The Eye of Destiny

by derpyland

Chapter 6: The Revenge of the Gardener

Twilight Sparkle grabbed the Eye, stuffed it into her overflowing saddlebag, and raced out of the tower. She galloped down the stone passageway and out of the mountain as fast as her hooves could carry her. As soon as she was in the open air she took to the skies and raced toward Ponyville.

By now the pegasus weather team had managed to put out all of the fires in the Everfree Forest. The fire creature had not started any new fires; instead he was marching straight toward Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had gathered her team and was about to give them the order to attack when she saw Twilight hurrying through the sky.

“There you are!” Rainbow called out. “What took you so long? Did you get the Eye?”

“It’s a long story, and I don’t have time to explain. There is only one way to defeat the fire golem. What we need to do is–”

Twilight paused. Was she really going to do this? What if Celestia was joking – or insane? After all, she had been awake for days, and she seemed a bit weird. Was Twilight really going to risk it all on the advice of a crazy, sleep-deprived pony?

For that matter, how did Celestia even know Carrot Top’s name? And why did she keep getting my name wrong? Was she just out of her mind? Was she bitter because I freed Luna and she could not? Or–

As Twilight hovered in the air, lost in thought, Fluttershy reached out and poked her. “Is something the matter? That fire creature is getting awfully close to town. What do you need us to do?”

Rainbow Dash spoke up. “You need me to use my sonic rainboom, don’t you? Its sheer awesomeoness will scatter it into a million pieces!”

“No!” Twilight screamed. Then she stopped herself. The Eye only showed dark futures. Rainbow Dash is not going to be vaporized – well, probably not. But still…

Twilight looked at her friend. “Rainbow, stop and think! Suppose that your sonic rainboom works and manages to break the creature into thousands of pieces. Those are pieces of fire we are talking about. Doesn’t that mean your rainboom would start thousands of fires? Is that really what we want to achieve here?”

“I guess not,” Rainbow said reluctantly.

“There is only one thing to do. I need you and the pegasus team to stay right here and be ready for anything. If what I’m about to do goes wrong then you’re going to have a lot of fires to put out.”

“But what are you going to do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Just trust me,” Twilight replied. “Wait right there!”

* * * * *

Carrot Top raced toward her home as fast as she could go. In the distance she saw her worst nightmare: a giant creature made of pure fire that was heading straight for town. She knew that it was going to burn down her garden. She just knew it.

But not today. This time Carrot Top was prepared. If the six mighty heroes of Equestria couldn’t be bothered to save her precious carrots, then she would do it herself! If an apple farmer could save the day then there was no reason why a carrot farmer couldn’t do the same. Applejack had nothing on her!

Well, except for experience, and strength, and friends in high places, and magical friendship powers. Applejack did sort of have those things. But Carrot Top had something even better – at least, that’s what Zecora had told her.

Carrot Top reached into her saddlebag (while she was still running, which was quite a trick!), grabbed the potion that Zecora had sold to her, and drank the entire thing. She then smashed the glass bottle onto the ground for dramatic effect.

I sure hope this works, Carrot Top thought. I’m pretty sure Zecora has a no-refunds policy. Boy, did that taste bad. I am going to be soooo sick.

Carrot Top pushed that thought out of her head and redoubled her speed. “I’m coming to save you!” she cried out. “Just hang in there a little longer!”

* * * * *

Twilight zoomed to the ground and landed beside the unconscious Crimson Star. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were standing beside him.

“There you are!” Rarity called out. “Whatever took you so long?”

“Do you know what we need to do?” Applejack asked.

Twilight levitated the unconscious green pony. “I sure do. Everypony – follow me!”

The group of friends then raced toward Ponyville.

“Twilight,” Rarity said, as the four friends galloped along the road, “I don’t mean to complain, but are you sure we’re supposed to be running toward the city? Don’t we want to lure the fire away from town?”

“Not this time,” Twilight replied.

“Can you at least tell us what you’re planning?”

The purple pony groaned as she tried to gallop and carry Crimson Star at the same time. “I’d rather not. If you knew what I was about to do you might try to stop me.”

“I see,” Rarity said at last. “So we’re attempting one of those kind of plans.”

“Sure looks like it,” Applejack commented.

On the outskirts of the city Twilight stopped at a well-maintained house. Beside the house was a beautiful, enormous field of carrots. The plants were utterly pristine; there wasn’t single weed in sight.

Applejack looked around. “Twilight, why are we here? Ain’t we supposed to be avoidin’ this place? Do you know what Carrot Top will do if we damage her garden again?”

“Oh yes,” Twilight said. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”

Twilight began shaking the unconscious green pony while he was still being held in the air. “C’mon, Crimson Star. Wake up! I’ve got something for you!”

Crimson Star began to stir back to life. “Oh, my head. What hit me?”

“I did!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I got a direct hit – and on my first try, too!”

Twilight unceremoniously dumped Crimson Star into Carrot Top’s field. “Hey, Crimson. Guess what? I’ve got something for you!”

“Do you?” Crimson replied. The green pony struggled to his hooves. “Let me guess – you’re here to dish out more pain and suffering?”

