//------------------------------//
// 33. Lost and Found 
// Story: The Rock Farmer's Daughters 
// by Sketcha-Holic 
//------------------------------//

Bluejinx was up and about early the next morning, and he was not very happy. 

A heavy feeling of suspicion was weighing on his mind. Cheese's account of sending a letter and then receiving a letter from Tomato, and Tomato's account of never receiving a reply from Cheese didn't match up. He had recently went to the post office and mailed a reply to his letter, explaining the confusion. Now, with the mail from last night in tow, Bluejinx was going to see if the so-called "smells" of the letters matched up. 

Bluejinx had no idea just what a "crook" specifically smelled like, though he could guess that they smelled bad. Then again, he had met some lowlifes back in Manehattan that most certainly did bathe. But there was no doubt in his mind that Tomato was not one.

He crossed the railroad, still pondering the letter that Cheese received. Just what about it was enough to get him fired?  From what Cheese had told him, it was definitely implying something that Igneous didn't like. 

He idly glanced at the field beside him, and briefly wondered how ponies could pack up a carnival so fast. However, he noticed that behind the train station, the dirt had a bunch of hoofprints and skid marks, there were patches of uprooted grass in some places, and some black mounds dotting the ground. He stopped and stared at the patch of land curiously, wondering just what had happened there that tore it up like that.

He scratched his head, and then his eye caught something laying a ways away from the site. He turned and approached it, and discovered that it was a black hat. Recognizing it as the kind of hat Igneous wore, he picked it up with his magic and examined it. It was old and worn, but still steady, and there were gray hairs sticking to the inside of the hat. He levitated it to face level and brushed the dust off of it. 

"If this really is Mr. Rock's hat, what's it doing out here?" Bluejinx wondered aloud. He shrugged and kept on walking to the farm. "If it is, I suppose returning it wouldn't hurt. Maybe I could use it as leverage to further my investigation of that letter."

Still, he kept on looking back at the torn up land behind the train station, and his mind had the crazy thought of Igneous being caught in some kind of struggle. 





The very moment that Bluejinx showed Cloudy Igenous' hat, red flags went up in her head. Knowing Igneous, he would never remove his hat, the two reasons being that embarrassing horseshoe scar from Maud's birth, and the fact that the hat used to belong to his father. Only if it flew off while he was in the middle of something would he be caught without it. That Bluejinx found it a good hundred yards away from the train station brought on some concern. Even if Igneous did stick his head out a window and a breeze caught the hat, how could it even land there?

Bluejinx led her and her daughters to the site where he found the hat. In turn, they were drawn to the patch of land behind the train station. 

There was no doubt in her mind that there had been a struggle here. There was a large mark where somepony must have skidded, and there were hoofprints of varying sizes, though all did agree that they were big. There were several spots where somepony scooped up some dirt, and the resulting clumps were broken and scattered all over the place. Finally, for some reason, there was this black stuff dotting the ground. 

Limestone bent down, smelled some of the black stuff, and recoiled. "Bleck! That's tar!"

Marble's eyes went wide. "Tar? You don't mean to tell me that Pa was tarred and feathered, do you?"

Maud simply looked at the ground. "There are no feathers."

Marble shrugged. "Whoever did this might have picked up the feathers."

Limestone gave her a half-lidded stare. "Then why didn't they clean up the tar?"

"Well, you could hardly call tar pleasant to the touch."

"Now, don't start one of your quarrels, girls," Cloudy said. "For all we know, we could be wrong, and your father simply lost his hat when the train left. But, truth be told, I don't think that's likely, given that fighting with a rock farmer tends to tear up the land."

Bluejinx shifted uncomfortably. "And... well... I did hear a few things about Igneous being abusive in town..."

Cloudy turned and glared at him. "'Abusive'? You know very well that's a lie! And what does that got to do with anything?"

"...maybe they attempted tarring and feathering him because of that?"

Marble piped in, "But everypony in town knows that Pa's super strong. Trying to mess with him is a terrible idea."

Limestone looked at the railroad station. "I'll go ask the ticket pony. Maybe they know what happened."

As Limestone left, the others looked among each other, scratching their heads at the events of the night before. Bluejinx cleared his throat, and asked, "So... do you think he won or lost?"

