Chapters The day was almost perfect; a gentle breeze through the valley, a few clouds occasionally offering shade, and perhaps most noticeable out of all the things, the whooping and hollering that came from a certain bakery deep within Ponyville.
"Mama! Daddy! Quick! You gotta come look! I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark! Hurry up you gotta come see!" A particularly hyper filly began jumping up and down, bouncing through the halls of the bakery. Her exceptionally frizzy cotton candy colored mane bobbed up and down as she raced the halls searching for her parents. By the time she stopped hollering, she had already circled the entire bakery, yet only found the children of the previous owners, Pumpkin and Pound Cake. As they tended to the front counter, Pound turned around just in time to see an eight year old filly jump up at him.
"Woah! Custard Cream Cheese, you gotta watch where you're goin' kid! You're seriously going to break something valuable one of these days!" Pound Cake picked up the giggling child into the air and flew her across the room to his sister as she struggled to break free from his arms.
"Aww come on Pound Cake, stop being such a downer! Li'l Cheese ain't gonna break anything here other than you." Pumpkin retorted playfully while taking Li'l Cheese from Pound's grasp with her magic. As the pastel yellow and pink filly glided to her, Pumpkin noticed the wide grin that came on the child when she rotated Li'l Cheese around. That's when she saw the newly added cutie mark and gasped.
"Li'l Cheese! You got your cutie mark! Is that why you were hollering? What is it?! Did ya tell Pinkie and Cheese yet?!" Pumpkin almost couldn't contain her excitement while spinning around in circles with the child that was still enclosed in her sparkling blue magic.
Li'l Cheese giggled as she was set back down on the ground again. She loved it when her mommy's friends would play with her and get excited when she did something new. Well, Pumpkin was usually the one that would express her excitement, Pound Cake was a little shy and more reserved than his younger twin. She turned around to show her flank and pointed at it.
"Yeah I did! And I think it's some sort of cheese custard? Or maybe a pie! But I got it when I tried to bake as many things as I could as fast as I could trying to help with some pony's order! Aren't ya proud of me! Are ya?! Are ya?! Oh and I wasn't able to tell mommy and daddy yet cause I can't find them, did you see them anywhere?" Li'l Cheese's voice squealed with excitement as if her voice couldn't go any higher.
"Oh, you can't find em? Hmmm-" Pumpkin looked toward her brother and raised an eyebrow as if to ask him if he had seen the couple. Pound Cake looked up into the air for a couple seconds before looking back at Li'l Cheese.
"Did you try the party basement? I don't think they'd be anywhere else." He suggested; to which Li'l Cheese responded with a rather expressive face palm followed by an even more so exaggerated groan as she threw her head back.
"I'll take that as a no." Pound Cake chuckled slightly. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten about the secret party basement. She was let in on the basement secret for her eighth birthday as long as she pinkie promised that she wouldn't tell a soul about it because it was where her parents hid most of their impossibly complex party planning equipment. It also served as her father's concept studio in order to send ideas back to the factory. Li'l Cheese quickly waved the twins a goodbye and began bouncing towards the trapdoor slide. She swung open the wooden door with a loud clunk and jumped inside.
Pinkie rushed back and forth between a billboard and a pair of filing cabinets while Cheese stood on a ladder with a checklist and quill, seemingly counting boxes of balloons stored away on some dusty blue shelves. With the amount of empty boxes and pieces of checked off paper that lay strewn across the floor, it wasn't hard to tell that they had been at this for hours.
Cheese turned around and looked down across the room at Pinkie, he opened his mouth to say something to her before he was quickly shot down by his wife's twitching tail. Even though they both had physically aged; Pinkie now wearing her mane in a messy bun and himself having a few grey hairs, he smiled knowing that they would truly never change. He was brought back to the subject at hand by Pinkie looking around and then rushing across the room towards the slide that connected to the upstairs. She curved her back just in time for Li'l Cheese to come flying down the slide. Doing a couple somersaults, she tripped in the process and tumbled the rest of the way down, slamming right into her mother. Pinkie had to arch her back to support the sudden weight change and stop herself from collapsing on the ground.
