Beyond Her Tomb

Ponyville, like the surrounding towns and cities, had been hit hard with a drought for almost two years. The dry weather of the San Palomino Desert had begun stretching out to its surrounding areas, supposedly due to pony-induced global warming. Others believed it was a government conspiracy, that Celestia was starting to use her powers to punish everypony for being terrible subjects. Another group believed that it was truly the return of Discord ever since his statue had been stolen from the palace gardens, and he was being careful this time, and slowly spreading the drought so that chaos might properly be justified. There were many ideas as to why the drought had begun to spread, but nopony had a real solution.

As is typical with a drought, crops were beginning to get hard to come by. Los Pegasus hadn't grown much, but what had been growing had died off just months into the drought. Ponyville had been struggling worse than Los Pegasus. Many of the ponies' only trades were agriculture, and many prominent farming families had been forced out of their business. The only family left to prosper in the agricultural business was the Danver family, and since then the drought had actually managed to let them grow larger than they had ever been.

Of course, the only real member of the family left alive was a young mare by the name of Carrot Top Danver. At only the age of 20, she inherited the family business of farming onions, celery, and their famous carrots due to her mother, Vidalia, getting caught up in a farming accident. Carrot Top, a gentle pony, had been completely distraught, but had so far managed to carry on. Carrot Top had always had a talent for farming, which became very apparent during the drought.

Some ponies thought they were dreaming the morning they woke up to the daily papers claiming that Danver Family Farms had bought up most of Sweet Apple Acres. Sweet Apple Acres, headed by the stubborn, hard-working mare Applejack, had seemed untouchable. But when the drought had hit, just like everypony else, their crops had dried up. Applejack and Big Macintosh had both come together to make the executive decision to sell everything but enough land to live on. Carrot Top had eagerly taken up the offer, seeing the opportunity to expand.

It was almost an end of the hottest, driest summer so far, and Carrot Top was now successful enough to have her own cottage on the edge of Danver Family Farms and give her former roommate, Derpy, her own house as well. Despite the fact that they each had their own house, Carrot Top often had Derpy over, or she was over at Derpy's, due to the fact that Derpy was Carrot Top's only real remaining friend. The citizens of Ponyville had begun to shun her, and Derpy, on one of her many visits, had talked about what she heard on her mail-runs.

Sitting in the living room, a plain muffin in her hoof, she had looked at Carrot Top as best as she could with her crossed eyes. Her ears flattened themselves against the back of her head and she then sheepishly looked down.

Carrot Top, who had only had a glass of water, noticed the movement, and gently set it down on the oak corner table at the end of her couch. She then turned to Derpy, questions in her eyes.

Derpy hesitated, then simply said, "People don't like you, Carrot Top. They don't like me for hanging out with you, either."

Carrot Top brought her eyebrows together. "What did you hear, Derpy?"

"They said I was stupid for being with a witch. They said that I was a lesbian and that they should come and kill us for being lesbian witches." Derpy shifted uncomfortably. "Everypony blames us for Sweet Apple Acres going out of business, Carrot Top." She continued to look down, trembling as she set her muffin down on the couch.

Carrot Top frowned, and even felt a few tears coming to her eyes. She reached forward and hugged Derpy, whispering into her ear, "It's ok. Tell me who said that."

She felt a tear drip down the side of Derpy's face as she said, "I don't know. There were a lot of ponies and they all were yelling and... and I just spaced out... I'm sorry..." Derpy began silently crying. Carrot Top just hugged her closer, knowing that there was nothing she could do now.

After that, she had noticed that when people had come by to her local shop to buy her vegetables, they were eerily silent. She had noticed how people had given her evil looks when they thought she wasn't looking, but had figured they were just jealous. Which, of course, accusations of being a witch could very well have sprouted from jealousy, but now those who were usually kind and cheerful had reason to hate. She continued to brush it off, seeing the incident as just a few angry ponies.

Carrot Top had tried to be as kind and giving as she could while leaving herself comfortable as well. She had bought up Sweet Apple Acres for more than it would have been worth had she not been the one buying, and offered jobs to all of the Apples before any other ponies. When all but Apple Bloom had politely refused, she gave new jobs to the entire Ponyville community, those out of work at their own farms. She gave everypony good wages and benefits, but somehow, they had still seen a way in their pride to hate her.

