//------------------------------//
// 3. The Rock Farm 
// Story: The Rock Farmer's Daughters 
// by Sketcha-Holic 
//------------------------------//

Once Pinkamena crossed the tracks, all the chatter of the townsfolk, the clopping of their hooves, and the squeaks of wheels from other carts went silent. She knew that the ponies were still talking; it was just that she couldn't hear them anymore. She didn't even slow down to ponder this; she didn't need to. All she could hear were the steady clops of her own four hooves and the faint squeaks she heard from the wheels.

She plodded along the dirt road that led home, spotting the first few rocks of the farm appear beside it. Those few heralded the appearance of a dozen more rocks ahead, and that dozen heralded the appearance of around fifty more rocks. The fifty led to a hundred; a hundred to a thousand. Pinkamena looked straight forward, the jawbreaker she purchased still dissolving in her mouth, having seen the army of rocks many times before. Living among rocks all her life did that to her.

She was still a little miffed that a group of smelly riffraff had been snatching food from the cart like simple popcorn. Had they not scrammed when she commanded them to, she was certain that her nasty side would have manifested. Luckily, just kicking one of them was enough to scare those sorry excuses for stallions off.

There was no doubt in her mind that they'd harass that Cheese fellow some more upon bumping into him. One look at his lanky build, need for glasses, and mellow demeanor told her that he was easy pickings. They wouldn't care if he was working or not; they'd pounce on him the moment he was alone.

It wasn't any of her business, anyway. He was just the event the gang was snacking on her cart for.

The rock farm came into view, and Pinkmena crushed her jawbreaker between her teeth. At least she had enough food for her family, who she could see rolling the rocks around. She quickened her pace to a trot, expecting her father to be at the least very annoyed that she had taken so long.

The road was getting bumpy now, and the rickety jerking from the cart was enough to prove it. She maneuvered the rock field easily, her hooves wrapped in an evasive dance as she looked forward. The shaking cart behind her bothered her little, and her only worry was whether or not the food would stay in.

Pinkamena saw her sister Limestone's head jerk up, and the gray-blue mare stared in her direction, blinking her wide eyes. She ran to her mother and tapped her on the withers, getting the older mare's attention and informing her of her pink daughter's return. Cloudy shouted at the others to inform them, and Igneous, Maud, and Marble paused their work, turning their heads in Pinkamena's direction.

Pinkamena pulled the cart until she was in front of the house. Once she had stopped, she unhitched herself, and walked to the side of the cart. Her family was now walking silently toward her, giving her the usual dull stares. She could see no trace of emotion so far, but she still expected a lecture from her father.

They stopped just short of her. Her sisters stared at her while her parents scrutinized the cart and its contents. They glanced between each of the dry goods, fruits, and vegetables, and took a deep whiff of the food. Instead of the usual satisfied snort, however, both Cloudy and Igneous pulled odd expressions, and turned to Pinkamena.

"Pinkamena…" Cloudy asked. "Do you mind telling us what that smell is?"

Great, thought Pinkamena. I carried the smell of the riffraff home. With a sigh, she answered, "Ran into some trouble with a gang of stallions. They took some of the food before I was able to scare them off."

Igneous' eyes narrowed. "Did they try to flirt?"

Pinkamena wanted to shudder at that thought. Cortland trying to hit on her was bad enough, but at least he bathed and had a clean streak regarding the law. Besides, the gang was a little too busy picking on the gangly Cheese.

"No, I was too scary for them," she answered.

"Good," Igneous grumbled. "I don't want filth like that touching any of my daughters. Who raised those colts, anyway? I swear, if I had a son, I'd have him whipped into shape and showin' slimeballs like them what a real stallion is."

Pinkamena, Marble, and Limestone rolled their eyes, and Maud only blinked.

Igneous took notice of sand sticking to the wheels, and added, "And they better not have licked the wheels…"

"Igneous, calm down," Cloudy said, holding up a cabbage with a large bite mark in it. "I found the cabbage making that smell."

Igneous snorted, turned to Pinkamena, and said, "Young mare, what kind of negligence were you up to for some rowdy colts to steal some of our food, anyway? Did you stop to chat with the Apple stallion taking an interest in you?"

Pinkamena stood there, her dull yet sour expression unchanging. Yes, Cortland did come her way to chat, but that wasn't what distracted her. After all, she trained herself to ignore him when he began one of his bragging sessions. However, she didn't dare tell her parents about her stop at the candy shop. They might not allow her to visit it again if she did.

"Yes, Pa, he talked to me," she said simply. "It was a short conversation."

"But it was long enough for some food to get stolen!" Igneous snapped. "Had that conversation of yours gone on longer, the cart would have been emptied long before you noticed! You'd have to restock, and that would waste bits that we need to keep this farm running! Now, I do not want to hear any more about any conversations that you have with any stallion, and the next time you go to town, you do your job, and only your job! Do I make myself clear?"

