It is a beautiful summer morning in the magical land of Equestria. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the carrots are selling like hotcakes. And the carrot hotcakes are selling even faster than that!

You’ve served the citizens of Ponyville your carrots and carrot products for years now, but today is by far the best day for sales that you’ve ever had. You know the reason, too: Applejack usually sets up an apple cart right next to yours in the market square, and the two of you have a friendly rivalry, seeing who can sell the most. Today, however, she appears to have taken the morning off, leaving you with no competition for customers. While you’re a bit sorry that you don’t have your friend here to chat with as you work, you certainly can’t complain about the boost it’s giving to your business!

As another satisfied patron wanders off, you count the bits in your moneybag with a grin. You’ve already practically emptied your cart, and it isn’t even noon! Good thing, too; there’s a storm scheduled for tomorrow, and you still need to tarp down the baby carrots you planted two weeks ago. You fold up your market stand, preparing to head back to your farm.

As you’re closing up, a young stallion named Caramel approaches you. “Excuse me, Carrot Top!” he says. “I can see you’re packing up to leave, but is it too late to get a cup of that carrot custard of yours?”

You smile at him and ask, “Why, did you drop yours in the dirt?” Handing him the last custard in your cart, you tell him “Don’t worry about it then, this one’s on the house.”

Caramel looks confused. “Drop what on the where? What are you talking about?”

“You were just here not five minutes ago, and you bought a carrot custard from me then. Don’t you remember?”

Caramel scrunches up his face as he thinks. “Hmm... nope. Oh, well. Thanks anyway!”

You roll your eyes as the colt wanders off. He has a reputation throughout town for being a ditz; he’d probably lose his own shoes if they weren’t nailed to his hooves! You finish your packing, and begin to head out towards your farm.

But before you’ve gone more than a dozen steps, you hear a familiar voice calling your name. Turning around, you see Twilight Sparkle running towards you, looking very worried.

“Oh, Carrot Top, am I glad to see you! You aren’t hurt, are you? Are you okay?”

Twilight’s been something of an odd duck ever since she came in from Canterlot, but asking you if you’re injured when you’re right in front of her and clearly in fine health seems strange even by her standards. “Um, I guess so? I’m not sick, if that’s what you mean. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some work to do on the farm...”

“NO! No more fieldwork! Not until we get everything figured out! I... Urgh,” Twilight shakes her head, “Never mind. We’ve got a BIG problem, and I need you to come with me. Hurry!” And without waiting for a reply, she dashes off towards her library again.

You look at your empty cart, and think about all the work you have left to do. Following Twilight around all day would be a real pain, but it sounds like something serious is going on.

1. If you follow Twilight to the library, go to page 3

2. If you take your cart and head back to the farm, go to page 7