Carrot Top had suddenly found herself isolated, except for Derpy. The shops full of begrudged customers, the fields full of begrudged workers, and a town full of begrudged citizens, Carrot Top had never been more close to needing to turn to alcohol as more than a social drink, but luckily managed to hold herself away from it. The only real happiness she truly had left in the world, deprived of her ignorant bliss, was that Derpy had stuck with her throughout it all, and she wouldn't let a bunch of hateful, prejudiced ne'er-do-wells and troublemakers take that away from her.

It was a few weeks after Derpy told her about the occurrence on the mail route. Outside, the sun was almost ready to set, Equestria already taking on an orange hue. Carrot Top was busy in her kitchen, hustling and bustling about, preparing to make lemonade for Derpy and herself, when she heard a sudden rapping at her front door. Carrot Top, squeezing the specially imported lemons with her plain earth hooves, called into the living room, where Derpy sat watching television, "Derpy, will you get that please? It's probably just Apple Bloom. She was working late tonight."

Derpy, rising to the air in her awkward manner, cried out, "I'm cooooomiiiing!" The knocking continued. Carrot Top peeked around the open doorway between the kitchen and the living room, watching the door.

Bumping into the ceiling once and then into the wall, Derpy managed to land in front of the door. Grabbing the handle, she tossed it open to be met with an angry mob. Frightened, she backed away, only to have Knight Days, a blue-coated, black-maned stallion grab her and toss her into the mob, where she screamed and was pinned down by other rebels. Several of them had torches, pitchforks, and signs saying things like, "Witch!" "Earthponies don't use magic!" and "Where are the Apples?"

Carrot Top, seeing all of the commotion, had been paralyzed in fear. Her knees locked in place, her jaw dropped, and her mind was buzzing with a certain numbness. Would this be the end? Was this where Ponyville would crucify her?

Knight Days pressed a defiant hoof into her front doorway. His silhouette against the pink sky was solid and crisp as he turned his head upward and cried out into the house, "Carrot Top! The citizens of Ponyville condemn you to death for use of witchcraft to take advantage of all ponies during this drought. Come out without a struggle and we'll be sure not to make it painful."

Carrot Top heard a mare from within the crowd scream, "Get out here you witch! It's time to put an end to this!"

Carrot Top had hidden around the corner of her kitchen, and pressed up close to the pale orange walls, panting, sweating. What would she do? What could she do?

"What evidence do you have for me being a witch?"

Knight Days slammed his hoof down, causing a great clatter. "Come out, Carrot Top. We'll explain everything to you before your execution."

Carrot Top, her heart pounding harder than it did when she was out in the hot summer sun working, revealed herself by slowly coming out from around the corner into her kitchen. Knight Days' glistening crimson eyes sucked in her attention, never quite able to stop the eye contact. She gulped, feeling the stallion's eyes touch and prod her soul, the judgement so rancid she could almost smell it coming off of the mob, but mostly him. Slowly pressing forward, she stated firmly, "No matter what happens, Derpy is not to be harmed."

Knight Days grinned, malice dripping from his voice. "Oh, of course. We wouldn't dream of hurting your lover." He turned back, finally breaking the hold he kept on Carrot Top. "Go keep her at what's left of Sweet Apple Acres so she doesn't get in trouble."

Derpy was suddenly let up from amongst the crowd, and she flew up into the sky, crying out, "I'm gonna go get help, Carrot Top!"

Knight Days growled out, "Get her."

Several pegasi, all more skilled fliers than Derpy, shot off after her. Derpy's only hope now was that, with the way her flying went, she could somehow lose them by taking unexpected turns, rises, and falls. She flew out beyond the rest of the crowd's vision, leaving Carrot Top alone in a sea of hate.

Knight Days turned back to Carrot Top, captivating her once again. "Come out."

Carrot Top continued her walk, Knight Days moving out of the doorway to follow behind her, forcing her into the middle of the crowd. Everypony moved out ten feet from her, staring with disgust. The rancid smell of judgement had once again pervaded Carrot Top's nostrils, but ten times worse than what had just been coming off of Knight Days.

