Where did it go wrong?

The ground beneath me, that I stared at, just responded by raising more dust as my massive hooves took steps forward without any proper destination. This actually calmed my thinking a bit, as my mind seemed to not even care where I went and only wanted to let out some steam alone from the guys.

Raising my bulky head for another look, I saw that some more ponies had appeared from insides of their houses but still very few wandered the streets and most of them seemed to be still quite sleepy as if none had awakened more than couple of seconds ago.

But all this vanished as my head returned back to staring at the dirt road beneath this massive body that was mine now.

No! Focus Alex, we still need to find that Carrot farm.

My hooves continued the rhythm of walking that came unnaturally right; front right, back left, front left, back right and so on, without any proper trying needed to be done.

Damnit, focus boy!

Sighing, I looked up again, but now thanked my stubborn head as I would have hit my head on the side of the cart blocking the way ahead of me. It shared the similar appearance with all the carts I had seen thus far, only that this one had a large cloth on top to cover the cargo, which seemed to consist out of boxes.

"Hey! Watch...it" started out the light yellow male pony pulling the cart before only seeing my chin at his eye level. Slowly he raised his head to look at my face while his face turned from anger to one of anxiety.

"Oh...umm...pardon me." he quickly added and just continued to look at me, like searching for a way out of an fight that I didn't look after.

Alex, this is your chance! Ask for a way.

"You can repay me by showing the way to the Carrot farm." I said while taking a step forward, but the stallion just flinched before dropping his cart and running away, not even looking behind his back to see my dazzled and confused face.

Am I...really that scary?

Then I felt a small thump on my shoulder and turned to be greeted by yet another male pony, but this one seemed to be calm around me, making me feel somewhat relieved. He had a light brown coat while the mane and tail were dark brown which oddly fit just right. For that weird flank tattoo he had a large hourglass but before I got to think, he coughed and caught my attention before speaking.

"I'm sorry if I overheard you, but you're looking for the Carrot family farm, am I right?" he said with some sort of English accent clinking in my ears. Simply nodding, he laughed a bit before pointing at the cart behind me.

"Don't worry about that, Caramel is sure to return soon. Any who, just continue your way forward until nearing Quills and Sofas. There you turn left and... Voila, in ten minutes you're at the start of the road to the two farms this town has."

As he told this, I could see the pony from before looking around the corner, like waiting for me to walk away. I turned to look back to the brown pony who just re-adjusted the green tie he had around his neck.

"Thanks." I said to him quite blandly, as I wasn't in mood for idle chit-chat. The pony just shook a hoof at me.

"Not a problem; I was new here some time ago and I know what it’s like to be lost." he told me before looking up at the sun and smiling.

"Well, I'm going to be late soon, so Allons-y for me mates."

Not a word escaped from my mouth as I stared at the hourglass pony walking and whistling away like this was casual for him.

Wait... didn't Tom mention that... I thought he was joking! Holy smack, actually a Doctor Who cameo as a pony. From the looks it's the eleventh one but he still used the phrase the tenth had at series two to four.

After the Doctor pony had turned around the corner though, I turned to see the male pony was still looking at my direction, but this time from behind some other cart. Assuming he was waiting for me to leave, I took off for this shop the Doctor had told about; my head still hanging low and eyes firmly fixed to the ground.

Nevertheless... it's bad enough I have to act around...

* * * * *

The hoe drove deep to the ground, making a perfect hole for the first seeds of this season to be planted. As the tool re-emerged from the ground, the olive coated mare smiled before grabbing a couple of seeds from the bag hanging around from her neck, past her light green mane.

Three seeds dropped to the hole and the olive mare patted it shut with a hoof before grabbing the hoe with her mouth. Though her ruby eyes were hidden under the shadow of the straw hat, she could see that the sun had already made its travel to show that it was in the midst of the morning.

