A Stone-Cold Surprise
The group collectively groaned. They were past the worst of the hot desert, but were still suffering from heat and exhaustion, nothing but tired groans to break their silence. The only two not suffering through the fatigue nor the sun's rays were Applejack, taking the hot weather relatively well and only occasionally removing her hat to wipe the sweat from her forehead. The other, was Pinkie, who was not hunched over with aching legs like any of the others. In fact, she skipped ahead of all of them with a large smile on her face as if the bright sun glaring down at them was non-existent, leaving most of the others to wish they were a fire-type Pokemon that could take the heat.
“How… Are you so okay with this, Pinkie...?” Twilight stared at the pink-Haired girl in disbelief, or at least as much as her tired face would allow.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Pinkie turned to Twilight tilting her head.
“What she means is we’ve been walking for hours and your body just seems to ignore that.” Spike pointed out from under Twilight’s shadow. “Have you even sweat once?”
“We’re ladies, of course we don’t sweat. We glow!” Rarity chimed in, who was repeatedly dabbing her forehead with a handkerchief.
“Well AJ is glowing all over me.”
“Sorry, Twi.” Applejack, one of the less tired of the group, apologised, before hearing a gasp from Pinkie, who pointed in the distance with wide eyes.
“THERE IT IS!” She yelled, a large smile on her face, the others looking to where she was pointing confused.
“Where… What is?” Rainbow frowned.
“All I see is a drab ol-” Before they could even finish, Pinkie was zooming off towards a clearing with barren ground, the only thing sticking out of the ground were stones, where no grass grew, and though the sun was shining bright, the area had s dullness to it.
“Hey Pinkie, wait up!” Rainbow Dash ran after her hyperactive friend, the others following behind.
“Is this really the environment to be running?” Rarity complained, following near the back of the group. “I can only reapply my makeup so much!”
“Where are we going that’s so important?!” Twilight groaned, trying to catch up to Pinkie, who was still leaps and bounds ahead of them. They followed the pink-haired girl through a gate onto a barren field. Along with the boulders sticking out of the ground, the group saw a house, with a windmill and a large silo on either side of it. They were the only things that really stuck out on this barren landscape, and that wasn’t really saying much looking at the buildings.
“Is this some kind of farm?” Twilight wondered aloud.
“Doesn’t look like no farm I’ve ever seen.” Applejack frowned, looking around.
“It’s not just a farm!” Pinkie smiled, opening the door to the cottage. “It’s hooooome!”
“Huh?!” Everyone looked surprised.
“This is where you live?” Twilight looked around in disbelief. Though she wasn’t as socially aware as others, even she felt dull just being there.
“Yep! Myyyy humble abode, as Rares would say!” She giggled, giving her best impression of a high class woman.
“That laughter can only belong to our dearest Pinkamena.” A monotonous, gloomy voice piped up. The group turned to see an older man and woman walk in the room. The man, who immediately took a seat, had combed back grey hair, covered by a black hat, a pair of sideburns on his face that accompanied a stiff stern look that he wore as naturally as the clothes on his back.
“Indeed husband. It would appear she’s returned to us. With guests, no less.” The woman said. Pinkie just leaped at the two, wrapping her arms around them and pulling them into an incredibly tight hug.
“Greetings, Pinkamena.” They both replied.
“Meet my friends!” Pinkie grinned, looking back to the group, who all gave polite “Hello” responses to Pinkie’s parents.
“We offer our greetings. I am named Igneous Rock Pie, son of Feldspar Granite Pie.” Her father introduced himself.
“Yeah… That person who we definitely know of.” Rainbow muttered, smiling awkwardly. “Feld… Something. Definitely know who… that is.”
“Know me as Cloudy Quartz.” Pinkie’s mother nodded her head, introducing herself after Igneous.
“Nice to… Meet you.” Rarity said. “I very much like your name. I’ve worked with a lot of jewels and I can’t say I’ve used cloudy quartz in anything recent, it’s still a nice gemstone. I must say though.”
“Come. If Pinkamena hath chosen to acquaint herself with thee, then thou art welcome to stay here.”
“Oh uh, thanks.” Twilight just smiled at the back of the group while the others, who felt no less awkward, looked around.
“Make yourselves at home!” Pinkie giggled, leading them through the lower floor of the house. “There’s tons to do here! We’ve got books, we’ve got fields and the yummiest food! And Rares, the mines are the prettiest place in Equestria!”
“How delightful!” Rarity smiled.
Cloudy raised her hand. “Perhaps it would be best if you didn’t go in the mine. It… Isn’t so safe right now.”
“Oh...” Pinkie tapped her chin. “Well there’s still tons to do!”
Twilight took a seat in their living room while the others went off outside. Cloudy had gone off to do work around the house, while Igneous went off without her looking. Pinkie, meanwhile, stayed in the same room with the purple-haired girl, happily humming to herself. A couple of times she thought she saw a frown, but since it disappeared quickly, Twilight shook it off and looked around. Everything just seemed so… old fashioned. Not to mention grey. The floor was grey, the walls, table, even the shelves. Probably because it was all made of stone. Trying to entertain herself, she went to the shelf to pick up a book she could dig into. Sliding a random one out, she smiled and looked at it.
Simply Stone: The life cycle of the boulder.
“Are you going to read that?”
