it."

From the stage, Applejack beamed. “Now, in celebration of our upcomin’ victory, ah believe the mayor’s provided a little somethin’ ta eat?”

“Well,” joked the mayor, “It’s you who provided it, Applejack, I just had a few ponies set up the tables.”

Applejack laughed. “The dishes that’re gonna knock the hats off the judges, colts and fillies! Dig in!”

“You should really think about it,” observed Trixie, as they watched the other ponies get in line to eat.

“Trixie, come on.”

“You’ve got a great shot. We both know it” She smiled. “Look at it this way. You know I’ll help you, and so will the other Elements. Your carrots that are more than a match for any of their apples. And I’m sure the money would be helpful.”

It certainly would. Carrot Top could think of exactly what she’d do with it. Take care of all the maintenance work that had been slowly piling up. Get new equipment, maybe even a new irrigation system to replace her broken and crumbling pipes. Buy the plot of land just to the south of her farm; it was perfect for growing carrots. Maybe even take a short vacation. How long had it been since she’d gotten out of town for more than a day? But with that prize money, she could justify closing up for a few days in the winter and heading out to Manehattan, or Los Pegasus… maybe even Amblerja.

“And if you’re really worried about the town objecting, can’t you just offer to donate a quarter of the winnings too? Then the town might make even more money, if both you and the Apple Trust place. What’s bad about that?”

It made sense, and it was probably something that Carrot Top would do anyway if she did take home some money – she wouldn’t just hoard her winnings, that wasn’t who she was.

That’s part of your problem. The familiar thought crossed her mind and then was gone before Carrot Top could really focus on it.

“I know it’s a risk, but we’ll all help you as much as we can.” Trixie smiled, and it seemed a bit more sincere this time. “In fact, I'll ask around, find a few ponies who can loan you the bits for the registration fee. Wouldn’t it be worth trying?”

Carrot Top thought. She worked extremely hard to produce the best produce possible, and her customers confirmed that her product was good. Great, even. If not for the Trust’s gargantuan size, Carrot Top suspected that she’d have a good shot against them. And even with the size…

Having that kind of windfall would be so nice. I could finally have a break.

“Alright,” she said.

Trixie grinned.

“Alright. I’ll do it!”

My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh...
My little pony
Friendship never meant that much to me
My little pony
But you're all here and now I can see
Stormy weather; Lots to share
A musical bond; With love and care
Teaching laughter; It's an easy feat,
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
How'd I ever make so many true friends?

The knock on the door came a few hours after Carrot Top had filled out her paperwork.

“Come in!” Carrot Top hurried to the door. Her table was filled with ideas for recipes. She felt more energized and excited than she had in weeks. She was going to fight for her farm, was going to take on the Apple Trust. This would be fun!

She opened the door to reveal a scowling orange pony.

“Uh. Hi Applejack.”

“Hi.”

Carrot Top let the orange mare in. “What’s up?”

“What in tarnations are ya doin’? Ah just got word from Mayor Scrolls that ya entered ya’r farm in the Canterlot Farm Competition?”

“Yeah, I checked and there’s no rule saying only one team per village.”

“That don’t matter!” Applejack sighed. “Look. Here’s the thing. It ain’t that ah’m against ya competin’ in principle, but ya gotta understand how it’ll look ta the judges. Some of the votes we get are from judges who like Ponyville, or who like rustic an’ rural farms in general instead of the industrial city ones.”

“You think I’ll split the Ponyville votes.”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, ‘xacty. Then maybe neither of us’ll place. D’ya know what that’d mean?”

“…we’d be out the registration fees?”

“Dang it, Carrot Top, think! Every year we give some of our winnins back ta the town. They’ve come ta rely on it. Ya know how bad the Ursa messed up the downtown area, an’ the relief money from Canterlot took weeks ta get here. If it weren’t fer that disaster fund, there would have been a lot more ponies without their workplaces fer a lot longer. If ya make it so we don’t place, then the town’s short money fer next year.”

“I really don't think it's that serious. Come on, Applejack. The town doesn't depend on your farm winning this thing.”

