Clank…Clank…Clank…

The steady noise of pickaxes hitting stone sounded all around Pinkie as she continued to work. Her job, like all those around her, was to break open all the rocks in field seven. Or was it field eight? Pinkie couldn’t remember.

After seeing Lady Obsidian again, something that still made Pinkie shudder, the Butler had led her to one of the fields close to town. There, she had been handed a pickaxe by a large grey earth pony and was told to start breaking the rocks on the field in front of her. So Pinkie did, and continued to do so for the next however many hours. Given that the sun would be setting soon, she guessed it must have been ten at least.

For that entire time, there had been almost nothing to preoccupy the party mare. Sure, she was working, but given all the work she normally did in the village on a daily basis, breaking rocks wasn't really all that tiring. Certainly not as tiring as planning two birthdays and three ‘Welcome to the super secret hidden village’ parties in a single day.

Now THAT had been exhausting.

She also wasn't at all curious about WHY she was standing in the middle of a field breaking rocks. She had worked on the property long enough to know every step in the gem growing process. Some of these stones had been cultivated with earth pony magic long enough that they were now filled with gems and needed to be broken open to get at the treasure. The others were just too big and needed to be broken down to smaller sizes so they could then be cultivated, or shipped out as building supplies.

Despite the fact that they were all important jobs for the productivity of the farm, this did NOT stop them from being very, VERY BORING!

So, with nothing else to do, Pinkie had simply let her ears turn every which way, trying to listen in on other ponies’ conversations. Normally she wouldn't do this, as she considered it mean to invade privacy like this, but she WAS in enemy territory, so any information she could gather would be helpful. ESPECIALLY if it lead her to something she could use as a distraction.

But unfortunately, she discovered nothing of importance. She had learned the number of this field, which turned out to be field four, that one of the overseers was craving mashed potatoes, that another was just as bored as she was, and that rocks apparently don't taste well when mixed with paprika.

She would need to remember that last one.

There had been absolutely no conversations from any of the other worker ponies in the field. Granted, Pinkie didn’t remember there ever being much conversation back when she lived here, but there had been at least a few words exchanged to try and break up the monotony of the work. Given that she had only heard the clanging of pickaxes for the last few hours, she wondered if there might be some sort of new rule against talking.

Given that this WAS Lady Obsidian, it wouldn’t really surprise Pinkie, but it did make her wonder why she would have waited so long to make such a rule.

Unfortunately though, the lack of chatter meant that Pinkie had a hard time distracting herself from the memories that had begun to stir in her mind. Many of which Pinkie would have rather forgotten. Whenever her mind started to wander, she began to remember what the farm had been like back before she had escaped.

She remembered hurting her leg and fearing punishment or being traded off the farm, only for Maud to rush in and finish her work in a fraction of the time while still giving her the credit.

She remembered hiding under her bed whenever the Butlers had been punishing ponies near her home.

She remembered having to stay silent the few times that Lady Obsidian had been near the fields she was working on, and the time Lady Obsidian had punished one of her own overseers for being to lenient with his ponies.

The crackling of breaking rocks or the orders of an overseer would bring her back to the real world, but usually with a small shudder on her part. Sometimes she would even break open the rock in front of her without even realizing. She sighed, lifter her head as she prepared to move to the next rock, only to freeze in terror.

The flower. THAT FLOWER! Being carried by a Butler! Even if she wanted to, which she REALLY DID, she couldn’t stop the memories.

Her first time seeing other ponies smile and the joy it brought her, followed swiftly by that horrible flower ripping away at her body and soul. The pain, the grey seeping into her vision…that heartless laugh. Laughter was meant to spread joy, not pain. But the pain kept coming. She didn’t stop. IT NEVER STOPPED. She had to run. HIDE! ANYTHING! BEFORE…BEFO—

“ALL RIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH,” the overseer yelled over the clanging, which in turn immediately halted. “That’s all for the day. Head back to the village, get your food from the supply house, then be home before curfew.” Pinkie blinked rapidly, looking around. The flower…it was going to the village, not to her. She…She was still ok.

