//------------------------------//
// 23. Foalin' Around 
// Story: The Rock Farmer's Daughters 
// by Sketcha-Holic 
//------------------------------//

"The next time you decide to go for an early-morning stroll, you better tell us before you do so!" Igneous snarled, his teeth clamped on his pickaxe. Cheese just sat in front of him, watching as the older stallion chipped away at his rock, striking away with increasing force. After a few strikes, Igneous stopped and panted, staring him straight in the eyes. "For Pete's sake… you just went on a hike yesterday!"

Cheese rubbed the back of his head and looked away. "Yeah, I know. I mean, what was I thinking?"

"I can't read your mind, boy. You tell me."

Cheese drew on the ground with his hoof. What was he going to tell Igneous? That he was angry with that reporter for contacting his brother? That he was shocked and afraid of the letter he had received? That he was very confused about this turn of events? He sighed.

"I… guess I wasn't. I just was a little restless."

Igneous snorted. "Of course you were. Gettin' those itchy hooves like you travelers always do, and trying to walk it off."

"Uh… yes?"

"Hmph. And why didn't you stop this couple from visiting? This is no place for a pregnant mare to be exploring. They should have waited until their foal was born to come all this way to say hello."

"They were too close to the farm to turn back."

Igneous snorted and went back to chipping his rock. "I swear… ponies are suddenly interested in visiting us…"

"I… guess I should get back to work…" Cheese stood up and backed away. "So… uh… I'll just join the girls…"

"And another thing," Igneous added. "You seem to be getting awfully attached to my daughters."

Cheese froze and blinked. "Well… yeah… I-I have been seeing them as sisters… they are lovely girls, and I'm glad that I could get to know them…" The silence that followed hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity as he found himself facing Igneous' glare. Cheese took a deep breath. "I know, I know, no ogling them, you made it clear when you hired me. Still, don't you think you're being a mite bit overprotective? They are adults, you know."

"You've met Cortland. There are plenty of other stallions like him out there. I don't want any of my daughters with one of them, stuck in a life of misery coated with selfish actions claiming to be 'love.'"

"Yeah… but I have met more good ponies than bad."

"I'm not taking any chances, Cheese. Not even you have any leeway when it comes to any one of them."

Cheese didn't answer; he only stared at his boss with an expression that was barely readable. When Igneous had said the phrase "any one of them", however, the very image that came to mind was Pinkamena, with her sweet smile that Cheese found impossible to grow tired of.

Igneous coughed and sighed. "Now… go and get back to work. We're wasting daylight."

Cheese nodded. "Yes, sir."





With the others working in the fields, Cloudy was the one entertaining their guests. Getting visited four times within the past two months—not counting the unwelcome Diamond Dogs—she couldn't help but wonder just what was suddenly so interesting about them. Cheese's visit was mainly for taking a job and boarding with them during his employment. Haralson's was to talk to Igneous about dinner and helping patch up holes. Bluejinx came to seek information that would help straighten out those rumors about them.

And now, the candy shop owners, who merely dropped by to say "hi", despite the mare being heavily pregnant. Lemon had fallen asleep on the couch, while Sugar looked around. From the way she was pacing around the living room, seemingly interested in some unimportant objects, Cloudy was worried about a foaling happening at any moment. She wanted to scold the couple for this decision, but held her tongue so she could think of a less sharp way to put it.

"This place is very homey, Cloudy," Sugar said, having set her basket in the kitchen. "How long have you been living here?"

"Um… about 28 years," Cloudy answered. "Speaking of homes, why aren't you at yours? We Pies could have waited a few more days for a visit, and you need time to have your foal and rest before you do something like this."

"I was just impatient. I just wanted to see how the Pies were doing, and not get any information from gossips."

Cloudy glanced at the sleeping Lemon, and sat down in her rocking chair. "I don't see why you'd visit a family living in the back of beyond who don't really like anypony in town. Why don't you believe the gossip, anyhow?"

Sugar stopped at the bookshelf and was now looking at the Pie's collection of books. "Hm?"

"You don't believe the gossip. May I ask why?"

"Oh, Pinkamena's friendly with us."

Cloudy blinked. "Pinkamena? Of all ponies to be friendly with, she chose the ponies who own the—oh. Right."

Sugar looked at her. "Hm?"

"She always did like that rock candy that she and her sisters made with their grandmothers. Stands to reason that she kept her sweet tooth. Ugh… so that's the reason why she dilly-dallies."

Sugar grimaced. "You're not going to punish her for liking candy, are you?"

Cloudy waved a hoof. "What would be the point now? She can't go back to town unless she wants someone to bring up that incident with Cortland. And we all know someone will. Still, I'm glad that you and your husband are immune to that nonsense."

"Well… as homey as your lovely home is, maybe socializing a little bit more would prevent wild rumors from popping up. Nopony in town really knows you folks. Pinkamena was our little window to the rest of you, after all."

"Pfft, as if. We have constant work on this farm, you know. Besides, it's too late now, they've probably come up with a wild theory of how we Pies are all secretly evil alicorns, waiting to enslave the residents of Nickerlite and make them mine for a special ore. Anypony who tries to rebel will be turned to stone."