Applejack looked like Carrot Top had just told her that Ursas made great pets. “What, are ya crazy? Look -- if ya had a good chance at winnin', ah'd understand, but ya'r practically a novice at this. Ya'r gonna hurt our chances an' ya ain't gonna place yarself, so all ya'r doin' is hurtin' the town.”

“I’m a perfectly capable farmer, Applejack.”

“Ah know ya are. Never said otherwise. But this’ll be ya’r first big competish, an’ ya don’t know how it is. Ya don’t know how ta impress the judges, or even who they are an’ what they like. Can ya tell me which judge hates desserts, an’ which one’s allergic ta wheat, or maybe which one’s got a cousin who grows potatoes an’ always votes for a dish with taters in it? Hay, d’ya even know what ta wear?”

“Well, no, but—“

“Then ya don’t have a shot.” Applejack paused. “Look. If ya want ta get inta the competition world, ah respect that. Heck, if ya were gonna enter one of the smaller ones – the Farmers' Meet in Fillydelphia next month, decent prize too, or the Rural Farmers Union Battle over by Hoofington – ah’d support ya. Us Ponyville folk gotta stick together, after all. But this is too important. The town needs this win. An’, frankly, so does Sweet Apple Acres. Ain’t been a great year. Big Mac was sick durin’ the zap apple harvest, an’ two of our biggest trees died of rot.”

If there was one thing that Carrot Top found most distasteful about Applejack, it was the pony’s insistence that her farm was perpetually close to bankruptcy. It was a lot better off than any other farm in Ponyville, after all. “I’m competing, Applejack. That’s all there is to it.”

“Fine. But don’t think we’ll go easy on ya. We’ll play fair, mind ya, no cheatin’, but we’ll play hard.” Applejack tipped her hat. “Hope ya don’t regret this, Carrot Top.”

“Right.”

Applejack swept out the door and bucked it shut.

Carrot Top and Apple Grove

“Alright, I concede that, maybe, it wasn’t a good plan,” said Flam.

Flim and Flam were in a hideout in northern Fillydelphia, a five-room apartment that was full of various knickknacks that they’d picked up over the years. Flam set down his bag and poured out their latest hall, a nicely sized amount of bits that they’d grifted and stolen on their four-day journey back to Fillydelphia. “Still,” the mustached stallion said, “We had some fun, made a little profit, and now we have an opening with the Duke.”

“No we don’t,” snapped Flim. “The Duke’s going to have us arrested if he sees us.”

“So we wait a few months. Then we try again. We can even just say it was part of a long con. Can’t take down an Element all at once, right?”

“I suppose.” Flim rolled his eyes – he didn’t share his brother’s confidence. “But what if somepony else gets there first?”

“Then we steal the credit. That’s even easier than stealing an Element.” Flam laughed. “Come on. I bet you our favorite bar is still open.”

“You go. I’m going to rest.”

“Fine.” Flam poked around the cluttered apartment until he found a little box. “I’ll just get dressed up, and…” He began looking through it, throwing aside a few chains and other pieces of jewelry until he found one he liked. “Mind if I borrow this?”

“What?” Flim looked at the locket that Flam was holding. “It’s not mine.”

“What? It isn’t mine; I’d remember stealing something this expensive.”

Flim walked over and examined it. The locket was gold and platinum wounded together in a tight mesh, curved into the shape of a heart and on a string of threaded diamonds. It looked enormously valuable. “From that fake jewelry scam we ran last year?”

“No, nopony we dealt with could’ve bought it even at a ‘discount.’” Flam opened up the locket. “Hey, there’s writing.”

“Maybe it’s lost. Could be a reward.”

“'To my darling daughter, Fragrant Posey. May all your days be as pure as the moonlit sky.'” Flam frowned. “Posey? Name sounds familiar.”

“Isn’t she duchess of somewhere?” asked Flim. “Didn’t you date a duchess?”

“Not that one.” Flam shrugged. “Whatever. Next time we’re in Canterlot, we can play out the old ‘private detective’ scam.”

“What?”

