Side-1: Snapping the Wrong Photo
Side-1
The late afternoon sun was beating down on Ponyville, basking the town in the last of Celestia’s glow. Its rays were particularly bright for Cobalt Coral, as she wished the shade inside of a train cart would come faster. Instead, the hippogriff would continue to wait for the start of her journey, but with a new partner in tow. Ever since the rather awkward conversation she had with her tag-along, Cornfield, she decided to simply sit quietly with him on the bench placed on the small train station. Except, boredom would win over her patience as she daydreamed back on how the two of them met in the first place. On the back of her mind, she always wanted to ask a question that bothered her for the longest time.
“So... Your cutie mark...” she started off to catch his attention.
His body jumped awake, caught off guard from the broken silence. “Oh!” the young pony exclaimed, “Uhh, yes?”
She pointed to the mark in question: a camera with autumn leaves circling it. “Is your special talent simply photography?”
Her childish friend looked at his flank. “Umm... Well, honestly, it’s not something I reflect on much. To me… Actually it’s kinda a waste…” He lifted his head up to make eye contact with his avian partner, accompanied by a smile lacking confidence. “It doesn’t seem to show how helpful I am, does it?”
“Well, truth be told, when I heard your name was ‘Cornfield’, I imagined you would have been a hick with a talent for shucking corn.” She stifled a giggle. “Imagine my surprise to see that you are a photographer and not called ‘Photo Shoot’ or ‘Paparazzi Pizzazz’ like the rest of these ponies.”
“That’s because cornfields are the best way to hide when somepony catches you taking photos of his daughter,” he answered back firmly before realizing in that past event it wasn’t just their supple young daughter. “Or... Hot wife...Hehe...”
Raising a single, solitary eyebrow, Coral was troubled that they would go down this rabbit hole so soon. “Rrrrright, ok,” she stated, cautious on how to continue. “So, from what I can tell so far, you use your special talent, the only one you get in life, not for your livelihood in a career or something, but rather...” She leaned a bit closer to whisper in his ear, for the sake of privacy. “Your personal collection of ill-gotten pornography.”
Cornfield snapped straight up in his seat, being placed right in the hot seat. “Wha-!!!” he exclaimed, getting tense. “Ok, it’s true I have certain hobbies most ponies wouldn’t approve of. But, it’s not like we have to use our talents to better the greater good, is it?” He folded his forelegs in a huff, not enjoying the interrogations one bit, as he leaned in to challenge her. “I don’t see you boasting about your cutie mark?”
The pompous female over-exaggerated a scoff as she whipped the single feather dangling over her face to the side. “Like I need a stamp on mybutt to tie my destiny down.” Her view focused on his saddle bag and pointed at it, referring to his camera inside. “Speaking of, it’s not hard to guess what you’ve poured your central focus on, too. Every single shot is of some poor, unsuspecting mare’s ass.” She turned her attention away to rub the underside of her beak in thought, recalling the pile of photos that spilled out while they were staying with her mentor, Zecora. “Except for one...”
The ashamed colt lowered his ears after hearing her blunt comment. “Jeez... How about toning down the patronizing a tiny bit, eh, Coral? Besides, the only other photos I don’t have of mares were the ones of Caballeron.” He raised one hoof in the air as he closed his eyes, ready to correct her. “And technically, it’s on my flank, not my ass, thank you very much!” He flashed her his chin for maximum sassiness.
“Same difference.” she chuckled, shrugging him off. “And no, that’s not what I was referring to. Among the sea of tails held high was a mare looking straight at you. I didn’t get a good look to see who, though, as I was trying to shield my poor, virgin eyes from your sinful ways.” She mocked with an innocent tone while posing in her seat like she was about to faint dramatically.
Cornfield thought for a moment, only for his memory to snag onto the picture of an angry pony looking straight back at the viewer with rage. Seeing the photo in his head made him bend forward and back, covering his left eye with his hoof. “OH, THAT ONE!” he shouted.
Confused, Coral cocked her head to the side. “Did a strand of hair get in your eye or something?”
He looked back at her with his only eye open before realizing he was hiding his invisible bruise instinctively. Followed by a nervous chuckle, he put his hoof back down. “Hahaha...it’s... A long story...”
She stared down the tracks passing through the station of the “Friendship Express”. “Good. At the rate of the train’s schedule, I can write, proofread, and publish a novel before it gets here. So, a long story might be good for my sanity in the meantime.” She leaned back, crossed her hind legs, and rested the back of her head on the wooden wall. “Must be because of what’s going on in Baltimare...” she whispered aloud.
“Yeah... Wait, you want me to actually TELL you?!” His surprised brows quickly furrowed as he assumed in his mind why she was so intrigued. “Grrrrrr… Fine! I can already see where this is going.”
“Whaaaaat?” she said, putting her claws on her chest and feigning ignorance. “You’re certainly not thinking that I’m asking just so I can get a cheap laugh at your expense, are you? Shame on you. I’m better than that.” She concluded her sarcasm with a wicked smirk.
“Whatever! So, back last Fall... Well, not last Fall but the one before that. Actually, I think it was in summer?” He prattled on for a lot longer than usual, causing Coral to drown him out. She heard bits and pieces like “I was out of school that year” and “Maybe mid-Summer”. “And I remember I wasn’t taking pictures yet because she chose to stay in her curriculum. Maybe it was in the Fall?”
Incapable of taking any more, the gem thief used her newfound powers to transform one of her claws into a vine and wrap his mouth shut with it. Afterwards, she demanded “How about you pick a location, rather than a date, and GET ON WITH IT!!”
“OK, OK!” was the muffled sound of his voice, covering the ear she was shouting in. Unraveling the vine, she turned it back to its original shape and enabled him to talk. “Jeez, Coral. When I was... ‘running out of sources to go’ for my homework in pornogra- Er! Photography... I decided to do some research on rock farming.” A revelation hit him like a ton of bricks. ”OH YEAH! IT WAS LAST FALL!”
Coral sat speechlessly dumbfounded, wonder how much time he wasted prattling on, until she pondered something her friend mentioned. “Are you... Still in school?”
“...I WAS in school.”
“Good, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to sign a permission slip to take you along on this field trip of mine.” Proceeding to command him like royalty, she waved her claws forward. “Continue.”
“Anyway, where was I before I was so RUDELY interrupted?” Teasingly, he stuck his tongue out at her and said “Just kidding”. Coral let out a bit of uninspired spurious laughter before going back to waiting on him.
He simply begun with “...Ok, so...”
In his spare time, Cornfield was studying rock farm life, mainly due to how he heard that the Pie family was going to be joining Applejack’s family reunion. This meant that the Pie sisters would be all together before the big day, an excellent opportunity to acquire some shots of Maud Pie. This said pony was the only mare who he still had yet to snap and lived somewhere so obscure. He’d have to work very hard to find her private quarters, in more ways than one as she’s always wearing clothes.
So, he packed his new camera, bought a train ticket, and went to the only rock farm known in all of Equestria. When he arrived on the farm grounds, the lonely photographer decided to act neighborly. After all, it’s not like they were from a populated area. He would just be a friendly colt who moved close by recently. He even bothered to bring old overalls to make himself appear more “rustic”.
However, once the farm was in a describable view, he noticed a dark grey pony with a white, short mane and a lime with a stone for a cutie mark. The Pie family member scanned around the rock farm, looking to see if anything was out of place. Holder’s Boulder? Untouched. Next batch of rocks to be harvested? Check. She took a piece of granite from the pile to be worked on and crunched it in her mouth. It had a good texture to it. Something about this pony felt “hostile” to Cornfield. Possibly like she looked to be in a constant sour mood and would not be quick to accept a new face, let alone tolerate his presence.
“Better resort to plan B; ninja mode!” he thought. He dropped the baggy overalls and flanked around a nearby hill, trying to avoid detection, to get a clearer path to the farmhouse. As he rounded towards the house, he spied a laundry line, drying wet clothes that he could use for cover to get into position. “Alright. Now... Just gotta make it over without being spotted.”
Limestone Pie, after confirming that all was accounted for, went inside the farmhouse and headed to her sisters’ room. She was kind enough to grant them five more minutes of sleep after the rooster crowed, but work had to be done. She breached the door into their room and rang a triangle bell hanging next to it. “Wakey, wakey, you lazy lumps of coal,” she lovingly instructed her sisters. “Get yourselves ready and prepare for the day.”
Cornfield pushed his back against the wall of the house and psyched himself up.”Ok. Now the easy part’s outta the way, time for the hard part. This is what separates the colts from the stallions.” Moved along the wall, he peeked inside a nearby window. From what he could tell, their parents were inside doing something rock related. It didn’t matter. He figured the sisters’ room would be upstairs.
A house of wood along with an outdoor laundry? All the climbing through and around the Everfree forest would really help him here. After finding a proper hoof-hold on the barn’s support beams, he made his way carefully up. He hoped to not cause a scene as he started fantasizing of what he might find. “They say all four sisters will sleep in the same bed…” The thought provoked some of his blood to rush down south.
