//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Beyond Her Garden // by The Silliest Dashie //------------------------------// Carrot Top couldn’t sleep. How could she? She knew for a fact that once she left the protection of her home she would enter a world of chaos. Before Twilight had come to Ponyville the townsponies would rely on the extra food grown during the summer and fall to tide them through until winter was wrapped up. This all changed when Twilight moved in, however. Twilight, with Rarity’s help, was able to cast a spell on the farming land to keep the soil fertile during the winter, which meant that they hadn’t had to work as hard during the growing season and could instead grow what they needed throughout the year. Well, this year was no different. The farmponies had only grown enough to last through the growing season as they had all expected to be able to grow during the winter season, but now with both Twilight and Rarity gone and winter arriving a week early, how would they grow any crops? It was no problem for Carrot Top; she knew how to make even the worst soil fertile, and had used that ability before Twilight had arrived. She never told anypony about her talent because she hadn’t wanted to bear the burden of an entire town’s soil fertility on her shoulder. But how will the town cope with this new obstacle? Will the townsponies leave and try their luck elsewhere? If they do, then who will pay the bits to buy the food and get it back to Ponyville? I’m not even sure how we would get it back; the ground won’t be in any condition to be using carts on. Carrot Top’s thoughts were quickly consumed with the fact that the whole town could end up turning against itself. After hours of deep thought, she eventually found slumber. ----- Lyra and Bon-Bon stood in front of Carrot Top’s house, both in hoof-knit sweaters made just for them by Bon-Bon’s mother. Bon-Bon looked at Lyra as she knocked yet again. “No response. Do you think she’s asleep?” Bon-Bon questioned her friend, the cold causing her breath to mist in front of her. Lyra chuckled at her cream-coated friend as she replied. “Nope. She never sleeps in. Did you check her backyard?” “Yeah, on the way to the front door I peeked over the fence. I didn’t see her, but her shed was open; she could have been in there fetching something but I didn’t get a good enough look at it. Just knock again; maybe she didn’t hear you the first seven times.” Bon-Bon stuck her tongue out playfully at her now-hysterical friend. Lyra tried to reply between fits of laughter, but to no avail. She simply couldn’t look at Bon-Bon without laughing at this point. “Fine then, I’ll do it!” Bon-Bon playfully shoved Lyra to the side, trying to sound as if she was angered but feeling the exact opposite. She loved being with her funny friend. Bon-Bon usually never broke out of her shell; when around Lyra, however, she was a completely different mare. They both had a special bond that nopony could begin to understand except themselves. Carrot Top opened her eyes slowly. She had heard the noise the first time, but decided to ignore it. She was far too tired to be getting up at her normal time but, after the eighth knock, she knew it must be something important. “Coming!” Carrot Top shouted lazily back at whoever was outside. Slowly, she lumbered out from under the covers and into the four orange slippers waiting at the side of the bed. She exited the room in pursuit of not the front door, but the bathroom. Whoever was at the door probably didn’t want to see her the way she looked now. She turned on the cold tap of the bathroom sink and tilted her head sideways, sliding it under the steady stream of cool water to wash all of the sleep and dirt off her face. Once she felt content and refreshed, she grabbed a fluffy orange towel of a similar hue to the paper ones in the kitchen and wiped the left over water and dirt from her face. Feeling cool and revived, she threw the now soaking towel into the hamper next to her sink and exited the bathroom. The trip from her bathroom to her front door was a short one and, once she made it there, she looked out of the peephole to see who it was that demanded audience. Much to her surprise, she found Bon-Bon and Lyra at the door. “Hey girls! I’m opening the door right now!” Carrot Top unlatched a small chain and flung the door open. “Thanks! I was starting to freeze!” Lyra hopped in, excited to finally find some warmth. “Yes, thank you Carrot Top.” Bon-Bon followed her friend inside the warm house, though with much more grace; she was by a wide margin the more refined and shy of the two. She always enjoyed things that were a little bit more