Flam grinned. “Royalty never remember the hundreds of servants they hire. We just say she hired us to look for her necklace, and we recovered it! We get the reward, plus any ‘expenses’ we can think up. ”

“She’ll think we stole it and got scared.”

“Not if we spin it right.”

Flim frowned. Something was nagging at his mind – something relating to the Duke. “You know, I was worried the Duke would come after us for failing him.”

“Good thing we ran so fast.”

“Yeah, but…” Flim blinked. “Wait. We’ve gotta get rid of that locket.”

“What? Why?”

“Just trust me, we—“

The door burst down. A phalanx of police ponies stormed in, wearing armor and bearing weapons. “THIEVES! SURRENDER!” roared the commander.

Flam reared up on his hind hooves. “Thieves? We’re not thieves, we—“

The commander, a unicorn, used telekinesis to yank the locket over to him. “Then how’d you wind up with the locket stolen from the Duchess two days ago, hmm? Sergeant, search this whole place! No telling what we could find in here.” He smiled grimly. “Stealing from a Night Court member could be considered treason. If you want any chance at leniency—“

“How could that be treason?” demanded Flim.

“If you intend to use your stolen jewels to influence how they vote, of course. Do you?”

“We would never!” said Flam. “We are honest and patriotic ponies, and—“

“Sir!” called the sergeant. He’d found a letter on a desk. “Listen to this! ‘We are aware that this locket is priceless, and we are not entirely without heart. We will return it to you, provided you ensure that the following measures are passed…’”

The commander chuckled as the two unicorns were marched outside. “You are never getting out of jail,” he informed them.

Flim and Flam looked at each other, but there was nothing they could do.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, life had begun to return to normal.

“What’cha doin’?” asked Trixie, barging into Carrot Top’s home.

Carrot Top gestured at the paper she was scribbling on. “Working out if I actually made any money.”

“Didn’t you win a huge bag of bits?”

“Yeah, but then I’m deducting the irrigation system, the meal I took you and Berry Punch out for, the random incidental expenses like that bottle of dandelion wine we had to ship in from Canterlot, the TWF, train fare…”

“TWF?”

“Trixie Whining Fee. That’s the amount I have to pay you so you don’t whine to me about me being ungrateful for all your help.”

Trixie laughed. “I’ll have Pokey make that an official code. I think we’ll be using it a lot.”

“I’m unsurprised.” Carrot Top returned to the paper. “So, adding it all up, it seems that…” she summed the figures, then frowned. “I’m down three bits.”

The farmer sighed, but she didn’t really feel bad. The new irrigation system was making her farming life a lot easier. It was making the lives of all the Ponyville farmers easier, for that matter. Plus, business was up due to the publicity from the whole competition. Not only had Ponyville ponies who had never before eaten her carrots tried them and liked what they tasted, but a few of the local businesses and restaurants wanted to be able to say they got their food from the third-place farm in two hundred plus applicants. And, finally, the lab results had come back, her carrots were certified to be pure and organic, and she would now be selling five barrels of carrot juice a week to Aloe and Lotus.

So, yes, there was still a lot of work ahead of her, but things were up.

“Well,” she said, “I’ll look at it as me buying an irrigation system for the whole town, me included, in exchange for three bits and one very chaotic week. More than fair.”

“Here,” said Trixie. She took the pencil and drew a little ‘/2’ under the TWF figure. “Now you’re in the black.”

Carrot Top chuckled. “Great.”

A pony knocked on her door, and then Berry Punch entered. “Hi.” She sounded pained.

“Hangover tonic?”

“If you could.”

Carrot Top began to mix one up. “Thanks again for all your help.”

“No prob.”

“I really appreciate—“

“Uh, sorry, but it kinda hurts to hear voices right now.”

Carrot Top smiled a little. “Oh, sorry.”

She mixed up the tonic and gave it to Berry Punch, who quaffed it in one gulp. “Thanks,” she said, sighing with audible relief. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“No problem. And no charge for you,” she said, as Berry Punch took out a few bits. “I owe you a lot for helping me out—“

“I already told you, don’t worry about it.” She put six bits on the counter. "Now, I heard something about a Farmer's Union?"