A smile grew to her face as she planted yet another seed group to the ground before turning to sweep the sweat off her forehead. She looked at the orange barn where all the products from the farm were stored to be sold later at the market. From there, her gaze fell to the vast fields that dominated the landscape. Though the lands were bare when compared to the Apple family farm, she found it calming to see the emptiness in the long rows of plowed land.

Feeling that the bag was nearing the end, she strapped the hoe to her back. The metal head stopped just above her Cutie Mark; the bag that had a hoe and spading fork leaning on the sides. Everypony could guess what the Mark meant when she was young. She would be the one to take care of this land they've had from the beginning times of Ponyville.

Ma' and Pa' would be proud... she thought before dropping the bag, along with the hoe, next to the large wooden door. Before she went in she looked towards the entrance area, where a couple of smaller fields were instituted to grow some rarer products like seasonal flowers and pumpkins for Nightmare Night.

A sigh came from her mouth as she saw that the fields were still empty and even from here it was visible that no hoof had touched the land since yesterday. The olive mare turned over to the barn door to give a quick glimpse to the inside, but it wasn’t necessary, as faint irregular snores could be heard coming from inside.

Slowly opening the door, she couldn't help but to smile as her gaze fell over the large bag pile that laid on the back of the barn, perfectly visible as the light coming from the doorway light up the barn fully.

There, on top of the ten foot pile, laid her younger sister, sleeping happily without any worries whatsoever. Her yellow coat was, as always, in perfect condition along with her orange mane and tail that fit perfectly on her. Her Cutie Mark consisting of three carrots wasn't visible as she was laying on her back.

The yellow mare snored loud, but the olive mare didn't care as she walked over to the pile and jumped to the top, right next to the sleeping beauty. She inhaled deeply before leaning over to her younger sister's ear.

"WAKE UP CARROT!"

In a fraction of a second, Carrot was laying on the ground on the base of the bag pile while rubbing her head in pain, as she had hit the ridgepole after having been taken from her quick nap. Hearing a giggle, she looked up towards the top of the pile to see her older sister giving a look at her before jumping off and landing next to her.

"Ouch... my head." Carrot whimpered as she stood up and faced her sister who was still smiling at her, making her rage boil even more. ”You jerk! Why did you do that GH?"

Her sister stopped smiling before stomping a hoof to the ground.

"And don't you call me GH, dear sister."

Now it was Carrot's turn to smile as her mischievous side turned on. She knew she had hit a sore point by calling her GH as opposed to Golden Harvest. Before she got to continue, Golden Harvest raised her hoof but this time put it on Carrot’s shoulder before sighing deeply.

"Look Carrot, I'm sorry but you know that we've talked about this."

Turning red, Carrot looked away from her sister before gently pushing her out of the way and walking out of the barn. She knew perfectly well what her sister meant, but it wasn't like Golden Harvest could use that trump card all the time.

"I know... But you can see that the fields are in okay condition, so no harm done...right?" she told Golden Harvest after she also exited the barn, but Golden Harvest just face-hoofed before handing over the ridgepole to the surprised sister.

"Wrong, you still ought to cultivate the land to get nutrients for the growing roots." she expressed to her before grabbing her own hoe and strapping the full bag of seeds around her neck, making Carrot puff in anger.

"Then I hope you don’t mix the seeds like last harvest."

Golden Harvest stopped dead in her tracks, just couple of feet’s away from her sister.

"That was an accident..."

Carrot hit the ground with the fork, leaving it standing, before turning over to Golden Harvest.

"That accident cost us over a thousand bits GH!"

Golden Harvest jumped around, nearing to the point of screaming and jumping over to her cheeky sister, but the elderly side of her mind kept her from over reacting. But she still planted her face right in front of her sister before sizzling her response:

"That's why I ought to DO something, unlike somepony else around here."

Carrot responded by pushing her face closer and giving a cold stare. No words escaped her mouth, so Golden Harvest continued on.