tasteful, and she always kept her excitement to herself . She also was never very outgoing and most of the time, pretty shy unless she was with her four best friends or with Lyra. This made Bon-Bon very interesting to Carrot Top. It meant that Bon-Bon was in a different mood every time she saw her, all of those moods being good. Lyra, however, was the polar opposite of Bon-Bon. She was a very happy mare and she always showed her excitement in any way possible. Lyra was the kind of mare that would brighten your day by simply saying a few words. Carrot Top couldn’t even remember the last time she saw Lyra in any mood but cheerful. She reminded her of a more controlled, less manic Pinkie Pie. It always made her chuckle to think that such contrasting mares could be together. It made so little sense, but it really worked out for them. “So, what brings you guys here?” Carrot Top looked to her two friends and chuckled when she saw how Lyra was sitting on her couch. She sat using her lower back as her support and her legs hanging down, which in turn caused her stomach to bulge out a bit. “Must you lounge like that every time you sit down?” Bon-Bon looked at her, cocking her head as she asked. Lyra just turned to Bon-Bon and shrugged. As much as it bewildered her, Bon-Bon decided to ignore it and answer Carrot Top’s question. “Anyway, we wanted to ask you a few things. The first was if you were aware of the snowfall last night, but I think it is quite clear we ALL know of that by now.” Bon-Bon paused to brush a bit of snow off her sweater and continued. “The other thing we want to know is if you’re attending the emergency meeting at the Town Square - or if you even know about it?” Emergency town meeting? How late is it, did I sleep in so late that I missed an announcement? “What time is it?” Carrot Top asked her guests, forgetting about Bon-Bon’s question. Lyra was the first to reply. “Well, me and Bon-Bon heard the announcement at eleven, then we headed home and had to clean up a few things. That’s when Bon-Bon said she hadn’t seen you at all in town today so we came to see if you heard the news or not. So, it’s probably around one or two?” Carrot Top’s jaw dropped at her teal friend’s statement. “I was asleep until two?! How could I have even slept in that long?!” Carrot Top rushed into her room, throwing her slippers off on the way there. She quickly picked out the first winter wear she could find and rushed back into the living room before Bon-Bon or Lyra could even process what had happened. “So when does the emergency meeting begin?” Carrot Top inquired of her friends as she tried to tie a scarf onto her neck. “Uhm…” Bon-Bon tried to process what had just happened, but was given no chance to continue as Lyra had already jumped in. “About thirty minutes! Everypony is meeting in town. We should be able to get there in five minutes if we hurry!” Lyra immediately jumped up and trotted to the door, but she was cut short by the voice of Bon-Bon. “Wait just a second, darling. Did we even ask Carrot Top if she was ready?” Bon-Bon looked over to where Carrot Top was standing. She just nodded her head at Bon-Bon as Lyra opened the door. “Let’s get going!” Lyra shouted to her two friends as she rushed outside. Bon-Bon looked at Carrot Top and playfully rolled her eyes. “She always was the rambunctious one.” ----- It almost looked like a concert in the Town Square. There were ponies everywhere, all dressed in winter-appropriate attire and all waiting anxiously for the mayor to reveal the plans for coping with the early winter. Carrot Top, however, was not. She knew how hard it was to grow during winter, and she also knew there was no emergency food supply. What would the mayor propose we do? I mean, nopony has the skill to grow crops in this kind of weather - except me of course, but no one knows that. May - Carrot Top’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a pony trotting onto the stage - the mayor. She looked very flustered and spent, as if she had gotten no sleep the previous night. Carrot Top could only assume that that was true, as she hadn’t had very much sleep herself. “Mares and gentlecolts. I know that,” the mayor took a deep breath, then continued, “that you all are very afraid that there will not be enough food to go around this winter. This currently can neither be confirmed nor denied.” The crowd began to shift nervously, and some ponies became flustered. The mayor realized this and immediately slammed her hoof on the stage floor. “Excuse me! I am NOT done.” Complete silence followed her outburst, and she was both embarrassed and impressed by her own action in causing it. “As I was saying, I myself