As soon as the firsts beams of the Sun touched Pinkie’s face, she hopped on her hooves and galloped towards the window, which she swung open. She put her front hooves on the frame, threw half of her body out, and started singing. “Good morning, Equestriaaa!”
She closed the window, ran to Limestone’s bed and pulled the covers, revealing a very sleepy earth pony. “Uh? W-what?” she muttered, a single eye creaking open.
“I’ve got a feeling that it’s gonna be a wonderful day!”
Pinkie then trotted to the other bed and proceeded to repeat the same action. Octavia let out a grumble and covered her ears with her hooves. Limestone threw her pillow, hitting Pinkie on the face. The bubblegun mare, however, continued singing unfazed. “The Sun in the sky has a smile on her face, and she’s shining a salute to the Equestrian race!” she sung, galloping to the stairs and sliding down on the hoofrail. She opened the door, jumped outside and raised her hooves to the sky. “Oh boy it’s swell to say ‘Good morning Equestria’!”
“Pinkamena Diane Pie!” rang the voice of Limestone from upstairs. “You shut up this instant, or I’ll make myself a new pillow with your mane!”
***
“I really, really don’t know where you get all that energy from.” muttered a very sleepy Limestone as she stirred her coffee. She took in a deep breath of the smell and let out a satisfied sigh. “I need this just to be half awake.” she said, taking a sip.
Octavia, on the other side of the table, emitted a grumble of agreement. Last night, she had decided to sleep on her house for a change. Now, she deeply regretted it. She could be cuddling with Vinyl right now, but she had made the wrong choice.
“It’s just a matter of taking things the right way.” explained Pinkie as she gobbled her way through the second serving of oathmeals. Traditions were traditions, after all. “You just have to think of as the chance to make new plans and fun stuff! Not like ‘Ugh, I have to go to work again and I don’t wanna’.” she said, mimicking Limestone’s voice.
“That works better than you’d think.” added Igneous Rock. The brown stallion had finished his frugal meal a while ago, and was currently reading the newspaper. “Ever since I retired, that’s how I’ve been taking things. And it’s worked well.”
Limestone gave her father a glare with a single eye, as the other had stubbornly decided to remain half closed. “If only it was that easy…” she whispered. Once she was done with her coffee, she slowly got up and served herself some oatmeals.
When the twins were almost done with their breakfast and Pinkie was just having a fifth bowl, Cloudy Quartz trotted inside the kitchen and proceeded to open every cupboard and take mental note of its contents. “Igneous, I have to go buy some groceries.” she said to her husband. “Do you want to come?”
The stallion pondered the question for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.” he replied, folding the paper and dropping it on the table.
“Wait, you’re leaving again?” asked Pinkie Pie, tilting her head.
“Yes.” replied Cloudy, looking at her daughter. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just you’re all day out and we barely see you except at breakfast, lunch and dinner.” replied Pinkie Pie, putting her chin on the table. “We don’t see you that much…”
“She’s got a point.” muttered Limestone. “We came here to see you, and we barely do that.” she said, looking at her parents. Again, Octavia agreed with a simple hum.
Cloudy smiled and walked around the table to give a hug to each of her daughters. “What you say it’s true. But it’s just…There’s not that much happening here in Gravelpit. There is not much we can tell you, nothing interesting, nothing exciting. This is what we do every day, every week. And we are happy.” She made a pause to offer a bigger smile to the three sisters. “But that is not the case for you. There are a lot of things happening to you, around you. And we want you to have time to enjoy with each other. Because at some point, your sisters will be your only family.”
“Cloudy, you make it sound as if we were going to die the day after tomorrow.” commented Igneous.
“Oh heavens! I didn’t mean it that way!” she tried to amend. “Celestia forbid me for saying that. What I mean is that we think it’s more worth if you spend your time with somepony of your age, instead of your old parents.”
The three sisters shared a look. “I suppose you have a point.” Limestone conceded with a small nod.
“Perfect! In that case, we’ll see you at lunch.” cheerfully said Cloudy Quartz, waving a hoof at them. She and Igneous left and closed the door behind them. The three sisters shared a look and let out a sigh.
“And off they are…” muttered Limestone, idly poking her food.