"Oof!" Li'l Cheese attempted to catch her breath again as she was left winded from the impact. She eventually flopped over Pinkie's back and landed harshly on the ground producing a small squeak. Getting her bearings, the filly sensed she was about to get a lecture from at least one of her parents and quickly turned her green puppy eyes to the max while giving an innocent smile. Pinkie sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned her head upon hearing Cheese slide down the ladder and walk over to the duo.
"Sorry mommy and daddy..." Li'l Cheese stuck out her tongue and bit it slightly as if that were her way of emphasizing her apology. Cheese attempted to keep a stern face, but upon seeing Li'l Cheese grin as wide as she could, he quickly broke his act and released a barely noticeable laugh. No one could stay mad at that ball of hyperactivity, even if they had a good reason to be.
"Aw it's ok sugar, just try not to break your mom's back anymore." Cheese responded with a goofy grin while looking back at Pinkie through his peripheral vision. She was in the midst of stretching out her back and cracking it. Li'l Cheese quizzically looked up from the floor.
"But daddy, I'm cheesy! Not sugar!" Li'l Cheese couldn't help but let a few giggles slip through into her speech. Pinkie tried to hide her giggles and snorts from behind Cheese, which was safe to say wasn't working very well. Not letting enough time for her parents to respond to her confusion, she quickly jumped up in the air.
"Oh! That reminds me of what I came down here for!" She began jumping even higher, " I GOT MY CUTIE MARK! YOU GOTTA LOOK AT IT!" Li'l Cheese turned into a yellow and pink blur as she sped through the room, performing as many jumps and flips as possible. She even added Boneless 6 to some of her tricks.
Pinkie flung out her forearms to the side in order to catch Li'l Cheese before she ran into something. The momentum swung both of them in a circle before Pinkie recovered and raised Li'l Cheese even higher, blowing raspberries into her stomach. She squealed while trying to push her mother away before being set down again.
"So, you gonna show us or just run around after an announcement like that!" Pinkie pestered while Li'l Cheese attempted to rub away the rest of the tingles left on her stomach. Her lips curled into a smile as she began wiggling her flank. Before anyone could question her further in the matter, she took a deep breath and began dumping her exposition at a pace that was barely understandable.
"When I woke up this morning I saw that there was a unicorn asking for a pretty large order of party supplies and baked goods and since I couldn't find you guys or Pumpkin and Pound at the time, don't worry, I found them later. I decided I could try and fill it out. So I started baking and baking and it took forever but I worked as fast as I could, getting all the supplies in the boxes and then when I finished and gave everything to him I realized I was doing a pretty good job at it without any help and then THIS APPEARED!" Li'l Cheese pointed to the slice of cheese custard pie while looking up at both of her parents who were smiling excitedly. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Pinkie and Cheese being as excited for her cutie mark as she was.
"Well young filly," Cheese began in his 'serious party planner cowboy' tone, "this definitely deserves some sort of celebration! You just choose what, when, and where and we'll do the rest!" He ruffled her thick mane until it became somehow even more frizzy. Li'l Cheese looked around and thought long and hard about what she wanted to do. She had already been to so many different celebrations from traveling with her parents while they worked, that she never really got to experience anything else.
"Hey," She began, "Mrs. Fluttershy and Mr. Discord always talk about how they have picnics and tea parties by the forest and for as chaotic as he is, he seems to really like it. Could we maybe possibly if it's ok with you, do a picnic with lots of food? We can also play in the fields! It would be a good way for me to get some of my energy out." Li'l Cheese tried to come up with reasons to go as if they would say no. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for a hopeful yes.
"That sounds like a great idea hun! We can go for a late lunch cause daddy and I still have to finish the last little bit of inventory and pack for the picnic. Plus it'll be great to just relax for a little bit, don'tcha think?" Pinkie responded with a chirp in her voice. Cheese nodded in agreement from the other side of Li'l Cheese, who was looking happier than a seagull in a food court.
