A steady stream of rain tapped against the local coffee shop's window. The wind quietly howled just beyond that, causing fallen leaves to lightly scrape the cobbled road outside and the bare trees to rattle like snakes. Like rhythmic music, the rain provided the steady beat while the occasional roar of wind combined with everything else produced the iconic, natural, orchestral musical of life. It wasn't as if this was a particularly bad storm either. By most accounts, it was fairly average. While light enough to not cause damages it was simultaneously heavy enough to darken the sky to a deep gray, form dozens of fractured puddles, and soak the ground into soft malleable mush. So cold were the early autumn winds and waters that most, if not all, creatures avoided the icy grip of the outside torrent like the plague, and instead opted for a nice, warm, and relaxing shelter. One of the most popular of which was the Ponyville cafe.
Inside the patrons of the local coffee shop quietly mused over their days over a fresh brew of blistering caffeine while brushing off the cold sogginess brought to them by the cloud burst just outside. The air inside, in contrast, was warm, almost like a nice heated blanket snuggled over top the guest, as the fire in the back presented on with little more than an audible crackle. While its sturdy walls and roof bravely took the brunt of the onslaught of rain.
In many ways, the shop itself was very much alive and animate; just as much as any of its guests. As the building itself bravely refused to budge under the forceful winds. Standing its ground with admirable dedication. While the roof extended itself over the guest inside to take on the hail of rain liek a shield. Together these two parts were a single unit undeterred in their resolve to defend their guest. Though most may not outwardly think of these things when they entered the building, they nevertheless thanked their silent guardians for their noble sacrifice against the onslaught of frightful fall weather. The building did not stand alone, however.
Inside a quiet sentinel stood to watch over the guest from its corner. Its flamy tendrils wavered with its’ own diligent personality; flickering with a steadfast resolve, not unlike the building itself. It solemnly stood at its post; its warm flames offering to valiantly ward off and purge the unwanted effects of the rain and simply let the guest relax for a spell. Its golden glow vanquishing the darkness brought upon it by the clouds. It demanded not the praise from its constituents. Instead, it simply sought to make sure of their comfort. Guest were not all the two valiant soldiers sought to defend, however.
For the furniture inside was also of particular importance to these two warriors. All of which sought to praise the noble soldiers in their own ways for their brave sacrifice. The freshly glossed, wooden furniture groaned out a relaxed appreciation to them, as it wood softly creaked and expanded from the delightful warmth provided by the fire. While the juke box’s music sang quite praise to their external defenders for keeping it protected. Even the coffee machines beeped their praises along with the rattling applause of the pots and pans in the kitchen.
As for the actual ponies inside, it was simply another average day. They sat comfortably with their beverage of choice and went on to share a story here, a pleasantry exchange of days there and give good merry company all round. The quiet murmurs and conversations combined with the slow hum of the juke box’s music, the soft creak of the furnished wood settling in the heat, the click-clack of pots, the drone of coffee machines finishing their cycle, and the soft crackle of the fire had drowned out much of the outside white noise. Leaving the coffee shop in its own microcosm of sorts. As if it had wholly divorced itself from the outside world. Letting the ponies quickly forget and ignore any of the outside goings-on.
That was for most patrons anyway. Though those select few who sat along the outside wall, gazing out the muggy, frigid glass and listening closely could still hear the sweet natural musings of mother earth. Amongst those select few ponies was the local carrot farmer who found herself sitting, coffee in her left hoof, face pressed up and gazing out the window to the outside world. Her expression lingered somewhere between relaxation and boredom. Never quite sure where to settle. As if the two emotions constantly wrestled for dominance over one another.
Carrot Top always had mixed feelings, for a lack of a better word, on rain. Most of all during harvest season. On one hoof, the storms the weather team brought in helped water her fields, provided a soothing white noise in the background, and enriched the ground with that wonderfully rich and deep petrichor aroma. A scent and melody shed became infatuated with as a small filly. Not only for its signal that her carrots would be ripe and full of the natural life-giving waters but also because of how intoxicatingly delightful it was. Though she was unsure if its intoxicating effects were because she was an earth pony or if it was just because it was one of those simple pleasures of life. One that the repetition and busy work of farming didn’t let her afford to enjoy all that frequently. Not to say she hated her job even in its almost grueling repetition. Far from it, it was quite literally her calling. She loved tending to her farm and all the work that came with it. This job however meant she was often up at her farm alone and away from the world till she inevitably had to come down to sell or buy the latest farming equipment. Making this a rare change of pace a welcoming experience. Plus harvest season was about over anyway. So what better way to celebrate an occasion than getting a cup of warm, delightfully bitter goodness?