"Who's the first to wake up? Me. Who's the first to be on the fields? Me. Who's the one that seals the deals with the major suppliers? Me. Who's the one that needs to take care of a fifteen year old baby, who cannot even stay awake for four hours straight? ME!"

Every time Golden Harvest said 'Me', she closed the distance between her forehead and Carrot's until the two met. Carrot continued to give a cold look while giving her response;

"Your deals with the major ones are nothing compared to what I make in market every week, don't you forget that. And when it comes to my sleeping, you should know that it's healthy to take naps during the course of the day as I still need to go to the market today as somepony is afraid of crowded places..."

"I AIN'T AFRAID OF CROWDED PLACES!"

"Oh please, you literally shivered last week when we visited the town to get the cart fixed. Seriously GH..."

"Don't. Call. Me. GH."

"What's the matter? Afraid that anypony might hear it? Oh that's right, silly me. THERE'S NOPONY EXPECT US HERE!"

Golden Harvest just shook in rage, it boiling deep inside her, burning especially her heart from hearing her sister saying something like that. Just as she was ready to counter-attack, a shadow fell over both of the mares.

The stare off between the sisters ended as they simultaneously turned to look at what caused the shadow.

"Is this the Carrot family farm?" addressed the maroon brown Earth pony stallion from them, but neither Harvest nor Carrot responded as they both stared at the arriving stallion; Golden Harvest in confusion and Carrot Top in curiosity. The sheer size of him was one thing that caught their attention, but really it was just the fact that it was a stallion in front of them.

The Earth pony stallion sighed before turning over, but didn't get far as Carrot Top ran in front of him.

"Yes this is it. I'm Carrot Top and I take care of this place along with my sister there." she exclaimed and the stallion glared at her, actually making Carrot really nervous for some unknown reason.

"Heard you were hiring." he said, but before Carrot got to explain anything, she got tackled to the side by her olive sister.

"It's true." Golden Harvest answered before offering her hoof to him "The name's Golden Harvest, the current head of the Carrot family and older sister of Carrot Top."

The stallion nodded as he took the hoof for a firm shake. His blond mane swept across his face but Golden Harvest got a view of the chestnut eyes that seemed to have an constant bland stare, almost like the eye balls were made out of pure glass.

"I'm Maero."

* * * * *

Typical sisters; always at each other’s throats.

I thought to myself as I looked at the two of them walking ahead of me while pointing out the different fields. Though they acted like everything was alright, the airspace between them could have been cut with a knife as they kept a formal distance between each other and neither gave a single look anywhere else besides the fields and me.

"And finally, we have the back fields there that have nothing planted yet." pointed the olive mare with the farming tools symbol as we arrived back to the barn where we had left some minutes ago. This mare, Golden Harvest, turned to face me before pointing at the tools hanging from the wall outside of the barn. "Now Maero, have you ever worked at a farm?"

"No, but I've done some gardening."

She smiled, but as she opened her mouth, the orange mare cut in between us and her face bore an threatening smirk.

"It's fine. You'll learn along the way, right GH?"

The olive mare blushed before hiding under her straw hat, but the mare named Carrot Top just giggled before grabbing a large hoe from the wall and plowing it into the ground next to me. She then took some sort of bag from a wooden chest right next to the tools before dropping it on top of the hoe. This seemed to get Golden Harvest back from her thoughts, as she also took a hoe but smaller compared to mine before strapping it to her back.

Weird... looks like the tools have strings so that they can be hung around your back. Kinda like rifles back at... home

"You'll catch up soon with how it's done. For now, just look how I do it." the olive mare told me as she headed off past me. Carrot Top just huffed before sticking her head back into the chest while I hung the bag around my neck and saw that it was full of seeds.

"Hah, knew that it was here!"

Looking back up, I saw that Carrot Top had raised her head from the chest and was walking towards me. But it was the thing that she was carrying with her mouth that caught my attention.

"What's the matter sweetie? Haven't seen a straw hat before?"

Nothing like this I haven't...