"Yes yes yes yes yes! I can do the picnic packing and I'll get started right away! Thank you thank you so much, you guys are the best! Love ya!" Li'l Cheese quickly embraced her parents before running off back upstairs, leaving the room strangely quiet.
"Are you sure the Everfree forest won't be a problem?" Cheesed questioned. "I mean, even though I haven't lived here for quite as long, I've heard of countless incidents where it's gone absolutely bonkers." Pinkie turned around to face him and smiled warmly.
"Well it hasn't really done any damage since Sombra came back, and even then, Starswirl said that the Tree-house of Harmony would keep the plant life at bay. We haven't had a timberwolf sighting in quite some time, and it's not the cockcatrice migration season so I think we'll be fine." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before starting towards the exit. "I'mma go check to make sure Li'l Cheese isn't destroying anything real quick. She may have gotten her cutie mark for baking and party supplying but I still don't trust her with anything more than a spoon." Cheese gave a condescending smile and nodded before returning back to the checklists as Pinkie left the room entirely.
Shortly after she left, Cheese heard a loud crash followed by indistinct shouts coming from Pumpkin and Pound Cake in the kitchen above him. He couldn't keep himself from laughing a little knowing that his little rascal of a daughter was undoubtedly the one who caused all the chaos. Well at least she's trying. He thought to himself before unpacking the last couple of things.
Author's Note
Normally I'm on fanfiction.net but I thought it was time to expand a little bit.
After the loud crash, Pinkie turned her head around the corner of the hallway and was met with the site of baking supplies all over the floor, Pumpkin staring back at her with a shocked expression, and Li'l Cheese trying to balance on a chair with a large pan on her head. It wasn't hard to put two and two together and figure out she had been trying to reach something in the top cupboards. Pinkie shook her head and sighed as she began cleaning the mess. Li'l Cheese instantly felt bad and started to help pick everything up as quickly as she could, being careful not to make an even bigger mess in the process. Seeing as everything was being taken care of, Pumpkin returned to the front counter. Pinkie and Li'l Cheese cleaned to a soft tune provided by Li'l Cheese. It wasn't until Pinkie stopped in the middle of picking up a pan and stared off into the distance that Li'l Cheese felt like she needed to say something.
"Sorry mommy. ...uh...are you ok mama?" Li'l Cheese questioned, stopping her cleaning to sit as well. Pinkie blinked and shook her head before smiling.
"Oh it's nothin' honey bun. It's just I never believed it when ponies say time seems to move faster as you get older, feels like just a couple years ago I first left the rock farm and came to live here. But it's a little hard to grasp that was so long ago." Pinkie scoffed at herself. Great, now I'm starting to sound like mom with all her existential talk. It was almost bittersweet to think of how dull her mother sounded when she was smaller. She quickly changed the subject on a vow not to sound boring to her daughter.
"Welp! I think we're just about ready to start making the food! How about you go pick what you want to make and we'll bake it together."
"Okie dokie lokie!" Li'l Cheese quickly sprung from the floor and began sifting through the cookbook. Shortly after all the supplies were gathered, the duo began their quest for pastries and candy. Pinkie, upon reviewing the contents layed on the counter, frowned, however she was clearly amused at the little act.
"Come on, you know you better at least get something healthy in there or else you will feel sick." Before she could finish, a blur of yellow and pink passed her and slammed the fridge shut, tossing something new on the counter.
"Tada! See how healthy I am?!" Li'l Cheese smiled as she presented a single carrot on the counter. She left the room before Pinkie could scold her on anything else and came back shortly later with a large picnic basket.
"Come on! Let's get packin' mama!" She began throwing paper plates, napkins, and boxes of apple juice into the basket with unbelievable speed and precision.
"Woah! Hold your horses! We gotta actually bake the stuff before we can put it in the basket." Pinkie held up a mixing bowl and gave it to the filly. Li'l Cheese blushed with embarrassment as she accepted the bowl and grabbed a whisk. Pinkie picked her up and placed her on a chair next to the counter so she could see better. As Pinkie began mixing ingredients in a different bowl, she started humming a tune all too familiar to Li'l Cheese; however, she never bothered to get to its origin.