There was a silence that stood over the three mares of a minute, until Pinkie Pie hopped from her chair. “Don’t worry, we will find something fun to do ‘till lunch, and they will be back by then.” she cheerfully said as she put her dish on the sink and scrubbed off the remains of the oathmeal.
***
Limestone slowly climbed the stairs, pondering about the options she had for the morning. Once again, there was the problem of not having anything to do. If at least the area was nice they could simply go for a pleasant walk around Gravelpit. But no, the name of the town was quite literal, as it was right on a dry valley completely devoid of green except for the abundant tumbleweeds.
Huffing, the mare crossed the door and went straight to her bed, not even saying anything to Octavia, who was cleaning her cello. At least she had her marefriend to keep her ‘busy’, and Pinkie…well, she was Pinkie. She could just play with a stone or something.
The slam of the door made her jump. She raised her head and saw Pinkie stranding next to the door, a hoof still resting on its surface. What was she up to? “Uh…anything wrong, Pinkie Pie?”
Suddenly, the pink mare was over her, her hooves pressed against her shoulders and her weight pinning her down. “Okay young lady. You’re gonna tell us what we want to hear, and you’re gonna speak no matter how tough you are. You can do this the easy way, or my way.” she commanded.
Limestone just looked at her in utter confusion, incapable of processing what was going on. Behind her, she heard a giggle. “You can drop that off, Pinkie. When I said we should interrogate her, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Oh. Then how?” asked Pinkie. Limestone tried to wriggle her way out of her pinning, with little success.
“First, get off her.” instructed Octavia, sitting on the other side of the bed. Pinkie obeyed and lay next to Limestone. “Now, we can simply ask her. There is no need for a third-degree interrogation.”
Grumbling, Limestone sat straight and shot a glare to Pinkie. “So, what is this all about?”
“We just want to know about yesterday’s date.” explained Octavia, smiling.
“Yeah!” added Pinkie. “What did he say about the dress? Tell us, tell us, tell us!”
“Oh. That.” Limestone smiled and shook her head. “It was just as I expected.” she said, making a pause for dramatic effect. “That is, not a date at all.”
There was a moment of silence. “It wasn’t?” asked Pinkie, clearly disappointed.
“Yep.” replied the other. “We just had dinner, chatted a bit, and then he walked me home. No romantic stuff, no kisses, no…you know, nothing of the kind of stuff you’d expect to see on a date. He didn’t actually see the dress. It’s nice and all, but I didn’t want it to get dirty just for this.” She let out a sigh and tilted her head. “It was a rather nice night, actually. I had fun. Wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
“Wait, you mean he didn’t take you to the place?” asked Pinkie Pie, crooking an eyebrow.
“Uh…no?” replied Limestone. “What are you even talking about, Pinkie?”
“Maybe he didn’t had the chance.” said Octavia to her little sister. She let out a sigh of disappointment. “Oh well. I guess you were right. That wasn’t a date, after all.”
“Just like I said.” added Limestone, puffing her chest in pride. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie got up from the bed and slowly walked to the door. “Where are you going, Pinkie?”
“I have some…business to do.” she grumbled without stopping.
Pinkie closed the door behind her and the two twins shared a look. “Any idea what got into her?” asked Limestone.
“I…honestly don’t have a clue.” admitted Octavia.
***
Clang
The sound of metal against metal echoed through the galleries.
Clang
The smash of the sledgehammer drove the chisel deeper with each strike.
Clang
Sledgehammer raised his steel maul over his head and hit the chisel with all the strength of his muscles and weight combined. The metal spike dug deeply into the stone, almost disappearing into the rock. The large pony grinned and pulled of the string that went through the head of the chisel, pulling it off and leaving a perfectly round hole.
The stallion took a moment to clean the sweat off his brow with a very dirty cloth towel. “Oi!” he belched over his shoulder. “Ah am dun ‘ere. Move yer plots here at once!”
“There is no need to scream, Sledge.” replied Flint ‘n’ Steel, poking his head around the corner of the gallery. “We’re right here. Gunpowder is almost done, you can rest of a bit.”