Indeed, those rumors were not unheard of, as the inside of the room housed Marble and Maud Pie, the latter of whom was completely unrobed for the sake of a less stuffy sleep. In particular, Maud, with her beautiful body rising out of the bed covers, revealed her more intimate bits. “We’ll be ready soon, Limestone,” she assured her sister with a dry, monotone voice as usual. “Are my clothes dry yet?”
“Not yet, just let the sun do its work for a while.” the grumpiest of the Pies informed. “By the way, my favorite chisel is under the bed. Get that for me, would ya?” Without saying a word, Maud got out of bed and bent down to fish for the item in question, innocently having her rump in the air and toward the only window in the room through sheer coincidence.
Below the window, the sneaky young colt could hear voices and shuffling just above him. “Whoa!” he yelled in his head. “Quick, quick! You don’t want to miss this now, do you?” He stretched one hoof just latching on to the window sill, with the other hoof bringing himself up. His eyes peered inside to see his target, holding her normally secreted posterior in the other side high. It shook and even slightly jiggled, turning the colt’s canary into a woodpecker. Speechless, his heavy breathing fogged up the window with his tongue hanging out in freedom.
“I can’t find it,” discreetly announced Maud to her sisters as her tail swayed. “Are you sure it’s not in your barn?”
It took an awfully long time for his brain to fire out a signal through to the hypnotized stalker. The message went along the lines of “Dude! Get the camera! NOW!” He did his best to obey his impulsive master and struggled to reach for it dangling around his neck from a strap. He fumbled it up with one hoof, holding on for dear life, and aimed it squarely at the source of all things holy.
“What’cha talking about-” Before she could finish, a bright flash and resounding click came from outside the window. Everypony in the room except for Maud noticed. Marble, who was waiting for her sister to get ready outside of Cornfield’s field of vision, mouthed a silent scream and pointed at the strange pony outside. Limestone scowled with a low growl at the direction of whoever may be out there.
In a reflex, Cornfield ducked under while whispering obscenities. On top of all of that, he could feel his grip on the beams loosening. “Oh son of a--!” he cursed quietly. “Keep it cool... Keep it cool...” He attempted a bird call while keeping out of view.
“Ca-coo! Ca-coo!”
“I’ve never heard a bird call so unconvincing in all my life,” Coral blatantly interrupted, putting a grinding halt in Cornfield’s narration.
“Well, EXCUUUUUUUUSE me, PRINCESS!” He huffed as he sulked on the bench, annoyed by her rudeness.
“Where as I can emulate the perfect songbird. Don’t be jealous, it’s a natural talent.” After clearing her throat, she sung a few tweets, perfectly creating the notes that would come from any common bird.
He gazed upon her sternly. Did he really just enable her or was she taunting his life as an amateur photographer? “Yeah yeah, look!” He put his hooves together and clopped them sarcastically. “I’m really impressed you are a bird.”
“Ha. At least you admit I’m superior,” she snarked while brushing her talons through her mane and shaking it around. “To be honest, those bird calls have saved me more than once when I’m doing snooping of my own.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet…” For a second, Cornfield was jealous. He could have used that skill during his own perv-covert operations many times. He’d probably be allowed in most places throughout Equestria still.
Limestone, not buying the sounds of the bullshit she had to deal with now, scouted the window and waited patiently to catch the intruder in the act the second time he popped his head. Unfortunately for her, the sly shooter had other plans. “They should of bought it,” he hoped, “Now with this window compromised, I better find a new hide-and-observe point.” He carefully navigated down to the ground.
“I found it.” Maud ceremoniously (for her) called out with the chisel in her hoof. Then, she observed Limestone looking out the window and Marble cowering in a corner. “What’s going on?”
“Grrr... We got somepony snooping around.” Realizing that the intruder was too smart to make the same move twice, she turned to her shyer sister. “Marble, go inform mom and dad. I’ll go take a look around the second floor to make sure that creep doesn’t come in.” Then, she turned to her more humdrum sister. “Maud, yell if he comes back.”
Meanwhile, the peeping colt spied into the first window on the ground floor to check and see if he stirred the hornet’s nest. Sure enough, he saw another sister, one he’s never seen before.
Marble Pie, with words inaudible from the outside, explained to her mom and pop that there was somepony snooping around. The look on the parents’ faces was one of shock from the mother and one of awakened protective fury from the father. Cornfield didn’t care, however, as his eyes locked on to the cute pony covering her eye with her mane. “Whoa... She’s so... CUTE!”
Back against the wall once more, Cornfield hatched a new plan. “Ok, plan C! Get a picture of HER! I’ll have to watch her carefully and track her movements. Find the perfect opportunity!” He glanced at his camera, then angrily realized the last picture didn’t count at all. “Ok, note to self: take off the bucking lens cap!” Quickly, he fled some distance away from the household, worried about what might happen should he get caught.
The entire family was alert with the father, Igneous, checking outside around the house. What he didn’t know was Cornfield had hid in a nearby bush and decided to camp out until it’s either safe or if he saw that sexy new pony! After a good hour passed, the Pie family turned up with nothing and went ahead with their morning routine. Then, the once bored Cornfield smiled in glee after seeing Limestone and Marble walk outside to the pile of rocks meant to be harvested today. Maud, however, was nowhere to be seen.
Limestone brought her sister close to whisper privately. “Since that dirtbag was looking for Maud,” she noted, “I’m going to have her stay in the house while you get started on the chores.”
Marble, worried about the sneaky snoop still somewhere out there, nodded her head with a nervous “Mmhmm”.
“C’mon…” thought the snoop in question from a distance. “Go away, limey pony. Your sister is safe with me. Go on! It’s just some harmless photos. I’m not circulating them beyond myself.”
“Just act natural.” the grumpy mare instructed. “If he’s around, I’ll do a sweep around the place while he’s distracted. Can you do that?” Her introverted sister was extremely nervous, beads of sweat ran down her muzzle, but replied “Mmhmm” once again to keep a brave face. Satisfied, Limestone galloped behind the farmhouse, out of sight, and began to scan the area somewhere unseen by the stalker.
“Finally!” Cornfield celebrated in his mind as he moved, slithering low like a snake, and hid in the next bush. He snuck from spot to spot, choosing where to move closer behind the clueless mare without being caught. Marble, getting into character for her sister, took a pick in her mouth and started to chisel away at the rock pile. “That’s right. Nothing suspicious about me. I’m just here on an assignment.” He crouched down by an old well and prepared his camera. “Better get some kind of shot, at least!”
After removing the lens cap and tuning the camera’s focus, he got into a firing position around the well for a fairly decent shot of the poor mare’s backside. Then, he remembered the flash and moved his hoof over a few buttons to switch it off. “Alright! Perfect!” Pressing a button, he snapped a photo when the shyer Pie swung her tail to the side. However, at the last second, he did not capture the picture of his prize. Instead, he received a shot of a very angry mare staring down the camera lens. He glanced beyond the camera in horror to find it was Limestone.
“Ok, time out,” interrupted Coral, making a “T” with her palms. “May I see the photo you took at that point again?”
“Uhh... Sure...” Cornfield reached around in his bag for his camera and brings it up. This time, he used the latch to open its photo compartment properly, compared to the last time its contents flew out. “...Here it is.” He hoofed over the requested picture, a bit embarrassed.
She took the picture in her claws and stared into the rock pony’s furious face. A snicker escaped her beak. The longer she stared into the furious mare’s grimace, the more she couldn’t help but bellow out heavy laughter, slapping her leg. She took a moment to catch her breath. “O-oh! Oh, my gosh! Ah HA! She looked like she was soooo gonna kick your ass!”
The colt’s face blushed from the indignity. “Yeah... I wish she hadn’t popped in when I took the photo. Otherwise, it would have been a lot nicer.” He hummed contently, picturing what it could have been in his mind. “But instead of a lovely mare’s rear end, I got the exact opposite in a perfect frame.”
“Huh. Now I’m rooting for her to do so in your story.”
“HEEEEY!!!” Flustered, he glanced down the train tracks one more time. “Could this train take ANY LONGER???” he yelled.
“Tell me about it,” the hippogriff sighed. “If I come back home to find Mount Aris destroyed, I’m going to hate trains for the rest of my life.”
“Anyway... Do you really want me to go on with the rest of this story?” His head was resting straight forward with his eyes looking at Coral in his peripheral view, “I warn you: the rest could bore you to submission.”
“By Novo, it can’t be anymore boring than waiting for the train that time forgot.” Flicking her wrist, she waved him on. “Continue.”
“Fine,” he complied with a sigh. “So, where were we? Ah, yes… the pissed bitch”.
“What do you think YOU’RE doing, you insignificant worm excrement?!” shouted Limestone Pie, staring him down with a murderous look.