“GAH!” Twilight’s eyes widened and she jumped, turning around. Behind her stood a woman wearing grey clothes that were the definition of the word ‘simple’. Her hair was a dull shade of purple and her expression apathetic. “Wait… What?”
“I asked if you were finished. That book’s my favourite.”
“MAUD!” Pinkie leaped forward and hugged the new girl, who like Igneous and Cloudy, barely reacted, just stared straight at Twilight for a moment before looking to Pinkie.
“Hello Pinkie.” She said in an incredibly apathetic voice. “You’re back.”
“Hi Maud! I missed yooouuuu!” She continued hugging Maud, before looking back to Twilight. “Twilight! This is my sister Maud!”
“Oh uh, hi Maud.” Twilight waved.
“Hello.” Maud replied in her emotionless voice, not doing anything else. Twilight looked left, then right. Maud still stared at the trainer, only feeling more awkward with each passing second.
“You… wanted the book?”
“Yes. I really like it. I read to Boulder all the time.”
“I didn’t know… rocks were such avid readers.”
“He’s very smart, so the book is important. I’d be really unhappy if anything happened to it.” Another awkward silence followed. That is, until, Pinkie’s squealing.
“How are you Maud? I missed you so much! I feel like I haven’t seen you in FOR-EVER!”
“I missed you too. I’m bursting with excitement now that you’re here.”
“I know, right?? We have so much catching up to do!”
“I can tell you about this interesting crack I found. Along with this other crack.”
Before they could continue talking, a jovial knock was heard at the door.
“Huh? Someone else?” Pinkie said, confused.
“I wonder who that could be.” Maud added.
“I’ll get it!” Pinkie hopped up, before cartwheeling her way to the front door and swinging it open. Waiting outside, she saw a pair of brightly dressed men. They looked to be the same age, their red hair both had streaks of white on making them look like they had large wads of toothpaste for hair. Their faces both seemed the same aside from a large twirled moustache one of them had resting on their face. They wore white and blue striped blazers with t-shirts underneath, black bowties tied on their respective collars and a pair of black business trousers. The two both had a smirk on their faces as they began speaking.
“Hello, mis-”
“Sweet Arceus, it’s door-to-door clowns!” Pinkie cheered.
“Wha- We’re not clowns!” The moustached one yelled.
“Ohhh… Chocolate store owners?”
“No.” The non-moustached one replied.
“Ice cream salesmen?”
“No I- Well maybe… Have we done anything with ice cream, Flim?” The moustached one tapped his chin.
“I don’t think so. Better put a pin on that one, Flam. Aaaaaaaanyway, little missy. We simple salesmen simply sought to inquire with one Ignatius Pie. Might we speak to him?”
“He is unable to at this time.” Cloudy Quartz walked in front of Pinkie, folding her arms. “Anything said to him can be said to me.”
“Hm… I see.” Flim leaned against the doorway, still with a smile on his face.
“Well, tell him the world famous Flim Flam brothers stopped by, and let him know the offer still stands.” Flam leaned on the opposite side.
“I mean, it’s 15/85 now, but the offer is still open.” Flim added.
“I shall let him know. Will that be all?” Cloudy’s tone was stern, her hand on the door.
“Er, yes.” Flim stood up.
“We’ll be off then.” Flam stepped back. “Hope you can still catch us while the door’s o-” Cloudy shut the door in their faces.
“What was that about?” Twilight frowned, thinking about how weird those two guys were.
“Simple salesmen.” Cloudy responded, contempt in her tone, as she walked away without another word, heading upstairs
“Mum?” Pinkie asked, but she got no answer. Even Pinkie seemed to feel the tension in the air.
“Is she always like that?” Twilight turned to Pinkie, whose usual happiness had been deflated.
“No… She’s always so much happier.” The usually bubbly pink trainer said. “It’s felt like this since we got here… Maybe we should ask dad what’s wrong with her?”
“That won’t help.”
“AHH!” Twilight jumped back, Maud suddenly appearing between the two with her neutral expression. “Can’t you ever make a sound?!”
“I just did. It’s called talking.” Maud replied, her eyes drifting to Twilight.
“What did you mean it won’t help, Maud?” Pinkie asked, ignoring Twilight. “What’s wrong with mum that dad can’t talk about?”
“He’s...”
Applejack and Rainbow were walking outside, looking around even though there wasn’t much to look at. Aside from the cottage and the silo, it was just what they saw when they first entered.
“Rocks and grey, rocks and grey, rocks and grey! Isn’t there anything else here?!” Rainbow groaned.
“Doesn’t lookit.” Applejack commented, a piece of hay in her mouth, a more content expression on her face. “But it is a rock farm. Even if I… don’t really know how exactly they can be farmed.”
“The only thing slightly more interesting is that really big rock over there!” Rainbow turned her attention to the edge of the cliff the farm sat on; they couldn’t quite see how far down it was from where they were. What they could see, was a gigantic stone that towered over them easily with a size that rivalled the silo. With nothing else to do, the pair approached it to get a better look. For a stone, it was smooth on the surface and curved perfectly as if someone had sculpted it into a perfect egg shape.
“Kinda looks like a giant egg.” Applejack looked up at the large stone, a little amazed by its sheer size.
“Geez, the only halfway cool thing here. A slightly different rock.” Rainbow groaned, having looked at it for a few seconds and was already bred again. That, is, until she got an idea. “You think I could climb it?”
