Author's Notes:

Hello my fellow readers and writers alike!

I'm back and with a new chapter to boot! Now many of you might have read my blog saying I was gone for a while, but I'm back to the full swing of things!

So, now on with the chapter! Today we will see our favorite four-way couple as their lives continue with all the crazy shenanigans I can come up with!

*Hours later*

Trixie and Platinum were walking through Ponyville heading for home as the sun was beginning to set. The sky gave off a orange and violet mixture reminiscent of a grand painting. The colors blended perfectly together. The two mares were close together, almost touching, as they kept a brisk pace heading for home.

After a rude awakening, Trixie and the others decided to have a 'family' gathering later on in the evening. Trixie and her mate left shortly after agreeing to bring Mary and Maud with them to the gathering. But first they had to make it back home.

Ponies scowled at them and called Trixie a monster and spat at her as they past. Platinum scolded a group of fillies and colts for calling Trixie hurtful names, after which she had to tell off their parents who said similar things. While walking, Platinum took the time to vent her frustrations.

"I can't believe the nerve of these ponies!" she yelled stomping the ground as she walked. "And they wonder why foals are growing up to be such thugs these days?! This is exactly what I warned Silver Spoon about!"

As Platinum ranted on Trixie kept her eyes open for any trouble. A group of mares walked past them, pushing Trixie to the ground. One was a cream colored earth pony mare with a rose colored mane and a rose cutie mark, another was a pink earth pony mare with a curly green mane and a double daisy cutie mark. The last was a pink earth pony with a long blonde mane and tail with a triple lily cutie mark and a lily in her mane.

The three mares laughed at Trixie as she fell into the dirty road not even stopping to admire their work. Platinum cursed at them as they continued walking insulting Trixie as they did. Trixie stood up dusting herself off. Platinum continued to rant at the mares, having followed them to their nearby flower shop, from beside Trixie a voice called to her.

"Trixie, are you alright?" it said in a worried tone.

"Who-" Trixie turned to see Carrot Top running to her from her stand. "Carrot Top!"

The two ran up to together and hugged one another.

"Are you alright Trixie?" the yellow pony asked, looking her over. "You aren't hurt are you?"

"Trixie's fine." the blue unicorn replied, puffing her chest out with pride. "But they are some of the worst ponies Trixie has met yet."

Carrot Top looked at them as they snickered at something Platinum said to them. That was when they realized they were being enclosed by several ponies.

They heard scoffs and both looked to see the three flower mares giving them disgusted looks. Several ponies were now circling them and Platinum decided to stand beside Trixie. The ponies looked very angry. VERY angry. The silvery unicorn had never seen such animosity from Ponyville citizens before. They began to chatter among themselves, wondering what to do about Trixie and her 'associates'.

Both unicorns lit their horns preparing to defend themselves as the crowd closed in on them. Several had ropes, rocks, and other assortment of devices and foods ready to pitch them at a moment's notice. Before anypony knew what was going on a dark misty appeared around the three surrounded ponies. Screams of terror and yells echoed as ponies shoved one another aside to escape the terrifying mist.. Once it cleared the ponies were gone.

"Run!" Trixie's voice called through the smoke.

The two escaped unicorns and earth pony ran around a building into a dark alley where the sun didn't reach. From there they watched as the citizens of Ponyville, the more reasonable ones trying to stop them, as they rampaged over to Carrot Tops stand and demolished it. They heard several ponies yell that, "Carrot was with them!" and destroyed all her stock of carrots.

Once they finished they left very suddenly northward as a group. They surrounded a small hut that had a small garden in front surrounded by a little wooden gate. The ponies surrounded the hut and garden enclosing it. It was a simple hay and clay hut with a single wooden door and two windows at the front. Hanging over the entrance was a sign with a batch of carrots on it.

Then, without any hesitation, they began tearing it down and ripping out all the crops. Carrots flew across the street as earth ponies and unicorns alike tore them out from the soiled earth and stomping them. Others were tearing down the house and beat down the supports causing it to collapse in on itself.

Carrot Top all the while, cried as she tried pushing past Platinum and Trixie. She thrashed trying to get to her home but it was long gone. "My home! My carrots! NOOO! Let me go!" she sobbed, punching and kicking the two unicorns. "I have to save my home! My crops!"

"Carrot no! You can't they'll swarm you and do, Celestia knows what to you!" Trixie said trying to reason with the distraught earth pony.

Platinum held the mare around her waist, receiving kicks to her stomach and legs in response. "You can't go out there! Be reasonable, Carrot!"

"NO! I won't let them destroy everything I worked so hard for!" she yelled, turning to punch Platinum in the face. She pushed her hooves against the mares chest but was held firmly in place. All Carrot Top could do was watch. Watch as her livelihood was torn down before her very eyes. Years of cultivating and growth, all gone in the blink of an eye. After several minutes the ponies had finished their work and dispersed.

