The Rock Farmer's Daughters

by Sketcha-Holic


37. A Breath of Fresh Air

The ponies of Nickerlite were now on their knees, taking deep breaths of relief, while also coughing out any smoke they had inhaled. Before them laid the smoldering remains of a connected farm, where they had just barely managed to extinguish a fire. Many of the ponies were covered in soot and ashes, and some had sustained burns on their bodies. They were all tired, but happy that the blaze was now gone.

Bluejinx sat with his aunt and the candy shop owners, looking up at the stars and thanking the heavens that it was all over. From what he had heard, Cheese Sandwich, Pinkamena, and Igneous Rock had been trapped in there, but the other Pie sisters managed to rescue them. They were currently on their way to the nearest hospital, which was in Ponyville. He prayed that the three would be all right.

Sugar Glider fluttered her wings. "Whew, we had to use a lot of rain for that fire."

Lemon groaned. "My legs hurt from the trips to the river."

Purple Prose rubbed her eyes. "And I'm tired. What time is it?"

Bluejinx laid on his back and shrugged. "Dunno." His ears twitched as he overheard numerous snippets of conversations from some of the other townsponies. There were a few of interest that stood out.

"Argh, where is Cortland?" Haralson grumbled. "He was out, so he shoulda noticed the fire! That colt better have a good excuse..."

Bluejinx grimaced. He remembered Maud simply stating Cortland's name in response to his question. Maud hadn't expanded on that, but that definitely implied that the Apple stallion had started the fire. With two of the Pies and Cheese being the intended victims, there was no doubt as to why. His mind flashed back to his first day in town, when he saw firsthand the harassment and forced kiss on Pinkamena.

He shook his head. Oh, Haralson... you'd be crushed to learn of your son's involvement in this.

He heard a few more snippets of conversations, mostly about the fire that they had just fought.

"Oh, dear, who's going to tell Mr. Green about this?"

"Eh, he'll be happy that his cabbage patch has been untouched by the fire."

"I wonder if he left the stove on in there."

"Just what were the Pies doing here, anyway?"

"I bet the Pies started the fire--or maybe that Sandwich fellow!"

Bluejinx jumped to his hooves, and swiftly accosted the pony who said that. "Excuse me?! What was that about the 'Sandwich fellow'?"

Purple Prose perked up at Bluejinx's sudden reaction, and said, "Bluejinx! What do you think you're doing?"

The gray pony Bluejinx accosted narrowed his eyes. "Well, think about it. We thought that we run him out of town--but no, he returns for whatever reason. I betcha he was staking one last claim on Pinkamena, and when Igneous said 'no', Mr. Sandwich set the house on fire in order to wipe the mare he lusted for, her father, and himself out. Well, that failed, the pathetic little vermin."

Bluejinx's face turned red. "Why, you... you..." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay, then. Suppose your theory is true. What are they doing in Mr. Green's house? How did Cheese manage to locate Igneous, who had been missing? And most importantly, how well do you even know Cheese?"

The gray pony open his mouth to answer, but shifted his eyes around, trying to rack his brains for an answer. "I-- um... uh..."

Bluejinx gave a nod. "Thought so."

"Well... well... come on!" the pony shouted. "He's a dirty vagrant! It should be obvious that by taking the job with the pony with four daughters that he didn't have pure intentions in mind! Why, I wouldn't be surprised if any one of them turned out to be with foal!"

His red friend added, "Pfft, I bet they were trying to cover that up with the fire. I'm surprised that the Pies didn't just stone him when he set foot on their property."

Sugar Glider was by Bluejinx's side, her face redder than her mane. "Excuse me?! Okay, last time I was there, they were nothing but helpful! I'll admit they were annoyed that they weren't expecting a guest, but they were good hosts to Lemon and me!"

Lemon was by in wife's side in a second. "Not to mention our little Butterscotch was born at their farm! If they're such barbarians like everypony claims, I'm sure they wouldn't have even let us live to see our foal!"

The red pony rolled his eyes, and looked at the townsfolk having the same reaction to the claims of the three ponies in front of him. "Still doesn't change the fact that they were stupid enough to let him work on their farm. He probably poisoned their minds to make them think that setting fire to an innocent pony's home was harmless. And in turn, they poisoned his mind into thinking more like a savage than he already was. No doubt that they're the bad guys here. I'm disappointed that they didn't die in the--"

"ENOUGH!" Haralson roared, having heard the whole thing. Everypony snapped their attention to the large and angry Apple stallion, who stormed to where Bluejinx, Lemon, and Sugar stood, and stood with them. He snorted.