"How would he lose?" Marble asked. "He may not be able to smash rocks with his bare hooves anymore, but he could still kick a large Diamond Dog's butt seven ways to Sunday. Ponies should be a piece of cake!"

Bluejinx shrugged. "Maybe he was restraining himself? I don't think he'd want to kill a pony."

"Even then, only way to beat him is if he breaks a bone or strains a muscle," Cloudy deadpanned. Then she raised her voice once again. "But for all we know, we could be mistaken, and Igneous really is on his way to wherever to retrieve Pinkamena! He could have won and scared whoever attacked him off. It don't really explain the hat, but we don't have much in the way of proof either way."

Limestone returned and said, "The ticket pony says that Pa was still waiting for the eleven o'clock train when he left. That's all he knows."

Bluejinx scratched his chin. "That late hour is concerning... still, somepony should go travel to where he went, just to make sure he didn't get in a fight and lose... and possibly missed the train."

"What are you, a detective?"

"No. I'm simply concerned." 

Maud stepped forward. "You ponies can try to look for him in town. I'll take the train."





"Now, now, I know you have a lot of questions; I have some of my own," Sedimentary said. She set three bowls of oatmeal down on the table for Pinkamena, Cheese, and herself. "But you know I couldn't let you stay up asking them and me answering them."

Pinkamena couldn't help but bounce in her seat, her hair--now having fallen from ringlets into waves--bouncing along with her. "I know, I know, Aunt Seddie--but come on! I've been wondering where you've been since I've first heard about you! I mean, you've been gone since my parents were engaged!"

Cheese dug his face into the oatmeal, but still looked up and glanced between the two mares. Now that he was awake and more alert, he could definitely see the family resemblance. She had the exact same eyes as Igneous, and she was the same tone of pink that her niece was. He recalled last night, where after the initial shock of her revealing her name, he had blurted out the question of if she had a brother named Igneous. Once Sedimentary had confirmed it, both he and Pinkamena exploded with questions, to which Seddie responded to them with telling them to go to bed. 

He wondered just how Igneous would react to this if he were here. He wondered how Sedimentary would react to her other nieces, and to the news that her mother had died in her absence. And he wondered how she'd react to the kind of rumors that had erupted about them and to Cortland's harassment of Pinkamena. 

Meeting Igneous' sister led to thoughts on how a reunion between him and his brother would go, which he quickly shut out with recent events in mind.

Seddie chuckled at Pinkamena. "So... Igneous did marry Cloudy Quartz, didn't he?"

Pinkamena nodded. "Mm-hm. First they had Maud, then me, then Limestone, and lastly, Marble. You only have nieces, no nephews."

"Ah, that's nice. I liked Cloudy, I'm happy she's my sister-in-law."

"So, uh, have you really been living up here for nearly three decades?" 

Seddie sat down and brought her bowl of oatmeal closer. "Actually, no, I traveled all over Equestria for quite some time before settling here eighteen years ago. I've been to Canterlot, Manehattan, the San Palomino Desert, Los Pegasus, you name it! But... I haven't been to Cloudsdale for obvious reasons."

Cheese chuckled. "I bet you haven't been to..."  He hopped out of his seat and reared up, whinnying, "Aaaaaapple-LOOSA!"

Seddie let out a hearty laugh, while Pinkamena stared and scrunched her muzzle in an attempt to hold back a laugh. She squeaked out, "...what?"

Cheese went back to his seat. "Appleloosa. That was just how the stallion greeting me said it."

Seddie's laughs died down, and she said, "Oh, my.... ahahahaha... I haven't been there. I might need to get a new map of Equestria sometime. I'm going to guess there's apple orchards there."

"Yep... and some buffalo. And I used to have a drawing of a horse drawn carriage from there, but I lost it in a river."

"Aww... why can't paper be waterproof?"

"Beats me."

Pinkamena interrupted the silly conversation. "So, Aunt Seddie... if you've been just out here all this time... why didn't you ever come visit? Pa would've been overjoyed to see you again."

Seddie frowned and looked away. "Oh, Pinkie... I couldn't go back to Nickerlite. I don't think I could face those townsfolk like my brother could. He was always the steady one who never let others' opinions sway him; I was the more whimsical and romantic one who was determined to leave a good impression. I even got jealous when Igneous got a special somepony and I didn't. So, I attempted to attract one by acting like those sassy and shallow mares in town.