It was, in regards to the name, made out of straws but it was just so well put to together; the surface was smooth from as not a single piece of straw hung loose and the inside part had thin layer of cloth to make it comfortable to wear for long periods. The grosgrain was dark red, not really my style but I didn't mind as it actually gave it really good nostalgic feeling compared to many hats I had worn.

As I put it on top of my head, it seemed like two magnets had met each other; the hat fit perfectly on my head and it felt really good to get some cover from the ever boiling sun above me.

I... needed this.

Then I did something I hadn't done in long time.

I looked Carrot directly in the eyes...

And smiled.

Carrot Top just giggled before shaking her hoof towards me.

"GH must be waiting for you, so you might wanna hurry up, unless you want to face her anger."

Taking her advice, I strapped the large hoe around like GH had done and started to walk towards her, as her figure was visible from here thanks to the barren face of the land below.

Looking back, I saw that Carrot had taken one of the other tools and headed to the smaller fields next to the barn.

"Thanks..." I  mumbled quietly while I turned my gaze back towards the ground beneath and sighed once.

You made me feel happiness for a moment...

Luckily the shadow covered my eyes as they got wet.

Oh God, why can’t I get you off my mind Rosie!

* * * * *

The school bell rang bright and clear, echoing around the large yard and especially around the small corner I was standing by.

Raising my head from the book by Pratchet, I could see and feel that the weather had stayed pretty much the same for the past hour; there was a constant weak breeze that kept the snow moving around both on the ground and in the air. The temperature itself wasn't that low for being January, but the freezing breeze kept it so that even walking around proved to be problematic if you didn't have proper clothes on.

After taking a deep, calming breath, I placed a mark on the current page and let the book drop inside the large leather satchel hanging around my elbow before stepping out of this little corner to get a better view of the front doors. Immediately the cold breeze struck my face, but I just leaned against the wall and narrowed my eyes before covering them with my right hand so that I could keep an eye at the door through this blizzard.

Three, two, one...

A smirk rose to my face, as I saw the double doors flung open and dozens of small kids start to pour out of the old school building. It had done an amazing job for the past thirty years, so there wasn't any hurry to replace it, though I clearly remembered that even when I was there, the age had started to show clear marks all around. Most of the kids that came out went straight to the playground but many younger ones walked past me as their day had ended. Some of the first and second year students gave looks at me, but I didn't mind as I kept my gaze firmly locked at the doors, waiting for her to come.

My patience paid off, because about half a minute later, a small girl with a light blue jacket and black winter trousers stepped out to the yard. She greeted some other kids as she walked past them and kept walking towards my direction until noticing me. Even from over twenty feet away and through a minor blizzard, I could see her smiling while her pure platinum hair waved back and forth as she started to run towards me.

"Big Bro!" she shouted just before grabbing me in a firm hug, though her head only reached my chest area. After having stood in this weather for an hour, it felt good to feel her close to me as the heat coming from her young body was really strong.

“Umm...”

Gently I brushed her long hair while turning to look towards her and see the surprised look on the face. Her bright emerald eyes looked over at the clothes I was wearing before turning to look up at me.

"So how was your day champ?" I jokingly asked from her, but she just backed off from me before grabbing her backpack and taking out some paper that had formulas on it.

"Great! I got full points on that Math test." she told me while handing the test over to me and it had indeed full points on the corner.

"Really good. I see that you read those papers that Tom gave you."

She smiled before taking the paper from me and putting it back to her back.

"I've gotta thank him; the memory rules he gave me were so good that my friends also demanded to look at them." she told me as she stepped next to me and gave her left hand towards me, which I grabbed with my right one.

"... Maero?"

"I can tell him that for you." I told her as we started to walk out of the school yard and she shot me an asking look.

"You're meeting him today?"

"Along with Mike."

Silence fell between us as we stopped at the lights to wait for a turn to cross. The air filled with the fumes as tens of cars drove past as, and I could hear a faint coughing from my right.

