Carrot Top and Derpy were walking down the road together, when they hear a shout from behind them. "Hey Derpy! Wait up!" They turned around to see Bon Bon trotting up to them. "Hold, huh, on, huh, for, huh, a second..." she struggled to say as she stood there, breathing raggedly. "Okay, I think I'm good. Note to self: build some stamina when part of your job involved outrageous amounts of running." Carrot Top and Derpy chuckled at her quip.
Carrot shivered and said, "Well, can you hurry up and say whatever it is you ran over here to say already? It's cold out, and I want to get into my bed as fast as possible." Bon Bon smiled.
"You can hurry home then. I have some quick business with Derpy here." Carrot Top sighed, and opened her mouth. "No. You get to bed, Derpy is a big mare. She'll be home in a half hour, tops."
Carrot Top was silent for a while. "Okay," she finally said. She turned back to Derpy and said, "Okay Derpy, get going. Try to be careful, and get home soon." She gazed down the street as the two took off towards Bon Bon's house, chatting quietly along of the way. Carrot started walking to her house, before hearing a faint sound, off in the distance. She stood there, listening intently for over a minute. Then Carrot Top chuckled, and said, "This job's making me paranoid."
Carrot felt a push against her side. She opened her dreary eyes, and saw that Dinky had climbed onto her bed. "Wake up, Aunty Carrot!" the foal said, still tapping Carrot's side. Carrot Top blinked her eyes a couple times, then looked over at her alarm clock. The machine showed her the time, 7:00AM.
"Ugh," Carrot Top groaned. "Dinky, I thought I told you not to wake me up in the morning. Especially the mornings after your mom and I have Game Night." Carrot Top rubbed her eyes, then noticed something. Dinky's cheeks were wet, and there were tears in her eyes.
"I didn't want to wake you Aunty," she said, then sniffled. "But I looked everywhere, and Momma isn't home! And I don't think she left for work." Before Dinky could finish her sentence, Carrot was out of bed, trotting to her friend's room. Dinky's bed was messy, but her mother's was made up and neat.
"Oh no..." Carrot whispered. "It looks exactly like it did when I got home last night..." She turned around, and from the doorway could see Derpy's mailbag sitting in the living room. "Dinky, listen to me. Head off to school. After class is out for the day, go over to your friend Ruby's house. If I don't come to tell you otherwise, stay the night there." Dinky started to say something, but Carrot shushed her. "No time for questions, dear." She gave the foal a smile. "Don't worry. Good old Aunty Carrot Top would never let anything bad happen to Momma." Dinky returned her smile, quickly put on her saddlebags, then headed out of the house.
Carrot Top walked over and sat on Derpy's clean bed. She looked over at the nightstand, and at the single item resting on it. It was a photograph, one of Carrot Top, Derpy, Dinky, and Amethyst at a carnival. Derpy and Dinky were attempting to eat the same cotton candy, while Amethyst and Carrot just watched. They were all smiling. Carrot Top thought back, to the image of Dinky's tear stained face. She frowned, and headed out of the house.
It was still early as Carrot Top arrived at her destination. From outside Carrousel Boutique she could hear something running, most likely a sewing machine. Carrot took a deep breath, then knocked on the door. Whatever machine was on stopped, and a voice from inside said. "Oh, I'm very sorry darling, but we're closed for today. Try coming again toma, I mean, some other time." Carrot Top just rolled her eyes and knocked again, more forcefully this time. An exasperated sigh came from inside the shop, and after a couple seconds the door opened. Rarity stood at the threshold, and she looked worse for wear. Her mane wasn't quite perfectly styled, there were bags under her eyes, and it was clear the smile she wore was forced. "Oh, Carrot Top! How rare to see you in my little boutique! Now, as I said, I'm quite sorry but the shop is closed for today. Maybe you could come back another day, and then I can work on something that fits you."
Rarity tried closing the door, but Carrot Top shoved her hoof in the way. "I'm not here for a dress, Rarity. This is something serious. Can I come in?" Carrot asked, her last words carrying some of the fear she'd been hiding. Something subtle changed in Rarity's expression: her eyes a little brighter, her smile more weary, and a small exhalation, not enough to be a sigh.
"So you know then. Come on in, let's talk." Rarity opened the door wider, and retreated inside. Carrot Top looked at her oddly, then shrugged and followed her within. Rarity led her to the kitchen, and motioned for her to sit down. "I'll sit in a second, let me make us some tea first." Carrot sat at the table, and waited patiently. Rarity soon sat down herself, a cup of tea magically lifted in front of them both. "So then, how did discover it? My friends and I were alerted to it last night by the Princesses, so I'm quite intrigued to hear about your source."
Carrot Top was frowning as she answered. "Okay, I've been remarkably patient, y'now for me, but what are you talking about? How are the Princesses involved? I just came to ask about Derpy!" Rarity looked shocked, but carefully swallowed her tea.
"Oh, sorry about that. You looked worried about something, and the girls and I are dealing with a...crisis. I can't tell you any details, but it is big. But enough about my big mouth, what's that about Derpy?" Rarity asked, concern bleeding into her words.
Carrot Top sighed. "Dinky woke me up this morning. From the looks of things, Derpy never got home last night. I thought, because you're early on her mail route, that maybe she actually made her bed, forgot her bag, then got a spare mailbag from her work, wishing thinking I know."
