A soft breeze carried atop the trees and fluttered leaves down onto the creamy green grass below. The lovely Carrot farm was still, the inhabitants of its acres still slumbering in the early morning rays.

Carrot Top lazily pulled her sheets over her shoulders, still half asleep and not willing to open her eyes yet. She inhaled deeply, ready to let out a sigh when she noticed something strange. Her brow furrowed as the air she was breathing smelled off. She sniffed and sniffed, her little nose searching the air for what it could be.

It was spicy! Why was the darn air spicy? Especially on her peaceful little farm? That could not be right!

She hauled herself out of bed and pushed herself to her window to inspect the glowing fields of her growing carrots. What she found was not appealing, a black cloud of smoke carried across her fields and throughout every particle she smelled.

How horrible! How stinky!

Carrot wailed, seeing that the smoke had its start at a large menacing mountain. It could be a volcano! Or a dragon! Or worse!

She rushed out of her room, tumbled down the stairs (landing on her chest with her butt up. Luckily not harmed in the process). She shot up, grabbed a carrot off the kitchen table for the road, then set off for town.

Ponyville, the place she calls home! Usually bright and beckoning, bustling with happy pony life and friendly critters hopping about, but not today. Today the smog was worse than it had ever been, the smoke had basically covered the entire sky. Ponies she knew were all shut in their houses, afraid of the dark sky.

But not to fear! Rainbow Dash had bursted through the clouds, kicking up dirty clouds with her hooves and brushing away smog with her quickly beating wings. Carrot top watched for a moment, before the pegasus mare noticed her green eyes fixed on her.

“Get out of here filly! The DASH has got this under control!“

The Rainbow mare shouted, before kicking some more clouds.

Carrot acknowledged this, did continue walking, but didn’t entirely „“get out of here“ like Rainbow wanted. She felt some moral obligation to help in some way. Everypony she knew was hiding away, but not Carrot Top. She needed to do something about this!

She ran down the street, passing Twilight’s Oak Tree Library. She looked up at Dash one last time, who had made zero progress, then trotted to Twilight’s door.

She knocked gently, the door being swung open milliseconds after.

“YES?!“

Twilight shouted, what looked like hundreds of books floating around her, she was flipping through each one with her magic, meanwhile she tried making some sort of plan. It did not seem to be working, as her hair was unkempt, she was sweating profusely, and Spike was laying face down panting.

“What is your business? The smoke? Yeah? YEAH? I KNOW!“

Twilight dropped a few books and brushed a hoof through her mane.

“I’ve been trying to find a book that knows why this is happening, but there's nothing! It's all so confusing! How could ONE stream of smoke be so easily spread? WHAT IS IT EVEN COMING FROM!“

She spat and spurred, pacing around and stomping her hooves.

She is not having a good day today… Carrot Top would rather not deal with this, but before she could successfully leave Twilight ran over and wrapped a hood around her neck tightly.

“Listen um- Carrot soup, Applejack went out and tried to find the source of the smoke, but she’s been out there for a while and I’m starting to get worried.“

Twilight shivered.

“YOU have to go find her alright? No other pony has been brave enough to go outside right now, let alone walk to another mare’s HOUSE! NOW GO! I have to make a plan!“

She tasked Carrot Top with this mission, then opened the door with her magic and shoved the mare out.

Well, Carrot Top has found a way to help. Nothing will stop this mare from doing so!

PLAN: SAVE APPLEJACK!



Carrot top warily trotted, using the smoke above to guide her to her beloved Apple Jack. She passed Fluttershy‘s cottage, which was boarded up and seemingly abandoned, other than the yellow pony figure spotted shivering and crying inside.

…

Not even gonna try that one. Carrot Tops got more important tasks at hand.

She trotted and trotted and trotted, trotting lightly, trotted hard, until she reached the bottom of a large, muddy mountain. There she saw Rarity, five or six large saddle bags hoisted up on her back. She was wearing heavy (yet fashionable) boots, and was poking a rock which was slick with mud.