"You okay Rosie?" I worriedly asked, but she just smiled and the lights turned green, so we walked over to the other side. From there we went straight on towards the road that went through a small forest patch and after we got to the start of it, Rosie pulled my arm before looking up to me.

"Umm..." she started out before looking down onto the ground. Sighting, I kneeled to match her height and put my arms to her elbows.

"What is it?" I asked from her, but she kept her look down onto the ground.

"Well... There's this movie coming today and my friends are going to look at it..."

"Let me guess; you need me to get in to view it?"

She quickly turned to look at me with her puppy eyes that could have heated even the most frozen man’s heart.

"Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseeee?"

Chuckling, I stood up and looked over at my phone to see that Mike had left a message.

"Tell you what; because you made it so well in the tests..."

I didn't get to finish as she quickly jumped up and grabbed me by the neck, making me lose my balance and fall to my back. It didn't hurt that much as there was snow below and the smile Rosie had made my heart light up.

"THANKS BRO! YOU'RE THE BEST!"

"MAERO!"

I snapped put from the deeps of my mind and saw that the hoe had stopped just inches away from the ground, while the seed bag still hung half-full around my neck. I could feel sweat drops dripping somewhere around my forehead and on my necks as I turned to my right where the yell had come from.

"What happened?" the olive mare Golden Harvest asked from me and I could see worried expression on her face as she walked next to me. I simply grunted before grabbing the hoe and quickly striking it into the ground.

"Nothing." I bluntly answered as I dropped couple of seeds to the hole before patting it shut. But as I tried to move to the next one, GH blocked my way and I as I tried to move past her left, she blocked my way again.

"Well hope you don't mind giving a hoof." she noted before pointing her hoof past me and as I turned my head, I saw Carrot Top pulling large brown bags from the barn to the very old looking cart, barely standing, by the entrance.

"Carrot is leaving to supply a couple of regular ponies and as there ain't nothing else for you today, so you can call it quit after helping her."

I turned back to her, but didn't mutter a word as I only nodded in acknowledgement before strapping the hoe to my back and heading towards the orange mare struggling to lift the bags to the cart.

Are you thinking about me Rosie?

Front left, back right, front right, back left...

Carrot Top saw me approaching and waved a hoof to me before pointing at the cart now filled with bags.

You, Mom and Dad must miss me...

The seed bag fell to the ground right next to the chest and the hoe was left to lean to the wall.

Why?

Carrot's mouth moved, but my ears didn't register anything, while I slowly made my way to the front of the cart.

Why is this pain so great?

The cart strap fell to my back.

Tom and Mike...

Carrot started to put it on and soon I could feel it tighten around me.

They don't feel the same.

Carrot walked next to me before slamming her hoof to her face and disappearing somewhere back to the barn, leaving me with my ever growing thoughts.

They just act like nothing had happened; Mike laughs and jokes while Tom... is being his self.

Carrot came back from the farm, now carrying some sort of saddle with packs on the sides which had her Mark. A big smile was on her face as she got next to me, turning to look at me and tilting her head towards the road before heading off.

But my body was frozen.

How can they just shrug and let it be?

Carrot turned to look back and she stopped as I hadn't moved an inch.

My head suddenly rose up, making her back off little bit from shock.

Do I... hate them?

"What's the problem?" she inquired while slowly walking up to me and staring right at my face, her green eyes piercing mine. Her smile had faded away and now a worried expression covered her ever so bright face.

My closest friends, do I hate them?

Carrot Top started to wave her hoof intensively in front of my face.

"Hellooo, Equestria to Maero!"

A sigh came from me.

I'm confused.

I turned to face Carrot, who stopped waving her hoof and now pointed it directly to my face.

"What just happened?" she asked while I could see some sort of temper burning behind her eyes.

So I decided to tell the truth.

"I'm just confused." I said dully before giving a quick check on the cart and on the straps before turning back to see her mouth open while some weak voices tried to make their way out.