"If ya won't listen to them, maybe you'll listen to me," he began. "This whole mess started before Cheese Sandwich arrived in Nickerlite. It started with y'all accepting them idiotic lies as truth. Mah son didn't help matters by makin' up tales of how abusive Igneous Rock was just so he could garner support for his so-called 'rescue' of Pinkamena.

"Well, were y'all so blind that ya didn't see how annoyed she was with him? Were y'all so blind that ya missed that she was just fine? And dagnabbit, Ah kept tellin' ya'll that you shouldn't believe every rumor you hear!"

Scarlet the unicorn piped up, "But, Haralson! We only believed Cortland because you Apples are an honest bunch!"

Haralson pursed his lips. "...we should be. But we ain't always honest. Ah wasn't honest to mahself about how mah son was spreadin' lies and harassin' a young mare. Ah'm not a good father, Ah admit it. In truth, Igneous Rock is a better father than I.

"Now, he's mighty protective of his daughters. He's told me personally that he don't hire stallions very often--so Cheese Sandwich must have passed some kind of test that Cortland couldn't. The feller's skinny and dusty, true, but he's polite, a great storyteller, wouldn't hurt a fly..." he chuckled. "My little girl has a little crush on him. Personally, Ah think Igneous wouldn't have hired him if he only applied just to get close to the Pie sisters."

The grey pony huffed. "Geez, why are you defending them? I mean, what did the Pies ever do for any of us?"

Haralson gave him a half-lidded look. "They saved mah farm from Parasprites... surprisingly, not with rocks, but with music!"

That's when Purple Prose stepped forward. "I don't think the question is 'What have the Pies done for us?', but rather 'What have we done for the Pies?' Think about it. Did any of you ever went out of your way to visit them and get to know them better? Did any of you try your hoof at doing some of the simple rock farming activities over there? Or were you all just too afraid of those rock-throwing barbarians to even see if any of the rumors are true?"

Several ponies opened their mouths to answer, but slowly closed them and looked away.

Purple Prose gestured to Bluejinx, the candy shop owners, and Haralson. "These folks have visited the Pies, and they returned without a scratch--although the couple returned with a little foal!" Said couple blushed at that statement, while the others chuckled in good nature. Purple Prose continued, "See, if these folks can survive a visit to the Pies, I'm sure you can, too. Bluejinx even wrote an article about them! Have you forgotten about that too?"

Her eyes scanning the crowd, who looked awash with guilt, she added, "I don't know how the fire started, but would the oldest Pie daughter have rung the bell to gather the town if they had started it? I don't think so. So... I'd like you all to shove those rumors aside, actually try to get to know them, and then you can judge from there."

One pony exclaimed, "But... but... what if we forget by the time they return? Who knows when they'll come back?!"

Purple Prose chuckled. "You can start by writing some 'Get Well' cards."

Bluejinx smiled, and then sighed sadly. "I'm going to have to write Tomato and tell him about this fire and how his brother was caught in it. He's not going to be happy to hear about it." His eyes widened as if he got an idea. "Say... Aunt Purple, you don't mind if I deliver those 'Get Well' cards, do you?"

"Of course not."

Haralson chuckled. "Well, Ah better get to writin' mine. And gettin' Blossom, Idared, and Stayman to help. Ah'd really like to make up for the mess of the past few months, Ah really would. Now, if Ah could only find Cortland..."

He noticed a few of the ponies grimacing, and looking at him sadly. Tilting his head, he asked, "What?"

A mare timidly stepped forward. "Haralson... I'm so sorry, but... we have some bad news for you..."


Pinkamena was breathing too rapidly and too shallowly for her liking. Every attempt at a deep breath failed, with the lungs feeling only half-full until the air was quickly expunged. Her head was numb, and her throat was sore. She coughed a few times, and opened her eyes.

She heard a gasp. "She's awake!"

Though her vision was blurry, she pinpointed the gray blob who said that. "Marble?" She rubbed her eyes, which to her dismay stung. She blinked a few times before she saw her sisters before her, and they were all in an unfamiliar room, which was painted in cool colors and sparsely decorated. She croaked, "Maud? Limestone? Ugh... wha... what happened? Where are we? Why am I not dead?"

"I heard you calling for help, and Maud punched the door to get you out. We took you to Ponyville as fast as we could," Limestone answered.

Maud nodded. "You've been out for two weeks. We were worried that you weren't going to make it."

Pinkamena sat up, and was greeted with burning sensations in her hooves and various spots on her body. Her face stung, her legs stung, just about everything was stinging. She took a look at her forelegs, wrapped up in bandages. Biting her lip and struggling to take a deep breath, she asked, "Wha... what about Pa? What about Cheese?"

Marble frowned. "Pa's still unconscious. The doctors had to cast breath spells on him, remove the tar from his back, fix that torn muscle, treat the burns... yeah, he's pretty banged up. Ma and Aunt Seddie are watching over him right now. As for Cheese... well, we keep checking up on him. He's doing okay, but he hasn't woken up yet."

