It was a good thing the moon was full; otherwise Cheese would have tripped and fell on the rocks littering the path. Well, more than he already had, including his most recent stumble, which left him dazedly looking up at his three mare companions. He was quickly helped up by Marble, and he rubbed his throbbing chin before brushing dust off his poncho.
Despite his rapid progress in the last couple of months, he couldn't hold a candle the Pie Sisters, who were effortlessly weaving through the rock field. It was a simple fact; after all, they had lived on that farm their entire lives. And from the excitement he could easily read in their faces under the moonlight, this carnival was going to shake their status quo.
As he continued to walk with them, he wondered if any of them had gotten into bouts of naughtiness as foals. Did any of them try and fail to run away for a superficial reason? Did they perform self-haircuts? Did they throw rocks at each other in a sibling spat? He winced upon thinking of the last one, and hoped that didn't ever happen.
His mind wandered to his own foalhood mischief, which while rare due to him being a mild-tempered colt, was often hilarious to him and his brother--not so much their mother. He recalled the time he had filled every sink and the tub in the house with shaving cream, just because it wasn't winter and he wanted to play in the snow. He and Tomato built "snowponies" in every one of them, and then they had a "snowball fight". They were both grounded for a week.
Memories of his little brother gave way to one thing that bothered him: the recent letter.
Tomato's first thoughts on the matter of Cheese's employment at the rock farm had to be about what Cheese had done with the Pie Sisters. He shook his head at the apparent dirtiness of his brother's thoughts. Of all the things to ask, why did it have to go in that direction? Everything that Cheese had done with them was completely innocent, such as working on the farm, telling stories, the picnic, trips to town with them, those moments where he and Pinkamena comforted each other, and now with the carnival.
Okay, he wouldn't exactly call it innocent--they were disobeying Igneous. That was another thing that worried him. There was this nagging feeling that Maud would wake up and find that her sisters were gone, and then check his room to find that nopony was there either. He was sure she would tell Igneous when it came to that. And if Cheese was extra unlucky, they'd find the letter, and it would give them enough leverage to terminate his employment.
He shook his head again. No, he had chucked the letter under his bed, and Maud wouldn't care enough to even read it should she find it. When morning came, he was going to write a letter calling Tomato out on his assumptions, and after mailing it, he was going to burn that dirty letter from him. If anything, he didn't want Igneous to get the wrong idea.
He ran a hoof through his mane. Maybe he was just overreacting.
He looked up at the three mares walking in front of him, and the smooth and steady pace told him that they had passed the rock field, and were about halfway to town. He paid special attention to Pinkamena, her curls bouncing with each spring in her step, and the pinkness of her coat glistening under the moonlight. He didn't have a view of her face, but he imagined her eyes glistening like an azure crystal as they always did, and her smile as bright as the sun, as it never failed to be.
Was this the same mare that had taken a well-built stallion down with one kick and made a rowdy gang afraid of her in the process? Was this the same mare that had expressed disdain at his employment? Was this the same mare who had been a stern grouch who had been slowly hating the ponies in town thanks to Cortland and his invasive persistence? He was amazed at her metamorphosis from when he first met her, as he never thought he'd see her with such a joyous aura that only emphasized how lovely she was.
He looked at himself, feeling the bulk that he had developed and reviewing what he had been through the past few months. Am I the same stallion?
Pinkamena stopped at an incline. Turning to the other three with a smirk, she said, "We're here."
Marble, Limestone, and Cheese trotted to the spots beside her, and stared at the sight ahead. The carnival was on their side of the railroad, and it had enough lights for the small group to behold it. Many booths were up and running, and there were ponies playing a whole variety of games and eating food that the booths presented. A mini-roller coaster, a mini train, a ferris wheel, and a few other rides speckled the field and hills, and there was a stage set up for entertainment, as well a open space where ponies were clearly dancing to the music that permeated the air.
The mares all stared at it in awe, while Cheese just smiled and nodded. "Yep, that's a carnival all right. Beautiful, isn't it?"
They all smiled at him and nodded. Cheese patted his poncho, and added, "Okey-dokey. Got plenty of bits in my pocket and a lot of things to do ahead. Are you girls ready for your first carnival?"
"You bet we are!" Limestone exclaimed.
Marble simply grinned and nodded, and Pinkamena said, "Let's do this."
And so, the four descended the hill to enter into a night of fun.
Once their tickets had been bought, the first thing that Cheese did was buy some cotton candy and present it to the Pie sisters. After they stared blankly at it, they dissolved into giggles.
"It really does resemble Pinkamena's mane!" Marble said.
Pinkamena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but it's the color of my coat. Still, is it really as sweet as Cheese says it is?" She leaned forward and took a bite. Almost immediately, she hummed in delight, letting the soft treat dissolve on her tongue. Licking her lips, she sighed, "Yep, it's sweet. Just the way I like it."
