The search was fruitless. It was impossible to find three flying creatures in an area of several dozens of hectares of land. Inkie and Blinkie were pretty upset, but this wasn't the first time Pinkie managed to put a smile back on their faces. She told her sisters that the “fuzzyflies” probably wanted to go back to their families. She guessed that was why the two others had come, to search for Blueie. Despite the depressing sight of the “rock farm”, the three fillies still managed to have a good time, making up fairy-tales about their lost animal friends, as they wandered around.

Noon came. There was no sight of Clyde. As Martha had already anticipated this, she told the girls they would simply have lunch without him.

After lunch everypony started the work on the rock farm. Martha advised her daughters to move the pebbles from the eastern field to the southern filed, since over there they would get more sun. This harmless exercise would keep the girls busy for a couple of hours. Her husband had told Martha she should stick with the whole rock farm story, so that is what she would do.

In the end, rocks were no fun! Fun probably wasn't the first word that came to mind when thinking about strawberries, but it was much more entertaining to take care of a couple of berries than of a couple of pebbles. Pinkie's doubts about the idea of a rock farm grew, as she tended to the rocks. She couldn't really tell why, but there was a completely different feel to it. The strawberry bushes reacted to her in some way. They seemed happy when they got sun, relieved when they got water, and scared when it got dark. The rocks on the other hoof gave away no reaction whatsoever. But in the end Pinkie trusted her parents. If they said rocks needed to be moved, she would help to move them.

*  *  *

The sun was almost setting. The pebbles had been shifted for quite a while and Pinkie, Inkie, and Blinkie had started goofing off. They did enjoy their leisure, but none of the three fillies could really put their heart into it. The loss of their pets, the tardiness of their father, and most of all the massive change of scenery wore heavy on their mind.

Pinkie approached her mother, who was emptily staring down the road towards the city. “Mother, why hasn't father come home yet.”

Martha set up that fake smile she was slowly getting familiar to. “I'm sure he just ran into one of his friends while in town and he forgot the time, while they were catching up. Your father is really excited about the new rock farm. He would probably tell him all about it.”

“Mother, is there really...” The pink filly stopped. Suddenly her mother looked very tired.

“What is it, sweetie?”

“Nothing. Do you think I could help you prepare dinner?”

“That would be lovely. But before that tell your sisters they should stay close to the house. I want to keep an eye on them from the kitchen window.”

*  *  *

For the most part Baltimare was just one big port. There were other important harbors in Equestria, namely Manehatten and Fillydelphia, but none of them depended on sea trade as much. Some experts predicted this would inevitably be the city's downfall and actions had to be taken preemptively, but the  politicians reacted slowly to these claims at best. Among these docks Clyde Pie found himself hired as a stevedore.

Clyde asked his new co-worker: “I still don't understand. How exactly does this work? That other guy told me next to nothing.” The stallion that approached him had only told him, that there were always more ponies needed at the docks. Once they arrived in the dock area, he was assigned to the stallion he was now talking to.

“Basically we sit around and wait until a ship arrives. The overseer then calls a couple of us over there, to move crates from the ship into the port's warehouses and vice versa. You have to make sure the overseer catches your name, otherwise you won't get paid.” The veteran dock worker made a small pause. “Now for the actual work: we usually work in teams of two. One pony secures the load on the other one's back. As a newbie, you will probably have to carry the loads. Don't forget, for the heavier loads you will have to use the pulleys. If in doubt, use the pulleys. Believe me, I've seen enough newbies break their backs on their very first day.”

“Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world,” Clyde said, more to himself.

His co-worker just gave him a confused look. “We're here. Let me introduce you to the others.”

*  *  *

There had been other times her father had been gone all day, but this time was different. Her father had never been this late and Pinkie also noticed how her mother was nervously glancing out the window at any given opportunity.

Pinkie offered her mother to help with the dishes, but Martha refused. She wanted to be left alone for a while and the pink filly could sense it.

Her sisters also had been awfully quiet at the dinner table. Pinkie wanted to be a good big sisters and try to put their minds at ease, but she had no idea how to do it. She didn't even know how to calm her own mind. Just strolling around the farm made her feel uncomfortable. Despite all the strange events that had occurred it still felt like it wasn't over. It kind of felt like they had just reached the eye of the storm.

Pinkie, like her sisters, decided to have an early night. Hopefully her mother would do the same.

*  *  *

“Ten bits?! I worked my flank off all day for just ten lousy bits?!” Clyde barked. Ten bits. That would mean a full workday would add up to twenty bits. That wouldn't nearly suffice to feed a family of five.

The day had been tough. For six hours straight he had been hauling crates from one end of the dock to the other. Long Arm, his co-worker had finally introduced himself, wasn't kidding about the pulleys. Every muscle and every bone in his back ached. Clyde might not have been the sturdiest of ponies, but still the farm work required a lot of physical strength, so he thought he would be prepared. What got to him was probably the lack of breaks. There had been some, basically whenever there was no ship around, but they were short and very sporadic. He couldn't possibly imagine to do this for an entire day.

Long Arm came over to comfort him. “I'm sorry Clyde, but this is pretty much what your first days will be like. The pay will gradually increase over time. They do this to separate the weak from the strong. You see, once you've worked here for a month, law requires the employers to cover for any injuries induced during work. Well until then...” Long Arm hesitated for a moment. “Here.” He handed Clyde five bits. “I know it's not much, but hopefully you can put it to good use.”

Clyde was unsure if he should take it. It felt awfully wrong to rely on the pity of those around him. But if the next days would be anything like this one he would badly need the money. And he would probably continue to work as a stevedore, since he didn't know what else to do.

“Thanks, Long Arm. I... I will definitely pay you back.” That promise sounded empty, even to his own ears.

“Don't mention it. I've been there myself. You shouldn't let selfless pride stand in the way of supporting your family.”

“You're right. Thanks again. I probably need to get home. What time do I start tomorrow.”

“Didn't the overseer tell you?” Long Arm knew this was a sign that the forepony didn't think Clyde had it in him. Clyde would have to prove otherwise. “We start at half past six. You should be punctual or you will get by-passed by the overseer.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

They said their goodbyes and Clyde tried to hurry back home to his family.

*  *  *

It must have been long past ten o'clock when Clyde Pie got home. His entire family was already sound asleep. He carefully sneaked in, checked if there were any leftovers from dinner (thankfully there were), and then he just hit the hay.

So much had changed on this day. There was much to think about. But the farmer pony put all those thoughts aside, for he would have to get up early tomorrow. It only took him a couple of moments until he fell asleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4: A lead?! Estimated time remaining: 36 Minutes