“You, blue unicorn. You follow me,” the overseer added, pointing at Pinkie. She blinked in confusion for a second before remembering she had a disguise. She nodded, her body still shaking as she moved to follow the Butler. She was surprised that she was even able to walk given how badly her legs were trembling.

All around, the ponies let off sighs of relief before taking their tools and slowly beginning to make their way back to town. Pinkie put her pickaxe on her back and moved to follow the overseer. Along the way, she glanced at the other workers who were coming back from the fields. She hoped she could at least catch a glimpse of somepony, anypony, from her family, but no matter how hard she looked, she never saw any of her three sisters or her parents.

Hopefully, they were all still ok.

“Eyes forward, blue,” the earth pony overseer called, prompting Pinkie to wince and return her gaze forward. As they moved, she realized that they were moving towards the outer edge of the town, away from Lady Obsidian’s mansion. She almost breathed a sigh of relief of her own before she saw Lady Obsidian striding out from around the building they were approaching.

It was a miracle that she didn’t just fall over in terror.

Why was she here!? Was her cover blown!? If it was, WHAT WOULD SHE DO!?!?!?! SHE HADN’T PLANED FOR THAT! Her hooves were shaking again. Her mouth felt unnaturally dry. She could feel herself beginning to sweat despite the bone chilling effect Lady Obsidian’s gaze had on her. She couldn’t even think of what might happen next!

Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be.

“Report,” Lady Obsidian said, giving Pinkie a bored sidelong glance and turning her attention to the overseer, seeming to ignore the disguised mare’s trembling.

“No problems, my lady,” the overseer said with a bow. “She worked all day, no slacking, no complaining, no trouble. Seems she might have half a brain.”

“Joy,” Lady Obsidian said dully, looking at Pinkie with slightly more interest. Pinkie gulped on habit, especially when Lady Obsidian reached out with her magic and yanked the muzzle off. “Since you seem to understand your situation, I’ll take this off for the moment. But the moment you disobey me, or cause any kind of trouble, or give me any kind of excuse to punish you, it goes back on, and it stays on. Understand?”

“Y-Yes, my l-lady,” Pinkie stuttered as she bowed very low to the ground. “T-Trixie understands.” She wasn’t sure why she was using Trixie’s habit of referring to herself in the third person, but she really didn’t have the capacity to think about that right now.

“If I cared about your name, I would have asked for it,” Lady Obsidian snapped. She turned away and spread her wings. “You know what to do, Sandstone.”

And with that, she leapt into the air and was gone.

Sandstone let out the breath he was holding and moved to the building, Pinkie following closely behind. Upon opening the door, Pinkie saw that it was a small shack with a metal chest by the door and a large cage in the center, one about three times as big as the one she had been in that morning.

Pinkie knew where this was going.

“Get in,” Sandstone ordered as he took the pickaxe from her back, and Pinkie immediately complied. Best not give him any trouble he could report back to Lady Obsidian.

As soon as she was in, he slammed the door shut and locked it with a loud click that made Pinkie have to swallow her whimper. “Now then, you’ll be in here all night, every night, until Lady Obsidian says otherwise. There’s a hole in the back of the cage for when nature calls, but that’s it. Here’s dinner.” He opened the metal chest and pulled out a few potatoes which he tossed through the cage bars. “Oh, and there will always be a guard outside this door, so if you try and escape, they’ll know. Enjoy.”

He closed the shack door and locked it from the outside, leaving Pinkie alone.

At least the gentle orange glow from the setting sun shining through the small window let her see for the time being. In fact, there was something…calming about it. No clanging of pickaxes, no yelling of overseers, no cries of ponies being punished. Just a quiet room coated orange in the rays of the setting sun. It was so calm, it was almost easy to imagine that she was somewhere else when she closed her eyes. Somewhere far away from this horrible place.

And that was probably all she could ask for on Lady Obsidian’s property, besides being able to leave it of course. As long as that flower wasn't involved, she would be ok…she hoped.