Scared speechless, Cornfield was absolutely stunned to find himself caught with nowhere to go. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... I-I-...uuhhhhh...” he babbled.
“I oughta chain you to the quarry and have you be my personal canary,” She inched menacingly closer to him. “I’d do Equestria a favor by making a pervert like you choke if we ever hit a gas pocket!”
He cowered onto the ground, pleading “Oh! Please let me go! I didn’t mean anything by coming here! I was just sent to study rock farm life!”
After watching her sister tearing into the stalker verbally, Marble opted to go back to mining, drowning out the noise, until a slight sparkle caught her eye. Marble traced the glimmer to the bushes near where she was working. She didn’t hear anything beyond her sister blowing her top. Curiosity got to her as the innocent creature followed through the shrubbery and into the forest beyond the rock farm.
“Oh, what’s that?” Limestone questioned, holding her hoof to her ear. “You want to know what living at a rock farm is like? Ok loser, how about you pick up a hammer and start breaking down boulders until your teeth fall out!”
“A-ahh, n-no, that’s ok!” begged Cornfield, dragging himself backwards on the ground. “I got everything I need already! I’ll just be on my way and you’ll never see me again, ok?” He sparked an idea and prayed that the angry female would go for a bit of mercy upon hearing her own sibling’s favorite oath. “Uh... Pinkie promise?”
Unfortunately, all the gray earth pony saw was red. “You think using my sister’s name is gonna save you?! I’ll knock that thought right out of ya!” She pulled back her dominant hoof, ready to let loose on his fragile skull. “Any last words before I hit you like a ton of concrete?”
The shivering shutterbug shrieked in a shrill pitch. “YIKES! NO! Please! Not the face! NOT THE FACE!” He covered up where she was aiming for and looked away, quivering in anticipation of the pain. However, in the corner of his eye, he found that the shy pony of his affection was missing from the pile of rocks. Seeing a possible opportunity for a distraction, he pointed in the direction of Marble’s last location. “OH! HEY! Where has your sister gone anyway?!”
“Don’t try that with me! It’s not gonna save you from a broken jaw!”
“Ouch!” his brain cried out. “What’s her problem? A little voyeurism never hurts.” To show he’s serious, he sat upright and faced her dead in the eye, pointing over her shoulder. “NO! Really! Look! She’s gone!”
Limestone’s instinct to check on her family was quickly overriding her need to dole out some white-hot, rock farm justice. Growling, she reached her foreleg around his neck to keep him in a chokehold and turned around. Her anger melted into confusion as she glanced around the farm. “Huh...?” she muttered. “Marble?”
Struggling and trying to break free, the colt squirmed to loosen the hold on his throat, but her foreleg was incredibly powerful. “Ah... Oh... What are you doing?! Shouldn’t-” He coughed and gasped for air. “-you go search for her?!”
“Marble!” She called out again. “Marble, come here!” There’s nothing but silence. Well, more silence than usual for her reserved sister. Her heart said to drop the perverted colt and secure her sibling. She galloped and jumped on top of the rock pile in middle of the field and scanned around.
“Finally!” he thought as he rubbed his hoof on his neck. “I wonder if I can still get a picture of Maud, at least? I’d hate to have come all the way here for nothing.” Sneakily, he tip-hoofed away while the limey mare had her back turned. “As long as that firebrand doesn’t see me, I should be in the clear. I wonder if Maud is still in the house? Should be easy with that pony looking for her other sister.”
“Marble?!” Limestone circled around the farm house, still crying out. “Marble, say something! Anything! Even an ‘Mmhmm’ is enough!” Her calls were unfounded. She went back to the pile of rocks her sister was working on and found only the tiny hammer she used for her labor. Her face still had an angry expression, but her ears folded back and her lips quivered a bit.
Meanwhile, the colt was up to his old tricks again, trying to get at least ONE picture before heading out with his tail turned. Once more, he snuck along the walls around the house, climbing up to search the windows for his primary target. He didn’t get very far, however, as Limestone, in her haste, decided to make another run around the grounds to find the creep who stalked her sisters. Instantly, she spotted him, as he didn’t get very far with his plan.
“Hey, YOU!!!” she called out.
“WHAAAA-!” he yelled. Startled by the mad pony, the photographer fell from the house and landed, groin-first, on a medium sized stone jutting from the ground. His eyes bulged upon impact, as a single tear formed and rolled down his cheek. He fell over completely still, screaming with his mouth closed.
“BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAAA!” Coral busted out laughing, derailing the only train running in the station: Cornfield’s train of thought.
“HEY!” He shouted back and blushed profusely. IT’S NOT VERY FUNNY! THAT REALLY HURT!!!”
“Ahaa... Ahaaa.... Sorry, sorry…” It took her awhile to dispel the giggles from her system as she wiped away a tear. “But, honestly, you really deserve it. Didn’t anypony teach you the importance of quitting while you were ahead? A smart stallion would have bolted from the scene of the crime and not look back.” She grinded her fist into her palm.”I hope that moment where you pureed your stallionhood into peanut butter had made you think twice in the future.”
Her sidekick growled. “Shut up, Coral! MOVING ALONG!”
Limestone cringed and winced away from agonized stallion doubling over. “Uh…” she said uncomfortably. “You ok?”
Cornfield paused before doing a quick check that all was accounted for on his family jewels before uttering in pain. “I...think everything...” he struggled to answer as he stumbled getting up. “...Is where it should be… Ugh.” After waiting for the excruciating pain to pass over, he stood up straight to face her.
“Good. Gaze into the eyes of Limestone Pie,” she introduced herself while pulling down one of her eyelids. “I want to negotiate with you.”
“Limestone Pie?” he asked while analyzing her up from head to hoof. “How very... Rock based. What is it?”
“It’s a rock farm family! What did you expect?!” She shook her head and put his comments aside for now. “Listen. I don’t like you. In fact, I think you are the gravel beneath my hooves.” She kicked up the dirt with loose pebbles underneath her to emphasize her superiority. “But, I want to make a deal with you. My sister is missing and I don’t know where she went. Did you see her before she disappeared?”
“I’m not really that bad, am I?” he thought to himself before answering. “No? Was I supposed to?”
“Well, since you had your camera on my sister’s rump when I caught you, I figured you had your eye on her.”
“Well, SORRY! I would have, if some menacing pony didn’t sneak up on me and make hostile threats in the first place...”
“What was I going to do, make you treats and invite you in to meet the family?!” She reared up for a punch while Cornfield reactively raised his foreleg in defense. Slowly, the head of the three sisters cooled herself down. She didn’t want to knock him out yet. “Look. I’ll be blunt. I don’t want to worry my family that Marble is gone. I’m trying to show my dad that I can run this farm on my own, and he won’t think that if I can’t keep track of one pony.”
“Ok... And why do I care again?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Because if you don’t, I’m gonna take my sister’s disappearance out on you!” She banged her fore-hooves together with enough force to crunch a diamond into splinters.
Sensing the strength contained in her made the timid peeper quick to concede to her wishes. “Ok. But... What do we do?” he asked, sweating bullets and thinking “Sheesh! It must be hard for her to get a boyfriend”.
“Hold on… I didn’t think that far ahead yet.” As Limestone mulled it over, the gears in Cornfield’s brain started to turn. He tapped on his chin, then reflected on one of his notes about the environment prior to this endeavor.
“Before I got here, there was a rumor going around that Diamond Dog activity was on the rise. I wonder, perhaps there’s some gem refuge nearby? This kind of terrain would be ideal, wouldn’t it?”
“Diamond dogs?!” Limestone angrily exclaimed at the thought. “No bucking way! My family ancestors had a deal with them!”
“A deal? Can’t say I’d trust a tribe founded upon pure greed.”
“Yeah, well, what my grandparents unearthed was something priceless to them, and we exchanged it for their tribe to not trespass on our farm! We haven’t heard anything from them since!”
“Kinda foolhardy, don’tcha think? I mean, who in Equestria is dumb enough to...” Limestone didn’t give him the chance to finish as she growled angrily, harshly crushing his nose with her own. “...Hehehe... What I meant to say was... Uh... Let’s go find your sister, ok?” He gulped loudly, worried he might just get the punch she’s still building up inside ever since she met him.
The two returned to the scene of Marble’s disappearance, trying to find some sort of clue. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” the ornery mare stated. “No sign of a struggle, no rocks out of place...”
“Hopefully, it’s not Diamond Dogs and she was just distracted by some flower or bee.”
“I would have noticed if it was a diamond dog. Those things aren’t particularly sneaky. Much like you.”
“Heeeey...” Cornfield withstood her punches, getting acquainted from her abuse by now. “Well, anyway, shall we split up?”
Limestone rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed whinny.”So you can run off? Nuh uh.”
