Anna's wings beat faster and faster. Her hooves stretched out in front of her as she pulled with full force. Pippi Longstocking and even Willie were assisting in the hard work. They'd respected their friend's wishes for a non-magical, traditional barn-raising. Tommy was moaning and straining along with her friends too. They were all giving it their best. Spike, on the other hand, was happily away playing aid to the new filly summer camp.
"Remind me again," Annika said. She was watching her friends tug and pull with all their might as they tried to raise the last barn wall. "Why are we making this big ol' metally-barn again?"
Cassandra's hooves dug deeper into the dirt as she forced her body to move forward. This wasn't the mare's first barn raising, but this was the first time that she'd ever raised a barn made out of iron and thicker oak. Even she was sweating as the harness around her chest tried to pull her backwards. Still, Cassandra was no stranger to hard work and she managed to keep her patience with the pink pony as she continued to work.
"I told ya! I need a-oghf-stronger barn to keep them pesky thieves from getting at the-urgh-special cider stock this year." Cassandra huffed as she groaned and pulled harder. She temporarily ignored Annika as she felt the wall finally lift into near-ready position. "All right, everypony! PULL!"
All six children pulled with all their might until, finally…
SLAM!
The last barn wall was finally in place! Everyone cheered and congratulated one another on a job well done.
"Now none of them ornery varmints will be getting at our apples and those thieves won't get a single taste of the Apple Family's cider!"
"Yay!" Annika shouted and pulled out her party supplies. "Now we can have a Barn Raising Party to celebrate this HUGE success!" She started tossing out streamers and blowing up balloons.
Pippi Longstocking laughed and shook her head softly. "That actually sounds like a great idea Annika, but maybe after we get ourselves cleaned up?" Pippi's stomach took that instant to growl loud enough for every pony in the room to hear clearly. She blushed brightly and placed her hoof on her belly and cleared her throat. "Excuse me!" she said bashfully.
"Haha!" Anna slipped out of her harness and stretched out her sore wings. "I guess hard work does build up an appetite." She laughed again, clearly making friendly fun at Pippi Longstocking's loud tummy. Then, just to mock her, Dash's own stomach gave a growl and rumble. Her eyes went wide and she blushed. All the other children laughed. Anna put one hoof on her belly and rubbed it softly. "Aheheh, yeah. Well, like I said, hard work makes every hard-working pony hungry. It's normal."
They all had a good laugh then.
"Alrighty then." Cassandra slipped off her own harness and set it up against the barn wall. "Best get you girls inside and treat you to some sandwiches and then some of Granny's own home-made apple pie!"
Everyone rejoiced at the promise of a delicious lunch and they all moved towards the barn door. However, once they reached the thing they were all stopped abruptly. They collided with one another's flanks.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Willie whined.
Everyone looked to the front of the team where Cassandra was standing, slipping her hat back onto her head more evenly.
"Well now," she said, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that, everypony." She laughed a bit and then placed her hoof on the door and gave it a solid push. The thing wouldn't budge. She tried to push harder, with both of her front legs, but that didn't work either. As she realized what was happening, the panic in her chest forced an angry growl from her hungry gut that had been promised a good meal. She patted it to urge its silence and swallowed thickly.
"What's taking so long?" Willie chimed in again. "Open up the door Cassandra."
"Well, uh, ya see…." Apple didn't want to break it to her friends, but she couldn't get the darn thing opened. Now that she was thinking about it, she knew why too.
"Come on, AJ!" Anna flew by the other girls. "This isn't time for games. We're all starving!" With confidence, Dash held out one hoof and ended up hurting it against the door as she simply flew forward. "Ow! Hey! What the-?" She growled at the door for not obeying her wishes, and then she prepped to push it harder. As she started throwing herself against the door, the other children began to worry and Cassandra knew she had to come clean.
"Why won't the door open?" Tommy asked hesitantly from the back of the team.
"Well-uhhh-that's just the thing…." Everyone looked at Cassandra who had a guilty expression on her face. "It seems like the whole 'stronger barn' idea was a good one." Everyone's eyes widened. They knew what was coming next. "Ya see, I forgot to make sure that the door could be unlocked from the inside, or that some pony was outside to unlock it once the wall was up."