Pinkamena blinked, and bobbed her head. "Yes, Pa."

"Well, then," Cloudy said, pulling a bag of flour from the cart. "Now that that discussion is over, let's get our groceries inside, and use the cart for hauling the rocks."





"Ohoho my! I never realized that you had such curly hair, Mr. Sandwich!" Sugar Glider chortled, attempting to brush her guest's mane.

"Well…" Cheese said. "Those curls just come naturally."

"Oh, I can tell." Sugar set the brush down and stood back. Cheese was completely dry from the bath he had received earlier, which had left him spot free. While his mane dried, he had taken the time to eat lunch and take a well overdue nap, and Sugar was more than happy to wash his poncho and clean his glasses while he did so. She didn't mind the break from manning the counter at the candy shop. Lemon Drop could handle the job alone, as he proved when she had first met him.

Now, she was taking a good look at the now clean, young stallion. His coat was brighter now that the dust was gone, and much of the weariness he had held had disappeared. His mane was a jungle, but the look quite suited him. And the glasses he wore were clear enough to expose the gradients in his brilliant chartreuse eyes. From what she could tell, he was presentable enough for any employer in town.

He smiled warmly at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but once he looked at his body, his face fell, and he fell back on his haunches. He covered his chest with his forelegs, and his hind legs covered below that area. His face turned beet red as he squeaked, "I feel naked."

Sugar chuckled. "I'm sorry, but your poncho is not dry yet."

"Can I wear something?"

"All the stallion clothing we have right now is a little big for you. Besides, it wasn't a big deal before. After all, not everypony wears clothes."

"I was tired earlier, Sugar Glider. I just… feel strange and wrong without my poncho… especially in front of a mare…"

"Well…" Sugar tapped her chin and left the room. When she returned, she tossed a blue rain poncho at him. She continued, "I know, I know, it's not raining today. But you only have to wear it until yours dries, which won't be too long."

Cheese blinked at her, and slipped the rain poncho on. "Thank you."

Sugar smiled warmly. "It's no problem. Come, let's talk in the living room."

Sugar trotted down the stairs, followed by Cheese. The pegasus sat on a comfortable-looking rocking chair, while Cheese sat on the couch. He watched as she fidgeted around, trying to get into a comfortable position with her bulging sides and her wings. He tried to imagine what it was like to be pregnant, and was thankful that as a stallion, he never would be.

Still, he didn't want Sugar to be uncomfortable, so he said, "Why don't you just sit on the couch?"

Sugar sighed and relented, taking her place on the other side of the couch. Once she got comfortable, her teal eyes looked up at Cheese, and she smiled at him.

"All righty then," she said. "Mr. Sandwich, what kind of job are you looking for in this town?"

Cheese shrugged. "I dunno. Anything's fine, really. Just something where I could earn enough bits to sustain me for a bit… and maybe a little extra to pay that pink mare for the vegetables that were stolen. Don't know how long it'd take, though…"

Sugar nodded. "I see."

"So… uh… are you and your husband hiring?"

Sugar frowned and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We aren't in need of extra help, not to mention we're saving as much money as we can for our foal."

"Oh, okay. When are you due?"

"In a couple of months."

"Well… congratulations. I'll probably be staying long enough to meet the little one."

"Well, good, I like you, you're such a sweetheart."

"Oh… well…" Cheese turned red once again.

"Hehehe, okay, let's get back to business. You could walk around town and see who's hiring. Or check out one of the farms, see if some extra hooves are needed on them. Just past the produce stalls, the Apple family has an orchard of, well, apples—"

The Apple family is everywhere, Cheese thought. Everywhere he went, there was a branch of the Apple family. Nearly every town he visited had an apple orchard owned by them, and he always had eaten at least one apple related food product by the time he left a town. He even remembered getting into a dispute with an Apple filly in Ponyville when he was a colt.

"—and on the other side of town, across the tracks and a ways away, the Pie family owns a rock farm."

A rock farm? Wait, didn't that pink mare say she lived on a rock farm? Cheese had no idea what a rock farm was for, or how anypony could grow rocks, but he figured he'd learn soon enough. After all, you learned something new each day.

"Wait a minute!" Sugar exclaimed, making him jump. "You said you were planning to earn a little extra to repay Pinkamena concerning the vegetables she lost."

"Uh, yeah?"

"Well, won't working at the rock farm be just as good?"

Cheese stared at Sugar's manic grin. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it and turned away. Putting a hoof on his chin for thought, he supposed that working on that rock farm was something to be considered. It could be his way of paying for the lost produce and a method of saying thanks for helping him.

But would they even hire him?





Perhaps it was better off that the sky was overcast at the farm. The Pie family was outside all day, rolling rocks into piles, organized by the type of rock they were and their given hardness. The piles were loaded into the cart, where they'd be hauled either to another part of the field or the storehouse. Large boulders were either chipped away with Igneous' pickaxe, or split apart by the impressive strength of his daughters. Dust was clinging to their sweaty coats, and the familiar tightness of working muscles manifested in their legs.

