The next couple of weeks were a couple of the longest of Cheese's life. Rocks were being moved, crushed, and sorted all day, every day. The "unripe" rocks both had to be hauled from one field to the next, and rolled out into even rows. Either Igneous or one of his daughters would do the hauling, while the rest rolled the rocks into their spaces. The small rocks were rolled along with their muzzles, until a nice spot was found so that the rock could ripen.
Cheese's neck often ached from bending down and rolling the rocks, and his legs hurt from lifting some of the larger ones into the cart. Each day found him soaked in sweat, covered in dust, and really thirsty. Every chance he had, he dunked his head into the watering trough, guzzling the water, to the point of attempting to breathe in it. He always shot right back up, coughing up a storm. Quite a few times, he forgot to take off his glasses before his drink, so he'd have to fish them out of the trough.
The Pies' noses told them that a lot of gems were growing in the rocks this season. Cheese still didn't quite understand the smells of each rock (if anything, they all smelled the same to him), so he took their word for it. Of course, he noticed that they seemed a bit more wary of… something, he didn't know what.
Though he ached when the day was done and dinner was still too quiet, he was happy when Marble and Limestone came in just before bed, ready to listen to a story. Cheese had many stories to share, and though neither girl smiled, he could tell that they were fascinated by his adventures. They gasped at the story of how the Santa Hooves in Canterlot tried to kill him, wrinkled their noses upon hearing of the time he was pelted with jellyfish, and were wide-eyed when he told of his encounter with vampire fruit bats.
What he didn't know was that Pinkamena was just as interested in the stories. She was just unwilling to let anypony know that, so she simply eavesdropped from behind the door, slipping away when somepony—inside or outside the room—was coming.
That was the routine, aside from housework, cooking, and collecting firewood. Cheese figured that each day would be this tedious, with the only exception being his tales told to two of the Pie sisters.
This morning, however, heralded something a little different, as he was startled awake by loud, colorful language coming from Igneous Rock outside. The scene consisted of the skinny stallion stumbling out of bed, getting his hind leg tangled in the quilt, and hitting his head on the floor. Stars twinkled around his head as the world spun, and Igneous' curses were garbled in his ears, mixing with rapid hoofsteps outside his door.
His door was kicked open by Pinkamena. She found her grandmother's quilt wrapped around the leg of a dazed Cheese Sandwich, blinking his eyes one at a time and laying down like a dog wanting a belly rub. She stepped closer, sighing in exasperation, as she had to untangle him.
As she freed his leg, Cheese sputtered, "Squid hat is going to the hardware store…"
"No, you're not," Pinkamena replied.
"But I don't know what I'm singing!"
Igneous was storming out of the barn when the others had come outside. His loud curses had decreased in volume to just under his breath, but the way he chomped at his strand of wheat indicated that he hadn't completely cooled down. Cloudy and the girls kept their distance, and Cheese was wise to take the unspoken advice.
Igneous looked up at them with a furrowed brow and tight lips. Nopony flinched, although Cheese had glanced in a different direction to avoid his gaze. All braced themselves for whatever Igneous had to say.
"Somepony…" Igneous growled, flaring his nostrils. "…broke into the barn, stole our rocks, popped the wheels off our cart, and snapped every tool we have into pieces!"
Only Maud remained passive as the others were wide-eyed. They took a brief glance at the door, where a broken lock was hanging. Igneous pointed inside the barn, saying with gritted teeth, "Take a look if you don't believe me."
The group went in, and sure enough, all that was in there was a pile of broken tools and the de-wheeled cart. The pickaxes, the hammers, the chisels, as well as many others, were reduced to scrap metal and splinters, and bent nails and screws littered the ground around them.
"Oh, my…" Cloudy whispered.
Igneous snorted, and ordered, "Maud, Pinkamena, get your bags. We're going to town to replace these tools. The rest of you watch the farm while we're gone." Igneous looked at Cheese and said, "Your payment's going to have to wait. We need the money to replace what's been damaged."