Rarity shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry darling, but the mail hasn't arrived at all today. When did you last see her?"
"Let me think..." Carrot Top said, her eyes scrunching up. "Last night, after our weekly game, we were heading home, but Bon Bon called her over. Said she had something important to show her."
The seamstress nodded. "I think your best idea would be to track Bon Bon down, and ask about what occurred later than evening." Rarity gave Carrot Top a hug. "I wish you good luck Carrot. I don't know Ms. Hooves very well, but she's always been very kind. Just, try to be careful."
Carrot returned the hug, then said, "Thanks for the tea." She disengaged herself from the embrace, then headed towards the door. Right before she left the kitchen, her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head. She turned back towards Rarity, who was using her magic to lift the used teacups and kettle to the sink. "Hey Rarity?" Carrot Top said. Rarity turned to her guest.
"Yes dear?" she said, her fabricated smile back on.
"Whatever it is you and the other Bearers are wrapped up in, it is really serious, right?" Rarity nodded. "And whatever classified thing is happening, it's happening tonight, right?" Another nod. Carrot Top took in a deep breath. "Two things then. If this is something that dangerous, I understand you closing the shop for the day. So, what are you going to spend your day doing?"
Rarity's smile became genuine once again, though now untainted by weariness or fear. "When Sweetie gets home from school I'm going to spend a few hours with her. Then my, ahem, special somepony is coming over." Rarity finished with a blush, which made Carrot Top chuckle.
"Okay. My other question is this: what you're doing seems very dangerous. But unlike a lot of the times you six have done this, this time is secret. Nopony will ever know what happened. If you die doing this, nopony will know that you died saving them. How," Carrot Top paused for over ten seconds. "how do you deal with that?"
The question was left hanging for a while, before Rarity answered. "That's a difficult question to answer. I guess I'd say that it doesn't matter if anypony knows that it happened, what matters is that it gets done. And, well, I don't exactly plan on dying darling. Because if we die tonight, there won't be anypony left to know anything."
The smell of baking sweets filled Carrot Top's nose as she entered Sugarcube Corner. Behind the counter sat Pinkie Pie, who had a pencil in her mouth. She stared at the piece of paper in front of her, shook her head, then started crossing things out. "Ahem," Carrot said, trying to get Pinkie's attention. Pinkie looked up and flinched back in shock, then was gone. Carrot looked around, then saw her, affixed to the ceiling. "Um, Pinkie, it's just me." The energetic mare fell to the ground, and landed behind the counter.
"Oops, sorry about that Carrot Top! I'm feeling kinda twitchy. Not like a twitchy tail, though earlier it did a little bit right before I fell, but it's just that my whole body's been twitchy with nervosity the whole day. Is 'nervosity' a word? Because it should be. I should call the dictionary people and have them squeeze it in, right after they work on 'picklebarrel.' Isn't that a funny word? I was just talking about that with Applejack the other day, while we were in this cherry orchard," Pinkie stopped for a second, took in a deep breath, then continued, "And then I started telling her about chimicherries, or are they cherrychangas, either way we were talking about that for a while. Well, not exactly we, I'd say I was the one talking about 97% of the time. That isn't exact, next time I see Twilight I'll have her work up the exact number for you. Anyway, then—"
Before Pinkie could continue spewing words into the morning air, Carrot Top plugged up her mouth with a hoof. "I get you're full of energy today Pinkie, well more than usual I mean, but I have something important to say." She withdrew her hoof from Pinkie's mouth, who responded with an almost spastic nod. "Good. Now, have you seen Bon Bon today?"
Carrot Top flinched as Pinkie opened her mouth again. "Nopearoonie. She usually stops by in the mornings so we can order stuff from each-other we need, but she didn't show up today. It's too bad to, because lately when she stops by and I talk with her, she almost never yells at me anymore!" Carrot Top let out a chuckle.
"Ha, that's pretty good for Bon Bon," Carrot said, before she sighed. "Thanks for trying to help Pinkie." Her frown deepened, and she started to leave. Before she could take two steps a seemingly elongated hoof grabbed her and pulled her back to directly in front of the counter.
Pinkie Pie's face was centimeters from Carrot's, and it was deadly serious. "Nopony leaves here with a frown. It's dangerous to go alone, take this!" She then pulled (seemingly from behind her back) a cupcake, and shoved it into Carrot's hooves. There was copious amounts of chocolate frosting covering the pastry, and it smelled heavenly.
"Um, I'd love to Pinkie, but I didn't bring any bits with me." Pinkie shook her head frantically. "Wait, you mean I can have it for free?" Pinkie nodded her head just as energetically. "Thanks, but won't the Cakes be mad?"
Pinkie's face snapped back into it's usual grin, and she said, "Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about that, Carrot." She started pushing the mare out of the shop. "If the author's synopsis of this story is right, there's a good chance none of us will be around to worry about it tomorrow!"
Author's Notes: UGH. I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry you guys. I wanted to update sooner, but this is my first time writing a fic while flying blind, so to speak. I promise the next update will be much sooner! I am such a terrible author, please forgive my tardiness! I don't want to be sent to...WRITER KINDERGARTEN!
Seriously though, I honestly feel terrible. I feel as the author I owe it to my readers, few as they are, to update with some semblance of regularity. I have failed, and for that I apologize. Enough with the pity party, I will say one last thing: I love foreshadowing, and teasing you guys.