Growing Tall ~ Carrot Top

by JaketheGinger

Pesticide

A/N: If you have not read what Derpy is up to yet, then click here for Chapter 2!

---

The morning Sun shone through the canopy, almost blinding Carrot Top as she slowly flickered her eyes open. She rubbed her face, sighing deeply as she got accustomed to her strange surroundings. She had hoped that this was all a horrible dream but here she was in the flesh, plain as day.

The previous night didn’t permit her to sleep peacefully, for the sounds of ravenous beasts could be heard constantly. Their collective din instilled fear into the mare and so she only slept for a few hours. Despite her tired state, she was determined to search for Derpy.

Carrot Top was a determined pony, rarely ever giving up if she saw hope. During the Parasprite invasion of Ponyville, the horrid pests devoured all her crops. While she was understandably distraught at her all hard work being eaten away, she strived to replace all her missing plants. She still had some of them today. Granted, that situation was entirely different to this one but the principle was the same; don’t give up.

Her stomach began to rumble, a sign that she needed to wake up fully. Her saddlebag was still beside her, so she rummaged through it and got out a small tin containing four sandwiches, each filled with raspberry jam.

If she wanted to survive, she knew that rationing was the only viable option. Once she ran out of supplies, only then could she dare to sample whatever was edible on this world. She picked just one sandwich and began to eat it. One a day should do her fine since she at least had the luxury of a water supply.

As the mare ate, she took in her surroundings once again. There was a light breeze today that created small ripples on the pool of water nearby. Patches of sunlight that broke through the trees up above made little lighter spots on the ground.

Leaving the shade of the plant she had slept under, Carrot Top decided to bask in one of the pools of light. She instantly felt the Sun’s warm rays beam onto her, making her feel relaxed. However she soon moved out as she didn’t want to fall asleep again. Furthermore, she needed a drink.

She approached the water’s edge without much fear and managed to smile at the wollywogs as they swam in the pond, their tails wagging from side to side rapidly. Lowering her head, she drank as much water as she possibly could without stopping to breathe. Then she quickly raised her head and gasped for air, her dry throat now soothed.

She observed the wollywogs who all seemed to be quite settled. It was odd. Despite being in a world where almost everything towered above her, a world where she could easily get lost or killed...there was still a sort of charm about it. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense; this world may be incredibly dangerous but it still supported life. And life is wonderful.

The water was clear enough to enable her to spot something else that lurked in it. Or rather, grew in it. Four blue stalks with green leaves were buried in the ground.

What piqued Carrot Top’s interest was the mere size of them. They were smaller than her which was incredibly odd considering the rest of the flora that exceeded her height. She had to investigate.

Upon entering the water, her body immediately went cold. Thankfully though, she wasn’t completely submerged and she could walk through the pool instead of swim. The wollywogs felt her movements and quickly swam away to safety.

Approaching the plants, she felt strangely entranced by them. She felt compelled to pluck them from the ground. It was just a plant, what was the worst that could happen? That said...this was a strange land...

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she built up her courage and yanked all of the plants from the ground. She gasped in shock as she saw tiny creatures burst from the soil and land right next to her.

She didn’t need to even take one glance at it. Taking no chances, she galloped straight for land and went back under the plant where her saddlebag was. Breathing heavily, she looked back only to see the creatures running straight for her.

She screamed and ran as fast as her legs would take her yet the creatures still followed her every step. Unfortunately she couldn’t gallop forever and had to stop near the pool, too exhausted to go on. Her pursuers caught up with her, not looking tired one bit.

Carrot Top closed her eyes and curled up, just waiting for the inevitable attack. She waited and waited but the creatures made no move on her.

Opening an eye, she saw the organisms simply stare at her with big round eyes. Since they weren’t doing anything other than that, she took the opportunity to examine their features.

They were completely blue, save for the leaf atop their stalks. As she looked at their eyes, she calmed down slightly as they looked a bit endearing. They also had triangular mouth of sorts but as the mare cautiously stepped closer to them, their mouths looked more like a set of gills. The creatures were also bipedal, with three tiny digits extending from their hands and feet.

Carrot Top blinked as she saw the distinct resemblance it had to an old story her mother told her once. The tale of Forest Sprites called Pikmin, who would help poor lost ponies...

---

“But I don’t wanna go to sleep!” Carrot Top protested, yet didn’t fight back against her mother gently pushing her into bed.

“Don’t you want to have good dreams?” Her mother, Amber Petal, asked.

“I do but...” Carrot Top started to retreat into the bed sheets. “I don’t want nightmares either.”

“Carrot Top dear, you’re far more likely to have a dream than a nightmare.” Despite this reassuring fact, her daughter still seemed afraid. “Would it help if I told you a story?”

The filly nodded several times.

“Very well. How about I tell you the story of the Pikmin?”

