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// Autumn Blaze... 
// Story: One Crazy Pairing (Stone) 
// by Jhoira 
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"Autumn Blaze..." Marble had found the Kirin out on the back porch of the house. Autumn looked over her shoulder in surprise as the other pony spoke. Autumn Blaze raised an eyebrow and Marble smiled, walking up to sit next to the pony and nodding. "Thank you." She realized the effort that Autumn Blaze had put into not speaking and it was really touching, but she couldn't demand that she be something other than herself, as much as it would grate on her nerves. Marble would also, personally, admit that she would do better to think of the things that annoyed her about the kirin, since her crush was pointless maybe that would help her get over it.

Autumn Blaze didn't immediately speak again though, she continued to look out over the rock farm, the great expanse of greyness that most ponies thought were drab and lifeless. The Pie's knew better, well, except for Pinkie, but the rest of them saw the beauty in the simplicity that existed in this place. Much to Marble's surprise, so did Autumn Blaze. "Beautiful." Marble stared at the other mare who grinned and gently pushed her face to look back over the rock farm. "The simplicity is what makes it beautiful. Everywhere else is so cluttered, so busy. It's noisy and loud and won't stop moving. This place is peaceful." She smiled. "It really lets you sit and listen to the wind, and through that, listen to the world. It lets you take a moment to remember what's really important in life doesn't it?"

Marble continued to look out over the rock farm. She thought everyone should have a simple rock in their house to remind them of the simpler ways of life. They could be as fancy as they wanted but they shouldn't ever forget that. She was surprised her companion understood that. She had first thought Autumn Blaze a fast-talking creature that, while pretty, probably was either shallow or dishonest with all her talking. But she was generous, and kind, and could be quiet upon request. Now Marble also found out that the other was very deep and understanding, she knew what beauty there was in simplicity, and that her farm was indeed beautiful. Marble blinked, scolding herself silently, she really shouldn't be looking for reasons to like this other creature like that.

Marble hesitated for a moment, before, she frowned, she was tired of waiting for the pairing stone! Pushing up against the kirin, drawing a surprised sideways look from her. Marble flushed brightly and quickly scooted back away from her crush. She realized that she'd made a terrible mistake! She shouldn't have done that, she shouldn't have put herself out there not only because it wasn't what the pairing stone indicated but also the kirin was practically a stranger to her. She didn't know of Autumn Blazes own traditions, or if she was into other Mares. Marble made to get up and flee back into the farmhouse but found herself sliding in the opposite direction. Surrounded in a light opal aura, being pulled back to the kirin.

Autumn Blaze hadn't been expecting the other creature to make such a forward	act towards her, but she wasn't opposed to the thought of snuggling with a pretty earth pony. The kirin's history of anger had imposed upon them strict standards from which they drew their positions on mates. They entertained the idea of more freedom within mating, while polygamy had been strictly forbidden due to disastrous fights early on, mating itself was not usually viewed as a binding agreement between two kirin permanently. They could enter or exit it freely. Kirin were encouraged to take a step back and always take some time to consider if they truly wanted to exit or if they were just upset temporarily, but they were free to exit whenever, which usually lead to only the most devoted kirin couples having foals, or even moving in together.

Autumn Blaze wrapped a foreleg around Marble when she got to her, smiling down at her and letting Marble get more comfortable before she'd speak again. Marble was frozen in terror for the first minute. But she slowly came out of her state, smiling gently as she pressed up against the kirin again. Her father would have been furious to see this, thankfully he wasn't here. Limestone would have rolled her eyes but not given it too much thought. Her mother would likely give her a disapproving gaze, then walk off and snicker in private, her mother was less stringent than her father. Marble was fairly certain that her mother had even held hooves another stallion before she married their father! Not that she'd ever ask her about that, some things weren't proper to speak about.

Autumn Blaze tilted her head down to smile at the earth pony, who smiled nervously back up at her. However, as Autumn Blaze lowered her head Marble's eyes went wide and she scrambled backward out of the kirin's gasp, shaking her head vigorously at the other mare and blushing crimson. The kirin looked at her confused then blushed a little herself. "Ahh... I have a feeling there was... Some cultural miscommunication there?"

Marble nodded, still blushing. "Mhmm..."

Autumn thought for a moment but then nodded to herself. "So... Cuddling is ok, but not kissing?" Marble nodded, and walked back to be near Autumn Blaze, but sat outside of her physical reach. Autumn Blaze nodded, she could accept that, she'd pushed it too far and Marbles was needing some space now. Autumn Blaze looked back over the farmstead, smiling to herself, she'd have to visit again, and not only because there was a cute mare here, but because this was a peaceful place, and she'd be interested in meeting the rest of Marbles' family, however many others there were. Even that first one! Autumn Blaze was confident she could get past that gruff exterior and get at least some friendly words.

Marble was looking out over the farm as well. Her mind, however, was running a mile a minute. She couldn't stop thinking about how forward the kirin had been! She had pretty much just announced her intentions to marry Marble!... Unless... Autumn Blaze had mentioned cultural miscommunication... Maybe kissing wasn't a precursor to marriage amongst her people...? Well, this would take some thinking before she could even hope to puzzle it out... Though this was doing nothing to fight her crush. She groaned mentally, she had outright fed her crush like you'd feed a dragon gems, and for some reason hadn't expected it to grow any bigger!