Knight Days stepped forward to confront her. "You want to know the reason behind our suspicion?" Carrot Top simply nodded, her head regaining that strange numbness she had felt before. Knight Days gave her a contemptuous stare, then raised his muzzle to the air, closing his eyes, seemingly taking a deep breath. He stayed like that for upwards of five minutes, the silence building and building, until finally, he let his head fall down, glaring at Carrot Top.

He spoke, and the silence was tipped on its head. He spoke loudly, but didn't shout. "Carrot Top. You've always been different from everypony else. This is something far too obvious for anypony to deny. This odd fascination you have with mares and no known interest in stallions is only more proof. It's weird. You're weird. What else is there to know on that part?

"There's also the main issue at hand... The drought. Nopony can grow anything. That is, unless it's done under you. How exactly would it be possible for Sweet Apple Acres to have zero productivity on the same soil you thrive on? You have no unicorns to help you, you're under the same water restrictions as everypony else, and every kind of fertilizer has been tried. They've all been tried for every kind of crop, from every kind of pony, and nopony but you could grow anything worth selling. The only thing everypony hasn't tried is what any sensible pony would turn away from, but you must indeed embrace it, considering your success."

He lifted his head again, but kept his eyes on Carrot Top. He grinned and simply stated, "Witchcraft."

There was bone-chilling silence, the kind where a pin dropping on the dusty ground would sound loud, until a mare somewhere in the crowd cried out, "Kill the witch! Kill her, Knight Days!"

The rest of the crowd began to shuffle and move around uneasily. Knight Days just stood and watched his followers as they began to move more and more until they were finally stomping on the ground, shouting random phrases, snippets of which Carrot Top could make out.

"Kill!"

"Witch!"

"Tyranny!"

"Weight!'

"Poverty!"

Carrot Top's head buzzed, feeling faint, not sure if her hooves would give out or not. She blinked a few times, and when she could focus enough, she saw Knight Days was moving in closer to her, going in for the kill.

"Stop!"

It had been so sudden, she hadn't realized she had actually yelled at them. The crowd's shouts had suddenly gone down to a murmur, and she found them all staring in at her. Carrot Top became overwhelmed, and almost fainted, but caught herself.
Somepony yelled, "Well, get on with it!"

Carrot Top blinked. She collected her thoughts and began to speak her defense, putting her right hoof forward.

"Everypony, I can't believe that this has escalated to this height. First of all, I'd like to say I'm not a lesbian, and neither is Derpy, and even if we were, to commit a hate crime of this degree is terrible! If Celestia were to see or hear any notion of something like this going down, may your soul be blessed. There's nothing wrong with having an odd preference in who you spend your time with either, and to see each and every one of you condemn Derpy and me like this is a terrible, terrible day for Equestria. Besides, do you think I could get a second glance from a stallion with the rumors you fly around? Derpy's the only one in town who's given me kindness throughout this drought, and everypony knows that one cannot live in complete exile without going mad!

"And on the matter of being a witch... It has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You've just been discriminating against me because I'm the last agricultural pony in Ponyville, and I've managed to thrive. The talent for growing was passed down from my mother, and her father before her, which is something you can't just ignore!"

There was a moment of silence while she stopped to catch her breath. She hadn't noticed, but her voice had risen to a shout. She was genuinely angry.

Somepony else from the crowd asked, "What about Sweet Apple Acres? Apples have been here since Granny Smith, Big Macintosh and Applejack even had apple-related cutie marks. How could you say a thing like having inherited farming powers when they had the same thing and failed?"

Another pony said, "Yeah!"

They all began agreeing, and moving in closer, and Carrot Top had to scream again to get their attention. "Listen to me! I'm not saying Applejack and Big Macintosh didn't and don't have farming talents, or that they didn't do what they could with the soil and the trees, but for some reason, it just didn't work, and when I came along and took out the dead stumps and planted my seeds, they lived. It was simply that. No witchcraft! Just great workers, love, and tender care to each plant. That's all it was, and all it is!"

Everypony was silent, until suddenly, Knight Days said, "Yeah, right. Just excuses. It doesn't work for me."

"Get her!"

"Get the witch!"

"Do you have the rope?"

"No, I've got the matches."

They began to clamor in around her, surrounding her. Knight Days grinned and laughed maniacally as the sun behind him finally dipped below the horizon.