"I ended up attracting a Mr. Windswept Goldenmane. And let me tell you, he was the most handsome stallion that I had ever met. Tall, majestic, with a blonde mane to match his name and a snow white coat, I couldn't believe he had took an interest in me. I was such a smitten kitten, and what had made it even better was that Igneous did not like him, so I kept being friendly with Windswept just to spite my brother. I hated how he thought he could boss me around just because our father had died. 

"And then that carnival came. At first, I was having a wonderful time. And despite things being a little strained between Igneous and I, I was actually quite happy when he and Cloudy decided that they were going to marry. However, soon enough, I ended up in a little trouble. You see, Windswept had some of his friends have a little fun with me... and it was not fun for me at all. 

"It started with a cute little nickname game, which devolved into awful names that I wouldn't dare call anypony else. I can't exactly remember the sequence of events, but in the end I was covered in soggy carnival food, dirt, grass, and surrounded by ponies making assumptions about my activities with those colts.  Of course, one look at Igneous, and the look on his face just killed me. I'm sure that under that shock, he was ashamed of me, so I ran off with my remaining bits, and took the next train out of the town.

"Ever since then, I've been traveling. I've often thought about Ma and Igneous, but I never returned because I thought they had disowned me for my foolishness. Even now, I fear that even if they had let it go, they'd still be upset with me for never returning or even writing a letter. I'm even afraid that Igneous thinks I haven't even changed from my youth, and that he's angry at me for not listening to him about Windswept and running away."

Pinkamena sank in her seat, and pushed her oatmeal away, to which Seddie perked up and said, "Hey, now, you should've told me you didn't like oatmeal!"

Cheese cleared his throat. "If I may, Miss Sedimentary... Igneous told me that he has no hard feelings. He actually misses you a lot and will definitely welcome you back should you return."

Seddie tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Now why would he tell you that? You're not kin."

"Well, uh, no... I worked for him for the past couple months."

"Oh, he hires ponies? I thought he'd have his daughters and wife help."

Pinkamena hopped up. "He does. He just hires ponies if they come crawling to the farm and ask, which is what exactly Cheese here did."

Seddie smirked at her niece. "I see. Seems that you might've taken a liking to him, huh?"

Cheese blushed and rubbed his head. "Well... she didn't like me at first. I was just a shy colt with sticks for legs and was easily preyed upon by the riffraff in town."

Pinkamena giggled. "We all warmed up to him over time... after all, he's a such a kind and funny pony, I couldn't help but fall in love with him." She leaned on the table with a dreamy expression, while Cheese simply held the blush and let his eyes wander. However, Pinkamena's face fell into a scowl. "And then Pa had to overreact over some stupid letter, and think that Cheese was just another Cortland and fire him! Hmph, Pa's overprotectiveness and those idiots in Nickerlite--especially Cortland--were why I took off."

Cheese sighed. "Oh, Pinkie..."

Seddie blinked in confusion. "Er... who's Cortland?"

Cheese looked at the crack in his glasses and growled. "Apple stallion in Nickerlite that was bothering her. A lot. Town thought that he and Pinkie were an item when in reality, she found him really annoying and he couldn't take a hint until he had a good smack in the face."

Seddie put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, dear. An Apple? The ones I've met were all very friendly."

Pinkamena had her head on the table. "This one was the wrong kind of friendly."

"Well, I understand why you ran away... still, I don't think that was the best solution."

Pinkamena shot up, her mouth tight and her brow furrowed. "What?! Aunt Seddie! Are you suggesting that I should have stayed?!"

"Now, now, Pinkie, calm down. I'm just saying that maybe you should have talked with them about staying with relatives out of Nickerlite."

Pinkamena pointed at Cheese. "He didn't take that option when he ran away from his home!" 

Cheese jumped and then glared at her. "Excuse me? Hey, my parents aren't exactly the understanding type! They'd just brush me off as being overdramatic!"

"Well, my Pa wouldn't understand when I argued with him! He's just a stubborn old coot, and it'd do me some good to stay away from him awhile."

"At least you know your parents love you unconditionally! I felt like I had to be perfect to get my mother to smile! I think Maud would take a lot less effort!"

