//------------------------------// // June 26th // Story: The New Adventures of Carrot Top. // by Capitola //------------------------------// June 26th (Actually it is June 27th) Yes, I forgot to write in you yesterday, but I think you can forgive me, seeing as I was unpacking the whole day. By the time the final nick-knack was un-boxed, checked off the list, and shelved it was almost ten at night, two whole hours past my normal time! I was a little surprised that no one came to greet me yesterday. I was expecting at least a few people but no one seemed to notice the lonely mare unpacking all her things and buckling under the strain of the heavy boxes (woe is me!). Maybe later today I'll go out and introduce myself to my two neighbors. Right now, though, I think I will just sit here in my (newly unpacked) chair and lift my (newly unpacked) cup of (newly unpacked) coffee to my lips to drink it in celebration of Well Buck. Sorry Diary, I tried to save you as best as I could, but it seems that my "newly unpacked coffee" has ended up all over you. I can't even read what I wrote after in celebration of! Someday, when I'm old and feeble and i'm reading these notes again I'll see "in celebration of" and then the coffee stain, and i'll say to myself 'what was I trying to say?' Then all the worrying will cause me have some horrible heart failure and I'll end up dying because I couldn't handle my coffee alright. I should have known better than to write and drink at the same time (stupid lucky unicorns). Well, now that my chair and diary have been soiled (not so new anymore ...) I think it's time to go and greet the day. It seems to be shaping up to be a bright and wonderful day (read that last part dripping in sarcasm). I'll let you know how my neighbors are later. Bye! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh Celestia! Oh Celestia, what have I done!? Why is this happening to ME? Did I do something wrong? It's because I took the new jar of peanut butter with me before I left home, isn't it? Well this is A BIT overkill for something as small as that! Everything was going fine. I'd decided to go check up on my neighbor to the left to start off with. The house was taller than mine and had a wonderful paint job of dark blue with white siding. As I approached I wondered who could have such a nice house. I imagined a handsome stallion and his wife lived there. Probably respectable ponies, to boot! I was starting to get excited about the prospect of living next to these (imagined) neighbors. I knocked on the door and waited but there was no response. My smile faded after a while and I knocked again. Once more there was no reply. I was about to leave when I heard a small noise from inside. I pressed my ear up to the door, blushing at how suspicious I probably looked. The sound was like nothing I had ever heard. I can only describe it as a metallic humming or a long unending beep. The sound sent shivers up my spine and I slowly backed away from the door, careful to keep my eyes on the suddenly untrustworthy house (who in their right mind would paint a house dark blue anyways? I can't believe I liked it at first!). With that done I turned back and went to go greet my neighbor to the right. I headed up the cool sidewalk and stopped in front of the iron black fence. Beyond the bars was an unkempt lawn filled with dead leaves and other junk. The paint was beginning to chip all over the house itself and the shutters attached to the windows looked ready to fall of entirely. The door was painted completely black. Nope. I turned around and headed back to the house. I'd tried to make contact with both neighbors and despite the fact that I hadn't meet either of them I felt strangely okay with that. Back inside a quick check of my cupboards revealed a sack of potatoes and a jar of peanut butter (yes, THAT jar of peanut butter). Deciding that perhaps potatoes and peanut butter would not make the best of meals I exited the house and made my way into town. I'd chosen a house that was a little ways out of town so that I could escape from all the hustle and bustle that I'd so wanted in the first place. It wasn't far out and before I knew it I was in town and heading towards the market place. When I got there the area was busy and full of ponies buying food and other items. Not wanting to stick out as the new pony on the block I kept my head down and mixed into the crowd, busying myself with searching the booths for delicious foods. At every booth I was greeted kindly and at most of them I was drawn into long conversations by the owners, welcoming me to Ponyville and giving me bits of advice as well as free food. After I was done I decided to take a different way back home in order to see more of Ponyville. That was where it began. That was the mistake that has now landed me in this unholy nightmare. At first it had been fun. I'd seen a lot of new places and made mental notes to go visit each of them later in the week. I was having so much fun I barely noticed that it was getting late. Really, really late. When I finally noticed all other ponies had returned home and I was left alone on the street. At first I was scared, (HA! Past self, you do not know fear as I do now!) but after a moment or two I leveled out and found the right street I was supposed to be on. The night air was chilly and I found myself shivering in the cold. It was then that I first heard it. The noise of ... hooves clacking against the cobbled ground. I whipped around and saw nothing. Another chilly gust blew past me and I muttered a curse under my breath about winter staying around far to long. I was about to dismiss the sound as my imagination when I heard it again. This time, however, it was louder. It sounded faster too and I strained my eyes to see what the noise was. From out of the darkness came a pony, bolting towards me as fast as possible. I stepped backwards at the sheer unthinkable speed the pink blur displayed. The hairs on my neck prickled and I wondered why she was running so fast. Then I saw it. The smile. The unholy smile stretched wide over her face and the wide unblinking eyes penetrating my very soul. My heart stopped and the words of Hay Seed's