//------------------------------// // 11. Need a Hoof? // Story: The Rock Farmer's Daughters // by Sketcha-Holic //------------------------------// The next few days were full of not only moving and sorting rocks, but also filling the holes and tunnels that the Diamond Dogs have dug. Some rocks were sorted into the new category of being used to plug the holes along with soil gathered from both around the farm and elsewhere. Causing cave-ins deep in the tunnels to help with filling them up—as well as discouraging the Diamond Dogs from attempting another raid—was a dangerous task, but all four of the Pie sisters were no slouches when it came to escaping them. It was incredible how fast they all were, especially Pinkamena, who seemed like she was flying at times. From early in the morning to well into the evening, the Pies and Cheese rotated between the usual rock farm chores and the filling up of the holes. They only took breaks for their meals and the occasional drink of water. Each day ended with them drenched in sweat and covered in dirt, and none bothered to bathe. Cheese ended up sleeping on the floor those nights, due to not wanting to stain the quilt and sleep with annoying grains of sand under the covers. He'd spend all night curled up under his poncho, sleeping until the inevitable rude awakening by Pinkamena in the morning. His legs still felt like rubber, but he just kept working. Between the usual job of moving rocks, the needed task of filling up the holes, and his attempts at learning how to smell the differences between each of the rocks, he was just getting tired. Not as tired as he was after being chased by Hank, but still quite tuckered out when the day was only half done. Still, there were no excuses to stop. He could only draw out his water breaks as long as he could without angering Igneous. If that meant "forgetting" to remove his glasses when dumping his entire head in the trough and ending up dropping them in, well, he definitely cherished every second of rest he had. His mouth wrapped around a shovel, he scooped up some of the dirt-and-gravel mix from the pile, waddled to the big tunnel, and dumped it in. Along with Limestone and Marble, he went back and forth repeating the tedious process. The "shink" made when the shovel scraped the rocks made his fur bristle, and the pitter-patter of dropped pebbles as he dumped his shovelful into the hole made him just stare into the hole impassively. He watched a pair of pink hooves stretch forth and drag the dirt deeper into the hole before turning around and digging up another scoop. Part of him desperately wanted to break the gloomy silence. Even if they were discussing the various kinds of rocks, how water could whittle away at a pebble, or if sandstone was the meaning of life, at least it wouldn't be so awkward. Silence was much less awkward when he was alone than when surrounded by other ponies who acknowledged his existence. On the other hoof, not only was his mouth occupied, but he feared that he'd get on their bad side. The Pies were still tense after the whole Diamond Dog fiasco, and if Cheese said the wrong thing, he'd receive several heavy glares from them, especially from Pinkamena. But not from Maud. She didn't seem to care just what he did. As Cheese leaned into the pile to shovel more dirt, he heard a deep "HOWDY!" a ways away, and soon found a pickaxe embedded in the pile about an inch away from his muzzle. He jumped in fright, dropped his shovel, and turned his attention to Igneous, who held a look of surprise and annoyance on his face. On the path that was yards away, there was a big green stallion and a pair of foals waving at the family. Igneous growled and turned to the visitor. "Don't startle me like that! I nearly killed the hired hoof!" The other stallion grimaced and shouted, "Sorry 'bout that!" Cheese patted his muzzle, and imagined the mess that would have been made had the pickaxe landed a few more inches. Scrunching his muzzle, he picked up the pickaxe and trotted to Igneous. He wordlessly returned it to his employer and turned around to resume shoveling. "Hey, now! Mind introducin' him ta us, Igneous?" Cheese paused mid-step and turned to Igneous. The older stallion sighed, and tilted his head toward the visitor. Both of them walked to the path and met the large stallion face to face. Cheese looked down at the foals clutching their father's thick legs, and gave them a sweet smile. "So, what's yer name, boy?" Cheese jerked his head up, blinking at the mass of muscle that stood before him. With a nervous swallow, he answered meekly, "Cheese Sandwich." The visitor chuckled and lifted a hoof. "Nice ta meet ya, Cheese. Mah name is Haralson." As Cheese shook hooves with Haralson, the colt, now having lost the right