"What!?" Anna shouted. "You mean this super heavy dumb door is locked? And we're trapped inside this place?"
"Yeah," Cassandra said to her friend. "That's 'bout the sum of it."
Anna's stomach seemed to have registered the noise too, because when it heard that Cassandra said they were trapped it roared in protest. The blue pegasus wrapped both of her front hooves around her mid-section and leered at Cassandra.
"What the heck!?"
"Now, now, Dashy," Willie said, flipping her mane. "There's no need for such rude or loud behavior." She trotted over to the door. Placing one hoof on her chest, she proudly stated that she had everything under control. "I shall get the door open using my felicitous magic!"
Pippi Longstocking's stomach growled again, this time a bit more quietly. She stroked the soft skin of her underside in small circled and hoped no one could hear how hungry she was.
"Willie, I don't think that's gonna-" but Apply Jack's words weren't acknowledged. The well-groomed unicorn tried to use the magic in her horn to open the door. However, she soon realized her magic wouldn't affect the barn at all. After two attempts, the white-coated mare began to get testy. "Like I said, that paint ya'll helped me put on it makes the whole thing magic proof."
"W-why in all of World would you want to do that!?" Willie cried.
"Well, duh! Ta keep out all the unicorns and other magic critters from just strolling in and take'n my cider! That the whole point in the first place!" Cassandra wasn't trying to be rude, but she already felt bad about forgetting about the lock and Willie had a way of getting under the skin of other children' flanks when she didn't get her way. Still, Cassandra managed to take a deep breath in. She held it for a long moment and let it out. Her stomach rumbled and moaned and she patted it sympathetically. "All right. I know we're all tired and hungry, but I'm sure Mac will be back from shopping soon. He'll notice we're not around and come looking for us here first. We won't be in here long."
"But what if he doesn't come back tonight!?" Annika gasped. She put her front hooves on the side of her face and balanced on her back ones as she threw herself around. "What if he ends up getting hungry and stops for a yummy lunch and then meets the pony of his dreams, but she's in a whole lot of trouble with the law because her no-good sister framed her for a cake-theft she was a part of! Then he'd have to travel all the way to the Manehattan to meet up with the mares' father and confront him about his own affections for the beautiful younger sister and then Bic Mac learns that the father is actually the lead of the Mafia but his eldest daughter went against their no-cake stealing rules and he wants Anna's Dad to bring her down! In return, he'd give Anna's Dad and his youngest daughter's marriage his full blessing! So of course, Anna's Dad accepts. But that means he will be traveling the world for weeks, maybe even years as he tried to bring down the evil cake-thieving older mare! And that means he won't come back here for a really really long time! And THAT means we'll be trapped in here until he gets back! When he brings his new bride home to meet his family so they can settle down on the farm, his sister and all of her friends will be nothing but dust in a super sturdy barn!"
Everyone was completely silent. They were all staring at Annika, most of them with unamused expressions on their faces.
"Right," Pippi Longstocking finally spoke up and broke the awkward silence. Everyone, including Annika, followed her lead. "Well, I'm sure that's not going to happen." She gave a soft glance over to Cassandra and moved over to be by her side. She looked out at the other four girls. "I'm sure Cassandra is right and someone will be by to let us out soon. We all just have to be patient."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. They would all just be patient. Unfortunately, as night fell, all of the six children were starting to fear something might have happened to Anna's Dadintosh after all. In addition to their exhaustion and chilliness, they were all terribly hungry and were now dealing with the constant complaints of taught bellies that hadn't seen food in almost a day's time.
Anna's stomach growled loudly. She punched it twice and regretted the move instantly. Instead, she just held it and glared down at the floor wishing she had something—anything—to eat.
Annika was a little bit different. Every time her stomach started to make noise, she'd make noise back and then giggle. It was like some sort of game with her.
Pippi Longstocking really admired her friend's lucky-go-happy personality, because as she lay resting on the barn floor she had a hard time even smiling as her tummy gurgled. She had taken to continuously stroking her sides and stomach. It seemed to be the only way to keep her organs from beating out everyone else's in a roaring match.