"Hey mama, how come you always sing that song when you bake?" Li'l Cheese propped her head up on her forearm and wiggled to the tune. Not realizing she was humming, Pinkie smiled in delight as she recalled the memory.
"Well, you remember Applebloom right?" Li'l Cheese nodded before Pinkie continued. "Well when she was about your age, she was desperate for her cutie mark. So much so that she asked me to help her bake. She didn't believe that she could do very well so I made up a little song to help her get into the groove of things. Turns out even with the tune she wasn't very good at baking. But I still end up singing or humming it whenever I bake." She laughed a little while pouring the contents of the bowl into a baking pan. Li'l Cheese smiled widely as she handed her mix to Pinkie as well. Almost as soon as the pans were in the oven, Cheese Sandwich jumped in from the room over and hung an arm around each of the girls.
"Finally finished! So you know what that means? It's picnic time my party pony pack!" He jumped while giving each a side hug and squeezing them. He grabbed a pre-made plate of snacks and held it up to the girls.
"And what's a picnic without gouda and crackers! I already made all the snacking stuff and I see you two have all the sweets covered." Cheese winked as he peered over Li'l Cheese's head while continuing to walk through the kitchen. Upon looking at the mess on the counters, he squished between them.
"You two look like you could use some help. Scooch your tooshes so I can get in on the action." He jumped in and grabbed one of the recipes that Li'l Cheese had picked out.
Roughly an hour later, the small family was finally ready to head out the door. Cheese began lathering Li'l Cheese in sunscreen, much to her disapprovement. Pinkie put the now fully packed basket on her back. The trio waved goodbye to the Cake twins and started making their way towards the forest. Shortly after they left the center of Ponyville, Li'l Cheese tapped on Cheese's shoulder.
"Hey daddy? Can I get a piggy back ride until we get there?" Cheese looked down at her.
"Sure! Hop on, my cheesy kin!" Li'l Cheese grinned and jumped as high as she could, landing on Cheese's back. His head dipped down and quickly let out his breath.
"Oof! Holy Celestia! You're getting big, kid! You gotta weigh at least as much as the sun!" Li'l Cheese laughed as he greatly exaggerated how heavy she really was. Seeing as she enjoyed the playful pokes, he decided to continue.
"Oh how it feels like yesterday when you were born. We were freaking out because you were so small. When I held you, you barely fit in one of my arms. In fact, you were the size of a gummy bear ya know!"
"Daddy." Li'l Cheese giggled. "I wasn't that small! I should know cause I was there!" She tried to use his own game against him, but in the end failing.
"Oh quiet you. You were just an itty bitty baby, how could you remember such things. All you did was sleep and cry."
"Well I'm magical, I have special powers that allow me to be more powerful than the most powerfulest alicorn princess in the entire world. I can see time, when everything starts, ends, and in the middle."
"And I'm gonna cut you two off right there before that conversation takes a wacky and not to mention creepy, turn." Pinkie chuckled while putting a hoof in between the two earth ponies. Li'l Cheese frowned at her for cutting off their banter. The scowl quickly turned into laughter as they all climbed the hill that Fluttershy and Discord would normally sit during the tea parties they had outside of Discord's dimension.
The family quickly laid out the picnic blanket underneath the singular oak tree and began dishing out the contents of the basket, which included a small celebratory cake, a couple of sandwiches, jello, and of course, some cheese custard. After eating their fill, the three could be seen at the bottom of the hill and at the edge of the forest playing with a ball and rubber chicken. Li'l Cheese would try and alternate between bouncing the ball and the chicken, trying to keep one in the air at all times. The jumping motions would bounce her cotton candy pink mane in a way that looked like a jellyfish; which she quickly found enjoyment in such movement.
