//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Day at the Quest Hub // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// CHAPTER 1 Two weeks earlier... Carrot Top sat at her desk, buried in papers. She dug her hooves through the bills at the top of the pile, searching underneath. More bills appeared. She sighed deeply. Life used to be so simple. Work the fields, hire extra help, do the harvest, sell some wares in the market, ship the rest to wholesale buyers. It was never boring, especially with her neighbours’ regular antics, but it was a stable existence. She knew how to keep everything going. Then, Deathwing came. An enormous, insane dragon bringing with him a wave of fiery death that reduced Ponyville to smouldering ruins. In just a couple of minutes, everypony died. Then things took a turn from tragic to downright bizarre: the Princesses returning ponies from the dead with a spell that defied comprehension of the wisest unicorns; new, strange monsters coming in the wake of the fire and even stranger foreign heroes who arrived to oppose them; tales of a huge world that existed just outside Equestria’s borders... The farmpony’s train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. A blue pony with puffy, honey brown mane poked her head into the office. Carrot Top looked up from a pile of papers she had been reading through. “Yes, Blueberry? What is it this time?” The blue mare walked into the room, stopping right in front of the desk. She looked sternly at her boss. “We need to talk.” Carrot Top already knew where this was going. “I can pay you half today. There will be more, once we are done with the shipment.” Even before she finished, she knew it wouldn’t be enough. “Hey, I have a home and bills to pay, too. I need to eat something,” retorted Blueberry. Her expression softened a bit. “I know it has been hard ever since the fire, but you are getting help from the Alliance...” “Oh yes, we are,” interrupted Carrot Top. “We got seeds to replace our lost harvest. The druids came and made everything grow in record time. But we still lost all that was already gathered, along with the barn, my house and most of the farming equipment. All my reserves went into rebuilding and it isn’t nearly finished yet. I need to pay you and the others to do all the wasted work all over again...” She paused, realising that she had been rising her voice, finally finished with a deep sigh. “If it continues like this, we’ll all be eating grass next year.” Her employee stood in silence for a moment, considering her words. Finally she spoke: “The Apples got burned too and they aren’t having that much trouble... what are you doing differently?” This might have been a perfectly sensible question but Blueberry’s tone made it sound like an accusation. Carrot Top felt her shoulders tense. “Well... for one thing, they hadn’t yet started the harvest when Deathwing attacked. They work the orchard as a family, without hiring extra help. Most importantly, Applejack is a powerful warrior. Her heroics bring home more cash than the rest of the Apple clan put together.” “Well, perhaps you should try that too then?” For several seconds there was silence, Carrot Top stunned both by the ridiculous idea and by her farm hoof’s behaviour. She must have really needed the money if she lost control like that. Ponies got fired for less than that. Fortunately for Blueberry, Carrot Top wasn’t the type to get easily provoked. She limited herself to raising an eyebrow at her employee. “Do I look like an adventuring type to you?” *** That was the last of them. Carrot Top dropped the swatter and looked around, breathing heavily. The ground was littered with apple-sized balls of flesh. The buzzing sound ceased, leaving only the music coming out of the baiting device. The yellow and orange pony squinted. Did this pounding rhythm really count as music? If it did, it really wasn’t to her taste. Then again it was not for her enjoyment. Its purpose was to attract any parasprites that might be lurking nearby. The last thing Ponyville needed now was one of the little gluttons emerging from Everfree and causing another disaster... Fortunately, last year’s swarm taught the citizens of Ponyville how to deal with the creatures. With all the qualities that made them so troublesome, parasprites couldn’t resist music. A device created by Vinyl Scratch could lure them in from the surrounding area, sparing the ponies a futile task of chasing them around the bushes. They still had a nasty bite though. Carrot Top turned to look at a circular bruise on her shoulder. Then she started packing all the equipment into her saddle bags. What she did didn’t look much like an “adventure”, more like a slightly dangerous chore. But from what she had heard, everypony started like that. It helped that this particular “quest” helped to protect her own farm as well. For her first try, it wasn’t that bad. She reached to a side pocket of her bag for a map, checking the description of her assignment. [3] A task for a swat team Objectives: set up the baiting device at the edge of Everfree forest (complete) Use the swatter to swat 10 parasprites (complete) Return the device to Vinyl Scratch Notes: “Just set it up and press the button. It’s all automatic. Gnome technology.” It seemed everything was done. Just as she was done packing, Carrot Top heard a voice from behind her. “Carrot Top! I didn’t know you were doing quests!” The voice was female, with a thick, night-elven accent. Carrot Top didn’t recognize it. She did however recognize the speaker, a fair-coated mare with blue and pink mane, emerging from the forest. She walked up closer to greet her.