• Published 17th Nov 2012
  • 3,056 Views, 71 Comments

Adventures in Ponysitting - Whiteeyes



Carrot Top is asked by a dreadfully ill Rainbow Dash to help Fluttershy. What could go wrong?

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Worst, Day, Ever.

Carrot Top was utterly and thoroughly exhausted when she got home. She had just experienced the worst day of her life. Worse than when Corona had reappeared. Worse than the stress of preparing for that cooking competition that Trixie had talked her into. Worse than that time when she’d accidentally dyed her main green (she still wasn’t sure how it had happened, something about the coloring agent in her conditioner having gone bad). Even worse than that time she had walked in on her parents when…even worse than that!

The day had started out well enough. Her alarm went off a little after sunrise, she had gotten out of bead, had a nice breakfast, and went out to the fields to work. It was then that she discovered that a badger had dug herself a burrow sometime last night. Normally, Carrot Top would have had no problem shooing off the creature from her fields, but with the smaller furry forms clinging to their mother present she just didn’t have the heart to turn them away. Besides, with the new irrigation system there was no need to worry; she could manage a larger number of crops more easily with less of it going to waste. At the time the badger had seemed like a small thing, but in retrospect it was like a flashing red magelight of warning that things would only get worse.

***********************************************

A couple hours later, Ditzy Doo arrived with a message that Trixie wanted Carrot Top in her office in the Residency fast. Expecting another crisis, Carrot Top was instead surprised to find Trixie in the process of actually doing her job. It seemed that the time had come for the annual agricultural report for the various regions, and Trixie was trying to make heads or tails of what the hay the farmers were saying in the reports they had sent. Pointing out that her own had been sent in three weeks ago; Carrot Top learned why Trixie had called her. Apparently, Trixie had been putting it off for weeks and now her evaluation was due tomorrow morning in Canterlot for processing. Trixie had wanted Carrot Top to just write it for her, but the farm pony had been confident that she could honestly teach Trixie what she needed to know to do her job. Three hours later Carrot Top was dictating an evaluation to Pokey, doing her best to ignore his smug look of “I told you so”, while Trixie went off to consult with “Dr. Bourbon” about her headache.

***********************************************

Of course, the attempt to teach Trixie and then dictating a proper response had taken up all of the time Carrot Top had before the meeting of the Farmers Union. In fact she was late to the very meeting she herself had called. Apologizing, and hoping her empty stomach didn’t growl, she proceeded with the business at hoof. Namely, the hiring of farm aids. While the Trust hired most of them year round on part timer hours there were still a number of them available for the other farmers to hire. The only problem was that it was a rather small number. So the purpose of the meeting was to work out a fair hiring schedule amongst the various farms so that everypony got help when they needed it most, based on the various crops growing cycles. The whole meeting, predictably, resulted in so much infighting and arguing about who had the greatest needs at different times that the whole thing didn’t amount to a hill of beans. Especially not with Pinto, who argued that his crops could be grown year round so he shouldn’t have to “volunteer” months where he wouldn’t hire any helpers. And through this whole disaster Carrot Top, who hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, had to keep order while everyone described how perfect and delicious their various crops were and why that should be the reason they deserve preferential treatment.

***********************************************

Exhausted after the meeting that had accomplished nothing, Carrot Top returned home to find out that Ditzy had forgotten to mention she had brought a letter. It was from the ERS. Apparently they were auditing her, but wouldn’t say why.

So it is understandable why tired, hungry, and frustrated she had decided to call it a day. Normally she worked well past sunset on everything, but with the sun still hanging in the sky she came to the conclusion that right then and there she didn’t care; she was done. Grabbing some lettuce, carrots, raisins, onions, and cherry tomatoes Carrot Top proceeded to make herself a beautiful salad with a side of brazed carrots with a wheat glaze and a tall glass of finely squeezed carrot juice. If nothing else good had come out of Trixie’s insane idea to enter the cooking competition at least she had learned how to make a good variety of delicious meals with a few simple ingredients. Taking a moment to smell it and saver the anticipation of the meal, Carrot Top leaned in to take her first bite.