Cheese nodded. "I understand."
As the others made their way back to the house, Cheese stared at the pile, wondering who in Equestria would break into a barn just to vandalize property and steal a bunch of rocks. It wasn't as if the Pie family had any enemies, right?
Once Igneous, Maud, and Pinkamena had left, the remaining four walked in the rock fields, checking to make sure the rocks hadn't been disturbed and if any had ripened. The girls bent down and sniffed, and would move on to the next one, instinctively tossing a ripe rock into their saddlebags and bypassing the unripe ones. Cheese smelled the rocks as well, still finding that they all smelled the same to him.
He sighed. What kind of scent am I supposed to detect anyway?
He plodded behind the girls, who continued checking each rock one by one. He could hear each snort and nicker they made, and they kept a steady pace as they collected ripe rocks. As he watched them, he wondered why he had bothered to come along when he was near useless at this task.
Marble glanced at him, stopped, and then backed up until she was right beside him. Now walking at his pace, she said to him, "You know, you could just tell another one of your stories."
Cheese looked at her. "Huh?"
Limestone backed up to join them, and added, "Yeah, you can pass the time with one of your tales."
"Uh, now? But, your mother is right there."
"We know that. Who's to say she'll disapprove of you recounting one of those adventures you've had?"
Cloudy stopped in her tracks and gave the girls an odd look. "Marble? Limestone? What the hay are you talking about?"
"Ma, Cheese is a traveler," Marble said. "He's been wandering Equestria since he was a colt, and has had plenty of adventures, and you know that adventures make great stories."
Cloudy huffed. "I bet they're tall tales."
"Oh, Ma," Limestone drawled. "I'm sure you've heard that real life is stranger than fiction."
"Then I suppose he has encountered weather that literally rained cats and dogs."
Cheese raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no. Unless pegasi sucked them up in a tornado and sent them to their weather factory to be put in clouds, I don't think we'll see any cat and dog weather."
"Huh." Cloudy sniffed another rock, and threw it into her bag. "You've been travelling since you were a colt, Mr. Sandwich? Why didn't your parents try to stop you?"
Cheese felt a chill grip his heart and he was frozen in his tracks. The pangs of loneliness that had hit him in his colthood were hitting him again, and he heard steady tick-tocks echoing in his head. He felt like he was sinking, and that cinderblocks were glued to his hooves. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from the girls, a deep shame swelling within him.
Marble tapped him on his withers. "Hey… you all right?"
Cheese took a deep breath, and let it out in a long exhale. "…I'll be fine."
That's when they heard the sound of a small collapse. There was the crumble of dirt, the hissing of sliding sand, and a comical pop as if a gopher had emerged. A couple more pops followed, prompting each pony in the small group to whirl around to face whatever had come.
Three large and dirty creatures had emerged from the hole, looking around the field with their backs turned to the ponies. Their fur colors were all muted grays and browns, and they wore vests of faded maroon, dark gray, and tan. From where the ponies stood, they could hear snickers.
"Ooo-hoo hoo! It looks like they left the farm to replace those tools!" one of them said.
"Getting Hank to help this season was genius! Genius I say!" another replied.
"Ehehe, I smell a lovely assortment of gems in this field, and we shall collect before they return!" the third said.
As the creatures crawled out of their hole, all the ponies adopted glares toward the trespassers. Cloudy stepped forward and loudly cleared her throat. The ears of the creatures twitched, and they spun around to meet the glares of the ponies. The Pies and Cheese could now see that they had canine features, though with flatter faces and bugged-out eyes compared to domesticated dogs. The eyes were especially larger with the realization that they were not alone.
"Buddy, Rider, Bailey… haven't seen you three in a while," Cloudy said, clearly unenthused. "Are you here to steal our rocks again or kidnap one of my daughters?"