Marble and Limestone took bites of it as well. They nodded in approval, their smiles indicating that it was delicious.
Cheese laughed. "I am so glad you like it." He took a bite of his own and looked around. "Okay, now what activity shall we get to first?"
They didn't care that the Nickerlite residents stared. They didn't care that they were shocked to see half the Pies out and about. They didn't care about the whispers that were going around. And they most certainly didn't care that the townsfolk were making a ruckus about not only their presence, but the fact that they were smiling.
The first thing that they did was a ring toss.
"All right, ponies," the carny said, stroking his goatee. "The rules of the ring toss are simple. You toss a few rings and hope ya get one of the bottles. Succeeding in doing so wins ya a prize. Any questions?"
Limestone stepped forward and stretched. "Not at all."
She was given her rings, and her game began. The very first thing that she did was twirl the ring with her tail, before chucking it forward. However, it kept on zooming straight, and the carny had to duck to avoid it. There was a crash, and the carny rose back up to find that the ring had totaled a cabbage cart, much to the distress of Mr. Green.
The carny turned to Limestone. "What was that? Ya nearly chopped my head off, kid!"
Limestone bit her lip. "Oops."
Pinkamena stared at the shattered cart. "Throw more gently, Limestone. We've already done enough damage for one day."
Limestone turned to stick her tongue out at her, but took Pinkamena's advice for the rest of the game, which resulted in bouncing rings, but no ringers.
In the next game, in an effort to not throw as hard as her sister, Marble tossed her rings as gently as possible, only just barely going past the counter. Cheese's efforts resulted in bouncing rings, but still no ringer.
Finally, it was Pinkamena's turn. Her first four tries yielded the same results as Limestone and Cheese, with a lot of bouncing rings and a very amused carny remarking that it was making a tune. Pinkamena giggled, hearing the tune as well, seeing as it was none other than her song. One final toss resulted in getting her a ringer... on the carny's ear. Pinkamena facehoofed.
The carny merely laughed and said, "Well, I always wanted an earring."
Pinkamena giggled. "So, do I win?"
The carny clicked his tongue. "No, your ringer had to be on one of the the bottles for it to be valid. Rules are rules, kid."
Pinkamena sighed. "Very well. Still, it was fun while it lasted, not to mention pretty funny."
"I think that too... except for your sister nearly killing me."
Limestone growled at him.
The very next thing they did was knock down milk bottles. That was a little too easy for the Pie sisters, and thus the respective prizes of a stuffed puppy, a stuffed tarantula, and a rubber chicken were won. After receiving her rubber chicken, Pinkamena turned around and trotted to Cheese, who opted to sit out on this game. Then, she put the chicken on his back.
She smiled at him. "There you go."
Cheese cocked his head. "There I go what?"
"Well, when you told us the story about the Goof Off, you mentioned that you were sad because the rubber chicken you wanted exploded. Well, I give you the one I won. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, but--" Cheese looked at the rubber chicken and his back and stared. He remembered the reason for wanting that first rubber chicken in the first place: to keep him company on the road. After a moment, he smiled and said, "I think I'll name him Boneless."
Pinkamena smiled back at him. "Well, it's a fitting name for him, seeing how he has no bones."
Meanwhile, her sisters were naming their puppy and tarantula Bean and Bunny respectively. After which, they requested to go on the roller coaster.
Hooves were raised as the mini roller coaster train descended from its hill, falling through a quick series of twists and turns that made them pass the station in less than fifteen seconds. It went through five laps, and each lap brought upon a new game for Cheese and the Pies.
First lap was standard reaction to a first-time roller coaster ride. Second lap was counting how many times they went up and down, accompanied by a singsong "uuuppp and dooowwn!" Third and fourth lap was seeing who could go the longest without screaming, which Marble won. And the fifth was just Cheese singing a song to entertain the sisters, and still singing by the time they got off.
Cheese was breathlessly laughing once he finished his song. "I think my voice is a little squeaky now..."
"Yeah, no kidding," Limestone said. She heard a bell go off, and she turned to see a tower with a bell on top. She noticed that a large stallion had won a silly, rainbow-colored top hat, and chuckled. She looked at the tower again, and asked, "Cheese, what's that?"
Cheese looked at the thing, and answered, "Oh, that? It's a... bell ringer game to test your strength. You buck the target as hard as you can, and see if you can ring the bell. Do so and you win a prize."
"Tests your strength?" Marble asked, now looking at the bell. "You think we could try it?"
"Do we win if we break it?" Limestone deadpanned.
"Limey, you're already responsible for the destruction of a cabbage cart. Pinkamena said we shouldn't break anything else. Isn't that right, Pinkamena? Uh, Pinkamena?"