But what should she do now? Should she try and find a way to create the distraction during the day? No, no, that wouldn’t work. She would be under constant watch during the day. If she wanted to get information, it would have to be at night. But what if they noticed she was gone? Despite the many, MANY things she had stashed away in her mane in case of emergencies, a full sized Trixie doll wasn’t one of them. Hmmmm…

As she thought, she picked up a potato and took a bite. It tasted just as bland as she remembered. Given that they were the only food that was actually grown here rather than imported, that made sense. Everything here was bland…

Pinkie yawned. The sun was still up, so if she was going to go sneaking about, it would need to wait for later anyway. Pulling out a small container of frosting from her mane, Pinkie quickly covered the potatoes in as much as she could before inhaling them in one swift gulp. Once she was done, she laid down on the hard floor of the cage and tried to sleep.

Later that night…

Pinkie awoke slowly, sitting up and yawning before opening her eyes and blinking twenty three times to make sure her eyes were well-adjusted to the darkness. The moon was still out, and given that Pinkie couldn’t see the moon itself from the window, she reckoned she had a few hours still before sunrise. Which meant if she was going to go sneaking about and start looking for a distraction, now was the perfect time to start.

Standing up and stretching like a cat, Pinkie yawned again as she walked up to the bars of the cage. Unlocking the cage might create enough noise for the guard outside to investigate, so instead Pinkie exhaled before taking a deep breath. As she inhaled, she shrunk, just enough to fit through the bars of the cage. She wiggled a bit to get her head through, slipped out the rest of the way, and exhaled, returning to her normal size.

She always hated doing that. It just felt so weird…even for her.

At least the window would be easier since it was big enough for her to slip out of and wouldn't make nearly as much noise as the cage. It was locked, but picking the lock with her mane was almost too easy. With the window unlocked, Pinkie lifted it open, took a quick peek to ensure that no pony was around, and slipped outside. Silently, she tip-hooved around the building to spy on her guard. He was, understandably, fast asleep, which gave Pinkie the perfect cover to dash away from the shack and slide into a small box in the alley between two nearby buildings. The box was small, but Pinkie had been in smaller places.

Like that one flowerpot to surprise Rainbow on her birthday. The look on her face…hehehe, classic.

No, focus, Pinkie. Focus…

Peeking out from the box, Pinkie looked in every direction before dashing out to hide behind a barrel, then a storm drain, then a another box in the next alley. As she moved to the next hiding spot, a Butler rounded the corner. Caught between covers, Pinkie froze and folded her body and mane in the shape of a box and didn’t breathe.

Maybe it was the dark, or maybe the Butler was just not paying attention, or maybe Pinkie’s hours of learning to imitate boxes were finally paying off, but either way, the Butler passed by without noticing her and disappeared out of the alley. After waiting for another thirty seconds, Pinkie unfolded herself and breathed a sigh of relief as she looked down the way the Butler had gone.

She would need to be more carefu—

“Hi Pinkie.”

“YIPE!” Pinkie squealed as she leapt at least ten feet in the air, hoping that no pony heard that. She spun in midair so she could face her enemy when she landed, but when she saw who it was, she felt her whole body freeze up completely and her breathing hitch.

Before her was a grey pony with a dull lilac mane, blue eyes, and a blue outfit with a black band around the middle that covered her cutie mark. She was looking at the disguised Pinkie with an incredibly blank expression that seemed to show no emotion.

But Pinkie keep this pony, and knew that this pony was both very worried and very happy to see her.

This was Maud, her older sister. The very same Maud that had helped her escape the property so many years ago.

Pinkie let out something between a strangled squeak and a sob. She tried to back away, to say that she wasn’t who Maud thought she was, but her body just wouldn't listen to her. Maud blinked, slowly, before reaching into Pinkie’s mane without a word and pulling out the gem powering Pinkie’s disguise. The moment it parted contact with Pinkie’s body, she reverted to her pink self. She tried again to speak, to saying anything, but the only things that came out were tears and her mane fully deflated. Maud blinked again, then reached out and pulling the mess that was Pinkie into a hug. Pinkie’s tears quickly dissolved into sobs as she embraced her sister tightly.