“Euck!“

The mare sounded, sticking her rounded out and almost gagging. She heard Carrot Top step on a twig, promptly turning her head and shouting:

“WHO GOES THERE?“

“Oh! Carrot Top dear, I seem to be, well, not prepared for this weather. I brought as much supplies as I could, but I’m afraid the fold-out lawn chair and navy blue jumpsuit aren’t too helpful with my current situation. You see I’ve been tasked with finding Apple Jack, but the boneheaded mare decided to trek up this horrid mountain! I simply can‘t go up there! It’s too dirty!“

She explained, droning on and on to the point where Carrot Top decided to cut her off- which didn’t work.

When she was done, Carrot Top looked at the mountain, then to Rarity, then back to the mountain. She stepped forward and climbed up a hoof.

“Your hooves! They’ll be covered in mud if you go up there! Well, if you truly want to venture up there, you can take my task for me, after all you do seem to be just fine with the mud. Please Carrot Top, will you find Apple Jack for me?“

Carrot Top already was on a mission to find Apple Jack, so there was no downside to taking on Rarity's quest. She nodded, prompting a delighted squeal from the mare.

“Oh thank you Carrot Top thank you! I wish you luck!“

Rarity said, then turned around and ran off. How helpful she was.



Carrot Top continued on her journey, climbing rock from rock and gathering mud from the tip of her tail to the tip of her nose. She didn’t mind, she just brushed what she could off with her hood and kept waking.

The higher she got the sturdier the ground got. The rocks became larger and the mud became drier. Everything was looking up for Carrot Top! Her mission was going smoothly, nothing too wrong had happened, until she heard it.

It was a loud wailing, and an occasional hoarse gasp for air. She was frightened at first, then the noise started becoming familiar. The way it whined and snorted sounded like somepony she knew, somepony everypony knew.

The noise got louder and louder as she climbed, eventually she felt it was right behind the bush she faced.

What are the chances the noise was coming from the bush?

…

Very high. Carrot swiped it aside to see the one pony that every pony knew the voice of. Pinkie Pie! The poor mare was sobbing up a storm, her hair looked deflated and her fur was paler than Carrot had ever seen the mare be. How strange!

Carrot stepped forward and put her hoof on Pinkie’s cheek, wiping away a large wet tear. Pinkie looked up with the saddest puppy-dog eyes the orange mare had ever seen. It almost broke her heart seeing such a joyous mare so sad.

“It- it’s just awful!“

Pinkie sobbed. Carrot cocked her head to the side.

“No you wouldn’t get it… There’s no point! Why-“

Pinkie gasped for some air.

“Would Apple- Apple Jack go so far up, without telling anypony?“

Carrot Top cocked her head once more.

“Does she not-“

“Not-“

“DOES SHE NOT LIKE US ANYMORE?!“

Pinkie Pie wailed, pushing Carrot away and shoving her face into her own hooves. It was too much for Carrot to take!

Carrot shed a single tear over the poor pink pony, then trotted off as fast as she could. She could not bear seeing the sad mare any longer! She had to find Apple Jack! This was the only way to make things right.



Carrot rushed on, charging through the rocks and up the slopes. Apple Jack had to be around here somewhere, no longer could the mare be lost! Two different ponies were looking for her! And the smog-

Wait. Carrot forgot about the smog. Why are Twilight and Rainbow so invested in the smog while Rarity and Pinkie are invested in Apple Jack's whereabouts? And why is Fluttershy just hiding? Actually nevermind, that one’s easy to figure out.

Carrot Top pondered this before in the corner of her eye she saw something hopeful, and ORANGE. She turned as quickly as she could, detouring towards the orange figure. As she got closer she knew she had done it. An orange mare with a yellow mane and tail, a brown cowpony hat, and perfectly placed apples on her flank. It was over! She found Apple Jack!

“What in tarnation- Carrot Top?“

The mare spoke, swiftly turning her head, looking the mare up and down.