The carrot colored only cried in her friend's arms. She couldn't bare to watch as her entire life was literally destroyed. A few minutes later she and the two uncorks walked among the rubble of her destroyed house. The two unicorns watched as their friend traversed the stone rubble landscape, searching.

She had no more tears to shed, but she hiccuped as she ducked through the stone and wood. She stopped when she came across an old tattered leather book. She opened it and looked inside and quickly closed it. She continued to dig for sometime. Trixie and Platinum helped her find her old saddlebags and placed a few belongings, that weren't destroyed, into them. Once the search was complete they left the depressing sight and went towards Mary's house.

None of them spoke, Trixie was too concerned for the others safety to say anything. They slinked in the shadows and kept close to the alleys as they inched their way back home. The journey was long, but eventually they reached the safety of Mary's home. Luckily, she was there waiting.

Mary was just coming out to look for the two unicorns when they arrived from down the street. She smiled and trotted over to the group of mares, surprised to see Carrot Top with them.

"Trixie! Platinum! Where were you two? Maud and I were worried." she said, hugging the younger mares.

"Sorry Mary," Platinum started to say. "But we got held up. Let's get inside quickly." Trixie finished for the silver unicorn.

The two smaller ponies entered the house but Carrot Top remained outside. Mary walked up to her and sat beside her. "How are you Miss Carrot Top?" she asked her. "Are you doing well?"

"...No. I'm not." the carrot pony responded in a pitiful tone.

Mary lead the mare into her home, setting her into the couch. Maud was in the doorway closing it behind them after they entered. The grey pony greeted the new guest.

"Hello." she greeted Carrot in her monotone voice.

"Hello?" Carrot more or less asked, rather than greeted.

She'd never heard a pony speak in such a monotonous manner before. But she didn't care at this point. Her home was gone and she had nothing left but her friends and her book. Platinum walked up to Mary, while Trixie went to the room and began closing the windows and drew the curtains for each.

"We need to talk, Mary." Platinum said, looking over to Maud. "We need to talk as a group, actually. This involves all of us."

Trixie walked past them heading for the kitchen and closed all the windows bringing darkness to the home. Only the slightest traces of light shined through the window curtains. But otherwise the home was dark save for the candle light. The flames danced in the darkness like tiny fairies in a dark void, they were surprisingly entrancing to look at.

The ponies met in the living room under the cover of darkness. Carrot Top sat on the couch beside Platinum and Maud, while Trixie and Mary sat in chairs in front of them. The tan earth pony frowned at the two younger unicorns, while Maud simply stared at them patiently waiting.

"So, what's all this about?" Mary asked her mates. "You were suppose to be home a while ago. What kept you two? Decided to take the scenic route?"

Trixie and platinum looked over to Carrot who had her head hung low. Her orange mane covered part of her face barely lit by the candlelight. Platinum patted her on the back, enticing a crack of a smile from the mare. Trixie however, bore an aggravated look on her face.

"You wouldn't believe what the ponies of this town have done!" the blue mare yelled. "It was horrible!"

"Now Trixie, I know you're mad at your mother but Ponyville has some of the most responsible and respectable ponies in all of Equestria." The tan mare declared. "Surely, it wasn't that bad?"

Platinum looked up at Mary with a concerned look on her face. "Actually, Trixie's right Mary."

"What do you mean?" Maud asked looking at her.

"A group of ponies..." Platinum tried to talk but was still in shock from what had happened to say anything.

A brief silence followed. Then, a unheard voice startled everypony in the room. "They destroyed my home." it said.

All eyes turned to Carrot who still had her head low. A fresh batch of tears filled her eyes as she griped her book close to her chest.

Carrot Top, Trixie, and Platinum retold the other two mare so the events before and after they left Misty's trailer. They told them how they met up with Carrot Top and had to run for their lives from an angry mob that destroyed Carrot's home and how they had to sneak back home.

By the end Mary was absolutely livid.

"How dare they. HOW DARE THEY!" Mary screamed as loud as she could.

Everypony, except Maud, backed away from her as she circled around the room ranting to nopony in particular.

"How could they do this?! Why would they do this?" she asked looking out through one of the curtains. "I swear if I find out who is responsible I'll have the Royal Guard lock them away for this!"

She felt a slight tug at her side. She glanced over to see Trixie with a calm but warm expression. The blue unicorn hugged her mate pulling her into a kiss. Maud and Platinum held hooves, watching. Carrot looked away nervously scratching the back of her neck from the view of such unconditional love.

Once they broke apart, Trixie pressed her head against Mary's chest. She nuzzled her soft fur with her nose while she felt her mane being stroked. After a few minutes, they sat back down, Mary finally calm.

"I guess we'll need to make new living arrangements for you Carrot." she declared. "Do you have any place to stay for now?"

"No, I don't. My family lives south just before the Badlands." Carrot replied.

"Why do they live there?" Trixie asked her friend. "There's nothing there but desert."