front leg, started bouncing in an attempt to meet Cheese's eyes. "Ah'm Stayman!" The filly clutching Haralson's left front leg twirled her pigtail and squeaked, "Mah name's Idared." Cheese stopped the shaking and dropped his hoof. "It's nice to meet you folks." His eyes glanced between the jumping colt and the shy filly. "Especially you two." Idared scanned Cheese from his hooves to his curly mane. She stared at his face for a few moments before setting her sights on his legs. She giggled, "Yer tall!" "Oh, um… I know that. I've known it since I've had my growth spurt quite a few years ago." Igneous rolled the wheat strand in his mouth as he looked at Haralson. "So, you weren't lying when you said you'd drop by." "'Course not," Haralson said. "We Apples are an honest bunch. Say… may Ah ask about the holes?" "Diamond Dogs." "Oh." "Yep. They broke the tools and stole the rocks, and while me, Maud, and Pinkamena were in town, they popped in. Cloudy and the others had to drive them off." "Goodness, are they all right?" "Of course they are, we've dealt with Diamond Dogs before!" Igneous glanced at Cheese. "He nearly run himself to death, though." Cheese snorted and grumbled, "At least I got rid of him." Haralson scratched his chin. "So, y'all have to plug up them holes? Well, then, Ah might as well lend a hoof." Igneous sighed. "That's kind of you, but—" "Oh, no, don't give me that. Cortland and Blossom can take care of our farm just fine. They've done it before when Ah've had to go on trips. Besides, Ah'd be happy to help a neighbor repair some damage; consider it as me repaying ya for yer help with the parasprites." "That was years ago." Haralson walked past him. "Better late than never. Stayman, Idared, you young'uns wanna help?" "Sure, Pa!" both foals cheered. Before either Igneous or Cheese could say anything, the three Apples ran out to the field to join the mares in the chores. The two stared for several moments as they started scooping dirt; Haralson with the shovel Cheese dropped, and the twins with their front hooves. Cheese turned to Igneous, and smiled. "That was nice of them." Igneous gave him a stony glare and growled, "Get back to work." Seeing as his shovel had been taken, Cheese decided to help with gathering the rocks. Stayman and Idared followed him after a frustrating trial of using only their hooves to scoop up the dirt and gravel mix. Walking beside the cart pulled by Maud, the foals were more than happy to scurry around and chatter away to the both of them. "Do you eat rocks?" Stayman asked, picking up a pebble and tossing it in the cart. Maud glanced at the colt, and answered, "Some kinds of rocks. Salt is a mineral used for flavor. I've found a kind of rock that can be made into rock candy. We make stone soup and rock cakes." Stayman nodded, picked up another rock, and licked it. Immediately after he grimaced and left his tongue hanging in disgust. Cheese chuckled. "I don't think that rock's edible." "Edible?" "Um, eatable." "Oh." Stayman threw the rock into the cart. "Then what's the point of rock farming?" "Rocks have many uses," Maud said. Cheese nodded. "They're used for construction, for scientists to study, and some of these things hide gems in them. Isn't there the occasional fossil or something, Maud?" "We found one once. It was a tooth." "Okey dokey, then. So… yeah, this isn't a useless occupation. Any other questions?" "Are you ponies in love?" Idared squeaked. Cheese and Maud glanced at each other, with the stallion raising an eyebrow. Then they both answered, "No." Stayman groaned. "Didya have to ask that?" "Of course! Cortland's been tryin' to get Pinkamena's attention. Shouldn't it be fair that her sisters find love, too? Who better than Mr. Tall and Handsome here?" "I… don't think they're interested," Cheese said, throwing another rock into the cart. "I mean, me, handsome? Pssht, come on. Besides, if I try any of that, I'm pretty sure Igneous would kill me." Idared gasped. "…does that mean he's going to kill Cortland?" "It's just an expression, no need to worry." Cheese was grinning as he said that, though his thoughts trailed into the mention of Cortland. Apparently that was the stallion that Igneous was talking about when they had that interview a few weeks prior. And he had his eyes set on Pinkamena. For some reason, the thought of him hitting on her made his fur bristle, and he could feel his mane starting to, as well. Shrugging it off as sympathetic annoyance—after all, he figured that she wouldn't be interested in anypony—he quickly changed the subject. "Okay, enough of the lovey-dovey stuff. Ask a different kind of question." Idared shuffled her hooves. "Where ya from?" Cheese had been picking up another rock when she asked that, and when the question hit his