Cheese Sandwich didn't know where he was going.
All he knew was that he was dashing through the forest, holding a big stick in his mouth, and being chased by a tall, bulky, and ugly excuse for a canine. His plan to lure Hank away from Cloudy Quartz worked; now how was he supposed to get rid of him?
He tripped over a root, and quickly picked himself up before galloping once again. It didn't matter to him that his chin was now throbbing and his throat stung with each breath. He needed to keep going, at least until he came up with a plan to ditch Hank and make sure he wouldn't return to the rock farm for a very long time.
He glanced around his surroundings, hoping to spot something that could aid him. There were the trees he was weaving through, the rocks he leapt over, and the shrubbery he sidestepped. Tiny sticks cracked under his hooves, and his coat was growing damp with his sweat. His teeth held his stick firmly, and his heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his ears.
Behind him, he could hear trees snapping and tumbling down to earth as Hank crashed through them. Cheese could sense that the dog was catching up, and once the brute caught him, he was done for. He imagined the Pie family finding his remains should they look for him, and the picture in his head was not a pretty one. He kept searching his surroundings, all the while trying to keep looking forward as well.
He caught sight of a low branch ahead of him, and pushed himself into a faster gallop. His mouth occupied by the stick, Cheese ducked and then let his tail snag the branch, and he pulled it to the side so it bent in an unnatural direction. He hid behind the tree, still clinging to the branch. It fought the pull of his tail in order to spring back into its original position, but he wasn't about to let it go. Not yet.
He heard the rhythmic thumps of Hank's paws and his heavy panting, which was marked by the sloshing of drool. The sound nearly made the stallion gag, and he wasn't sure he could successfully pull the branch thing off. What if he let go too early and blew his cover? What if he let go too late?
The slobbery panting drew closer, and Cheese took a deep breath. His painful heartbeat was in time with each step of Hank's, and he could already feel the branch slipping out of his tail's grasp. He prayed that should it slip, the timing would be perfect.
The rapid footsteps stopped for a brief moment, only for a great thud to boom right next to Cheese's tree.
"RIBBIT!"
The landing of the apparent leap and the sound of Hank's voice startled Cheese, and the branch slipped out of his tail. He bolted once the branch was released. The "thwack" and the pained howl barely registered in his mind as he galloped away from the large dog.
Come on, Cheese, you've got to do better than that! He didn't know if whipping Hank in the face—or perhaps a different body part—with a branch would stall the canine for long. If anything, Hank was really ticked off.
He was back into his pattern of dodging trees, rocks, and bushes, with a burning in his throat and his lungs feeling as they would burst. All four of his legs were aching, and he could hear them begging him to slow down. He was soaked with his sweat, and a queasy feeling arose within him. He didn't know how much longer he could push himself, and he was sure he'd collapse before long.
A blink of his took too long, and he tripped on a rock. He stumbled to catch his footing, only to step in some water he didn't realize was there. Blinking as he stared at his two front hooves, he looked around, finding himself at a river. The side that he was on was full of trees, while the other side boasted an enormous, shimmering boulder. Looking up, he could see one of the mountains that could be seen from the rock farm, only that it was much closer.
Before he could ponder how far he had run, he heard the bark of "Ribbit!" In a panic, he shimmied up the nearest tree, despite the imaginary screaming of his muscles. He threw himself onto the highest branch he could, and forced himself to hold his heavy breaths.
Hank skidded to a stop in front of the river, glancing around the around in search of the stallion. One look at the canine made Cheese's blood run cold. Low growls were coming from the dog, and drool rained from his mouth. One bug-eye was squeezed shut, apparently from the branch that Cheese had used earlier, and the open one suggested a feral quality. His fangs were bared and the fur on his back was bristled.
Cheese could feel himself begin to tremble. How was he supposed to get rid of him now? He was tired, stuck in a tree, and almost certain to be spotted within a minute. The only thing he was carrying was a stick, and he wasn't sure if it'd be any use at this point. He was sure that Hank wanted his blood.
Still, his eyes were drawn to that boulder across the river. He wished that he could just drop the large rock onto Hank's head, or at least make him run into it.
Wait a minute… he thought, still staring at the rock.
Hank barked, and Cheese snapped his head around to find the dog leaping toward him, his mouth wide open to bite his head off. Cheese quickly scooted forward on the branch, and felt some tail hairs being pulled and splinters fly onto his rump as the jaws snapped onto the branch. He yanked his tail away from the teeth, and growled a raspy "Ouch!" as some hair was pulled out.
His legs still hurt, but he forced himself to jump out of the tree and fall into the river below. He stumbled on the fall, and he didn't know if the mud made it better or the rocks made it worse. Still, that saved him the trouble of having to figure out a way to shimmy back down the tree. Not only that, he could see the boulder right in front of him.
He stood up and waded through the water, starting slow so he wouldn't be so hard on his legs. However, he hastened when he heard the thud of Hank landing on the riverbank. Once he reached the boulder, he turned around, spat the stick out, and cooed, "Here, froggy, froggy, froggy…"
"Me no froggy! Me Hank!"