am not sure about whether or not there will be enough food for all of winter. I do know, however, that Big Macintosh is working double-time over at Sweet Apple Acres and there will definitely be enough food to last us this next week. Once the week is up, Twilight Sparkle and her five friends will have returned and we will be able to continue through winter as we normally would. Now, Big Macintosh has assured me that if the worst does happen, and it takes them an extra week to return, that there will still be enough apples to go around. It will be tough, and he is working as hard as he can to get as many apples bucked as possible. Once winter is over and officially wrapped up, we will repay the Apple family with our own hard work. As a town, we can all come together and we can get over this little bump; it will just require some organization. Now, if anypony has any potential way to help out, could they please step forward?” The mayor looked across the sea of faces in front of her. She knew it was a long shot, but she had to try it; any kind of help could make a world of difference. Carrot Top half-raised her right front hoof off the ground, as if she were about to take a step forward. Realizing the risk she would be taking if she did, and how much pressure would be put onto her, she quickly relinquished the thought and put her hoof back down. I can’t go and do that, I don’t have the room to grow the carrots. I could just use the communal beds, but do I even have the skill to be able to make all of that land fertile? There’s way too much, it would be impossible to go to every crop, flower bed, and pot in Ponyville and just “heal the land.” “Well then, you ponies know where to find me if any of you have a change of heart.” The mayor’s voice snapped Carrot Top back to reality. “Remember everypony, we can do this together. There will be a booth where you may go and volunteer to help ration the apples out. As for those of you who can’t find a place to volunteer, go about your business as usual. We can make it through this, Ponyville.” The mayor stepped off the stage, leaving the crowd in dead silence. Nopony moved a muscle for the first few seconds, they were all so stunned to hear that everything might actually work out somewhat well. Then, as if it was a planned event, everypony moved at once to head to one of the numerous stations to sign up for volunteer work. Ponies flew and trotted in all directions, giving Carrot Top the perfect opportunity to slip away unnoticed. The whole town may have had one plan, but Carrot Top had another. She knew that without a doubt she would be able to grow in this weather; it was simple enough when it was just her garden. She would basically live out her life as if it was another normal winter. She would grow her own carrots in her backyard, then sell half the yield and save the other half for herself. This is how she did it every winter, so why should this winter be any different? Somewhere though, in the back of her mind, she felt bad for not volunteering to help. She knew the town would be just fine without a simple mare named Carrot Top to help, but something ate at her, filling her conscience with remorse. ----- Carrot Top arrived back at her home after walking around aimlessly for what had felt like hours. She had meant to head straight home and work on preparing her garden for the special treatment it would need; for some reason, however, she couldn’t seem to bring herself to go back home for some time. There was nothing at her house waiting to scare her, and she knew she could have gone back anytime she wanted to. Whether it was the fact that she was too lost in thought to care, or too afraid someone would find her in her home preparing her own plot rather than helping with the town’s work; she couldn’t put her hoof on it. Maybe a mix of both, she thought. The thing that was bugging her most was not the fact that she hadn’t felt compelled to help, but the fact that she felt she had to hide her special ability. She had never told anypony about it because she didn’t want to have ponies wanting to buy all of her carrots and leaving her with nothing. Another reason was the fact that she didn’t want ponies trying to find out her secret methods and prying into her personal space. She was fine with nopony knowing. For one, it didn’t hurt anypony, and two, there was no reason for the town to know. It would just attract unneeded and unwanted attention. Yet, even after reminding herself of the reasons behind her secrecy, that nagging feeling kept eating at her. It was almost like stealing cookies as a small filly. Yes, you may get away with it without your mother or father finding