ears, he froze and dropped it. He bit his lip and scrunched his muzzle, and then breathed out, "…that's… not important." "Why?" "Because… because… uh…" Cheese groaned and repeatedly knocked on his head. He took a deep breath. "Because… I'm never going back." "What about yer family?" Stayman asked. Cheese snorted. "What about them?" "Don't they miss you?" Cheese sighed. I doubt it, I'm the nopony of the family. He blew another snort, and went off to gather more rocks. No doubt the kids would pry some more should he stay within proximity of them. If there was anything he didn't want to talk about, it was his kin. The twins stared at Cheese for a minute, glanced at each other, and then looked at Maud hopefully. Maud shook her head. "He hasn't told any of us. It's none of our business." As Pinkamena swept the mound of dirt and pebbles into place, she couldn't help but feel disdain at what she was hearing from Haralson. She could hear him chattering, even from her place in the hole, and she wasn't too keen on his inviting the Pies to dinner. "Mah offer still stands," he had said. "We'd be happy to have ya over!" While Pinkamena liked the idea of socializing, the fact that this was Cortland's father made her less than enthused. The Apples were friendly folk; but Cortland was a little too friendly toward her. Last time they had met, Maud had to step in. She wondered if she'd have to buck him in the face before he took the hint. She trotted to the opening and awaited more of the dirt. The talking was much clearer now, and she could hear her father's grumbled replies to what Haralson had to say. "I told you, we have too much work to do." "I dunno, y'all seem awfully tense. Ya sure you don't wanna unwind?" "Haralson, have you forgotten the rumor?" "Ugh… I've been going 'round town shootin' it down. I made Cortland promise to be on his best behavior should you accept. And who knows? Maybe Cheese could help dissuade those silly gossipers." "Great… just what I need… a rumor about the hired hoof…" "…Ah didn't mean to imply that…" Seeing that there was a lack of dirt falling through the opening, Pinkamena popped her head out of the hole, and saw that the pile had been reduced to nearly nothing but a few pebbles. Sighing, she climbed out, and said, "Looks like we'll have to gather more." The two stallions turned to her, as did Marble and Limestone. Igneous nodded, and then pointed to where Maud was pulling the cart. The mares picked up the shovels, and then made their way to their older sister. After Maud delivered the rocks to their mother for sorting, the Pie sisters, Cheese, and the little Apple twins went to the outer part of the fields to scrape together more dirt. The firm soil was loosened and shoveled into the cart, and any pebbles that were accidentally scooped up were welcomed. Things were not quiet with the foals chattering away to each of them, and any questions they had were answered. With the exception of personal questions asked to Cheese. No matter how much the foals prodded, Cheese would stay eerily silent. He'd wander to a section of the field by himself, loosen up some dirt, and just point at it for one of the mares to pick it up. He repeated this process until the cart was full and they had to go back. That behavior drew some concern from Pinkamena. Seeing the usually warm stallion act like this was unsettling, and she wondered what was so bad that he would be so cold. From what she could read from her sisters' faces, they were a bit concerned as well. Even as they hauled the gathered dirt back to the field, Cheese would be quiet. It was almost like he was in another world, one that he didn't want to be in. That garnered some curiosity within Pinkamena, and she wanted to pry into his mind and find out what was wrong. Of course, it would be impolite, but if she just knew, maybe she could help somehow. Of course, Pinkamena knew she'd be no help. After all, whatever problems he had were probably too complex for a simple rock farmer mare. For now, considering the nature of the questions that had been asked, she was assuming he was an orphan. The day dragged on until suppertime, and Haralson and the twins decided it was high time to go home. The Pies were out watching the Apples' departure, each just staring impassively. As they had left, Haralson made sure to add, "Think about mah invitation, okay?" Igneous sighed and shook his head. "That pony sure is persistent. Now I know where that colt gets it from." Pinkamena blew on her mane. "No kidding." "Still, it's not every day someone offers to help," Cloudy said. After everyone murmured in assent, they turned around to file inside the house. It was time for dinner, and they were going to retire for the night. And maybe they would have their long overdue baths.