Cheese blinked. "Really? Because you say 'ribbit' all the time."
Hank roared, and leapt forward, his mouth wide open to snatch Cheese. However, the stallion darted forward, and slipped under Hank before the dog even landed. And then, Cheese stopped to hear the inevitable collision of head and stone.
When he turned back around, Hank was lying unconscious in a bulky heap. Cheese couldn't help but stare at the Diamond Dog, and he sat on his haunches, his entire bottom half submerged in the water. After a few moments, he let out a relieved sigh.
"I hope he's out long enough for me to skedaddle," he muttered. "I'm lucky that he's so dense."
Barely a few seconds after he said that, Hank was lifted by the current and carried off. Cheese blinked, and stared at the scene before him. He watched as the large dog floated downriver, going to who-knows-where while out like a light.
"Uh… I guess he's less dense than I thought… bye, Hank…" He continued to stare at Hank, who apparently looked like a boat at the distance he'd already been carried. In light of the awkward moment, Cheese began to sing, "Float, float, float your dog, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life's weirder than a dream…"
Once Hank was out of sight, Cheese shakily stood up. "Guess I oughta get back to the rock farm."
However, he had hardly made the first step to turn around when throbbing aches gripped his legs and sent him back sitting down. His body hardly felt like moving, and he just held the inevitable desire to lie down. His throat was dry, and his lungs still hurt from the panting he had done during the run.
He lay on his belly and crawled to the bank, guzzling some water along the way. His aching muscles made the crawl tedious, and a few times he coughed when water went down the wrong pipe. He could feel the current pulling on his poncho, and the droplets on his glasses irritated him as he looked ahead.
Still, he made it to the bank, climbed out of the river, and laid in the shade of a tree. Sand was sticking to his wet coat, his wet poncho, and his wet tail. He could feel the stings of the cuts and bruises from the battle at the rock farm earlier, and they did not sit well with his weary legs. His estimate of how far he had run and that fact that he'd have to walk all the way back made him more exhausted just thinking about it.
And he felt a little guilty for leaving Cloudy Quartz alone when she had a wound that needed tending to. He hoped that she hadn't been alone for very long.
He closed his eyes. Maybe a nap would do him some good.
All Pinkamena had to do was follow the fallen trees that she kept coming across. Considering how big Diamond Dogs could get, she was hardly surprised at the damage she walked through. Still, she hadn't met this Hank, and she wondered just how big and ugly he was. He certainly wouldn't compare to Goliath, who had nabbed her years ago. Or Bingo, who had kidnapped Maud. Or Bert and Ernie, who had abducted Marble and Limestone. Of course, all of those kidnappings had been big mistakes on the part of the dogs.
She was sure she would find a headless Cheese somewhere. She won't deny that it was a real shame if she found that. After all, they had only known him for a couple of weeks, and he had so much of his life ahead of him. However, her heart felt quite heavy at the thought of the hired hoof being dead.
She walked around a trampled bush, sweeping her eyes for that bright orange coat. Despite much of the plant life being disturbed, she could hear the birds chirping and whistling away in song. It was hard to ignore, especially if they sang a familiar tune. She didn't know where it came from, she didn't recall ever hearing it before it got stuck in her head, she didn't even recall her family even sing since Granny Pie had passed. Even so, the birds were singing it, and she recognized it.
And began to hum it.
It was a song that needed words, but she couldn't think of them. It was something that needed to be sung out loud, but wasn't because it could be butchered. Pinkamena hadn't sung since she was a tiny filly, and there was no way in her mind she'd be any good. Besides, it wouldn't fit the mood of the rock farm. But there was no harm in humming it while she was alone in the forest.
Her journey took her to the river, and she spotted Cheese Sandwich lying under a tree, completely intact and breathing, though he was a mess. There appeared to be no sign of the Diamond Dog that had chased him, so she couldn't help but wonder how he got rid of him.
She walked toward him. When she was close enough, she crouched down and prodded him with her hoof.
Cheese stirred and mumbled, "Mom… I don't wanna go to school today…"
Pinkamena rolled her eyes and blew on her hair, and then poked him again.
"No, I don't like sauerkraut…"
She gave him a harder nudge, which elicited a groan and the phrase, "Go play by yourself; it's three in the morning…"
Pinkamena snorted and shook him, which got him to finally open his eyes. He looked up with tired, yet bewildered eyes, and yawned.
"Good, you're awake," Pinkamena said. "Why are you napping? Where's this Diamond Dog that had been chasing you?"
Cheese lifted his head with a moan. "I nearly killed myself running from Hank; I'm still tired and achy from galloping who-knows-how-long. I'm just lucky to be alive."
"Well, where is he?"
"Oh, he floated down the river after I tricked him into running into that boulder." Seeing Pinkamena's incredulous look, he added, "I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it."
Pinkamena gave him an icy stare. "Get up. We're going home."
"Aww… do I have to? I was enjoying my nap…"
"I don't want to keep Ma and Pa waiting."
Cheese sighed. "Fine."