Maud coughed before she had a chance to reply. She held her hoof over her mouth to get their attention, there was a small twinkle in her eyes, one that Trixie knew all too well. Lecture time. She thought staring at Maud. the other three just stared at her waiting to her what she had to say.

"Actually, little moon, there soil between Equestrias south lands and the Badlands is quite fertile." Maud walked over to a desk and pulled out her stuff. She looked through her saddlebags as she continued to speak. "I went on a survey there a few years back. I was a junior lead on an excavation team to study old ruins there."

She pulled her head out of the bags with a rolled up paper in her mouth. It was over 14 inches long and it was very old. The orange colored paper roll was torn and had burn marks on it. Maud brought it over to the table between them and unrolled it revealing an ancient map of Equestria, but still accurate to this date, minus most of the cities.

"This area of land is all farming towns and such." she said pointing to a small strip on the map. She slowly dragged her hoof across it as she gave them the details on the rich content of the soil there, making it the ideal place for farming. "It's so good that plants grown there are suppose to be the healthiest and most tasty of all food grown in Equestria."

Trixie made a small, oh, with her mouth as she put two and two together in her mind. "So, you're from a farming family too, Carrot Top?" she asked her friend.

'Yes, I am." Carrot replied proudly. The fur on her face matted with her drying tears. "I was born into the Carrot Clan, and like the Apple Clan we're proud of our heritage and the crop we specialize in growing."

"So, I'm taking a wild guess but do they by chance grow... carrots?" Platinum snickered as the carrot pony rolled her eyes.

"Yes. We do." Carrot looked over at Maud's map pointing to a small mountain range. It ran across the entire length of the border between the Badlands and Equestria, save for a small gap in the dead center.

"This is where my town was where I grew up." Carrot said, as all the others surrounded her to see. "It's called Saltmill Hills."

"Oh! Trixie's heard of this place!"

"It should Trixie." Maud said kissing her cheek. "We went there a while ago."

Trixie frowned at the memory. "Yes. Trixie hates that place."

"Hey!" Carrot turned to her friend with an offended look. "Don't go dissing my home town there Trixie!"

Trixie scoffed puffing her chest out. "That place is beneath the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She declared hopping on the table.

"Trixie, your arrogance is showing."
"Trixie, get off the table!"
"Little moon, please don't step on the ancient map."

Trixie, blushed stepping down, she dusted the maps gently with a sheepish grin, before taking her seat beside Maud. The grey mare stared at her before refolding the map. As she left to go put the map away, the conversation continued. Mary leaned on her chair pulling it beside Trixie and Platinum.

"So Carrot, where are you going to stay now?" she asked her.

"I guess I'll have to go back to my home town." Carrot Top replied looking down. "It's so heart breaking."

"My own friends called me out and basically turned on me. I can't believe Rose, Lily, and Daisy would turn on me so-"

"Wait wait wait!" Mary waved her hooves stopping them. "The flower trio? They did this to you three?!"

She received a series of nods.

"That's it!" Mary fumed smacking the arm of the chair. "I've had just about enough of ponies causing trouble in my town! there will be changes around here."

She stood up and walked over to her room and collected her glasses and a spare ascot she could wear. This one was pink with a white collar and a single button on the center.

She exited the room with a determined look on her face. "I'll be back later!" She said and trotted out the door without another word word, heading off into Ponyville.

The four remaining ponies watched as Mary stormed off. They then looked at each other.

"So, what now?" Carrot asked the three others present.

"Well, Trixie needs to write a letter to her mother," The unicorn said stretching from her seat.

She stood up and walked to her room where she wrote a brief letter apologizing to her mother for not being able to show up for dinner and a promise to make it up to her later. Once the letter was written, she used her massage candle to send it off and returned to see the others chatting.

Not stopping their talk, Trixie walked up to the couch and sat between Platinum and Maud. They instinctively wrapped their tails together with hers. Carrot Top watched as they connected their tails. She wondered if they were all together like a herd or something. Her thoughts went off into a tangent when she imagined the four mares doing very dirty things in bed. Catching herself before the thoughts took root, she shook them off.

"So, girls?" All eyes turned to Carrot. "Are you, are you all in a herd? Or something?" Carrot Top asked nervously.

None of them said anything but stared at her like she suggested they go jump off a cliff. They looked at each other, and thought hard about that. None of them had decided on how their relationship was going to work. They deeply loved each other, Mary included, but they never thought about calling themselves a herd. Though that was basically what they were. In silent agreement they nodded looking over to their yellow furred friend.

"Yes, we are a herd." Trixie said.

Maud nodded as Carrot nodded satisfied with her answer. But, Platinum had a concerned look on her face.

"Sorry Carrot, I know you aren't involved with us but if we are a herd, then who's the alpha in our herd?" Platinum asked her two present mates.

"Uh..."

"........"

"Mary." Maud replied without missing a beat.