Carrot Top pulled away from one pony who had grabbed at her leg. Another tried for her head, and she shrieked, tears running down her eyes, "Stop it! I'm innocent!"

She broke away from the crowd, who pursued her with fiery passion. Frantic, she ran off towards the carrot fields. Galloping quickly through the different trenches, she knew that she'd be able to lose them. Mares and stallions and colts and fillies' chattering and shouting all surrounded her. Suddenly, a voice broke through the balloon of noise.

"Carrot Top!"

Carrot Top looked above her to see the gray pegasus Derpy flying and guiding her. Relieved, she cried out, "Oh, Derpy! Please tell me somepony, anypony is coming to help!"

Derpy shouted back, "Nopony would even talk to me! When I tried to talk to ponies, they'd turn away and just ignore me!"

Carrot Top suddenly felt a great sense of dread. "Derpy, what are you saying!?"

"Nopony wants to help us!" Derpy's voice shook and she took a sudden dip to the left, but corrected herself just as Carrot Top took a left turn amongst the maze of carrot plants. "Nopony's coming, Carrot Top." A single sob escaped.

Carrot Top knew it was over then. She wouldn't live. She knew what was going to happen, barely missing tripping over her own hooves. Looking up, Derpy was looking back down at her, golden eyes crossed as usual, but now had shimmering tears dripping down and flying back, lost to inertia.

Carrot Top stammered a little bit. "Derpy, you listen to me. You need to leave, Derpy!"

Derpy gasped and shouted, "No!"

Carrot Top turned left, a few more tears blurring her vision. "Derpy, if you don't leave they'll kill you, and I refuse to let you die because of our friendship. I refuse to be responsible for that!" She blinked and a few of her own tears were lost to inertia as well. "Escape, Derpy! Go to Canterlot, or Cloudsdale, or maybe even Manehatten! I remember you saying that you wanted to go there someday, so leave me and go!"

Derpy shook her head. "No! I live here, you're my friend, I won't leave you! I'll get out of this with you!"

"Derpy, I'm not gonna make it!" Carrot Top openly sobbed. "You're not strong enough to fly me out, but you can live, so just get out of here!"

Derpy began to retort when suddenly she was tackled out of the sky by a pegasus so fast they had appeared as a blur. Carrot Top choked out, "Derpy!" She rounded a corner and found three ponies waiting for her. She skidded to a halt and turned around and saw that she was backed into a corner. The dirt trenches were at least five feet high, not to mention the actual leaves were a foot tall and extremely dense, so if she managed to climb up the steep wall of soil, she would easily get tangled. From there, she'd be easy pickings for any pegasi left.

She was backed into the corner, and the three ponies grinned and moved closer. One, a periwinkle stallion with a malicious grin, began utilizing his unicorn magic. He moved closer as the dark red colt and magenta mare nodded at each other. The mare, being a pegasus, flew off.

Suddenly, Carrot Top felt something poke at her back hoof, and saw that a vine was creeping up her leg. She panicked, screaming, and kicked her leg so that the vine snapped. The stallion simply grinned wider as his horn glowed bright blue and a rock the size of a baseball suddenly hit Carrot Top's backside. She winced and backed up until she was right up against the trench.

The stallion began chuckling, as if this was all just a vaguely funny TV show. The rock began hitting her in new places, and she began crying out with every thud. When she was covering her head and tears were streaming down her eyes, more ponies had gathered to watch, and Knight Days pushed his way through the crowd. When he saw Carrot Top, who was beginning to become speckled with bruises, he simply stated, "Enough."

The rock dropped onto the ground next to her. She opened up an eye, then another, and shakily stood up. Knight Days looked contemptuously at her, then simply nodded. "It's time to kill the witch."

The crowd behind him rejoiced, hooves flying everywhere, while she heard Derpy scream from the back. Carrot Top watched as they began approaching, and began to panic again. Knight Days, his eyes shining, moved closer and closer, the jubilation getting louder and louder, until he was less than a foot from her. She squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

With an unknown power coursing through her veins, she instinctively threw her hooves up and stomped them back down, and with a great release, everypony but her was suddenly knocked off their feet.

