CHAPTER 5
“...Anyway, teaming up with somepony helps a lot early on,” said Blossomforth as they walked down the forest path. She had spent the last ten minutes discussing the finer points of choosing a class. ”Is there nopony who could help you? I know Twilight Sparkle and her group are often away – that and they have more important quests now. But there are others.”
Carrot Top shook her head. “Bon Bon does some part-time adventuring, but besides that, I don’t know.”
“How about Big Macintosh?” suggested Cloud Kicker.
“He doesn’t do quests. Too busy on the farm with Applejack away so often.”
“Ah, right... Rose?”
Carrot Top chuckled. “Oh, she does adventure. With Lily and Daisy. When they can find a stallion to do any actual fighting. They wanted to start their own guild, called themselves Flower Power. But it turns out they aren’t very warlike. They didn’t talk before choosing classes and ended up as a trio of healers. I don’t know if they found two more members to actually register.”
“Berry Punch?” said Blossomforth. Cloud Kicker took a moment to pre-emptively charge into the nearby shrubs, taking out some overconfident monster that was about to jump out. It was the third since they started walking and the two mares didn’t even stop talking this time.
“Opened a new inn in town. Haven’t you seen it?”
“We are mostly out of town nowadays... Ambrosia?”
“Busy working at new building sites.”
“Blueberry?”
“Works on my farm now.”
“What about Lyra?”
Carrot Top rolled her eyes. “Gone to the human lands. She got turned into a human, can you imagine? I still can’t understand why she would do that. What is so special about having hands, especially when you’re a unicorn?”
Cloud Kicker walked behind Blossomforth. “Well, I could think of a few uses for hands... if you want to apply pressure precisely, or reach somewhere, where a hoof won’t...”
Without turning, Blossomforth kicked with her hind leg, hitting Cloud Kicker’s armoured shoulder with a loud ‘clang’. Despite the white coat covering her skin, she managed to turn fuchsia. Carrot Top facehoofed. With Cloud Kicker, such random inappropriateness was only a matter of time. She still remembered the last time the pegasus dropped in to buy some carrots from her...
“Hey! What was that for? I didn’t say anything dirty!” Cloud Kicker protested with mock indignation.
“But you meant it,” answered Blossomforth, clenching her teeth.
“How would you know? Unless you are the one with a dirty mind here?”
Eager to change the topic, Carrot Top interrupted.“Cloud Kicker? I’m curious. How did you do that cutting wings thing before?”
The pegasus walked towards her and spread her left wing, presenting it to the farmpony. On closer inspection, the pinion looked slightly thicker and longer than usual. The colour was identical to the rest of the wing, but the texture was off. It was much smoother, not like a quill at all...
“A wing blade? Like the ones Royal Guards use?”
Cloud Kicker beamed.“Better than that. That’s triple hardened tornado cumulonimbus. Only Wonderbolts use these. They have to be harvested from an actual, natural tornado in the wild weather areas and then forged by expert pegasi smiths. You could shave a dragon with it.” She gave a couple of energetic flaps with the wing, causing the farmpony to flinch away.“It loses on reach compared to mouth and hoof blades, but it gives me flexibility – I can easily strike in all directions, turn or use all my legs. Plus, they’re stylish.”
“Where did you get them?”
“A gift from my family. I guess it no longer matters if you’ve joined the army or not when you’re a hero of Equestria. And technically I’m doing the same as the other Kickers do now, only with less taking orders. Once I hit exalted reputation with Canterlot, dad pulled some strings to get them for me.”
They reached the top of a small hill. Blossomforth pointed towards the Ponyville belltower, already visible over the tree tops. “Well, we’re almost home. Will you find your way from here, or do you need any more help?
Carrot Top considered the question. Getting lost was no longer a problem, it seemed. She looked around and realised she had passed this spot while gathering herbs before, except she was taking the path south-west... “Wait a moment... That path leads towards a cave. This is where the Ursa live, isn’t it?”
Cloud Kicker nodded. “Yeah. about the only reason for guys like us to appear here. We managed to beat Ursa Minor last week. I suppose she is already back... From what I know, you can’t kill a celestial beast for good. Perhaps we should come here tomorrow? Once everypony knows what to do when she goes after random ponies or knocks the main tank flying, it’s just a matter of not standing in front when she roars... that and taking her down before her mother wakes up. I don’t think there’s a guild in Equestria that could take on Ursa Major yet.”
Carrot Top gave her a quizzical look.“But... why attack her in the first place? She doesn’t normally hunt outside the forest. Also, isn’t she just a baby?”
Cloud Kicker shrugged. “Treasure, I guess. Big monsters always have treasure and we need the best gear to protect Equestria.”
“Why would a bear collect treasure?”
“She doesn’t. But her lair is littered with gear from all the adventurers that failed to beat her and some of it is still usable.”
There was no arguing with such infallible logic.