Sugar snorted and giggled. "I won't be surprised if that does pop up in town." She turned back to the bookshelf. "Ooh… 'Chip the Magic Pebble?'" Sugar asked, taking out a small book. "Did you read this to your daughters when they were small?"

"Well…" Cloudy clicked her tongue, silently asking herself why she had kept that book. "Actually, my mother did. And Igneous' mother. They took turns reading it… though one of them sang the words of that book."

"Ooh, it rhymes!"

"Uh, yes. That made it too easy to sing to. You can have it if you want."

"Oh, but what of your grandfoals?"

Cloudy raised an eyebrow. "Grandfoals?"

Sugar bit her lip and looked away. "I'm so sorry, my tongue slipped…"

"Sure did. I'm not that old, and I'm certainly not expecting any grandfoals any time soon. None of my daughters are in any rush to find any special someponies, anyway. Still, I said you can have it to read to your foal."

"Well, uh…" Sugar looked around, unsure of just where to put it.

Cloudy sighed. "Just put it in the basket you brought once I put the bread and cheese away."

Sugar smiled. "Thank you. I'm sure my foal will love the book."

"Yes, because little foals love magic pebbles."

Sugar nodded and walked into the kitchen. She placed it on the table beside the basket, and then went back into the living room to look around some more. "Did I tell you how homey this place is? Lemon seems to think your couch is comfortable." She gestured to her napping husband as she said this.

"That's the third time you've said that. Are you sure you're okay?"

Sugar paced some more, taking the dictionary from the shelf. "Super duper!" She opened it and carefully sat on her haunches. "Ooh… so 'gruntled' is a word! I've always wondered about the whole 'disgruntled' thing…"

Cloudy was growing more and more worried by the minute.





"Well, don't you girls just love those boulders embedded in the ground?" Limestone asked, looking at her sisters and gesturing to a half-buried rock that appeared to be twice her size. "This one even matches my coat."

Marble trotted forward, knocked on the rock, and put her ear on it. Then she quickly switched from her ear to her nose. With a deep sniff, she confirmed, "This one's super ripe, with a plentiful supply of gems and stone fit for gravel. Yep, we're going to have to dig this out and break it apart."

"All right then…" Pinkamena said. "Who digs?"

Marble backed away from the rock. "Not me, that's for sure! I don't want to find another skeleton!"

Cheese had joined them just as Marble said that. He stopped in his tracks, and a perplexed expression graced his features. All he could do was turn to Pinkamena and ask a confused "Huh?"

Pinkamena glanced at him. "Oh, yeah, the day you came around, we found a little bony friend under a boulder like this. Scared Marble half to death."

Limestone snickered, while Marble shot her a glare and appeared to be reeling up a punch. However, a look from Maud stopped them both. Then they looked at Cheese to see his reaction to what he had been told.

Cheese's eyes were wide and his mouth was tight. "Er… do you know why that was there?"

"Not really, but Pa thinks that it might have been a convict that went missing years ago while working here. Either that, or we uncovered a murder mystery that is older than him."

"Both ideas don't sound very pleasant."

"Of course not," Maud said. "It's death. It's something nopony likes to think about. I personally would rather think about rocks. They're less depressing."

"I… am actually on board with that idea," Cheese said, scrunching his muzzle and glancing back and forth. His eyes were on Pinkamena when he said, "I'll just think about the wonderful things life has to offer us…"

Pinkamena smiled and shook her head. She could tell that Cheese was feeling awkward talking about this, and it was awfully cute to her. She noticed the look Maud was giving her, which was a subtle shift of her brow and a slight tilt of the head, as if she was reading her and seeing something that nopony else was seeing.

"Well, are we going to unbury the boulder or just stand here talking about the philosophy of life and death?" Limestone asked, stomping her front hoof. "I'm not looking for the meaning of life right now, you know!"

"All right, all right, I'll help you dig it out, Limestone," Pinkamena said.

Both mares walked to the boulder, and started to scrape dirt away from it, starting off slowly, and steadily digging faster and faster. Before long, a moat had been dug around the boulder, and was growing deeper by the second.

Maud, Marble, and Cheese had watched them for a minute before Maud said, "Come on. We should take care of the other rocks."

The other two nodded, and followed her to another part of the field.





Well, this was awkward.

Sugar was just flipping through the dictionary, giving "oohs" and "aahs" of delight upon learning a new word, and proceeding to tell Cloudy about said word, giving her the definition, pronunciation, and origins. Cloudy didn't even care for the words; she was more concerned with the fact that Sugar was obviously distracting herself. She could see the twinges of discomfort in her eyes, and in her head, the question of why they didn't just stay home kept popping up.

Lemon Drop had finally awakened, and Cloudy didn't know if he made this situation more awkward or less. He was listening to the definitions with interest, but Cloudy could sense his dread of the upcoming birth. She didn't blame him; his wife had dragged him all the way out here despite his protests about her condition. It was only common sense for them to stay home, after all.