"Grape and Lily and I were talking. It'd be a shame if that cooperation we've all been sharing for this past week just went away now that the competition's over. We're thinking of making a sort of union so we can make group decisions, help each other out more. A bunch of the other small farmers would be interested too."

Berry Punch smiled. "That would be lovely."

"Just don't bet your farm for them again," said Trixie. "Okay?"

Carrot Top laughed. "Don't worry. I'm never doing that again."

Berry Punch said, “By the way, I talked to Big Mac. I told him that I’ll consider getting a new contract with them.”

“Thanks. I’m glad at least a few places are doing it.”

“Well, Applejack still has to sign off, but I think she will.” She shrugged. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you know they won’t go bankrupt even if nopony in town buys their apples, right? Applejack was right when she said they could probably make more money by shipping all their apples to Canterlot and charging top dollar to the wealthy ponies there.”

“I know. But… I mean, she’s a good farmer. I just wish we could all work together. And the only way she’ll ever consider it is if we can pound it into her thick skull that we don’t hate her. Forget money; if we can’t help her see that we’re willing to befriend her, she’ll always be sad and lonely, and…”

Berry Punch nodded. “Don’t ever change, Carrot Top.”

Trixie smiled. “Just don’t go too far. If I hear of you neglecting your farm to save her flank again, I’ll kick your butt myself.”

The farmer grinned.

Berry Punch said, “I’d still be willing to give you cooking lessons, if you want.”

“Sure, but can we wait a week or two? Honestly, I’m hoping to eat out a few times first.” Carrot Top laughed. “I’m kind of cooked out.”

“No problem!” Berry Punch turned to go. “Best of luck with the new water system.”

“It’s working like a dream. Thanks.”

Later, the other Elements showed up to congratulate her one last time. A few farmers showed up still later, Green Grape leading them, to talk about new business opportunities, the union, and to thank her again for the risk she underwent in order to help all of them. “This will make farming in Ponyville easier for every pony, except maybe the Apples,” said Grape. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

And still later, that evening, there was one last knock on her door.

“Hello, I – oh, hi Granny Smith. How can I help you?”

“You can start by invitin’ ma inside! Fillies these days, no respect…” But she was smiling, and it was clear there was no malice in her complaints.

Carrot Top let Granny Smith inside and poured her a cup of scented carrot tea. Smith put her saddlebag – filled to bulging with something – to one side, then drank deeply. Carrot Top sat across from her. “It’s good to see you. Is Applejack okay?”

“She’s gotten some sleep. Now she’s doin’ like she always does.” Granny Smith sighed. “Yar a good filly, Carrot Top, fer bein’ so kind ta her. Lotta folks would’ve given up by now.”

Carrot Top shrugged. “She’s… she’s under a lot of pressure. It’s not all her fault.”

Granny Smith shut her eyes for a long moment. “Well, ah’m glad somepony in town sees it.”

The older mare finished her tea, got up, and put the large saddlebag onto on Carrot Top’s table. “By the way, this is fer you, as a token of our thanks.”

Carrot Top opened it to find that it was full of bits. “What… but I didn’t…”

“Ya saved the fields from that there Farmslayer stuff! Would’ve taken old me all night to remember how ta kill it, an’ the Trust wouldn’t have gotten anypony out till the next day. Either way it’d be too late fer a quarter of those apples. Applejack an’ ah agreed, it’d be wrong not ta thank ya.”

“I appreciate it, but I don’t need all this—“

“Horseapples. Ain’t a friend ever done ya a real big favor, an’ ya felt like ya just had ta pay her back somehow or it wouldn’t be right? Well, that’s how AJ feels right now.”

“She thinks I’m her friend?” It was a weird feeling. Carrot Top honestly hadn’t thought she’d gotten through to Applejack that much.