On the other… It just left her with nothing to do. Not that she was an adrenaline junkie, far from it actually, she was rather vanilla, safe, and passive in her personal leisure activities. It was just that this left her stuck with the feeling of laziness and unproductivity, two feelings she internally loathed. She was a workhorse through and through, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. Sitting around just didn't suit her personality. Then again, after the events of the other day… She was already behind on schedule so what was one more, she figured with a mental shrug. Plus the stress that had been piling up needed to finally be released in more ways than just tears and a cup of coffee while, listening to the comforting sound of rain felt like the perfect way to do that. The carrots would be fine alone for a day, healthier even with all this rain they were receiving.
With that, the mare’s face finally seemed to reach a conscience on its preferred disposition. Resting on a look of subdued pleasure. A reserved smile crossed her muzzle as her eyelids dreamily sunk to half-mast. This would not last long, however, as when the ginger mare slipped back into reality and truly glanced out into the gray muggy streets of Ponyville she could make out a strange, alien figure stumbling through its puddle infested corridors. Its silhouette stood alone in sharp contrast with the empty background. Even the way it walked upright on two legs made it even more notable. Sure since the school of friendship cropped up such kinds of creatures had become a recurring event, sure but, they were still rare and stood out against the normal pedal creatures roaming the streets.
The bizarre sight, chiefly on a day that would have encouraged any creature to seek shelter, made the farmer lift her cheek off the icy glass and tilt her head to one side in curiosity. It wasn't until the creature invaded the inner sanctum, past the fortified guardians, and in the fiery sentinel orange glow that Carrot Top finally got a good look at it, well, her anyway. A slim figure of hardened, azure-tinted, scales with a pair of mango-colored eyes and a set of horns that rolled back and down as if ready to lock horns with another in a battle to the death. All while radiating an aura of something along the lines of “do NOT mess with me.” It was quite an imposing sight, especially for a pony of Carrot Top’s stature.
Not that Carrot Top was small, or weak. She could match buck for buck with Apple Jack, but the sight of a dragon was always worrying, for any creature. A single puff of fire would be all it took, and then NO amount of bucking could save her. As a result, Carrot Top could feel herself nervously sinking back in her seat as if the table might afford some protection for her. The table however seemed just as frightened by the dragon’s presence; letting out a nervous creak of solidarity.
While Princess Twilight and starlight Glimmer insisted Dragons were pony’s friends now, the reassurance did little to overcome her natural fear of the apex predator. Unfortunately, Carrot Top’s sheepish stance did little to ward off the dragon's attention. If anything it instead seemed to attract her like a moth to the flame. As the dragoness almost seemed to make a B-line for the vacant seat across Carrot Top’s table. In hindsight that was probably less because of Carrot Top’s sheepish stance and more so given it was the vacant seats in the whole store. Just her luck… Carrot Top silently berated the poor table for its shameful protection of her. To which all it could muster was an apologetically creak.
“Is this seat taken?” The mass of muscle and scales asked in a reserved collected voice, though not devoid of gentleness she would expect to find in another pony. Despite the surprise gentle edge to the dragoness' voice, the fear kept Carrot Top from speaking up. Carrot Top did, however, manage to force her head to slowly sway side to side to confirm that the seat was indeed, untaken.
“May I sit here then,” The dragoness followed up as she slowly set her hand talon on the chair in question. Carrot Top’s heart skipped faster than Angle bunny with one of her carrots at the question. Not wanting to risk upsetting the flame-spewing reptile, Carrot Top’s head jerked up and down in rapid succession at the dragoness' simple question.