“H-H-Hi, M-Maud,” she choked out between gasps.

Maud didn’t speak, but gently stroked Pinkie’s back, just like she had done when they were foals. It was enough. Just her stoic presence and unmoving nature was enough to comfort Pinkie as she let the emotions that had been swirling in her head all day finally go free.

After Pinkie didn’t know how long, she finally calmed down enough to speak again. “I-I’m back.”

“I know,” Maud said, her voice ever so slightly sad. “But why? If Lady Obsidian finds you, I might not be able to help you this time.”

“I-I know,” Pinkie said, sniffling. “B-But I had to. M-My friends need me to be here, if only for a f-few days.” Maud stared at Pinkie, her expression blank. “D-Do you know what happened to T-Thorn?”

“Yes…” Maud said. “I overheard two Butlers while I was moving some rocks. They sounded scared, and the rocks were granite. ”

“T-The pony that did that to her, s-she’s waiting just outside the property,” Pinkie said, causing Maud’s eyes to rise about a tenth of an inch in surprise. “I-If I can create a big enough distraction, s-she and the rest of my friends can come in and c-capture Lady Obsidian. Then, t-they’ll judge her, and then y-you’ll all be free. I-I can teach everypony here to smile, and sing, and—”

“Pinkie,” Maud interrupted softly. “Ever since you left, things have gotten…worse. She has more Butlers, and all of them are harsher than the ones you knew. They even took Bolder.” Pinkie gasped in shock, recalling all the fun memories she had with Maud’s pet rock Bolder.

Those…MONSTERS!

“Are you sure…this will work?” Maud asked. “That your friends will be able to do this?”

Pinkie nodded.

“I k-know it’s a long shot, b-but they took down Thorn. They, we, can do this. I-It’ll work. I-I just need to clear the way. C-Can you help me?”

Maud stood for a long moment, her expression not moving in the slightest.

“As happy as I am to see you, and as excited as I can be,” she said at last, “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that, not this time. I no longer have access to the black powder.”

Pinkie sighed in disappointment.

“…But I know somepony who can, and who has access to the black powder.”

“You do!?” Pinkie squealed quietly. Her mane poofed back into its normal shape, something that made her sister smile ever so slightly.

“Yes,” Maud said. “But it will take a few days for me to get in contact with him. He’s on the current mine shift, which will end in two days. Can you wait that long?” Pinkie nodded. “Good. Come back here in three days. I will have the pony I know meet you.” She gave Pinkie another squeeze.

“Thanks, Maud,” Pinkie said, “I promise when this is over, I’ll bake you the biggest cake you’ve ever seen.” Her sister just blinked slowly. “Also, what is this pony like? Can they sing? Or bake a triple layer chocolate cake? What about a triple layer vanilla cake? Are they a mare or a stallion? Oh, wait, you said he. Oops. Ignore that last question. What color are they? Do they like apples or pears?”

“He’s…just like you…” Maud said, smiling softly at Pinkie again. “But Pinkie, we should move somewhere more concealed. In case the Butler comes back. Follow me,” she said as she stood up. Pinkie nodded, also standing, before following Maud a bit further down the alley. After about thirty feet, the two came across a large wooden crate. Maud easily pried the lid off with her front hooves, allowing Pinkie to bounce into the thankfully-empty crate. Maud then tossed the lid into the air, leapt into the crate herself, and sat down just as the lid fell back into place.

“There. Now we won’t be seen,” Maud said in the darkness before Pinkie felt her sister pull her back into a hug. “Can you tell me what happened after you left?”

“Yeparoony,” Pinkie said, smiling excitedly as she began to tell her sister her story. It took a few hours, and she would occasionally begin to ramble about random topics at times, but Maud sat with her through it all, listening to every detail, and simply enjoying the fact that she was holding her sister again after so many years.

It might not seem that way to anypony watching them, but Pinkie could tell. The way Maud hugged her, the way her breathing would pick up slightly at the exciting parts of Pinkie’s story, the way Maud would gently pet her mane. All of it told Pinkie that her sister was just happy to see her again, even if the circumstances may not have been ideal.