Pinkamena was staring at a sign that said "Caramel Apples," and the look on her face was that of desire. She wondered if they were apples made out of caramel, or just apples covered in caramel. Whatever they were, she wanted to try one.
She lifted her hoof up, and Cheese took it as a signal to give her a couple bits to try it. However, as she placed them between her teeth for holding and started to walk forward, she abruptly stopped, and she started to glare at the stand.
"Uh, Pinkamena? What are you..." Cheese looked up and studied the stand. Almost instantly his face fell into a frown. "Oh."
Limestone and Marble confusedly looked at the stand, and groaned. Of all ponies to be running the caramel apple stand, it had to be Cortland.
"Why couldn't it be Haralson?" Cheese grumbled. "At least he's respectful."
Marble approached her pink sister and patted her back. "Don't worry; we could find another snack around here that you could try. You don't have to go and face that sleazy, no-good, lying--"
"No." Pinkamena stated. "I'm not afraid of him, and I'm not about to give anypony the idea that I am. If anything, he should be afraid of me."
Limestone stepped forward. "What if you give ponies the idea that you're willing to... you know..."
"I'm simply asking for a caramel apple. Nothing more, nothing less. If anypony gets their fantasies going, I'm going to lay down just what I really think of him in the harshest words possible, and don't even doubt that I won't pull my punches. Now, one of you go ahead and ring that bell; I'm getting my caramel apple."
With that, she snorted, and marched up to the stand with a fair amount of pride. This mare is not some confused and abused filly, waiting for her "knight in shining armor" to rescue her from that awful rock farm, and blind to just what a blessing Nickerlite's bachelor of the local Apple Family was. Neither was she a mare afraid of the stallion who had humiliated her in front of her favorite place in town. She was Pinkamena Diane Pie, one of the toughest mares in town, and not willing to put up with any horseapples that the townsponies spew forth.
Soon, she was face to face with him. The two had a staredown, which felt like hours, even though it was most likely for a brief moment. She couldn't stop glaring at him, that circle of chanting and that unwanted kiss fresh in her mind. He was trying to look tough, but she could see in his eyes that he was cowed by her intense glower.
Finally, Cortland spoke. "Can Ah help you?"
Pinkamena exhaled through her nostrils and dropped the bits on the counter. "I would like a caramel apple."
He raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Yer not gonna beat me up?"
"No, that sort of revenge is unnecessary."
Cortland rolled his eyes, and plucked a caramel-covered apple from the tray beside him. "Got that right. Pa made me fess up, and now everypony's just givin' me the cold shoulder. How's that for yer satisfaction?"
Pinkamena took the apple and blinked. "Really? You, being honest?"
Cortland glanced at her mane. "Ya did your hair."
"Thanks for pointing that out." She turned around and started to walk away. "Keep going on that straight, honest path, Cortland. You'll be a better pony for it."
Cortland crossed his front legs, and watched as she returned to her sisters and Cheese. There was no sight of her parents or her older sister, Maud. It would make no sense for them to let their daughters go out to the carnival without their supervision; heck, he was sure they wouldn't let them go at all. As far as he could see, they weren't being all that honest themselves. Looking at Cheese specifically, who seemed to acquired a hat somehow, he recalled the forged letter, and wondered how much of their trust would be shattered in him once this leaked out.
He leaned back and smirked. "Funny you should tell me to be honest while you're doin' this."
After riding a few more rides, trying more foods, and losing several more games, the group had went to the carousel, and took their seats. Limestone and Marble took their seats on the shoulders of a minotaur, holding the poles it held in it's hands, while Cheese and Pinkamena sat in a sleigh attached to the floor in front of them. After being strapped in, the ride began, and the girls on the minotaur were idly enjoying the ride.
Marble looked down at their hired hoof and older sister, and pursed her lips in thought. She turned to Limestone. "Hey, Limestone?"
"Hm?"
"Have you noticed something going on with those two?"
Limestone looked at them, who seemed to be enjoying themselves and chatting up a storm. "Well, they're having fun, aren't they?"
"Yeah, but... don't you think they're acting a little funny? Not the 'haha' kind of funny, just... the odd kind of funny?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well... they're not exactly acting like 'brother and sister.' The way they glance and stare at each other, just how lost they seem sometimes, and how they're basically just sitting alone together looking kind of lovey-dovey?"
Limestone raised an eyebrow. "Lovey-dovey?"
"Well, that's how I describe the courting couples I see when I visit town!"
"Wait, courting couples? But... Cheese and Pinkamena can't be courting..."
"They're probably not--at least, not on purpose." Marble shrugged and looked away, drawing closer to her pole. "I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy. Maybe I'm only imagining that they're falling in love or something, and that they just have some sort of close kinship that I'm misinterpreting, or--"
"You know, Marble, you might be on to something." Limestone's face broke out into a bright smile. "If they really are falling for each other, there's a chance they might court. And if they court, they might end up getting married. And if that happens... Cheese would be our brother-in-law! And having him for a brother would be just fantastic! And just imagine us being aunts..."