Twilight used her magic to open her saddlebag. She reached inside, took out the Eye, and tossed it to him. “There you go! You wanted the Eye and now you’ve got it. Congratulations! Your evil scheme has worked. Nice going!”

Crimson caught the Eye with his own magic and looked at it in astonishment. “You mean – but – what? You’re just giving it to me? Just like that?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course! That was the last step in your plan, right? Isn’t it what you wanted? Isn’t this what you had planned all along?”

“I suppose,” Crimson said suspiciously. “I just don’t understand why you’re doing this. I agree this certainly does look like the Eye, but I think something is wrong with it. Is it broken?”

“It is what it is. You wanted it and you got it – there are no refunds or exchanges. Have fun!”

Crimson Star was truly puzzled. He had to admit that the Eye was genuine; he could still detect traces of latent magic in it. But why would Twilight just give it to him? Why would–

Crimson Star then heard a roar of anger behind him. He turned around and saw that the fire guardian was rapidly advancing in his direction. The guardian had discovered that he had the Eye, and it also knew that the Eye was damaged. It was out for revenge.

“I don’t care!” Crimson Star shouted back at it. “I’m not going to give up the Eye – not after going through so much to get it. It’s mine, do you hear? Mine!”

“So you’re the one behind all this!” an angry voice cried out behind him. Before Crimson could even turn around, he felt two hooves smack into his flank. The green pony went sprawling across the garden.

Carrot Top began shouting at him. “I have absolutely had it with you, you miserable excuse for a pony! So it’s not enough that you came here last night and trampled down a row of my precious, prize-winning carrots. Oh no. Now you’re luring a giant pillar of fire here to burn my entire garden down!”

By now the fire guardian was quite close. Crimson Star tried to teleport away, but Carrot Top was too fast for him. She could feel the energy from Zecora’s potion rushing through her veins, and she moved at lightning speed. She kicked Crimson Star again, knocking him off his hooves and driving him right into the dirt. He struggled to get away, but every time he moved she kicked him yet again.

“I am tired of being nice,” she screamed, as she whacked him across a row of carrots. “I am tired of having my plants turned into ashes. I am tired of watching morons like you thoughtless destroy all of my hard work. I have had all I am going to take, and I’m not going to take any more!”

As Carrot Top’s wrath came to a boil, she began to glow a brilliant gold color. She levitated about a foot off the ground.

Crimson Star started at her in amazement. “How are you doing that? You’re an earth pony, not a unicorn! There is no way–”

Carrot Top was now so angry that she was on the verge of catching fire. The glow around her turned incandescent. A beam of pure irritation – of unadulterated rage – arced out of her and soared high into the air. The beam then curved and aimed itself straight at the fire guardian.

The fire guardian looked up at it and quickly decided that its work was done. Since the Eye was dead there was nothing left to protect, and that meant there was absolutely no point in batting this deranged gardener. After all, if the golem won, what would it get in return – carrots? What in Equestria would a column of fire do with carrots?

So the pillar of raging fire vanished.

But Carrot Top’s energy burst did not stop. In fact, it could not be stopped. It continued on its course – only, since the fire guardian was no longer there to absorb it, it instead smashed down upon the head of Crimson Star.

On the bright side, the column of irritated gardener energy instantly rejuvenated Carrot Top’s garden. The plants that had been destroyed were magically reborn, better than ever.

On the negative side, Crimson Star was instantly reduced to a pile of ashes. He was not at all pleased about this development.

When Carrot Top saw that the threat was over, she descended back onto the ground. Her glow faded. “Let that be a lesson to you,” she said to the pile of ashes.

“Point taken,” the ashes said. “My apologies.”

Twilight looked at the pile of ashes in concern. “Is he dead?”

Pinkie spoke up. “No, he’s fine. It’s just a flesh wound! I’m sure the nice ponies at the hospital can fix him up good as new.”

“If you say so,” Twilight said, unconvinced.

After Carrot Top left her garden and returned to her house, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed beside them. “That was totally awesome!”

“But it was kinda strange,” Applejack commented. “How did Carrot Top do that? I didn’t think earth ponies could use magic!”

Twilight shrugged. “You’re an earth pony, and we’ve seen you shoot out beams of magic before. Maybe it’s just one of those things that happen when it needs to happen.”

“But I’m one of the Elements of Harmony,” Applejack protested.

Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Maybe Carrot Top is the Element of Gardening!”

“Or the Element of I-Won’t-Take-It-Any-More,” Rainbow replied, grinning. “Man, did you see that? It was totally awesome! Not as awesome as me, of course, but still pretty awesome.”

“At least the forest fires have been put out,” Fluttershy commented.

Rarity turned to Twilight. “So what happened back there in the tower? You never did get a chance to tell us.”

“It’s a long story. Why don’t we all come back to the castle? I’ll explain everything over a nice cup of tea.”