out, but you still feel bad. You still feel like you’ve done something wrong; whether you’re five or fifty, remorse is always there. Why do I feel so bad! What is wrong with me keeping it a secret? Am I just over-thinking things? Is the weather just going to my head? Carrot Top tried to think of other things, the whole secret talent thing was just making her angry, but she just couldn’t get it off of her mind. She slowly walked up to her front door and opened it. As she entered, she took off her winter wear and threw it to the side. She was in no mood to be organized today. Her whole day had been ruined by the simple fact that she couldn’t stop feeling bad for not standing up and helping the town. She tried to think of any other things she could do to help. The only thing that the mayor said ponies could help with was apple distribution, but she knew that the volunteer list would be filled before she could even slip back into her fuzzy orange sweater. Still, there was nothing she could think of besides apple distribution or telling the town about her secret, which she wasn’t about to do. Then, it hit her like a stone. “Macintosh!” Carrot Top shouted as the thought came to her. She had the perfect idea. Another secret she had up her sleeves was that she could grow literally any kind of fruit or vegetable much faster than normal. She could grow a whole apple tree in a week, and it would provide apples in three. She could go to Big Mac and tell him about her secret. She knew she could trust him with her life, heck, anypony could trust Big Mac with anything. After telling him, she could plant more apple trees while he bucked the rest. That way, there would be many more apples in just a few weeks, and Twilight and Rarity wouldn’t have to get stuck into hard work immediately after returning to Ponyville. They could arrive back and wait a whole week before they would have to lift a hoof or use a single ounce of magic! Big Mac could simply tell everypony that Sweet Apple Acres had had a better harvest than predicted, so nopony would ask how they did it! The plan was fool proof to her. It also helped that she had known Big Mac for some time now - they both went to the same high school in Ponyville and had met at the school dance honoring new seniors. ----- All through high school Carrot Top, Berry Punch, Derpy Hooves, Bon-Bon and Lyra were attached at the hips. They stayed in the same group throughout almost all of their school years and the dance had been no different. They had all gone in as a group, looking around in wonder at the incredible dance that was set up just for their class. They had attended without dates, as it wasn’t a dance you would normally ask a pretty filly or colt to. This dance was more of a fun, meet-and-greet kind of dance. As they entered, however, they couldn’t help but notice a group of colts standing over to their left. Berry and Derpy had become quite interested in meeting that group, but Lyra and Bon-Bon had no interest in doing so and Carrot Top’s eyes had settled on somepony else. In the far left corner of the dimly-lit room stood a large red workhorse, one that Carrot Top had never seen in all her days at Ponyville High. As he met her gaze she saw he had large green eyes that matched hers. Before she could even realize what she was doing, she was already standing just a few hooflengths away from him. He reached his hoof out to greet her, looking at her warmly. “The name’s Big Macintosh.” His voice was deep and strong, but not intimidating. She smiled back at him, half in awe of his voice and the other in awe that he was talking to her. “Carrot Top.” She returned the gesture, outstretching her hoof to meet his. “Are you new here? I‘ve never seen you around.” “Eeynope.” Carrot Top was surprised by his lack of explanation, and decided to ask why she hadn’t seen him before. “Oh, really? Do you have very many classes here? Or are you just a night student?” Carrot Top wanted to know more about him. “Eeynope. I just tend not to make myself noticed.” Yet again, Carrot Top was surprised by the terseness of his speech. Yet, somehow, he spoke just enough to leave her wanting to hear more without losing the thread of the discussion. “Oh, I see.” Carrot Top didn’t know what to say in reply and felt a little awkward at this point. Just as she thought she should just give up and join her two friends talking to the group of colts they had seen when they walked in, Big Mac spoke again. “Hey Carrot Top.” His voice didn’t change in pitch, but she could somehow tell he was a tiny bit nervous. “Yes?” Their eyes met for the second time that night, and Carrot Top felt even more nervous than she had