It was worth a shot, but he had to try anything to avoid being dragged along for anything too crazy. He stared at the dirt, contemplating where his life went wrong, until he noticed the many hoof prints in the soil. “Hey, look!” he drew attention to the ground. Then, he faced a harsh realization that tracking her down may not be as simple as he thought, as there were many tracks possibly belonging to his “friend” and the rest of her family. “There’s a lot of them. Which one is your sister’s?”
Limestone’s eyes now focused on the prints that she had overlooked the entire time, not paying any attention as there were so many naturally. However, she did trace a line of steps that led to the bushes. After giving it a bit more thought on where this direction led to, her eyes widened in shock. “T-This way leads to the Ridge. Marble is too afraid to go into the forest alone...! That means-”
“She grew sick of your bossy attitude and ran free?” the snarky stallion interrupted, chuckling.
“Has anypony told you that you are an insufferable pile of trash lately?” the angry mare rasped with teeth clenched.
“I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!” he shouted, sitting up and holding his hooves in the air, before crossing them and shooting her the stink eye. “JEEZ, where’s your sense of humor, lady?”
“I lost it. Much like I lost my sister.” She walked toward the bushes, about to make her way between them, before waving Cornfield on to come with her. “Well?!”
“Alright, alright.” The photographer begrudgingly followed as they trudged their way through the rough foliage of the forest. Limestone had trouble finding stable hoofholds among the roots and plants, while Cornfield navigated ahead of her, treating the forest like it was his backyard. After over a hundred meters of travelling, the horny colt got another idea in his head. “You know, if I get behind her, I could still get a picture of ass-quarters.” He slowed down and motioned for her to take the lead. “I think it’s this way!”
“You sure?” the irritated mare asked. “Because it all looks the same to me.” She took the lead, but also caught that he had one hoof on his camera. Correctly assuming that she might go after her next, she rode her tail as low as it possibly could go.
Pouting, he realized that she was too smart for him. “C’mon, it’s not like you’re wearing any clothes,” he argued in his head. But, as they marched forward, something shiny caught his eye in the treetops ahead. “See? I’m right!” Cornfield boasted. “I even saw something sparkling over there!” He didn’t count on finding such a beacon in the wilderness, as he depended on the trail of broken branches and bent leaves to get them as far as they did.
The glint of the object also caught Limestone’s eye, as they proceeded closer. Looking upwards, they can see a diamond tied and hanging from a vine, dangling out of their reach on the branch of a tall tree. “Even I know when I see a trap like this,” Her forest guide pointed out the obvious. “These dogs are so foolish.”
“Yeah.” she agreed. “Obviously just a distraction, though, considering how high up it is.” For her, however, it would serve its purpose. The mare could feel her hooves overcome by something wet and coarse. Then, her field of view shifted down slowly in horror of what she accidently stepped in. “Ugh! Quicksand!” Reactively, she lifted her legs higher to walk her way out, but only found herself to be stuck even further.
“Well, if we’re all done here, then I-” Cornfield turned his attention toward her body helplessly sinking. He thanked his lucky stars that he didn’t follow along ahead of her and be trapped as well. Wicked thoughts of abandoning her raced in his head, thinking it would be a surefire way to escape her grasp. But, his conscience knew better than to leave a damsel in trouble. “Ah, Celestia. Why me…? Limestone! Hold on!”
Finally recalling what she was told about quicksand, she forced herself to remained calm until he did something, anything, to try and get her out. “Don’t just stand there! Help, you moron!”
Putting her harsh words and his fragile ego aside, he hastily removed the camera strapped around his neck and put it on the ground, before he shimmied up a tree as fast as his hooves could allow him. Then, he crawled on the top of the lowest branch above the quicksand and unraveled a vine to use. “It’s a good thing I live by a forest, too!” he shouted as he tied the vine around his barrel. Finally, he roped the vine around the branch and securely lowered himself down to reach down for her with one of his forelegs. “Grab my hoof when I’m over you!”
Without delay, she snatched his limb with both hooves, but then let out a shocked grunt when she felt something grab her hind legs from underneath the sand. Somepony or something was pulling her down! “ARGH! Something is holding on to me!” Strangely, other than the creature’s grip on her, she didn’t feel sand anymore on the bottom of her hind legs.
The sudden snag stopped the momentum of the swing and loosened the simple knot around him, reacting with a loud “Whooooooaaaa”! Before he knew it, she dragged him into the sand with her and they both were now sinking through it.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!” Cornfield screamed as he begun to pray for himself. He profusely apologized for every mare he took a perverted photo of, going into enough detail to make even the loneliest stallion cringe. Fortunately, their complete submergence didn’t spell their doom, as the quicksand was, in fact, a thin layer of the stuff to disguise an entrance to the tunnels below. Limestone fell a short distance and collided with the rocky floor underneath, followed by the colt landing right on top of her. “OOF!”
When he opened his eyes, he was treated to a full view of her firm and shapely buttocks below his face. It was the perfect photo opportunity! That is, if he didn’t leave his camera on the surface besides the quicksand. “Damn…” he muttered to himself. “Not half-bad, too.”
“Get off me before I-” She cut her threat short after sharp, jagged spears were pointed at their direction. Large dog-like creatures were wearing crude stone armor, threatening to skewer the ponies with their weapons if they made so much as a twitch. They were surrounded.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! If you find any errors, please don't hesitate to point it out!
Side-Finale: Actions Have Consequences
Side-Finale
“Whoa! Ok ok! We surrender!” cried Cornfield, the awkward photographer earth pony, as he rose his hooves in the air at the sight of many spears pointed at his direction. He and another earth pony, Limestone Pie, are helpless against the ring of bulky Diamond Dog soldiers surrounding them. They were certainly in their territory, inside an underground cavern with tunnels all over leading out to who knows where. Sounds of pickaxes hitting cave walls echo through each cavity. Common sense made the young colt submit as fast as he could, but he wasn’t so sure about the irritable mare beside him. “RIIIIIIIGHT, Limestone?”
Limestone, filled with murderous fury against her captors, rose from the ground and attempted to give as many dogs a killing glare as she could. “The HAY I do! Where’s my sister, you literal sons of bitches!”
The dogs were surprised to see this equine not quiver by their numbers. Her tag-along, however, had more sense as he struggled to dissuade her. “Whoa! Easy, Limestone! There’s too many of them!”
“Get back, rock pony!” One guard demanded in front of them, thrusting his spear threateningly forward to push them back. Another one laughed from behind. “HA! There too many of us and only two of you!”
“Indeed. You’d best surrender quietly, lest might AND magic overwhelms you,” warned a voice from behind the wall of guards.The soldiers made room for a rather puny Diamond Dog. Though it had the usual traits, such as the spiked ball tail and oversized forelegs, he stood out more as a white chihuahua with bugged out, green eyes. He also donned an oversized magician’s hat and cloak, probably stolen from a student in magic. Peculiarly, among his wardrobe was a medallion around his neck, adorned with an obsidian spherical core and a golden frame surrounding it.
Cornfield stared at the pint-sized mutt with disbelief. “What the-?” the colt couldn’t help but ask aloud. “Am I dreaming? ‘Cuz this is getting freaky.” A guard stuck his spear the perplexed camera pony’s face. “SILENCE! Show our leader some respect!” Cornfield whimpered in response.
“Oh ho ho.” the small dog chuckled haughtily. “Ignore the simpleton kissing up. I’m only the Alpha’s assistant magician. However, it essentially means I’m one important pooch.” Striking a pose, he pointed to the ceiling from where the ponies fell from. “Tremble in fear at the sight of my geomancy, which made the quicksand puddle above you float in place to snare dumb ponies such as yourselves. You may call me, the Great Magician Fifi!” He spread his paws out as pebbles around him begun to levitate. The obsidian medallion also casted a lighted aura around it.
Unfazed by the creature’s parlor trick, Limestone scowled at him with a stare that could cut glass. “I don’t care about you, your dumbass name, or your smokes and mirrors. I’m going to ask again and I’m not gonna be nice. Where. Is. My. SISTER?” Amused by her temperment, Fifi flicked a single digit of his paw at her direction, hitting her on the forehead with a pebble. She stood there speechless, not knowing what to make of that playful attack.
“Ummm... You have to excuse my friend here.” Cornfield bowed his head as he groveled. “She’s... Not very familiar with common courtesy. What she meant to say was ‘If you would be so kind as to-’”
Before he could say another word, Limestone quickly snapped back at him. “Don’t speak for me! I have a mouth and you should keep yours SHUT!” The volume of her voice reverberated about the cave and rang in the ears of each dog near her, including Fifi’s.
“If it will keep you from yelling, then fine.” said the tiny magician as he stuck a claw in his ear to dull the sound. “My guards admittedly do have a low whining tolerance.”
“Welcome to my world, buddy...” whispered the colt as his blonde tail whipped once from pure annoyance.
“Your sister is working in our gem mines. A fair trade for the injustice done to our tribe! For our preeeecious gem traded in for your pitiful pony peace had been stolen. The Puppy Peridot!” Popping each ‘P’ made him spit a bit of slobber in the direction of the ponies.