“Rainbow… That doesn’t sound like a very good idea. This thing’s right on the edge of a cliff. Kinda wondering how it hasn’t fallen to begin with.”
“Come ooon, it’ll be cool. And there’ll actually be something to do before we get back to travelling.”
“Still doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“Oh, I get it.” Rainbow nodded with a smile. “You’re daring me to do it.”
“Never said that.”
“Well joke’s on you!”
“No.”
“If you think you can psych me out you’ve got another thing coming!”
“Rainbow, no! You couldn’t climb something that smooth anyway!” Applejack reasoned.
“That’s what you think!” And with that, she sent out Shuckle. “Use Sticky Web on my hands!” Her Pokemon obeyed, and soon both her palms were respectively covered with a sticky net. Immediately, she leapt onto the boulder, making her way up only grunting when she moved her hands up, finding it difficult to pry them off the boulder each time she moved, but a grin was still on her face. At the bottom meanwhile, AJ just sighed.
“Yer gonna get yourself hurt, ya know that?” She yelled up at Rainbow.
“Ha, you wish!” She yelled right back, making AJ shake her head before frowning. She could hear something coming from right behind her. However, when she looked there wasn’t anything there. For a moment confusion hit her, but it was cleared up when she heard the noise going up the rock. Whatever it was, it had already passed her.
“Uhh… Rainbow? Y’all might wanna get down from there!”
“Please, you wish! I’m almost there!” Rainbow chuckled, looking back at Applejack. “Just a couple more-”
“HEY!” Rainbow’s eyes widened from the voice, though that wasn’t the most surprising part. What was surprising was when she turned back, there was an angry young woman right in Rainbow’s face, scowling at her.
“Wha-whoa!” In her surprise, Rainbow arched back, causing her to lose her grip and fall to the ground. “Ow…” She groaned, rubbing her head as she got up, while the young woman dropped down, while Applejack stared incredulously at the girl and how she was able to get above Rainbow so easily. The farm girl saw that the woman had a head of light grey hair despite her young age. Her clothes, meanwhile, were far darker, almost more black than grey. Her long-sleeved shirt was buttoned up and messy, while her trousers weren’t much better off, covered with dust, dirt and rips.
“Hey yourself!” Rainbow glared back at the stranger. “What the heck is your pro-”
“You don’t get to climb that boulder!” She snapped right back, not even letting the energetic trainer finish.
“What? What’s the big deal?! It’s just a rock!” Rainbow protested.
“Just a rock? That’s Holder’s Boulder! And I’m not about to let trespassers do whatever they want! Now SCRAM, BOTH OYOF YOU!”
“Whoa there.” Applejack went between the two. “This is just a misunderstandin’. We ain’t trespassers. I’m Applejack and this is Rainbow Dash. We came here with Pinkie Pie.” The stranger narrowed her eyes at the two, before folding her arms.
“Tch, makes sense that she’d bring people here. Makes more sense that she didn’t even bother to tell you the rules.”
“Hey, who died and made you the boss?!” Rainbow pointed at the stranger.
“Remember the name Limestone Pie.” She gestured to herself, her scowl reinvigorated. “Because that’s the name of the one who gets things done on this farm!”
“So that would make you Pinkie’s sister.” Applejack nodded.
“Isn’t this farm owned by the two oldies in the house?” Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked back to the cottage.
“They own the farm, but I make things happen!” She only seemed to get angrier as she advanced on the two. “First rule: Whatever I say, goes. Second rule: Don’t touch the boulder!”
“Okay okay, we got it. We won’t touch the boulder. We didn’t know nothin’ about it before now.” Applejack looked between the two hotheads and gave a hopeful smile.
“Hmph. Well now you do. So, don’t let me catch you doing it again!” Limestone snapped, before sitting in front of the boulder, watching the two, who slowly made their way back to the house. Suddenly, a roar echoed through the fields and she stopped, turning around to the cliff before running towards the cliff, taking a path down. Rainbow and Applejack watched her with confusion. The pair looked at each other, before following.
Fluttershy’s head was down, her eyes directed at her own hands. She hadn’t done much since she arrived, other than looking for a place to sit down and pass the time but she couldn’t stay seated for too long. There weren’t many places in a rock farm a nature lover like her could really stretch out and do something, so there was nothing to take her mind off her worries. So, she walked onto a different part of the fields from Applejack and Rainbow. Rarity had decided to tag along with her since she feared getting lost. Frowning to herself and fidgeting every now and then, Rarity looked to her with concern.
“Dear, might everything be alright?”
“I don’t know… I… Don’t think so… Did Mr Rock Pie look a little off to you?” Fluttershy muttered, seeming in thought as the two walked farther from the farm, but remaining close to the edge of the cliffside.
“Dear, are you sure it might not be because of all the yelling going on over by that large boulder? Or maybe it’s the cliffside?” Rarity asked. Though Fluttershy had a long list of fears, heights were hardly the biggest. It made her a little more tense, but it wasn’t even in the top 10. Conflict was another thing she preferred to avoid, which was why they were walking in the opposite direction of the angry voice by the boulder. They could hear Rainbow’s voice too, which wasn’t surprising.
“Oh look!” Rarity turned her head away from the argument, noticing a pathway down the cliff, which the two promptly followed all the way to the bottom.