However, as the moon began to set, the two had to separate and head back to their respective shacks before they were noticed. Maud promised to come back to see Pinkie, to tell Pinkie about how the rest of their family was doing the next night. With one more goodbye hug, and with Maud returning Pinkie’s disguise gem, they parted and Pinkie dashed back to the cage in the house.

Thankfully, the guard outside was still asleep, so Pinkie had no problem getting back in the way she had come. She climbed through the window, making sure to lock it again on her way in, and then proceeded to wiggle her way back into the cage after repeating her shrinking trick again.

And with nothing else to do until the guard came about, Pinkie decided to catch up on her sleep, and passed out only a few seconds later.

Back in the cave…

“Uuuugh,” Twilight groaned as she stomped around in her own corner of the cave. “I swear, that mare is just as stubborn as Applejack,” she muttered. “She has a potentially world changing spell that just needs a little more work, and she ABSOLUTELY refuses to let me even take a look at the runes that make it up! Heck, she won’t even listen to my advice on how she might be able to improve it! I COULD try and recreate the invisibility runes from what I know of her illusion spell, but that could take weeks! Even WITH the illusion gem she made! And all it might take to improve the spell would be a simple magic flow regulation and redirection spell combined with a magnification spell and some runes to detect all magic types, as well as some extra storage crystals, and…”

Spike, who was standing next to Flash and watching this all occur, just crossed his short arms and smirked. Chuckling, Flash stood on his back two hooves and did the same. Twilight immediately took notice and stopped in her tracks. “What?”

“I seem to recall you were just as bad when you were working on new spells,” Spike said smugly. “And even worse at times.”

“Remember when she kicked us out of her little hidey-hole in the library and we had to get Lady Celestia to take down her wards?” Flash asked, prompting Twilight to turn pink.

“I wasn’t THAT bad,” Twilight protested. As one, both Spike and Flash raised their left eyebrows, still smirking. Twilight just blushed harder. “But this is different!”

“How?” both males asked simultaneously, earning some unintelligible muttering from the purple alicorn. Their point proven, both of them dropped their smirks, mostly, and Flash returned to all four hooves.

“It’s likely just a matter of pride,” Flash said, patting Twilight on the shoulder. “This IS her own unique invisibility spell, so I bet the idea of someone just coming in and improving everything she’s worked so hard on would fell a bit disheartening for her.”

“But I just want to HELP!”

“And she just doesn’t want it,” Spike said, “just like how you didn’t want Lady Celestia or Lady Luna to help you with your own unique spells until either you finished them, or they started exploding.”

“They never exploded…”

“That one did. Remember? It covered half the garden in chocolate pudding?” Flash said, smirking as Twilight blush deepened. He chuckled. “What was that spell for anyway?”

“I can’t even remember,” she said, giggling a bit herself. “I think I was trying to bake something for the Ladies, but it kept burning in the oven, so I tried magic.”

“They were happy, at least,” Spike said, chuckling. “Remember how they had an impromptu wrestling match and trooped back inside covered in pudding and beaming like they’d won awards or something?”

“The point is,” Flash said, bringing them back onto topic, “Trixie obviously worked hard on this spell, and the fact that her lady was sending her to Lady Obsidian means that she likely didn’t have a great education. And as such, this is likely the best work she has ever done. Having somepony else come in and outdo her so quickly would probably make her feel hurt, and given how you’re one of the best mages out there, she probably just thinks you might steal her spotlight.”

“I’m not THAT great,” Twilight said, looking away shyly at his praise.

“You were chosen by the freaking Element of Magic,” Spike said, gesturing dramatically to her torc. “What does that tell you?”

“Just give Trixie time,” Flash said with an understanding smile. “I’m sure she’ll warm up to the idea of you two working together eventually.”

The next night…

Pinkie knew the Lady Obsidian’s property was boring. But she had been so distracted by her resurfacing memories the day before that she had actually failed to notice that somehow Lady Obsidian’s property was even MORE boring now than it was when Pinkie had left! Apparently there WAS a rule against talking while working, and even WHISTLING was banned. Seriously!? That was the ONE think ponies used to do back when she was a filly, and it was the only thing aside from talking and her party cannon that made this life barely tolerable! Now there was LITERALLY NOTHING!