"Hey! Don't bring my sister into this!"

"You brought me into this!" 

Pinkamena growled. "Well... how'd you like it if I brought your brother into this? After all, doesn't Tommy miss you?"

Cheese crossed his front legs and looked away. "Let the little ketchup squirt keep missing me. He got me fired with his stupid letter."

"Sheesh, Pa overreacted to the letter!"

"If he smells that a crook wrote it, then I trust his judgment."

"Why, you--" Pinkamena slammed her hoof on the table, and the entire thing went crashing down, oatmeal and all. 

Pinkamena and Cheese stared at the broken table in horror, with the former's hoof still hovering over the wreckage. Biting their lips, they glanced at Seddie, who stared blankly at them, unimpressed with the argument that they had just in front of her. 

"I see you developed that good old rock farmer strength, Pinkamena, with a good dose of fiery temper," she deadpanned. "And I had no idea that Cheese could be so bitter."

Both of them sunk, and looked away in shame. They had let their tempers get the better of them instead of discussing them peacefully, and they could sense the disappointment tinged in Seddie's voice. The fact that she was so calm made them feel even more guilty. 

Seddie leapt off her stool and sighed. "Maybe Igneous did overreact. Or maybe he's just stressed from Nickerlite gossip and this Cortland fellow. Perhaps he just has me in mind when trying to protect you. But if there's anything I know, it's that alienating yourself from your family when they mean well is not going to solve anything. All you're doing is running away from your problems."

Pinkamena looked up. "Aunt Seddie... I'm tired of feeling like a caged bird... I don't want to be cooped up at the rock farm every day for the rest of my life."

Seddie patted Pinkamena's back. "Tell you what--I'm overdue in seeing my brother. Maybe I could speak with him, see what kind of solution that we can come up with."

"What about Cheese?"

Seddie looked up at Cheese. "Hmm... well, I'm not sure I could change Igneous' mind about firing him." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Cheese..."

Cheese smiled sadly. "It's okay, I'm used to losing jobs and leaving towns..." He turned and showed her his cutie mark. "I'm destined to walk all over Equestria, anyway."

Pinkamena looked at him sadly. "But... I won't ever see you again."

Cheese got off his seat, approached Pinkamena, and hugged her. "I know... I'm sorry, I really am. I was really coming to consider your family as my family. I hate to go, I really do." He released her and then put his hoof on her chin, making her look up at his face. "But if it's any consolation, I will never forget you."

"Neither will I..." Pinkamena blinked back tears. "Cheese, could you at least make up with your brother? He needs you to set him straight."

Cheese grimaced. "I don't know... how could I set him straight if I'm not exactly the model of perfection?"

Pinkamena kissed him on the nose. "You don't have to be. Just keep being your kind and funny self... and be sure to smack some sense into him."

Cheese chuckled. "I, uh, guess it's worth a shot."

That was when there was a knock at the door. The both of them turned to the door, wondering if there was another lost hiker lost in these woods. Seddie, on the other hoof, cheerfully skipped to the door. "Either it's another lost hiker or my pie delivery. The question is who will the open door reveal?"

Cheese and Pinkamena glanced at each other and shrugged. They found it curious that she had apparently ordered pies instead of baking them, but they decided to keep their mouths shut. Instead, they watched as Seddie answered the door.  The open door revealed an orange mare, with a mane of gold, a freckled face, and emerald eyes. Atop the mare's head was a brown Stetson, and on her face was a warm smile. 

"Why, it's Applejack!" 

Applejack tipped her hat. "Well, howdy, Seddie! Brought ya those pies." She gestured to the cart behind her.

"Oh, good, breakfast was just ruined, and one of them will do for my replacement breakfast." She grabbed the pies from the cart and carried them inside. She set them on the counter, and covered each of them with rags. She turned back to Applejack. "Come in, come in! Tell me, how's your family?"

Applejack unhitched herself from the cart and walked in. "Well, we're all just fine. Granny Smith took up swimmin' again, Apple Bloom's gettin' bigger and more foolhardy, and Big Macintosh... well, he don't change much. Now, what do you mean by replacement--" Applejack stopped to see Sedimentary's smashed table, a mess of oatmeal, and her two sheepish guests sporting awkward grins. "...oh."