They’d find a clearing, with stones cut and organised like tables, an entrance in one of the walls which Rarity could guess lead to a mine. She stared at it, remembering what Pinkie had said about what a sight it would be to behold. Perhaps even new inspiration for her. Anything to brighten up this drab farm visit.
“What do you say, Fluttershy? Shall we step inside?” She gestured to the entrance.
“Oh… Umm… Okay.” She nodded.
“Perfect!” Rarity nodded, and the two walked in. But instead of being greeted by a shining array of gemstones and crystals just waiting to be mined, all they saw was regular old rocks. It didn’t matter where they shone their flashlights, it was all the same. The only difference was how tightly Fluttershy clung to Rarity as they got farther away from the entrance, away from the natural- albeit dull- light.
“There isn’t much here… At all.” Rarity frowned. “What was Pinkie saying? Perhaps she was lying to make us more excited?”
“S-She is pretty good at… H-hyperbole.” Fluttershy muttered, but she was so close Rarity could easily hear it.
“What a disappointment… Just a little more.” Rarity sighed. “Then we’ll leave. How about that?”
“I would like that.” Fluttershy admitted, trembling. Rarity nodded and reached into her pocket pulling a Pokeball out.
“Perhaps what we need is something used to being in the dark.” She threw the ball in the air. “Duskull, reveal your elegance!” As such, the Requiem Pokemon showed itself, floating in the air as it looked down at its trainer. “Duskull dearie, might you help us explore this dark and dreary cavern?”
“Duskull!” It nodded, and the group set off.
After a while, Rarity squinted her eyes. She could swear she saw something in the distance, glimmering against the light of her torch. She, Duskull and Fluttershy approached with a new sense of excitement, Dusukull taking the lead.
The trio would find themselves in a shining area, full of beautiful gemstones sticking out of every wall. Rarity would look around, bringing her hands together with a look of joy on her face, Duskull floating around the area in happiness, taking a close look at each one. Not the sort of gems she found digging around Ponyville.
“This!” Rarity cheered. “Now this looks more like what Pinkie was talking about! This is what she was talking about! Ah, what a beautiful sight!” She took the sight in while Fluttershy relaxed a little. Rarity loved her gems, and finding them was already a treat, but especially on that farm, it was something she appreciated even more. She felt in her element right now, relaxed and not just bored. “My my, these truly are beautiful. I could only imagine the sorts of dresses and designs I could create with these exquisite pieces.” As she smiled and fawned, Duskull’s sights were set on a particular point, it went past all the gems and looked curiously at the thing stuck underneath the rock. It appeared to be another gem, but it was a darker shade.
“Hm?” Rarity noticed Duskull’s curiosity and knelt down to see what her Pokemon was staring so intently at. “What is that? It’s too dark to be amethyst…” Fluttershy stayed where she was but shone her torch their way. She was about to go join them, not wanting to be separated from them when she saw something near them.
“Umm… Rarity?” She piped up, her voice echoing in the cave. The fashionista and her Pokemon looked up from the corner, to see what Fluttershy was pointing her light at. It… was like a small tree, with a rough brown trunk. It had two long branches, each with three bright green fruits on them.
“Fluttershy dear? Is that a… Tree?” Rarity frowned.
“N… No. it’s-” Before Fluttershy could finish, the tree leapt forward, swingfing its branch at Rarity and Duskull, knocking the two of them back.
“Ah!” Rarity cried out, as she fell to the ground next to her ghost-type. “What in the world?!”
“That’s a Pokemon…. It’s called Sudowoodo.” Fluttershy explained, but even she was surprised. Usually, this Pokemon loved pretending to be a tree in a forest. They weren’t like most rock-types in that they didn’t make their homes in caves and the like. Yet here one was, clearly agitated and ready to fight. Immediately, it jumped at the trainers, a rock in its arm, flinging it straight at them.
“I will not simply stand by and allow myself to be attacked!” Rarity declared. “Shadow Sneak!” As she pointed at the Sudowoodo, Duskull’s shadow extended towards the enemy Pokemon, but the Sudowoodo blocked as it burst out to attack, causing it to slide back. However, the Sudowoodo quickly countered as its own shadow began to quickly extend in the same manner as Duskull’s had, hitting the ghost-type head on.
“What?” Rarity looked confused. “This thing can learn ghost-type attacks? It certainly doesn’t seem like the sort of Pokemon that could.”
“It’s probably Copycat…” Fluttershy muttered. “M-Maybe we should leave, Rarity.” As she turned around, there in front of the exit stood a girl a little younger than herself, with long grey hair covering one of her eyes going down to her shoulders. Her demeanour was reserved but her face was determined. Like most people she had seen around here, her clothes were very plain, just consisting of a long grey skirt with a black blouse. In her hand was a Pokeball.
“Uhhh… Rarity? I think I found Sudowoodo’s trainer.” Fluttershy stepped back as Rarity looked around to see the new trainer walking closer.
“Wh- Who are you?” Rarity asked, but instead of an answer, the Sudowoodo attacked again, cuausing her to dive out of the way. When the fashionista got up, heshe looked down to see dirt all over her outfit. “Ah! My beautiful clothes!” She wailed, before glaring at the new trainer. “Oh, you’re going to get it now! Night Shade, Duskull!” Her ghost-type obliged, shooting a shadowy beam from its eyes at the rock type causing it to hit a wall. The trainer looked surprised, and muttered something which the Sudowoodo reacted to as it shot off another Shadow Sneak, sending Duskull flying in the air. Suddenly, a roar was heard echoing deeper inside the caves. But Sudowoodo didn’t stop, jumping up and hitting the ghost-type with another Rock Throw and watching it fall to the ground, fainting.