Even the OVERSEERS looked bored for most of the day, only looking not bored when another overseer or Butler came over for a status update. Said updates usually led into some idle chatter, though the Butlers and overseers would always seem to be cautious while doing so. Maybe so they weren’t caught slacking off by Lady Obsidian.

And it wasn’t just the overseers that looked relieved when a Butler showed up. Frankly, it looked like the other ponies enjoyed eavesdropping on the conversations too, if only because it was their sole form of entertainment between long periods of nothing but ROCKS.

How in Equestria did things get so bad?

Maybe Maud would know.

Speaking of Maud, seeing her older sister the night before had helped drive off some of the bad memories that tried to invade her mind during the long, oh so very long day. However, now that she was remembering the great times she had shared with her sisters, she had to try and avoid breaking out into song instead of freezing up.

And THAT was in some ways HARDER! She hadn’t had a good song in DAYS!!!

Thankfully, the day ended the same as the last, and even more thankfully, Lady Obsidian didn’t show up at the house that night. Pinkie didn’t know if she could handle another surprise visit like that. Her surprises were NEVER fun, just like her laughter used to send shivers down her spine…

Wait, had Lady Obsidian ever laughed?

Yes, Pinkie remembered her laughing, but that was when she had been forced to eat the flower, so…

Eh, that wasn’t important right now.

ANYWAY, her day had started with her waking up, getting some carrots this time for breakfast before being led to the field to work again. Then she worked, got lunch at noon, and then worked until sunset. Then she got put back in the cage in the house, was given some potatoes, then went to sleep until it was time to meet Maud.

“And then I snuck out, came back here, saw you, said hi, then you asked me about my day, then I started by telling you how Lady Obsidian’s property was somehow even MORE boring now the—“

“I know Pinkie…You told me already,” Maud said, nodding ever so slowly. Pinkie blinked, then giggled slightly.

“Oops, right sorry. Soooooo…How’s Marble?”

“Still shy…She works near our parents’ house at the edge of the village, and is mostly left alone.”

“That’s good. How’s Limestone?”

“Still mad at everything. She butts heads with the Butlers, but she’s the best worker in the fields and mine, so Lady Obsidian doesn’t care so long as she works.”

“Same old Limestone. Glad to see they haven’t changed. How…How are Mom and Dad?”

Maud took about a five seconds before responding. “Ok. They were sad when you left…but were also happy that you managed to escape. They work too, but nothing really happens with them. Lady Obsidian was mad when you escaped, so they had it rough for a while…but they’re tough, like rocks. They managed, and Lady Obsidian left them alone after a few days…”

Pinkie could hear where her sister’s sentence was going before she finished it and it made her heart feel heavy in her chest.

“Were they…hurt?”

She almost didn’t want to hear the answer.

“Yes,” Maud said gently. “But they recovered. Unlike rocks. There were no scars, just bruises.”

Pinkie felt tears welling in her eyes, but Maud moved forward and hugged her before they could fall. “I know that look. Don’t blame yourself…No buts,” she added, cutting off Pinkie’s protest before the disguised pony could open her mouth. “Lady Obsidian is to blame. Not you. And if you never left, you would have just kept on suffering. Mom and Dad wouldn't like that.”

“Y-You’re right,” Pinkie admitted, nodding in understanding. “How come you always know just what to say?”

Maud shrugged very minorly.

“I’m just good with ponies…”

“I think you would like Applejack.”

“But I’ve never had apple’s before…or alcohol,” Maud said. Pinkie giggled, which made Maud grin very slightly.

“Oh, Maud, you old jokester,” Pinkie said between laughs, nuzzling her sister. Maud’s grin split into a smile as she returned the nuzzle.