The younger pony giggled upon hearing the name. “They sound funny.”

“They can be. They’re very helpful creatures. Legend goes that one day an adventurous stallion decided to explore the Everfree Forest all by himself.” The mare began to explain.

Carrot Top gasped. “But that’s really dangerous!”

“Indeed it is my dear. However this pony didn’t take heed of the warnings. He went deeper and deeper into the forest, thinking that he could easily get back home. But when that time came...he quickly found himself running in circles. Worse still, the night was beginning and he could constantly hear the roars of unknown beasts.”

The filly gulped but was still eager to hear more.

“As he was trying to find a way back to Ponyville, some shimmering colors caught his eye. He approached them slowly, amazed by the brightness of the blues, yellows and reds. He was then caught by surprise as one of the lights jumped out in front of him! He didn’t need to worry though, for the bearer of the light meant him no harm. This was a forest sprite; a Pikmin. They were very small, walking on two stubby legs. Using one of its arms, it gave a little wave to the stallion, who waved back. The Pikmin also had beady, cute eyes and on top their heads was a stalk that held a flower on the end.”

“A flower?!” Carrot Top said excitedly. “What type? Was it pretty?”

Amber snickered. “Yes, it was very pretty. Yellow in the centre, with five big white petals.”

“Sutera cordata.” Carrot Top stated.

“Very well done Carrot Top! That is indeed the flower they had on their stalks.” The filly beamed proudly upon receiving her mother’s praise.

“Anyway, these Pikmin were very friendly creatures. The stallion saw them play with each other, games such as tag or hide and seek. Yet when they saw the stallion, they could feel his sadness and knew that they had to help. Although the stallion could not understand them, he soon realized what they were trying to do and followed them through the forest. He looked down at them, amazed by the beautiful colors they all had. It is also said that they sang together in a harmonious choir to ward off monsters.”

“Uh, Mom?”

“Yes dear?” Amber smiled sweetly at her daughter.

“What does harmonious mean?” She asked.

“Well you know what harmony means, so what do you think?”

Carrot Top put a hoof on her chin, thinking deeply. “Oh, I get it!”

Her mother nodded and continued. “The Pikmin led the stallion out of the Everfree but as he left the trees, he turned back to see that the Pikmin would not join him.”

“Why?”

“Because dear, the Everfree was their home and they did not want to leave.” Amber answered.

“But it’s dark and scary in there!” Carrot Top protested.

“That is true but the Pikmin had each other and could make the Everfree seem like a happy place.”

Carrot Top raised an eyebrow. “Is this one of those stories with a moral?”

Her mother chuckled. “Yes. It’s that there is always hope. Even when times look bleak, never give up. There will be a way forward.”

“That story was short...” The child huffed. “But I liked the Pikmin.”

“I quite like them too.” Amber smiled. “Will you please go to bed now Carrot Top?” She asked sweetly.

“Okay...” Carrot Top grumbled, putting her head on the pillow.

“There’s a good girl.” She leaned forward, planting a peck on her daughter’s cheek. “I love you Carrot Top, sleep well.”

“Love you too Mom.” And with that, Amber went to the door and turned off the lights. She then closed the door, leaving Carrot Top alone in her room. The filly snuggled up in her bed, putting her hooves around her favorite doll: a big, plush carrot. She then closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, a light smile on her face.

---

“Mom...” Carrot Top stared at the ground but appeared to look right through it for a few moments. When she looked up, she was met with the curious gazes of the creatures.

“I suppose you’re not leaving me, huh?” Carrot Top sighed, knowing that there would be no response from them.

Deciding that it’d be easier to refer to the creatures as Pikmin, the mare went onwards. She went back to her supplies and gathered them up. The wogpoles had once again calmed down and Carrot Top took one last look at them before beginning to leave the area.

She set off at a light trot and the Pikmin were easily able to adapt to her pace, always keeping just behind the pony. The safest way out of Departure Pond seemed to be a little pathway clearly marked by two decaying plant stalks growing up then tangling into one another, making an archway that almost seemed intentional. The natural path dipped in a little under the arch, where a cloudy pool of water lay. Carrot Top merely charged through it, her hooves splashing through the dirty water.

After the archway, the path suddenly got a lot narrower. Two natural walls of earth stood either side of the mare, roots and small plant life escaping from it. As the path began to slope up, Carrot Top peered up above her. Most of the sunlight was blocked now by a bridge of leaves and stalks, some living and some dead.

Carrot Top should have enjoyed the company of the Pikmin, even if she couldn’t understand them. Instead, she was unsettled by them. They just keep staring, not offering her any private time. In addition, she could always hear the pitter patter of their feet across the ground.

To make matters worse, they weren’t even helping her. All they did was follow and what use is a servant who can’t understand orders? Their very existence mocked her. All they did was remind her of that story and that would remind her of her mother...