Cornfield cringed from the slimy saliva as he stood up carefully. “Look guys, I’m just a photographer studying rock farm life. Whatever it is you have against her isn’t my business. So now that we know where Marble is, I’ll leave this matter between you two.” Thinking that he had every right to leave, he turned to trot his way out only to be immediately confronted by the guards, staring down at his small stature.
“Ah ah ah. No one leaves the mines until we find a gem that is just as pretty, if not moreso than the Peridot.” The mini mutt wringed his paws in devious glee. “And how fortunate we are to have new miners to join our efforts. Of course, if you and your traitorous pony kind have the Peridot, just say so and we’ll accompany you and your sister on your way to get it.”
“Guilty!” A feminine playful voice once again halted Cornfield’s retelling of his story in the present day. He turned to see his hippogriff friend sitting with him on the train station and raising a single claw up after making her plea.
“Coral!” He protested, annoyed that she interrupted him once again.
Reaching into her one of her saddle bags where she kept her more important possessions, she pulled out a yellowish-green shining gem shaped like a paw print. She held it to the sun’s light to let it sparkle for her partner. “Didn’t think a heist like that would cause you ponies so much trouble in the past.”
“Wha--!” Cornfield sat flabbergasted, almost not believing that their paths intertwined indirectly. Oh... You!” he sneered at the gem thief. “Do you realize what trouble you caused!?”
“Perhaps. But what can I say? It’s a very pretty gem.” She let the sparkle of the jewel reflect in her eyes for a moment, basking in its beauty “I’m not made of stone, Cornfield. I see what I like and I take it.”
The colt quickly dismissed the babble. “Maybe now that you see what the consequences of your actions are, you’ll stop stealing out of pure greed, hm?” The hippogriff ignored him, still angling the gem in the sun to get the most shine. “Poor Marble... Being made into a slave like that.”
“Hmm, perhaps what I did was inconvenient for you three.” Getting her fill of the glimmer, she tucked the gem back in her bag. “But, you’re still here, so that must mean that it all worked out, right?”
He thought ahead on the events after his capture for a brief moment. “It’s not that simple... But, at least I’m not sleeping with the fishes. Anyway, let me finish.”
“Yes, sorry, go on.” Coral leaned a little closer to him. “Now I’m intrigued on what they did to you, after I stole a priceless artifact that turned out to be a peace treaty between a family and a tribe. Go figure.”
Limestone, not fearing death for the sake of her family, lunged at the yappy little dog only to be pulled on the tail by one of the guards. He hoisted her in the air, dangling the small mare upside-down! “L-Let go!” she demanded as she swung her hooves at the guard.
“Whoa, guys!” Cornfield said as he stepped forward to Fifi. “Like I said, I surrender. I’ll help with mining and stuff. But, so long as you don’t hurt her or the other sister, ok? We have a deal?” He stuck his hoof outward offering a friendly agreement.
“Wait? What?! What are you doing?!” the Pie sister questioned.
He glanced at her and gave his most subtle wink. Every dog in front of him saw him do it.
“Hmm,” the chihuahua hummed, slowly forming a wicked smile as the gears in his head began turning. “So, that means if they get out of line, it goes to you? If they act up, you suffer? Is that what you are proposing?”
“Uhhh...” Beads of sweat dripped down the colt’s face from such a sinister offer. “Pony feathers!” he cursed in his head. “I didn’t think this through.” Even though it didn’t go the way he would have wanted, he decided to roll with it regardless for the sake and favor of two pretty mares. “...Yes,” he agreed aloud, “But they’ll behave, so don’t worry about that”
“Ah, excellent! I always wanted a dummy to test my magic on, but mares are too frail. Stallions, however, are more hardy.”
“Oh. Great,” thought Cornfield as shook the magician’s paw half-heartedly. “So how long will it take for us to mine whatever it is you need anyway?” he asked.
The trickster flashed a devious, stained, toothy grin. “If your lucky, it will take a few hours. If you’re not. It will take a few years!” With the snap of his digits, the guard holding Limestone unceremoniously dropped her to the floor.
The concerned colt rushed to her side and offered his hoof to help her up. “Are you alright?”
“Rrrgh,” she groaned. “Why did you do that?” She took his hoof and helped herself up with it.
“Listen, we don’t have a choice,” he whispered in her ear. “This way we can reunite with your sister. Then, we come up with a plan. Perhaps Marble has learned something already about this place?” He could tell that Fifi and the guards were trying to listen in. “...AND that’s why I LOVE YOU, SWEETIE!” He abruptly shouted out, then kissed her on the cheek.
Limestone wretched away, but also blushed profusely from such a dubious act. She put her hoof on her cheek with her right eyelid twitching, not knowing what to say.
Before long, the prisoner duo were led by two armed guards into the depths of a tunnel. What was unusual to their senses was the soggy air layering them. It was if a popular hot spring neighbored the dismal caverns. The sounds of tireless pickaxes grew louder until the ponies witnessed that even ratty slave dogs were enslaved to the task of mining for gems. Marble Pie was amongst them, forced to toil on a vein of crystals at the dead end of their cavernous prison cell.
“Marble!” Limestone slipped past the hardened guard escort to meet her dear sister. Uncharacteristically, she embraced the shy pony, hugging her with the deep affection only a beloved sister could. “You’re all right!” The soldiers glanced at each other and shrugged thoughtlessly before assuming their stationed positions.
“WELP!” Cornfield shouted insensitively as he strutted his way to the sisters. “We made it this far. Aren’t you gonna introduce us, Limey baby?”
Limestone’s emotional smile quickly disintegrated as she shot daggers from her eyes before sighing, just about fed up. She broke off the hug to stand between her gracious sister and the young creep. “Marble. This is perv pony. Perv pony. Marble.”
“Ah ha…” he faked a laugh while scratching the hair on his neck. “I guess we never got properly introduced. I’m Cornfield, who is definitely NOT a perv.” He raised a hoof assuredly.
“You think he’s a perv, right, sis?” The limey girl whispered conspicuously enough for both to hear with an evil grin.
“...Mmhmm,” the shy pony agreed with anticipation.
“HEY! How would you know?”
“Still, as far as creeps go…” said Limestone, inching closer to Cornfield. “You at least had the stones to look out for me and Marble back there.” She playfully punched his shoulder lightly, but tho she held back, it would leave a bruise later. “Not bad, kid.”
“Ow!” he cried, flinching. “Kid!? I’m almost 18!” Rubbing his physically depressed shoulder, he faced Marble, who hid under her long mane. “Besides, I think I deserve a bit more credit than that, Marble. If I hadn’t shown up, you’d be stuck above ground... Mining for… rocks… oh...” Her angrier sister had menacingly put her face between him and her sibling, shooting a glare that could strike terror even in a teenage dragon. He knew it was best to drop it now. “Uh, nevermind.”
“All right, enough talking. You better get mining before you get flogged with a magic spell or something,” commanded Limestone as she helped pick up where her sister left off at the dead-end. She acquired a spare pickaxe, targeted the cavern wall next to her sister’s, and, using her hooves, swung like a batter in the last inning with bases loaded. “Hopefully, my family has a back-up plan to bail us out,” she yelled over the banging sounds of breaking the rocks.
Searching around their excavation area to help them dig, Cornfield failed to spot digging equipment unchecked for. “Hey, Marble, where do they keep those tools?” he inquired. Marble pointed to a pile of junk a ways down the tunnel, past all the other dog slaves. “Uh, thanks.” He made his way over beyond the toiling mutts. As he examined the lump of supplies, the young photographer squinted and shuffled through the dimly illuminated stack of carelessly discarded scrap. While straining not to give himself tetanus, he heard muffled voices originating from somewhere outside the walls. His ears perked up and rotated in the direction of the sound like sonar dishes. “Huh?”
He listened carefully for the origins of where the conversation resonated. His heart jumped once he pinpointed the prime location and zoned in on the discussion with his ear pressed into the harsh rocky wall. “So, have **** reported yet?” one voice said. Announcing orders like that, the photographer quickly deduced that voice belonged to Fifi.
“It looks that way,“ another unintellectual-sounding voice answered. “Ruffer found water **** corner **** ****.” The sneaky colt struggled to make out all the words in the conversation.
“Is that so? Well, **** fine that way.”
“What is fine?” Cornfield thought to himself. “What are they talking about? Water?”
All those years spying on mare’s thinking they were in privacy came to good use here; the peeping tom squeezed onto the hard surface to hone in on Fifi alone. Just as familiar was being caught as Limestone sensed the lack of creepiness around her and followed right behind. “What are you doing over here?” she asked aloud.
He was almost scared witless by her sudden arrival, whipping his head to look back and whispered “SHHHHHHH! It’s Fifi and some other dog! Just don’t make a sound.” He resumed with his cheek flattened to the stone and Limestone at his side listening over him.