The next day…

Working the fields for the third day was just as boring and long as the last two days. Pinkie’s mind still wandered to memories good and bad, enough that she would occasionally need to be brought back to reality by the shouts of an overseer, but when she listened on the random chatter from the overseers, she still learned NOTHING. The ONLY difference was that there were more Butlers moving around today, Pinkie couldn’t hear anypony say why.

But they didn’t seem to pay the disguised Pinkie any mind, so she just kept working, waiting for the day to end. However, upon returning to the house and the cage, she received something she didn’t expect.

After she was locked in the cage, Pinkie heard a soft creak. Turning to face the window, she noticed that there was a small piece of paper clamped there that hadn't been their a few seconds ago. After taking a few looks between the window and the door to her cabin, Pinkie quickly squeezed out of the cage and dashed to the window, removed the slip of paper with her mane, and reentered the cage again in under five seconds. It was still light out, so best not risk being seen outside the cage. After waiting a minute to make sure she wasn’t heard, she pulled the slip from her mane and opened it.

‘Dear Pinkie,

Don’t leave the house tonight. I don’t know what happened, but I overheard two Butlers talking about you today. I think somepony may be watching to see if you try and escape. When you leave tomorrow, be prepared not to come back. But still come. I promise my friend will be waiting.

Maud’

Pinkie blinked a few times, reread the letter, then blinked some more in incomprehension. But then she shrugged and sighed. So she wouldn’t see Maud tonight. That was a bummer, but better that than for her to be captured. That, and sneaking out every night DID mean that she was a little sleep-deprived right now. Yawning, Pinkie pulled out an emergency cupcake from her mane, swallowed it along with the potatoes before lying down and falling asleep almost instantly.

That night…

Maud watched the entrance to the mine. It was illuminated with the orange glow of the torchlight and a light pink shimmer from the crystals as the last of the mine carts was pulled out for the day. The sun had just set, and the ponies of the mine were finally beginning to leave. Many of them had spend days down there, working and sleeping as the overseers saw fit. All looked tired, ready to just fall asleep as soon as they got home.

Except one.

The next night…

This last day had been…troublesome…

The trouble hadn’t involved Pinkie, thankfully, but that was a VERY minor comfort. Especially since Pinkie had seen Lady Obsidian no less than three times that day. Each time, she was flying overhead towards a different part of the property with a entourage of Butlers following her. Pinkie didn’t know what was happening, but even the overseers of the rock fields seemed to be on edge and that was enough to send shivers down her spine.

Something was happening…but what?

Either way, it didn’t matter. She had to meet with Maud’s friend tonight, no matter what. If she didn’t, she would likely run out of time to create a distraction.

And if that happened…

No, she couldn’t think like that.

Plus, there was also a chance that she might be able to stop…well, whatever was going on, before Lady Obsidian hurt some innocent ponies again. The idea of her forcing other ponies to eat that cursed flower was enough to give Pinkie the resolve she needed.

Once the time had arrived, Pinkie gave one last look around the shack, before squeezing out of the cage and moving to the window. Peeking out in both directions, and above just to be sure, Pinkie quietly slipped out of the window and crept around the house.

Her guard remained awake tonight. His expression was troubled, so whatever was happening must be going down tonight, since it was clearly keeping him from sleeping.

Thankfully, a quick dash across the road when he was looking the other way was enough to get Pinkie into the nearby alley without him noticing. Gasping slightly, Pinkie began to move through the passage, sticking to the shadows and doing all in her power to be inconspicuous. The meeting point was just ahead.

“Halt!” a voice rang out, causing Pinkie to jump and spin around. From out of the shadows and from the roof above, four Butlers appeared, two on each side. The Butler who had shouted was a mare with a red mane and an orange coat. She did not look happy. “You had better have a very good reason as to why you’re out this late, miss,” her last word came out as a growl, causing Pinkie to gulp.

“Off to steal more food, I presume?” a stallion with green mane and a light purple coat said harshly.

“F-Food?” Pinkie asked, confused.

“Don’t try and hide it!” the mare snapped, stomping a hoof angrily. “There’s been a series of food thefts over the last three days, all at night. And seeing as you just arrived on our property, the Lady suspected that you might be the perpetrator. The fact that you can actually escape the house is proof enough that you’re likely to blame!”