“Ah! Return!” Rarity, pressed on her Pokeball and watched her Pokemon vanish in a red light, Next, she brought out another ball. “Alright missy you asked for this! Dazzle the world, gl-“
“Hey!” A rough voice echoed out through the cave, as the silent trainer stopped, turning around. Standing there was Limestone Pie, her arms folded as she looked on at the people and their Pokemon. “Marble, who are these people?”
“Umm…” The quiet girl’s gaze softened significantly as Limestone stood next to her.
“Intruders, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Hold on!” Applejack piped up right behind Limestone. “These ain’t intruders!”
“Yeah! They’re our friends!” Rainbow added. Limestone turned back to look to the two before sighing.
“Uuuuuuugh! Are ALL of Pinkie’s friends this annoying? What am I saying, I already know the answer.”
“So… That would make you another one of her sisters?”
“Limestone, Remember it! Nothing gets through this farm without me noticing! The softie is Marble.”
“Mhm.” She nodded, her Sudowoodo running back to her.
“Certainly wasn’t soft in her battling.” Rarity muttered.
“Hm?” Marble looked up.
“Nothing.” Rarity raided her arms. “Umm… Might I ask, but I didn’t see either of you at the house.”
“No time to play greeting with a couple of guests.” Limestone folded her arms. “We have work to do.”
“Like making your Pokemon stand on their own in dark caves?” Rainbow pointed at Marble, who backed away slightly.
“That’s-”
“That’s important!” Limestone snapped, cutting Marble off. “We gotta protect our mines somehow!”
“From what?”
“From… I-I don’t know!” Limestone yelled. “Business has sucked! We make most of our money off selling fossils and evolutionary stones, but we haven’t been seeing nearly as many good stones to mine. And of course NOW we have a couple of idiots trying to take this place down! It just doesn’t add up with what’s in the silo! I know someone’s been taking our stuff, but I don’t know how!”
“Well… What does yer pa say?” Applejack asked.
“Dad… He’s not gonna listen.” Limestone sighed.
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“He’s what?!” Pinkie’s eyes widened.
“Quiet down, Pinkamena.” Cloudy raised her hand. “I won’t have anything disturb him. Come on up, now.” The four three girls went upstairs, led by Cloudy until they reached the door to Pinkie’s parent’s room. Cloudy slowly opened the door, showing a simple, old-fashioned room. The wallpaper was grey with a simple desk pushed off to the left. The bed, the pillows and the linen on it all looking like they came from a different time period. `In the middle of the bed, Igneous Rock Pie lay breathing heavily but slowly. He seemed so low on energy with parts of his face tinted a faint purple. It was like he was now that his age was clearest.
“He’s been like this for about a weak now.” Cloudy turned to the girls. “He does a good job of hiding it whenever he’s well enough to get up. Maudileena, only got returned about a moon or two before you Pinkamena, so this’ll be news to both of you.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Pinkie asked, worry creeping into her high-pitched voice.
“Your father knew the both of you were returning soon. He wanted not to worry you, or to see you unhappy. It took practically everything he had to get out of bed so he could greet you.” Cloudy sighed, before slowly closing the door. Twilight looked between the members of the Pie family in front of her. Pinkie looked down to the floor, her hair less poufy and her shoulders drooping. Maud stared at the door with eyes that betrayed no emotion or thought.
“This past week has been busy.” Cloudy continued. “He fell ill a week ago. Those salesmen showed themselves to our door, offering their services and having us allow them to drill on our land. They wanted to split it 25/75. Igneous refused, which they didn’t like. They left with the threat to run us out of business. Now not only have we been getting a shortage of stones, but Igneous fell ill a few weeks ago as he entered.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Pinkie asked, looking to her mother with distressed eyes.
“Your father asked that you weren’t told. He didn’t want to make you unhappy.” Cloudy sighed.
“Work can’t be that bad.” Twilight piped up. “Even if just one person is gone.”
Cloudy shook her head. “There aren’t many of us on this farm. If even one person is unable to work, it becomes a detriment. He is always the one up earliest, running the farm and going first into the mines. Now though, our work is cut down significantly. Limestone has currently taken his place, but her stubbornness takes after her father.”
“But we have to do something, don’t we??” Pinkie grabbed her mother’s arms.
“Pinkie’s right.” Maud said, stepping forward while shooting a glance at Twilight.
“Indeed.” Cloudy said.
“We gotta go get Limestone and Marble back here!” Pinkie raised her finger in the air.
“No need.” Maud pointed to the window without looking back. “They’re already here,” Through the window, they could see Limestone and Marble Pie, along with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity walking back from the cliff. Soon after, the door opened and all of them came piling in.
The travelling group and the Pie family gathered in one the living room, where everything was explained to everyone. Marble and Fluttershy both stared at their feet with looks of concern on their faces. Rainbow and Applejack were looking at Pinkie who was shifting and fidgeting in her seat. Rarity looked to one of her Pokeballs while Limestone just sat with her arms folded as she scowled.