“Oh, Hello, Bon Bon. How are you doing? And what have you been doing in the forest?” As she approached, Carrot Top could take a closer look. Her friend was wearing a light quilted jacket and a handle of a light mace poked out of one of her saddle bags. It wasn’t anything fancy but clearly adventuring gear. And it looked like it had seen recent use. While the mare herself seemed unhurt, her mane was in disarray and she was clearly tired. It was only then that Carrot Top noticed a length of rope attached to the bags. Something moved in the bushes on the other end. “Truffles.” Bon Bon beckoned towards the rope and a large pig on the other end emerged into view. It too looked unhurt but visibly stressed.“Big Mac hired me to go gather some. It’s always extra food and they fetch a good price. But Ernest here is afraid of his own shadow. If I hadn’t tied him to me, I would have spent the rest of the day looking for him in the forest. ” So, Bon Bon was a bit more experienced in the matters of adventuring. Perhaps she could offer some advice? Carrot Top decided to ask. “All I’ve got so far today is parasprite swatting. Do you know of anything else to do around here ?” They left the edge of the forest and started walking toward the farms. Bon Bon thought for a moment before answering. “Well, hunting truffles is a daily, so you might give it a try. But you’d need to wear something to protect your coat. Getting dragged through the forest is no fun. By the way, do you have a class yet?” “Not really. I do have a couple of levels, you know, with all that happened here over the last year. But I haven’t seriously considered adventuring until now. If I really get into it ... I might become a druid. What do you think?” Bon Bon nodded her head. “A pretty good choice, I’d say. A druid can be good at anything. Plus you can learn to fly later. Although... I‘ve seen a lot of druids wear skins and furs. Do you have to do that? I mean a belt or a strap is one thing, but...” “No, I don’t think so,” replied Carrot Top. “I have seen Fluttershy and her dress is all plants. Not even wood, plants. It looks like its growing on her.” Bon Bon walked in silence for a moment, absorbing the mental image, before giving a little snicker. “Does she have to water it... oh, speaking of plants. I just remembered. If you are looking for more work today, Nurse Redheart needs somepony to go into the forest and gather some herbs for her. I was thinking of taking it but I don’t know much about herbalism. How about you?” The farmpony smiled and nodded.”I think that could work. Thank you, Bon Bon.” After the two ponies got back to the farms, they parted ways, Bon Bon heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, Ernest in tow, while Carrot Top went towards her home. This was going to be a busy day. *** Vinyl Scratch was sitting in the yard of Carrot Farm, surrounded by a pile of equipment she had brought in using a cart. Right now she was busy tampering with one of the devices, fully focused on the sounds flowing from it into her headphones. Upon seeing Carrot Top approach, she gave a friendly nod. “I have done all you asked for. Here is your baiter back,” said Carrot Top, setting the box on the ground and looking around. There were multiple hoof prints in the dirt; apparently Vinyl attracted quite a number of adventurers. Hopefully the stream of ponies coming and going would not disrupt the work at the farm. The DJ didn’t speak but reached under her table and produced a couple coins, levitating them towards the farmpony. She took the baiter but waved her head when Carrot Top tried to give her back the swatter. “Is that all?” asked Carrot. A soft sound emerged from her saddlebags. She knew it meant the map updating – the task had been finished. *Reputation with Canterlot increased [25] She left Vinyl Scratch in the yard and took a moment to inspect the farm, making sure her two farm hooves were doing ok in her absence. She was about to head towards the Ponyville Hospital when she heard a young colt’s voice behind her. “Um... Miss?” She turned around to see a short and very plump boy looking up at her. She took a step sideways to see his cutie mark, which turned out to be cutlery, and trying to remember his name. Carrot Top vaguely remembered one of the kids calling him “Chowder” but that seemed to be his nickname and she did not know if he approved of it. Deciding to avoid using a name altogether, she asked:“Yes? I am a little busy now. What do you need?” “Umm we wanted to earn some extra pocket money and there are so many ponies coming through here... Would it be a big problem if we set up a lemonade stand here?” Carrot Top waved her hoof dismissively. “No... not at all. You can go ahead and set up next to Vinyl. Just don’t get in the way.” The colt turned around and shouted.“She said we can!” Just as he said that, a group of four kids emerged from behind a nearby shed. They carried planks and nails, water and lemons... all except for the last one, a pink filly with a styled mane and a small tiara on top of her head. Carrot blinked in surprise.“Diamond Tiara?” The rest of the group set their burden on the ground and started to match the planks together. Diamond Tiara looked at them impatiently.“Would you be quicker? The customers can come here any minute... yes Miss?” Carrot Top looked down at her.“Shouldn’t you be helping too?” The filly looked up with indignation. “Of course not. It was all my idea. I also supply the lemons, the most crucial ingredient. That means my... business associates are responsible for technical details... Not like this! You’re holding the plan upside down!” Carrot Top decided that there was no point to further discussion. Being a hard worker herself, she had a couple of harsh words at the tip of her tongue, but that would probably change nothing. Instead she turned away and headed towards the town. * You are now [neutral] with The Consortium. Huh? What was that?