"So, are we set to go?" I asked, not even jokingly, and she immediately snapped out of her thinking before shaking her head.

"Seems like the paper was like..." she muttered before stopping to look at me. "Anyway, you're right; we ought to go before GH figures I took her bits."

I'm not even surprised...

I thought to myself as we started to make our way to the same road I had taken. The cart wheels weakly squealed under the heavy cargo, but it seemed like that it would last at least for this trip.

* * * * *

*THUMP*

A small amount of dust rose as the last bag fell to the porch of some sort of restaurant that had a French build to it. This had been the fourth stop so far after arriving in town.

Tiny drops of sweat dripped their way down my neck and back while I walked back to Carrot, who seemed to have finished her business with the manager. From the looks, she was rather angry as she huffed quite loud when the manager turned her back to her.

Not again...

"Some mares just have the nerve..." Carrot muttered before noticing me standing next to her. ”You finished?"

I nodded and slowly headed to the front of the cart while Carrot seemed to check on her pouch, likely counting the money she had made from the six bags we had delivered around the town.

"Seems to be alright." she recounted as the pouch disappeared to her 'saddle' pack and her hooves made their way to me to get the straps on. After they had been tightened, she took a glimpse at the cart and I saw her grinning, most likely from relief.

"Well there's only one pony left and I know we won't have any trouble with her."

The wheels squealed as they started to roll down the road towards the alley laying ahead that, according to Carrot, led to the centre business area. However, that wasn't the place where the next regular lived.

“And you aren't gonna say anything for your defence?"

My head tilted a bit to the side and I just could make out the orange hair from behind the last bag, which was quite small when compared to the ones I had lifted wherever I was asked to.

And oddly enough, that's why all Hell broke loose in first place.

"Oh I'm so tired!" Carrot exclaimed on the back after having laid her head on top of the bag while embracing it same time as if it was an oversized pillow. Her half open green eyes turned to look at me, but my head had already turned over to the front.

A loud huff soon followed.

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

Do you really think I want to talk about what happened at the shop and in the cafe?

"Yes." I staed with my normal dull voice while my body stopped the movement, as we arrived to a narrow intersection and some other carts were blocking the way; from the noises two mares were arguing about who should go first. For the moment, my gaze fell to the sides of the road, as many ponies walked past and nearly all gave an look at me before walking off. Like earlier, nearly everypony who walked past was a female, though I also saw few males, but all of them were accompanied by females.

Is this town really that lacking in males?

"Hey Carrot," I started while tilting my head to look towards her direction, catching her from nearly falling asleep. ”did those mares really try to fight for me?"

Carrot snickered and shook her orange mane before answering:

"Yeap, they were big fellow; at least until I stepped in."

By claiming to be my 'mare' friend, whatever that means.

The silence from the front made me turn back and to see the way was now clear. As the squealing of the wheels began, Carrot started to give instructions on where to go next, which I tried to memorize at my best.

"... after getting to the road, follow it out of town for so long until path to the left comes to view: take that path and we'll soon arrive at our desti- HEY YOU TWO; CART COMING THROUGH!"

The poor ponies in front nearly jumped ten feet in the air from surprise before making a way for me and the cart, where Carrot was now leaning to the front, as if trying reach my neck.

"Anyway; it shouldn't take us too long as there ain't any traffic there LIKE THIS! MOVE, THE LANE'S FREE!"

The green pony up front just muttered something before turning to let us through, opening the way to a small park area. Some picnic tables were laid in the open close to the small dirt path that led straight through the field before dividing in two parts near the other side.

"Was it the right?"

A hum of approval came from the back, soon followed by loud irregular snoring. Many ponies in the park turned their heads in our direction, and all shot angry glares to Carrot, who was still hugging the last bag with all her strength. I couldn't blame them, as she really was a noisy sleeper, maybe even noisier than Mike, and he sounded like a jackhammer.