She sat there, staring. They had all toppled over so easily, as if they were twigs and she had been a great wind or the swipe of a hoof. She raised a hoof up to her face, looking at it. It didn't look any different than before, nor did it feel any different. She didn't feel different, either. Just scared.

Looking around, she noticed everypony and their signs, "Witch!" "Where are the apples?" and their torches and pitchforks, all lying about, the flames snuffed out by dry ground. She watched the smoke rise and twist in the gentle breeze. It held her for a moment as she wondered how something so beautiful could turn to be so twisted a symbol. Oh, how it enraptured her so.

Knight Days, who was crumpled before her feet, groaned, then looked up to see her standing over him. He gave a squeak, expecting his end, when she simply tilted her head to the right and offered her hoof.

He stared at it as if she were handing him something obscene. He struggled for words. "What... What is this? How did you do that?"

A pony buried underneath another said weakly, "Witch...!"

Knight Days gawked at her from his position. "No. You're not a witch, are you?" He glanced briefly at the hoof Carrot Top had been offering. "Even after we..." He trailed off.

Carrot Top simply smiled. "It's alright. I forgive you."

It was then that she understood what had just happened. Twilight Sparkle, who thankfully was not there in the mob, had talked about everypony, unicorn or not, having magic of the heart. Most never used it in their lifetimes, but it activated sometimes. This must have been what had saved her. She was just grateful to be alive at that moment.

As Knight Days hesitantly took the offered hoof, she helped pull him up, and he stared incredulously at her. The full moon had begun to shine and cast her face into an odd shade of pale yellow, leaving her to seem mysterious. She just smiled and nodded.

The incident had left all of Equestria shellshocked. Very few had heard of the notion of earth ponies using magic, and most dismissed it and thought it was further confirmation of Carrot Top being a witch. The entirety of Ponyville had fallen in love with Carrot Top, and she never saw any trouble from them after the incident. Business continued booming in the local shop, and of course in places such as Los Pegasus and Apploosa; where there weren't many other options, business boomed there as well.

The six months that followed afterwards were possibly the best and worst months of her life. The nights were full of horrible night terrors, where she dreamed of being chased in her carrot fields like she had in a previous life. Sometimes she would trip and be pelted with rocks and stones until she woke up with ghostly pains in her back and head. Other times, she would be grabbed up by her own plants and as she was devoured the periwinkle stallion would simply smile at her. These night terrors constantly drove her to alcoholic reconciliation during the day hours.

The day hours consisted of managing the farm (with a few drinks in between shifts), running the local store (a few drinks needed after whiny or indecisive customers), and then by the end of the day, she was off to parties and events with her various suitors (where she then drank herself silly). Derpy, of course, was right beside her the entire time, even having a few boys to go on dates with her ("Your crossed eyes are cute, Derpy, I love them!"). Mornings, of course, would begin with a headache.

Life stayed in this cycle, sleep, wake, drink, party, repeat, for Carrot Top. She wasn't exactly satisfied with it, thinking of her mother and father preaching that alcohol was the sin, and knowing secretly why it was she turned to the drink. She told herself that this kind of existence must be better than the one she had followed as a younger mare. Now, she was full of opportunity in more than just growing vegetables. However much she felt like denying it, it wasn't something she enjoyed, but despite it all, it never really put her in trouble.

It wasn't until late March that the true trouble began arising again.

The dew had just began forming when Carrot Top awoke from one of her many night terrors, rubbing a long-gone bruise on her flank, when she heard the commotion from outside of her house. Getting up and brushing her orange mane from her face, she brought herself to look out of the window outlooking the front of her house where two large groups formed.

One seemed to be protecting the front of her house; she recognized almost all of them as citizens of Ponyville. The other group, she noticed, had one or two Canterlot elites, and other ponies she didn't know. Clutching at her chest, she felt like she was going to have a heart attack. They have to be here thinking I'm a witch. That's all it's got to be.

Quickly fixing up her hair, she stepped out onto her front porch. She recognized Knight Days, who was standing at the forefront of the Ponyville group. He was shouting the end of a sentence when the leader of the alien group, a lavender unicorn, reached out and smacked him aside. He landed with a thud, and a gust of breath escaped him with an "oof."