Seeing as she was entertaining herself, Pinkie and Cheese trekked back up the hill and settled themselves down against the trunk of the tree. Not a single sound could be heard other than the gentle wind blowing, an occasional bird chirping, and the laughs and squeals of Li'l Cheese and Boneless 6 off in the distance. Smiling, Pinkie curled up into the crook of Cheese's neck and sighed happily as he wrapped one of his arms around her and brought her in close. The two cuddled together for quite some time, watching their daughter frolic in the distance. Li'l Cheese had moved on from the ball and chicken to chase a vibrantly colorful butterfly.
"You think I should eventually give her one of my itty bitty party canons?" Pinkie spoke, seemingly out of nowhere in particular.
"Well that certainly came out of nowhere. What brought it up?" Cheese laughed and turned to face her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"To be honest I really don't know." Pinkie giggled slightly. "I was just thinking of how much she acts like us, which is a struggle in itself. I don't really think I got this parenting thing under control yet. I mean, what if something happens and I don't know what to do? After taking care of the twins for so long you'd think I would know a little better when regarding our own child don't ya think?! I've just been kinda going with the flow for the past eight-ish years." Pinkie ranted on and flailed her arms in the air, smacking Cheese in the process.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Cheese! Did I hurt you?" Cheese rubbed his cheek and rotated his jaw around. A red blemish began to slowly emerge on his face.
"For somepony ranting, you sure can pack an accidental punch. Must come from working on the rock farm." He joked around before letting Pinkie know he was ok. After she nodded, he turned to a more serious tone.
"But back on track, isn't that what parenting is? Just going with the flow? Plus taking care of your own child takes a lot more time than babysitting others. After all, it's not like there's going to be a book that would exactly sum up parenting."
"Don't underestimate Twilight's ability on books." Pinkie interrupted with a smirk.
"True, but you get my point. Besides, I think we may have gotten more of a handful than most considering how active Custard is. But to be honest, I think we're doing a pretty good job at this." Cheese kicked back against the tree and put his arms behind his head.
"Didn't you almost drop her along with a bunch of toys, bottles, and dishes?" Pinkie said slyly, earning a very distraught look from her husband's face as he quickly sat up.
"Ok that was one time." Cheese stomped his forelegs down for emphasis.
"You know I wouldn't harm any of you on purpose. Now you on the other hoof." He playfully poked at her. Pinkie scoffed and pretended to be offended by the statement. She lightly shoved him.
"Oh shush up." She responded. Cheese turned and grabbed both of her hooves with his and looked up at her.
"Hey, I made a vow to protect you guys, through thick and thin!" He dramatically put his arm to his chest as if he were a guard saluting.
"Oh yeah? When did you say that?" Pinkie playfully brushed him off.
"Remember when you were about four months until you were due and you went through that panic phase? You could barely move or get through the day without breaking down or giving up and going to bed." Pinkie looked down and recalled the memory, as she reflected, she felt that she had maybe overreacted more than she should have.
"Yeah, well it was a hard time! It was shortly after Twilight moved back to Canterlot and Rainbow back to Cloudsdale. It takes a lot of effort getting used to having almost half your friends suddenly move away after ten years of not being separated. Plus not being able to really move as freely as I used to be was starting to become a hassle. But what does that have to do with anything?" She stated defensively with a hint of desperation.
"Don't worry, I'm getting there. The only thing that had made you calm down and feel even the slightest bit better about everything was when we just started talking to each other. Talking about everything, from how the day was to how much Li'l Cheese was kicking you and how it would bother you at night. But the one conversation that I have truly taken to heart, is when I made my most important promise in the world, to do my best not to let anything happen to you guys. You know I didn't have that growing up so I want to make sure Li'l Cheese has that protection and love. Sure you were half asleep when I said it, but I really did mean it." Cheese let go of her and gave a sincere smile.
"Oh come here you." Pinkie grabbed him and squeezed him. "And you're doing an amazing job so far Cheesie." She cooed back to him. The tender moment was interrupted by Li'l Cheese yelling with a devilish grin from the bottom of the hill, now supporting a glowing honey color as the sun began to set.
"Ewwww! Gross!" Li'l Cheese proceeded to make gagging noises and clench her stomach. When she opened her eyes, she was met with a smug grin from her mother as she began to stand up. The filly's eyes dilated before she turned around and started squealing as she saw Pinkie begin to run down the hill. Pinkie tackled her and started messing up her hair more than it already was.