“So that’s the problem.” Cloudy, who was standing, finished up. She sat next to Twilight; whose expression was mostly neutral if a bit uncomfortable from Maud occasionally peering her way.
“Dang…” Applejack said. “That’s a lotta stuff on yer plate right there.”
“Well we can’t just let it happen!” Rainbow banged her fist on the table.
“I must agree with Rainbow. Something must be done.” They all seemed to agree.
“Whoa whoa whoa what’s all this ‘we’ business we’re talking about?” Limestone glared at the group. “I don’t recall asking for your help and WE don’t need it!” She gestured to herself and the other Pie family members.
“Limestone, come on.” Pinkie pouted. “They can help, they’re my friends!”
“We don’t need anymore strangers getting involved with this form. Heck, they don’t even know the first thing about rock farming.”
“Well… Uhh… They could learn!” Pinkie raised her finger in the air.
“Tch, yeah right. They’d probably just break anything worth selling. We’re better off just doing this our way. We’re only one man down, anyway.” Limestone’s eyes drifted down to her feet.
“Limestone, you know dad’s gonna get better, right?” Pinkie said.
“Of course I know that!”
“He’s gonna get better.”
“You said that! Geez, what is with you?!”
“He will.” Pinkie smiled.
“...But what if he doesn’t?” Limestone looked down slightly.
“Hm?”
“But what if he doesn’t?! I’ve… I’ve never seen him like this.” Limestone snapped. Fluttershy began to speak.
“But… Umm, it isn’t anything to worry about. people get sick all the time-”
“He doesn’t!” She snapped. “Even if you did see him sick, he kept on going. He’s always done stuff… When I get up and look out the window, he’s always there ready to start digging. But… Now there’s no one there. But we just gotta take all his stuff and do it ourselves! It’s that simple.”
“It doesn’t seem especially simple if things are this bad.” Rarity commented.
“Yeah? Well it is.” She folded her arms.
“We can’t just keep going business as usual, pretending there’s nothing wrong when there is. It’s hurting the farm and it’s hurting you.” Pinkie spoke, staring at her sister with concern in her eyes. “And dad will get better. He’s super strooooong!” She flexed her arms and puffed up her chest with a determined expression.
Limestone stared at Pinkie’s silly pose for a moment, before closing her eyes. “I’m in charge, you got that?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way!” Pinkie giggled, smiling as she could’ve sworn she heard a small laugh coming from Limestone.
“But we still gotta get to those mines, and you idiots don’t know the first thing about rock farming, so you better follow my lead!”
The travelling group and the Pie family each spread out through the mines, each one given a pickaxe. They followed the lead of the sisters, Limestone directing them to the best places to pick at. At first, they were all determined and energised, ready to help and work. But as the day went on it was apparent that they were coming up with nothing if not very little. Many of them were sweating, some more than others, while those that hadn't yet worked up a sweat were becoming impatient. When they reached the point where Rarity had been attacked by Marble's Sudowoodo, she knelt down and let Duskull out, kneeling down. Limestone looked confused.
"Aren't you supposed to be walking?" She asked, but Rarity said nothing. Soon, they could see a couple of things glowing underneath the ground. They got digging, and eventually uncovered what was beneath seeing a Waterstone and some Heart Scales. Limestone knelt down to look at them, and they stopped glowing the moment she touched them, no longer needing to.
"Duskull is quite amazing, no?" Rarity smiled while the requiem Pokemon danced around its trainer.
"Yeah..." Limestone nodded. "This... Will help a lot."
And so, they made their way through the mines, but this time Rarity took the lead, Duskull floating around the walls and floor of the cave trying to search for more gemstones and fossils to fill their cart with. While they came across more than before, finding those hidden beneath the floor, it wasn’t enough. Limestone started becoming more impatient and desperate again, clenching her fist. They had gone farther than any of them even knew the mine stretched, farther than they’d ever needed to go.
“Maybe… We should… Turn back…” Twilight panted from the back of the group. She out of all of them wasn’t used at all to this much walking, much less impromptu mining.
“No way..! We’ve almost got enough… It’s just a little more.” Limestone protested. Before she could say anymore, a yelp was heard. Each of them turned, to see the source of the noise was Marble Pie, who was currently on the floor and looked like she was in a lot of pain.
“Marble!” Immediately, Pinkie went to go help her little sister, but found a hand on her shoulder stopping her from going any further.
“Wait!” Twilight yelled, and they all turned to her confused. “Look down there.” She was staring at Marble’s legs, and they all did the same. Her lower legs were covered with scratches and cuts, purple marks dotting her calves and ankles. She looked back up at them, in a lot of pain, her cheeks gaining a purple tint. While the others watched, the youngest Pie sister got visibly weaker. Twilight pointed at something near her legs, which they shone their torches towards. On the ground there were dosens of spikes sprawled loosely around, some small and others taller.
“What are these things?” Limestone looked confused as she gripped her flashlight wanting to go help Marble.
“Toxic Spikes. A move used by poison-type Pokemon. You step on them and they poison you. They’re used to stop other Pokemon from entering conflict then take them down. But what are they doing here? This doesn’t look like a place that would any poison-types.” As she wondered, she noticed Maud was looking somewhere else; the wall where most of the Toxic Spikes were gathered and shone her light on it.