before. “Do ya mind if I call ya Carrot for short?” She was quickly beginning to enjoy his voice, even if he didn’t say much. “Yes, that’s perfectly alright with me.” She smiled at him, happy that they had overcome the phase of being strangers. “Well, Carrot. Would you like tah dance with me? This song is one of mah favorites.” Her heart jumped at the question. Whether it was the fact that she felt so safe when she heard his voice, or the fact that she had never been asked to dance until this very instance, she immediately nodded. It could have been nine at night, or four in the morning; Carrot Top had completely lost track of time. She and Big Mac danced for what seemed like an eternity and she hadn’t wanted it to end. Once it had come to an end, however, she had somewhat reluctantly met with her friends again. She trotted over to them and quickly began talking so rapidly it took a few seconds for her friends to register what she had said. “ImetthisstallionnamedBigMacandheaskedifhecouldcallmeCarrotforshortandisaidyessohecalledmeCarrotandaskedmetodancesoisaidyesandwedancedforwhatseemedlikeforeverandheaskedifhecouldwalkmehomeandisaidyesandnowithinkhereallylikesmeandilikehimanditfeelslikeihaveknownhimforeversoiwillseeyouguyslaterimsorryiamditchingyouguysbutthisisjustsoexciting!” Her friends all looked at her, bewilderment evident on their faces. Bon-Bon was about to ask what her friend was talking about when Derpy jumped up and began to smile widely. “That’s awesome Carrot Top! I hope you had a great time! He seems super great!” Derpy rushed to her friend and gave her a large hug. If her other three friends hadn’t been confused before, they definitely were now. “Derpy… how…” Lyra trailed off in disbelief at what had just happened, allowing Bon-Bon to finish her sentence. “How did you know what Carrot Top said and even more so, why are you so happy about what she said?” “I can’t explain it, I have to go. Derpy, do you mind?” Carrot Top lightly pushed her friend away, breaking the hug. Derpy looked at her as if she was crazy. “Of course I don’t mind if you go! I don’t want to hold you back!” Derpy smiled at her orange friend, who just giggled back at Derpy’s mistake. “No, Derpy,” Carrot Top lightly punched her friend in the shoulder playfully. “I mean do you mind explaining to them what I said.” Derpy looked at Carrot Top with a blank face, processing the correction. Then, as if the world suddenly made so much more sense to her, Derpy immediately lightened up. “Of course I don’t mind! Now go, he’s waiting for you!” With a smile and a wave to her friends, Carrot Top galloped to meet Big Mac. Carrot Top, wanting to get to spend as much time as possible with her new friend, told him to meet her at the back exit of the school – she had explained that it was the fastest way to get to her house, which was an outright fib. In fact it extended the trip by twenty minutes, which was good enough for Carrot Top. On the way to her house they talked about many things. They talked about Big Mac’s farm, Sweet Apple Acres, and about his sister Applejack. They discussed Carrot Top’s gardening abilities (without revealing her secret,) and her group of friends. One thing Carrot Top noticed was that Big Mac had begun talking much more now that they weren’t strangers. She assumed that he was normally reserved until he either got to know the pony or felt safe around them, much like Bon-Bon. Either way, this was good for Carrot Top. Soon, she saw her house come into view. She wanted to tell another fib and say that her house was nowhere near here, and that she had made a mistake. She knew, however, that eventually she would need to go home and that he would be in tow, so he would find out she had lied. “This is it, the one to the right.” Carrot Top guided him to her house. Upon reaching the door, she turned around to Big Mac. “Hey, Big Mac.” She tried her best to imitate the way he had first addressed her. “Eeyup?” She found it entertaining yet cute the way he said yes and no. She chuckled and smiled at him as she opened her mouth. “Do ya mind if I call ya Macintosh?” She tried to imitate his dialect as best as she could, half teasing him and half admiring him. “Hahaha eeyup, I would like that.” Carrot Top had now found a new favorite thing about him, his laugh. It was so deep and soothing and it reminded her of her late father’s laugh. She smiled warmly at him, feeling truly happy at this point. It fell silent between the two, yet it wasn’t an awkward kind of silence. It was a ‘I’m completely content with how everything is right at this second’ kind of silence. After a minute of them staring at each other, Big Mac broke the silence. “School