“Yes, I have seen a ...” Carrot Top stopped rapidly, causing Blossomforth to bump into her from behind.
“The Horde tried to attack her today, but they were beaten. I saw them retreat! One of them killed me...”
Blossomforth gasped. Cloud Kicker whistled. She put a hoof over Carrot Top’s shoulder. “Whoa... first death too? You really did have a manure day today. Guess we will escort you all the way home. Or better yet, to the inn. You look like you need a drink. I’m paying.”
“N... no, thank you.” stammered Carrot Top. “I need to go to the farm and check if everything has been ok in my absence. And I need to visit the hospital and bring Redheart these herbs...” In truth, she didn’t want the pegasus to buy her anything. A drink or two might sound pretty innocent, even from Cloud Kicker. But after what she had experienced that day, it would be a painful reminder of her own lack of money. Having suddenly lost any desire to talk, she walked the rest of the way at a brisk pace.
***
The rest of the way home proved thankfully uneventful. Carrot Top thanked the two friends for their assistance and parted ways as soon as she reached the edge of the farmlands.She would go to town and deliver the herbs to Nurse Redheart, but first she needed to get out of this outfit. And catch something to eat. Anything.
Walking through the yard, she noticed the lemonade stand now fully set up next to Vinyl Scratch’ mobile workshop. A unicorn stallion in mage robes was buying from the stand while his two companions waited, one of them tied to a large pig. The image reminded Carrot Top that she needed to hurry.
Without even stopping to check on her farm hooves’ progress, she went into the house, throwing her suit, hat and saddlebags onto the couch and heading to the kitchen. A few seconds later, she gave a loud groan of exasperation. The fridge was empty.
***
Carrot Top trotted through the streets of Ponyville, muttering angrily under her breath. The day had started nice enough, but then went steeply downhill. Blossomforth’s healing might have removed any physical damage, but the farmpony was still tense and tired. Getting lost, running into a tree, running into a Horde warband and getting brutally murdered, walking right into a pack of timber wolves and losing the pig she was supposed to be escorting, finally getting scolded for entering the forest unprepared and needing help to even get home. Some adventurer she was. And thanks to somepony’s irresponsible appetites (she was too tired to check whether it was one of her farm hooves or one of her wackier friends dropping in without a warning) she was also hungry. That did wonders to her mood.
She checked her bag and quickly counted the money. Nurse Redheart paid her twice what she had got from Vinyl Scratch, but she still had her beekeeper’s outfit to repair. What would be left didn’t justify the day’s shenanigans. Carrot Top sighed. She was too hungry to run calculations now. How did those powerful adventurers got all these treasures? Oh, right. Attacking celestial bears. None of that mattered now. Carrot Top closed the bag and headed for the town centre. She would use the cash to buy herself a meal and then think of a better way of earning money.
Ponyville centre was bustling with activity, more so than usual because of the weekend. A crowd of creatures of all shapes and sizes gathered around the newly-built Ponyville bank. Another group sat in a circle in front of Sugarcube Corner, watching their two friends duel. As the loser, a night elf druid, left the circle, a blue-robed unicorn got up to take his place. A single pegasus, one of the few here that were not wearing any armour, was dancing on top of a large mailbox, apparently oblivious to her surroundings. There was something wrong with that picture, but Carrot Top didn’t have the time to ponder it now. Instead she went past the mailbox and into a building she knew to be the new inn in town. It was high time she found a moment to visit and see how Berry was doing. As she was entering, Carrot looked up in brief surprise – the inn sign was shaped like a berry bush with a purple boxing glove on a spring dangling from it.
The inside was hotter than she expected, and slightly stuffy. Not only was the bar full of customers, mostly pony adventurers, but there was a large stove blazing in the very centre of the room. Several ponies were sitting on the floor around it, surrounded by cooking implements. Carrot Top looked for a place to sit, but found all the tables taken. There were Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth talking to some other pegasi in one corner, another group of apparent beginners in the other. Closer to the window she saw Twilight Sparkle, who was sharing a table with an armoured unicorn and a blank flank filly barely visible from between the bags of survey equipment. They were engaged in some sort of heated discussion. The air was filled with smoke and the buzz of multiple conversations.
“You know, Blossomforth, they say when you work for the Bronze Dragonflight, they sometimes turn you into a human so you can do covert missions for them. We could try out those hand thingies...”
“You can’t be a paladin. You’d have to be a pegasus. There are no unicorn paladins.”
“No? What about Shining Armour?”
“He doesn’t count. He’s an NPC. And he’s Celestia’s captain of the guard. He doesn’t have to follow the rules.”
“You mean, those dragons built some sort of... illusion beacons that could direct his attack elsewhere and you went back in time to stop them? To make sure Ponyville would burn!?”
Carrot Top ignored the noise and headed straight for the bar. If she couldn’t find a place to sit, she might decide for a take-away instead. Berry Punch was standing behind the bar, wiping some glasses.