stories floated back to me from out of the past. "It's all true, Carrot! Those city ponies are an odd bunch. You might think it's strange, but I swear it's true! They can't hold all the crazies in the hospitals, on account of a lack of beds, so they sometimes let 'em free. Sometimes they let the really bad ones go on accident. Y'know, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some sort of cannibal ponies running around up there, just waiting to pounce on some poor pony." Terror flooded over me as I realized that Hay Seed had been so right. My instincts kicked in. My groceries fell from out of my saddle bags and I turned heel, sprinting faster than I ever had. The wind rushed past me, screaming in my ears for me to run faster. I could still hear the sound of her uneven panting as she came closer and closer. My heart was on the verge of exploding. Despite what you may think diary, living on a farm (oh Celestia I want to go home I miss my farm) doesn't necessarily build you up as an athlete, especially if the farm is a carrot farm. My breath came in shallow gasps as my hooves pounded against the ground. My house loomed out of the darkness and I thanked Celestia that I had left it unlocked. Without stopping I barreled into the door and rolled across the floor, turning a 180 and smashing the door closed again. My hooves fumbled with the lock and I heard it click. I slid down against it, panting out of sheer exhaustion. I smiled as tears came down my face. I was home. I was alive. I was alive and uneaten and safe and I was just fine. I was now completely safe. A knock came on the door. Then there was silence. I turned my head and pressed my ear to the door. The sounds of muffled panting greeted me as my eyes slowly widened in realization of what was just outside on my doorstep. That's not fair. That's just not fair. Since then the poundings at my door have been nonstop. Here I sit, huddled in the middle of my living room under my (newly unpacked, har har har) coffee table. Instead of writing my last will and testament I decided to write in you, diary, so you should feel honored. I miss Mom and Pop and little Sis and I miss the family farm and I miss all those carrots and I even miss that moldy barn smell. I just want to go home. Maybe I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Carrot Top sniveled from under the coffee table as she wrote in her diary. The sounds of the front door being pounded against provided a background sound that almost muffled out her sobs. As she wrote she said the words aloud.. "Maybe I-" but before she could finish her thoughts were distracted by the calm silence that had pervaded the room without her knowing. Carrot looked around from underneath her coffee table and scrunched herself closer. The poundings had stopped. She peered out from underneath the table. Either the pink cannibal had decided to leave her alone or ... A pink shape appeared in front of her, grinning from ear to ear. "Well hey there, silly! What're you doing under there?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Miles away a small yellow filly with red hair woke with a start. Quietly she tip-hooved out of bed and down the stairs to the room of her big sister. "A ... Applejack? Applejack? Are you awake?" A long sleepy grunt was the response the filly got. "Applejack, did you ... hear something? I though I heard a ... scream." The little pony said, shuddering. "You were dreamin', Sugar cube," came the sleepy response. "Go back to bed." "But ..." "Sugar Cube, I love ya ta death, but if ya don't go back ta bed I'll beat ya senseless." There was complete silence in the room. After a few seconds the sound of hooves scurrying out of the room signaled the little filly had gone back to bed, and fast. Applejack smiled as she settled down again and fell back into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Diary, Buck you. Buck me. Buck every BUCKING (insert angry screaming). The good news is that I'm still alive. I'm in a massive amount of pain, but I'm still alive. I remain uneaten by the pink cannibal who, turns out, is not actually a pink cannibal. She's just a pink psychopath. According to her, her name's Pinkie Pie and the reason she chased me and broke into my house was that she just wanted to say hello. Might I add here that with her speaking so fast and my aching head I'm not fully sure of anything she said. I had to ask her to repeat a lot, but even after that she still wouldn't slow down. Pinkie Pie, aka pink cannibal, informed me that it's her duty as everyone's friend to throw them a party when they come to town. She told me that she had been looking for me all day and was heading back to (Sugar tube Corner? Sugar dude corner? I didn't catch the name) her home when she saw me. She was coming over to say hello when I just turned and ran (because running from a grinning stranger is supposed to be my fault). She followed me back here with my groceries and found the door locked. After she tried to get my attention for awhile she assumed I was asleep and went through the cellar. Oh, turns out I have a cellar. That's going to help me sleep better. She was just going to drop them off on my table, but when she saw me under the table she "just had to say hello to the super cool new pony!" I questioned her about what she thought I was doing when I was hiding and screaming and she said I was probably just cleaning and that she had surprised me. Yeah. Surprised. That's totally what I was. After I eventually woke up she apologized for scaring me and had even cooked me a meal. At first I was going to be angry and scream at her, but that food was just so delicious (and my head hurt so much) I couldn't help but eat it all down. I couldn't yell at her after that, so wearily I told her I'd had a long day and that I'd really like some sleep. She bid me goodnight and I went off to bed. I'm amazed that any pony could be that socially clue less or that happy (seriously, smiled the whole time. I probably could have told her I had burnt down an orphanage and she would have probably baked me a cake). So I sit here in bed finishing this entry. Hopefully tomorrow will be less painful and hopefully less terror-filled.