There was a moment of confusion as everypony stared at Knight Days. He was out cold. As everypony realized this, they began to collide and create chaos. Yelling, grunting, blood, and spit were suddenly flying, and Carrot Top felt like collapsing. At least Derpy wasn't here this time.

With stunning force, she screamed at them, "STOP!"

There was silence as they all paused to look up at Carrot Top. Apple Bloom broke away from her enemy and started towards her, saying, "Carrot Top, they're here saying you're a witch! They're gonna burn down the farm! They're gonna destroy the last agricultural livelihood any of us have!"

Carrot Top held up a hoof to silence her. "No, Apple Bloom. They aren't going to burn any farms." She put down her hoof and found the eyes of the lavender unicorn. "Sir, do not burn down my farm. Destroying it would destroy our economy and condemn many to starvation."

He sneered, "And what do you have to order us around with?"

"My compliance."

Ponyville's citizens all cried out.

"No!"

"She can't just give up!"

"She's a star, not a witch!"

"Carrot Top, no, we can't do it without you!"

Carrot Top held her hoof up again, and silence was reached. "I am no witch, but I will not tolerate to have these hooligans come in and destroy everything I've worked for my entire life. By sacrificing my life, you all may have yours, but first..." She stared deep into the lavender unicorn's eyes. "I must have your word that neither you nor your group members will touch my crops, not even my own personal garden out back."

The lavender unicorn's mouth rose up at one corner. "I absolutely promise that we will not touch a single plant on this foundation provided you give yourself up." He added, "And making yourself a martyr won't change a thing to the rest of Equestria's eyes."

Carrot Top nodded and turned to Apple Bloom. "It's been in your family as it has mine. Apple Bloom, this farm is now yours, whether you wish to sell it, grow it, or burn it to the ground, it's yours."

Apple Bloom simply nodded, tears falling out of her eyes.

The lavender unicorn and two mares flanking him stepped through the crowd, carrying rope, wood, and two torches. Stirring on the ground, Knight Days raised his head and mumbled something incoherent. Carrot Top said sadly, "Knight Days, thank you for your support. Please tell Derpy thank you for always being my friend and ally."

Knight Days blinked and tried to push himself up but collapsed. "No, Carrot Top, don't..." He trailed off.

Carrot Top turned and re-entered her house. The lavender unicorn introduced himself briefly as Coil, but the mares remained silent in loathing. Coil stated grimly, "Go upstairs. Your deathbed shall be your bedroom."

Carrot Top simply nodded. Looking around, she knew that this was the last time she'd see any of this. It was the last time anypony would see her living room and the few surviving pictures of her parents and the brother who had died as a baby.

As she climbed the stairs, Coil continued speaking. "You know that all of Equestria thinks you're a witch. What you did back in September was something nopony could ignore as witchcraft. After one night, a town that hated you suddenly adored you. It wasn't natural, just like you aren't natural." He took one look at Carrot Top's figure from behind, then a portrait of her hung up on the stairwell wall. "It's a damn shame, really. All of that drinking really did a work on your body, and especially your face. You seem so much more older than what was shown in the news."

Her throat was dry, so she simply croaked back, "You don't need to insult me. It's my own doing, I understood fully what it would do. These repercussions were necessary to stop the emotional pain of what happened in September." She swallowed a small bit of saliva and continued to speak. "Can you imagine, being chased through the carrot fields, being told that an entire town had abandoned you? To be stoned and to be condemned? To see your only friend being tackled from the sky? It isn't something you just pick up and move on with."

Coil grunted, and they reached the front of her bedroom. Carrot Top swung the door open to be directed to sit down in her desk chair.

One of the mares asked, "Keep a diary?"

Carrot Top pulled it out of her desk drawer and handed it to her. The mare thanked her.

Coil grabbed it from her, and she protested, but he stated, "We already know her secrets. We don't need a diary to see them." He used his unicorn magic to hold the diary over a flame, watching as the fire licked up the sides and made the pages inside darken and curl as they turned to ash. Carrot Top stared on, indifferent. When the diary had finished burning, it was dropped at her feet. She looked up and Coil grimaced as he tied her to her seat. "Just a precaution, you understand. Can't have you running off and changing your mind."