"Come here you little stinker, you're gonna pay for that." The two girls fought in the grass next to the forest for some time. Cheese watched the scene unfold and chuckled as he saw his wife launch herself at Li'l Cheese. He thought about joining them but found it to be more entertaining to watch the tickle war from afar.
As the two rolled closer to the Everfree, he became more attentive, still not trusting whatever was in that jungle of a forest. That's when he saw them approach and his heart dropped. He pulled out his glasses and squinted to make sure he wasn't seeing things. No, that's not right. That shouldn't happen! It's not even night yet. Before he could process anything, Cheese began sprinting down the hill, his heart started beating rapidly as he quickly picked up the pace. He had to do something before it was too late.
"PINKAMENA! CUSTARD CHEESE! MOVE! LOOK OUT YOU GOTTA MOVE!" Cheese managed to gasp out the words. Pinkie looked up at Cheese who was frantically running at them. She was about to ask what's wrong until she heard a large branch snap from beside her.
"T-T-TIMBERWOLVES" Cheese screamed at the top of his lungs. Two timberwolves snarled as they approached from the side. Their stench quickly filled the air and their wooden bones cracked with every movement they made. Pinkie could vaguely hear the muffled yelling of Cheese; her world however became mute as she felt her daughter clench her rear leg and start shivering in fear. She couldn't think straight, the only time she had faced a timberwolf was with her group of friends. The timberwolves crouched down and snapped their jaws, cornering Pinkie and Li'l Cheese against the forest. Pinkie snapped back into reality and snatched up Li'l Cheese as quickly as possible and threw her on her back.
"NO!" Cheese saw Pinkie attempt to slide away from the Timberwolves towards an odd looking tree. He prayed they would make it but with the way the wolves were about to pounce, he knew that there would be no possible way of them escaping if he didn't do something. Time was running out as one of them began to leap into the air, its jaws wide open to capture and tear apart anything in its way. Cheese couldn't bear the thought of what the timberwolves would do if they managed to get ahold of his wife and daughter. The last thing on his mind were the consequences for what he was about to do once he saw Li'l Cheese scream.
Pinkie cocked her head to the left upon hearing her daughter scream. Much to her shock, a Timberwolf was quickly descending on top of them. She was tempted to fight back but she couldn't risk them getting ahold of Li'l Cheese. The pink mare was out of ideas and hope until she heard Cheese call out their names. Suddenly she felt an unexpectedly strong force ram into her side, sending both her and Li'l Cheese sliding across the muddy outskirts of the forest. She yelped in pain and surprise, but nothing could prepare her for the blood curdling scream that echoed through the valley. Thinking it came from Li'l Cheese, Pinkie turned her head towards the filly, but only saw her looking in the distance with a mortified face. Pinkie quickly snapped her head to the other side and gasped in horror and let out her own scream.
"CHEESE, NO!" Cheese grunted as his vision became white and blurry from the searing pain that coursed through his body. He felt the timberwolf clench down harder on his leg and back, drawing more blood than the initial bite had already done. Cheese began trying to kick the timberwolf in attempt to break free. The wolf hung him upside down and began ripping more of his orange coat and tearing through the flesh. The snapping of his hip and pelvic bone could be heard almost in slow motion before the wolf dropped him. Cheese gasped before he came in contact with the hard earth head and shoulder first. He tried to put most of the weight on his right shoulder to avoid damaging his head. Unfortunately as he hit the ground, he heard and felt an excruciating popping. Rolling over, he cried out in pain and clutched his shoulder with his good arm. One of the timberwolves harshly stepped on Cheese's broken hip, causing him to choke out a few sobs. Its claws dug further into his back while it put more weight onto him. His throat burned as it seemingly closed off and the dirt and blood that got in his mouth didn't help either. Hopefully I bought a little time for them to escape. The other timberwolf started making its way towards Pinkie and Li'l Cheese, who were now standing up again. Seeing as she didn't have a choice, Pinkie painfully set Li'l Cheese off to the side and rushed into the field to fight. However, as soon as she approached the timberwolves, she knew that Cheese was in dire need of medical help, with a last ditch effort she called out to her daughter.