Sighting, the bigger brother let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. He was usually a patient pony, except when it came to his job. He liked to go, see, hit whatever he had to hit, and go back home. He would rather be busy an entire day than just one morning with continuous interruptions. Was that weird? Perhaps, but it’s the way he liked things.
Sledgehammer put the maul over his shoulder, grabbed the oil lantern and walked over his brothers. The two ponies were sitting on the ground one in front of the other, with a second lantern for illumination. Between them sat a complex assortment of bottles, jars and a brass mortar. Inside the latter sat a harmless-looking dark powder. “How’s it going?” idly asked the stallion.
“Just a little bit more.” replied the smallest pony. He had a frown on his brow, and seemed to be very focused in his task. Sledgehammer let out a sigh at that. Gunpowder had done that one and a thousand times before. By that point, he was just feigning to be nervous. However, even he backed away slightly when the younger brother carefully poured a foul-smelling liquid inside the mortar. He made a pause, grabbed the pestle, raised it over his head and slammed it on the brass recipient.
Instead of detonating, the gunpowder liquefied. Satisfied, the pony grinded it for a few seconds until the explosive had turned into a dark gray paste, which he poured into one of the steel vials. After adding a piece of string and sealing it, the pony gave a nod and placed it on the ground. “There. Finished.” he said, giving it a gentle tap. “Your turn, Flint.”
Grumbling, Steel grabbed the vial and one of the lanterns, and walked back to where Sledgehammed had been working. Behind him, he could hear the hoofsteps of his brothers as they walked away to a safe distance. The stallion carefully placed the vial inside the hole, feeling a cold drop of sweat scurry across his forehead. Working with explosives was not his talent, and he could easily mess things up.
Or maybe not, and the liquid gunpowder was perfectly safe. Still, better safe than sorry. He would rather play it carefully than blow up one of his legs.
After putting the vial on the hole, Flint ‘n’ Steel clapped her hooves together a few times. As expected, each time a spark flew off his horseshoes. It was a very weird habit he had, especially considering that was his special talent. Testing if you talent works after failing made sense, but he had never failed. Ever.
The stallion took a deep breath, held it, and released it after a few seconds. Biting his lip, he drew his hooves next to the wick and scraped one against the other. The spark flew directly into the string and ignited it. “Fire in the hole!” he screamed as he turned around and stormed away from the explosive, feeling the lamp smacking into his side with each step.
The pony only stopped when he reached his two brothers, who were lying on the ground with their hooves on their heads. As he ducked next to them, Steel noticed with amusement that the bigger stallion had a protective foreleg over his little brother. Gunpowder, however, was grinning and didn’t seem to be worried at all by the incoming explosion.
A moment of tense silence. There was always this awkward second in which it was hard to tell if the explosion was still going to happen, or the wick had fizzled out. Steel would never forget the time he though the spark had faded; only to find out he was mistaken as he made his way back to the charge.
The three ponies felt the rumble of the ground through their hooves, and a split second later the blast reached them, covering them in dust and making their ears ring. They were too far away from the explosion for any serious damage, but the middle brother made a mental note of going further away the next time. Steel sat up straight and shook his head, but it took him a minute to fully recover. Sledge needed a little more time, while Gunpowder showed off his connection with explosions by getting up after a brief pause to shake off the dust.
“Come on, you two.” he cheerily said, trotting down the gallery.
“W-wait for us!” stammered Steel. Casting a glance to his bigger brother, he decided let him rest and go after Gunpowder alone. A brief trot later, he found the small stallion standing very still and eyes wide open, looking through the newly-opened hole.
“What’s it? Anything good?” asked Steel, walking to the hole and raising the lantern. The light that poured it reflected on a dozen crystals of various sizes and colors. The stallion let out a whistle of appreciation. “Well, ain’t that a nice cave? It sure beats the one we’ve been working on ‘till now. Gunpowder? Are you okay, dude?”
The other pony blinked and shook his head. “U-what?”
“Are you okay?” asked Steel with concern. “You’re a tad pale.”
“I saw something moving.” said Gunpowder, pointing to the semidarkness.
“Pft. Yeah, sure.” he said, chuckling and giving him a pat on the head. “Nice try, but that ain’t going to work on me. You can try with Sledgehammer, he’s far more gullible.”
“I am not lying!”