“The surface of this part of the wall is smooth.” Maud commented. “It’s not quite as rough or bumpy as the rest of the wall, and there’s a circular line surrounding it. This boulder isn’t a part of this wall at all, it was put here.” She stared at the wall.
“Your dad must’ve thought the same thing.” Twilight commented.
“So the one behind this boulder is the one who made dad sick?” Maud took a small step forward. “So then we just have to get rid of it.”
“Before that, we have to do something about these Toxic Spikes.” Twilight said, and Maud glanced at her expectantly. “Rarity, you’ll need to have your Glaceon freeze over this ground and these spikes. Bring out Lairon too, Applejack.” The beauty queen and the farmhand complied, bringing out their Pokemon.
“Ice Beam, darling!” She pointed to the floor, and the ice-type immediately opened its mouth and shot the attack at the floor, freezing it solid. “Perfect!”
“Well now we just gotta break that wall. Could use Lairon for that.” Applejack commented.
“Not quite. The ice is too slippery, and this cave is too narrow for it to build up any meaningful momentum. We’ll need something strong to push something else-”
“Okay.” Maud picked up a Pokeball of her own. “Here’s Boulder.” The three-legged rock type appeared, looking straight at the wall. “You can push him.”
“Oh. That’ll work just fine.” Twilight nodded, looking to Applejack and nodding at her. Lairon shifted until it was right behind Boulder, who stood on the ice. “Shove it now!” The steel-type immediately lunged forward, pushing the Boldore with all its power, sliding towards the wall.
“Strength.” On Maud’s command, Boulder began rushing with energy and on all three of its legs, jumped towards the giant stone once it was close enough, and rammed into it. Usually, Strength gave the power to move stones a fair distance and had to be continually used, but the group watched as the giant stone practically flew back, going until it slammed into the first wall in its way with shock, while Maud wasted no time, stepping on the ice and slid forward to the now-revealed pathway and the others, quickly shaking themselves out of their stupor, followed.
The noise they heard was far louder as they entered, making each of them curious. It sounded like a drill was cutting into stone. Most of them couldn’t tell the direction, but Maud was able to direct them while glancing at the walls. All the passageways were clearly dug out it was just a matter of finding out who the digger was, and they walked until they saw something digging through the rock and soil.
A large machine dug through the cave, creating a labyrinth of its own. It was a giant cylindrical vehicle with a pair of huge drills on both its front and back. Slowly, it moved forward on its tank tracks. On its sides meanwhile, small panels opened, releasing mechanical appendages that had each had one of three on the end respectively. A Pickaxe, a hammer or a tube. At random points in the walls, the pickaxe and the hammer would hit the walls, smashing all debris out of the way. Eventually, a valuable stone would drop out once the machine hammered enough and the tube would promptly suck it up, transferring it to some hidden compartment inside the vehicle. The group watched this entire process, all shocked except Maud.
“What is this thing?” Limestone frowned.
“A… pretty weird vehicle. Like a giant drill.” Twilight thought, as she narrowed her eyes, realising she was able to see the cockpit from her angle. It was a two-seater, with two people filling those seats. The Flim Flam brothers had cheerful looks on their faces as they kept steering forward. Limestone, Maud and Pinkie and Marble caught her eye and upon seeing the brothers.
“You better not try to stop me Maud!” Limestone snapped as she stomped up to the drill.
“Wasn’t gonna.”
The Flim Flam brothers steered the drill forward with devilish grins on their faces, the noise from the drills blocking out any noise that wasn’t the vehicle working its magic. It would only be a little longer now, and they’d succeed in driving that mining family out of business. They could practically feel the money dancing in their pockets. That is, until they suddenly stopped moving.
“Huh?” Flim frowned looking down at the controls. “Blasted thing won’t move!”
“Crank the power up higher brother!” Flam raised his finger in the air.
“Excellent idea, brother!” He rested his hand on a dial, but before he could press it the vehicle shuddered, and the two could see themselves moving away from the tunnel they’d been drilling into.
“I said crank the power, not the reverse gear!” Flam yelled.
“That… Isn’t me… Is it hotter than usual in here?” The two turned around to see something holding on the drill in the back. A large, angry-looking rock type with a hunched back and spiked shoulders gripped the drill, pulling the vehicle away and into a more open area, its eyes hotter than the pile of burning coal on top of its head and back. Its arms were so hot, the back drill had melted in its hands, which crushed anything that remained leaving only the cockpit intact, which the brothers scrambled out of screaming. As they tried getting up, the group of trainers stood over the brothers.
“You’re gonna drive us out of business, huh?” Limestone sneered. “And exactly how many of our gems were you planning on doing that with? Coalossal really wants to know.” Twilight looked at the Pokemon with wide eyes and a smile.
“Whoa… I haven’t seen a Pokemon like that before.” She got out a Pokedex, aiming it at the rock-type.
Coalossal: The Coal Pokemon
It's usually peaceful, but the vandalism of mines enrages it. Offenders will be incinerated with flames that reach 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.
“…Come now, ladies.” Flim laughed a lot more nervously as the Pokedex spoke. The two backed away from the group. “There’s no need to do anything rash.”
