Igneous Rock sighed, looking down at his leg. Held in place by a splint and wrapped tightly in bandages, there was no doubt it was preventing him from going out in the fields and moving the rocks to the south field. Heck, he wasn't even allowed to smell the rocks to determine their ripeness.
He was mad at the client who had demanded some pavestones on such short notice on a rainy day. That pony couldn't have waited one day for the rain to subside and the mud to dry; no, he had to demand it delivered first thing in the morning. Igneous didn't know if the pony was pressed for time or not, so he had to explain the problem with rain that rock farmers had. Through an unfortunate turn of events, Igneous had ended up arguing with the idiot in the rain, slipping on some mud, and breaking his front leg.
And the jerk still had the gall to call him a lazy lowlife.
And now, here he was, laying down on the couch in the living room. He had his choice of things to read on the bookshelf, but he was in no mood to read. Checking on things in the cellar was not an option, since those stairs were treacherous for him in his condition. Perhaps he could waddle to the kitchen and sneak a snack.
Or he could just lay here and think about life, and how his was going. Cloudy, Limestone, and Marble were taking care of business outside, Maud was pursuing a geology career, and Pinkamena--or as she liked to be called, Pinkie Pie--was living a simple life as a baker and party planner in Ponyville. And some business about a friendship council or something like that. It was strangely both simple, yet mind-boggling complicated, much like she was.
Of course, the very next moment had him nearly jumping when that very daughter threw open the door and hopped in, a bright smile adorning her face and her raspberry curls bouncing with each jump. Accompanying her jumps were coos and giggles that didn't come from her mouth.
"Hi, Daddy!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Igneous blinked, and then gave her an acknowledging nod. "Hello, Pinkamena."
Pinkie stopped her bouncing, and then turned to show him the perpetrators of that cooing, sitting in a foal carrier and chewing on her bushy tail. "I heard you got hurt, so I thought I'd visit so you wouldn't get bored out of not being able to move the rocks, since, well, they can't move themselves. Hehehe, good thing Mom and Marble and Limestone can still move them! Anyway, I brought Pizza and Fudgy because I know you love your adorable little grandfoals, and they sure do love their super duper grandpa!"
Igneous had nearly forgotten that Pinkie had gotten married the year before, and that it had been a few months since her twins were born. "All right then... say, where's your husband?"
"Oh, he had to go to Trottingham to help with a big shindig. Those ponies are in for the in for the time of their lives!" She sighed. "It's too bad he can't be here right now, but when the Cheesy Sense calls, he's gotta go." She lifted the twins out of the foal carrier with her tail and set them down on the floor. "But that doesn't mean that we can't have a good time. Come on, Dad, get on the floor and say hi!"
Igneous grunted, and carefully climbed off the couch, watching his broken leg as he did so. He gently laid himself on the floor, and shifted himself so he could be comfortable. Almost instantly, the little foals got on their hooves and toddled to him, throwing themselves to his side and trying to climb on his back.
He merely watched them for a moment before saying, "Huh. Hello."
Pinkie giggled. "Sillies, your grandpa's face is right there."
The filly turned to Igneous' face, and stopped her attempt at climbing. She crawled toward her grandfather's muzzle, blinking wide, teal eyes. She tentatively reached forward with a pink hoof, and paused, tilting her head as if to process something. After a moment, she gave him a dimpled smile and poked his nose, squeaking, "Gampa!"
Igneous blinked at the sound of that, and was even more surprised when she stood up and hugged his muzzle. He glanced at Pinkie, who flashed an elated smile and whispered, "Fudgy's happy to see you!"
"Is that so?" Igneous raised his head and looked at his little granddaughter, and tussled her brown mane a little bit. "Nice to know that she likes her gruff old Gramps."
On his back, the little orange colt was bouncing and shouting, "Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Giddy-up!" Pouting, he climbed up Igneous' neck, and then crawled under his hat. "Giddy-up!"
Pinkie turned her head upside down and asked, "Whatcha doing, Pizza?"
"Hopefully not preparing to spit up on my head," Igneous grumbled. Feeling his stomach rumble, he asked, "Say, Pinkamena, do you mind getting me a snack?"
Pinkie flipped her head back right side up, and chirped, "Okey-dokey! Keep an eye on them, okay?" She bounced off to the kitchen in search of something.
Right after Pinkie left the room, Pizza slid down Igneous' muzzle, hat and all, and landed on the floor with a boink and a giggle. Only orange hooves poked out from under the hat, and Fudge walked forward to tap them and murmur, "Pee-zah? What doing?"
"Yeah, what are you doing?" Igneous reached forward and lifted his hat off the colt, revealing eyes that matched his sister's and a tangled mess of red-orange curls. Pizza looked up.
"A-boo!" The colt had his arms spread out wide and a cheesy smile spread on his face. He looked at his sister, who giggled and repeated what he said.
Igneous raised an eyebrow. "A-boo?"
Pizza grabbed the hat and pulled it back over him. Igneous blinked and lifted the hat again, greeted once again with, "A-boo!"
"What are you... oh, it's Peek-A-Boo."
Pizza nodded, and pulled the hat back over his body. Fudge squealed and clapped her hooves, and looked at her grandpa pleadingly. She squeaked, "A-boo, Gampa," and covered her eyes with her hooves.
Igneous sighed. "Okay..." He lifted his hat, and said, "Peek-A-Boo."
Pizza blinked in surprise, and then burst out laughing. Fudge joined in with the laughing, and both started to clap their hooves, chanting, "'Gain! 'Gain!"
Igneous stared at them for a moment before a small smile crept onto his face. He dropped his hat on his grandson, and lifted it up again. "Peek-A-Boo."
The foals squealed in delight, and waved their hooves excitedly. Seeing how excited they were over a simple game, he dropped his hat on Pizza again, and repeated the "Peek-A-Boo" phrase with a touch more vigor. Then, he switched to Fudge, and kept up the cycle of dropping his hat, lifting his hat, and saying, "Peek-A-Boo," for three more turns until he switched back to Pizza with three more turns before switching back to Fudgy.
Pinkie walked back in to see her father enjoying himself as he played the simple game with the twins. She beamed at the sight, especially at the smiling faces they all sported. She glanced at the small roll she had gotten, and then looked up at the door as her mother and sisters walked in.
"Oh, hi, Mom!"
Igneous stopped the game and snapped his head around to see his wife and younger two daughters in the doorway.
Cloudy looked around the room. "What's going on here?"
"Oh, Dad was just playing with Pizza and Fudge."
Cloudy looked at Igneous. "Really? You, playing?"
Igneous idly stroked his bandaged leg. "Well, I... uh..."
The foals giggled and started to pull at Igneous' sideburns, chanting, "Gampa! Gampa! Gampa!"
"Aww, they both like you, Daddy!" Pinkie giggled. She looked at the others, who she could tell were on the verge of smiling. "Come on, don't be shy! They'll be more than happy to let you join in on the fun!"
Author's Note
Geez Louise, I just wrote a ball of pure fluff. XP
I don't know, I just thought it'd be cute to see Igneous as a grandpa... just because. I also found the thought of him playing Peek-A-Boo really funny. I really have no idea why I find this stallion so fascinating. :/
Also, meet my CheesePie foals, named Pizza Pockets and Fudge Fondue. I've been wanting to write a story with them, but I wanted to write them into something natural instead of shoehorning them in some random contrived plot... I've gotten two ideas, this one and another that I may write later. Maybe.