The mare’s reluctance didn't go unnoticed, by the towering dragon who in return slowly removed her talon from the chair; gazing for somewhere else to sit instead. A seat with preferably less skittish ponies. Unfortunately for them both, the cafe was filled to the brim due to the scheduled shower and seeing as the dragoness didn't seem keen on stumbling back out into the frigid rain... With a huff of reluctance, the dragoness put her talons back on the chair and pulled it out with a gentle scraping sound that might as well have been the chair screaming in protest and tolls from the bells of death for Carrot Top. In that instance, Carrot Top’s main cardiac muscle sank to the bottom of her gut liek a wagon in mud to try and put as much distance between itself and the dragon as physically possible.
“Don’t worry I’m not here to burn your small hamlet to smoldering ruins,” the dragoness assured. That idea however only made Carrot Top even more abashed and fearful, causing the blue dragoness to lift her pointer talon to her cheek and scratch it in a circular fashion in seeming confusion on how to approach the situation. After a moment of compilation, she opened her smoke-stained jaws once more.
“I- uhh. I’m here to see a couple of friends,” The dragoness elaborated in an awkward fashion. Despite her imposing demeanor and holding all the cards, she seemed just as socially out of her depth as Carrot Top was. If not then probably even more so.
“F-friends,” Carrot Top meekly squeaked out; sounding more like a question than a proper response as she tried to regain enough of her composure to form a coherent sentence, let alone thought other than sheer panic.
“Yea, you know. Those things you ponies like so much.” Carrot Top knew what a friend was and despite knowing dragons attended the school of friendship, actually imaging dragons being friendly, aside from Spike, of course, was still an alien concept. Dragons and friends seemed to go about as well together as root-knot and her bank account or more literally like dragon fire and a wooden building… Like the one, they were in.
Why did Celestia hate her, she wondered.
“I- oh yea. Those are nice,” Carrot Top managed to barely squeak out in-between uncomfortable fidgeting. As her body was constantly shifting between a place to comfortably sit so as to not offend the mighty beast and ready to bolt at the first sign of the dragon taking in a breath.
“You ponies, do like friends right?” The dragoness' brow raised in confusion at the mare’s odd and unsure response.
“Y-ye-yea! I got l-lots. U-uh,” Carrot Top’s mind froze. She had friends of course, but in the heat of the moment, her tongue seemed to tie itself in knots while her head looped in on itself.
“Uh, like Berry Punch,” she nervously continued, “Cheerilee, er,” Her mind hit a mental dead end as she tried to list off her rather comiclly short list of friends. This caused the dragoness to sigh once more as she leaned back into her chair with an unreadable expression. Thankfully, however, before Carrot Top could continue to make a fool of herself the waitress showed up. While the dirt-colored pegasus looked nervous at the dragon's arrival, it was nowhere near as bad as Carrot Top’s visible fear.
“What can I get for you,” She asked as she took a quill in one hoof and a notepad in another; silently shielding her freckled plastered face behind said notepad.
“The darkest thing you have on hand, er hoof,” The dragoness casually answered.
“Just straight coffee then?”
“That will do just fine,” The dragoness answered as she set down a gemstone that shined with all the colors in a rainbow when the soft glow of the fire hit it just right. Though its sparkles were nowhere near as impressive or numerous as those in the eyes of the waitress when she saw it. In fact, Carrot Top thought the only time she had seen wider eyes was when the cutie mark crusaders had relentlessly begged her to let them help her harvest her carrots several cycles ago. Even then, this mare wasn’t far behind….
“Sorry, I don't really have any bits on me; so I hope this covers it. You can keep the change for whatever it gets you. Oh! And it's for whatever this pony here got as well,” The dragoness added pointing to Carrot Top. The pegasus nodded along with the words but her mind was clearly elsewhere… Namely, trying to determine the value of the extraordinary crystal… Her mood had seemed to do a complete 180, faster than Rainbow dash could have ever flown. Her hooves quickly scooped up the crystal as she beamed at the blue dragon.
“Coffee coming right up!” the pegasus promised as she zoomed off. Carrot Top blinked a bit at the abnormal exchange while her wallet pouch practically sighed in relief. While paying for somecreature’s meal wasn't unheard of, even in the “capital of friendship,” it still wasn't exactly common, at least for strangers and dragons even less so. So the fact a stranger who was a dragon paid for her meal nearly short-circuited the poor carrot mare as she tried to rationalize the odds of such a comically rare event.
“I- uh thanks you didn't have to do that though,” Carrot Top ego replied, despite the protest of her poor wallet not wanting to part with even another one of its few remaining bits.