“**rried about it. I hate getting wet!” the dumber voice complained.
“Don’t worry your puny brain over it.” the shrill wizard commanded. “At this rate, it could take care of all our problems in one fell swoop! Including those pesky rock ponies and their esteemed stallion lover.”
“L-Lover?!” the flustered mare hissed under her breath as she blushed angrily.
“WAIT!” Cornfield impatiently shushed. “What’s he on about?”
“Tell the miners to continue working!” the yappy magician demanded.
“B-but...” The distinct sound of a stone hitting one’s cranium reverberated from the cave, accompanied with a yelp. “...Y-yes...sir!”
“Good!” Heavy pawsteps faded away as Fifi was presumably left alone to himself. “Oh well. I’d hope to keep collecting the gems sealed in the cavern walls.” He continued after a moment of contemplative silence. “But if there really is an embedded water basin next to the mines, the inevitable flood that ensues will simply drown out the mindless drones that were left with me along with those foolish ponies!”
Limestone’s pupils shrunk to the size of microscopic beads, sided with gasping of despair and fright!
“Thankfully, I’ll just escape into the panic room I had crafted for such an emergency. After the dust and water settles, I’ll make my way up to the surface with my magic, report to the Alpha, accuse the Rock family of their deaths, then he’ll HAVE to declare war on Equestria. With my magic, none will defy us. Then, I’ll stage a coup and every single gem in ALL of Equestria shall be MINE! MINE! MINE!” The powerful puppy laughed maniacally, losing himself from the scheme he cooked up at that moment. His cackling can be heard, gradually lower in volume, possibly on his way to put his plan into action.
“Oh... My... Celestia!” exclaimed Cornfield as he lurched away from the wall.
Limestone, for the first time in ages, felt real intimidation as her mouth hung open. It struck chills through her stone heart as she envisioned what the flood would do to her, Marble, and even Cornfield. “We…” Shaking her head like she downed some old family rock farm style moonshine, she mentally wrestled her emotions to remain in control of the situation. “We gotta do something! We can’t just let him drown us all!”
“Ok, ok.” He shoved his hooves on her shoulders and stared deep into her lime-yellow eyes. “Let’s calm down here. First, we need to find out if this tunnel is the one holding the basin! You’re the rock expert. You can figure that one out, right?”
Her ears shot up as she swiftly regained her grit. “Y-Yeah! I am! I didn’t inherit my dad’s rock farm for nothing!” She swatted his hooves off of her as if she didn’t care so much about the seriousness of the situation, as long as she’s in charge! Galloping pass the miners back to Marble, she subtly warned about their impending doom in her sister’s ear, causing her to whinny in terror. Limestone quickly followed it up with a hug, telling her that everything was going to be ok.
Cornfield caught up to them, sweating profusely and scared to death. “Oh stallion, I can’t do this...” he thought as he whimpered. “Please tell me this is just a bad dream. PLEASE!”
“So, yeah, Coral.” Present day colt said, chastising the treasure hunter sitting beside him. Thanks to you, Equestria could of been destroyed. NOW does it seem so harmless when you think about it?”
Chuckling at the idea of such a little twerp managing to get that far with his plans for world domination, she shook her head and raised her eyebrow at him. “You honestly think he would have made it that far?”
“...Well, no. I mean, there’s been a few bad guys who thought they could just beat out Equestria. Don’t forget these guys have LITERALLY lived under a rock this whole time.” He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment phrasing that statement. “I’m sure most of what they know of us ponies is outdated. They might not even realize the EUP was retired in favor of the Wonderbolts.”
“True. The mutt might not realize that he’s up against more advanced units until it’s too late.” The Heart of Nature, the magical heart-shaped emerald grafted on her chest, dimmed its shine as she pulled out the Puppy Peridot and stared into its glassy beauty one more time. “I didn’t think I would risk ponies lives by stealing this, let alone the lives of many slaves...”
“Exactly! See?”
She breathed a heavy sigh. “I thought I was just stealing from the Alpha and Alpha alone. I didn’t mean to rope everyone into this.”
“Even so, actions have consequences, Coral…”
“I’m usually the one to just take something, fence it, and not look back. I have to fight to survive.” She placed the gem back safely in her bag and looked down on the wooden platform, a newfound concern of the creatures she robbed brewing inside. “If I didn’t do the things I’ve done, I would have two options. One is to simply starve. The other?” She sighed heavily. “Probably a slave in Kludgetown or a prostitute in the seedier sides of their Equestria’s cities. Pilfering is all I ever know, Cornfield. Ever since I left Mount Aris...”
Tapping his hoof on his chin and staring into space, he deeply considered what his friend revealed of her trials and tribulations. “Hmmmm... Taking the gem did put others in life-threatening danger, yet if you hadn’t lived like that... You could of ended up…” His brain thoroughly racked, he scruffed his mane in frustration. “Oooooh, why does life have to be so ironic?!”
The poor colt’s moral conundrum came to a halt when Coral held a single claw dead front of his face. “To be fair, the reason I still have the jewel with me now is because it’s too beautiful to let go. Instead of selling it for food or a roof over my head, I am keeping it for my own vanity. So, I’m still in the wrong no matter how you look at it.” She let her talons down gently on his lap, revealing a moment of tender humility, and gazed apologetically at him. “Cornfield. I’m sorry.”
He responded with a hoof shouldering her. “No, Coral. It’s ok. After all it was in the past. No point in it anymore.” He put both hooves on his chest as if it were he was holding his heart, and breathed a longing sigh. “In fact, you enabled me to meet... An amazing girl…”
Yanking her talons away in disgust, her stance quickly turned from tenderness to bitter jealousy, as she crossed her forelegs defiantly with her brows furrowed at him. “Well, the fact that you are here with me means it didn’t work out, right?” she questioned as she thought to herself. “Talking about a past crush with another mare? No tact whatsoever, as usual.”
“...Yeah,” Cornfield said, finding it difficult to let go of the past. “The story is coming to a close, though. Shall I tell you about what we did after that?”
“Might as well,” replied Coral as she relaxed and temporarily set aside what he said before. “I want to know what happened to that family, for my own conscience’s sake.”
“Oh, they’re all dead now, but let’s talk about how I survived the whole thing!”
Her face turned white as a cloud, as she reeled away from him with her feathers standing on end. “W-WHAT?!”
Looking back at her, he leaned in with a big fat grin on his face. “JUST KIDDING! Hahahaha! Boy, you should see the look on your-” Unamused, a single claw of Coral’s turned into a sturdy vine and slashed the air. It resounded a frightening crack that screeched into Cornfield’s ears and led him to wince. “GAH! Ok, I get it. Not funny. ANYWAY!”
“Cornfield, get a grip!” Limestone barked as her ear focused on the cavern wall. “The slaves down here need to stop digging so we can search for the water basin! Marble and I need to listen for liquid to search for it, can you do something?”
“Uh…” Cornfield hesitated and ran in place panically. “I-I’m not good in stressful situations like this! We need to alert someone from outside!”
“We got guards outside in the caves.” she snapped back. “There’s no way they can allow that!
Then, Marble murmured in her sister’s ear. Both dart up as her eyes sparkled with hope. “Cornfield, we got only one chance! If the Diamond Dog guards aren’t going to let us through, then we need to convince the slaves to dig upwards.”
Confused but still frantic, Cornfield looked at her like she was a mental patient preaching to him about the end of the world.
“Marble figured it out,” Limestone continued, “Mines and their structures are her specialty. If the basin is down here with us, that means it would drown everyone here in the lower mines, while the slaves working above are safe. Fifi must have found a basin higher up that will drown us all in one fell swoop.”
“What?! You want to dig upwards to find the basin or something?!? NO WAY!”
Upset that he’s not getting the picture, she smacked him across the cheek to calm him down.
“OW!” he whinnied and rubbed his cheek.
“Listen to me! As sad as it’s going to be, we can’t save all the slaves, but we can coerce the ones in our layer to dig in a certain direction where we can escape from the flood, up towards the surface.”
“But what if the basin is down here with us anyway?”
“Then, we’ll put our ears on the wall to hear the sounds of water. We just need to dig high enough so we can get a pocket of air and use whatever we have left to break out of here.”
Finally, her idea clicked right with him as he nodded his head. “Oooooh... I see what you’re saying. But, how do we convince them?”
“That’s on you.” the tough, stunning, and brave mare pointed at his chest. “Marble and I will start digging in a direction we know is safe.”
Baffled, he stuck his hoof right over Limestone’s. “ME?!”
“Who else?! If you can’t dig, then start explaining the situation. Or trick them. They’re pretty dumb.” With the game plan in mind, the Pie sisters hastily procured a pickaxe for each, and lunged upwards to break away the rock that stood against them and salvation!
Meanwhile, Cornfield paused, contemplating on how in Equestria one colt could convince these enslaved dogs to follow his lead. Not only were the mutts dull as the rocks they’ve been excavating, but they were greedy as well. He might as well use that to his advantage.