Granny Smith smiled. “Yessums. Cause of what ya did fer Apple Bloom. It finally got through ta her that ya'r really concerned -- ya helped her even afta the competition, when there wasn't no other motive fer ya ta do it. An' now her sister ain't mad at her, an' she really appreciates that." She chuckled. "She wants ya ta be okay. She cares 'bout what ya’d think of things she’s doin’, what ya think of her. Ah’d say she thinks ya’r a friend.” She shook her head, chuckling a little. “She ain’t neva had many of those, ah’ll tell ya. Ya’r somethin’ special, Carrot Top.”

“I’m just trying to… you know, help her.”

“Ya’ve helped her. More than ya now, an’ more than she knows either. She’s wonderin’ now. Wonderin’ if it maybe ain’t right what she’s doin’. Wonderin’ if maybe she should care more ‘bout makin’ friends an’ helpin’ folks than stockin’ up fer some future disaster that might never come.”

“But she’s still 'stocking up.' She hasn't changed.”

“She can be stubborn as an old mule, but… ah think, if ya keep tryin’, ya’ll get through ta her. Ya’ll keep tryin’, right?”

“You can count on it.”

Granny Smith smiled. “Then – far as ah’m concerned – ya deserve every bit in that bag an’ more, besides.”

“Thanks.” Carrot Top looked out the window. “Oh. Sorry, Granny Smith, but I’ve got to put in the last batch of carrots for the night. I got kind of distracted, and—“

“Ah’ll help,” said Granny Smith, rising. “Don’t worry ‘bout a thing.”

“Uh, I can’t ask you to—“

“Hey, just ‘cause ah’m old don’t mean ah don’t know how ta farm! Ah raised carrots ‘fore ya were even alive!” said Granny Smith, a twinkle in her eye. “Sides, Applejack an’ Big Mac do all the liftin’ round the farm, an’ sometimes ah just want ta get back out there an’ show those plants whose boss. So c’mon! We got carrots to plant!”

Carrot Top chuckled and followed Granny Smith outside.

The old mare proved to be every bit as good a farmer as Carrot Top, and together they worked to dig and plant the carrots. “Hey,” said Carrot Top. “Is there any actual basis to that legend? The one about the famine?”

“What legend?”

“Apple Bloom told me that, hundreds of years ago, there was a huge famine and only the Apples survived. All the other farms crashed, but the Apple farm was big and strong enough to keep going and feed all the remaining ponies. After that, the Apples were charged with, uh, preventing famine in the future or something.”

Granny Smith smiled. “That’s what she thinks? Well, color me pink, that ain’t it at all. You listen, young’un, an’ ah’ll tell ya how it really went down.”

“Hundreds of years ago, there were hundreds of farms around Canterlot, all feedin’ the city. But the nobles there, a lot of ‘em thought it’d be fun ta play a game an’ see if their favorite farms could beat the rest. So they turned all the farms against each other, tellin’ ‘em that this one had conspired with that one to ruin this other one’s crops, or that Baron such-and-such hated this crop and was going to shut down their farm if they didn’t do something fer him, stuff like that. An’ all the farms began squabblin’, until no two would even talk ta each other.

“One year, it got real bad. Market day in Canterlot was silent as the moon, cause no farmer would talk ta any other. Got so bad that the academics started readin’ there – quieter than the library, if ya can believe that. An’ ferget givin’ each other helpin’ hooves! If ya broke a spade or needed an egg, ya couldn’t go ta yar neighbor. Ya had ta walk all the way inta Canterlot an’ buy one.

“But then the blight came. Hit one farm at a time, like clockwork, but nopony could figure out when each one would get it. One time it’d be a little one, next it’d be a big one, but they always did just a little more damage than the farm could repair in a day. An’ once they hit a farm, they kept comin’ back till it was nothin’ but boarded up buildings an’ dead fields. Frightenin’ times.”

“Course, a bunch of the farms decided they had ta stand alone. They drove their neighbors out of business, bought up the dead farms, an’ fortified ‘em. Figured, if they could just get enough money or a big enough farm, the blight couldn’t beat ‘em. Didn’t work. Big farm, small farm, blight still tore ‘em up. Took a little longer fer the big ones, but what did that matter if a farm collapsed in a day or a week? Still collapsed all the same. That lasted all summer an’ fall, an’ folks were getting’ mighty worried ‘bout the winter. There were fears there wouldn’t be ‘nough food ta go round, an’ in fact there were already shortages, ponies movin’, panic in the streets. Nopony knew what ta do.