Carrot Top stopped and looked back at the Pikmin. They didn’t even have eyebrows so they were completely unreadable. Their lack of any obvious purpose frustrated her. If they were going to be dead weights then they were going to be ditched.

“Just go away!” She screamed. The Pikmin did not respond. Normally she had greater patience but this world had put a severe strain on it.

Having had enough of this nonsense, Carrot Top decided that the only way to get rid of them was by force. She gently pushed them away, hoping they would get the message. They didn’t so she started to shove them. The Pikmin fell on the floor, chirping but always got back up.

“That’s it!” Enraged, she grabbed a Pikmin by its stalk and threw it into the air with all her might. The Pikmin made a graceful arc in the air and landed on its two feet, undamaged. What Carrot Top saw next was more curious and gradually calmed her down.

The Pikmin began to go paler and it lay down on the ground, relaxing. It seemed completely uninterested in the pony and anything around it. Carrot Top raised an eyebrow and stomped a hoof on the ground in order to gain its attention. Her actions actually achieved the opposite effect, as when she turned around the other Pikmin were in the same state as the thrown one.

She could have left them there and finally gain some solitude but curiosity drove her to find out what exactly was going on here. Wanting to gain their attention, she tried whistling.

It shouldn’t have worked but amazingly, it did. The Pikmin’s stalks were completely upright for a split second and color flushed back into their bodies. They stood behind the mare as if nothing had happened.

So I can dismiss and call them to me...I need to note this down later. She thought and went onwards. The Pikmin would stay with her for now.

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble slightly and soil became unturned. Carrot Top looked around cautiously. Clearly, something was burrowing up from the earth.

The diggers revealed themselves just a short distance away in front of her. There were three of the creatures and they looked vaguely the same, although there were differences. All were shorter than the Pikmin, although were much fatter. They looked very similar to grubs in Equestria.

Two of them were completely pink with black eyes and had small mandibles.The other definitely stood out from the rest, having a distinctive purple head and rear. Both of these regions seemed armored in an exoskeleton, although the brown middle was like that of the pink grubs. The purple grub seemed much more fearsome, having green eyes and a much bigger set of mandibles.

Before she had time to tell whether they were friend of foe, the grubs slithered towards her. Their bodies pulsated as they went across the ground, making Carrot Top feel very uneasy. She took small steps back from the grubs, who were getting too close for comfort. The purple one then leapt for Carrot Top, barely missing her as she swiftly jumped to the side.

“Do something!!” She panicked, pointing a hoof wildly at the purple grub. The Pikmin then marched towards the creature and started hitting their leaves against the creature. Carrot Top had to flinch as she saw the force at which the Pikmin attacked. For such frail looking creatures, they sure seemed to have a lot of hidden strength.

The purple grub ignored the pony and started going after the Pikmin, who danced around it as it tried to make strikes at them. The pink grubs meanwhile, didn’t do anything to help at all. Glad that there was only one hostile, Carrot Top watched the battle intently, unsure whether to intervene.

A high-pitched scream forced her to make a decision; a Pikmin was trapped between the mandibles of the grub. The other Pikmin seemed to be unaware of this and kept making their attacks on the creature. Carrot Top galloped forward and stomped hard on the fleshy brown part of the grub. As a reflex, the creature released its grip of the Pikmin who immediately resumed attacking.

She watched the transition of the grub from attack mode to fleeing but before it could escape, the strikes of the Pikmin forced it onto its back. It flailed around and then lay still. She didn’t need to a check a pulse to know that it was dead.

The pink grubs hurriedly used their mandibles to burrow their way back to safety, deep underground. Carrot Top decided that she would leave the scene too and let out another sharp whistle. With the Pikmin behind her, she galloped away from the corpse of the grub.

She was pumped full of adrenaline, fear and guilt. It felt reassuring to know that the Pikmin could defend her but at the same time, now she knew that creatures could come from beneath her as well. Was anywhere safe in this crazy world? Furthermore, she had killed a living thing. Granted it did want to kill her and she had killed pests that endangered her flowers before but...up so close, she could only relate to it more somehow.

The right hand side of the path curved out, making a small enclave which she now found herself in. A large tree root dropped from the top of the wall and went into the ground, making some shelter where Carrot Top could stay for the night. Up ahead, the narrow path only went on further so she decided that this would be where she could rest for tonight.

Going under the protection of the root, she took off her saddlebags and lay down. The Pikmin still stared at her so she stomped her hoof hard on the ground, dismissing them. She relaxed as they did, glad to not have an audience.