starts Monday, I’ll see ya there?” Carrot Top nodded yes. “Okay, then I’ll see ya round.” He smiled at her and began to walk off into the distance. “Wait, Macintosh!” She didn’t know what compelled her to, but she quickly trotted after him. He turned around just as she made it to where he was standing and without thinking, she lightly pressed her lips against his. The kiss was short, but meaningful and Carrot Tp[ spoke as she pulled away from the new experience. “I had fun tonight, thank you.” She couldn’t tell whether he was blushing under his red coat, but she knew that it would be very evident she was. He smiled back at her and returned the same short kiss. This time, however, it was his turn to pull away and speak. “Eeyup.” With that, he walked into the darkness towards Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Carrot Top in pure ecstasy. ----- Carrot Top smiled at the memory. It felt so long ago, yet was still so vivid. Throughout the following year, she and Big Mac had gone to many dances together and even ended up dating. After the Ponyville High prom and once everypony had graduated, she and Big Mac had lost touch. He had gone away for a month to visit family in Appleloosa and had been so busy he couldn’t write, while Carrot Top had been so busy with her gardening work that she hadn’t written to him either. By the end of the month, they had both grown apart and reluctantly agreed to remain friends. Every now and then she felt like she should talk to him; to try and rekindle that spark between the two of them. She had heard about another mare named Cheerilee who he’d been seeing however; plus, deep down, Carrot Top knew she didn’t have those feelings for him anymore. He would always have a special place in her heart, nevertheless. He’d been her first coltfriend and the first stallion she’d ever become close to, besides her father of course. Well, at least until very recently. Carrot Top smiled to herself and then remembered what brought the flashback up in the first place. She needed to go and talk to Big Mac about her new plan! Finding the winter wear she had so irresponsibly thrown aside, she slipped into her sweater and tied her scarf around her neck. Now for the journey to Sweet Apple Acres. ----- Carrot Top felt as if she was about to freeze to death. The snow had stopped falling, but because the path to Sweet Apple Acres was so long it was never cleared when it snowed. This made the trip to the orchard very wet and cold on snowy days. After ten more minutes of walking, she arrived at the main entrance into Sweet Apple Acres. It was around six or seven in the afternoon so she assumed that Big Mac and Granny Smith would still be eating dinner. She hoped they were; the last thing she wanted to do was to have to walk through even more thick snow in search of Big Mac. She couldn’t have timed her arrival any better – she knocked onto the front door of the main house just as they finished dinner. Granny Smith was first to the door, surprised at receiving visitors at this hour. “Hello misschy! What brings you round these partsch?” When Granny spoke she pronounced any ‘s’ with a kind of ‘sh’ sound, causing spittle to fly from her mouth whenever she did so. Surreptitiously wiping her face clean of saliva, Carrot Top looked over Granny Smith’s shoulder and saw Big Mac putting a plate into the sink. After he had finished, he looked over to the open door. His eyes widened for a split second before filling with warmth and softness. “It’s OK Granny, I’ll talk to her. Why don’t ya get started on dessert?” He walked over to Granny and patted a hoof on her shoulder lovingly. She looked to Big Mac and met his gaze. “Whatever you say Macintosch.” She turned back to Carrot Top and smiled. “It was nicsh meeting you mischy!” With her farewells completed, Granny walked back inside to put a blueberry pie in the oven. Carrot Top had to wipe her face yet again as Big Mac greeted her. “Heya there Carrot, what brings you here?” She had forgotten how much she loved Big Mac’s voice. Once she had wiped the spittle off of her face, she responded. “I have a proposal for you. I know that you have a lot of work ahead of you, but I have an idea that could help. I have a method of, how should I put it, growing things in a special way. Mind if I come inside and explain the rest?” Big Mac looked a little confused, but still let Carrot Top in so they could talk further. The two of them entered the living room which, fortunately for Carrot Top, was just out of hearing range of the kitchen. This meant that they could talk with some privacy. “So, what ‘s this special talent ya got?” Big Mac looked at her inquisitively. “Well..."