“Ok…” he spoke up with as much confidence he could muster, unsure how this will go. “I-I think I have something... Give me an axe.” Limestone pitched hers for the moment, following a “HERE!” and resorted to using her durable hooves to tear away at stone. He stared satisfyingly impressed before getting back to the plan with the renewed support of his friends. He secretly asked one of the sisters for another favor. “Marble, do you have any crystals or gems that I could use? Preferably a shiny one.”
“Mmhmm,” Marble, with her usual mouthless dialogue, shucked out a crystal that she had faith would be grand enough to replace the peridot.
“Perfect!” Toning down his excitement, he swiped it from her hooves and relocated to a significant alcove near the sisters. He swapped the axe into his mouth climbing higher and positioned to take a very good whack at a soft corner of the wall meeting the ceiling. After striking with enough force to make a sizable cavity, he handled the gem and wedged it in. Putting up his best poker face, he moved aside for the slaves to see his false bounty. “WOOHOO!” His voice loudly mirrored throughout the caverns. “JACKPOT, BABY! THERE MUST BE A LOT MORE WHERE THIS CAME FROM!”
That was enough to steal the dogs’ attention, as he directed his foreleg at the showy crystal. Their eyes sparkled with lust from the beautiful reflection! “MY GEM!” one slave cried out. “NO! MINE!” cried another. “I’ll get more than all of you!” yet another dared to the rest.
“Whoa-ho! H-hey guys... There’s plenty of-” Before Cornfield could finish, the dogs rudely tackled him down and mindlessly joined Limestone and Marble in fighting the walls defying them from freedom. In the blink of an eye, they already created a gaping hole to forge a passageway escaping death from the flood.
Limestone, seeing the poor colt exhausting his strength to the floor, rushed over to shoulder him up. “Not bad, kid.” she chimed. “I’m impressed that you fooled them so effectively.”
Cornfield felt the spark of friendship from her, generating newly reformed strength to push forward. “Heheh... I-I always knew I was good...ugh.” He pushed himself back on all fours to concentrate every fiber in his being to focus. “So, what do we do now?”
“We dig. Dig as fast as we can on an incline to hopefully outpace the flood. Grab your axe and put your shoulder into it!”
“Right!”
Time refused to show mercy through the hard work. The ragtag mining group had made raging progress tunneling furiously on a steep yet steady incline. The Pie sisters assured dear Cornfield that soon they would breach the subsoil and hit topside at the rushing pace they threw. Unfortunately, progress stagnated as the dogs conspired against their pony partners. There were murmurings of how everything was fruitless besides that really pretty stone that the young colt found.
“We dig for long time, ponies!” one miner piped up. “There no jewels here for Fifi!”
Limestone growled back at them with a dictating glare and ruled over them with an iron hoof. “Be quiet and keep digging! Otherwise, you’re going to lose more than brownie points!”
“What you mean by that?!” Another dog argued. At this point, their progress in the mines came to a sudden unexpected halt. “Gems are life. Gems mean food. Gems mean no beatings. We wasting time!”
Cornfield was unsure where this was leading. They couldn’t stop all of a sudden when they were so close to the safety of outside world. Out of nowhere, echoes of whines and cries collectively bounced, surpassing them from every which way in the caves. Everyone instinctively checked back down the darkness before the screams went quiet. Then, without warning, they could hear rushing waves of water, flowing to swallow them whole! “Oh, please tell me we’re not too late!” the frightened colt pleaded aloud.
“What is that?!” one slave cried out. “What happening?!”
Determined to breach the surface, the tougher Pie sister committed to punch through the mixtures of rock and soil out of the way. “Less talking, more digging! Seriously! You use precious oxygen if you do!” Marble, once a pony who cowered behind her mane, summoned the courage to join her sibling in escaping.
When the dogs discovered the raging torrent pursuing them, submerging the empty space, their need to survive trumped the need to appease the tribe magician. “Dig!” they cried out in random sync, grasping their picks and joining their equine saviors for the right for freedom.
Everybody was literally running out of breath. They were exhausted, sore, and fighting for their lives. Yet, the fires of hope did not extinguish, as they gradually outpaced oncoming death. Suddenly, when the first axe finally struck topsoil, the ceiling shook and seemed intent to crush them. “Damn, It’s a cave-in!” Limestone cursed as dirt tumbled down.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” screamed the distraught Cornfield before a shovel of dirt smothered his face.
His life flashed before his eyes and everything went dark.
Then, a bright light lit up the poor colt’s vision while he laid on his back. He squinted his eyes and slowly opened them, adjusting his sight from being underground for too long. “Ah… I see… Is it Elysium?” he faintly mumbled. “Am… Am I dead?”
“If this is the afterlife, then I’d have to say it’s really big let down.” answered a familiar aggressive-sounding voice. Limestone looked upon Cornfield’s wet and dirty body, lying on the surface of Rambling Rock Ridge, with the warm sun beating down on him. Then, after studying the hole they had made and the still waters that filled it, she faced the confused Diamond Dog slaves. Some plainly sat there, having no objectives to follow and still coming to grips with losing their chains. Others started to wander in circles, figuring out where they’ve been all this time. “You’re all lucky that you listened to this stallion over here.” she informed, pointing to the passed out pone. “Otherwise, we would have all been dead.”
“I wondered if everypony else made it without me?” Cornfield muttered to himself. “I guess if they’re safe I don’t have any regrets... Except, that I never got laid...” Content that he gained his eternal rest after a grueling battle for survival, he fell asleep with a loud snore.
“UGH! If he’s going to be like this, we might as well take him home and get him something to eat.” She caringly nudged under him to lift up and carry the weary hero around. Marble accompanied her on their trek back home. The dogs exchanged glances each other, wondering what they plan to do now with their newfound freedom. They failed to even recall the last time they ever saw a sun.
Drool pooled around his mouth as the colt of the day snored peacefully, incoherently speaking in his sleep. “Mmmmm... Limestone Pie...Yes, I’d like another… Yum...”
Marble couldn’t help but giggle as Limestone blushed beet red. “Uuugh. He’s such an immature boy!” his carrier irritably stated.
In his dreams, Cornfield was at a diner, and all the pies were of the mares he’s ever met. For some reason, the Limestone Pie was especially delicious. Just as he finished a fourteenth helping, all the employees vanished, replaced by an eerie mist. Fear crept into his mind, yet something was tethering him to the bar. The air was cold, spurring a feeling of mortality. The diner formed an existence in the plane of an infinite void. For now, he sat there with blind faith somepony would find him and guide him. When that ‘pony’ came, it was an ominous creature, with a dark jagged silhouette like a demon. It latched onto his foreleg as he whinnied in panic. Just when his shoulder was about to be severe from its socket, he shot up screaming. “WAAHH!”
“GAH!” Limestone jumped back, nearly spilling the rock soup she was clenching for him.
Trying to contain his breath, the bed, walls and door had a familiar pattern. He realized this was the room of the Pie sisters. Sitting up perplexed in their bed and covered in covers, he put a hoof on his throbbing chest. “Ah... Huff... What happened?!”
“You passed out when we hit the surface. We made it out before the water could overwhelm us.” She placed the steaming soup on the humble bedside table within his reach. “I had to drag your sorry backside back to the rock farm.”
“Wha- We... Did it?” The colt’s eyes widened in disbelief. Without warning, he lunged forward, grabbing Limestone in his forelegs and hugging her with an iron tight grip. “YAY!” he celebrated with joy. “WE DID IT!!!”
“Ack!” Limestone was fit, but that vice-like grapple caught her off-guard. “A-Air. N-need air.” she gasped.
“Oh... S-sorry.” He released her of his grasp, much to his disappointment.
“Whew…” she reaffirmed her composure after that wicked embrace. “With strength like that, you should mine rocks for a living, no problem.”
“Err... What’s that stuff you set down?”
“Rock soup, straight from rock family quarry. Figured you’d be hungry after saving our lives.”
His face shifted between her and the strange dish with a confounded look. “Rock...soup? Ahaha... No thanks...”
“Whatever. At least I offered...” Her mind began to race, hesitant on speaking from the heart, while rubbing her foreleg with her hoof. “...Hey, Cornfield, look-”
“I’m your knight in shining armor?” He interrupted, brushing his mane to become suave with one swipe of the hoof. “I know!”
“Don’t be so high and mighty!” she chastised boldly. “It was still your fault that I didn’t keep an eye on my sister!” Realising that perhaps she was being slightly too agitated with the whelp, she calmed herself down, losing the grace of subtlety with it. “But, you still came through for the both of us. If you didn’t overhear that conversation, we’d all be dead.”
Repeating the events in his head, he considered a very particular clue about what transpired. “Yeah… now that I think about it, I wonder who on Equestria stole that Puppy Peridot? We never found out.”
