Hearth’s Warming was getting a little crowded at the Pie family farm these years. The Apple Family had almost doubled their numbers, but now that Mac had gotten married and Maud was dating, extended family outnumbered the Pies themselves.
It was a change that Limestone had mixed feelings about. On the one hoof, the farm was pretty crowded now, on the years when the Apples weren’t hosting. On the other hoof….
Limestone smirked as Maud came back in from showing Mudbriar around the farm, the stallion walking in stiffly behind her with his tail tucked down discretely.
On the other hoof, it is fun watching Maud pretend she cares at all who knows how hard it is to keep her hooves off of him.
“Maudelina, go see if your mother requires assistance in the kitchen,” Igneous told her.
“Yes, father,” Maud nodded, disappearing into the kitchen without objection.
“Mudbriar,” the elderly earth pony tapped the floor next to him lightly. The lanky stallion took the indicated spot, sitting down like he half expected there to be a pin there when he did.
“What did you think of the farm?” Igneous was doing a fine imitation of his second daughter, his voice even and expression unchanging as he turned to face her suitor.
“Technically, I’m not especially qualified to judge a rock farm,” Mudbriar pointed out. “However, your family’s dedication to the farm shows. I did notice that your family’s vegetable garden seems to be sparsely planted. I presume that has to do with thinning topsoil, because of the wind exposure of your land?”
“Verily,” Igneous nodded. “My wife cares for it as best she can, but even in the basin, it is greatly exposed.”
And that’s why we have to get half our food shipped in, Limestone thought. Extra hundred bits we don’t have bringing in supplies for Hearth’s Warming.
“I actually have a suggestion on that,” Mudbriar continued. “You could plant a good windbreak from a mixture of blue and flowering ash trees, as well as sugar maple. They all have shallow root systems,” he droned on, getting into lecture mode as Limestone started to tune him out.
Sure, plant a windbreak. Like we haven’t thought of that. And who’ll take care of the saplings until they can stand up to the wind? Who’ll break up the bedrock so they can even start growing? Her eyes started to unfocus, the glow of the Hearth’s Warming lights diffusing further. Maybe if Maud sticks around for a few days, she can find a gem deposit for us that isn’t played out. Maybe she can help her boyfriend with his little project. Maybe Pinkie can front us a few bits…. The idea turned Limestone’s stomach, but it wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to swallow bile along with her pride. She stared out at the room as the noises of Hearth’s Warming dulled out, letting her think about… what was she thinking about?
Big Mac’s hoof clopped down heavily as he got up to do something, the noise startling Limestone back into the present. She glanced around, trying to catch up with what was going on. Mac was going into the kitchen, answering some question of Sugar Belle’s. Pinkie was probably still out hiding presents. Mudbriar was boring her father to unshed tears going on about the relative merits of different types of ash trees. Granny Smith was borrowing Grandma Pie’s rocking chair, working on a quilt with Marble, and Apple Bloom….
Aw schist.
Apple Bloom was looking right at her, bright eyes crinkled up around the edges like she was trying to work out a puzzle.
Good luck with that one, kid. I don’t even know what the picture looks like any more.
“I’m gonna go make sure Pinkie doesn’t miss dinner,” Limestone announced, standing up and heading for the front door to the family homestead, not bothering with the green and red striped cap and scarf hanging by the door. She wasn’t going to be out long.
“Ah’ll come with ya!” Apple Bloom bounced up to her hooves, her own scarf and cap on before Limestone could object.
“You don’t have to,” Limestone shrugged, stepping outside and half-hoping that the teenaged foal’s… whatever was driving her on… would fold at the prospect of going out into the light snow and heavy winds blowing across the open plains of the Pie farm.
“Ah know,” Apple Bloom told her as she closed the door behind them. “Ah could use some air though, it’s a mite crowded with everypony in the same room!”
“Yeah, well, we can’t all have the biggest farm in town and the house to go with it.” Limestone tried to play off the line as casually as she could, but she couldn’t stop a little of the venom from creeping into her voice.
“Ah didn’t mean it like that, honest! Ah just….”
Just weren’t thinking about the difference between a rock farm and an apple farm? Weren’t thinking about what it’s like to have three roommates most of your life? What it’s like needing to decide between fixing the roof or keeping the family prodigy in school? Hay, you aren’t even the one in your family who has to worry about-
“Limestone?” Apple Bloom interrupted her spiralling thoughts. “Sorry, y’all were getting that look again, sorta like Applejack used to after Ma and Pa… well, y’know.” Limestone winced inwardly.
Okay, jackass, happy now? Got a reminder that you’ve got something up on the Apples after all, that what you wanted? She stopped herself before she could get lost in her self-recrimination, shaking her head sharply.
“Just thinking about farm business.” She shrugged, catching up with Apple Bloom as the wind gusted down the hill. The larger earth pony unconsciously took the windward side of the foal as they walked away from the house. Still, if Applejack had it happen to her once….
“Does that still happen to Applejack at all?”
“Naw, not since Ah was real little,” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Ah just wanted to make sure y’all were okay. An’ make sure it didn’t happen while you were alone in the cold,” she admitted.
Limestone grumbled to herself, then reached over to give the filly a quick hug.
“You’re a good kid, squirt. I’ll be fine, just… I dunno, give me a kick or something if you see it happening again.”
“Ah mean, if Mudbriar’s talkin’ about trees again, it might just happen t’both of us,” Apple Bloom pointed out.
Limestone laughed, shaking her head.
“Guess we’ll just have to give each other a kick then.”
“Oh. My. Gosh!” Pinkie popped out from behind a pile of aging basalt. “Limestone laughed! It’s a Hearth’s Warming miracle!”
“You want to hear me laugh, come to one of the auctions and watch stallions try asking me out between lots,” the elder Pie sister shot back. “Come on, Pinks, dinner’s going to be ready soon and it’s getting cold out here.”
“That’s because somepony refuses to wear her scarf and cap!” Somehow, Pinkie produced the items in question, popping a striped green-and-red knit cap onto her sister’s head and tying the matching scarf around her neck loosely. “There! Dinner sounds good though, so let’s go!”
Pinkie took off, merrily pronking through the falling snow and leaving her sister and (maybe) cousin behind.
“Y’know the worst part?” Limestone asked Apple Bloom. “I know I left these on the hook by the door when I came out.”
“It’s Pinkie Pie,” they said in unison, following the boisterous mare back to the warmth of the house.