Seddie gestured to the two. "Applejack, meet my niece Pinkamena Pie, and her friend Cheese Sandwich."

Applejack smiled. "It's very nice to meet ya, Pinkamena... and Cheese Sandwich? Say, weren't you that colt that worked for the Cakes for a spell?"

Cheese rubbed the back of his head. "So you remember me."

Applejack nodded. "You sure got taller. And Ah can't help but wonder what you been up to for all these years."

Cheese shrugged. "Oh, just traveling, working odd jobs here and there, meeting ponies, nearly getting killed several times, and uh, most recently... getting a mare to like me." He glanced at Pinkamena, who giggled. "As in, like-like, or attraction, or a crush, or maybe I should say it flat out and call it 'love.'"

"Well, shoot, really?" She turned to Pinkamena. "He treat you good?"

Pinkamena nodded. "He's been perfectly nice and polite the entire time I've known him... though, admittedly, he was shy. And easy for thugs to pick on." She ignored the pout that Cheese was giving her. 

"Eeyup, I remember him being shy while he stayed in Ponyville."

Cheese rolled his eyes. "I've been working on that."

Seddie cleared her throat, and all the younger ponies turned to her. She looked at Applejack and said, "Now, after we have some pie, do you mind taking us to the train station?"

Applejack gave her a funny look. "Uh, sure. Why?"





The four had left Seddie's home, and were now taking the path to Ponyville. The forest was far more beautiful under the sunlight, as the group was exposed to leaves of many different shades of green, and a whole variety of wildflowers growing along the path. Little critters scurried here and there, and the songs of birds rang through the trees. A cool breeze brushed the cheeks of the ponies and wafted the scent of the flowers to their nostrils. 

Applejack hauled the cart, especially when Seddie got tired at one point and had to ride in it, and when Cheese wanted a nap to catch up on lost sleep from the night before. Pinkamena offered to help her, but Applejack assured her that she was just fine pulling the cart by herself. So, Pinkamena walked beside her, and the two ended up chatting away. 

"A rock farm?" Applejack asked. "So... yer name's 'Pie' and yet you work with rocks?"

Pinkamena nodded. "'Pie' just comes from my maternal grandmother. My Ma thought it was fitting to name all of us 'Pie.'"

"And how many's all?"

"Four: Maud Pie, Pinkamena Pie, Limestone Pie, and Marble Pie."

Applejack chuckled. "First one sounds like 'Mud Pie.' And Ah haven't heard of a Pinkamena or a Limestone Pie."

Pinkamena rolled her eyes. "'Pinkamena' is from my paternal grandmother. That's the one who's Aunt Seddie's mother."

"Yanno, Ah've always wondered why she lived all alone up there, especially now that I've met her niece."

Pinkamena sighed. "It's a long story. She ran away from Nickerlite a long time ago after being humiliated."

Applejack pursed her lips. "Nickerlite, huh? Mah uncle says that that town don't have a lick of horse sense. It don't help that mah cousin Cortland encourages the darn rumors that sprout up there, 'specially the ones about the rock farmers... oh, right, that must be yer family."

Pinkamena scowled. "Got that right. Ugh... did your uncle tell you about his attempted courtship of me?"

Applejack's eyes widened. "You're the mare that Uncle Haralson talked about in his letter?"

"Made my Pa even more overprotective than he already was." Pinkamena groaned. "Was your cousin always that annoying?"

"Well... he did tease me when we were just young'ns. But he stopped when I bucked 'im in the face."

"Oh? Well, he stopped when I smacked him in the face and bruised his cheek."

Applejack shook her head. "Well, if it helps any, Granny Smith's ponderin' about tellin' Uncle Haralson to send him to Appleloosa. There's mostly kin there and if he tries anything funny, he'll be taken care of in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Hopefully, he'll learn to value honesty more."

Pinkamena let out a sigh of relief. "I'll just be glad when he's gone! Even when he came clean about his lies, the town still believed that we Pies were violent, rock-throwing hermits that'll smash anypony's head in if they so much as set foot on our property! Maybe it'll be easier to clear up once he's gone."

"And he better be a better pony after a few years in Appleloosa--if he ain't, then Ah don't know what we'd do."

"Death penalty?"