Darn it, they must have been waiting for her to try and make a move, probably by watching her from the nearby houses, just out of view. She had made a mistake…

But wait…

“B-But what about last night?” Pinkie asked nervously. “I n-never left the house.”

“Then you must have an accomplice,” the stallion said. “One who I’m sure we will find very soon. But right now, you’re coming with us to Lady Obsidian. I’m sure she’ll have a very special treat to satiate your hunger.”

No!

NononononononoNONONONONO! PLEASE NO!

THE TEARING, THE PAIN! SHE WOULD GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN! SHE COULDN’T!

She had to run, hide, fly, SOMETHING! But she couldn’t move. She couldn’t MOVE! SHE COUL—

“Hey. Does anypony else hear that?” The green stallion asked, breaking Pinkie out of her panic attack. Lifting an ear, she listened. Sure enough, she heard a rather unusual noise.

‘Boing. Boing. Boing.’

Was it getting closer?

BOING!

Pinkie and the Butlers all blinked in confusion as the sound of boinging suddenly began to echo much more loudly through the alley. Then, from up above, a pony on a pogo stick fell to the ground, looped their front hooves around Pinkie’s barrel, and sprang back up into the sky. As they flew, Pinkie saw a handful of small colored ball drop into the alley and explode into a shower of streamers that quickly bound and gagged the flabbergasted Butlers where they stood. Their muffled cries vanished as Pinkie and her rescuer bounced away over the roofs of the village houses.

Pinkie should have been terrified of being caught, but she couldn’t help but giggle as they bobbed their way around the Butlers with surprising ease. At the edge of town, her rescuer pressed all their might against the pogo stick to send them flying out of the village and down into the large pit on the opposite side of Lady Obsidian’s mansion. As they fell, the pogo pony grabbed Pinkie again and deployed a makeshift parachute of bedsheets.

With some precision aiming, they two of them landed right at the entrance of the now currently deserted mine. Pinkie charged in with her rescuer on her back. Once inside, the unknown pony grabbed a hanging torch as they passed it and began to direct Pinkie by pulling on her ears gently to indicate which path to take through the winding labyrinth of tunnels. After a few minutes, they arrived at a dead end, much to Pinkie’s dismay. Her rescuer wasn’t deterred, however, and quickly leapt off her and punched a nearby rock, causing the upper half to slide inwards. The wall rumbled and slid open, revealing a hidden door!

Was this pony a super spy!? Because if so, that would be AWESOME!

Once inside, the door quickly slid shut, leaving the two ponies in a large room full of glowing crystals of all shapes and colors. They lined the outer edges of the room, providing them with enough light to see everything. Now that they were safe, Pinkie focused on her rescuer.

He was a stallion with an orange coat, a brown mane that was very curly like hers, green eyes, and a cutie mark of a grilled cheese sandwich broken down the middle and connected by melted cheese. He wore a yellow shirt, and was staring at her with a very hopeful look in his eye.

“Pinkie?” he asked, his voice cracking with barely-contained excitement. Nodding, Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out the disguise gem, causing her Trixie persona to quickly fade away. The stallion blinked, and then beamed. “It’s you… you don't know how many years I’ve been waiting to see you again. Oh, this is GREAT! When Maud told me you were here I…I nearly couldn’t believe it! But you ARE!”

“Ummm…Who are you?” Pinkie asked, a little lost at the moment.

“Oh, right. Introductions. My name is Cheese Sandwich, and I’m here to help!”

Author's Note

When in doubt, give a party pony a pogo stick and see what happens

And at last, Cheese and Maud join the party. An oh do I have plans for them come next chapter

But I will say that the next chapter might be a bit longer to come out than normal, mainly because I am giving my editor/girlfriend time to go over the story I started in november but haven't actually gotten around to posting yet, and because the next chapter will likely be quite long. But don't worry, the second chapter of 'How to Propose to a Princess' is almost done, so that will be here to help tide you over

Let me know what you think and have a goodnight

Next time: How to make a distraction