The trio swept their eyes across the group, noting the presence of the mother and two of the Pie girls, as well as the absence of the father and the other two. They all looked at Cheese, and one of them pointed at him.
"Can we kidnap the tall mare?"
Cheese flushed red instantly, out of a mixture of embarrassment and irritation. Do I even look like a mare? he thought. This was the first time he had been confused for the wrong gender, and he sure did not want it to happen again.
Cloudy shook her head. "You're not very bright, are you?"
The tallest one stomped forward, growling at her. "You's saying we're not smart?"
"Yes, and I'm going to ask you to leave."
"What if we don't want to?"
Cloudy glanced at Limestone and Marble, and then resumed speaking to the dog. "I don't have to remind you how strong rock farmers are, do I? Even with Igneous, Maud, and Pinkamena absent, we can still drive you off."
"Even that thin one?"
She glanced at Cheese, who was utterly confused at the situation at hoof, but still clearly miffed at being called a mare. Slightly unsure, she said, "You willing to find out?"
The other two hopped forward, giggling like mad. The tallest laughed and said, "Come on, Cloudy. We've been working out, and we could outnumber you in a jiffy! Ya sure you can chase us away without your three strongest family members?"
Without missing a beat, Cloudy answered, "Yes, I'm sure. Because after all…"She started to stamp on the ground with her front hoof, as did her daughters. "…you're still outmatched."
Igneous, Maud, and Pinkamena walked into town, all three of them carrying empty saddlebags. With the cart broken and the tools needed to fix it severely damaged, they had to carry everything themselves once the tools were replaced. They made their way through the streets of Nickerlite, searching for the shop to replace them.
It was not long before they heard catcalls.
"Hey, lookit that mare!"
"'Ey, beautiful, where ya goin'?!"
"Hoo hoo hoo, shy aren't we?"
At first the remarks were ignored, due to the trio assuming they weren't made toward either of the girls. However, Pinkamena soon noticed some of the comments were getting a little specific.
"Hey, we can't see your flank under that dress!"
"What's your Cutie Mark, Miss Gray?"
"What's with that dull face? Come on, lady, smile!"
She lifted herself up on the tips of her hooves in order to look over her father, and see who was hollering and at whom. Much to her chagrin, it was those same thugs who raided the cart and harassed Cheese a couple weeks prior. And they were catcalling her sister.
She slowed her pace a little, letting Igneous and Maud walk ahead of her, and she wasted no time in glaring at the stallions and stomping her hoof hard on the ground. Once the group noticed her, the colors drained from their bodies. Pinkamena's stomp sounded like a sonic boom in their ears, and they sped off in a speed that seemed impossible.
Pinkamena snorted, and went to catch up with her father and sister. Of course, she was soon flanked by a familiar and unwelcome stallion.
"Well, howdy, Pinkie," Cortland drawled, putting a foreleg around her withers.
Pinkamena scowled and pushed the foreleg away. "Don't call me that."
"Why not? 'Pinkamena' is such a mouthful and it don't roll off the tongue. Besides, Pinkie is the nickname that fits yer cute li'l doll face."
"I don't have time for this."
"Why?"
"None of your business."
Cortland placed a hoof on his chest. "Of course it's mah business! Yer mah little beau, Pinkie."
Pinkamena glared at him. "No, I'm not. I never agreed to it."
"Oh? But the town's talkin' 'bout us."
"Did you start the rumor?"
"What gave ya that idea, Pinkie?"
"The fact that you're still persisting in that fantasy of yours. Now, go away, leave me to my own business, and stop calling me 'Pinkie.' I'm not interested in your courtship."
"But—"
Maud backed up between them, and ordered with a slightly raised voice, "Leave. She has made her disinterest clear."
Cortland blinked, narrowed his eyes and turned around. As he left, both girls heard him grumbling under his breath, presumably about how Pinkamena was a blind mare. After a few seconds of watching his departure, Maud turned to her younger sister.