“Well, then you saw wrong, ‘coz it’s as clear as diamond that there can’t be anything here. This cave has been sealed ‘till now.”
“I swear to Celestia I saw something moving!” insisted Gunpowder, stomping his hoof on the stone. His brother was starting to get on his nerves.
“…maybe it was a bat.” said Steel, shrugging. He really didn’t want to argue over something so pointless.
“I am not a bat, silly!” echoed a voice from the dark, followed by a ghastly giggle.
The two brothers shrieked in harmony, so perfectly one would think they were prepared and had been training. From the depths of the darkness, a shadow emerged. As it came closer to the source of light, the shadow turned a pinkish blur, which then became Pinkie Pie.
“Hello!” she cheered, waving a hoof and with a huge smile plastered on her face.
The stallions closed their jaws and shared a look, then looked back at Pinkie. “What in tarnation are you doing here?” asked the older one.
“I was waiting for you.” replied Pinkie, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Did you…just get in, or…?” asked Gunpowder, tilting his head.
“No, I’ve been here all along.”
Steel’s eye twitched. She was obviously playing with them, but he decided to just not question her silliness. “Sure, let’s go with that.” he said, sighing and rubbing his eyes. “What did ya want?”
“It’s about yesterday.”
Flint’s ears went flat on his head. “Oh. That.”
“The date didn’t work as planned, huh?” quietly asked Pinkie. The stallion shook his head.
“Wait, you were in a date yesterday?” chimed in Gunpowder, looking to his brother with his eyes wide open. “You left late at night, but you didn’t say anything of that!”
Steel let out an annoyed sigh. “I’ll tell ya about it later, okay? We’ve done progress, so we’re done for today. Got fetch Sledgehammer and go home.”
“Alright.” nodded Gunpowder. For a second, he seemed to ponder insisting a bit more, but then he turned around and went back through the gallery. Flint ‘n’ Steel waited until her hoofsteps faded into silence before speaking again.
“What did Limestone tell ya about yesterday?” he asked as he sat on the stone.
“Not much.” replied Pinkie. “She said she had fun and it was nice to hang out with somepony that wasn’t us. And that it wasn’t a date. And when I asked her if you had taken her to ‘the place’, she had no idea what I meant.”
That drew half a smile from Steel. “She had fun, huh? I’m glad to hear that.” he muttered as he scratched his mane. “I don’t know. I enjoyed being with her and all that. But after the dinner was over she said something like ‘It’s getting late, I should go home’, so I offered to walk her there. Maybe I should have told her to stay a lil’ longer, I don’t know. I was afraid it would be too…forced, y’know?”
“Maybe next time you should make it clear that it’s a date.” plainly stated Pinkie.
“Howdja mean?”
Pinkie blew a lock off her face before explaining. “Yesterday she was all like ‘it’s not a date’. And today, she was still saying that. So maaaybe that’s why she decided to leave more-or-less early, because she thought she was just spending a night with you.”
Steel let out a sigh. “I guess that makes sense. But, how? Do I just walk to her and say that we’re having a date?”
Pinkie let out a giggle. “Nah, that would be weird. I don’t know, give her a present. A flower. Everypony likes flowers.”
Steel looked at Pinkie. “You know? That’s is actually a very good idea. I’ll do that. Any idea what she likes?”
“Nope.”
“Dangit.” grumbled Steel. “Well, I’m not gonna complain about that. You two have already done enough for me. It’s up to me now.”
“That is what I wanted to hear!” cheered Pinkie Pie. “Now, when will you ask her out again?”
“As soon as I have the chance!” replied Steel with confidence. He got on all four and stomped a hoof on the stone. “Hopefully I’ll see her today in Gravetpit. I’ll ask her out then.”
“I’ll make sure she wears her dress this time!” added Pinkie Pie. “Now I have to go, my sisters need me. I’ll see you later. Bye-bye!” The bubblegum mare turned around and crossed through the hole and into the darkness.
Steel blinked. “What, Pinkie? Where are ya going? The exit is not over there!” Worried, the stallion grabbed the lantern on his mouth and scanned the cavern with its beam. It was completely empty, the gleams of them gems the only specks of color on a homogeneous stone gray. “P’hinki? W’er ‘ahr ya?”