Pinkamena sighed. "Sounds like he'll wake up all alone. Not to mention he's without glasses, so he can't really see anything."

"He has the rubber chicken," Limestone deadpanned. She was lightly smacked on the back of the head by Marble in response.

Pinkamena lightly brushed her mane--which to her surprise had been cropped short. "I bet he'll be happy that we left Boneless with Aunt Seddie. Don't want him to lose another chicken like that one that exploded."

Maud blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, right, you weren't there when he told that story." Pinkamena coughed hoarsely, covering her mouth as she wheezed enough for her chest to hurt. Once she stopped, she muttered, "I shouldn't talk so much."

Maud gingerly laid a hoof on one of Pinkamena's. "Just rest. We're just happy you're alive."

Marble giggled. "On a side note... I dunno why, but the townsfolk back in Nickerlite decided to send us 'Get Well' cards." She gestured proudly to a pile of letters that laid upon the couch. "Bluejinx dropped by to deliver them, and went back to the train station. They're awfully apologetic... would you like to read them?"

Pinkamena laid back down, and smiled. "Yeah, I'd like to read their apologies on how stupid they were."


Cheese wanted to stay asleep; the bed was far too comfy. He had Boneless in his front leg, and he felt like a little foal just recently tucked in and awaiting a lullaby.

Unfortunately, the raw stinging and burning that peppered his body, as well as his shallow breaths were preventing him from doing so. He mainly resigned himself to shutting his eyes because trying to see with his blurry vision would give him a headache. He was sad that he had lost his glasses, and he worried that he wouldn't be able to afford an eye doctor, or even another pair.

"Oh, magical eye fairy..." he whispered. "Fix my eyes. Right now."

He heard the door open. He perked up. "Magical eye fairy?"

The next moment, he heard what sounded like a snort and repressed laughter. He tilted his head curiously, noting that it sounded like a stranger, but he shrugged it off as just the doctor. Still, he could feel his cheeks warming up from embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry that I called you a fairy, doctor."

The laughing ceased, and the stranger said, "Well... I'm neither a fairy nor your doctor..."

Cheese raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, but... I'm not so sure that a random pony could just waltz in here and say 'Hi.'"

"I'm not a random pony, either, Cheese."

Cheese opened his eyes wide, but quickly shut them again because the sudden action of that hurt. What he caught in his brief glimpse was a flash of red--or orange, he couldn't really tell. Still, the fact that this pony was either one of those colors made him a little uncomfortable, given that a fire had put him in the hospital bed.

He sighed. "I'm so sorry, Mr... uh, are you my lawyer?"

The stranger replied with a blunt, "No."

"Well, I'm sorry, anyway, but it kind of hurts to try to see without my glasses. Unfortunately, I lost them in a fire."

"Eh, Bluejinx told me that when he invited me here. That's why I brought your spares. You forgot them when you ran away."

"Wait, my spares? How did you--" He was interrupted by something being gingerly placed on his muzzle, and once the glasses were steady, Cheese opened his eyes to take a good look at the pony before him. Although the glasses weren't the clearest, he was able to make out who was in front of him.

He was nearly as tall as Cheese was, and had green eyes that matched his. The pony was the color that he had saw, while wearing a white shirt and green tie underneath his brown suit jacket. His cutie mark was that of a tomato resembling a money bag. His mane and tail were a dark brown, and although it was slicked down to seem straight--apart from a large forelock curl that was hard to ignore--Cheese definitely knew that this pony's hair was naturally curly.

Cheese blinked. "Tomato? Is that you?"

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "How else did I obtain your spares?" Realizing that he was being sassy, he stepped back, and looked away. "No, no, no... darn it, Tommy, you can't mess this up like that..."

Cheese tilted his head. "Hey, now, what's that about?"

Tomato glanced at him. "Well, I, uh... I didn't want to offend you. Ugh, this is awkward enough having to talk to you in a hospital. Stupid fire."

"Relax. I don't bite. I'm just happy my spares were kept."

Tomato turned back around to face him again. "Can't blame me for not wanting to throw them out... I kind of wanted a memento. And since your accordion was beyond repair..." He stopped there, and backed up even more.

Cheese sighed. His brother was afraid to say much, since one wrong word could make this crumble. He felt a little bad for making his brother have to walk on eggshells around him. "Tomato, it's okay. Really, now, I'm just wondering why you're not angry with me."

