The New Adventures of Carrot Top.

by Capitola

July 4th (part 3)

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Carrot’s hooves pounded against the cobbled ground beneath her as she raced towards anywhere that seemed safe. No matter where she went there was fire. Everything was burning and the smell of smoke clogged the air. Carrot Top coughed and got lower, looking around. She could see ponies of all shapes and sizes running a muck through the town. A flash of pink caught her attention and she was just able to glimpse Pinkie Pie run around a corner with a group of other ponies. Carrot coughed and got up, running after her, but before she could reach the place where pinkie had disappeared a group of startled ponies stampeded by, pulling her into their ranks and dragging her along with them.

Carrot struggled through the crowd as she was pushed along and managed to break free, tumbling and landing next to an apple cart. The cart was on fire, and the apples were cooking and burning inside. Carrot sniffed the air and found she liked the smell.

“Oh … that isn’t too bad.”

At that moment the apples exploded, showering Carrot Top and the nearby ponies in bits of apple. Most of the ponies screamed as if they had been shot, and fell to the ground, flailing about.

"No, I'm too young to die!"

"The pain, oh, THE PAIN!"

“Oh for the love of … IT’S JUST APPLES!” Carrot Top shouted at the ponies as she wiped off the pieces on her coat. She took a bit and started chewing. “See, they are just apples!”

“Oh Celestia, whyyyyyyyyy?” Shouted one pony.

“Tell my wife I love her!” Shouted another

“Give me a freaking break,” mumbled Carrot Top under her breath. Before she could yell at the ponies more a familiar mare caught her attention. The mare was searching around what used to be the main square fountain, as if she had lost something. Carrot Top trotted quickly over to her.

“Hey, you, you’re the one who was talking to that green freak up on the scaffold,” Carrot Top yelled angrily at her. The cream colored mare turned around and Carrot took a step back as she saw the amount of rage on the other mares face. The cream mare blinked and gave Carrot a worried look.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you, I’m so sorry.”

“You were talking to the green mare that was up on stage, weren’t you?” Carrot asked. A look of rage flashed over the mare’s face for a second before being replaced by the original look of worry and kindness. She was beginning to regret talking to this mare.

“Yes, I’m looking for her now. Her name is Lyra. I’m Bon-Bon,” the cream mare told Carrot.

“Okay thanks for that, but what the hay was she doing up there on that big stadium?” Carrot asked.

Bon-Bon sighed and sat down as if she was preparing for a long story. Carrot Top looked around her at the carnage of burning buildings and screaming ponies and wondered if now was the best time to start a leisurely story.

“Lyra has a problem. Ever since I’ve known her she has believed in strange things, such as flying saucers, ghosts, Battle Toads, vampires, and many others. But there was always one creature that she was more passionate about than the rest, and that was humans,” the cream mare said with a sigh. “I’ve taken her to counselor after counselor, but nothing seems to work. Then, suddenly, about a week ago she started acting strangely. I should have known when she started sleeping in her laboratory that something was the matter.”

Carrot Top shook her head, trying to decide if she had heard the other mare right. The first red flag shouldn’t have been that this "Lyra" was sleeping in a laboratory, but that she had a laboratory to begin with.

“Okay, so you’re telling me that the reason she did all this,” Carrot Top motioned around her at the falling debris, “is because she’s really into fantasy creatures.” Bon-Bon nodded and was about to continue when the sound of sirens blasted through the air. From out of the smoke came several red and yellow carts being led by beefy stallions. They screeched to a halt and pulled their harnesses off before dragging something large and bulky out of the back.

“The Firefighters are here!” Some pony shouted. “We’re saved!”

One of the Firefighters attached a hose to the machine on the ground while another, this one a unicorn, enveloped the hose and machine with magic. A large jet of water sprayed from the hose and crashed into a nearby burning house. With a sizzle the house was put out and the small crowd that had gathered cheered and stomped their hooves on the ground. Carrot Top breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the mare on her side. Everything was going to be just fine now. Carrot could leave this crazy mare to find her psycho friend and she could go back home and sleep. Maybe get a cup of tea, sit by her bed, and finish one of the books she had on her bookshelf.

A large explosion tore through Carrot Top’s happy fantasies. She looked back at the the fireworks and saw the machine shooting sparks out of its side and whirring dangerously. With a final clunk and whir the machine stopped spraying water and completely shut off.

“Oh buck.”

The Firefighters started kicking the machine and grunting, trying to get it to work. Ponies gathered around them to shout words of encouragement. Bon-Bon tapped on carrot top's shoulder and she looked back.

"If you help me look for Lyra I think she could fix that machine."

Carrot Top looked over at the machine and then back at Bon-Bon. She didn't like the idea of actively seeking out someone reckless enough to cause this destruction, accidental or not. It was a hard decision. Burn to death or go look for a pony that was either crazy or dead.

"Alright, fine," Carrot Top consented. "We'll go and find her ... do you know where she might be?"

Bon-Bon scratched the ground with her hoof while she was thinking. "I checked around the wreckage and when I didn't see her there I came over here and I looked for her in this wreckage." Bon-Bon hung her head and pushed over a piece of rubble, sniffling. Carrot thought about how mean she had been acting to bon-Bon, and scolded herself, looking away guiltily. While this Lyra character may have caused all of this, she was still Bon-Bon's friend and she was probably worried sick about her.

"Uhm, hey, listen. I'm sure she's fine ... if any pony is crazy enough to do something like this, they're crazy enough to live through it." Bon-bon stopped sniffling and looked up with a smile.

"Thanks," bon-Bon muttered. She wiped her eyes and then looked around, blinking the rest of her tears away. "There ... she might have gone back home. We could check there."

Carrot Top groaned internally, but she smiled and nodded. With that the two ponies made their way quickly through the burning streets. They ran past ponies helping each other gather unburned supplies and ponies who were dowsing fires out with buckets of water. They didn't stop, but continued on in hopes of finding the pony who could fix this was alive.

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Bon-Bon stopped in front of a red mailbox and pushed open the gate that led up to her house. The house was small, but painted a nice calming cream color. If Carrot had not been so angry and exhausted she might have commented on how nice she thought the house looked. Instead she was silent and walked behind Bon-Bon, gazing around at the lack of destruction.

"The fire hasn't reached here yet."

"Oh, no I don't think it will. Lyra and I choose to live further out in Ponyville rather than live in the middle of town. We were hoping not to catch too much attention," Bon-Bon replied, muttering the last part under her breath.

The reached the door and Bon-Bon pushed it open. The floor was shining and clean, save for dusty hoof prints that led off further into the house.'

"She's alive," Bon-Bon said in relief. There was another emotion mixed in, but Carrot Top couldn't quite place what it was.

They followed the hoof prints around the house, from the living room through to the dining room, into the bathroom, up the stairs, through the bedroom, into the closet, and back down the stairs. Carrot Top began to wonder if perhaps this was some elaborate practical joke.

The sound of dishes tinkling from the kitchen alerted Bon-Bon and she and Carrot rushed back through the dining room and into the kitchen. There they found a mint-colored mare standing on her hind legs raiding the refrigerator. Carrot coughed and the green mare turned towards them, a Go-Gurt squeezed between her two front hooves.

The mare smiled awkwardly, nervously eying her cream colored friend. She chuckled lightly and shook the frozen yogurt treat between her hooves.

"Go-Gurt, anyone?"