“Think nothing of it kid,” The dragoness assured. In that one moment, the dragoness had taken her first strike at Carrot Top. While not a physical one and probably not even intentional Carrot Top’s ego was mortally wounded by the strike, sending it on a desperate offensive in retaliation. As a result, Carrot Top’s cheeks puffed up at the comet as her mouth came down like a sack of rocks, and her brows furrowed into a scowl. While she wasn't an old frail lady she was far from a filly either and her pride would not let this stand.
“I'm twenty-six,” Carrot Top objected, before realizing the grave error that was her response. It was too late though, the harsh words and tone had already left her muzzle and fell upon the ears, or whatever dragons had, of the dragoness. Carrot Top internally screamed in panic as her ego quickly melted away in the presence of fear for her physical well-being. This was it she was going to the big ranch in the sky with all the golden carrots.
Carrot Top swiftly got ready to profusely apologize to the dragon for the slip-up and beg the dragon to spare her life. To Carrot Top’s surprise, however, she was not met with smoldering flames or an indigent glance. Instead, she was met with a wide grin that had cracked across the lizard’s razor-sharp teeth.
“Ah you ponies do have a bit of a backbone to you, and here I was worried it was just Butter shys,” The dragoness roared amusement; causing Carrot top’s demeanor to shift from a scared to a perplexed.
“And here I was worried you were just going to crouch behind that table till this rain cleared up.”
“Actually the rain is supposed to go on all day?” Carrot Top replied in a confused tone; unsure how to feel at that moment let alone respond. The comment however quickly did sower the horned lizard’s mood. As her smile quickly faded and her lips shifted to one side in a frown.
“Great, so I picked the worst day to fly in,” the dragoness huffed out as a puff of smoke in the shape of a ring came out her right nostril, “They should have warned me in the letter… Guess I’ll just have to go back out there after I finish my drink then,” she grumbled, clearly unhappy with the situation. While normal instinct would have told Carrot Top to not bother a dragon in such a foul mood, Carrot Top’s mind was still stuck recovering from her earlier unexpected response to her aggression.
“Yea… Sorry about that,” Carrot Top apologized; still unsure what else to even say.
“It’s whatever,” The dragoness assured, “you’re one of Spike's friends, Apple Rack right?” The casualness of the question, mixed with the mix up shattered the last of Carrot Top’s fears, at least for the spell. Though in hindsight, some part of Carrot Top couldn't help but wonder if that mistake was intentional. As if to rile up another burst of aggression from the normally docile mare in hopes of garnering some form of sadistic enjoyment. Regardless, she refused to be confused for THE APPLE FARMERS! ESPECIALLY APPLE JACK!
Heat dozens of times stronger than that of the fire and probably than that of the dragon’s quickly simmered off the mare's faint yellowish coat. She felt infused with the very wrath of Clestia’s sun at that moment. Steam practically radiated off her body as her chair squelched out in discomfort from the intense heat while the table and coffee cup did their best not to just burst into flames. In fact, had ponies been capable of it Carrot Top was pretty sure she'd have quite literally burst into flames from rage in that moment. She could nearly see it in her rage-induced state, mane flowing like a wildfire engulfing the everfree, her coat turned to a solar yellow as her eyes tinted an angry red. Thankfully that was clearly impossible.
“Uhh, no? I’m Carrot Top! Ponyville’s resident carrot farmer, and THE BEST farmer this side of Canterlot!” Carrot top replied as she sat up at a more attentive position, fetlocks firmly pressing against the top of the table to give her a better base, while her emerald eyes shot up to lock in combat with the dragoness. Though she may not have realized it, she was now standing on her chair just to try and meet eye to eye with the taller dragon. Though there was still a few inches between eye level between the two that didn't seem to discourage Carrot Top/
The intense staring match, combined with the loud shouting garnered most of the cafe’s attention at this point. All of whom seemed to avoid the fallout like a plague, though still curiously listened in. Seeming more afraid of Carrot Top than the dragon herself. Normally such attention would have caused Carrot Top to quickly melt back into her seat and hide in embarrassment for her outburst, her ego kept her attention squarely on the dragoness. All she could see was red, or rather maybe blue scales in this case. She felt like a bull pent up in its cage at a rodeo ready to burst out and go rampant. And Carrot Top was aching to do just that at the moment.