"I wish I knew a spell for turning dirt into food," Pippi admitted.
"Yeah," Anna added. "I wish you could too."
Pippi Longstocking rubbed her tummy with her hoofs and sighed as her organs grumbled and whined within her. She looked to her friends and saw they didn't look much better. She felt bad for complaining then.
Annika's belly growled and she growled back, but the giggle that followed was more lackluster than the previous ones. It was obvious the feeling was starting to get to her. "Gee, I sure am really hungry, guys. Like su-per hungry!"
"I feel ya, Sugarplum," Cassandra patted her own rumbling belly with her hoof and gave the locked door a pinning glance. "I'm sure we won't be here too much longer."
Of course, no one could have known that Anna's Dad had become distracted in town and that the distraction had led to the poor guy getting a little bit injured. The clonk to the head he received after Derpy's poor landing had sent the stallion to the hospital, and there was no one else at the Apple Family farm because Apple Blood was at summer camp and Granny was visiting family in the west.
"This is ridiculous," Willie whined and rolled on to her back in a stack of flour bags. She had one hoof over her eyes while the other rubbed circles over her bubbling white tummy. "I can't believe we don't even have any snacks to munch on!"
Anna had stopped anxiously flying around the barn and was now sitting on the floor with everybody else. She rolled both hoofs over her fussy stomach. It gurgled and visibly shook under her touch. She leered at it bitterly. "I'm so hungry I'd tear through, like, four barrels of apples!"
"All of the apples are still waiting to be bucked," Cassandra reminded Dash.
"Oh yeah. Well, I still could." Anna crossed her hooves over her middle.
Tommy massaged her own tummy, but the burbling sounds were less saddening to her than the noises of her pained friends. She didn't like being so hungry, but she just couldn't stand seeing her friends so miserable and starving! Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do abut the food situation, so she decided to try to distract them instead.
"Hey, everypony! I know we're hungry..." Her belly shook and whined to prove her point and she giggled weakly and patted it before continuing. "Like I said, we're all hungry, but wearing frowns won't change anything! So, I think we should chat to take our minds off the locked door until someone comes to help us."
"What should we talk about?" Anna moaned reluctantly. She turned onto her side, so the others could see when her belly trembled and shifted. She petted it absent-mindedly. "All I can think about is food."
"Well, why not food then?" Tommy nodded her head as if agreeing with herself. "Yeah! Let's talk about our favorite foods." She took a step closer to her friends. They took the hint and slowly formed a circle. No matter how they chose to sit though, they all kept at least one hoof available incase they needed to put them on their bellies to ease the upset noises.
"I'll start," Cassandra said with a small smile, but she was clearly trying to show optimism to encourage the others. She appreciated what Tommy was trying to do. Honestly, anything to make her momentarily forget her guilt and hunger was nice. "Ya'll know how much I love apples. Apple pie, apple cobbler. But right now? I'm craving a nice hearty glass of apple cider alongside a delicious apple turnover." Her belly grumbled in agreement and she gave it a tender stroke. "Sound good to you too, huh?" She joked, speaking to her upset center.
The other children and their tummies moaned and "yummed" in agreement.
"I'd be up for that," Anna said eagerly. "But what I could really go for is an extra-large grain and herb pizza with the works! Extra spicy!"
Annika nodded rapidly. The other children followed the motions of her head and seemed concerned she might shake it off her shoulders.
"Yes, yes, yes! Sounds yummy nummy! Hehehe, listen to my tummy!" It gurgled and screeched and she rolled the top of her hoof over it in broad circles. When it growled ever louder, she took to rubbing it up and down with both hoofs, dragging one after the other. "But even better than that? A giant cake! Like, the biggest cake ever! With section of white, and chocolate, and ginger, and buttercream! With different frosting in all the places too! That way, no matter where you bite in, you always get a new flavor experience!" She shouted and jumped and threw her hoofs in the air, but the racket of her stomach made her lower her hands back down to pet the beast beneath her pink pelt. "Oops! Don't worry tummy, I didn't forget you."