Tomato sighed and walked to the window. Leaning against it and looking out of it, he said, "Truth be told, I was angry when you ran away. I was angry with you, angry with Mom, angry with Dad, angry with my friends... but, mostly, I was angry at myself. I was so angry with myself, that I just let myself fall into depression. I mean, wouldn't you be angry with yourself if you did something awful to alienate and drive away the pony you loved most? If anything, I was convinced that you were right, that I'm nothing but a selfish backstabber without even knowing it until it was too late." He sighed once again. "I'm so sorry..."

Cheese looked down at his bandaged hooves. Stroking the blanket gently, he murmured, "Tommy, I... look, it's not just the accordion thing that prevented me from returning." He carefully slid the blanket just enough to show off the marks on his flank, which were still visible despite his injuries. "It was my cutie mark."

Tomato turned around, and saw the hoofprints that made up Cheese's mark. "Oh... yeah, Mom would have not been happy..."

"She's never happy."

Tomato scowled and looked back out the window. "Got that right. She turned me into her 'perfect son'... and is still disappointed that I'm Plan B."

Cheese nodded. "Yeah... she would have been disappointed to see me as a consistently broke traveler, having to work odd jobs here and there just to get by. I've had plenty of weird and funny things happen on my journey, but most of the time... it isn't that fun. I never really made friends that I kept in touch with. I didn't even have anything for a good traveling companion until I got Boneless here... and that was recently." He held the rubber chicken up for emphasis. "There's a difference between being alone and being lonely." Cheese gasped, and breathed rapidly, holding his chest.

Alarmed, Tomato rushed to Cheese's bedside. "Are you all right?"

Cheese inhaled. "I'll be fine."

"As I've said before... stupid fire."

Cheese chuckled softly. "...yeah."

Tomato tapped his hooves together. "So... uh... is there anything I can do to make it up to you? I'd lend you some money, but, well, I kind of have this thing called college... sorry..."

"Oh, no, don't apologize, you can keep educating yourself." Cheese tapped his chin. "Well... uh... hm, you know what? How about we just try to be best brother buddies again? Being cold about old wounds wasn't helping me any."

Tomato smiled. "Okay."

"Good, now let's hug. But be gentle, I'm kinda burned up."

Tomato nodded, and leaned forward to give him a hug. Cheese returned the hug, and patted his back. This was another thing to add to the list of things he'd never thought happen, but did. And he had never been happier about it.

"It's good to see you, baby bro."


It was another week before Igneous woke up. When he did so, he was surprised to be greeted with the warmest kiss from Cloudy that he had in years. All pain that he had faded away, and he forgot that he had been in a fire. His mind flashed back to their younger years, and his heart swelled with joy upon recalling the sweet love that they had. He was so happy that even when things were gloomy, and even when not much affection was shared, that this love never died.

They broke the kiss, and Igneous said, "Oh, Cloudy... I was afraid that I'd die before I got to see you again."

Cloudy responded with, "And I was afraid that those injuries from the fire would have claimed you."

"Hmph. Takes a lot more than that to take down this stallion."

Cloudy sighed. "Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to work for a while."

Igneous groaned. "Well, then, somepony's going to have to pick up the slack at the farm. How are Pinkamena and Cheese?"

"All burned up, but for the most part, I think they'll be okay."

"Good... good. I passed out while we were still in the middle of the blaze." He groaned once again. "And the pain's coming back..."

He was surprised to see another mare walk in, who strangely looked a lot like his mother, but with light brown hair and gold eyes. She came in chatting, "You know, Cloudy, Ponyville has a couple of nice restaurants, I think we should go out to lunch." She turned and looked at Igneous. "Oh! Yay, he's awake! I'd hug him, but..."

"Uh..." Igneous muttered.

The pink mare frowned. "So, uh, do you recognize me?"

Igneous pursed his lips. "Recognize you? Recognize you..." He took a bit to fit the puzzle pieces together, and when it clicked, his eyes widened. "Seddie?"

Seddie reared up. "Ding ding ding! How are you feeling, big brother?"

Igneous shook his head. "Like I'm still on fire."

"Oh, right, do you need pain medication?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," he denied, thinking he can stand the pain. He looked straight at her, as he noted that the years had been kind to his sister. "Where have you been all this time?"

Seddie tapped her hooves together. "Oh... traveling for years until I settled down in the mountains near Ponyville." She slinked backwards. "I'm, uh... sorry for not visiting and meeting your daughters sooner."

"So... why'd you come now?"

"Oh, your daughter Pinkamena and her friend Cheese came to my door in the middle of the night. A friend and I took them to the train station, we ran into Maud, who told us you were missing... and so, here I am."

Igneous nodded. "Well, I'm happy to see that you're not dead."

Seddie giggled. "And there's your sense of humor again."

"I was being serious. But in all honesty..." He smiled at her. "I'll be happy to welcome you home."

Cloudy shook her head. "Well, now that all three of you are awake, we'll see how long it'll be until we can all go home."