The left path took us to a patch of houses laid out in the open, unlike in town where they were all built almost next to each other, on top of having the same basic cottage structure. These houses were actually a little bit bigger, as many had space for their own gardens and some sort of barbecue spots, though I doubted that meat was on the list of goods.

*KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG, KLONG*

Is it twelve already?

Carrot seemed to have woken up, as I heard loud groans followed by even louder yawns after the bells on the clock tower in the distance had fallen silent. The cart slowly turned as we neared the end of the road and a small bridge came into view, crossing the tiny stream below.

"*Yawn* Okay, let's leave the cart here." Carrot ordered before jumping to my right side and crossing the bridge. This didn't alarm me, as she had always gone ahead to deal with the customer on the pay, and I'd come soon after carrying the bags wherever I was asked to.

Those gazes they gave to my hinds... No, focus! You're a man, not a freaking pony!

I slipped under the straps. The sweat acclimated from working helped, though I felt really dirty after having worked almost non-stop for the past four hours.

My hooves soon took me to the back where I grabbed the last bag with my mouth before hauling it to the ground. Then I raised it to my back and after some minor adjusting, I took off past the stream towards the small opening between the trees.

Carrot stood by there, nodding me to come closer but as if to keep it down. Hard to believe from her. Her orange hair swept in the small wind that came from the direction of the opening, but she didn't seem to mind as her eyes turned to look at me.

"Expecting 'trouble'?" I muttered, ever so dull, but Carrot smirked before shaking her head.

"Not that kind." she started before pointing her hoof past the opening. "Just keep it to yourself and let me do the talking, okay?

I shrugged before heading past the trees.

Guess I was supposed to expect this.

The road below continued on for some hundred, just at the edge of the stream, before stopping at yet another bridge, but this one seemed to have formed naturally, as grass grew on the sides and dirt was visible on the sides. Just as Carrot and I got to the front of the bridge, my eyes noticed the thin tree just next to the bridge that had many birds nesting on it, their chirping voices filling the air with natural melodies.

If only Rosie could hear this...

Small critters roamed the grass, running off when Carrot walked towards the door leading inside this large tree that seemed to act as a house. She quickly looked behind and smiled before nodding for me to come closer, so I headed towards her, the bag still on my back, while she knocked at the door.

The upper part of the door slowly opened outwards, and soon a light yellow pony with pink hair appears from the archway.

"Oh, hi Carrot." the female pony quietly said, as if she was afraid of speaking too loud. "Is it that day already?"

Carrot grinned "Yep, we're here to..."

The yellow pony looked confused, but then she turned at my direction before whimpering and backing off inside while Carrot just giggles.

"Don't worry ‘Shy, this fellow here is Maero and he works nowadays at our farm."

The pony still seemed to be a bit reluctant, but she finally made eye contact with me before quickly hiding behind her long mane.

"...I'm Fluttershy. Nice to..." The end goes unheard as her already whispering tone went lower with every word said.

"Hi. Where do you want this bag?"

She looked confused before pointing at the porch, so I dropped the bag there while trying to relax my muscles as they had gotten really stiff, though not too much. Carrot didn't notice, as she took her pouch from the pack.

"Well, it'll be the usual amount Flutter' dear."

"Oh yes, wait for a bit." she stammered before disappearing inside while I turned to look at Carrot, who in regards looked back.

"Before you ask; yes, she's always like that."

Okay, you got one of the two questions right.

"I was going to ask about the pay."

Her green eyes pierced me while her hoof went inside her pack. Soon, a small pouch similar to hers started to swing back and forth just above my nose. But as I tried to grab it, Carrot moved it back before grinning deviously.

"Naha, you've gotta allow me do something for you first."

Before I got to say anything, she closed the distance between me and her with single step. I tried to back off, but my way was blocked by a bush.

What does she want?

She moved her head closer to mine. Panicking, I turned to look at my left towards the bridge. Then I felt something really warm touching my left cheek.

No... She didn't just...

"Oh my..."