"Ugh, all this talk of food is just making me hungrier," Pippi Longstocking confessed. Her belly roared and she caressed it with sympathy. There wasn't a lot of room to be embarrassed anymore since all of the girls' bellies were making regular gowns actively now. Still, it wasn't very dignified. She wanted to stop thinking about food. Not just think about it even more!
"Come on, Pippi," Tommy coaxed.
The purple mare looked at her friends and their eager expressions and sighed.
"Oh, okay. I'd really like a tasty mandarin salad. With fresh leafy greens and nuts and loads and loads of fruit." She licked her lips at the thought and her belly burbled at the prospect. "What I wouldn't give for something like that right now. I'm totally empty."
"I'm so empty I could eat that entire giant magical cake Annika was talking about," Willie said as she rubbed her gurgling belly.
"No way!" Annika snapped, panicked. "It's my cake!"
The other girls looked at Annika with concern. Willie cleared her throat and cautiously continued.
"Yes, well. In any case I'd much prefer a nice omelet and a glass of tea anyway."
The circle came back to Tommy and everypony looked to her. "Hmm? Oh! Of course," She giggled nervously. "My turn. Well..." She considered for a moment. She rolled thoughtful circles over her center. It groaned and she nodded. "Yes, some raisin ice-cream sounds like it would really help relax my noisy belly, I think." The sensitive organ purred. Tommy gave a little smile. "That's what my poor hungry tummy would want." She talked about her belly like she might one of her baby animals. It was a bit unsettling to the others, but they tried to ignore it as just part of Tommy's character.
"Now what do we talk about?" Cassandra said. Her tummy shook harshly. "Ooph! No offense or nothing, but I think all this talk of food just made my empty insides even hungrier. I sure would like a bite of any of the nice food ya'll suggested." Her hooves tried to tame her rumbling insides.
"I agree with Cassandra," Pippi said, assuming her usual dominant tone. "I think talking about food will only make are loud bellies noisier. I think we should turn in for the night. It was getting pretty late outside anyway. I'm sure by now it's getting close to bedtime."
Everyone looked to one another and then down at their stomachs as each one seemed to pick just then to moan loudly. The looked back to one another and nodded in agreement, each mare moving her own hoof over her angry stomach.
"Let's all just rest and I'm sure by morning someone will let us out and we can all enjoy Granny's cooking." She held up her hoof in a matter-of-factly manner.
"But, who will tuck in the animals?" Tommy asked in concern.
"Try not to worry. I'm sure angel and the others can manage. Everything will be better in the morning. Get some sleep, everypony." Pippi spoke softly as she laid down and hoped she'd be able to get through the night. With the way her stomach was shaking and grumbling, she honestly doubted it would be an easy night's rest.
"Good night, everypony!" Cassandra said happily. She wouldn't let a little bit of hunger overpower her manners. Besides, it had been a great day.
"Night!" Anna circled a spot for a moment then finally laid down. When she lowered her head onto the ground, she found herself regretting lying on her stomach.
"Good night, girls." Willie chose to lay on her side, to give her belly more comfort room.
"Nighty night children and tummies!" Annika was overtly excited for someone who started snoring so quickly, but no one argued or found it too strange.
Everyone was ready to try and relax for the evening, but for many of the mares, the night had more to do with trying to hush their noisy stomachs than it did with sleeping. Still, they were all certain that the hunger wouldn't last for long.
To everyone's dismay, the imprisonment didn't end that night or the next morning. No, instead all six mares were left to their talkative guts and their hunger pains for another two nights afterwards. They rolled and whined when they couldn't use conversation or naps to pass the time.
At one point, Willie had to go on a rant about how eating was a very important part of a healthy and beautiful pony's health and how she had never understood young mares who would go so far as to starve themselves on purpose. That had brought up some interesting conversation for some time, but it didn't do much to make the girls feel any better about their circumstance.
After the first grumbles turned into full-blown gut-ache, all six children were becoming more than a bit desperate for something to eat. They knew if they didn't get something into their systems soon that they wouldn't make it at all.
Anna paced back and forth. The action just put more strain on her belly, but she was too restless to lie listlessly like the other mares.