That is of course the moment somepony chose to knock at the door. Carrot Top froze, teeth poised over that first bite, her left eye and ear twitching slightly as she turned to look at the door and silently mouth “No.” The knocking repeated. Maybe if she stayed quiet they would go away? A repeated, and more insistent, knocking dispelled that notion. Resolving herself to get it over with fast Carrot Top stood up and went to the door while doing her best to put on an inviting smile. She was blissfully unaware that her prized mane was starting to frazzle on its own out of sheer frustration and stress.

Opening the door, Carrot Top was greeted by an unusual sight; a pegasus that must have been related to Rainbow Dash. While the multihued main and tail were on display, and the cutie mark was the same, this pegasus was a sea foam green instead of the normal cyan Carrot Top knew well. It wasn’t until the mare spoke that Carrot Top realized this was in fact Rainbow Dash. “Hey…CT…how *mph* howr ya? *cough*” More specifically, a very very sick Rainbow Dash. “Hey could…could I as…..as…*mph* ask ya a favr?” the unwell Dash continued.

Carrot Top was stunned. This certainly wouldn’t be quick and she wanted to get back to her own dinner, but she wasn’t sure she could turn away even Corona if she showed up looking this bad. “Of course. Do you need help getting to the doctors? The hospital? Can you not fly and need a place to stay?” the generous farm pony offered. She really couldn’t think of any other reasons Rainbow Dash would have stopped by.

“No. I can get home. *cough* Get sleep for get good. Suppose help Shy morrow, promiz, need you go.” the pathetic pony asked as best as she could in her groggy state. She wasn’t looking at Carrot Top so much as in her general direction, and it was getting more general by the minute.

She wanted to say no, she truly did. She had so much work to do tomorrow. She had to set up boundaries with the badger family, go one on one with the various farmers to try and salvage the worker situation, and make up for all the field work she had missed today. But it was at that point Rainbow Dash made the one argument that Carrot Top could never refute. She “pitched her hay”, though thankfully not on CT or her house; the pegasus apparently still maintained enough awareness to aim. Feeling utterly bad and guilty at that point for even thinking about saying no to the poor suffering mare, Carrot Top sighed (missing Rainbow’s confused muttering of “When’d I eat corn?”) and asked in a resigned tone “So what time do I have to be there?”

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?

Carrot Top's new day was going much better so far. She hadn't gotten angry, upset, or frustrated at all. And then her alarm went off. Wondering what sort of Sun blasted sadist would have set her alarm for four in the morning on the other side of the room, Carrot Top dragged herself out of bed and across the floor before finally getting enough presence of mind to remember that she was capable of walking. By the time she'd finally remembered how to turn the alarm off she had also woken up enough to remember why she had set it for so early in the first place. Taking a cold shower to fully wake herself up (she'd have dozed off if the water had been warm), she grabbed a breakfast of a couple of carrots, did her mane care routine, and headed out. It wasn't until she was out the door and on her way to Fluttershy's house that she started to wonder why she had bothered to take the half hour to care for her mane if she was just going to be working outside. She was so distracted by this random thought that she didn't ay attention to here she was going, tripped over a furrow, and landed face first into the badger den. Fun fact about mother badgers: they have been known to fight off grizzly bears when their young are threatened.

***********************************************

Fluttershy opened the door on the first knock. “Hello Rain...bow...oh my goodness! Carrot Top, what happened to you?” she asked, staring at the sight in front of her.

Carrot Top, covered in scratches and with her mane ruined, did her best to just smile. “Oh, just tripped a little. Anyway, Dash is sick and asked for me to fill in for her. So, um, she was a little out of it. What do you need help with?” she asked in a gentle tone. No need to upset the shy pony by raising her voice about a few badger bites right?

“Oh my, I hope she's not too sick. I've never seen her sick before, usually I get sick and then she looks out for me and how can she be sick and...and...I'm sorry I'm being to panicky again aren't I?” the pegasus asked, kicking the ground lightly with one hoof as she looked anywhere but at Carrot Top.

The farm pony smiled. “Nah, it's OK. Dash is your friend; of course you're worried about her. But she said that she would be fine, she just needed some rest. So why don't you tell me what you need help with so we can get it done fast and you can visit her?”

“Oh, that's a wonderful idea. Um, anyway, you see, the thing is, animals are a teensy little bit messy sometimes. And every now and again I need to help clean out their houses, nests, holes, burrows, dens, coops, stalls, and huts. Not that often mind you, just about once a month. Me and Dash go around to all the little animal homes and help clean them up so they're nice and neat for the animals to live in.” Fluttershy finished with a dreamy look and a slight squeaking sound, undoubtedly lost in a happy vision of cute animals in nice clean homes.