“After all, it’s practically positive proof! Proof that our special little tool is more than useful!” Flam continued. “After all, it’s not something any of you can do. Sounds to me like they know that the Miracle Mining Master…”
“Is just better than them.” The brothers threw their Pokeballs, and on Flim’s side a blue Pokemon stood at his feet, sharp teeth in its mouth and barbs sticking out its back. It stood on two feet, while the purple Pokemon at Flam’s feet stood on all fours. It was coloured purple rather than blue, and along with its small but sharp teeth and the barbs on its back, it had a horn on its head.
“Oh. So they’re probably...” Twilight looked to the two Pokemon with mild curiosity, pulling her Pokedex out, first looking at the blue one.
Nidorina and Nidorino: The Poison Pin Pokemon
When resting deep in its burrow, Nidorina’s barbs always retract. This is proof that it is relaxed. Nidorino’s horn contains venom. If it stabs an enemy with the horn, the impact makes the poison leak out.
“As I thought, poison types. That certainly explains the Toxic Spikes.” The bookworm muttered. Meanwhile, the salesmen were gathering all the fallen fossils and stones they could into a bag.
“Venom Drench Nidorino, aim for the eyes!”
“Don’t forget a Stomping Tantrum to clear a path for us, Nidorina!” The brothers called out their attacks, but none came. They looked down in confusion, to see their poison-type Pokemon stood stiff, shuddering as if trying to move while sparks travelled over them showing that they were paralysed, spores floating around their bodies. They looked to the source of the spores, seeing Pinkie’s Shroomish.
“You’re the meanest clowns I’ve ever met and you’re not going anywhere!” Pinkie raised her finger, pointing at the two with a scrunched up angry face. “We… Should probably step back though.” The six girls and one boy stepped back, while Pinkie, Marble, Maud and Limestone stayed exactly where they were.
“Bullet Seed/ Rock Throw/ Rock Blast/ Incinerate.” On their respective trainer’s command Shroomish, Sudowoodo, Boldore and Coalossal fired their attacks at the brothers and their Pokemon, forcing them to drop the stones as they were launched all the way out of the tunnels from the attacks, getting sent far away from the rock farm with a twinkle.
The next day, the group got ready to depart. After making their way out of the mines, they had come home to Fluttershy making a Pecha Berry soup for Igneous. He was well enough to get out of bed the next day, where his daughters were all there to greet him and Pinkie wrapped all of them in a hug. For a moment they were uncomfortable, but as always, it didn’t last long and they smiled. Rarity was given a series of Heart Scales for all her help, while Twilight analysed them with glee, and took a considerable interest in Coalossal, a Pokemon she had never seen before.
“So, what’s the hottest temperature Coalossal has ever reached?”
“I don’t know, just really hot!” Limestone groaned. These questions had come nonstop over the last day, much to her irritation. “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere anyway?”
“Ah! Right, that’s true.” Twilight blushed, looking back to the others. Pinkie was zooming between each individual member of her family.
“It was so good seeing you all! I mean, aside from the getting sick part where we were all worried and the farm was in danger but after that when things were better it was great seeing you aaaaaaaaaaall! Look at how happy everyone is!” She cheered, spinning around on one foot.
"They look about the same to m-" Before Applejack frowned, but shrugged and smiled. “Well, it was mighty kind of ya’s to have us here.”
“You guys are pretty weird, but you’re also awesome.” Rainbow grinned, raising her hand. Fluttershy and Marble stood next to each other awkwardly, a strange understanding between them before separating to their respective groups while Pinkie danced around.
"It's been soooo good, but..." She stopped in front of her dad. "Pretty please tell me next time, okay? You don't gotta pretend around ol' Pinkie! I'll smile through thick and thin!"
Igneous paused, before giving her a smile of his own. "Very well, Pinkamena. I shall keep that in mind."
“Hey Twilight, are you coming?” Spike asked.
“Right, yeah.” She nodded, turning around… Only to see Maud suddenly standing in front of her making her fall back in surprise. “Uhh… Hey Maud.”
“Hello.” Maud watched Twilight get up and brush the dust off her clothes.
“Looks like we’re going so… Bye.” She smiled awkwardly, still not entirely comfortable next to the rock-obsessed girl.
“I wonder…” Maud thought. “Why Pinkie chose then to leave, and why she chose you. Why it was you she wanted to go off with. What does she see in you? I don’t really get it, but there’s a lot of things about people I don’t get. All of them, Pinkie really cares about them, she’s happy.” Finally, she spoke out loud.
“You’re smart, Twilight. Take care of Pinkie.” She said, before turning around and walking back to the others. Shrugging, Twilight went back to Spike and the others, and they all continued their journey rested and rejuvenated.
Stats
Page generated in 0.063 seconds
Total duration
984 users online
1,250,297 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This update came as a bit of a surprise, last I checked, this story was marked as Cancelled.
It lives! I completely forgot about this story. Welp, time to start from scratch
9949285
Wait this was cancelled!
not only am I happy that this story lives again, but that it is VERY up to date
9949285 That’s weird, I don’t remember marking it as cancelled, even though it might as well have been since I was gone for a really long time
.
Not a bad battle and why am I not surprised that one of the new Pokémon would be in the hands of one of them. I hope you will keep writing more chapters!
Kinda sad about how under used spike was for this wouldn't he got along with the pie sisters for his hobby of gem hunting and also wouldn't his reckless intrest them being special.
10302923 Fair point, but this isn't gonna be the last time we see the pie sisters.