"Oh, here's one! 'Parturition'… it means…" Sugar's face fell. "Oh…"

"Well, what does it mean, sweetie?" Lemon asked.

"Is it something foul that I don't really want to know?" Cloudy grumbled.

Sugar broke out into a sweat. "Well… it means…" She paused to breathe through her teeth. "…the process of…" Her face contorted, and she bit her lip. "…giving birth to… YOUNG!"

Sugar dropped the book and breathed through her teeth, rocking back and forth and wildly flapping her wings. Immediately, Lemon jumped to her side and started stroking her back. He looked to Cloudy with panicked eyes, and Sugar started to grunt and groan.

Cloudy's eyes widened. Uh oh.





"All right, Limestone, ready?"

"Ready!"

"Heave-ho!"

Out popped the boulder, seemingly hopping out of the hole that had been dug around it. It landed on flat earth with a THUD, bringing up the heads of four other ponies in the vicinity. Pinkamena hopped out of the hole, and smirked at the boulder, satisfied with the finished job of removing the rock. Limestone came out not long after, brushing and itching at her legs.

"Augh! Ants, ants, ants, ants, ants, ants, ANTS!" she screamed, brushing the tiny red insects off of her legs. With each brush, several fell off, but managed to scramble back up her forelegs to irritate her some more.

"Oh, bother," Pinkamena grumbled. She started to brush off ants from her sister's legs, only to get some on her own. She ended up leaving Limestone to fend for herself as she brushed off the ants that had decided to invade another Pie sister's legs.

"Okay, OUCH, they're biting now!" Limestone growled.

Pinkamena winced as that statement came true for her. The two galloped away from the hole and toward Maud, Marble, and Cheese, who they allowed to help brush off the ants. The result was all five of them continuing to brush off the ants for a few minutes.

Finally, all the ants were off, but the stings were present on Limestone and Pinkamena's legs. Staring at the small red bumps, Cheese said, "Well, those ants were unexpected."

"Not entirely, Cheese, we've dealt with them before," Pinkamena said.

Limestone was itching her leg, only for Marble to swat the leg doing the itching away. Shaking a hoof, she scolded, "No, no, no! Itching will only make it worse!"

Limestone rolled her eyes. "Well, sorry, princess."

"Don't argue right now," Maud said. "Let's make the paste and apply it."

Cheese stood up and waved a hoof. "You girls go. I can work with these rocks by myself."

"Well, even if you can, I think it's fair that I stay out here and help you," Marble said. "Should Pa ask about them, we'll simply tell him about the ants."

The other three nodded, and Maud took the two bitten sisters to the house. Limestone was more in a hurry, so she was ahead of her older sisters. Pinkamena kept pace with Maud, though her itchy legs were telling her to hurry. Still, she felt comforted by Maud's presence, and was content to simply make small talk to take her mind off the itchiness.

At one point, she ended up glancing back at Cheese, who was making a funny face as he sniffed a rock, and she softly giggled. Maud glanced back as well, and then she looked to Pinkamena once again, making that same subtle crease of the brow she did before.

"Pinkamena…" Maud said in a hushed voice. "I couldn't help but notice the way you've been looking at Cheese lately."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it… but it's different from before. It's even different from the way you look at everyone else. You're even smiling."

"Well… uh… I just think he's a sweet guy. He deserves to see us Pies smile, don't you think?"

"You're treating him differently from the other hired hooves we've had in the past."

"So? What's the big deal?"

"You haven't been this bright since Granny Pie and Nana Pinkie passed. There's something going on with you."

Pinkamena looked from side to side, and she could feel her face grow warm. "Uh, no there isn't. Nope, nothing at all. He's just a likable stallion, and I'm glad to consider him a friend."

Maud blinked. "Very well. I won't press it further. Just be careful, Pinkamena. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I don't think he can hurt me. He's too nice, and he has only a fraction of rock farmer strength."

Maud looked at the rocks lining the ground. That's not what I meant.

Limestone had waited for them by the door, and was itching her leg. Maud gently stopped her, opened the door, and then they walked in together. They were not prepared for the scene they walked in on.

Several pillows and blankets were thrown together into a makeshift bed on the floor, where Sugar Glider was lying on her side, breathing heavily through her teeth and sweating. Cloudy had a wet cloth on Sugar's forehead, while simultaneously telling Lemon in the corner to stay calm.

Lemon was pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself about how he should have been more firm in keeping Sugar home. He was producing just as much sweat as Sugar was, and he looked as if he was going to faint any moment.

Pinkamena looked at Sugar on the floor, and asked, "Ma…?"

Cloudy looked up to see three of her daughters standing there, taking in the scene. With a sigh, she asked, "Will one of you get the midwife? I'm not trained in foal delivery."

Limestone backed out the door and turned her head to the fields. "MARBLE! GET THE MIDWIFE! WE HAVE A SITUATION IN THE HOUSE!"

Pinkamena and Maud looked at each other. This was a very awkward event to walk into. Especially since it was happening in their own house, and that they had been planning to treat ant stings.

It was very awkward, indeed.