Carrot and I simultaneously turned towards the door to find Fluttershy staring at us with her eyes wide open. I took this opportunity and quickly grabbed the pouch from her while she was distracted.

"What is it Fluttershy?" Carrot giggled before wiping her smiling mouth with her right leg. The yellow pony just blushed before giving Carrot the money, which she eagerly put into her pouch.

"Well, see you next week." Carrot whispered and the yellow pony smiled before returning inside while Carrot turned to walk towards the bridge. I reluctantly followed behind her, the pouch hanging from my mouth.

"Aren't you gonna put your money away?" Carrot asked, surprising me, before pointing at my straw hat. Confused, I took it off, and saw that there actually was just enough space for the pouch.  As I put it back on, I couldn't even feel the pouch on my head, though the hat felt a bit heavier now.

We stopped at the cart, as Carrot started to put the straps on herself, not needing the same help as I did though she did seem to have some trouble.

"So what are you gonna do now?" she mentioned while tightening the last piece of buckle.

Either Mike or Tom... Wasn't the school somewhere outside of town?

"Know where the school is?"

Carrot gave me an odd look before snickering as if she remembered something, though her expression didn't differ that much from her normal self.

"From where we turned, just continue on and you'll come to the school in ten minutes." she claimed before turning to look at the clock tower in distance. "Thought if I was you, I would hurry as the school ends in less than five."

She shook her orange hair once more, now touching the tip of my nose, though I highly doubt it was accidental, before starting to pull the cart, leaving me to my thoughts.

Should I hurry or go slowly, possibly missing him?

I adjusted my straw hat on my head before stretching my back and front legs.

A natural smirk rose to my face from thinking of the challenge.

Well, I had planned to test just how good of a runner I am now...

The legs darted forward, starting the running, or rather the galloping, taking note the fact that I wasn't human...

It only took me five seconds to catch Carrot as she moved really slowly. She didn't get a look at me, but I could hear her shouting something really loud. I didn't hear anything as my mind was fully focused on running.

Front right, back left, front left, back right...

The crossroads came to view, so I cut it a little bit by taking a straight line through the grass field.

The wind swept across my face, making my back hair flow along with the long tail, thought I only got a brief glimpse as I didn't dare to be distracted by anything.

Last thing I would want is...

...a small girl with a light blue jacket and black winter trousers...

My speed fell a bit, but not too much as I got to the road and started to run along it..

...her pure platinum hair waved back and forth...

Back left, front right, back right, front left...

..."Big Bro!"...

My legs hit each other, making me stagger couple of steps before regaining the rhythm.

*KLONG*

The bell rang in the distance, so I raised my speed as much as possible.

With every passing second a building started to come into view, and I could see many ponies walking away from it.

Rosie...

I dropped my speed to catch a breath, though I didn't fully stop and instead continued with walking.

I know you'll get past me; you're strong in both heart and mind...

Take care of Mom and Dad, will you?

I stopped by the entrance to the school yard to see Mike and Tom talking to the purple unicorn from before and to some white unicorn that I didn't recognize.

Immediately Mike noticed me, and started to run towards me, while Tom along with the other two ponies just stared at me.

Could I hate them?

Time slowed down, as Mike neared me with each step taken, but every second seemed to last a minute as I coldly looked at Mike's grinning face while his yellow eyes were lit up from joy.

Could I hate you Mike, who can smile and laugh?

Tom didn't have an expression, but his eyes had that usual glare of calculation that was natural to him.

Could I hate you Tom, who is able to act that calm?

Mike's mouth started to move as he was now only twenty feet away.

You haven't changed a bit so why should I hate you?

Fifteen feet.

Only I've changed...

Ten feet.

No... I don't hate you, my close friends.

Five feet.

I hate myself.

"MAERO!" Mike shouted while crashing into me, making me fall on my back.

A/U: Here's one particular comment I wanted to share with you that came to me couple of days ago from my lovely pre-reader, who's ever so late with his work;

Thank you dude, you made my day that morning