Carrot chuckled a bit. That was so Fluttershy. “OK so you basically need my help getting all the dirt and trash and stuff out of the animals' homes. I can do that no problem.”

“Oh, that's great. Here.” Fluttershy said, giving Carrot Top a feather duster. “I'm going to start with the mice holes inside. You can get the rabbit holes in the back yard. It's that group right over there.” she explained, pointing a hoof at a tight grouping of about two dozen holes.

“OK, but what about those holes over there?” Carrot Top asked, pointing to an almost equal number of holes spread out over a larger area.

“Oh, that's where Mr. Skunk, Mr. Hissy, Mrs. Porcupine, Mr. Weasel, and a bunch of others are. Most of them don't like strange ponies, so you should probably avoid them, I'll clean those ones out myself just to be safe. You just worry about the bunnies for now.” the pegasus explained, moving back into the house to grab a tiny broom and dustpan which she then began using to gingerly clean the first of a couple dozen mouse holes.

Glad that she had gotten an easy job, CT trotted over to the first burrow happily, sticking her head in with a slight smile to see the looks on the cute bunnies' faces. From a viewoint just outside the hole, nothing seemed to happen for a moment or two. Suddenly, there was loud growling and the sounds of crashing, yelling, and a small cloud of dust. When Carrot Top removed her head, it was even more damaged and the feather duster had been reduced to a single feather. It was at this point that Fluttershy shouted (relatively speaking) “Oh, I'm sorry, I totally forgot to mention. A new badger familly moved in yesterday near the bunnies. It's the burrow closest to the house. As a new Mommy, she doesn't even like me.”

***********************************************

Some bandages and a new feather duster later, Carrot Top had finished her first job and was now helping Fluttershy clean the bird houses and nests. While the pegasus could simply fly, Carrot Top was forced to use a ladder. It wasn't the sturdiest ladder, but as long as she didn't move too fast or too wildly it was stable enough Aside from a few more scratches, a black eye, and some more tangling in her mane she honestly had been having a good time. It was at this point Ditzy Doo arrived with a letter. Normally Ditzy would have said high to her friend, but in this case she didn't for one simple reason; she didn't see her. With one eye on Fluttershy and the other having wandered over to the far right, she never noticed the ladder just slightly off to her left. Slightly enough that her wing clipped it and sent the mailmare sinning in for a crash landing while Carrot Top proceeded to fall with the ladder, screaming slightly as it spun around and fell.

Flutershy was at Ditzy's side in a moment. “Oh my, is your wing OK, you didn't hurt anything did you?”

Ditzy shook her head to clear it and, with eased practice, did a quick check of herself and noted she was fine. “I'm OK, but the pony on the ladder...” she looked over and noticed with a widening of the eyes that it was Carrot Top who crashed to the ground with her head going down a hole. “Oh my gosh, and you OK in there?” Any reply was cut off with a chorus of growls, thumping, yelling, and a dust cloud rising up from the burrow.

***********************************************

An eye-patch, some more bandages, some soothing cream, assurances that her mane was still fine, and an apology later, Ditzy was helping the others with the chicken coop to make up for accidentally knocking Carrot Top into the badger den. A good thing too, as the chickens were just outright refusing to cooperate with the mares. The three of them were spending as much time preventing the chickens escaping the pen as they were trying to clean the place. Of course, every now and again one would slip out and one of the mares would have to catch it and put it back in.

“I got it!” Carrot Top shouted, sprinting after the latest escapee. This chicken however was willy, weaving through brush to try and shake the larger mare off, but it had evidently underestimated the mares resolve as only a minute into the chase Carrot Top wrapped her forehooves around the offending poultry with a triumphant victory cry. It was now the farmers turn to have underestimated her quarry, for the beast's vigor was great. Though ensnared in the mighty huntresses iron grip, it proceeded to pull its captor along in an attempt to break free. Through brush and under fence it persisted, but the mighty conqueror held on. Seeking one last desperate means of escape, the avian shot like a rocket toward its goal, gaining speed as it went. With a final burst of strength it leaped, clearing the hole before it would enter. The hunter's hooves did leap with the beast, but alas her head stayed on course and soon found itself buried in an all too familiar lair. As the hunters grip finally relinquished as she struggled to free herself from the presence of her bane, she made a mental note to see a learned man for thoughts in such a manner as this may indicate that harm had befallen the seat of knowledge that was hers.