Carrot nodded, absolutely beaming in pride. She has found Apple Jack!

Apple jack on the other hand, was not beaming so much. Not at all in the slightest. She stared with intensity in her eyes for a moment, then switched to a more relieved look.

“Now I don’t know how you got up here, or which little birdie sent you to find me, but I assure you I am okay. You can go back down the mountain now. Sorry for all this trouble Sugarcube.“

Apple sighed, turning back around with her ears flattened. Carrot did not like this, she needed to bring Apple Jack home! Or figure out that smog. Speaking of smog, Carrot had been so set on finding Apple Jack that she hadn’t noticed the smog growing. It was completely surrounding the two ponies, seeming to originate from something in the bushes not too far in front of AJ.

Carrot wasn’t quite sure why smog was coming from a bush, but she decided to investigate anyway.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, that thing ain’t Equestrian.“

Carrot rolled her eyes. She was too curious to head the Apple’s warning. She pushed the bush aside, then saw the strangest thing she’s ever seen.

It was a box, no doubt magical, made out of metal and with a glass door like contraption on the front. It was adorned with buttons, and it had a tiny clock on it currently sitting at “12:55“. But it didn’t display the current time, instead it was steadily counting down. She looked inside the glass door, the smog was seeping from the cracks in the glass and presumably cracks in the back. She investigated the back, seeing it indeed had some cracks, but they were built into the device. She noticed a string tying it to a box, which was buzzing with electricity. On the top of the machine it read “MICROWAVE“. She had no idea what that was. She looked at the front again, staring inside and noticing that there was something inside it spinning. A round shape.

…

“Please don’t look in there, it’s too embarrassing...“

Apple Jack whined. Carrot opened it anyway.

It was an Apple. A squishy apple burnt black.

Carrot Top turned around in dismay, Apple Jack was looking down out of shame.

Carrot Top decided to pull the string in the Mack of the MICROWAVE, and the entire thing stopped buzzing. It stopped spinning, and stopped the smoke.

“Wow! You really fixed it!“

Apple Jack shot up, a big grin on her face.

Despite how the mare had put an apple into an Un-Equestrian device, Carrot couldn’t stay mad at her.

She smiled with her, then she led her back down the mountain.


The smog started clearing up, Pinkie Pie got her color back as the two approached, then joined them in their return back to Ponyville. Rarity did the same, though she complained that the mud had gotten in her mane even though it hadn’t touched her. Fluttershy peeled out her window when the group passed, and quickly fluttered out to join them. Twilight dropped her books and trotted out to join them, Spike peacefully napping on her back. Rainbow had made actual progress with the clouds, clearing the sky and bringing the vibrant colors of Ponyville back.

Ponies left their houses and came to the side of the group, asking everypony what happened and how, questions buzzed and answered, praises and compliments buzzed louder. Eventually everypony was crowded around the town hero:

CARROT TOP.

She had saved Apple Jack and stopped the smoke.

She was hugged and patted on the head and given flowers and candies and fruits, and gifts were packed on her back before a great celebration was held in the town square.

The ponies danced and cheered with DJ-Pon3d music, Mayor Mare awarded each of the Mane six a medal for their help (despite being none) and Carrot Top was awarded with the best yet. A golden trophy that read: “CARROT TOP, SLAYER OF MICROWAVES AND SAVIOR OF APPLE JACK.“


Carrot Top left the celebration early, trophy on her back and pride in her heart. Her steps were slow and lazy, after all she had just been on quite a journey.

She approached her farm, the colors bursting with life and her breeze was clear and sweet. She couldn’t believe that she had truly finished her quest. Without the help from the Mane Six. The one group of ponies who can do ANYTHING. Yet here she was. A one-time hero.

It was a nice thought to think she was a hero.

She crawled upstairs, and into her bed. The trophy was dropped on the ground. In an instant the mare was snoring and pulling the sheets up onto her shoulders.

Sweet dreams Carrot Top, Slayer of Microwaves.