Carrot Top didn't really know what she was thinking. Her face remained a blank, her eyes half-lidded as she stared but didn't see the wall. Her brain's gears, she silently surmised, were working so fast that she couldn't keep up with them. Just stay strong. You're going to be with Mom and Dad and little Kale.

Coil stood back, satisfied with his work. "Any last words?"

Carrot Top blinked once or twice, and said, "The stars of heaven are calling me home, and I'll make sure you never see them again."

Coil simply snorted and left the room. One mare, the one holding the wood, piled it up around Carrot Top's feet, and with a sob looked up at her with pleading eyes. Carrot Top knew what she was thinking and stared and her and the other mare, the one who had asked for her diary, and said, "You as well. I don't care what your regrets are now. To be lead and to not think for oneself in condemning another is one of the worst sins you may commit."

Both mares ran out sobbing.

Outside, Coil used his unicorn magic to run the torches all along the sides of the house, watching as the materials caught fire satisfyingly. Half of the group outside began to cry, the other cheering. Some of them fell to their knees, and some of them jumped for joy. There was a large division in the saddening scene.

The flames began to travel upwards and inwards, the living room seen to be an inferno through the front window. The heavy musk of smoke was thick in the air, sending signals to all those who cared to turn their eyes to the sky to notice the dark cloud looming over Ponyville. As the windows broke out and the crackling of the conflagration reached their peak, an eerie scream was heard from the top floor.

Carrot Top. That's Carrot Top's scream.

Apple Bloom, amongst a few others, openly wailed and sobbed at the last shriek, but were stopped when they saw something they thought could never happen.

Just as the flames had climbed up above the darkened abode and the scream had been heard, a bright white lights flew out of the window, hovered for a second, and flew up into the sky. It stretched out, lighting all of Equestria for one shining moment. Once the light faded out, the wind began to gust powerfully, and overhead, dark clouds began to form.

As the flames began to die down little by little, rain started to fall, first a gentle drizzle, but then it worked itself into a deep downpour that covered most of Ponyville. Coil, amongst the rejoicing and the weeping, began to laugh. Just like the storm, it started off small and inconceivable as his snow-white mane stuck to his neck, but turned into a cackle that would echo through the ages when he lifted his head and his horn acted as a lightning rod. He fell to the ground, charred, and the two mares that had accompanied him into Carrot Top's house screamed and began crying.

One ran into the house and the other followed as it collapsed in on itself. Neither ponies were seen again.

It was a year later and the drought had finally officially ended. Apple Bloom, who rebuilt the house Carrot Top had been burned in, decided to split up Danver Family Farms between carrots, onions, apples, and peaches. The personal garden in the back, though, always remained. The flames of the fire that killed Carrot Top never touched a single plant, and Apple Bloom preserved it, sometimes walking through and admiring the beauty.

As Ponyville expanded, Apple Bloom and Applejack (who had taken partial responsibility over the farm when asked to) decided to erect a statue to Carrot Top. It was a simple marble rendition of Carrot Top standing and looking up valiantly at the sky, located in a main square. Most of the citizens of Ponyville, after a while, forgot her and what she did, but every time Apple Bloom or Knight Days or Derpy passed her statue, they took a mental pause to relive Carrot Top's twinkling eyes or her hearty laughter.

A/N: I know for a fact that there already is a fanfiction titled "Beyond her Garden," but I haven't read any of it, so any similarities other than the obvious (the fact that we were both inspired by the song "Beyond Her Garden"/"Beyond Her Tomb") are pure coincidence.

Before I heard "Beyond Her Tomb" I was never inspired to write fanfiction for the My Little Pony fandom (which is a bit odd for me) so I'm hoping this turns out to be as good for you as it did for me in my mind. I'd like to thank all of the bronies, pegasisters, and all of the talented artists behind "Beyond Her Garden" and "Beyond her Tomb." You're all very talented, and to be honest, it makes me a little jealous! I'd also like to thank Izthulu for persuading me to watch that first episode when I said that I couldn't. You changed my life for the better.

I really really really love reviews. Tell me if it sucked. Tell me if it was awesome. I just wanna know, ok?

I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction (excluding those who I make up on the fly and will likely never have a true spot in the fandom, any similarities between these ponies and your OC ponies are pure coincidence), "Beyond Her Tomb," or anything else that I just so happen to "borrow" for this fanfiction.