Pinkamena breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's so nice to have a second opinion on that subject. That colt drives me up a wall."
Maud put a hoof on Pinkamena's back, and said, "He's gone now. Come on, let's catch up with Pa."
Meanwhile, the girls back home were putting up a fight against the trio of dogs. And so far, it seemed like the Pie mares had the upper hoof.
Cloudy Quartz was dealing with Buddy, the tall, dark gray one wearing the maroon vest. Though she was going on in years, she was tough enough to pin Buddy down with little effort. No matter how much the dog squirmed, he could not escape the single hoof pinning him to the ground. To add insult to injury, Cloudy was giving him a good spanking.
Marble Pie was up against Rider, the dark brown one wearing the tan vest. She somehow ended up riding him like a bull in a rodeo, only she also had to avoid the snaps of the dog's jaws and the occasional paw trying to grab her. Every chance she got, she'd deliver a swift kick to Rider's back, eliciting a pained yelp from the pooch.
Limestone Pie was fighting Bailey, the short, tan one wearing the dark gray vest. She had him in a headlock and was pinning him down to the ground, aggressively rubbing the top of his head with her free hoof. The dog's limbs flailed and the body wiggled, desperately trying to break free from the blue-gray mare's tight grasp.
Cheese sat on the sidelines, guarding their saddlebags. He watched the girls kick the dogs' butts seven ways to Sunday, and shook his head. Those mutts should have listened to Cloudy when she told them to leave. But instead they had to pick a fight with half of the Pie sisters and their mother, and odds turned out to be against the dogs. Cheese stayed out of it, figuring he would just get in the way.
He was glad for a break in the tedium. The past two weeks had become a predictable routine, and the lack of smiles had gotten on his nerves. Who would have thought that a dog raid would keep him from going crazy with boredom?
The spectacle before him was so entertaining that he wished he had popcorn. He knew that this was going to be a story worth telling in the future.
Cloudy was playing the role of a strict mother towards Buddy, with sharp scolding and whooping his behind with her bare hoof. When the dog had finally managed to slip away, he was quickly recaptured, and swatted with a branch that the older mare had picked from one of the bare trees.
Marble had now switched positions with Rider, who didn't take well to the wild bucking that she was doing. In fact, he looked as if he was going to throw up as he was being thrown around. He was clinging to her hair for dear life, screaming his lungs out. It wasn't long before Marble threw him off, and she jumped onto him for a good old-fashioned wrestle.
And Limestone still noogied Bailey like crazy.
Still, he had that gnawing suspicion that things were going a little too easy in favor of the Pies. For one thing, where was that backup they claimed to have?
That's when all three of the dogs howled simultaneously.
The howls echoed around the valley, and all was suddenly still. Cloudy and Limestone still had their dogs pinned down, and Marble had just wrestled hers down. Holding their opponents, their faces indicated dread.
Cheese himself felt a knot twist in his stomach, and though he was unsure what was going to happen, he was wishing it wouldn't happen.
Sure enough, there was great rumble behind him, and the sound of something large bursting out of the ground boomed in his eardrums. It was raining large clumps of dirt and rocks, and the girls let go of the dogs to avoid getting hit by the falling earth. Cheese still sat in his place, covering his head with his hooves.
After several moments, the soil stopped falling. He looked up, and could see that the Diamond Dogs were snickering, and the Pie mares were gaping at something above him. Cheese could feel hot breaths and a slimy liquid going down his neck, and it made his blood run cold. He looked above him, and beheld the largest and ugliest dog he had ever seen. Cheese turned himself around, and saw that the dog was twice his height and covered in splotches of darker and lighter grays. It didn't help that there was practically a waterfall of drool coming out of the mutt's mouth.
Buddy laughed and shouted, "Folks, lemme introduce ya to Hank!"
The wide-eyed Cheese lifted up a hoof and mildly waved, muttering, "Hi, Hank."