"Heheh, yeah." Marble grinned for a moment before frowning. "But... we have a couple of problems. For one, Cheese's cutie mark dictates that he's a traveler. I'm not sure he'd have time for settling down and raising a family."
Limestone waved a hoof. "We'll figure out a way around it. Like, uh... oh, Pa's not getting any younger! Maybe Cheese could take over the deliveries! Problem solved!"
"Uh, sure? But the other problem is Pa. He's not too keen on stallions trying to romance us, remember? If he finds out Cheese and Pinkamena are falling in love, Cheese'll get fired."
Limestone grin fell into a frown. "Oh... right. I guess either way, we'll have to face the day we'll lose him sooner or later. Ugh, I don't want him to leave! He's the best stallion we've ever met, and considering him a brother was the best thing we've done."
Marble sighed. "Yeah... me too. But let's just make the most of our time with him. It's shorter than we'd like."
The carousel slowed to a stop, and the unicorn running the ride levitated a megaphone and announced for all riders to get off. Marble and Limestone slid off the minotaur's shoulders, and followed Cheese and Pinkamena to the exit.
"All right, time for one last hurrah until we go home," Cheese said. He rubbed his eye and wondered what time it was. He looked at the Pie sisters, nodding in agreement to the last hurrah before they called it quits. They all smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Okay, girls, we're heading to that field where a lot of ponies are dancing and watching entertainment on that stage. You up for it?"
"Yeah!"
Cheese chuckled. "All right then."
As they started to trot to the field, the thought of somepony back at the house waking up and discovering that they're gone came to his mind again. So, far, they managed to get through most of the night without Igneous marching in and catching them. He still held the nagging feeling that he and the other three were making a big mistake. And yet, he had went forward with the carnival night, despite Igneous' rejection of the idea and Tomato being unable to come.
I must be crazy. Why did I even come here? This could get us in trouble!
For some reason, just looking at Pinkamena made him stay calm and feel much lighter. The spring in her step, the smile on her face, and the way she talked made him think that maybe, just maybe, it would be all worth it. He looked at Bean the toy puppy and Bunny the toy tarantula on Marble and Limestone's backs, and then at Boneless the rubber chicken on his own. He felt his new hat--a simple, brown cowboy hat--and he couldn't help but grin. He loved the Pies so much, as despite their forbidding exteriors upon first meeting them, he had ended up becoming really happy with them. And in turn, they were becoming happy as well.
He felt on top of the world, and that nothing could bring him down.
Maud was not all too fond of waking up in the middle of the night. Usually it was due to a trip to the outhouse, which was something that interrupted well-needed rest and a string of fascinating dreams of canyons, quarries, and layers upon layers of precious geological information. But this time, she had noticed something wrong.
Usually, she would hear the hooves of her sisters, returning from a storytelling session with Cheese. But this time, it was completely quiet. While she usually preferred the quiet, this was a cause for concern.
She slid out of her bed, lit her lamp and picked it up, and walked to the door, wondering if they had all fell asleep on the floor in Cheese's room after one too many stories. She wondered if the stallion would ever run out of stories, and if he had any adventures that involved any rocks.
She quietly opened the door, and then made her way to Cheese's room. Standing in front of the door, she knocked it.
No answer.
She knocked again. Still no answer.
After the third knock without an answer, she simply opened the door, and walked in. She looked around, and she could not see any trace of any of her sisters on the floor or Cheese in his bed. While her body was as solid and steady as ever, her thoughts were going into a panic.
Where were they? Why weren't they here? What is going on?
She looked forward and discovered that the window was open. With a single blink, she walked forward, and set her lamp on the nightstand beside the lamp there, knocking the letter off of the table. Sticking her head out the window, she discovered a staircase made of rocks. She pondered when those were put there, and why nopony had heard them being moved there.
And then it hit her. There was that carnival going on in Nickerlite. Cheese had asked to go a couple weeks before, intending to have some fun with his brother. Pinkamena, Limestone, and Marble had expressed disappointment at not being able to go, thanks to Cortland. And who else but a rock farmer was strong enough to move those rocks wherever they wished?
She sighed and shook her head. Of course they went to the carnival. I hope they haven't gotten into any trouble.
"Maud? What are you doing?"
Maud pulled her head back in and turned to face her father, who had a look of disbelief as he looked around the room. Her mother was beside him, doing the same thing until she spotted the letter and stooped down to put it back on the nightstand. Maud knew that they had heard her knocking.
Igneous looked straight at her. "Where are your sisters? Where's the hired hoof?"
Cloudy's eyes widened as she looked at what the letter said. "What am I reading?"
There went any chance of retrieving them discreetly.