"I'm losing it here! I'm starving! I need something to eat! I can feel my stomach curling up in there! It's trying to shrivel up. Or maybe those growls are it trying to escape my guts! Ugh, I'm going crazy with hunger here!" She had to pause every few steps to pat her grumbling belly. "Not to mention poor Tank has to be starving by now too. I sure hope he managed to get into his food bag." The blue pegasus threw her head back and roared. "Why is this happening to me!?"
"Settle down, Dashy," Cassandra said tiredly. She stroked her own tummy and sighed in concern. "All our bellies are acting up! We're all hungry. Can't you just relax for an apple-picking minute? I'm really worried about my family too, ya know. They should'a come by 'bout now. I don't know where they all've gone off to."
"I'm so worried about the animals. They must be as hungry as I am," Tommy said sadly as she caressed the quaking stretch of skin over her belly. "Almost at least. I am really empty. It sounds like my tummy is rebelling like a fussy lion! Poor kitty-tummy," Tommy cooed. "Don't worry. Just a little while longer."
"Ha!" Annika interjected wildly. "A little longer she says." She whispered to her own belly conspiratorially. "She's crazy!"
Pippi rubbed her bubbling stomach and whined both with hunger and aggravation. "Oh!" She said steamily. "I don't understand why Captain hasn't come to help us yet. Surely she knows I'm missing by now! I haven't sent a letter in days!"
"Psssh, she knows Spike is at summer camp! She isn't coming." Annika scoffed. "You know what though?" Suddenly Annikas eyes were glancing around the room suspiciously. "None of this would have happened in the first place if it weren't for...Willie! Yeah, Willie!"
"Excuse me?" Willie huffed indignantly. She started to get up to confront Annika, but she fell back down out of weakness. She rubbed her concaving belly with both hooves and whined, "This is not my fault! My poor belly didn't deserve this treatment! This is all Dashy's fault! She was Project Manager, she should have checked the lock!"
"Whoa! No! You are not pinning this on me!" Anna seethed. Her belly roared alongside her voice and she tried to pet its groans down to a quieter backdrop sound. "It was Cassandra's fault for wanting to build this dumb barn in the first place!"
"Hey now!" Cassandra didn't want to hear it, even though she'd been thinking it herself ever since they realized they were in that mess.
"What!? It is true!" Anna said defensively.
The mares began to whine and argue with each other. The hunger in their stomachs had finally caused them to break and they were all taking it out on each other. Finally, they each decided to stay in their own sections of the barn and suffer their hunger alone.
Another two days passed and the girls were all starting to feel rotten for fighting and isolating themselves. Sure, they were all painfully hungry, but so were their friends. Pippi Longstocking decided to make the first move.
On wobbly hooves, Pippi moved over to where Tommy was resting. The pink-haired pony had taken to silently sobbing in her little corner of the barn. She had wanted to hide away in the upper floor, the hayloft, but Anna had kicked her out of the upper levels the day before.
Tommy's belly grumbled at her again. She stroked it with a single hoof and begged for it to settle. Of course, it didn't work.
"I'm so hungry," Tommy whined. "I can't even image how hungry Angel and the others must be. Oh! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, everyone."
Pippi's face twisted a little as she looked at her friend and worried. She evened out her expression before she addressed the poor girl.
"Hey there, Tommy. You holding up okay?"
"Huh?" Tommy looked up at Pippi with large, sad mare eyes. "O-oh! Pippi Longstocking! I-" She cowered a little and the regret almost consumed Pippi.
Pippi Longstocking's stomach roared rudely and she gave it a soft set of pats before placing her hoof on Flutter Shy's shoulder. The skittish pony looked up at her friend with surprise.
"I'm sorry we fought. We're all really hungry, but that is no reason to argue. You're all my very best friends and we've been through so much together. Something like this shouldn't be what splits us apart." Pippi Longstocking's words of wisdom reached the ears of the other children in the barn. They all raised their heads and looked towards the other two.
Tommy's tummy rumbled and she griped it, ashamed of the noise it refused to stop making. "I'm sorry too, Pippi Longstocking. My belly just hurts so much."
"I know," Pippi gave her friend a soft pat on the back. "Mine too."