Apart from the root, nothing else of note was here and that included Derpy. Carrot Top sighed deeply, getting out her journal and her pencil. She knew that this would be hard, almost impossibly so but that didn’t stop her from getting her hopes up when she entered a new area.
Deciding that the rest of her day would be spent writing, she began scribbling down words in her journal:

Day 2

I have made a very...peculiar discovery today. That discovery is a new species on this world, which I’ve dubbed as ‘Pikmin’. This is only because they look so similar to the Pikmin forest sprites that my mom used to tell me about.

For some reason, I believe they have mistaken (or perhaps decided?) me for a leader. They constantly follow me for no obvious beneficial purpose and they can follow basic orders. I can even throw them into the air and they will not mind.

They’re always staring at me, which is rather unnerving. I do not understand them nor do I know their motives...but so far they have been helpful. You see, I encountered a hostile creature today. A species that could burrow up from the ground! They looked particularly repulsive, resembling grubs with huge mandibles.

Carrot Top paused, realizing that she would probably have to give this species a name too. She sat there for awhile in thought, before continuing.

I shall call them Mandigrubs. They came in two forms: two were pink, completely fleshy and had small mandibles. One however was the main threat and the one who tried to attack me. It was more armored, purple and had a much bigger set of mandibles that looked like they could easily break my bones. I’m assuming that the pink Mandigrubs were either juvenile or female and the purple one was a male. But I could be very wrong in my assumptions.

As I mentioned, the purple Mandigrub attempted to strike me. Luckily I managed to dodge and ordered the Pikmin to attack it (a very sloppy order, looking back on it but somehow they got the message). They quickly felled the beast...with my assistance.

She sighed, looking back down the path she had came from. The corpse wouldn’t be there for long.

When I was a little filly, my Mother always told me that all life was sacred. Granted I didn’t always remember that when I was killing pests that threatened my plants but...it still rings true, even here. That Mandigrub was just trying to survive. Like I am. We were both fighting to survive here and it lost. I made it lose.

She stopped writing, taking a deep breath. She didn’t like it but this type of occurrence seemed like an inevitability here.

Anyway, back to the Pikmin. It seems that I give them basic commands. If I point somewhere, they go that direction and attack. If anything is there that is. If I stomp a hoof hard on the ground, I dismiss them. When dismissed, they go a paler blue (ah, I forgot to mention this species was blue. Another important note to add is that they have gills, which is probably how they survive in water...such complex creatures.) and also get lazier. If I let out a sharp whistle, they go back to my command.

My biggest gripe with them is how much they remind me of home. Especially my Mother.

At this point, her writing got a bit more sloppy as the feelings sunk in. What if she died here? Then she’d never see her Mother again. Amber would never know what happened to her daughter...

She’s such a pretty mare. Always was. Orange mane just like mine but less curly, a light blue coat...perfect for snuggling into. And beautiful amber eyes. I always remember that when I came home from a bad day at school, I would look into those eyes of hers and I knew, I just knew, that somehow everything would be fine. I wish I could see her eyes right now...

“Mom...I need you. I miss you...” She whispered, her voice trembling.

And thinking of her makes me think of my Father. Oh Dad...I think I need to stop writing now...

The Pikmin were lost in their own world of almost childlike ignorance, leaving Carrot Top alone. She dropped her pencil, it rolling off her journal page and onto the ground. She lay down, resting her head on her forelegs. Her eyes were beginning to well up, so she closed them to avoid having a blurry vision. Sleep was probably her best option now, for she had the chance to dream and escape the burdens of the real world. Yet without her parents nearby, she felt more vulnerable than ever before.

---

A/N: Chapter 4 coming soon!

Comments

[JaketheGinger]

Been WAY too long since I updated this and for that, I apologize.

Now, enjoy the chapter! Feel free to comment and such.

[AggroViking]

ooh

[Herpidty Derp]

[TheAspiringWriter93]

I'm loving the methodology for her command over the Pikmin. It actually makes sense (minus the whistle, which is a given in ANY Pikmin game), in a way, like a sovereign slamming a scepter into the ground to announce his authority, or his right hand (hoof) pointed toward the foe in a command that can only be interpreted as "Bring the foolish devil to his knees". Can't wait for the next chapter, mate.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I hope this continues at some point. The concept is enjoyable, and there are hints of much greater depths. I look forward to more, should it come.

[Kaille]

I'll be completely honest here, I have NEVER liked or favourited a fic before reading.
THIS, will be my first exception, because I dont have time to read now, and being a crossover with PIKMIN?
Is pure bucking genius. I love you. If dude, no homo.
I will edit my thoughts on the story into this comment after I read.

EDIT: So, as expected, so far this is awesome. But just one note: First chapter, you called them Wogpoles. Beginning of this one in two spots, you said Wollywogs. Then you called them Wogpoles again. Maybe you actually INTENDED to be talking about Wollywogs, but I would have expected an introductory on them with Carrot Top, not just mentioned off-hand.