"Li'l Cheese! Go get your cousins! We need help! Hurry!" Pinkie grunted as she used her hind legs to buck the wolf in the jaw. Li'l Cheese gave a shaky nod and started sprinting away from her parents. She glanced back, but at the sight of her father, she quickly turned around and ran faster. Oh how greatly she wished Spike or even another unicorn were around to set the wolves ablaze.
As she watched Li'l Cheese leave, Pinkie quickly turned and ran towards the oddly shaped tree at the edge of the forest. She reached into the rotted knot and grabbed out an emergency party canon. Unlike her blue one, this one was a dark green and supported a more compact look. Quickly filling it up with rocks, she glared at the wolves, trying not to look at the state Cheese was in at the moment.
"Ok listen here you brutes! Imma give you one chance to leave or I start shooting." The timberwolves only snarled at Pinkie's response and both of them started making their way toward her. Ok, this is good, they're not on Cheese anymore. She thought, trying to stay somewhat positive in this situation.
All Cheese wanted to do was give up at the moment, he couldn't tell if his backside was numb or if it was in excruciating pain. His head throbbed and he could taste the bitter blood and dirt mixture in his mouth. He needed to help, he just had to get back up. Tears slid off his face as he tried to lift himself up with his one good arm. Cheese yelped in agony and immediately collapsed upon feeling the fiery pain spread. The timberwolf's leg that pushed down on Cheese made it nearly impossible to breathe; in fact, it was the only thing keeping him awake at the moment. But then, the strangest thing happened, the timberwolf suddenly got off his back. Cheese snapped his eyes open and coughed violently, projecting a concerning amount of blood in the process. A small stream ran from his head into his right eye, making it harder to see. The drowsiness that overtook him was almost too much to bare. He could feel the stickiness that covered his stomach and the ground, Cheese didn't even have to look in order to know that he was losing too much blood. The last thing he saw was Pinkie rushing towards him after she shot rocks into the mouths of the wolves, causing them to crumble as the rocks lodged themselves in their throats. That's my girl . He thought as an almost calm sensation spread throughout his body. Then he was gone.
Pinkie gasped, tears already starting to prick her eyes. She quietly whispered 'no' over and over again as she crouched down next to Cheese. Trembling, she pulled him closer and put her head against his chest, hoping, praying to sweet Celestia, that there was any sign of him making it. Her eyes graced over his bruised and blood ridden body as she listened for anything, it was obvious to see the unnatural position his hind leg took as his hip bent at a sharp angle; his shoulder wasn't any better either as it hung loosely on her lap. Upon hearing nothing, Pinkie quickly backed away and clasped her mouth. Tears started to flow freely and her mane deflated significantly.
"No…..Cheese. Please you gotta say something! W-what about the party pony pack? It's supposed to be Cheese Sandwich, Pinkie Pie, and the Custard Cheese...it c-can't just be Custard Cheese and Pinkie Pie now..." Her voice began to quaver and break as she began to shake him slightly.
"Come on! P-please please please! You're going to be alright, come on. Ch-cheesie ...you can't do this to me! No…..no no no no NO!" Pinkie pulled his head closer and brushed the blood, dirt and hair off his face. The desperation in her voice and movements became more apparent when he didn't respond to her pleas. She began choking out sobs after she started shaking him more harshly than before. Her panic amplified significantly after attempting to open his eyes, only to come face to face with the fact that the life had been drained from him. His normally bright and lively grass green eyes were dulling by the second. Pinkie felt her breath and heart stop for a split second. She didn't say a word of rejection, not a single contradicting outburst; she just cradled him tightly, rocked back and forth, and began sobbing to her heart's content. The amount of pain that tore her from the inside was unbearable, she didn't think it was possible to feel such a harsh stabbing to her heart. Her cries and screams echoed off the valley mountains and back to her. She buried her face in his frizzled mane in order to muffle at least some of the unpleasant noise, but to no prevail.