To Carrot Top’s surprise, and slight dismay, the dragon seemed to back down. Though not in fear rather in genuine regret for the mix-up. Had it really been an accident and not an attempt to goat here? While the slight smile made Carrot Top guess it had to still be the prior her seemingly genuine apologetic wince made her unsure. Either way, it was still annoying, but the latter possibility was forgivable. So much so she felt the sudden rage that had been powering her sails swept out from under her.
Suddenly Carrot Top was acutely aware of all the attention on her and her cheeks were filled with a different kind of heat. Faster than any creature could blink she was back in her seat cowering behind it and the table like a foal about to be scowled by her parents.
Oh, Celestia, what had she done! Oh, Celestia, this was the end if not by the dragon's talons than by the social implications of the outburst. Oh, she was going to be the talk of the town for years and years! Lifetimes even! Shed become a local nightmare that every little foal feared! Every Mare would warn their foal to stay away from “That Carrot Top,” before quickly hiding them away from her. She suddenly wished that dragon had slain her earlier for her outburst. At least then, her social life would have remained in check.
“Hu? Oh sorry, all you ponies kinda look the same to me. No offense.” she unabashedly admitted. Carrot Top's mind briefly wondered how she, Carrot Top, looked even remotely like Apple Jack. Apple Jack was orange and bucked trees. She was ginger, spoke proper Equestria, not that weird bastardized version that the Apples spoke for some strange reason, and pulled carrots. She was also, clearly, the better-looking mare of the two. Though in the dragon’s defense Carrot Top supposed that she probably couldn’t tell dragons apart either.
Not that any of this mattered anymore she’d have to change her name, towns even, after this! Find a new life, rebuild so no creature ever knew who she was! Taproot? That name could work… She could sell potatoes out east say she is from a poor obscure farm community way out from New Mareland that no ponies ever heard of... Yea, yea! That could definitely work. Shed just need to-
Her thoughts were swiftly inputted by the arrival of the waitress. She flapped up to their table, seemingly unphased by what had transpired; coffee in hoof. With the grace of an angel, she rested it in front of the blue dragoness in a swift yet agile motion.
“If there's ANYTHING else I can do for you let me know!” The pegasus said with a large genuine grin that would have made even the residential party horse herself blush, “we make tipple sure every drop was just as special as our guest!"
“I uhh. Yea I’ll keep that in mind,” The dragoness assured as the mare left,” Anyway… So you grow carrots hu? weird.” The dragoness gave a casual shrug as if already forgetting about her outburst. Her talon slowly resting inside the deep brown liquid to stir it as if to blend two nonexistent things together. Stirring what though, Carrot Top had no idea. But that was a passing thought as the latter comment quickly riled up her indignation though. Being acutely aware of her surroundings, this time, she tempered her outburst to a hushed outburst of protest. Her face grew stern, but not crazed like before.
“It's not weird!” Carrot Top irately protested as the assault on her ego persisted, “it's a respectable and honest living.” Though a living she'd probably no longer have after today’s social catastrophe. This however caused another chuckle to escape the dragoness as a ball of flames escaped out and hit the coffee.
“Heh, sorry about that. Couldn’t help myself, laughing fire and all that,” The dragoness explained while the confused Carrot Top pretended to understand; unsure of what exactly was funny about her profession.
“What do you do then,” Carrot Top demanded as she took a sip from her own poorly stirred coffee.
“Oh? Not much,” The dragoness downplayed with a chuckle. That wasn't an answer but Carrot Top wouldn't push her luck and left the issue be. The dragoness picked up her coffee, still brimming with hot steam, and downed it in one hot go. To a normal pony that probably would have lined their throat with 3’rd degree burns but the dragon seemed pleased by the sheer heat of it.
“Nothing like a hot meal to shave off the cold,” she belched as she pounded her chest, “anyway I'll see you some other time Carrot Flop! I got a couple of dragons I need to see,’ she called with a wave as she made her way to the door.
“Its Carrot-,” she sighed as the dragoness already disappeared out the cafe door, “Top…”
Carrot Top’s head slipped into the comforting embrace of the hard tabletop; hiding her face away with her hooves as she sighed. Once again unsure. Unsure if she was relieved the situation was over, or still cripplingly embarrassed about her outburst.