“But then the head of the very smallest farm, this teeny-tiny apple orchard smack between two of the biggest farms left, had herself an idea. She said that, if they worked tagether, they could stay alive. See, if the blight kept goin’, they’d wipe out all the farms. But if the farms helped each other, then they could all stay open an’ feed the ponies of Canterlot, not ta mention themselves! Course, most ponies were ‘gainst it, but ‘bout a dozen farms decided ta try. So they promised that they’d share all their resources, an’ if one of ‘em got hit, the rest would do whateva they could ta help. That very night, that apple orchard was ravaged by the blight. Apples all rottin’ away, trees fallin’ over – like the blight knew what they wanted ta do. But ya know what? Very next day, those other farms donated a few spare tools each. They chipped in a few bits an’ got a unicorn ta stand up the felled trees. Medicines fer the apples too. By noon, it was like nothin’ had happened.

“Blight tried again an’ again, but it couldn’t crack that orchard, not with all the help they had. And while it tried, the others were makin’ food ta stock up fer the winter. When the blight figured it out, it went after the other farms in the alliance, but whenever it hit one, the others set them right back up, an’ they couldn’t do any lastin’ damage. Got ta the point where fixin’ up a blighted farm was just another brief chore ya had ta do - -wake up, fix the damage, get back home. Nothin’ more than a mild inconvenience.

“There were a few that tried stickin’ it out alone, but they didn’t make it. The big orange grove next to that little apple orchard failed, an’ so did that huge rice paddy on the other side. But the orchard, and every farm in the team, survived an’ flourished. Cause they found out they could do much better if they were workin’ tagether, blight or no blight. Even when the attacks stopped comin’ so often, they still did their best ta help each other out. The blight just gave up one day… left an’ never returned… but the farms maintained their alliance. That was how much they knew it helped them.

“That winter, Princess Luna had been considerin’ institutin’ rationin’, ta conserve food. But instead, there was enough that they threw a big feast. And the head of that apple orchard was pronounced the savior of the city, and was told that, as long as her descendents upheld her ideals, Equestria would never starve again.” Granny Smith smiled, a tear leaking from her eye. “That was Apple Grove the Third. Applejack’s distant ancestor. She really did save the city an’ the country.”

Carrot Top smiled. “That’s… that’s a beautiful story.”

“Story? It really happened! Anyway,” and Granny Smith looked Carrot Top squarely in the eye, “That’s how Equestria survived that famine. An’ don’t let anypony tell ya different. Not even ma little Applejack or Apple Bloom.”

“Right.” Carrot Top nodded, then paused. “Hey, if the legend’s changed, how do you know it so well?” She replayed the story in her head. “You sounded almost like you were there when it happened. Are you…?”

Granny Smith smiled mischievously. “Keep talkin’ ta Applejack. Ya’ll get through ta her eventually. We’re all stronger tagether than alone, even if she don’t realize it.”

“I will.”

They’d finished the last of the carrots. Granny Smith said goodbye and walked off into the night. Carrot Top watched her go. She couldn’t really be that old. No pony lives for centuries, not even her.

Besides, it didn’t matter. She had to plan her schedule. There were carrots to grow, and carrots to sell, and she could use a few of those bits Granny Smith had given her to buy a couple other pieces of equipment that she needed. Plus, she had to talk to a few local business owners about ending the Apple boycott, say hi to her friends, take Berry Punch out for a nice meal to repay her for all her help, see if Mayor Scrolls needed volunteers for anything, and also talk to Applejack for a few minutes.

As she sat on her back porch and looked over her fields, she reflected on how generous she was being with her time. A week ago, she decided, she would have regretted those obligations and would have wished that she could just spend her time working her farm and earning more bits. But now she didn’t mind it. She was happy that she was going to be spending her time helping the others. It wasn’t even that it had paid off in spades – it was just the right thing to do.

“I got just the right Element,” she decided.