* * * * *

It took about an hour for Twilight to get everything cleared up. The pile of ashes was sent to the hospital, and the doctors promised to do whatever they could. The weather pegasi went back about their business. Twilight returned to her castle and had Spike send Celestia and Luna’s guard ponies back home. Since Twilight was out of tea, Pinkie Pie provided popcorn and the group sat down to talk in Twilight’s library.

As they all munched on candied popcorn, Rarity spoke up. “So it was actually Celestia who created the Eye,” she said thoughtfully. “I suppose she was so distraught over the loss of her sister that she was willing to do anything to get it back – even dabble in dark magic. She probably thought she could recreate her sister’s gift.”

“And she is a powerful magic user,” Twilight pointed out. “She certainly had the ability to make something like that.”

“But why did she lie about it? The book made it sound like it was formed by some anonymous male wizard. It certainly never hinted it was crafted by the Princess of the Sun!”

Applejack spoke up. “Maybe she was embarrassed. After all, she had made a fool of herself and all. I wouldn’t exactly want to sign my name to that mess either.”

“But she could have told us,” Rainbow Dash said. “We talked to her about it earlier today, remember? But instead of being honest she trotted out that tired ‘I knew this friend…’ line. It would have been really helpful to know that she was responsible. And why did she tell us not to use it, anyway? Since she talked to Twilight in the past, she must have known that Twilight wasn’t going to listen. Right?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “Maybe after a thousand years Celestia just forgot.”

Rarity spoke up. “But she followed your instructions! Surely that’s proof that she remembered.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Not really. Celestia also lost the Elements of Harmony, remember? When Nightmare Moon appeared we had to go out and find them! Does that sound like the actions of a pony who’s following a thousand-year-old master plan? I think she’s just getting senile.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy said reproachfully. “That’s not very nice. Celestia’s advice to stay away from the Eye was not all bad. If we had done that, none of those terrible fires would have gotten started in the first place.”

“Those fires aren’t our fault! Crimson Star is the one who shot that fire creature and got it all angry and everything. It was acting pretty cool until then. If you ask me he’s the one who caused the problem. Maybe when the fire got hit with dark magic it became corrupted or something.”

“That’s certainly possible,” Twilight agreed. “I do find it hard to believe that Celestia would create something that dangerous and out of control. I just wish Celestia had told us it was there! If I’d known about its existence I definitely wouldn’t have cast the spell in those runes.”

Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Maybe she forgot about the fire guardian. After all, it had been a thousand years. A pony can forget a lot of things in that much time!”

“So what friendship lesson did we learn from this?” Twilight asked.

Applejack thought for a moment. “Don’t awaken fire demons from their eternal slumber?”

Rarity spoke up. “Avoid engaging past versions of your mentor in conversation?”

“I look totally awesome fighting fires?” Rainbow offered.

“Never cast strange, scary spells?” Fluttershy said.

“I got it!” Applejack exclaimed. “The moral of the story here is to avoid gettin’ Carrot Top angry. Whatever you do, don’t damage her carrots. It makes her a bit testy.”

Twilight sighed. “Sure, why not. Let’s go with that. After all, our work here is done. The Eye has been destroyed, Crimson Star is in the hospital being carefully glued back together, Carrot Top’s garden is safe and sound, and – most importantly – my book has been restored to its original condition.”

The alicorn looked at The Eye of Destiny fondly. “Knowing that Celestia wrote that book really puts a new spin on things. I think I’d like to read it again. Would any of you girls–”

Rainbow Dash interrupted. “No, no, that’s ok. I’ve got to go – um, do things.”

“As do I,” Rarity said.

“I really need to check on my animal friends,” Fluttershy said. “They’re probably still scared about the fire.”

“But Fluttershy, you haven’t had a chance to hear it performed yet!” Twilight said.

Applejack spoke up. “Then she’s one of the lucky ones. There is no way I would ever agree to listen to that book again. Once is enough to last a lifetime.”

“Aw, c’mon, you guys!” Pinkie Pie begged. “I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Rainbow Dash gulped. “It was totally that bad. See you later!”

The group rushed out of the room, leaving Pinkie and Twilight alone. “I guess it’s just us,” Twilight remarked. “Oh well. Shall we begin?”

As Pinkie Pie settled into a chair with a nice large cup of coffee, Twilight began to read.

Author's Note:

And that, as they say, is the end of the story.

A couple points: for those who are keeping score, I did try to incorporate all the points Rainbow Dash asked for in the story's summary. Carrot Top did save the day. Crimson Star was reduced to a talking pile of ashes. Rainbow Dash was even killed multiple times - in alternative dark timelines, sure, but still, it counts.

A bit of trivia: a while ago I wrote some software that randomly generates chapter titles. I generated the titles of this story at random, then tried to create a story that made sense with those chapter titles. In other words, the chapter titles came first and the story came from that. (I made only minor tweaks; the first chapter was originally 'Whisper', not 'Thief', and the last chapter title I obviously came up with myself.)

So there you go.

Comments

[derpyland]

5346748

Wonder how an ornery CT is gonna lay down the smack.

I'm glad you've been enjoying the story! The last chapter has now been posted - "The Revenge of the Gardener". Crimson Star has met his match.