Li'l Cheese was currently on the back of Applejack, racing next to Big Mac. When she first arrived pounding on the door of the farm, she had hyperventilated and nearly passed out while pointing in the general direction of the incident. Her not being able to explain how dire the situation was, landed her on her cousin's back, sprinting off in that general direction.
"Ya gotta calm down sugarcube," Applejack started in between breaths, "Just take some deep breaths and tell us what happened." Trying to listen to her cousin's advice, Li'l Cheese put a hoof to her stomach and deeply inhaled before shakily managing to speak.
"D-daddy's r-r-really hurt. A t-timberwolf came a-and I don't know what happened! H-he screamed a-a lot. It hurts my head to t-think about b-b-but next thing I know, I'm running t-to find you guys." Applejack winced and turned towards her older brother, also wearing a concerned look. Upon reaching the hill, all movement ceased as the Apple sibling's eyes widened. Silently, Applejack traded off Li'l Cheese to Big Mac, who proceeded to shield her eyes with his forearm. Wasting no time, she rushed over to the crying mare that sat near the forest, sobbing into her lap.
"Pinkie Pie... What exactly happened?" Applejack instantly regret such a dumb question when Pinkie shot her daggers. The daggers however, quickly soften after seeing the kindness presented by her cousin. Pinkie returned to Cheese and began sobbing again before calming herself down enough to speak.
"H-he's gone AJ. I was too late. I should h-have never come here." Pinkie shook like a leaf in between shakey breaths; Applejack sat down next to her and hugged her tightly. Applejack grimaced at the sight of Cheese before taking Pinkie's head and bringing it close to her chest, somehow that made her sob harder but the orange mare knew that the only way to move onto the next task was to let it all out. She lowered and hushed her tone.
"Ah'm so sorry sugarcube. Nopony deserves this, and Ah really wish Ah could take it all away. How long has he...umm." She struggled to find the right words as to not set off another breakdown. Pinkie picked up the clues and answered her unfinished question.
"A-about f-five minutes before you g-guys c-came." The hiccups made her speech almost unintelligible, but Applejack managed. She quickly sat up in realization.
"Only five minutes? We might still have a chance! Big Mac!" She quickly waved him over with Li'l Cheese in tow.
"Quick, y'all gotta get Cheese Sandwich to the hospital! I'll take Li'l Cheese and Pinkie, you just focus on gettin' him there big bro." Big Mac nodded and Applejack grabbed Li'l Cheese and put her stetson on top of her afro. Big Mac hoisted Cheese onto his back and began sprinting off in the direction they originally came. As Applejack looked back and forth between Pinkie and Li'l Cheese, she could see that Li'l Cheese hadn't been able to process fully what had just happened, she knew that eventually she'd break down too, even though in her opinion, Li'l Cheese was too young. But as she reflected on the scenario, she realized that Li'l Cheese wasn't much older than she was when she lost both of her parents. Applejack frowned at the thought and without thinking, embraced Li'l Cheese in a tight hug.
Li'l Cheese didn't know how to react to the whole situation. She didn't even let that many tears escape from her ducts, she had been abnormally quiet and just accepted the hug. Something about that embrace made her tears fall more freely before it was too much to bare and quickly turned into Applejack and began crying quietly. She could feel her older cousin gently stroke her mane and whisper quietly as if to say it were alright.
"D-do you r-really think Daddy'll be ok? Honestly?" Li'l Cheese stuttered. She slightly lifted her head in order to make eye contact. Applejack looked up towards Pinkie, who's tear stained face bore a similar expression to her daughter. She looked back down and sucked on her lips.
"Honestly, Ah dunno sweetheart ...yer Pa looked pretty beat up and while five minutes is a heck of a long time to try and bring somepony back, it's always worth a shot." She quietly spoke, her voice rolled out her mouth a soothing matter, making Li'l Cheese stifle her sobs. Only a miracle could save them now.
Author's Note
It was super duper hard to not stray from what I had planned cause as I was writing so many other possible story lines came up lol.