***********************************************

Another whole box of bandages, more slave, and less convincing reassurances that she looked great later, Carrot Top was swaying uncertainly on her feet. “OK, let's do this. We've got more cleaning to do and all that.”

Fluttershy and Ditzy shared an uncertain look. True, the earth pony had stopped referring to herself in alliterative third person and wasn't sneaking like a really old poetry book anymore, but they still had every right to be concerned. Ditzy brought up the obvious concern “Um, are you sure you should keep going?”

“What? Of course. I'm, I'm fine. I promised Rainbow Dash I'd help out, and what sort of pony would I be if I backed out of that? So what can I do now? And can the ground please stop spinning?”

Fluttershy looked even more concerned at the note of visual hallucinations associated with vertigo. (What? She had to know this stuff if she's going to be taking care of animals.) “You know what, why don't we go inside where it's nice and safe and clean out the fish tanks well away from Mommy Badger?” she suggested with a smile, glad that this way there would be no further problems.

***********************************************

“And so how did she fall into the badger den that time?” Dr. Caduceus asked.

“I'm quite frankly still not sure.” Ditzy replied, looking worriedly at the station where the nurses were still treating her friend. “I turned around for like less than a minute, heard a few crashes, a window break, and suddenly her head's in the burrow again!” She'd been forced to take her unconscious friend in herself, Fluttershy's fear of strangers having prevented her from going through the town and into the “crowded” hospital full of sharp pointy objects and sick ponies.

One of the nurses came over with a grim look on her face. “I'm sorry, there's nothing more we can do, she is totally beyond our help.”

“No, it can't be true! You've got to be able to do something! She's my best friend!” Ditzy cried, tears in her eyes.

“I'm sorry, but nothing but a moon blessed miracle can help her now.” the nurse replied, wincing. It was always sad to see friends and family in this sort of situation.

“Huh, was goin on?” Carrot Top asked, groggy and disoriented getting up.

“Oh my Carrot Top, don't move. Oh I am so sorry but the nurses say I mean, I don't know how to say this.” Ditzy sobbed, tears flowing from her eyes.

“What are you, oh my...MIRROR! I NEED A MIRROR!” the earth pony shouted, panic cutting through the haze in her mind as she started scanning the room.

“You really don't want to; I mean it's not that, well only sorta bad, maybe...” Ditzy continued, struggling to find the right words for such a delicate situation.

Finding a mirror and bracing herself, Carrot Top looked in, and it was worse than she had feared. Except for a pair of small frizzled, tangled, dirt smeared slumps sticking out at odd angles she had no mane. She was bald. She took in a deep breath....

***********************************************

Windowpane looked at his latest job with a critical eye. It didn't matter how many times he repaired this window, he always did his best on the off chance this was the one time it would stick around. “Well Representative, are you happy with the job I did?” he asked. His personal satisfaction guarantee, if they weren't happy he'd redo the whole job for free.

Looking it over with a mildly critical eye, Trixie turned and smiled. “Well I can safely say that I am...” At that precise moment, she was overshadowed by the sound of a scream. It was primal, deep, filled with rage and grief, and sounded slightly familiar. The rumble caused by this boom shook the entire room; books fell of shelves while the ponies fought to keep their balance. It was also loud enough to shatter all the glass in the new window. Both ponies stared at it for a moment, before Trixie finally remembered that she could talk. “Not happy with the job done on my window. So you need to redo it. That's your rule.” Smiling, she started laughing happily “I get it done free for once! Free free free! Let Pokey know I'm taking the rest of the day off with Mr. Bourbon to celebrate!” the mare called in glee, practically bouncing out of the office.

Windowpane was a little upset at first that he would have to redo the window at first, but taking a look outside he couldn't help but smile. While he would lose some money on redoing this one job, it seemed that there would be plenty of surplus to make up for it. Cause from where he was standing, it looked like the scream had broken every window between here and the hospital.

Author's Note:

I'm puting these in now.

Carrot Facts: Beta Carotine is the vitamin in carrots that helps improve eyesight. However repeated large doses of it can result in skin, fingernails, and eventually even hair taking on an orange hue.