Maud had reduced her boulder to mere rubble with a series of rapid blows from her front hooves. She picked one piece up, and sniffed it, humming in a dull, yet satisfied tone. She walked to the cart and tossed the fragment into it, mentioning to Limestone, who had been pulling, "This rock is satisfactory. I'll load the other pieces in."

Igneous was at work on his own boulder, steadily swinging his pickaxe against it to further the cracks that had formed. Seeing his oldest daughter effortlessly make her boulder crumble sent aches from his withers and flanks to his ankles, and weariness began to lay heavy on his back. His mind flashed back to his younger days, when he could do the same thing that Maud had just done. Now, the pickaxe in his mouth did his work for him, who hadn't been able to split boulders with his hooves since his daughters were just fillies. With a sigh, he continued to swing his tool against the rock.

Cloudy hauled some of the rock piles onto the cart as Maud loaded her rocks in. Cloudy kept track of the colors of each of the piles. Maud's rocks were a gray-blue color, while Cloudy loaded in rocks of gray, brown, and dull green.

Pinkamena and Marble dug around a half-buried boulder. Their hooves scraped up the dirt around it quickly, and could feel the ground gradually loosen its grip on the rock. The large stone wiggled slightly, almost as if it had been tickled by the two sisters. The wiggling gave way to a greater shuddering as the sisters dug deeper, and was soon loose enough for it to be lifted out of the newly dug hole.

"Okay, Marble, on three."

"Okay."

"One… two… THREE!"

Igneous, Cloudy, Maud, and Limestone watched as a spherical rock was launched out of the hole, landing just outside it with a great thud and then rolling a few feet away. A few moments of silence passed before a great shriek came from the hole, and Marble shot out of the hole, her mane standing on end and her tail bristled like an abused paintbrush. She landed on her hindquarters, a wild look in her violet eyes.

The other four rushed by her side, making inquiries of what happened and if she was all right. Marble only stammered gibberish and began to chew at her tail.

Pinkamena's deadpan voice came from the hole. "Don't worry, Marble. It's only dead."

Igneous' head shot up, and he hollered, "Pinkamena! What spooked Marble?"

"Just a bunch of bones."

Igneous blinked. "What kind?"

"They look like pony bones to me. Did a murder happen here or something?"

Igneous looked in the hole, and grimaced. "Land sakes… Pinkamena, climb out of there!"

Pinkamena did as she was told. Once she had climbed out, she took a brief glance back in it, and then set her blue eyes back on her father. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what the big deal about the bones was.

Maud took a step forward, peeked into the hole, and muttered in a dull voice, "That's disturbing."

"Well, I'm not looking!" Cloudy declared. "Let's take a break and drink some water. We'll give Marble time to recover, and then we take care of those bones."

Igneous bobbed his head in response. A water break would be nice.





Pinkamena had her muzzle in the trough, taking in water with deep gulps. When it came to the Pie family, they were a really thirsty bunch when they had a busy day. They didn't settle for drinks in simple glasses; they had to have a large container of water ready for them when it was time for a break. Igneous had built a large trough for his family, which they were free to drink out of when thirsty. None of them cared if their neighbors in town thought it was weird; they didn't understand how refreshing it was.

Igneous and Pinkamena had the same habit of sticking their muzzles into the water and guzzling, surrounded by their family members, who were taking gentler sips. The other four would finish and wait for the two to stop their gulping and come up for air.

Igneous did so first, but his sudden movement of rising his head brought on an audible crack and he was brought down to his front knees, exclaiming in a strained voice, "Oh, my back!"

Cloudy looked at her husband and sighed, "Not again."

Pinkamena's head rose from the trough, her chin dripping, and she stared with her half-lidded eyes and raised eyebrow. She watched as her mother performed a strange motion with her hooves that resulted in another crack and a relieved sigh from her father.

However, from the corner of her eye, she spotted something orange.

She tilted her head to get a better look, resulting in some of her hair dipping into the water. As it turned out, the orange thing she saw was that skinny stallion from before. He and his poncho were clean, the glasses were so clear she could see the color of his eyes from her spot, and his mane and tail had dried into two messes of dark brown curls, the most prominent of the curls being a single forelock just above his forehead.

It's too early for him to pay for those vegetables, she thought. He shouldn't have earned enough in one day! And then her eyes widened in realization. Unless…

"Uh-um, excuse me?" the stallion called.

Igneous rose his head up and gave the stranger his best stone-faced stare. Cloudy, Marble, and Limestone looked at him curiously. Maud simply stared with her usual inexpressive face. And Pinkamena held a little frown and narrowed her eyes at him.

The orange pony cleared his throat, and asked, "Are you willing to hire an extra pony to work on your farm?"