“Oh, hello Carrot Top. How are things?” She looked at her with a critical eye. “Looks like you’ve had a rough day. Do you want something to drink?”
Carrot Top considered the question. “No, just something to eat. Something filling.”
The barmaid turned around and pulled a bag of hay from under the counter. She put some into a deep plate and set it in front of the farmpony, then dived under the counter again to produce a small stool. Carrot Top bit into her food and started chewing.
“Whoa, Blossom, you don’t have to be so enthusiastic! No need to be so... vocal.”
“A lot of stuff has changed this year... maybe it will become possible for unicorns to be paladins later.”
“My brothers and sisters were right. If Ponyville hadn’t burned when it did, Applejack would have stayed on the farm. Then Night Sky would have won.”
“What!? ... wait. Yes... you’re right. Even if we went to that quest, she would have been busy with the harvest. And without a second tank, we would have wiped on Blooddiver. There would be nopony to stop the ritual on time...”
Finally finishing her meal, Carrot Top could now take a better note of her surroundings. Immediately, her curiosity outweighed her bad mood. “Eh... Berry Punch? What’s with this stove?”
The barmaid turned with a scowl. “Adventurers. No matter what I put on the menu, there’s always somepony trying to cook for themselves. After the third idiot tried to light a campfire in the middle of the inn, I decided it will be safer like this.”
“And the sign?”
“Gnome subcontractors. There was a misunderstanding. I asked them to put my name on it and they asked if they could make it shaped like berry punch. They promised to correct it, but then got busy with some new project. I should send somepony to look for them, actually. Say, you don’t know of anypony going to Ironforge?”
Carrot Top shook her head. “Not me, that’s for sure.” She looked at the empty plate. “How much is it?”
Just at this moment another group entered the inn. Berry Punch turned towards the new customers, waving absent-mindedly towards a menu displayed on the wall. Carrot Top’s eyes followed the motion up. Then her jaw dropped.
“What the...”
The new customers were quick to buy, leaving with a bag of take-away. Carrot Top nearly pounced at Berry Punch to get to her before somepony else could get her attention. “What is with these prices!? They start at reasonable, but the ones at the bottom of the list are just ridiculous!”
The barmaid grinned. “Adventurers.” That made some sort of twisted sense. High level adventurers were ridiculously rich.
“But why would they pay 1 gold 80 for an apple?”
Berry Punch shrugged. “Only for the best apples. Some food is more nutritious, some drinks are better for recovering your mana. They don’t really care for the taste. If it can keep them on their hooves in the middle of the dungeon...”
Now it was Carrot Top that was grinning, so widely that it made Berry Punch take a nervous step back.
“So, say... a nice, nutritious carrot cake would sell just as well as that cherry pie you have on the menu? You must be importing cherries. Only one farmer sells them here and he doesn’t have much. And it seems to be your family recipe. Since your family works on the farm, it must mean you do the baking yourself here. If you take my carrots instead... I can bake for you. You will cut the transportation costs and have more time for yourself.”
Berry Punch looked her in the eyes, her easy-going demeanour suddenly replaced by business-like seriousness. “You might have a point. The Cakes are too busy to bake for me too and I am getting seriously overworked here. But don’t expect too much. My supplier is still using her normal prices so I would hardly be cutting costs if...”
“Berry, I saw that bag the last group took. By these prices it was 3 gold at least. You are now a serious businessmare. How valuable does it make your free time?”
Just at this moment another customer entered the door. Berry Punch put a hoof on Carrot Top’s shoulder. “We are certainly onto something here. But we need some peace and quiet. My home after work?”
“Sounds ok.”
***
Carrot Top finished a walk around the farm and stopped in the main yard. It was early morning, but the lemonade stand and Vinyl Scratch’ table were already there. Seeing the first group of adventurers approaching, one of them accompanied by a rather drowsy pig, Carrot Top sat on a bench next to the two stands. A small sign with a yellow exclamation mark was set beside it.
“Say, you guys look like you are headed towards the edge of Everfree. Since you are headed there anyway, would you be interested in earning a couple extra coins? We have almost finished our harvest, but one of my farm hooves has taken a day off and we need the carrots harvested from the field next to the forest. I need them here before anything comes out of Everfree and eats them.”
She had already prepared the first shipment of cakes for Berry Punch. She would deliver them as soon as she made sure everything was in order. As the adventurers left the farm, enthusiastic about their first “quest”, the farmpony smiled. There was a long road ahead of her if she was to save the farm, but now she had a direction. She knew what she was doing. Honest work for honest pay was her way, not risking life and limb for stuff belonging to somepony else. She strapped herself to the delivery cart and left towards Ponyville, filled with a new sense of purpose.
She was about to enter the town proper when another vehicle overtook her on the road. It was a strange contraption, all gears and pipes, whirring and belching smoke. It was driven by a pair of short green creatures, both sporting identical, smug smiles.