"I can't stop worrying about Angel and the others. I just feel so bad for them. Without me there…" Tears started to roll down her eyes and Pippi Longstocking reached forward and nuzzled them away.
"It will be okay."
That was when Pippi Longstocking's stomach preformed a painful double flip beneath her soft, furred belly. It growled and groaned and she couldn't help but clutch it and moan herself. She had winced, but she opened an eye and tried to smile at Tommy anyway.
"It isn't a lot of fun, having nothing to eat for so long. Still," Pippi said. She sorted herself out and sat straighter, locking her hooves in the dirt. "I'm not happy that you are all so hungry, but I am kind of relieved that none of us have to be in here all alone."
The two mares cuddled together for warmth and comfort. What Pippi had said had helped Tommy stop crying. She was smiling now, despite the pain in her tummy. Both of their bellies howled angrily though. They continued to rub their stomachs slowly with one hoof. Small circles, larger circles, clock-wise, counter-clock-wise, and then back again.
"I'm sorry too!" Willie finally spoke up. She bashfully moved over and rubbed one hoof in the ground. Her middle moaned and she told it to hush with a firm pat. She looked at Pippi Longstocking and Tommy with her large beautiful eyes. They had rings under them and her lovely white coat was stained with dirt and tear stains. "I didn't mean to yell at anypony. I just," her lower lip quivered. "I've never had to endure this kind of hunger before."
"Yeah, and it is all my fault," Cassandra said. She had managed to trot her way over to where the three were now.
"You can't blame yourself for this, Cassandra," Pippi said.
"No. No. I can," AJ corrected. "I should have known better. It was my project and all ya'll helped me and I couldn't even be sure the darn door would open. That's on me."
The other three smiled softly, with forgiveness, at their friend.
"It's okay, Cassandra," Tommy said lovingly. "You didn't do it on purpose."
Anna sighed and mared up. If all of her friends could get over their individual suffering, so could she.
"Yeah, you didn't ask for the door to be locked or everyone to suddenly disappear off the face of World." Anna half flew down from the upper level and landed with a weak thump next to her best friend. "So I can't stay mad at you guys. None of you wanted this to happen."
The five of them smiled at each other. Exhausted, but genuine smiles on their faces.
They tummies roared, demanding their attentions again. The girls all slumped in a pile together. Most of them were now on their backs, their front hooves laying lazily on their midsections.
"Ugh! It is just unreasonable!" Willie complained. Her hooves moved up and down along the length of her abdomen, trying to hush the angry organs beneath her skin.
"If we don't make it, you guys can have my Wonderbolt card collection." Anna offered one of her most valuable collections to her friends, missing one vital piece of information.
"If we don't make it, then we won't be able to inherit them either," Pippi Longstocking corrected.
"Oh, right."
The stomachs growled violently and their centers shook from the force. They all latched their front hooves onto their stomachs and whined in unison.
"I'm so hungry."
"I'm so empty."
"I'm not gonna make it."
"You guys can eat me," Annika offered. At some point, she'd found her way into the pile too.
"Don't tempt me!" Dash said. "I just might."
The idea crossed everyone's mind and the question of, "What would Annika taste like?" crossed everyone's minds.
BAM! BAM! CREEEEEEEEEEEEK!
Everyone's eyes shot open. They had all started to fall into unconsciousness when an unbelievable sound jolted them into focus.
"The door!"
All six mares shot up and galloped to the barn door. It opened and they all felt blinded by the light of day. A silhouette came into focus. It was Anna's Dad. He had a bandage still around his head, but he was better and finally out of the hospital. He seemed utterly shocked to see all six mares looking so sickly and hungry in the new barn. The big red stallion was even more alarmed by the fact that the two baskets of apples he'd just bucked suddenly disappeared.
"Thank Captain!" Pippi screamed between mouthfuls of apple.
"Uhhh-" Anna's Dad wasn't really sure what was going on, but his sister moved over and gave him a huge hug.
"Big brother, you just saved our flanks!" She gave him a huge, applesauce-lipped kiss and she began shoveling even more tasty apples into her mouth.
"You're a hero!" They all shouted and filled their starving bellies at last.
The only thing the big guy could do was look at them all with confused relief and give a single, "Aaa-yup."