“Whoever that thief is, I’m going to give him, a piece of my mind, stealing my family’s gift like that.” Trying to put her boiling rage aside for her guest of honor, she looked away to censor a smirk from him. “But, until then, thank you for saving me and my sister...”
“...Um... Well... You’re welcome.” Mistaking her stance as bashful arousal, a desperate idea popped in his noggin. Maybe this was the right moment! “But, HEY! You know, I think you owe me one!” Cornfield discarded the covers off himself like last week’s laundry, got out of bed, and got up in her personal space bubble. “SOOOOO, if you’d like to really show me your gratitude, may I suggest we go somewhere quieter?” The horny colt bumped up his eyebrows as he showed her his best wink.
Poor Limestone’s eyes blew up like balloons with her cheeks glowing red. “W-w-WHAT?!” The awkward lapse in time was enough to recognize he’s back to being a lonely, impatient, and pathetic pervert. She planted a hoof squarely on her face. “Look. It was nice of you to help us and all that, but you’re...” Her eyes darted around, in hope of a good excuse. “...Just not my type!”
Just like that, the lovesick male was destroyed via the piercing sting of rejection as his mouth left a gaping hole under his nostrils. His brain played what she said over and over like a broken record. “Wha? B-b-b-b-but I JUST SAVED YOU!” He slammed his hoof on the wooden floorboards in defiance. “I SAVED YOUR FAMILY! And it’s not even good enough? You must be joking!”
Unable to tolerate any bullshit from anypony, even the stallion who risked his life for her, she stood her ground so hard in his face that he fell back on his ass. She towered over him like he was a worm wriggling in the dirt. “The reason I’m not leaving you to the dogs right now is BECAUSE you saved us! Who busted her back convincing the family that you weren’t going to do anything shifty?! I’m not ungrateful! I’m just not into you!”
Getting her message across, she stepped off to let Cornfield a scrap of mercy. He delicately got up off the floor from frightening intimidation and hung his head in defeat. Overcome by the feeling of being tossed away like the covers from earlier. “Oh...I see.” Limestone caught a glimpse of a leaking tear rolling down his cheek after a few sniffles. “Thanks for that I guess. I won’t be coming around here anymore.” Using his foreleg, he concealed the distraught emotion being displayed as he moved to the exit of the room. “After all, I think it’s for the best we forget each other. Goodbye... Limestone.”
“Yeah, yeah…” she said, paralyzed to the sadness. “Have a safe trip home, Cornfield...” After he left and shut the door behind him, her eyes drew circles from his lousy performance. “What a drama queen,” she commented mentally. After all that was said and done, however, she couldn’t shake the sensation that, maybe, she should have lessened the blow. Perhaps there was a fair way to pay him back, even give him a chance. Her stone cold heart softening a bit, she followed suit out of the room to catch up to him before the opportunity was forever lost.
Rapid clops emerging behind him, Cornfield checked his six to see Limestone of all ponies approach. She was clearly anxious, rubbing her leg without regard for it. “So, uh…” Limestone stuttered until her brain absolutely sabotaged her train of thought. “Crap, I suck at this…” Taking a deep breath, she reset her disposition. “If you want to come over to... Help around the farm, just let me know, ok?”
Despite the sudden change of heart, he was still scarred by her harsh disapproval. Instead, he lazily replied, eyeing the old, rough, neglected hardwood floor, with a still voice. “Ok,” he softly mouthed.
Just before he overstayed his visit, never to return to the only mare he grew this close to, Maud unceremoniously whipped open the door and gently collided into him. “Oh,” she said plainly, completely unfazed. “Hey.” Her other sister, Marble Pie, followed behind her, as Cornfield’s camera looped around her neck. The youth’s attention ignited like a firework, and he grinned widely with glee.
“My camera!” the eulated photographer celebrated as he happily yanked it off of Marble’s neck, driving her to cower like a foal traumatized by his aggressive nature. He checked it thoroughly to ensure it was all in good working order. It was still as good as he left it, thankfully. “I nearly forgot about this!”
“We found it when Marble led our parents and I to where she got kidnapped.” Maud stoically informed. “She was so happy to find it and bring it back to you. Right, Marble?”
“Mmhmm...” confirmed her shivering sister, still wary of any other attacks from the colt.
After obtaining his prized possession, a wicked idea donned on Cornfield’s mind. It was at long last, time to finish the job he worked this hard for. “Maud? What’s that rock behind you on the soil?” he asked innocently.
“Where?” The neutral-stated mare rotated her entire being and lowered her head to identify the object in question. “Did Boulder leave to play without-” With a click and a flash, both Limestone and Marble gasped in disbelief, witnessing the horrendous sin committed by their former ally. The randy shutterbug effortlessly snapped a pure view of Maud’s shapely ass. Although she was clothed, her dress conformed to its curves nicely and left nothing to imagination. She turned around with her face as bland as ever, but more pink in embarrassment, and eyes considerably magnified.
“Covered or not, a butt’s a butt.”
“SCUM!” Limestone fumed behind him. “YOU FETID PILE OF PONY TRASH!”
“Excuse me!? Wh-” Before he knew what was happening, Limestone socked a hoof at the poor unsuspecting colt, blacking his eye. Never before has Cornfield ever felt such a haymaker of a smack that “rocked” him to his roots. He tumbled down and curled up into a ball from the sharp blow, wincing in pain. “If this is what you are going to be like, I’m going to do you and Equestria a favor!” The camera had fallen away from him on the floor, and she set her foreleg over it for him to see. “I’m gonna crunch this piece of junk into scrap!”
“N-no!” Cornfield pleaded, sobbing uncontrollably for sympathy. “Please DON’T!”
She primed herself to press her full weight into a megaton stomp, set to fulfill her promise. “I’m looking at a sparkling bright blue and white rock,” Maud calmly interjected. That phrase hit a nerve, as Limestone stared at her sister like she had three heads. “See it?”
Helplessly, the furious sibling’s hoof quaked as it hovered menacingly over his most treasured object. “And I’m about to make him a black and blue one!” she announced to the household. “Don’t tell me that you actually pity this little bucker, after all he did to scare and endanger us!”
“He is not all bad if he selflessly helped this family afterward.” Maud wisely highlighted. “There’s a voice in his heart telling him to do the right thing. He just needs to grow up and listen to it more. He’ll get over these obsessions sooner or later and learn from his mistakes.” Her lackluster expression targeted her baby sister, requesting an inclination to agree. “Right, Marble?”
Upset by the pathetic colt’s actions, but not withholding forgiveness, the introverted pony nodded her head with a simple “Mmhmm”.
Limestone, on the other hoof, was holding her breath. Anger and confusion swirled in her psyche like a raging typhoon, a typhoon that had to be bottled up for everypony’s sake. Ultimately, she pushed out a heavy defeated sigh and slid the camera along the floor back to its rightful owner. Cornfield, still terrified of the beast that assaulted him, carefully reached for his camera and brought it instantly to his chest, hugging it for dear life. “You’re just lucky my sister is SOMEHOW gifted to see the best in stallions. Until you can learn to be more mature,” she said as she rose a hoof in declaration, “You are not welcome back at this farm.”
“After that, I took my camera… along with a bag of ice and boarded the train back to Ponyville. And that was that.” He looked back at Coral, prepared for a snide remark as the hippogriff often did.
“Smooth move, Casanova,” she delivered, stifling a giggle. She also released a sigh, secretly relieved for the happy ending. “At least they are safe and sound, I suppose, thanks in part to your quick thinking. But, damn, do you have trouble keeping it in your sheath…”
“Hey! Let’s not forget some of this was YOUR fault, Coral!”
Crestfallen, the avian creature slouched on the bench, eyes closed. “Yeah, Yeah... I know... And a lot of those dogs, dumb as they are, probably died when the flood came around. Fifi is probably still on the loose, but he’s practically a non-issue, considering the state of Equestria’s current military in charge...” Silence enveloped the duo as they patiently sat and listened to the billowing of tranquil winds.
“...Do you…” Coral asked consciously. “Do you think we can see the Pie family at some point, after we secure The Mind of Water?”
“...I don’t know.” Cornfield audibly messaged back, covering his left eye once more to refresh the memories. “Such an angry mare, you really think she’d tolerate me after what happened?”
In the blink of a bruised eye, she asserted herself upright to support her trusty sidekick and smiled warmly. “Don’t worry. I think the next time she sees you, she’ll find that you aren’t QUITE the stallion she pummelled…” The Heart of Nature beamed on her chest, glimmering with a newfound promise she adamantly committed to. “Either way, if I have to face them alone to give them back what’s rightfully theirs, I will.”
“Pummeled…” he chuckled a little, demonstrating a silly grin. “That’s putting it delicately.”
Cutting the isolated breezing sound of the wind, the tell-tale blowing of a train whistle alerted all awaiting passengers within range. Expectantly, Coral locked her view down the endless tracks. The colorful train was on its way, right on the verge of sundown. “Finally...”