Applejack glared at her. "Why would we do that to kin? Look, Ah know you don't like him... Ah don't like him much mahself. But Ah doubt that he ain't open to changing for the better. Ah promise you that we can whip them lyin' and obsessive habits outta him before you know it."

Pinkamena raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Applejack nodded proudly. "Ah wouldn't let him be a bad apple forever."

Pinkamena blew some hair out of her face. "Just as long as I don't see his face for a long time."

Soon enough, a town came into view. With many humble houses dotting the landscape, with a few fancier buildings, it was a town one would hardly call remarkable, aside from the nearby dark forest, looking ready to eat the houses and the inhabitants thereof. The grasslands surrounding the town were lush and green, and much life was bustling in the streets of the town. 

Pinkamena bucked the side of the cart, soft enough not to break it but hard enough to rattle the occupants. The heads of the tired Cheese and Seddie popped up, and they saw the town in front of them. 

Applejack smiled at them and gestured to the town. "Welcome to Ponyville."





They walked to the train station, finding a train had just pulled in. Since this train was coming from the direction that Nickerlite was, they had to wait for the one that would be heading there. They waved goodbye to Applejack, who was heading back to her farm, and sat on the platform. Cheese stayed with them, hoping to spend every moment he could with Pinkamena before that train came and they had to part.

Pinkamena took a deep breath. "Pa's going to be really cross with me."

Seddie put a hoof on Pinkamena's shoulder. "Don't worry; I have a feeling that things'll turn out for the better."

Cheese smiled at her. "I think he might lighten up a bit once he hears Cortland will leave town."

"Applejack said her granny was just thinking about it," Pinkamena pointed out.

"Yeah... well... I'm sure that they think taking him away from Nickerlite would do him some good."

Pinkamena shrugged. "Probably. He's already had a piece of humble pie; he needs seconds and thirds."

Cheese chuckled. "Or maybe just the whole thing. That's the only kind of pie he should have."

"No Pinkie Pie for him."

Cheese's chuckles turned into full on laughter. He rolled off the platform, and landed on the ground with a thud. He simply stood back up and hopped back onto the platform, still chuckling and muttering, "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay..."

Pinkamena gave him a funny look and nudged him. "It wasn't that funny..."

Cheese finished laughing, and they watched the passengers file out of the train. Some went out alone, some went out in twos, and some squeezed out in groups, yelling and cursing the whole time. Pinkamena wondered what was so special about Ponyville this time of year that many ponies were visiting the town for. Nickerlite never had this many ponies file out at its station at once. 

Much to her surprise, a familiar gray mare was among the passengers. Pinkamena hopped to her hooves, and asked, "Maud? Is that you?"

Maud turned to her, and blinked numbly as she always did. "There you are."

"Uh... yeah." Pinkamena shifted uncomfortably. "So, Ma and Pa sent you to find me?"

"Actually... I'm here to see if Pa had made it here."

Cheese and Seddie stood up, sporting the same confused look as Pinkamena, who said, "Oh... figures that Pa would go look for me. But, wait, what do you mean 'made it here'? Shouldn't he be wandering around Ponyville, looking for me?"

"He left last night. We found his hat this morning, lying by some torn-up land behind the train station."

"Aaaand... you're just making sure that he didn't miss his train and wasn't kidnapped or anything?"

"Ma's worried."

Cheese raised his hoof. "You mind if I ask the ponies in this town if they've seen him? Because surely he'd be asking around town for Pinkie's whereabouts."

Maud blinked. "Sure."

Cheese gave a nod, and then sped off toward the town, accosting the first pony he saw. The mares stared at him as he did this, and then turned back to each other.

"Are you sure you guys are not just overreacting?" Pinkamena asked. "I mean... Pa's a tough pony."

"It's not like him to forget his hat... or stick his head out a window so it'd be blown off," Maud replied. 

Seddie stepped forward. "Well, if Cheese comes back with news of no Igneous Rock in Ponyville, that'll give me more reason to return to Nickerlite. Hopefully, I still have my keen dog-like sense of smell! I got that from Pa, hee hee hee."

Maud glanced at her, and asked her sister, "Pinkie, who's this?"

Pinkamena smiled. "Oh, that's our long lost aunt, Sedimentary Rock."

Maud's eyes went wide.